Scorsese's new film, Bringing Out the Dead, is an interesting film, but not much of a movie. (If that sentence confused you, read the philosophy section of celluloidnexus to get more about what the distinction is.) The basis for my judgment is simple, and will be obvious as you read the piece that follows. Basically, I find it worth writing about the parts of this film that I found interesting, and since the plot itself is slow, meandering, and not very well resolved, I'm writing about the fun stuff I saw as meaning in the film.
The lesser elements of this movie aside, Bringing Out the Dead does have several very interesting aspects. The first is its camera work. As usual, Scorsese knows how to use the camera to elaborate on his themes. In this film, the theme elaborated is the circular nature of the jobs of EMS workers. During each of the three nights, the paramedics see the same things - they are well beyond the point at which they would be shocked by anything. Scorsese uses the repetitive shots and the sped-up driving scenes to underline the same-ness that the characters are experiencing in each shift.
The most fascinating thing about the film, I felt, was when Frank (Nicholas Cage) told the audience just why it was that he was there. I'm not quoting verbatim here, but you will get the gist. He says, "I've come to realize that my job is not about helping people, it's about being a witness. I'm here to see all of these things," to testify to them? He tells us that his training is not really useful in about 90% of the calls he answers. So why is he there? To witness, to testify. Perhaps his role is like that of bards of old, the recorder, the person who sees. As the one who sees and keeps all these stories, he is, in effect, bringing voice to the un-aided, to the dead. His fantasy sequence of helping the fantasmic hands out of the ground is one of giving voice to the voiceless.
Frank is interesting when contrasted with other characters in the film, with the way they handle their jobs. Larry (John Goodman) ignores it all, falling asleep when the two aren't on a call. Ving Rhames' Marcus looks to God as his saving power, looks for divine answers in what he sees. Finally there is Tom Wolls (Tom Sizemore). His violent reactions to society, to the people he 'has to put up with' are a pro-active dealing method unlike Frank's.
Each of the other three paramedics Frank runs with have found ways of 'coping' with the stress and the emotion that go with the paramedic life. Frank hasn't - he hasn't found a way to let go of the stories he's given, so he is 'haunted' by those whose stories stopped under his guard. What I find most interesting is that this dirty, gaunt, scary looking EMS worker takes the role of the story teller, an otherwise unseen character who has been lost to our society. We don't have the media - they blow up pickup trucks for stories. We certainly can't trust Hollywood or newspapers either. Who is left but those who see us at our weakest?
I'll agree, my take on the film is a little abstract - but I don't think this film means much without jumping to abstraction. All in all, I enjoyed the film, but mostly for it's possibilities and hidden meaning rather than for it's entertainment value.
I was wrong when I said that there isn't a clear message in Bringing Out the Dead. There is one - don't have a heart attack in New York.