I Was Born But... Writing About the Image

This is a Two-shot showing two men standing in front of a grey background with a hazy black frame. The light is hitting them from the right. Both men have mustaches. The man on the left is wearing a white button-down shirt with a crooked  tie and grey vest. He is making a comical face. His eye brows are arched and his eyes are almost closed. He has a closed mouth smile. Half of his face is in shadow. He is tall with longish hair. He is standing a little bit behind the other man in his shadow. The man on the right is shorter. He has a visor on. He is wearing a wing collar shirt with a straight tie and dark vest. He has cuff links on his sleeve. His head is turned slightly toward the first man and he is laughing. He has a cigar in his right hand. The men are a little of center putting the man in front in the center of the shot. He is more in focus.

In I was Born, But…, we see the inequality between classes and the rigid relationships between those in authority and those beneath them, such as between bosses and their employees. In the film, the employee (on the left in the image) tries to advance at his job by kissing up to his boss (on the right). When his sons see him do this, they lose respect for him. He tells them that his boss is richer and higher up than him. They feel that his position in the company should be based on ability and not on class rank.

The two-shot image shows the relationship between the two men.  The boss is standing in the front in the center of the shot, and the light is shining directly on him, while the employee is behind him, off to the side and in his shadow. Because of this you can see that the boss is the more important person. The boss is dressed impeccably in what appears to be more expensive clothing, showing he is of a higher class, while the employee is not dressed as fancily. The boss has a broad smile and is smoking a cigar, which makes him seem very self-confident. The employee, on the other hand, does not appear to be happy about the situation he is in.  He is trying to make a funny face, but he appears rigid and uncomfortable.