*** Official "ONE HOUR PHOTO" Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Michael Reuben]

At this point, the detectives really do not have any evidence that Sy was in their room unless Mr. Yorkin and the adulteress fess up.

After that whole scene at the hotel, they could hardly do anything else. It's clear the detective knows what happened when he first sits down to talk to Sy, and he could know that without any pictures.

M.

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

My question is: What was the significance of and why did Sy took pictures of the little girl playing by herself in the yard?

They were a veiled threat to his boss for firing him. The photos were of his boss' daughter, implying that Sy could harm him if he wanted.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Somehow I missed that. Thanks.

~Edwin

 

[BrianKM]

Sy opens up the film with a voiceover of Jakob's birthday and he's talking about how people only take pictures of the happy events in their live - of the things they want to remember. He says that going through a person's photo album would give you a false representation of their life. In order to gain a true understanding of a person, you would have to not only document the happy moments, but the mundane details ("a used bandaid") and the events that they would like to forget.

Recalling that, one could interpret Sy's pictures of bathroom fixtures and drywall as mundane details of a best-forgotten event - completing Sy's Yorkin family photo collection in a sense.

As for the actual sex photos, the detectives probably withheld them for obvious reasons. Reasoning: Sy is only given 20 pictures in the interrogation room, 35mm film only comes in 24 or 36 shot rolls, and Sy is adamant about finishing off rolls (scene where he finishes off Nina's roll with a picture of himself) - so there are 4-16 missing pictures.

The final shot - pure Sy fantasy, Sy's motivation captured in a snapshot.

Anyone here a photographer? I kinda smirked when I saw how well done the Yorkin family photos were - great use of color, perfect framing, excellent lighting, etc. Heck, even the kid's roll looked like someone's Photo 1 final project.

 

[Johnny V]

As for the actual sex photos, the detectives probably withheld them for obvious reasons. Reasoning: Sy is only given 20 pictures in the interrogation room, 35mm film only comes in 24 or 36 shot rolls, and Sy is adamant about finishing off rolls (scene where he finishes off Nina's roll with a picture of himself) - so there are 4-16 missing pictures.

Great point, but if there were missing photos wouldn't Sy have reacted differently. I would assume that he would've shown some bewilderment or anger or confusion? I don't know.

 

[James_Kiang]

Regarding the pictures given to Sy at the end of the movie:
As I recall, the detective told Sy that they developed the film from the camera but that they also found a roll of film in his home. Based on that, I assumed that the photos Sy looked at at the end were from this other roll. The photos of the forced sex acts were evidence and the detective would not leave those with him.

Regarding the "What's wrong with people?":
Sy recognized the girl who dropped off the incriminating photos. He checked his wall of pictures and saw that she had a connection to the husband. He then developed the film and saw that the two were having an affair. This angered him because it was his impression that the Yorkins were a perfect family and this violated that. He set it up so that Nina would get the photos and take action, because in his mind that is what should be done. As he watched them eat dinner and she did nothing he could not fathom her perceived non-reaction. Now he probably views both Nina and Will as being "defective", though he still only blames Will for his actions. Of course, this was intended to elicit laughter as Sy obviously had plenty "wrong" with him.

 

[David Von Pein]

Just saw a clip of the film on Leno. Now I'm really anxious to see it!

Already can't wait for the DVD!

 

[Patrick Sun]

That last shot in the film is Sy's "Uncle Sy" fantasy come true for him, but I think it's a non-existent photo in real life, and just the director's way of messing with the audience's minds.

I don't think there was any film in the camera when Sy forced Will and Maya to pose in various sex positions. That would have been over the top, even for a guy who was so disturbed by the pedophile photos he saw in his 11 years of developing film at Savmart. I liked that the photos he left the cops was just of the little things in his hotel room.

Even if Will and Maya's shots were done by themselves, there were some shots that would be really be hard to get without another person to snap the photos. So that was stretching credibility just a bit there in order to provide the photos that would enhance the shock value for the audience of Will's cheating ways. Now the purpose of that scene was to shock Will into coming to grips with how bad infidelity can be on a marriage. Sy was going for the whole fear and shame factor with that little psychotic episode.

