The Stapler Soldier In Zero Motivation

Whether in an office or on the battlefield, war manifests itself in similar patterns despite the environment and combatants. Zero Motivation explores this idea of war being a perpetual and omniscient entity by examining the lives of Israeli female soldiers. Throughout the film, the viewer never truly sees a war occurring, but there are scenes to clarify to the viewer that a war in some shape is happening. For instance, when one of the main characters, Daffi, becomes an officer and laments her assignment, she is told “There’s a war on, get a grip” and how the “soldiers are getting killed” while she is crying. In addition, there is another scene where Zohar walks past multiple posters that are about the wars in Israel’s history. Through the vague
description of the current war and the depiction of posters of the wars in sequential order, the film creates the message that no matter the current state of affairs, there is always a war occurring. This idea of a never ending war is best represented during the scene when Daffi and Zohar have a physical fight over the deletion of games off of the computers.
The scene begins with Daffi entering the office where Zohar is playing Minesweeper, and the former exhibits restrained anger towards the latter. During the dialogue, the film utilizes multiple cuts between each character when they are speaking. Rather than using a medium shot to include both characters in the same frame, the film indicates clear separation between the characters. Whereas a medium shot may have indicated a talk between two characters who are in agreement, the cuts outline the sides in the impending war. The two women are not engaging in productive and constructive conversation about their differences, but rather, they are displaying disrespect and aggression towards each other. The sequence of cuts mirrors war in an obvious fashion: there are opposing sides, and they are using calculated hostility. This scene effectively depicts war because it shows the usual talks and disagreements that come before war. War is not necessarily started from extreme actions, but instead, disagreements in ideology that may lead to threats or action. Here, the women have a disagreement about respect and authority. The disagreement eventually leads to Daffi’s threat of deleting the games, and the film transitions into actual warfare between the characters.
Early on in the film, there is an effort to symbolically link common office supplies to weapons of war.
The most obvious comparison is seen in the stapler gun when it is hailed as “the most precious thing in [the office]”. While the introduction of the gun seems to be for comedic purposes, the battle scene illuminates the true purpose of the stapler gun as a means of creating a comparison between the fight and war. At one point in the scene, the viewer is able to see a shot of the whole office, in which both women are shooting the stapler gun and immediately ducking in a routine fashion. While seemingly comical due to the scene’s facetious nature, the choreography and set design perfectly mirror stereotypical gun fight scenes. Strategy is absent from the battle and the soldiers are simply shooting and avoiding the “bullets”. During the fight scene between the two women, it can be seen that the stapler gun not easily accessible. The tool is tucked away behind documents at the bottom of a drawer, and at one point in the scene, there is a further comparison to war through the “promo-ammo” hidden away in the same drawer as the stapler guns. Having the supply of staples being hidden in the same area as the guns further emphasizes the similarity to a battlefield with its weapons and ammo in a secure and concentrated area and many obstacles to block gunfire from the enemy. By having common
war objects and landscape, the film is able to add depth to its message about war being omnipresent. However, instead of showing how easily war may be initiated, the set design and usage of objects in war contributes to the message in showing that common elements of war can be found everywhere, including in a mundane and useless office, and this accessibility of war allows it to be easily initiated.
In addition to the camera work and set design, sound greatly aids to establishing this scene as a representation of war. In war, tension is usually built up between opposing forces until there is a climax that results in initiation. Here, the film overtly shows that there is tension between Daffi and Zohar due to resentment from the latter towards the former. However, the film adds an additional element to represent the escalating tensions through its usage of a piano track before Daffi confronts Zohar. As Daffi is removing the request transfer forms, an urgent piano track of increasing volume and tempo is played. The music continues until Daffi enters the office and pulls out the power source for the printing machine. This usage of sound essentially serves to mirror the status quo between the two women. The escalation of the music represents the increasing distaste that Daffi has for Zohar and legitimizes the conflict between the two women. The viewer is able to follow the increasing anger of Daffi as she removes the letters, and the music acts as a concrete gauge for the tension between the characters. The use of sound contributes to the message of the movie in that it helps to show that war can be started in almost any situation, no matter how minute the conflict is. The soundtrack validates the conflict between the two women as a war that is built up and not one that was forced and spontaneous. As a result, the conditions in which the “war” is started further emphasizes that war is always present in the world, whether on the battlefield between soldiers or two friends in an office.
Although the overall message is that war is perpetual, a more accurate extension is that wars continually occur. Recalling the scene when Zohar passes posters of Israel’s wars, the film makes it clear how war should be viewed: it is persistent because when one ends, another one begins. The fight scene between Daffi and Zohar explores this idea by giving a concrete and symbolic ending to the fight. While the film could have ended without a clear resolution to the fight, the choice to resolve the conflict is significant. By ending the miniature war, the film allows the cycle of war to continue. Another war is allowed to occur only after one has ended. Throughout history, we see a cycle where wars are talked about in eras. Each time war is discussed, they are not talked about in pairs. Instead, we refer to wars as discrete units that come in successive order. In the scene, war is finished once Daffi is able to lock Zohar out of the room. The closure of war is accompanied by heavy piano music and an iconic shot of Daffi’s face, marred by her time in war. This usage of significant music and shots of Daffi’s face compares to Apocalypse Now when Willard executes Kurtz. After the death of Kurtz, the period of time when he is in power is replaced with that of a new leader, which the indigenous people mark as Willard. The cycle of horror never ends in Apocalypse Now since there is a need for a new figurehead to continue controlling the people. Similarly, by giving closure to Daffi and Zohar’s conflict, the film opens up interpretation for the repetitive and long lasting nature of war. As soon as one war ends, another war, no matter how significant, is ready to be born.
In a modern society which strives to progress, it is crucial to not be inhibited by such major setbacks such as war. Unfortunately, as seen through Zero Motivation, war comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes, and it can occur in the most unexpected places, such as an office full of unmotivated and apathetic women. Ultimately, the film takes a strong stance on the fact that there is zero motivation to stop wars from occurring because they are relentless.