2

This below scene repeated so many times at the beginning of the movie:

enter image description here

What's the significance of repeating this scene in Nobody (2021)?

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
11

It's fairly standard movie shorthand for

"This is my boring life. I do the same things every day, every week."

…until…

It tells you a lot about his life in a quick shorthand way.
He has a dull job as something to do with figures at an industrial factory. He has scheduling issues - he can't remember to take out the garbage in time. His wife and son really don't have much time for him. He exercises regularly.
That's quite a lot of personal life that they manage to tell us in about one minute.

It also, presumably quite intentionally, tells you nothing about his past or any hint as to what the opening pre-credit sequence has to do with it.

Improve this answer
2
  • And IIRC at a certain point these scenes change subtly and then drastically.
    – BCdotWEB
    Jul 3, 2021 at 15:35
  • 1
    @BCdotWEB - tbh, I just flicked quickly through the opening 5 minutes to make sure I was on the right track, but at the same time realised I really do have to watch it all again properly sometime soon, so didn't go any further. I often have a memory like a … ermm… metal thingy… holes… so I like to re-watch.
    – Tetsujin
    Jul 3, 2021 at 15:44
1

It not only says that hutch has a boring life, but foreshadows several specific points

Tetsujin certainly get the gist of the point of the scene: Hutch's life is full of routine and somewhat boring.

But some specific points are worth noting. Hutch takes the bus to work using a metrocard. This becomes significant later as it is the card that allows the Russians to work out who he is (hes loses it in the bus fight and one of the Russians picks it up).

While standing or exercising at the bus stop, we see an advert for his wife's real estate business, emphasising his apparent relative lack of success in his work (arguably she is successful enough to have a prominent public profile in a successful business).

We also see him doing ad-hoc exercise (eg doing pull ups at the bus stop) which emphasises both that he is fit, but also that he is keeping fit without a serious effort to go to a gym or to do so in public.

He is also being nagged by his wife over annoying trivialities like not putting out the bins on time. This clearly annoys her and shows that she has, to some extent, not a huge amount of respect for him.

We also see a co-worker who regularly arrives at the factory car park and is slowed down by having to avoid him walking through the car park. Possibly showing that he isn't respected by his co-workers. Why is some factory functionary driving a big SUV when he has to walk? (BTW this co worker is the one shown reading the sign later saying the factory is closed and under new management).

So, yes, this is a very compact way to show his boring life, the lack of respect he gets from his family and his colleagues. He is "nobody". But also to foreshadow some things that will appear and be significant later.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.