What if there is no antagonist?

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!

Audio quotations used for educational purposes only. Timestamps indicated below. Chapter markers included in the mp3. Watch it on on YouTube. Read the transcript on GitHubor in HTML.

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EPISODE LINKS

• DRAFT ZERO RELATED EPISODES
  • DZ-52: Antagonists! (Part 4) – vs Systems
  • DZ-51: Antagonists! (Part 3) – vs Nature
  • DZ-50: Antagonists! (Part 2) – vs Self
  • DZ-49: Antagonists! (Part 1) – vs Humans
• INTRODUCTION: vs Audience [@ 3m 22s]
  • UnListenable: Black Boned Angel - The End
  • UnListenable: Gnaw Their Tongues - L'arrivée de la terne mort triomphante
  • Watch: Stan Brakhage - The Wonder Ring
  • Watch: Stan Brakhage - Mothlight
  • Watch: Manifesto - Trailer
• OCEAN’S EIGHT screenplay: Gary Ross & Olivia Milch,  story: Gar Ross [@ 20m 31s]
  • JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/oceans-8
• THE SECOND written by: Stephen Lance [@ 46m 53s]
  • Stan (Aus): https://play.stan.com.au/programs/1660028
  • IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5636922/
• F FOR FAKE written by: Orson Welles [@ 1hr 14m 06s]
  • JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/f-for-fake
• SANS SOLEIL written by: Chris Marker [@ 1hr 31m 46s]
  • JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/sans-soleil
• FORREST GUMP screenplay: Eric Roth [@ 1hr 48m 55s]
  • JustWatch: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/forest-gump
• WRAP UP AND KEY LEARNINGS [@ 2hr 15m 12s]
  • Watch: Lost Highway - Mystery Man

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