Camera Angles In Big Night

The movie Big Night was released in 1996 and directed by Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott. It tells the story of two immigrant Italian brothers, Primo and Secondo, who are desperate to try and keep their restaurant in business in order to live the American dream. The movie focuses on one night that could make or break their business. An important scene in the movie is the very last one, from 1:40:39 to 1:45:30. The use of silence and camera angles in this scene conveys the simplicity of food and how it is a force that brings the two brothers together, reconciling their differences and highlighting the power of food as a unifying element.
The scene takes place the morning after the big night. Secondo enters the kitchen and Cristiano is asleep on the table. He wakes up and Secondo begins to make scrambled eggs. Once the eggs are done, Secondo places them on plates and hands one to Cristiano. He leaves extra eggs in the pan. Primo enters the kitchen and Secondo silently makes a plate for him with the extra eggs. Primo accepts and sits down. While eating they place their arms around one another, and Cristiano leaves the room. There is no extra sound in this scene, just the natural noises from the characters movements. The camera angle remains primarily the same the whole scene and does very

Primo sits down at the table and Cristiano gets up and walks away. As he’s walking the camera shifts to a more straight on angle of the brothers sitting at the table. This slight change of angle even more so emphasizes the unifying role of food in the brother’s relationship. The only thing the audience needs to see is the two of them eating together to know that they are going to be alright. The camera could’ve shifted up to a high angle shot to elicit tension and fear, or a low angle shot to elicit power and control. It didn’t though, it stayed in a neutral position to portray