↓ Skip to main content
DRAFT ZERO
← DZ-110 DZ-112 →
Show Notes Chapters Films Scripts Series Related Recommended

DZ-111: Unreliable Narrators and FIGHT CLUB

How does the unreliability of a narrator impact the way a story is told?

2 JUL 2024

Show Notes

In this episode, Stu and Mel (sans Chas!) take a deep dive into FIGHT CLUB and its use of the unreliable narrator. This is a bridging episode between our previous episode on VOICEOVER and our forthcoming episode on TALKING TO CAMERA as Fight Club does both.

We dissect the film’s disconnected sequence-driven structure and how the voiceover ’stitches’ the film together. And then we look at what makes ‘Jack’ an unreliable narrator and how his control over the storytelling impacts us.

Thanks to Chris Walker for his excellent editing this episode.

"It’s a very sequence-driven film. And I think that’s... part of the reason they use voiceover - to stitch it together."

— Stu Willis  |  DZ-111: Unreliable Narrators and FIGHT CLUB

Like this episode? Discuss with our Patrons on Patreon.

Thanks to our Patrons, especially Lily, Alexandre, Malay, Jennifer, Thomas, Paulo, Randy, Jesse, Sandra, Theis and Khrob.

As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.

Resources

Transcript

Read the transcript for this episode.

Chapters

  • 00:00:01 – Cold Open
  • 00:00:20 – FIGHT CLUB
  • 00:07:23 – › Voiceover temporality and the narrator's point of origin
  • 00:09:22 – › Sequence-by-sequence breakdown of structural antagonists
  • 00:21:08 – › How voiceover stitches loose sequences into unified story
  • 00:24:57 – Unreliable Narrators
  • 00:28:02 – › Fourth wall breaks as audience antagonism
  • 00:33:07 – › Narrator's control over story presentation
  • 00:39:37 – › The projectionist sequence as meta-narrative device
  • 00:44:40 – › Unreliable narration, sympathy, and character agenda
  • 00:49:09 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
  • 00:54:07 – Many thanks to our Patrons!

Films

Scripts

Episodes in the Talking Directly to the Audience series

More Draft Zero is brought to you by our awesome Patreons.

If you enjoy the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts, a rating on Spotify, or a review on Podchaser.

We are @stuwillis, @mehlsbells and @chasffisher on Twitter. You can find @draft_zero and @_shotzero on Instagram and Twitter.