Modular Narratives in Contemporary Cinema
Since the early 1990s there has been a trend towards narrative complexity within popular cinema. This book examines a number of contemporary films that play overtly with narrative structure, raising questions of chance and destiny, memory and history, sim
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Modular Narratives in Contemporary Cinema Allan Cameron
© Allan Cameron 2008 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2008 978-0-230-21041-7
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-30303-8 DOI 10.1057/9780230594197
ISBN 978-0-230-59419-7 (eBook)
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cameron, Allan, 1973– Modular narratives in contemporary cinema / Allan Cameron. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Motion pictures and literature. 2. Narration (Rhetoric) I. Title. PN1995.3.C36 2008 791.43’6—dc22 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08
2008015892
For Bridget and Duncan
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Contents List of Illustrations
viii
Acknowledgements
ix
1 Modular Narratives in Contemporary Cinema
1
2 The Shape of Narrative Time: Subjective, Schismatic and Modular
20
3 Projecting the Future: Order, Chaos and Modularity
48
4 Navigating Memory: Temporal Anchoring and the Modular Subject
79
5 Articulating History: Archival Aesthetics and the National Narrative
113
6 Deciphering the Present: Simultaneity, Succession and Mediation
140
7 Coda: Playing Games with Cinema
170
Notes
185
Bibliography
196
Index
206
vii
Illustrations
Figure 1.1 Run Lola Run. Sony Pictures Classics/The Kobal Collection/Bernd Spauke
11
Figure 3.1
55
Irreversible. Studio Canal+/The Kobal Collection
Figure 4.1 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Focus Features/The Kobal Collection/David Lee
96
Figure 4.2 Memento. Summit Ente
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