Great twist movies
I have always loved stories with a twist in the tail, but movies have a unique advantage over books, in that the audience cannot enjoy the intimate perspective of any character (unless voiceover is used to provide the character's thoughts). This means that the director can withhold important information from an audience, while the author of a book would be criticised for doing the same.
When filmmakers realise this, and use it to full advantage while still respecting their audience's intelligence, they can produce a twisty movie that enthrals, baffles, and delights their viewers.
Image by Per Chronqvist
(More reviews to come soon.)
What makes a good twist?
- Misdirection, or redirection.
The audience is encouraged to focus on something other than what the real story turns out to be. Also known as a "red herring". - Non-linear narration.
The story is not told in chronological order, so the audience doesn't get access to crucial information until later on in the story. Often the story is told in a series of flashbacks interspersed with "current" story. Other methods are to start from the end and work backwards, or to start the story in the middle, return to the start and then move through the middle again to the final ending.
Some weaker films use non-linear narration to hide a lack of complicated plot and make the story seem more complex than it really is. (Primer and Pulp Fiction are examples of simple plots made unnecessarily complex.) - Revelation or discovery.
Usually one of the characters discovers something, is told or left a clue, or the "truth dawns on him", so that the audience can be given the final twist of the story. Amnesia-based plots, like Memento, Cypher, and Identity, are great at using slow revelation to hide clues until the right moment. - Irony or poetic justice.
Twists are made sweeter if irony is involved, such as the villian dying by the same method he used to kill his victims.
(The Prestige uses irony to great effect.) - The MacGuffin.
The term "MacGuffin" was coined by Alfred Hitchcock. The plot revolves around a person or item that is never explained and therefore almost pointless, except as a plot device. The briefcase in Ronin is a MacGuffin - we are never told what is in it and why it is so important. - The plant.
The opposite of a MacGuffin - an item, such as a gun, is "planted" on the scene for the express purpose of being used in the denouement. Sometimes the plot makes it unclear as to whether the character arranged for the item so that he could use it, or whether he used it because it was already there. (Think of the water chamber in The Prestige.) - The unreliable narrator.
More commonly used in books, as narrators are rare in movies, unless used as voiceovers. A forgetful or untruthful narrator can successfully hide many of the clues the audience needs to solve the mystery themselves. The Usual Suspects is a good example. - Double crossing.
Character X believes Y is betraying Z, when Y is really working on Z's behalf against X. Additionally, Y could confess to X and cross Z again while Z believes Y is still betraying X - or just take the whole situation to Character W and betray both X and Z. Confused yet? - Differing perspective narration.
The same story is told from a number of different characters' viewpoints, each adding or changing the story until the real story is hidden under layers of confusion. The movies 11:14 and Jackie Brown use differing perspectives for part or all of the storyline.
The Usual Suspects
Starring Kevin Spacey and Gabriel Byrne
The Usual Suspects (Special Editon)
Amazon Price: (as of 09/08/2008)
After an inconsequential crime, five criminals are brought in for a line up. Unfortunately for the police, they've just introduced the perfect crime team to each other. Master criminal Keyser Soze certainly thinks so, when he sends his right-hand-man in to round them all up and offer them a deal. Unfortunately for the five criminals, their deal is about to get all of them killed - except for Roger "Verbal" Kint, who gets to tell the police about the whole convoluted story.
Hint:
Check out the notice board at the police station.
Identity
Starring John Cusack and Ray Liotta
Identity
Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 09/08/2008)
Stranded at a "Bates Motel" lookalike when ferocious weather closes the road, eleven strangers have to work together when someone starts picking them off one by one according to their room numbers. But soon the co-incidences start adding up to an elaborate set up, and the strangers have to work out what connection they have to each other, and why someone would want them all dead.
You'll want to watch this movie several times. I didn't know Identity was a twist movie when I first watched it; I thought it was an ordinary thriller - so the twists caught me completely, and I still get a delicious chill when I think about this movie.
Hint:
What do these eleven people have in common?
