On 10/15/96 Don Larsson wrote: >I'd have to see the film again to be sure, but I think the "privileging is >motivated as the mental reconstruction of the event by Denzel Washington's >character. The other flashbacks all accompany narratives by different >characters who had been eyewitnesses and the conflicts in their testimony >call them into question. Don is correct here, but this also links up with a more serious type of unreliable narrator -- namely, the filmmakers themselves. ***SPOILER ALERT!!*** Throughout the film, we are shown Denzel Washington's character agonizing about accidentally killing his friend during a tank battle, flashbacks (presumably the Washington character's) to this event, and everyone from his commanding officer to his wife referring to the incident. BUT it's only in the last minutes of the film that we are told that this episode was immediately followed by, and in some ways made possible, Washington's idea of exposing any enemy tanks which may have infiltrated his lines, the destruction of those enemey tanks, and the concomitant preservation of the lives of his own troops. Wouldn't everyone who talked with Washington's character normally and routinely refer to that incident as a major military coup and at least some sort of mitigation of his related error? Yet the filmmakers neglect or conceal that information. The whole drama of the Washington character's personal turmoil is ultimately compromised, I think, because of this. It almost seems as though the scenes relating to this information were added as an afterthought -- as though perhaps test audiences filled out comment cards to the effect that they wanted to see Denzel Washington in a more positive light and the filmmakers added this bit to get him off the hook. Does anyone know if this guess might be correct? --Richard J. Leskosky Richard J. Leskosky office phone: (217) 244-2704 Assistant Director FAX: (217) 244-2223 Unit for Cinema Studies University of Illinois 2117 Foreign Languages Building 707 S. Mathews Avenue Urbana, Illinois 61801 ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]