THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS (Spielberg, 1974): Two- and Three-Shots

There certainly are reverse angle sequences in Spielberg's films, but especially during the 1970s, he seems to have preferred having all the participants of a conversation within the same frame. This (and not "snakes and funerals" as Fritz Lang says in Godard's LE MÉPRIS, 1963) is what Cinemascope was made for, after all. Since THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS is about a couple of young delinquents kidnapping a police officer, we often see the victim in between the perpetrators while they are discussing his fate. In some scenes there are less hierarchic three shots with a more or less involved policeman, in some scenes the couple is seen in almost perfect profile.

Es gibt zwar Schuss-Gegenschuss-Sequenzen in Spielbergs Filmen, speziell in den Siebzigerjahren scheint er es jedoch vorgezogen zu haben, alle Gesprächsteilnehmer innerhalb des gleichen Bildes zu zeigen. Und genau dafür (und nicht wie Fritz Lang bei Godard behauptet für "Schlangen und Begräbnisse") eignet sich Cinemascope eben ideal. Da THE SUGARLAND EXPRESS von einem jungen Delinquentenpaar handelt, das einen Polizisten entführt, sehen wir den Polizisten oft zwischen den Tätern, wenn diese über sein Schicksal diskutieren. Dabei gibt es einige Dreiereinstellungen. Oft sehen wir das Paar aber auch fast perfekt im Profil.

In these three-shots the police man is included in the conversation.

Here we see the couple arguing in profile with the object of their argument in the middle (in the first image, the are planning a jailbreak).