What filmmaking techniques does The Counselor use?

CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in The Counselor (2013): Chekhov's Gun, Dramatic Irony, Withheld Murder Scene, The Gaze and Costume as Storytelling.

Who directed The Counselor?

Ridley Scott directed The Counselor, released in 2013. CineCode also covers The Duellists (1977), Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Legend (1985), Black Rain (1989), Thelma & Louise (1991).

What films are similar to The Counselor?

Films that share techniques with The Counselor include Get Out (2017), Sabrina (1954), The 39 Steps (1935), The Lovely Bones (2009).

Crime · Thriller · Drama

The Counselor

Ridley Scott, 2013

A Texas lawyer with no criminal record joins a drug deal for fast money and loses everything when it goes wrong. Cormac McCarthy wrote the script, and the film is full of long speeches about greed and fate. Watch how an early story about a strange device pays off later.

3 Narrative 1 Psychology 1 Cinematography

At a glance

The Counselor is a 2013 crime, thriller and drama film directed by Ridley Scott. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (3 narrative, 1 psychology and 1 cinematography), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Get Out uses several of the same techniques.

Narrative

Chekhov's Gun

Showing an object or detail early on that becomes important later. The idea is that nothing gets screen time unless the story is going to use it.

How this film uses it

At a party early on, the dealer Reiner describes the bolito, a device that tightens around a person's neck and decapitates them. It sounds like a story told for color. Later, Malkina has Westray killed with it. The film gives the object screen time because it will use it.

Where to see it

The party in Texas: Reiner describes the bolito to the Counselor while they talk about the coming drug deal.

Narrative

Dramatic Irony

Letting the audience know something a character doesn't. You watch them act without that knowledge, which creates suspense, dread or dark comedy.

How this film uses it

The film opens with cocaine hidden in a sewage truck and driven across the border, so you see how the trade really works. Then the Counselor, who has never done a deal, stays calm even after Westray warns that Mexican cartels are merciless. You know more than he does, and every confident line feels dangerous.

Where to see it

Westray's warning: Westray tells the Counselor the deal has a 4000% return, then cautions him about the cartels, and the Counselor stays outwardly unconcerned.

Narrative

Withheld Murder Scene

Never showing the act of violence itself. You only see the aftermath or hear characters describe it, and your imagination fills in what happened.

How this film uses it

The film never shows Laura's death. The Counselor gets a DVD marked "Hola!" that likely holds a snuff film, and he breaks down. You see her headless body dumped in a landfill. What is on the disc stays out of the frame, and you imagine it yourself.

Where to see it

The DVD: a package slid under his hotel door holds a disc marked "Hola!" and the Counselor realizes what it likely contains.

Psychology

The Gaze

Paying attention to who is looking, who is being looked at and whose eyes the camera borrows. Looking becomes a form of power in the story.

How this film uses it

Reiner tells the Counselor about the day Malkina climbed onto the hood of his yellow Ferrari while he watched from inside the car. You see her the way Reiner does, dazed and not in control of the moment. Looking is a form of power here, and she decides what he gets to see.

Where to see it

The Ferrari story: Reiner describes how Malkina got on the hood of his yellow Ferrari while he sat inside.

Cinematography

Costume as Storytelling

Designing wardrobes that carry character, status or change as much as the acting does. Clothes tell you who someone is or has become before they speak.

How this film uses it

Janty Yates dressed the cast to announce who they are. Armani made the wardrobes for Michael Fassbender and Penélope Cruz, and Reiner wears loud pieces from Versace. Designer Paula Thomas gave Cameron Diaz's Malkina about 15 outfits and described her as someone who wants to be seen. Their clothes show money and ego before they say a word.

Where to see it

The party at Reiner's house: Reiner and Malkina host the Texas party where the Counselor talks through his first drug deal.

Questions

The Counselor: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does The Counselor use?: CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in The Counselor (2013): Chekhov's Gun, Dramatic Irony, Withheld Murder Scene, The Gaze and Costume as Storytelling.
Who directed The Counselor?: Ridley Scott directed The Counselor, released in 2013. CineCode also covers The Duellists (1977), Alien (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Legend (1985), Black Rain (1989), Thelma & Louise (1991).
What films are similar to The Counselor?: Films that share techniques with The Counselor include Get Out (2017), Sabrina (1954), The 39 Steps (1935), The Lovely Bones (2009).

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