Two scenes in the film, Inextinguishable Fire, are particularly shocking and meaningful when viewed together. At the end of the very opening scene the actor says, “A cigarette burns at 400 degrees. Napalm burns at 3000 degrees”, after which the scene cuts to the arguably more shocking scene where a rodent is lit on fire, presumably with napalm as the fuel source. Unlike the rather small though still shocking char mark on the man’s arm the rodent is burned until the fire is completely extinguished. This is a direct way of showing the statement of this scene heard in it’s narration, “It is almost impossible to extinguish. And once it is extinguished, it is almost always too late”. Specific aspects of these scenes allow them to be effective in promoting the narrative of the director. Both the man’s arm and the rodent are placed similarly within the center frame of each shot, or near center in the case of the man’s arm. The application of heat comes from the left side of the frame in both shots. There is actually a slow zoom on the man’s arm accentuating the burn he has given himself likewise the rodent’s charred corpse is shown with an extreme close-up of the burned flesh. Both scenes are used to make the stark contrast between something that is already jarring and the horrors of chemical weapons like napalm. A noticeable difference is the amount of time taken to burn the subjects. The man’s burn is shown fully while there is a jump-cut during the rodent’s burning, showing the burning corpse and then immediately cutting to the completely charred corpse. This also is a direct way of showing the statements made about napalm. Another and glaring similarity is the way in which both scenes have long pauses. The first scene even has a freeze frame of the man’s arm while narration is played over the still images of both scenes. All of these aspects of film used in similar ways in these joined scenes are ways to draw attention to the film’s purpose and get the audience to form their own thoughts on the horror that is napalm. The chemical was proposed, discussed, designed, developed and tested painstakingly to effectively eradicate humans in the most inhuman way possible.

(Trigger Warning For the Video: Self Immolation, Dead Animal, Said animal corpse burning)