Narrative technique · used in 4 films
Keeping the camera away from a key event and giving conflicting accounts of it equal weight. You can't work out what really happened, and that uncertainty is the experience of the film.
Examples
Asghar Farhadi · 2011
The film never shows you whether Razieh's fall caused the miscarriage. You hear 2 accounts, Razieh's and Nader's. Both are believable, and you never see either one confirmed. Farhadi puts you in the same position as the judge, trying to work out the truth from testimony alone.
Where to see it: The disputed incident. The film refuses to show you what happened, so you don't get the evidence that movies have taught you to expect.
Asghar Farhadi · 2018
The film never shows the kidnapping. Irene is there at the party and then she is gone. The family guess, accuse and argue, and each version of events sounds plausible. You stay as uncertain as they are until the end.
Where to see it: The wedding party. Irene disappears during the celebration, and a text message arrives demanding money.
Justine Triet · 2023
Triet gives you no inside view of the truth. Sandra may be guilty or she may be innocent, and the film never reveals which. That refusal is its central argument about what legal systems and marriages can really know.
Where to see it: The verdict. The film lets it land as both a relief and an open question. You are left unsure if justice was done.
Hirokazu Kore-eda · 2023
The film holds back the central truth of the boys' relationship, which explains every accusation and every defensive lie. It waits until that truth can land with the full weight of everything you have misunderstood.
Where to see it: The final image of the boys running through the tall grass. Once you know what was being protected, the image is heartbreaking and joyful at the same time.
Questions
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