Du tueur en série au terroriste : de quelques méchants sans visage dans le cinéma américain des années 2000

Julien Guieu

Abstract :
The Pledge (Sean Penn, 2001), The Zodiac (Alexander Bulkley, 2005) and Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007) are unusual among serial-killer films in that the face and identity of the evildoer is never revealed, either to the films’ detectives or even to the spectators. The filmmakers make full use of the mise en scène’s resources to whet the latter’s desire of discovering who the culprit is without ever satisfying it. This incomplete representation of the serial killer turns him into a rather abstract figure, which allows the post-9/11 films by Bulkley and Fincher to reach beyond their apparent subject and to comment on the ill-effects of the fear of terrorism on the national unity and identity of the United States – as does, more unexpectedly, Jim Jarmusch’s Broken Flowers (2005), in which the face and identity of the antagonist remain similarly mysterious.
Published : 2018-07-23

Citation

Julien Guieu, « Du tueur en série au terroriste : de quelques méchants sans visage dans le cinéma américain des années 2000 », Cycnos, 2018-07-23. URL : http://epi-revel.univ-cotedazur.fr/publication/item/174