slapstick suspense

Started by pete, September 27, 2010, 02:13:59 AM

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quigliest

Not sure if it counts, but i'm pretty sure the final 30 minutes of Pour Elle is ALL slapstick suspense.

pete

SPOILER FOR A SCENE EARLY IN THE FILM "Mother", which is on netflix watch instantly, and you really need to watch that fucking movie.



early in the film, there's a scene in which Mother hides in the closet of her son's best friend, whom she suspects to have been the true murderer of the crime her son's been accused of committing.
The boy returns home with a young girlfriend.  They hook up, the mother kneels in the closet, watching it all, the two of them pass out.  The mother quietly sneaks out of the closet with a blunt murder instrument that she's found in his closet.  But then she realizes that her feet have been numb after kneeling for so long, so she must navigate his tiny dirty apartment as the two of them are dead asleep.  She tries her best to control her short, dead legs, walking over this comicbook and that soda cup, almost reaching the door-
when she knocks over a cup of water, the waterspill slowly spreads on the floor - inching towards the dude's fingers.  The mother tries her best to sneak out of the door before that happens--

the movie has certain bits of self-awareness built in, so that scene may arguably be a little funny, but still, it uses slapstick devices build a very tense moment.
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

Stefen

In The Fighter after Dicky jumped out a window for the billionth time, I immediately thought of this thread. Fuckabees had a bunch of these moments too IIRC, but that's more of a comedy. Three Kings too.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.