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Sunset Boulevard · 1950 — 第 4 / 19 章 · 3'10" · B2

Norma Desmond: The Pictures Got Small, Explained：It's the pictures that got small

Joe sneaks into what he thinks is an empty mansion and walks into Norma Desmond arranging a funeral for her dead monkey. She assumes he's the undertaker; he insists he's just a writer with a flat tire. Her reply — "I am big. It's the pictures that got small." — is the whole movie in one line.

あらすじ

Joe Gillis pulls his car into a garage he believes belongs to an empty house, and finds Norma Desmond inside, planning the funeral of her pet monkey. She sizes him up as the man from the funeral home. He explains he's only a screenwriter with a flat tire, but she isn't finished with him.

AccusationsMonologuesComplainingExplainingStrangersB2mediumamericanClean
IMDb ↗

注目の表現

made up my mindlined withthe wrong manpull into

00:00 / 03:10
Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
  24. ❝ 独白Norma on the talkies10 行練習ページ ↗
セリフをタップするとそこから再生

このシーンの表現

made up my mind

decided firmly

Norma is not asking; she announces that she has made up her mind to bury the monkey in the garden.

I've made up my mind to change jobs before summer.

このシーンの他の表現

  • lined with

    furnished inside with

  • the wrong man

    mistaken identity

  • pull into

    drive in and stop

  • not the right color

    ironic remark on the colour

  • used to be

    was formerly

このシーンのメモ一覧

47 行のセリフに 22 件のメモ

表現 · A1this way

follow me this way

This way.
表現 · B1make up one's mind

decided firmly

Norma is not asking; she announces that she has made up her mind to bury the monkey in the garden.

I've made up my mind we'll bury him in the garden.
発音made up my

Link made, up and my so they run together.

I've made up my mind we'll bury him in the garden.
表現 · B2lined with something

furnished inside with

Norma insists the coffin be lined with satin, down to the fabric on the inside.

I want the coffin to be white, and I want it specially lined with satin.
表現 · B2the wrong man

mistaken identity

Taking Joe for the undertaker, Norma is told flatly that she has the wrong man.

Lady, you got the wrong man. I had some trouble with my car. A flat tire.
表現 · B1pull into a place

drive in and stop

Joe says he pulled into her garage only to wait for a spare tyre.

I pulled into your garage until I could get a spare.
表現 · B1used to be

was formerly

Joe reminds Norma that she used to be in silent pictures and used to be big, which is the sore point.

You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big!
文法 · B2the pictures that got small

cleft sentence: The it is ... that pattern shifts the blame onto the pictures, not on her.

I am big. It's the pictures that got small.
スラング · B1big

a star, famous — Informal for being famous; proud and self-assured.

I am big. It's the pictures that got small.
表現 · C1the eyes of the world

global attention

There was a time in this business when they had the eyes of the whole wide world.
文法 · B2a time in this business when

relative clause: The when clause defines that past time, setting up the contrast with today.

There was a time in this business when they had the eyes of the whole wide world.
発音eyes of the

Link eyes of the with a very light of.

There was a time in this business when they had the eyes of the whole wide world.
表現 · B1plug up something

block your ears

Norma sneers that audiences buy popcorn and plug up their ears to endure the talkies.

You buy yourself a bag and plug up your ears.
表現 · B2the front office

head office

Look at them in the front offices, the masterminds!
スラング · B2nobodies

people of no importance — A scornful put-down; never say it about someone present.

And who have we got now? Some nobodies!
表現 · C1make a rope of something

weaponised words

Norma blames writers for killing the business, turning dialogue into a murder weapon.

Well, you've made a rope of words and strangled this business!
文法 · B1you've made

present perfect: The present perfect presents the damage as already done and irreversible.

Well, you've made a rope of words and strangled this business!
表現 · B2a hunk of something

a large piece

Or maybe a hunk of cement, and ask for your footprint.
スラング · B2hunk

a large lump — Casual for a big chunk of something solid.

Or maybe a hunk of cement, and ask for your footprint.
表現 · B2are you or aren't you

yes or no

Are you or aren't you?
表現 · A2a list of something

a list of

Sure have. Want a list of my credits?
発音ask you

In fast speech ask you can blur into a single sound.

