Mimetic set and match: Around Shaffer’s “Sleuth”
Anthony Shaffer’s mystery thriller, Sleuth, and subsequent film version, provide a blueprint for the crushing influence of imitation and monstrous doubling as outlined by French-American anthropologist, René Girard. The relationship between crime writer Andrew Wyke and his wife’s lover reveals itsel...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Studia Filmoznawcze |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://wuwr.pl/sf/article/view/17981 |
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| Summary: | Anthony Shaffer’s mystery thriller, Sleuth, and subsequent film version, provide a blueprint for the crushing influence of imitation and monstrous doubling as outlined by French-American anthropologist, René Girard. The relationship between crime writer Andrew Wyke and his wife’s lover reveals itself to be one of negative reciprocity built upon envy, leading to a lethal dénouement. Yet Milo’s final renunciation of mediated desire and further games-playing breaks the cycle of symmetry. Throughout both the script and screenplay, Shaffer offers an acute social commentary on the concepts of difference and non-belonging, while also addressing the drive towards assimilation which risks fomenting resentment among in-groups and out-groups. |
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| ISSN: | 0860-116X 2957-2398 |