During our Monday class we watched ‘From The East’ (1993, Dir. Chantal Akerman). The long uninterrupted shots of the everyday man were very observational, giving great insight to a very specific time in a country on the precipice of great change. However, it also struck me as a little predatory. ‘From The East’ reminded me a lot of the scene from Dirty Harry, when the Scorpio killer is looking through his riflescope at a public square, choosing his next victim. The cameras, his scope, like ‘From The East’ scans across the everyday man until he settles on a black man sitting on a bench. No one is safe. When I was watching From The East I was waiting for the camera to stop and for someone to die, it was very suspenseful.

The influence of knowledge and past viewing experience each person brings the viewing of a film is substantial, and sometimes unpredictable to the filmmaker. I’m sure Akerman did not intend for me to be reminded of a serial killer when she was capturing the state of a peoples relationship with a camera that was about to evolve for ever. I was reminded of this on Monday and the realisation stayed with me.