I want to ask you something. Come in here.

「Norma Desmond: The Pictures Got Small」を読み解く

What's really going on

The mansion is a time capsule, and Norma is its queen. She talks about her dead monkey the way she'd talk about a lost leading man, and the funeral she's planning — white coffin, satin lining — is really a rehearsal for her own vanished stardom. Joe is the audience she has been waiting for, and when he blunders into recognizing her, she corrects him with the line that defines her: "I am big. It's the pictures that got small." From there she turns the conversation into a monologue about silent films destroyed by talk, and the men in the front offices who smashed the idols and replaced them with nobodies. Joe keeps trying to leave, but he has already become a piece of her performance.

Theme

MemoryNorma lives inside the silent era, planning a grand funeral and speaking of dead stars as if the industry still belonged to them.
PrideCalled washed-up to her face, Norma refuses the label: the pictures shrank, she insists, not her.

このチャプターで学べること

  • Norma blames the times, never herself.
  • A funeral for a monkey is played completely straight.
  • The past tense in Joe's line is the real insult.
  • Her speech turns words into a murder weapon.

発音のポイント

  • made up my — Link made, up and my so they run together.
  • eyes of the — Link eyes of the with a very light of.
  • ask you — In fast speech ask you can blur into a single sound.
I am big. It's the pictures that got small.

Norma's rebuttal to being called washed-up: her stardom is intact, and the movies are what shrank around her.

You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big!

Joe's attempt at flattery names her old fame, and the past tense is exactly what she can't accept.

They took the idols and smashed them.

Part of her rant: the studios discarded the silent idols, treating legends as disposable.

And who have we got now? Some nobodies!

Her contempt for the current stars, set against the names she just listed — a generation swap she sees as decline.

Well, you've made a rope of words and strangled this business!

Her accusation aimed at writers: their flood of dialogue is what killed the silent art she belonged to.

I've made up my mind we'll bury him in the garden.

Said while arranging her dead monkey's funeral, it shows Norma treating the burial as a solemn, decided ritual.

このシーンについての質問

Why does Norma think Joe is the undertaker?

She is expecting a man from the funeral home about her dead monkey, and when Joe walks in, she assumes he is him and starts discussing the coffin.

What does 'the pictures got small' mean?

It's Norma's way of saying the movies shrank, not her. She refuses to be called washed-up and blames the industry, not her own age, for her career ending.

Why is Norma planning a funeral for a monkey?

The dead monkey was her pet, and she treats it like family, choosing a white satin-lined coffin and deciding to bury it in the garden.

What ended Norma Desmond's career?

According to her, the coming of sound did. She says the studios pushed out the silent stars, dismissed the old idols, and replaced them with people she calls nobodies.

サンセット大通り · 全 19 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 5 章a pressing engagementNorma Makes Joe Read Salome
第 1 章there's gonna be fireworksThe Repo Men Come for the Car第 2 章over a barrelJoe Pitches Bases Loaded at Paramount第 3 章a white elephantJoe Is Mistaken for the Undertaker再生中 · 第 4 章It's the pictures that got smallNorma Desmond: The Pictures Got Small第 5 章a pressing engagementNorma Makes Joe Read Salome第 6 章make it worth your whileNorma Hires Joe to Fix Her Script第 7 章not by a long shotNorma Moves Joe Into Her Mansion第 8 章a matter of life and deathNorma Buys Joe New Clothes第 9 章take me for grantedNorma's New Year's Eve Confession第 10 章close, but no cigarJoe Meets Betty at Artie's Party第 11 章sell on somethingNorma Sends Her Script to DeMille第 12 章write on specBetty Asks Joe to Write With Her第 13 章give someone the brushNorma Desmond Returns to Paramount第 14 章nothing would please me moreNorma Desmond's Comeback Falls Apart第 15 章sell like hotcakesJoe and Betty Write the Script Together第 16 章come cleanBetty Tells Joe the Nose Story第 17 章wipe outBetty Confesses She Loves Joe第 18 章a good dealJoe Shows Betty Norma's Mansion第 19 章have the heart toJoe Tells Norma He's Leaving
第 4 / 19 章 · 残り約 50 分