#so apologies are treated with extreme solemnity but proposals get ridiculous

[senadimell]

Thinking about the dance scene in Emma. (2020) and once again, really admiring the choreography and cinematography, because after watching it the first time, I had no idea why it was as compelling and intimate as it was, but I could tell it was.

The obvious thing going on in the scene is the fact that neither Emma nor Mr. Knightley are wearing gloves, while everyone else is. However, the way this emphasis is conveyed is more subtle than just zooming in on their hands, though that helps. The choreography of the dance emphasizes a few things: hands, approaching, and then withdrawing. So there’s one early-on moment where the characters approach each other and hold up their hands without quite touching, and then withdraw. The choice was made to have the couples withdraw in turns, so while one couple is close, the others have pulled back, which allows for an alternating focus on Emma and Mr. Knightley. If you didn’t catch the gloveless thing the first time, you see it happen again, which helps the message sink in.

I don’t have the knowledge or trained eye to know what’s happening with the camera work, but it works very well.

Then, there are moments where all of the dancers put a hand together and turn. This is the first time it’s clear that everyone else is wearing gloves, so the first time we’re given that information is part of the “withdrawing” or “distancing” part of the dance, so it’s not super in-your-face (which. 2005 P&P is fun but it’s also not trying to be subtle). By the time it’s clear that this is not just an Emma or Knightley thing, but an Emma and Knightley thing, the characters themselves are beginning to cotton on to what’s happening.

Like I mentioned earlier, I didn’t even notice the gloves thing happening in my first watchthrough, but I subconsciously picked up on what they were getting at. I really appreciate that you can pick up on subplots in the dance if you’re looking for them (e.g. Harriet’s blissful, delightful smile and stare the whole time), but they’re also very second fiddle to the main event going on.

I don’t think this is unique to Emma., but I do appreciate their look of concentration the whole dance. There’s one moment where they both sort of notice what’s happening and lose rhythm of the dance, then rush away without leaving-leaving. Then they have to confront each other again, which feels much more appropriate than one moment of “ah, we get it now and we’re both okay with it.” After realizing what’s going on, they now have to live with that knowledge. After the dance is over, they just kind of stare at each other (and it’s really quite funny to me, because they give each other a very intense look but they’re also both a bit bothered. Like, “him?”  or “her??” Really quite funny.)