by Kiara
Martin Scorsese is a very unique director who often makes bold choices to convey thematic meaning. This is prevalent in his film Life Lessons, the enthralling drama to complete the “New York Stories” trilogy, in which the other films were directed by Francis Coppola and Woody Allen. One of the most distinctive choices made was the “iris effect,” which he created in order to emulate theatrical lighting. He achieved this by using “an iris shot to do what a spotlight would do.” (Scorsese, “Martin Scorsese: A Journey”) In order to cinematically convey a “Theatre Spotlight,” when he wanted to accentuate Dobie’s thoughts and feelings, a dark circle was often placed over a closeup in post production. This effortlessly directs the viewer toward the object of focus, and allows the audience to comprehend the cogitations of the whirlpool of constant thinking that is Lionel Dobie’s brain.
The first instance of this is in the beginning of the film, when Dobie is trying to paint, and is uninspired. His assistant Paulette is on vacation in Florida, and Dobie’s canvas is blank as his vacant expression. We see multiple iris shots, honing in on paint and alcohol. This helps demonstrate that Dobie’s mind is transfixed in a negative mindset, he is turning toward alcohol and other lecherous items to get his creative juices flowing. The usage of the iris assisted the audience in better understanding Dobie’s artistic process. Paint, drink, paint. A nonstop frenzy with music blaring.
Upon arriving at the airport to pick up his assistant Paulette, we are introduced to the second usage of the iris in our film. Followed by an extreme closeup of Dobie’s face, lust-struck by his assistant, we see Paulette for the first time. The iris shot very plainly separates her from the rest of the passengers exiting the airport. Having demonstrated the importance of the iris effect in the previous scene, this shot reveals that Dobie is not just a kind boss waiting for his assistant, but is emotionally impassioned by the mere presence of Paulette's re-emergence into his life. She rejects Dobie’s advances throughout the first scene, which only spurs his lust.
Unfortunately for Lionel Dobie, a stable romantic relationship seems to be the thing he cannot have, yet it’s what he wants. Closeup on Paulette’s foot using the iris tool, preluding Dobie posing to Paulette “I really just want to kiss your foot,” stress the importance of her to Dobie, he lusts after her and craves her, for she is an inspiration to his artwork. This intense emotion for her however is not “love” as Dobie frequently uses as a plea to Paulette, for we see a strong parallel to the closeup shots on Paulette at the end of the film on a young female server similar to Paulette physically at Dobie’s art gallery. In addition to these jarring closeups, we also see the iris tool utilized at the end of the film, to show Dobie's separation from the real world, how his focus becomes heavily fixated on his new toy.
The two sets of iris shots comparing the two girls help divulge the continuous pattern of Lionel Dobie to the viewer. He finds a girl, offers to provide free room, food, and life lessons if she works for him as an assistant, he then coaxes her into sleeping with him, his arousal powered mind takes over his logical one, and his addiction to the girl becomes that of drugs or alcohol. The assistant inspires his work, which allows him to create wonderful masterpieces, but unfortunately his dependency upon this new addiction drives the assistant away. He does not care much about the person as a person, but rather as a sexual and inspirational object, which is shown because Dobie never once uses Paulette’s name when referring to her, and the new girl’s audio is muted when she gives Dobie her name at the end of the film.
In conclusion, Martin Scorsese utilizes the iris tool to emulate a theatrical spotlight, in order to help better direct the audience to follow Lionel Dobie (Nick Notle’s) train of thought and the most prevalent objectives in his head. The audience sees first Dobie’s dependency on alcohol when trying to paint in the first scene, followed by his attachment and attention to Paulette, as the world slows down around him upon her entrance, lastly, by closeups on Paulette, and his new assistant, to represent the lewd thoughts and attention to detail he pays when scoping and conversing with his next victim. Scorsese's individualistic perspective on Life Lessons heightened the subtextual story, and helps convey to the audience Dobie's most prevalent thoughts.
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