The first scene ends with Niko under the streetlamp, standing alone in the rain. We move on to Niko picking up his first prostitute. Note how we never really get a good look at her face. He parks his car in a dingy dark alleyway and receives a handjob. He completes and we see him lingering in his car, trash and dumpsters surrounding him.

Right afterwards he picks up another prostitute. The establishing shot is important: we linger on a shot where Niko is very precisely composed on the screen between the hooker’s legs. He picks her up, and on his way to the alleyway, there is a police cruiser right in front of him. But he is not deterred. Niko expresses his shame verbally. He arrives at the alleyway and receives oral sex this time. He completes and hands the street walker her money. Again, we do not see the hooker’s face. He sits in his car, contemplating his actions.

Shortly thereafter, Niko picks up yet another hooker. And this time, what we see is rather explicit: we see the girl in a full body shot, following her little dance of enticement, and also a very close shot showcasing her breasts. Niko again brings her to the same dirty dingy alleyway, and this time he asks for vaginal sex. The street walker obliges and gets on top of Niko, and the sex is depicted graphically on the screen. We see Niko looking bored into the sky. He is not into the sex act: rather, it seems to be happening to him. Niko is not an active participant. Instead, he is rather detached. He completes and this time we see with more detail that the hooker takes his money. Niko yet again sits in his car contemplating what just happened.

In the final scene, Niko makes his way to a rooftop. He stops by a sign that says “99 cents”. In one shot, in the background is a billboard that says, “Everything at a price.” Niko thinks for a moment, and then leaps off the buliding, falling to his death. In his final moments, he dies in front of a pile of garbage sitting in and around a dumpster, with nobody around him but strange pedestrians.

But anyway, it’s mostly an exercise, geared towards those who are more cinematically inclined. It’s probably something only film school students would understand and/or take the time to analyze in order to understand.

As for my writing, I’m getting tired of the world, and most of what I’ve had to say is already written: I’d just be repeating myself over and over again. I’ve been focusing on trying to finish a short story inspired by my bus ride to Boston. Also, this I admit rather sheepishly: I’ve been less inclined to write as I’ve become distracted by new video games that have come out.

But you know what? Thanks for commenting. It kind of reminded me how much I enjoyed writing, and this will kick start me into finishing some drafts I’ve left in limbo.

Actually, I’m commenting because I wanted to tell you I miss your actual lengthy serious posts. They’re interesting to read, and I enjoy them. Just wondering, WTF happened? Writers block?