I also found it implausible that the manager would not have summarily dismissed Sy on that Wednesday, and not allow him to finish out the week (and have access to the photo lab), but the plot dictated that Sy be able to return to the photo lab once he figured out that Myra was connected to Will to check out the photos that Myra dropped off earlier. That was lame.

The overt threat to Sy's manager with the roll of film focused on his daughter was also lame because even if it's just a scare tactic, it's a stupid one. For a guy who's been scarred by pedophile photography, you'd think he'd think twice about snapping photos of a child in the manner he did, even if he was hurting from losing his job.

While I figured that Nina would use the photos for leverage in a divorce settlement, what did she do to shut up Jakob in the meanwhile? That was definitely stretching it there as well. Kids have a way with having to unload traumatic stuff, and I thought Jakob saw the photos before Nina did since she was driving and he was free to look at them first. How Jakob kept stuff like that bottled up at dinner would be pretty amazing for a 9 year old, but perhaps Nina explained to him the facts of life on the way home in a very stark and harsh way that shut him up.

Now, I get the whole "Sy could be an unreliable narrator" angle, but the detective could easily poke holes in stuff like was Sy fired and removed immediately, or did he really get to finish out the week. But even so, the whole chain of events seem to poorly motivated that I wouldn't give 2 nuts to blind squirrels if I had them, I simply wasn't sympathetic to Sy given his view of what happened.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Okay, having just seen this again with the wife, here are some more clarifications.

The detective in the beginning said that there were two rolls of film: one in his bag and the other in his camera, which he left on the nightstand and found by the detectives. So, the pictures that he gave to Sy in the end were those from the camera and the sex photos Sy took were the roll of film in his bag that the detective kept as evidence.

The incriminating pictures of the husband and the adulteress were all from one location taken outside at a beach.

The ending also suggests that Sy was a sexually abused child himself.

~Edwin

 

[Vickie_M]

I also found it implausible that the manager would not have summarily dismissed Sy on that Wednesday, and not allow him to finish out the week (and have access to the photo lab), but the plot dictated that Sy be able to return to the photo lab once he figured out that Myra was connected to Will to check out the photos that Myra dropped off earlier. That was lame.

You and Edwin have obviously never had this happen to you. It's happened to me twice, so I didn't think it was lame at all. The manager didn't like Sy, and the numbers were wanky, but he didn't have any proof of wrongdoing at that point, so had no cause to order him out of the building posthaste. The manager warned Sy not to pull any shenanigans, but let him finish out the week. I didn't see anything at all weird about that.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

You and Edwin have obviously never had this happen to you.

You might as well include Michael Reuben in there too.

Of course I am aware that this type of dismissal still happens but it probably happens more in smaller companies than in bigger, regional or nationwide companies. And that's why I went the middle of the road as far as this plot point is concerned.

However, SavMart, with its type of inventory and layout struck me more as a regional or nationwide type of Company where this type of dismissal is more likely NOT to happen. With a good amount of severance pay, there was no reason for Sy to really work the rest of his week. Just compensate him enough and get him out of there before he can do any more damage. However, that plot point was needed to get the story moving and was more as a convenience than anything else. Still, I was willing to let it pass to a certain extent.

As for the incriminating pictures, well, that's another story. That one was a little bit harder to accept. But can two people really be careless so as to photograph their own affair? Since there are some people that can really be stupid, I was not able to dismiss that possibility of happening even when the chance of it happening was very remote. That's how I wrote that one off.

~Edwin

 

[Alex Spindler]

I caught this for the first time yesterday and was very impressed.

On some of the points from earlier in this thread, the general point of the detective's intro was "what did Mr. Yorkin do to set you off?". In retrospect, there was nothing about the intro to conclude that there was much, if any, physical violence. In reality, the fact that he was photographed by a threat management unit is very telling that his capture was preemptive.

Personally, I thought this was an excellent film about a damaged and lonely man trying to insinuate himself into a family and reacting as a vindictive child when he feels the trust of the family is betrayed. The film is shown with an omniscient view, so I accept all those scenes not obviously dreams to be valid.

