Divide and Conquer

A world of possibilities in the unstudied field of DVD chaptering
by Adrian Martin   posted Nov 6, 2008

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COMMENTS (2)

I believe David Lynch has refused to allow chapter breaks, at least in Mulholland Dr. And isn't there a function on the Memento DVD that allows you to play it in chronological order? The DVD of Litvak's Anastasia coincidentally has two chapters which begin with the same framing, starkly showing that Litvak at that stage in his career was trying to cover as much of the script as possible with as little effort. Of course Rope should place its chapter breaks at the hidden cuts. I bet it doesn't.
dcairns   posted 15.11.08

Roger Ebert's been saying things like this for a while: use chaptering as an opportunity to provide more ways into a movie. This is reminiscent of what Julio Cortazar did with Hopscotch...he provided suggestions of alternate orders to read the novel rather than sequentially, but ultimately the option is the reader's.
Gautham Thomas   posted 13.11.08

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Courtesy Sony Pictures Entertainment
Adam Sandler in Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love
Photo Gallery: Divide and Conquer

THE AUTHOR

Adrian Martin is Senior Research Fellow in Film and Television Studies, Monash University (Australia). He is the author of Qué es el cine moderno? (2008), Raúl Ruiz: sublimes obsesiones (2004), Once Upon a Time in America (1998) and Phantasms (1994), and is Co-Editor of Rouge.

More articles by Adrian Martin
Author's Website: Rouge