Background: Jake has just finished his last video blog post, and is now ready to become a true Na'vi. He has essentially abandoned reality. He knows that life as a blue warrior is going to be better than anything he will experience with humans. At this point he has seen the corruption that greed can cause and wants to life a more native life; Na'vi style.
The Scene starts with a full view (panning I think its called) of the roots that connect the tree of souls to everything. They are glowing green and quite lovely. The Na'vi people are of course chanting again, and Jake's human body is laying next to his Avatar body. Neytiri takes off human Jake's oxygen mask, kisses him and the crowd is silenced. The seeds of Eywa cover Jake's avatar and the movie ends with the avatar's eyes opening.
The scene shows Jake's human body wrapped up in the roots of the Tree of Souls, which connects to all of the plant life in Pandora. His crippled body looks tiny compared to creatures around him. In my opinion this symbolism the insignificance that Jake felt as a human. It also shows that the Na'vi culture has accepted him, even the plants are willing to take all of Jake, even his human form, into their culture. Then the seeds of the most respected part of the Na'vi culture come to bring Jake into the Avatar world, of course he is going to be accepted by everyone then, their "gods" are telling them to.
This scene allows the audience to reflect on everything leading up to this point. The struggles that Jake has gone through to become a Na'vi, and honestly I was happy for him. I was so glad that he had followed his heart and worked to help the Na'vi, and in return he was given something that the human's never could have. He not only has legs, he has an entire people that respect, love, and accept him. He has a beautiful body, and a life that he has found, through the course of the film, that he loves. I am an Avatar fan anyway, but this scene really makes many out-of-reach things possible. Jake didn't think he would ever walk again, not on his budget, and now he is a leader of a society. It makes dreams, even beyond dreams, seem possible.
When Neytiri leans down to kiss Jake's avatar the camera takes us down with her. The audience feels like they are part of the intimate moment, and from there the camera continues to zoom in on Jake's face, until his yellow eyes are looking at the entire audience. BAM movie over. Lovely, simply lovely.
I really liked that scene and I loved how the made it seem like we were part of that moment. I completely agree with the thought of Jake feeling insignificant when being a human and seeing his small body compared the large bodies around him. I felt like the ending of the movie was the best possible way to end it. I thought it was very powerful and left the audience feeling good about it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting way to look at this scene, and a very nice choice! I agree with Jake being insignificant as a human, and the way the tree is depicted as glowing and connected to everything was a lovely way to conclude the movie. The eye shot was particularly interesting, since eyes are the window to the soul. You are at that moment looking into his soul as a na'vi and they are more beautiful than human eyes. It shows that he has fully become part of them and part of the earth to the core. "I see you"
ReplyDeleteI never quite thought of this scene this way, I saw it as much more of an intense, powerful moment instead of intimate and simply lovely. But your reading of this scene convinced me otherwise. The iconic 'opened eyes' reminds me of LOST, and why it feels like the director is leaving us hanging, we know that Pandora will be taken care of now that Jake is a full Na'vi and no longer an avatar.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I saw the title for your posted, I wanted to comment on it. Reason being, I have been a fan of the television series, 'Lost' since it started, up until its series finale. Season 1 began with the main character, laying beneath forest trees, and his eyes opening up to peril, as well as the unknown. The series, 6 seasons later, concluded with the main character in that exact same position, only his eyes closing. The same exact 'panning' happens in lost. The audience is first able to view the entire environment before the actual character, giving the viewer time to predict the outcome. By having the camera pan in, all kinds of emotions become apparent not just for the audience but also for Neytiri. It's a great scene. It might seem like in the first scene of Lost, the director is leaving us hanging, but the the final season wraps it up with his eyes closing. Jake's eyes opening, in my opinion, don't leave us hanging, but rather leave us intrigued.
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