Psychology technique · used in 20 films
Showing a character's sense of self being built, borrowed or stripped away by pressure, roles or the group. Who they are shifts with what they wear, say or join.
Examples
François Truffaut · 1960
Édouard Saroyan, a concert pianist, hides under the name Charlie Kohler after his wife's death. His new name and small job are a shield. Léna knows his real name and keeps pulling him back toward his past.
Where to see it: Charlie's backstory. Édouard learns from his wife Thérèse that his career came from her affair with an agent, and she then kills herself.
Robert Altman · 1977
A person's sense of self can be borrowed or erased. After her coma, Pinky insists on being called Mildred, the name both women were born with. Her old shyness disappears, and Millie loses her own bossiness.
Where to see it: The new name: Pinky insists on being called Mildred. She copies Millie's habits, including shooting guns at Dodge City.
William Friedkin · 1980
Burns changes his clothes, his walk and his habits to fit in. His girlfriend Nancy notices he is drifting away. By the end, you can no longer tell where the cop stops and the role begins.
Where to see it: The final mirror scene. Burns promises Nancy he will tell her everything after he shaves, and then he stares blankly into the mirror.
Woody Allen · 1983
Zelig has no strong self, so he becomes whoever he is near. Dr. Fletcher's hypnosis exposes the cause. It is his compulsion to fit in. You can read the film as a joke about wanting approval, and as a warning about what it costs.
Where to see it: The hypnosis sessions. Dr. Eudora Fletcher draws out why Zelig keeps changing, and he says he wants to be liked.
Ridley Scott · 1997
O'Neil shaves her own head during training. The scene reads as a choice. She gives up the look that set her apart as a woman in a male unit and takes on the same look as her teammates. One way to read it is that this is the moment she stops asking to be treated as an exception.
Where to see it: The head shave: partway through training, O'Neil shaves her head herself.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet · 1997
Ripley 8 is a clone with an Alien queen's DNA, so she is neither fully human nor fully monster. The film uses her body and her blood to show someone whose self was built by others.
Where to see it: Ripley's answer: Call asks Ripley 8 what she plans to do, and she replies that she is a stranger herself.
Miloš Forman · 1999
Kaufman builds the Foreign Man, who becomes Latka on Taxi, then Elvis and Tony Clifton, and then struggles to be taken seriously as himself. Carrey stayed in character on and off set, which echoes how a role can swallow a person.
Where to see it: The Tony Clifton reveal. Kaufman introduces his manager to Clifton, a crude lounge singer who turns out to be Kaufman in disguise.
Anthony Minghella · 1999
Tom forges letters, signs checks and lives in hotels as both men. Each new lie needs another lie, and the real Tom disappears. By the end he has no self left except the one he made up.
Where to see it: Living as Dickie: Tom forges letters to convince Marge that Dickie has left her for Rome. He stays in hotels as both men.
Frank Darabont · 2001
Peter loses his memory and the townspeople give him a new identity as Luke Trimble. He puts on the role until it becomes real to him and to them. When the truth comes out, he loses it all again.
Where to see it: The mistaken identity. The townspeople mistake Peter for the missing soldier Luke, and he goes along with it.
Robert Benton · 2003
Coleman has built a new self and given up his family to do it. Flashbacks show how much the choice cost him. The film asks you what a person owes to the self they invented.
Where to see it: Coleman's flashbacks: The young Coleman, played by Wentworth Miller, makes the choices that create the man he becomes.
Guillermo del Toro · 2004
Hellboy came through a portal as an infant, and Rasputin wants him to reopen it. At the end he reseals it. The film asks whether he is a demon or a person, and he answers by what he chooses to do.
Where to see it: The climax: Hellboy reseals the portal to the Ogdru Jahad and lets the Behemoth swallow him, then blows it up from inside with a grenade belt.
Ang Lee · 2007
Wong begins as a shy student and finds confidence on stage, where her acting moves the audience. The group later sends her undercover as the elegant Mrs. Mak. The part she plays draws her closer to the man she has to fool.
Where to see it: The drama club: Wong becomes the lead actress in the student plays, and the group later picks her to play Mrs. Mak, wife of a trading company owner.
Todd Haynes · 2007
No single actor owns the main character, and the film never settles on one answer. Each version of Dylan is shaped by the role he plays: a young kid, a poet, a folk hero, a pastor. You see an identity built and thrown off again.
Where to see it: The Jude Quinn storyline. Cate Blanchett plays Dylan in 1966 as Jude Quinn, and the film closes on real 1966 concert footage of Dylan playing harmonica.
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck · 2010
Pearce is believed to have changed his face to disappear, so everyone in the film is trying to read a man who has made himself into someone else. Frank's role as an ordinary teacher is a built identity, and the film asks what is left of the old self.
Where to see it: The confrontation with Shaw. Frank claims to be Pearce, and the police open fire on Shaw and his men.
Céline Sciamma · 2011
Laure tries out a self in front of new friends, and it fits. She chooses a name, plays football with the boys and gets a first kiss from Lisa. Then the identity is taken apart by adults and by the other kids.
Where to see it: The new neighborhood. Lisa assumes Laure is a boy, and Laure gives the name Mickael.
Lenny Abrahamson · 2014
Frank's mask is his identity. Michael Fassbender plays him under it, and Jon wants to see his real face. When the mask breaks after a car hits Frank, he runs away before Jon can see him.
Where to see it: The motel: Jon tries to unmask Frank, who runs outside, is hit by a car and breaks the mask.
Tom Hooper · 2015
Einar's sense of self changes with what he wears and how he moves. Makeup, a wig and clothes let Lili appear, and as she grows stronger Einar fades. The film lets you see a person being built in front of you.
Where to see it: The artists' ball: Gerda suggests Einar attend as Lili, and they prepare him with makeup, clothes and a wig. At the ball, Lili spends the night with Henrik Sandahl.
Nicolas Winding Refn · 2016
Jesse arrives as a plain teenager and slowly takes on the cold confidence of the models around her. The film shows a self being built out of other people's attention. By the end, nothing of the original girl is left.
Where to see it: After the fashion show. Jesse acts self-centered at the bar, and Dean finds it unpleasant and tries to leave without her.
M. Night Shyamalan · 2017
Kevin's self has split into 23 alters that fight over who gets to be in control. His body language and voice change with each one, so you can tell who is in the room without a title card.
Where to see it: Taking the light: The alter Barry controls which identities get time out in the world, which keeps Dennis and Patricia sidelined.
Richard Linklater · 2024
Gary is quiet and careful, while Ron is confident and charming. As Ron, Gary becomes bolder with Madison, and he starts to like who he is when he plays the part. The film asks whether the mask is really the true self.
Where to see it: The confession scene: Gary wears a wire and pretends to interrogate Madison as Ron, giving her acting cues typed on his phone.
Questions