Bryan Singer's "The Usual Suspects"; a case of a narrative lie Cover Image

"Podejrzani" Bryana Singera; przypadek kłamstwa narracyjnego
Bryan Singer's "The Usual Suspects"; a case of a narrative lie

Author(s): Jacek Ostaszewski
Subject(s): Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts
Published by: Instytut Sztuki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Bryan Singer; "The Usual Suspects"; narrative

Summary/Abstract: Ostaszewski makes an analysis of the term of a narrative lie on the basis of Bryan Singer’s movie The Usual Suspects. The lie was to consist in a breach of the reliability principle in a presentation of events by a narrator, which may boil down to a false use of film conventions, which twists viewers’ reception habits. Singer constantly applies the strategy of disorientation in his movie, preventing viewers from reconstructing a coherent and logical story. Thereby, The Usual Suspects deconstructs the very narrative way of the functioning of a fictional world, and reveals that there is no truth in fiction.

  • Issue Year: 2004
  • Issue No: 46
  • Page Range: 26-42
  • Page Count: 17
  • Language: Polish