Haha. Funny how Life imitates Art. My grandson reminded me of one of the best bits of cinematic timing and story telling I’ve experienced in my youth – The Count of Monte Cristo, specifically.
Before I explain why, I’ll describe the scene that played out yesterday…
We were outside, in front and were tending to the garden – weeding, pruning, the usual. Well, I was weeding and the grandson was just grabbing everything that looked interesting, so my weeding wasn’t as efficient as hoped. But it was great learning material and most of the stuff will grow back.
While we I was focused on a particularly tricky patch, I heard the boy exclaim, “HEY HEY HEY HI HEY” which means someone’s nearby. He’s not shy at all, the lad.
And sure enough, here walks within speaking distance a young lady, perhaps in her mid-30s. She’s got earbuds in and is out for exercising so she’s focused on her walking. But the boy is not deterred.
“HEY HI HI LADY HI HEY”
And I cringe but smile, since she notices the boy and slows down to talk to him. She even takes out the earbuds, so he’s got her full attention.
Experience with toddler brains and mouths and general disposition causes me some concern and I mentally review everything we’ve done this morning. Had I done any grandpa jokes or general goofiness that could be taken out of context when he blurts them out (specifically, any of the “pull-mah-finger-boy” kind)?
What will take place in the next few seconds?
Queue the scene from the movie.
In the scene, we have Gérard de Villefort, the story’s main bad guy, who calls in Edmond Dantès for questioning. We, the audience, know de Villefort is up to no good when he calls the boy in. And we know the boy has an innocent heart and will say just about anything, since he’s young and innocent and giddy with happiness due to his recent engagement with his loved one, Mercedes.
The questioning goes well, even though we know something’s afoot. We the audience are holding our breath as the lad answers honestly and truthfully (why wouldn’t he?) in this very dangerous situation. Trouble is, he doesn’t know just how dangerous a situation he is in.
However, he breezes through the interrogation, and proves his innocence with no problem at all. Mr. de Villefort even explains why he knows the boy is innocent of all wrong doing. He is free to go back to his family and future bride…!
But, as he is walking out the door, there’s a Final Question. And this (amongst one of the many parts of the story I love) is the pivotal point – this is the moment where everything falls down for the boy.
I paraphrase de Villefort here from the movie : “O, and one more thing – I see no address on the envelope. It’s to be handed to whom? [pause and intensity happens] … Say that name once more…?” And we the audience start to get that feeling of uuuuugggghhhh.
So here we are in the front yard, enjoying a nice fall~ish morning.
Some nice lady walks by, a boy gets her attention, and although she’s certainly not a baddie like Mr. de Villefort, the situation starts to seem frighteningly familiar.
The usual questions are asked and answered, as well as the usual general pleasantries (“how old are you”, “I like your shoes, it’s pretty outside today”, “yes you are a big boy helping grandpa”, “yes, i see you have 5 pine cones”, etc.).
She tries to escape twice before she’s successful on the third attempt with a “Ok, i got to go now, we’ll see you later, ok, bye bye”.
I breathe a sigh of relief as I wave a silent “bye” to her and we both grin at his lack of fear.
The grins freeze as he turns around.
“HEY GWAMPA I TALKED TO THE OLD LADY.
THE OLD LADY IS NICE TO ME!!!
BYE OLD LADY”
O, that familiar feeling of uuuuugggghhhh…
If the link doesn’t take you straight to the scene I saw in my mind, go to the 11:27 mark to get the idea 🙂
Photo courtesy of Michael Gil (Flickr)