I accept Nina's reaction to the photographs as realistic as well. She was probably already suspecting of her husband (hence the 'neglectful' speech). However, as was pointed out, she is financially dependent on him and knows that she is fortunate to live as she does with her son. So, she probably explains it to her son and keeps it under the rug. This is far more realistic than you probably give it credit.

About Sy's firing - I would expect that the one thing that the boss can count on Sy for is his professionalism and duty to 'his' customers. Outside of his suspecting of fraud and some questionable behavior (more wasteful than harmful), I would consider him to be trustworthy to finish his week. Perhaps Yoshi wasn't going to be available for until the end of the week.


On thought - assuming that Sy was indeed sexually abused as a child, can you imagine how emotionally damaging it would be to be placed in a position to screen for child pornography? It's little wonder that his emotional reactions are juvenile and his longing to be a part of a normal family dominate his life. The only thing that happens over time is that he changes from wanting to be a 'son' to wanting to be an 'uncle'.

A good film, and one that kept me pretty enthralled.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Perhaps Yoshi wasn't going to be available for until the end of the week.

If so then there was no reason to notify him ahead of time of his dismissal and create ill-will in the process. Remember, he was not being laid off because of slow business. He was being fired because of unethical conduct and behavior. A big difference.

~Edwin

 

[Markus Lidstrom]

Why wouldnt she take some pictures? It's not as though she intended anyone but her, the husband and a photo developer to see them.
On few trivial notes, did anyone get a large Matrix deja vu during the dream sequence? And speaking of Kubrick homages, did anyone else catch a certain room number used during the room service conversation

 

[JonZ]

"The ending also suggests that Sy was a sexually abused child himself"

Which is my ONLY copmplaint about this film. I didnt think it was necessary to give a explanation about why Sy was disturbed.

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

One of the inconsistances that took me out of the film a bit was the length of time before the boss reviewed the photo machine numbers. For the amount of time that Sy had been syphoning off rolls of film for himself, I thought it was impossible to believe that they only now figured out that there was a discrepency in their records. I also thought that Sy would have been smart enough to hide it better (ie charge people for extra sets, etc.).

 

[Steve Bjorg]

I just it yesteday and I am still left with mixed feelings. First, to answer the question about the pictures in the car when Mrs. Yorking finds out about the affair. The audience does see the contents of that picture at that moment. So, there is no doubt that she really saw it.

That aside, I'm not sure that Sy was abused as a child. I felt that his anger could have come from what he saw at his job. Primarily, I saw Sy as an extremly lonely guy. He didn't have any pictures of his own, so I concluded that he didn't have any happy moments to remember. However in the Yorking family, he found all the traits of what his ideal family would have been. With the passing years, he projected his own life more and more onto theirs. Making their happy moments, his happy moments. In essence, their life made his life worthwhile. We can only guess how many abusive families he screened before settling on the Yorkins.

I admit, I would have to see it again to pick up more of the nuances. However, I believe the conversation between Sy and the police officer only covers the bookends of the movie. I don't think he confessed anything at all aside from his hatred for disfunctional families.

Also, are the disturbing pictures the police-officer referes to the ones taking in the hotel room (assuming there was a roll in the camera) or those of the child playing outside? The latter would be sufficient for making a threat assessement. Also, since what Sy did to the couple in the room (which was really a form of rape), I'm not sure they would have confessed, being too ashamed of what happened.

Anyway, these are just some thoughts as I'm still digesting this movie. While it left me with mixed feelings, I certainly was impressed with RW performance. Especially that scene where he leaves his job and walks through the aisles. The audience can see his face change from an uncomfortable smile too despair and hatred. That scene will haunt me for a while.

 

[John Spencer]

I finally got to see the film last night, and then read this read. So here are some of my rudimentary thoughts concerning points brought up in this thread:

1. While Sy may not have been abused as a child, it seems pretty obvious that he had a traumatic childhood. His not having any photos of his family, of any kind whatsoever, leads me to the conclusion that he may have been an "unwanted" orphan. The circumstances surrounding the event may or may not have been violent or sexual, but one would surmise that growing up without any kind of family to call one's own would be quite traumatic.

