Expressive movement unit 2

When the music changes into a deeper key, the mood changes: the soldiers are marching. The marching column is shown first in inserted documentary archival material and then taken up by the staged shots, so that these images refer to the documentary material. The central perspective transfers an impression of geometrical order onto the marching column. The long column of marching men conveys both the large size of the military body as well as the length of the path, of which neither the beginning nor the end can be seen. The editing (and the music) also stretch the temporality of the march and make it seem quite arduous. Dirty pant legs and shoes in the documentary material convey an element of exhaustion that is intensified by the image of the barren soil. The soldiers’ march is not powerful, but sluggish, completely fatigued. The field packs and utensils such as rifles are dragged along, intensifying this impression, mirrored in the background of a ravaged, dusty landscape dotted with damaged palm trees.

But the soldiers continue to march despite tiredness in two long rows, also underscored by the slow, dragging music. When the soldiers pass the camera, the figures known to the viewer such as Stryker, Thomas, Conway and Regazzi can be seen with exhausted expressions and wearing dirty uniforms. The shot illustrates their membership in the military unit, this impression is strengthened by a senior officer who, in sharp contrast to the soldiers, inspects the rows in a spotlessly clean uniform. Unlike the soldiers he continues to represent the exemplary order of the military group body.

Ragazzi puts away the folded flag he always carries with him and makes the exasperated comment “Somebody beat me to it,” whereby the camera pans upward revealing a large American flag waving in the wind (ca. 6 sec.). At this moment the music changes to a ceremonious Marines’ hymn and the flag fades to the next shot. The upwards camera pan, intensified by the sudden musical shift, creates a feeling of vastness that allows the continuous march to culminate in an ascription of nationality.