Death In Sarah Watt's Look Both Ways

Sarah Watt’s “Look Both Ways” shows us that death is a normal part of our lives, and if we are unable to accept it, then it can hold us back from living our lives to its fullest. Using a variety of filming techniques, Watts effectively displays and accentuates the pain and grief of her characters, especially Nick and Meryl who “have been seeing death everywhere”, in order to demonstrate how fears of death can restrict our ability to live, in terms of anything from relationships and being social, to taking risks and just being happy. Each character has their problems conveyed through different techniques in accordance with their lifestyles and careers. For example, Meryl is a painter and her fears are portrayed using animations, and Nick who
The loss of a loved one is a difficult one indeed, emphasised by the director in the extreme close-up shots of Julia’s face, showing the extent of the grief and devastation she experienced. In this sense, she is not very different to Meryl, but they differ in their individual ways of coping with this grief. The deep-set sorrow felt by Julia and even the train driver is something constantly referred to with film techniques throughout the film to alert readers as to the significance of this as a theme. After the initial shock and trauma of the death of her husband, Julia is approached by the train driver who offers an apology in the form of a card, which for him is a way of overcoming the guilt in his mind and moving on with his life. Julia is also offered a choice here, she could continue to dwell in her despair, or accept that what happened to her husband is unchangeable and that he is gone forever, and begin the journey to regaining her happiness. Julia chose to accept the train driver’s apology and in doing so, she not only freed the train driver of his burden, but also broke the chains of her anguish which were holding her