Monday, January 21, 2013

The monologue I chose was very short and from the final scene of Elevator to the Gallows. Elevator to the Gallows is a French film noir from 1958. The character, Florence, has a short monologue to herself in the final scene of the movie. I chose this because I had trouble thinking of something else that moved me, and I also saw this film very recently. Warning: This contains spoilers.
Elevator to the Gallows is a film about Florence and her lover, Julien, who devise a scheme to kill Florence's husband so they can be together at last. This ending scene is of Florence and a detective who has just uncovered evidence of her affair with Julien. She realizes what the punishment is immediately and has one last moment to herself to remember her precious Julien. In her monologue, Florence has only a few lines. This monologue basically resides solely on pathos in my opinion. The emotion coming off of Florence is almost palpable. Throughout the movie, you want her and Julien to prevail over the circumstances they are put through. However, when talking about ethos, I find that Florence is obviously credible for her love of Julien. She plotted a murder against her husband to be with her lover, and in the photographs, she and Julien look exquisitely happy. It is obvious everything is heart felt. As far as logos goes, her argument here goes something along the lines of Florence proving her love for Julien through her emotion. Below is her monologue along with the video.

(Start at 1:25:00)
"No more aging, no more days. I'll go to sleep. I'll wake up... Alone. 10 years, 20 years. I wasn't indulgent. But I know I still loved you. I wasn't thinking only of myself. I'll be old from now on. But we're together here. Together again, somewhere. You see, they cant keep us apart."

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