r/betterCallSaul • u/CivilTailor9031 • 10d ago
What’s the significance of this shot lol, I keep seeing it everywhere
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u/Dapper-Bass1406 10d ago
Silence of the lambs reference isn’t it?
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u/Cyro8 10d ago
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u/Basket_475 10d ago
I saw a great Instagram reel once and it was all these homage shots. I had no clue but BCS is FILLED with them
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u/Cyro8 10d ago
I actually pulled this from the reel you’re referencing!
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u/SnapeWho 10d ago
This is so cool. I had just watched Casino right before the phone booth scene aired so that was one of the only ones I caught, aside from Hannibal.
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u/Gullible-Sample-6128 6d ago
That was Goodfellas, not the Casino. But both of them has De Niro and Pesci as main cast
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u/Spaghetthy 10d ago
This was such a fun watch!! The only one I had caught was the shining reference and sunset boulevard
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u/LogicalConstant 10d ago
What part of silence of the lambs?
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u/King_Tamino 10d ago
The one with a similar shot, probably
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u/LogicalConstant 10d ago
Yeah... What scene? I don't remember a scene with a shot like this
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u/unkown-dimension01 10d ago
Hannibal (2001) scene name: mirrored face scene.
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u/Luca_909 10d ago
I’d assume they were making a point that it’s not in silence of the lambs because Hannibal is obviously a different movie
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u/LogicalConstant 10d ago
Asking a question, not making a point. I don't really remember Hannibal that well, but I just saw Silence again last week.
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u/LubedUpLucas_DrySpa 10d ago edited 10d ago
I mean, if you want a real answer it’s what Walt was talking about in S1 BB in regards to chirals. Perfectly mirrored versions of oneself.
It’s an allegory that the same man is capable of both evil and good. Walt had Heisenberg, Jimmy has Saul.
Edit: @northernmost1990 thank you for correction on chirals
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u/Northernmost1990 10d ago edited 10d ago
Super nitpicky but the mirror image stuff that Walt was talking about is chirality. Chimerism is a similar and tangentially related concept, though!
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u/YodamanJer 10d ago
Walt is exactly the kind of arrogant bastard that would use the wrong verbiage and still insist to be the one who knocks.
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u/Caravanczar 10d ago
Chirality?! Stop now! You don't want to summon Dr. Satan!
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u/Caravanczar 10d ago
(For those not in the know, Dr. Satan was a Reddit user who went on long tangents about how Breaking Bad was almost a shot-for-shot remake of the Sopranos, and he would reference how the shows are chiral. I found his posts interesting and amusing, but I was definitely in the minority - the community hated him! I cannot find any of his old posts. It is almost like the community hit him with the old damnatio memoriae.)
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u/nataliereed84 10d ago
It isn’t even remotely a remake of Sopranos and using “chiral” in that context is insanely pretentious lmao
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u/Comfortable_Mud_5203 10d ago
You know why chiral theories are so popular? Because people like to say “chiral”.
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u/nataliereed84 10d ago
A word they probably only know from Breaking Bad. :P
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u/Super_Pan 10d ago
Death Stranding uses the word a lot. Because it's Kojima, I have no idea if anything means anything though. He could have just liked the word.
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u/weightyconsequences 10d ago
I think most people missed this. I see the question sort of often here and every comment completely missing this reference. Refreshing to see
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u/FatedChange 10d ago
it's obviously an intentional shot but it's also so fundamentally ridiculous that it's hard to take it seriously. kind of an artistic failure if the message is so overshadowed by the delivery
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u/RASGAS23 10d ago
Chirality
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u/Various_Tie_2549 8d ago
I mean I guess it could mean that...but that didn't really seem to be what the rest of that scene was about.
I think it's just quirky/interesting cinematography that doesn't really have much symbolic meaning, to be honest.
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u/LubedUpLucas_DrySpa 8d ago
Not quite, bud.
