Put on your fake glasses and step into my time machine. Let's go back to February 20th, 2014, 12:30p.m. Film as a Narrative Art Class. When we started discussing Two-Lane Blacktop, one of the most important scenes we discussed was the conversation about cicadas that occurred 31:23 into the movie. This upset me, as it likely meant that many people were going to discuss this scene in their blogs and mine would stand out less. You see, I wanted to talk about this scene before we were informed it was important, as I felt it was one of two scenes that should be discussed the most, the other being the ending, as these scenes were the only ones that didn't just hold my attention, but fascinated me.
If anyone is still uncertain as to the whether the 1971 Monte Hellman-directed road film was intentionally subersive of expected and well-loved road movie elements, the tagline on the movie's poster should remove all doubt. They have no goal, because "their world is a two-lane blacktop." The movie doesn't have an ending, because their world has "no end." How can it if it has "no beginning"? The film repeatedly does the opposite of everything expected of it.
Two-Lane Blacktop even subverts expectations one might have of it after understanding its attempts at subverting expectations. Instead of long, musical, wide panning shots, there are tight, noisy, almost boring shots from inside of the car, yes, but all of that works towards creating a sense of calmness, the hidden gem that is peace in being aimless. But then, near the end of the first act, the Driver tries to talk to the Girl about cicadas of all things.
"From left: Dennis Wilson, Laurie Bird, and James Taylor." So yes, I'm fairly certain it was the Driver talking in the cicada scene, for those of you who couldn't tell them apart (like I needed two views of the movie to do). He's wearing the same shirt in this picture as in the cicada scene.
The near constant noise in this scene is from cicadas, some of the loudest animals on the planet.
For most of the movie, the cars are making constant noise. When the Driver asks if the Girl hears the cicadas, a car drives by in the background. The Driver is impressed with the critters' resilience, as they can survive for seven years underground, only surfacing to breed and then die. The cicada must crawl out of its skin first. This is a parallel to the road trippers' tendency to stay in their car, avoiding any responsibilities or goals in life until the Girl comes along, inspiring them with the mercilessly brief goal of sex. They must first stop and exit their car first, just as the cicada sheds its skin.
In other words...
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The Driver is a man with no purpose trying to exit his comfort zone, talk to a woman, and have sex with her. Cicadas are bugs who spend years with no purpose before exiting their skin to try to have sex. Two-Lane Blacktop considers road trippers nothing more than people who have no real purpose outside of petty, temporary goals. The eyes of a cicada are bright like the headlights on a car, if you wanna get really into it.
I really enjoyed your post. I knew the cicada scene was significant; however, I had not actually applied it directly to the character of the Driver. After reading your post, I looked up some information on the Cicada insects. The males actually make the music, and the females are the responders in their game of mating. You could really break down this movie even more by continuing to compare the Cicadas to the characters. Considering the females respond to the males songs, you could analyze how the Girl went back and forth between the two different cars ( male cicadas). Going deeper, like comparing the headlights to the car to the eyes of the cicada, the Driver was conversing about the cicadas with the Girl on the wooden fence. Cicadas in the nymph stage shed their exoskeleton on the nearest tree. It is interesting that the cicada speech was made outside of the car, on a wooden fence, (similar to the tree). The Driver, like you said, was shedding his skin to prepare for mating.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cicadamania.com/
Hi Robert, Nice observations. I agree with you whole heartily on the aspect of driving about without any meaning. In my blog, I discuss and refer to this as Nihilism. Nice symbol of the bug, and right there at the 40 min mark,, toward the center of the movie is the best place for it. One must wonder if Driver and Mechanic will ever grow out of this lifestyle? it seems like GTO does.
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