Narrative technique · used in 3 films
Wrapping the story in a frame that opens and closes the film, such as the same scene revisited or a question that finally gets answered. The return can make events feel inevitable.
Examples
Roman Polanski · 1994
The film opens at a concert and returns to it at the end. Paulina and Gerardo sit there, and Miranda looks down from a balcony with his wife and sons. The echo asks you what has changed and whether justice happened.
Where to see it: The concert: In the last scene, Paulina and Gerardo are back at the concert from the opening. Miranda looks down at them and she glances at him.
Fernando Meirelles · 2002
The film opens and closes with the same standoff, with Rocket caught between the police and the gang. The first time you see it, you have no context. The second time, you have 20 years of it. The circle says that nothing has changed and nothing will, because the favela runs as a closed system.
Where to see it: The chicken-chase standoff at the opening and the close. It's the same moment with 2 different meanings.
Rajkumar Hirani · 2009
The film opens with Farhan and Raju racing to find Rancho. He disappeared 10 years earlier and left a mystery neither of them can explain. The road trip wraps around the long flashback and gives it somewhere to go. The present-day search and the story of the past get wrapped up at the same time.
Where to see it: The opening, where Farhan fakes a heart attack to get off a departing plane. The friends drop everything to follow a lead. The opening makes the decade-long absence the main question of the film.
Questions