If you have not yet seen Thelma , it is recommended that you return to this article at a later time. This is the second article on the film. The first one, a general interpretation, is here. The current article shall complete the picture with items that did not easily fit the interpretational nature of the previous piece. We will also look at some elegant visual solutions and mirrorings between scenes.
We realise that something supernatural is going on — or an inexplicable case of mild telepathy between two women on an extraordinarily common wavelength? Earlier that evening Thelma had a splendid time with her new friends, Anja in particular. A worried phone call from her parents, however, tore her away from her companions. Let us follow the film a bit further, because interesting things happen not only with hands but other motifs too. Thelma can perform smaller manipulations when awake, but the heavy lifting occurs in dreams, and thus soon a disoriented Anja arrives.
Not only once but twice, light falls on the wine red jacket Thelma used earlier that night. This is of course perfectly legible from the story, but the jacket is one of the smaller instruments that is discretely playing the same melody. Anja is staying the night, and a transfixed Thelma lies behind her in bed, gazing at her neck, hair and ear.
Now the empty space in the bed is taken. Thus there is not only a camera lying behind Anja, but someone has had the presence of mind to provide a stream of air, adding a layer of intimacy. Here a beautiful balance has been struck, but once more not without undercurrents of manipulation. Their positions mirror each other. The hair now resembles her own, with unruly strands radiating backwards. More about breathing and hair in the first article , respectively here and here.
While she is struggling with her own hands…. Especially one performer, with piercing gaze and gaunt face, seems to have taken a liking to her:. In the first article we also discussed light as a motif , most often flickering. Thelma herself knows somewhere in her mind repressed memory that she has taken a life, so the question ought to strike her with great power.
