I think "Rashomon" has made its reputation on this issue--every narrator,
voice over, tells a lie and somehow all the lies ARE actually the truth. We
see how unreliable each perspective is--and that is the whole point of the
film--but in their unreliability all these points of view profer the
philosophical point that there is no "reality." Reality is a fiction.
----- Original Message -----
From: "D J Morrey" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 4:24 AM
Subject: Unreliable narrators in film
A late entry to the list of unreliable narrators/narrations:
It occurs to me that Francois Ozon's recent Swimming Pool is trying to
do something of this nature with the twist at the end, although my first
instinct is to say that this is an example of an uninteresting film
trying to make itself interesting in the final reel.
Douglas Morrey
Lecturer in French
School of Modern Languages
University of Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU
Tel: +44 (0)191 2227489
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