drawn-out (and, some would say, more enjoyable)
experience, one that we may seek out even when
we know what happens in a movie. Suspense is the
anxiety brought on by a partial uncertainty: the
end is certain, but the means is uncertain. Or, even
more interestingly, we may know both the result
and the means by which it’s brought about, but we
still feel suspense: we know what’s going to happen
and we want to warn and protect the characters,
for we have grown to empathize with them (though
we can intellectually acknowledge the fact that
they aren’t “real” people).
Repetition
The repetition, or number of times, with which a
story element recurs in a plot is an important
aspect of narrative form. If an event occurs once in
a plot, we accept it as a functioning part of the nar-
rative’s progression. Its appearance more than
once, however, suggests a pattern and thus a higher
level of importance. Like order and duration, then,
repetition serves not only as a means of relaying
story information, but also as a signal that a partic-
ular event has a meaning or significance that should
be acknowledged in our interpretation and analysis.
Story events can be repeated in various ways. A
character may remember a key event at several
times during the movie, indicating the psychologi-
cal, intellectual, or physical importance of that
event. The use of flashbacks or slow-motion
sequences tends to give a mythical quality to mem-
ory, making the past seem more significant than it
might actually have been. For example, in Atom
Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter(1997; screenwriter:
Egoyan), Mitchell Stephens (Ian Holm) is so trou-
bled by his teenage daughter’s drug addiction that
he tries to put it out of his mind by frequently visu-
alizing more pleasant memories of her as a child. In
another form of repetition, the director relies on
editing to contrast past and present.
The familiar imageis defined by film theorist
Stefan Sharff as any image (audio or visual) that a
director periodically repeats in a movie (with or
without variations) to help stabilize its narrative.
By its repetition, the image calls attention to itself
as a narrative (as well as visual) element. Theoret-
ically, the composition and framing of such images154 CHAPTER 4 ELEMENTS OF NARRATIVE
DVDIn this tutorial, Dave Monahan discusses
the differences between suspense and surprise.Surprise versus suspenseBilly Wilder’s Some Like It Hot
(1959; screenwriters: Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond) concerns
two musicians who witness a mob murder, disguise
themselves as women, and leave town to work in an all-
woman band. Although their attempts to maintain this
disguise are frustrated by their desires for the women who
surround them, they persist through a series of hilarious
turns that heighten the suspense. When will they be
discovered? What will happen as a result? Eventually, a rich
millionaire, Osgood Fielding III (Joe E. Brown, left) falls in love
with Jerry/Daphne (Jack Lemmon, right), who frantically
explains to Osgood that they can’t marry because they are
both men. As a surprise to cap the suspense, Osgood simply
shrugs his shoulders and makes one of the greatest
comebacks in movie history: “Well, nobody’s perfect.”