The Art of Drowning
Saturday, January 14th, 2006
Here’s the setup: Bud (Ed Harris) and Lindsey (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) are trapped in a compact submersible about a thousand feet underwater and their sub is leaking quickly. They only have one oxygen tank and diving suit to go around, and Bud is already wearing it. Without any way to stop the leak, their only chance is to swim back to their crew rig a hundred yards away. Lindsey - being the smart one - decides that because of the frigid water she should be able to withstand losing consciousness long enough for Bud to tow her back to the main ship and quickly administer first aid. As the decision to drown herself becomes the only option available, Bud watches in horror as Lindsey takes her last gulp of air and goes under. When her body stops twitching and she goes motionless, Bud has minutes to get back to the ship to revive her. Furiously dragging her lifeless body through the water, Bud finally arrives at the rig where the rest of the crew frantically scramble to bring her back to life. To say any more would ruin the suspense and emotional payoff, but to say that this scene gets everything right is a major understatement.
This setup is genius and would have been a classic in the making if The Abyss was comprised of just this scene alone. One reason the scene packs an emotional wallop is because it is so unexpected, especially considering that it comes right after a thrilling action sequence that ends with the death of lunatic marine Lt. Coffey (Michael Biehn). The audience barely has time to catch its breath before we’re plunged deeper into more sinister jeopardy with both leading characters, and the scene could have been dismissed as overkill if not executed properly. So how does James Cameron pull it off?
To dissect this sequence, it’s easier to break it down into three parts: the attempt to stop the leak, the drowning and towing back to the rig, and finally the frantic race to bring Lindsey back from death.
Firstly, the pacing is spot on. After surviving the attack by Lt. Coffey, Bud and Lindsey calmly assess their situation and actually make chit-chat while they inspect for damages. Meanwhile, water is furiously pouring out of a damaged bracket along the wall. It’s obvious that the fateful decision they have to make in a couple of minutes is not a pressing matter, making the decision when it comes much more devastating. To compound the tension, the decision of allowing a person to drown in front of you is downright macabre and so utterly nerve wracking that Cameron really doesn’t have to over do it with the direction. He just points the camera and shoots the actors. Cameron’s patience with the direction lets the scene play out organically without distracting filmmaking indulgences like over-the-top editing and cinematography or even a musical score to “enhance” our emotional investment in the scene. Instead, after Lindsey drowns, Cameron decides to cut away from the sub to a long shot of Bud towing Lindsey in his arms and frantically swimming towards the camera. Shooting them in a long shot undercuts Bud’s effort and renders the struggle to get back seemingly much more difficult as there is no sense of how far he has left to go or of his speed. Surely Lindsey is a goner.
When Bud finally arrives at the dock and first aid starts, the scene turns more conventional with the blocking and dialogue all familiar to anyone who’s watched an episode of E.R. Lindsey of course undergoes a defibulator and CPR all to no avail and it is assumed that Lindsey has indeed died. Cameron plays with the conventional nature of the climax by having Bud and the crew start and stop several times at the process. The only reason they keep trying is Bud’s insistence that Lindsey does not give up, and neither should they. It’s obvious that Bud loves Lindsey; even though his seemingly tough exterior has done everything it can to distance his emotional connection with his ex-wife. It’s only when Bud gives Lindsey mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (the symbolism quite obvious) that she finally recovers.
When certain critics deride Cameron’s direction as purely technical and grandiose, they obviously must not have been paying attention during the scene. Cameron manages to pull off the seemingly impossible feat of providing suspense, character motivation and exposition with an emotional depth rarely seen in action/adventure epics. That it does all of this in such an entertaining and efficient manner is masterful.
Read the script of the scene. (PDF reader required)
