Heartbreaking Proposal Rejection in Beautiful Landscape

This movie clip deals with the story of Laurie and Jo. Throughout the whole scene, we can see beautiful landscapes.

They are walking in the field, talking about their futures when suddenly Laurie proposes to Jo. First, the romantic boy states that he has always loved her and that he couldn’t wait any longer to avoid his love for Jo.

Secondly, Jo turns off the proposal saying that they will be a disaster together, that they will be miserable, unhappy and that everything will be horrid and they will wish that they would have never been married. Even though he thinks Jo is wrong, later on he will realize that in fact she was right. Laurie keeps insisting saying that he would rather be dead and hang himself than realizing that Jo wasn't the love of his life. Jo tries to comfort him saying that he will find another girl that truly loves her and will give him the life that he deserves. Finally, she explains that she loves her freedom too much to marry anyone, whereas Laurie thinks that she will marry someone in the future.

The soundscape consists of the sounds of the birds, the dialogues, and some background music.

In the first frame, the film director has chosen a long shot of the field. In the middle we can see both characters: Laurie and Jo. Jo is relaxed, distressed and happy whereas Laurie seems to be quite nervous. The viewers understand quickly that something important is about to happen.

In this second frame, the camera zooms on Laurie. Unquestionably, it is a close up. There’s a psychological tension created by Laurie’s body language. The tension builds up because all of a sudden he avoids his love for Jo. He states that he has loved her for a very long time and that he couldn't go on like this any longer, he needed an answer from Jo at that precise moment.

In this third scene, the film director has also chosen a close up, except this time the camera zooms on Jo. He has chosen this angle so we can see Jo’s reaction to Laurie’s proposal. She’s closing her eyes, saying ‘‘no’’ repeatedly and looking down. Consequently, she’s avoiding looking in his eyes because she knows that she’s going to hurt him with her answer.

This fourth frame is a long shot and we are only able to see Jo’s face. We feel as if we were in the middle of the discussion. The main character looks frustrated because Laurie keeps insisting that he wants to marry her, and she explains in a very angry tone that they will be miserable if they ever marry. Her body language indicates her frustration.

In this last scene, we can clearly see that Laurie is exhausted from trying to convince Jo that they would be a lovely and great couple, he has insisted too much and he was just beyond tired. He is confused and sad because the woman he loves has rejected him. His gaze is lost in its infinity. He turns around and leaves. We can suddenly hear some music which conveys an impression of sadness. It is a long shot and the film director has decided to only be able to see Laurie so we can see how sad and devastated he is.