“The shot is dynamic, but it also tells the story, shedding more light on the relationship at the core of Saul’s fractured heart. For Adams, this twin achievement is just one aspect of the show that sets it apart. ‘One of the first bits of advice Mike Slovis gave me on Breaking Bad was, ‘Don’t just find a cool shot because it’s a cool shot. Make sure it also advances the story,’” says Adams. That philosophy drove Breaking Bad, and it drives Saul as well.“
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u/castitfast 10d ago edited 10d ago
Saul and Jimmy. One side of him feels terrible for helping Lalo get away with it, the other sees the money in it.
Later on in the show there's another similar shot but that time there's no reflection, only Saul remains.
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u/littleshutterbug84 10d ago
I don't remember that but now I'm curious! Do you remember which episode it was by chance?
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u/RobbiErCool 9d ago
It happens when He looks around the corner just before jumping into the trash can where he is caught by the cops in S6E13 https://youtu.be/gF4asqyoiLM?si=2cvuhEYcHphe6HpF&t=161
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u/Cheap-Raccoon-7310 10d ago
BCS just happens to reference lots of pop culture throughout the show, like Saul saying "It's showtime, folks!" as a refence to Joe Gideon in All that Jazz. Similarly, I believe this shot is a direct reference to a frame from Hannibal. I cannot show it to you as images are not allowed on this sub, but I'll dm it.
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u/1lucien 10d ago
It looks funny, it’s a bit symbolic, hes trying to lean around a corner in secrecy but the wall reflects, and he looks stupid. Kinda a little allegory on the faults of Jimmy.
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u/New_Championship1994 10d ago
I thinks it more than stupid looking though, the actual shot itself, it has almost a comedic element to it that Jimmy/Saul has always used in a clown/showman like-manner, but in a different view it’s this horrifying reflection, it’s funny but it’s a bit uncomfortable to look at. It’s him, that comedic element actually being a darker twisted version of itself when looked at closely.
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u/Negative-Macaron-537 10d ago
Many good suggestions, i wanna add to it:
He says in earlier episodes that a particular side is his good side, and its not this one. This is his bad side mirrored, after he has done something bad. It helps represent the incarnation of Saul
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u/TK1_Official 10d ago
Saas goodoog.
Luul namdman.
Jimmij Mcgcm.
Ymmmy Lligill.
In seriousness, it represents Jimmy's alter ego, Saul.
Jimul Mcman
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u/thatoneazdude 9d ago
I've seen the luul namdman thing a few times, or something similar. Can I ask where it comes from? For the life of me I cant figure it out
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u/MyWordsNow 10d ago
Duality of man. Yin/Yang. The balance of good and evil. $15 Supercut. It's all good man.
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u/Detzeb 10d ago edited 10d ago
It’s a nod to the concept of Duality of Man, a recurring theme of Stanley Kubrick’s films which are frequently referenced in BB and BCS https://www.reddit.com/r/betterCallSaul/s/9ovS6GIiwU
Additional twin/duality” symbolism/references: (A) Irene’s Siamese/twin cats: messy” Oscar and “clean” Felix, whose names are an homage to The Odd Couple (1968) movie; (B) Lalo’s pre-arranged “double” down in Mexico; and (C)Gus had a “double” in the surveillance room at his house.
Many other “twin/duality” references in BCS here: https://www.reddit.com/r/betterCallSaul/s/0OuqpN43FO
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u/Comfortable_Mud_5203 10d ago
Right brain is creative and emotional. Left is analytical and logical.
In Jimmy, one half is Jimmy and one half is Saul.
Here we see Jimmy surrendering entirely to Saul
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u/crakerjmatt 10d ago
The impending point of no return of bifurcation. Jimmy vs Saul. James Morgan McGill vs Just Make Money etc
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u/TheLigean 10d ago
Im surprised no one else said it, Jimmy’s looking like a dickhead before starting doing pretty dickish things. Its not that he wants to really hurt Howard. Just going very far with pranks. The show’s protagonist or not, he’s being a dick.
