The Bruno Ganz character takes out a square light-as-air gold foil substance, puts it on the palm of his hand, blows on it to straighten it out, before grabbing the telephone and calling Minot. What is going on here ?
shareThat was gold leaf - a thin membrane of pure gold to be applied generally to artwork and probably in this case to the frame he was making. Art pieces covered in gold leaf look like they are pure gold without the huge cost.
I'm just not sure why he put it on his hand and then used that hand to pick up the telephone. Probably part of the frustrations he was feeling.
It's subject to interpretation of course, but I always thought that it signified his decision to go ahead with contacting Minot and carrying out the hit. He's taking a step that he can't return from (you can't really straighten out gold leaf).
shareI thought it had something to do with purity, using the gold leaf like a paper tissue to grab something contamined. I think it helped to show the moral conflict within him when he made the call to agree to kill a man.
This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.
agree with eumenides
shareHaving recently read the book Ripley's Game, I can tell you that the blood disorder his character suffers from has to do with an overabundance of yellow blood cells, so the gold leaf was just one of many examples of the color yellow being emphasized with regards to his character. Kind of a cool detail, assuming it was an intentional nod to the book.
What's the Spanish for drunken bum?