Wind Across the Everglades: Nicholas Ray

The following is a re-print of a mini essay I wrote for one of my graduate classes about Nicholas Ray's use of mise-en-scène in this film.

Is it possible to examine Wind Across the Everglades within the context of Nicholas Ray’s career? Is it even fair? After all, Ray was fired before the film’s completion. Somebody else had to finish and edit the film. Despite this, I would argue that the film fits alongside of Ray’s other works. The reasons why can best be illustrated by Ray’s use of blocking and shot composition. For most of the film, we witness Walt Murdock’s fight against Cottonmouth from his point of view. When he first meets Cottonmouth, it is in an upside-down shot from the inside of Murdock’s camera. After talking for a bit, Cottonmouth mysteriously disappears. In this shot, the frame mimics Murdock’s inability to follow him in the swamp. Compare this to scenes in Cottonmouth’s camp where the camera becomes more omnipotent, free from the visual inhibitions of a single character. During the last few scenes, the shots literally become distorted and blurry, thereby representing Murdock’s incredible fatigue. But the camera foregoes Murdock’s perspective during the scene where he confronts Cottonmouth at his camp during the storm. The shots should have become more and more blurry as Murdock became more and more inebriated. But the camera-work is steady and deliberate during these scenes where Murdock seems to bond with the outlaw and his men. Ray always identified with outsiders and renegades in his work. The fact that the camera becomes passive when Murdock is one with the outlaws enforces this. When he is with them, the world is in focus. When Murdock returns to the world of laws and conservation, his perspective falls out of that focus. All of this is echoed by Ray’s camera-work.

8/10