DZ-53: Antagonists! 5 - vs Audience

Listen to turn narrative uncertainty itself into the engine that keeps viewers compelled. It’s time. The Epic Deep Dive(TM) into Antagonists has reached its shuddering conclusion. And for this Part V - by choosing films that have no obvious singular antagonist (and in some cases no obvious narrative either) - Stu and Chas realised there was indeed a final category of antagonists: the films themselves. Where the film (and the filmmaker) are engaging directly with the audience. Where the films are... VERSUS AUDIENCE. The films that led to this “insight” often lie to the audience; talk directly to the audience; misdirect the audience; take the audience on meandering narrative strolls; or make the central character the antagonist to all other characters. Sometimes these techniques power a single scene. Sometimes they take up the whole film. All this to keep the audience compelled in the absence of singular antagonists. And these films are - drum roll, please - OCEAN’S 8, THE SECOND, F FOR FAKE, SANS SOLEIL and FORREST GUMP. As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes. LIKE THIS EPISODE? Send us feedback. Thanks to our Patrons, especially Khrob, Theis, Sandra, Jesse, Randy, Paulo, Thomas, Jennifer, Malay, Alexandre and Lily. ——— CHAPTERS 00:03:22 – Introduction: Vs Audience 00:20:31 – Ocean's Eight 00:46:53 – The Second 01:14:06 – F For Fake 01:31:46 – Sans Soleil 01:48:55 – Forrest Gump 02:15:12 – Wrap Up And Key Learnings FILMS OCEAN'S EIGHT (2018) — (w) Gary Ross, Olivia Milch, Gary Ross (d) Gary Ross THE SECOND (2018) — (w) Stephen Lance (d) Mairi Cameron F FOR FAKE (1973) — (w) Orson Welles SANS SOLEIL (1983) — (w) Chris Marker FORREST GUMP (1994) — (w) Eric Roth, Winston Groom (d) Robert Zemeckis SCRIPTS Study the script: OCEAN'S EIGHT (2018) — Gary Ross, Olivia Milch, Gary Ross Study the script: FORREST GUMP (1994) — Eric Roth, Winston Groom LINKS Read: UnListenable - Gnaw Their Tongues - L'arrivée de la terne mort triomphante YouTube: Stan Brakhage - The Wonder Ring YouTube: Stan Brakhage - Mothlight YouTube: Manifesto - Trailer YouTube: YouTube EPISODES IN THE ANTAGONISTS! SERIES DZ-50: Antagonists! 2 - vs Self DZ-51: Antagonists! 3 - vs Nature DZ-52: Antagonists! 4 - vs Systems DZ-53: Antagonists! 5 - vs Audience DZ-49: Antagonists! 1 - vs Humans ——— More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser. We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter. Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2018/dz-53/