Narrative technique · used in 2 films
Confining a small group in a bounded setting that stands for a larger society or conflict, so their choices read as commentary on the wider world.
Examples
Alfred Hitchcock · 1944
The boat holds a millionaire, a columnist, a nurse, a steward, a crewman and a German officer. Their arguments about who should lead and what to do with the German turn the boat into a small version of the world at war. Nobody can step off and leave the argument.
Where to see it: The decision about Willi. Kovac wants to throw the German overboard, and the others argue until Willi is allowed to stay.
Stanley Kubrick · 1953
The narrator tells you at the start that the story takes place outside history, in any war. There are no flags and no named countries. The soldiers become people facing fear and desire instead of players in one particular conflict.
Where to see it: The opening narration. A voice sets the forest outside of time before the plane crash shows four men stranded.
Questions