Thursday 30 January 2014

Breaking Bad Seasons 3 & 4 (2010-11 Vince Gilligan)

Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt, RJ Mitte, Giancarlo Esposito (Gus), Bob Odenkirk (Saul the solicitor), Jonathan Banks (Mike).

Music Dave Porter. Photography Michael Slovis. Editing Skip MacDonald.

Contains one of the most memorable openings ever to a TV show (Mexicans sliding through the dirt like worms).

A cloud passes under the sun, casting a moving shadow,  in this fine scene.

I love the way Walt is always thinking, trying to get a move ahead (frequently it's a chess game), though at one point he admits Gus is always 10 steps ahead of him.

Also the clever way in which the characters are pulled in all sorts of ethical and motivational directions, which constantly makes you change your feelings about them.


According to a most interesting interview with Michael Slovis "the most technically complicated shot was all that stuff in that room flying off of shelves, in the magnet episode [which he directed]. There were wires pulling everything, and they all had to be painted out by hand". You wonder whether it might have been easier to build the set on its side. Anyway, it is an amazing scene.

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