He's Desperate.

Something happened to me while I watching Krapp’s Last Tape, my computer had no volume. Waiting to see if came after all of sudden, I started watching the first part without audio. I knew that I would have to watch it again, to actually understand what they old man was saying or listening to still I saw it audio less first. It made no sense, I was confused and did not understand why this man was alone in a basement with a single table and was eating bananas. The only thing that stood out to me was his facial expressions and his movements. The way he clumsily walked holding onto the wall (part 1 3:28 and 2:12), his sweaty face, messy hair and sort of grimace expression with his frowned eyebrows gave me the impression he was desperate and confused. He goes out the basement to another room and brings back boxes with some tapes in them that he will later listen to and in one moment throws them on the ground. This was getting more confusing.

Audio decided to appear in my computer so I started the video again. And for the first minutes of the video I had the same impression of the man, except that this time the noises he makes show him in a state of greater desperation. He listens to his own recordings, the first one was when he was turning thirty-nine, thirty from where the old man is at present time, his sixty-ninth birthday. The same thought recurred in my mind, the anxiety of the old man. The audio, in this case his voice and recording don’t change the fact or the reaction the viewer gets when watching the character. I believe that he was in shock of the things he had said years before, still that doesn’t explain this old man’s behaviors. He started with the same grimed face and desperation even before he started listening to the tape.

There was something bothering him, and just as I was confused while watching he was confused during the video as well. Trying to look for the reason of this desperation he uses his tapes to find an answer that does not satisfy him because the play finishes and the man has the same face. Of course, this was intended to be seen with audio, to actually understand the story, but what I’m saying is that if we for same case ignore that, we get the same idea of the man. He is desperate, showing signs of mental problem as if he were crazy. And I am not sure why. My best guess is he is not pleased with the outcome of his life after 69 years.