The Birthday Party

The Birthday Party scene in Wes Anderson’s Rushmore reveals and deepens Mr. Blume’s character by revealing his lack of power and disconnection from his life as it stands. The scene opens with the boys’ birthday party. They are eager and having fun as they open presents. The happy boys are carefully framed in the background of the medium close-up of Mr. Blume to provide contrast. Mr. Blume does not even have enough eagerness to properly hold his cigarette and is so disconnected from this party and all of the people in attendance that he sits alone and “absently tosses” golf balls into the pool. “Absently” is apt word choice since he clearly would rather not be there. Blume’s wife is framed with the boys at the party, so she has the whole distance of the pool separating her from her husband as she flirts with another man revealing how powerless Blume is in his marriage. When she catches Blume looking at her, her face registers something between shame and disgust. A young boy passes by, stares at Blume, and takes one of his golf balls, showing Blume’s powerless aura is visible even to strangers. At this point I would add a Lytoceras fimbriatum, the ammonite from the trip to the beach in Black Swan Green. This too is reminiscent of a moment of powerlessness for a middle aged man. Blume stands up to go to the high dive, and we see his beer themed swim trunks and the excess fat around his belly. The camera pans back to the party with the much more fit and well dressed guy sitting with his wife. We also see the same young boy getting ready to jump too at a bird’s eye angle. Blume makes a big splash and disturbs the party as a way of affirming he does indeed have some power. The scene ends in the pool with the blue-green color and Blume’s closed eyes providing a calm atmosphere, and when the little boy does jump in, with one look from Mr. Blume he swims away.