2. On the subject of photos, what kind of photography enthusiast has no photos of his own? Especially since he works in a photo lab. One would think there would have been a myriad of photos depicting his "real world". Where are these pictures of used band-aids and broken dishes? Maybe not such an important point, but one that nagged at me.

3. I did like how Sy finally truly connected with Jakob after developing his birthday gift roll. I think he finally thought that he had found someone with the same world view as himself. His feeling of being a "guardian angel" for Jakob is what led him to act out the way that he did.

4. I did find it interesting that his devotion was pointedly non-sexual. He didn't try to come on to Mrs. Yorkin, and not because of the fear of rejection. He didn't make any "manly" sexual comments about hre to Mr. Yorkin, either. He just stated what he felt; that Adam was a lucky man. The true motivation through it all was that Sy didn't want Jakob to ever feel alone. He loved the family because all he ever saw at first was their happy moments. His world caved in when the opposite came to pass.

5. Maybe it's just the way the scene played out, but I got the impression that the SavMart manager was trying to save his own ass. He wasn't going to take the fall when numbers didn't fall his way. Whether Sy was truly guilty was of no consequence. The manager had a fall guy to cover the problem. And letting him finish out the week is not an unusual occurence at all in the South. I've worked at a couple of larger chains, and many times, as long as the issue didn't involve stealing the employee was allowed to "finish out the week."

6. The ending - If you owned a pretty successful business, and got caught "with your pants down" would you want to watch your credibility plummet due to an embarrassing dallaince? I'm not really sure if it could be avoided by the end of the film, but at least Sy thought he had done his part to reunite the family, fulfilling his guardian angel duties as "Uncle Sy".

 

[DennisP]

Okay, here's my take on the movie. This post is a complete spoiler....so let the reader beware....scroll down at your own risk.



























1. Sy is obsessed with the Yorkin family and fantasizes about being a part of that family.

2. Sy has been processing pictures of the Yorkins for years and has probably spend a lot of time looking at each one...hence his comment to Myra "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?". He checks his photo wall and sees Myra in one of the Yorkin's photos. He checks Myra's photos and sees Mr. Yorkin with her.

3. Sy gets caught and fired for making lots of re prints.

4. Sy wants to punish Mr. Yorking for cheating and ruining his (Yorkin's) family's life.

5. Sy takes pictures of ex-bosses kid and brings them to the same store he was fired from for developing knowing the police will be called.

6. Sy defaces all the pictures on his wall by scratching out Mr's Yorkins head. Knowing that police will come to his apartment after his ex-boss calls them as a potential threat to his daughter. This will cause the police to go to the Yorkin's house as they now believe Mr. Yorkin is a target

7. Yorkin's wife knows he's having an affair because Sy sent her the pictures with Myra and her husband.

8. Sy follows Mr. Yorkin and Myra to the hotel (these little afternoon interludes must have been pretty routine).... Sy gets a room on the same floor. Sy takes pictures of stuff in his room and does nothing to Mr. Yorkin or Myra.

9. Yorkin's wife calls her husband's office and finds out where her husband is and tells police...police then go to hotel.

10. Police go to Mr. Yorkin's room and find him there with Myra. (I think Myra is in bathtub hiding, and Yorkin is on bed still naked...caught....there is no way that either would still be naked or even in that room if Sy had actually done what he appeared to do to them....that part was Sy's fantasy of what he would have liked to do to them. Seems completely logical that if the police or anyone is banging on the hotel door and then gain access her first instinct would be to hide and look thoroughly shaken because of it).

11. Sy is taken into custody for possible threat to ex-bosses daughter and Mr. Yorkin.

I think the food court meeting actually happened.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it

 

[JamieD]

I just saw this movie, and would have to agree with DennisP's observances, for the most part. I tend to think the movie is relatively straightforward, and WANTS us to think that Sy's gone completely off the deep end and is going to kill someone.

I thought this was a great movie. I enjoyed how they actually gave a (somewhat veiled) reasoning for Sy's actions, instead of just making him the "random psycho". I thought both the photos of the affair, and the keeping him on until the end of the week were understandable. I certainly think that Robin Williams would deserve a Best Actor nomination for this film, perhaps not an award, but a nomination. Personally it's in my top movies.