Kelly Richardt’s Night Moves

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Kelly Richardt’s Night Moves
Understanding the relationship between a film’s form and context is essential for any viewer. It allows him to have a deeper appreciation of all the circumstances present in making the film, such as the creator’s intent, the social circumstances surrounding the film, and the artistic expression utilized to direct the creator’s message. In this paper, the emphasis is put on the analysis of the 2013 film by Kelly Richardt entitled Night Moves. This film focuses on the narrative of two “ecological activists” who planned on using eco-terrorism to realize their political ideals. This is enticing for two reasons. Primarily, it uses a form that increases emotional appeal upon the audience. Additionally, it sufficiently depicts humans’ destructive nature, whether against the environment or one another. On the one hand, the film’s form focuses on the use of a topical-thriller genre, which creates a stronger emotional impact on its viewers. Although this is not surprising for most movies, its use to develop a point and create an impression on the hearts of its audience is worth exploring (Castille). On the other hand, it could also be seen that the context of the film revolves around the destructive nature of humans. In this film, such nature is emphasized as it shows how people tend to resort to violence when all conventional methods such as bureaucracy fail. Combining both of the form and context, the choice for this film is based on its exhilarating use of the topical thriller format to increase the ‘retention’ of the director’s political ideals as emanating from the result of a stronger emotional appeal.
Context is a vital element in the understanding of Night Moves. The story unfolds in the Pacific Northwest, a location in which the writer has had a fond link with nature. The chosen location is where an ongoing debate over environmental preservation has played out in both local law and national politics (Hachard). Choosing this context is intentional and bound to trigger emotional responses both from the film and critics. In Night Moves, Josh is the spokesman for the radical wing of the environmental movement linked with “earth first” notions. Richardt employs Josh’s character to showcase an angry but toneless voice on the ticking time bomb of industrialization. Josh and his friend Dena are concerned about the steady but consistent destruction of the environment. The context is amplified with the imagery of a world slipping from serenity anchored in nature to modernism that is clouded with an overreliance on technology. The killing of salmons to fuel the new technologies and the building of golf courses all over the high desert are just a few instances of how the world is revitalizing its ideals. In the same context, Josh, as the spokesman, feels like something radical should be conducted to revert the status quo. In his understanding, the protests have not delivered any helpful outcomes. The contextual attachment that Richardt embeds on Josh sets activities throughout the plot.
Richardt relies on exhilarating use of the topical Charles 2 thriller contextual elements to deliver her intent. Like in a topical thriller, Richardt exploits four principle prospects that mark the eco-terrorism expression in the plot. The first element of similarity is the contextual failure of imagination in the need to fight for the environment. Richardt implies the common knowledge that people understand the possibilities of climate change. Most people believe that climate change is real. Yet, this threat of a massive scale seems to be disconnected from people’s lives. While every person believes that global warming is real, only a couple understand that it will harm them. People’s imaginations are limited to only what they can see and not what they feel or hear. Climate change is a unidimensional prospect, at least currently, that few can see its impacts.
In Night Moves, the indifference is marked by the motivation of the three primary characters to create a change. They embody the motivation of the few to change the perception of global warming. In this context, the challenge comes down to imagination. There is a problem with climate change, but it requires imagination to fathom. The failure of imagination creates the casual perception of climate as passive challenges. People can only feel a few outcomes of climate change, including storms, floods, and regular heatwaves. However, nobody can feel the changes in the average global temperature or the increase in the levels of carbon in the air. Only a few are ready to trigger their imagination to see the reality. Josh, Dena, and Harmon are the few who represent a deeper image of the climate change incidences that most choose to ignore. Questions remain if their efforts will bear the fruits with limited evidence in the closing scenes.
Richardt also delves into empowering the peo...