Flagellants Scene

There was a scene in "The Seventh Seal" where the Flagellants passed by a village, but as they left they were portrayed ghost like. Suddenly the music stopped , they all "dissapeared" and the camera stayed focused on a patch of dirt. I think the music symbolized life. In some parts the music was dragging on, or repeating itself. Sometimes , after ages of the same job or task, life may feel as if its repeating itself, and nothing new is happening. It almost feels like it is just dragging on, and you may want it to end. Suddenly the music just stops. This shows the unpredictability of death, and how it can come at any moment. Afterwards the camera focuses on a random patch of dirt. This shows that after death, people will become nothing but dirt.

Runaway Train Rankin

In Runaway train the character Rankin ran the prison. Being at such a high positition, and being feared by some prisoners, it also would seem that he is brave and fearless. Throughout the Film that is exactly how he is portrayed. He seems to have no fear whatsoever. For example in the begginning when he is shown during the Prison Riot,  all the guards are wearing helmets, body armor, and other protective gear; Rankin however wears nothing but a suit, and walks fearlessly infront of the guards. Another example would be him leading the search for Manny, as well as bravely going into the train from the Helicopter, even though another guy just died trying the same thing. In most scenes he is portrayed as a fearless character. However in reality the film shows the exact opposite. He appears to be a fearless character, but their are three scenes which actually show the his true character. During the scene where Rankin was supposed to release Manny from the isolated cell, all he actually did was talk with him. But when it came down to releasing him, he ordered some guards to do it, and walked away from the area. Later on when the prisoner attacks Manny with a knife, and Manny goes berserk, Rankin is shown laughing "behind" a metal cage, guarded by two guards. And off course the most important scene would be when he is trapped on the train and starts screaming at Manny to stop the train. His true character showed at that moment, and it was revealed to be nothing more then cowardly.

Manny vs Buck

One of the most important scenes in "Runaway Train" was the fight which almost resulted deadly between Manny and Buck. At that moment Manny just went berserk after feeling hopeless of the situation. Although Buck eventually gave in at first agreed to go back outside the train after repeadetly getting kicked, he suddenly became the guardian of the girl when Manny pushed her out of the way. This was about the only time in the movie that you see Buck become as furious as he did. However, the stand-off between Manny and Buck was not what I found significant. Instead it was Buck withdrawing from the fight, and putting down the wrench. Earlier in the Movie when Buck told Manny about wanting to go to Las Vegas, Manny immediately shut him down. He told him that instead he will get a simple cleaning job. No matter how much effort will be put in, every day the boss will point out tiny, dirty spots. However you will not get angry, instead you will look down, and clean it. I feel that this story symbolized the struggle between Manny and Buck. Manny could be considered the boss, and after Buck put in all his effort to try and make it across the train cart, he was punished for failing. However,  Buck decided to suck it up, and withdraw from the fight.

Rico perfect timing

In my opinion the character Rico(Ratso) from Midnight Cowboy had a perfectly timed death. This is not to say that he should have died. However assuming that his disease would claim his life around this time period(within 1 or 2 weeks earlier or later), then it couldnt have been timed better. A week before his death, he was living in terrible conditions, with nothing but his hope of going to Florida cheering him up. But if he were to die at that point, his death would be miserable as he never got to move away. If he were to die a week later, by that time he might have realized that perhaps Florida was not as he expected it. He might have followed a similar path as Joe. Therefore his death would also be miserable since after finally moving away, he would see that Florida has nothing to offer him. Therefore, his death was perfectly timed. He finally moved out of New York and was on his way to Florida. Joes happiest time was not before or soon after moving to New York, but it was on the bus to New York. His imagination did not only go wild, but he also realized that he is actually going there, which made his fantasies that much more real. It is safe to assume that the same scenario can apply to Rico. His most joyful time would probably have been on the Bus, and therefore he died while being Happy.