If you have not yet seen Thelma , it is recommended that you return to this article at a later time. This is the first article on Thelma. The second article looks at motifs and visual ideas. The third article is a close analysis of the epilepsy test sequence. Zeitgeist is replaced by timelessness, chamber music by a symphonic work. Thelma is seductive and musical in tone and construction.
Thelma looks more like his early shorts, augmented by a new artistic maturity, experience and technique. The new film also has a far broader and more detailed use of visual motifs. Its very enthusiastic reception by both critics and audiences in Norway is not surprising. One exciting aspect of Thelma is precisely how it is constantly expanding its reach, taking us to new spaces, genres and moods.
This analysis mainly deals with interpretations that part can be jumped directly to here , along with a running discussion of visual motifs. Starting out, however, it is useful to walk through some central scenes to suggest the reasons for the enthusiasm Thelma is causing.
The climax scenes are skipped, since they are richly explored in the interpretation part. References to other films โ there are many obvious forerunners and points of reference โ are outside the scope of this analysis.
He is friendly, commanding, but with a sleazy undercurrent and a slightly mocking gaze โ most pronounced in the early restaurant scene. And his apparently unhinged act during the prologue, nearly killing his child, remains with us as an after-image, constantly projecting unease in the first half until we start to realise the underlying family tragedy.