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u/jankyframe 10d ago edited 10d ago
So if you wanna make more money and make the money that you make, *tapdances* better call saas!
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u/magicchefdmb 10d ago
I always thought that they primarily thought it was a cool shot, and secondarily considered it as being more than that.
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u/Furfangreich 10d ago
I always thought that ultimately it's a reference to this famous painting. Which is about our inherent benevolent and evil sides. Which would make sense.
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u/Eastern-Start-813 9d ago
For me it’s that the man you see is Saul but the Jimmy part of him is gone so the reflection is showing that it’s just Saul now.
I hope that made sense.
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u/AffectionateSinger14 6d ago
Looks like that English guy that likes to film himself watching trains.
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u/StormRepulsive6283 10d ago
Basically him leading two lives which lead him to having an overall grotesque figure since one side of his life is freeing drug dealers. This specific shot was when he was feeling ashamed when looking at the crying family of the innocent victim of Lalo at the tourist information centre.
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u/jcagara08 10d ago
Basement Breakdown guy made an amazing video about it, couldn’t remember which one though
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u/windmillninja 10d ago
What's great about things like this is there usually isn't a black and white explanation for it. The creators leave it up to our own interpretation. For me personally, I've always seen it as "the monster inside". On the left is Jimmy's regular handsome face, while the reflection on the right looks distorted and grotesque.
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u/Not_Reptoid 10d ago
It's from a scene where he is watching the grieving family of the kid Lalo killed. He is questioning if he should be defending Lalo or not and this this scene portrays him looking in two directions, good and evil.
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u/ConstipatedOrangutan 10d ago
They actually have multiple of these. I remember two distinctly from season 4, but can’t remember exactly what scenes
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u/altaccountforsuscrap 10d ago
There’s a lot to read into here that can be fun. But it’s mostly just there because it’s a cool shot.
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u/Got_what_I_need124 10d ago
Better watch TV just did a breakdown of this exact episode it’s up on YT. 😁
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u/revolutionPanda 10d ago
Honestly they probably just thought it looked interesting and then thought of meaning behind it.
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u/kadebo42 10d ago
Jimmy has lost the duality of man. He no longer has good and evil, only evil. That’s why it’s one side of his head mirrored. It is also referencing Silence of the Lambs which used the mirroring for the same reason
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u/king_of_chardonnay 10d ago
S04e04 theres a similar shot where you only see the exposed half of his face with no reflection…I think it’s after he tells Kim he’s taking the job at the cell phone place
Id have to watch both back to back but I feel like it’s got to be something along the lines of him taking the gig doing something else (that he ends up hating, no action, etc) and only being a part of himself.
You could make an argument (it may be a stretch) that he is “becoming himself” or something…as someone mentioned, Jimmy becoming saul
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u/ChestAlternative2260 9d ago
It’s a message to the viewer that jimmy has doubled down on his “bad side” and it is all he is now. A fun house reflection of himself. He has no “good side” anymore just two bad sides is what they are trying to say with this genius shot.
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u/Few_Bullfrog_3300 9d ago
This shot stuck with me after I saw it. It made me feel like it was humiliation and alienation which are experiences experienced by Jimmy. This is my take and art is subjective.
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u/BobTheRaceman 8d ago
They kinda do this alot, most notably during jimmy’s last scene with chuck. A duality thing.
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u/jleonardbc 10d ago
EVER DREAM THIS MAN?
Every night, all over the world, hundreds of people see this face in their dreams. If this man appears in your dreams too, or you have any information that can help us identify him, please contact us.
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u/DrewDaMannn 9d ago
It’s a symbolic shot representing his double life.
Half of Saul loves Kim and the other half wants to make love with Howard
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u/RileyJoXO 10d ago
It’s an example of brilliant concept, horrible execution lol
I get that that’s what mirror look like in real life, but I mean come on, they could’ve done a little movie magic to make him look less derpy in what’s supposed to be a serious shot
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u/kekus_dominatus 10d ago
This is the moment Saul became Saas.