Cypher
Starring Jeremy Northam and Lucy Liu
Cypher
Amazon Price: $26.99 (as of 09/08/2008)
Bored businessman Morgan Sullivan (Northam) is recruited by a company called Digicorp to secretly record convention speeches in what seems like an elaborate game of corporate espionage.
But when Morgan meets the alluring Rita (Liu), she convinces him to test Digicorp. He fails to record the next speech, but Digicorp still confirm successful receipt of his transmission.
With this knowledge, Morgan joins with Rita to find out what is really going on, and who's really controlling whom.
Basic
Basic
Amazon Price: $10.99 (as of 09/08/2008)
Fight Club
Fight Club (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
Amazon Price: (as of 09/08/2008)
The Prestige
Starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlet Johanson, David Bowie, and Andy Serkis.
The Prestige
Amazon Price: $14.99 (as of 09/08/2008)
In the early 1900s, magicians Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) start out as friends, but after a tragic accident they begin a life-long obsession of vengeance, counter-vengeance, and one-upmanship.
The twists in The Prestige are "soft" twists, some of which are fairly easy to spot - but this enhances the movie rather than making it in any way predictable. The skill of this movie is in its layers, and also in the superb acting ability of Jackman and Bale. The twists are about the obsessive characters of the two men, rather than plot twists designed to baffle and amuse an audience.
This is a very clever movie, with a lot of depth, that is well worth several viewings.
Hints - look out for:
Which knot does Borden tie?
Cutter's story about the drowning sailor.
The bird trick, repeated several times. Make a note of the crying boy's comment.
Sarah's comments about Borden loving her.
What does Borden say when Sarah tells him she is pregnant?
What is so precious that Angier steals from Borden?
Which cat is a real cat?
The Prestige plot points discussed in detail
Huge SPOILER Warning
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The Prestige - with spoilers
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The Prestige opens with one Victorian-era magician being tried for the murder of another magician, and then works its way through the story of their rivalry via their diaries. The twists in The Prestige are "soft" twists, but this enhances t...
The Prestige - the novel
by Christopher Priest
The Prestige
Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 09/08/2008)
12 Monkeys
12 Monkeys (Special Edition)
Amazon Price: $8.99 (as of 09/08/2008)
The best of Alfred Hitchcock
Psycho (Collector's Edition)
Amazon Price: (as of 09/08/2008)
Strangers on a Train
Amazon Price: $6.49 (as of 09/08/2008)
Dial M for Murder
Amazon Price: $8.49 (as of 09/08/2008)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Amazon Price: $17.99 (as of 09/08/2008)
The best of M Night Shyamalan
The Village (Widescreen Vista Series)
Amazon Price: $11.49 (as of 09/08/2008)
The Sixth Sense (Collector's Edition Series)
Amazon Price: $9.99 (as of 09/08/2008)
The Top 5 Twisted Movies
Add your own favourites...
The Usual Suspects (Special Edition)
Masterful, atmospheric and dripping with suspense, more...2 points
Tell me about your favourite Twist Movies!
I'm always looking for twisty movies I haven't seen before. Sometimes they creep in under the radar, like Basic and Identity. Let me know if you've seen something I haven't listed here.
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eccles1
The Usual Suspects' I never saw that coming from him!I wonder if we don't all have a little of this in us because it happens so often that people on the news say..'but he was such a nice person'! as they carry him away in a police car!!Thank you* Posted June 13, 2008 |
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sonia_simone
Love this lens! Sixth Sense is one of my favorite movies, period. Unlike MNS's other movies, this one really seems to touch something human and true. (I did like Unbreakable as well, but it wasn't nearly as wonderful IMO.) Another fun one is The Last of Sheila. Posted January 09, 2008 |
Employee of the Month - the 2003 version starring Renee Albert, Enrique Almeida, etc. Lots of twists. Just watch it !!
Posted November 24, 2007
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tillergirl
Hi Elsa, Posted August 12, 2007 |
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MrLewisSmile
You MUST see 'The Illusionist'. AMAZING! Posted April 12, 2007 |
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