Narrative technique · used in 5 films
Giving a character's conscience or split self a visible or audible form, so inner conflict plays out as dialogue with another presence.
Examples
Peter Jackson · 2002
Gollum's 2 personalities argue with each other out loud. Serkis performs both voices while the camera holds on a single face. The scene was a breakthrough in form, since a digital character is pretty much playing a 2-person scene with itself.
Where to see it: Gollum's streamside argument. He says 'We wants it, we needs it... Sneaky little hobbitses'.
Spike Jonze · 2002
You hear Charlie's thoughts in voiceover as he argues with himself in the middle of a meeting. His doubts are spoken as plainly as other characters' lines. It makes his writer's block something you can hear.
Where to see it: Charlie in the Orlean meeting. He is too shy to speak to her in New York, and you hear his fears in his head.
Mike Mills · 2011
Oliver's dog Arthur seems to answer him in subtitles. The little lines give a voice to the loneliness Oliver cannot say aloud. It makes the dog a friend and a conscience at once.
Where to see it: Arthur's subtitles: Oliver talks to his father's Jack Russell terrier at home, and Arthur's replies appear on screen as subtitles.
Woody Allen · 2012
John, an architect, walks into the life of Jack, a student who lives in John's old building. John seems real to Jack in some scenes and imaginary in others. He makes frank comments on Jack's affair with Monica. You can read him as Jack's older, wiser self.
Where to see it: The affair with Monica. John comments on Jack's choices while Jack falls for his girlfriend's friend.
Robert Zemeckis · 2022
Jiminy Cricket is appointed Pinocchio's conscience by the Blue Fairy. He follows Pinocchio, argues with him and sometimes gets trapped under a glass jar by Honest John. When Pinocchio ignores him, you see how it goes wrong.
Where to see it: The Blue Fairy's task: After bringing Pinocchio to life, the Blue Fairy makes Jiminy his conscience to teach him right from wrong.
Questions