Ambrose Bierce wrote "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" in 1890. The plot device has been used and abused (only rarely, such as in Donnie Darko, effectively) by lazy writers in Hollywood since film began. That is more than 100 years of this cliche, so you will forgive me if if find this film a bit stale.
reply
share
aimless-46
12 years ago
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" was a short story at the end of which it is revealed that the main character (from whose point-of-view the story is told) never escaped from the noose around his neck. He imagined the entire third part of the story during the time between falling through the bridge and the noose finally breaking his neck.
The difference between that story and the story in this film is that the main character here is processing her best case future in order to make a decision about sacrificing her life so her friend can live. Only if you believe that a storytelling device (not what a story is about but what the writer uses to structure their work) of an imaginary future was the most important facet of this film, would you dismiss it as another "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (which by the way was a very effective "Twilight Zone" episode).
But the "Donnie Darko" reference is valid, "The Life Before Her Eyes" blends elements of "Donnie Darko" with elements from "Carnival of Souls".
reply
share
gkar2025
12 years ago
Except it is not just an "imaginary future." It is a plot device of making the audience think a character does no die, but lives past an event, when in reality, that character dies. Been done far too much, though I am with you on the TZ episode. Now THAT was a series that attracted great writers.
reply
share