Why didn't Lou hide from the gangster in the climax of "Nightcrawler"?
After the car crash, even after his partner got shot (his impromptu to kill Rick) while filming the gangster, Lou keeps filming the incident without hiding from the gangster. This scene didn't make sense to me because of the way Lou's character was projected throughout the film. Lou took some risks but he always cared about himself.
He sends Rick to film from other angle while he records from the car.
He gets terrified after hearing the shotgun shots and hides in the bushes while filming the gangsters leaving the killing spot.
How did he get such an audacity to film the gangster directly without hiding?
Best Answer
This question has been asked before, but it seems the most reasonable answer is this, from @chaitanya89:
The way I've seen it is, As soon as the bad guy's car crashed, Lou took his camera and started filming and Lou observed that the bad guy is injured and gaining senses and recovering, he wanted to use this situation and kill his partner. So, he backed off and asked his partner to come shoot with steady hands and zoom. Unlucky for the partner, when he reached in front of the car, the bad guy recovered and not thinking straight and shot Rick, at this point, gangster would have shot Lou if he was there. But after shooting Rick, when he saw Lou standing there filming without a budge, the bad guy was surprised for Lou's audacity and few moments later Police arrived and the gangster's main concern is to deal with the police who shot the gangster's partner down.
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Personally, I would see it as the gangster was coming to his senses after the crash and Lou realized that and backed off towards the cop car, so he could hide behind it if he saw the gangster pull his gun. He couldn't necessarily know what the gangster would do once he comes to, but took a chance and told Rick to tape the incident, knowing that he very well could be shot.
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Answer 2
As @Dominic G. opines, it is possible that Lou was confident he could hide behind the cop car once he sees the gangster pulling out the gun.
But, I also think the 'drive' Lou is depicted in the movie to possess for shooting crime could have obsessed him to not stop shooting even after seeing the gangster holding the gun. He also could have been more occupied with the thought his company grows to the next level once it is portrayed that one of its employees (Rick) risked his life in helping the police.
In short, it is likely be due to his obsession for filming and he was merely saved by luck from the cops' siren and he not being on the way of the gangster.
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