The Shadow Self in Film

Book excerpt: This book examines 13 movies that deal with the protagonist and his projected "other." The cinematic Other is interpreted as an unconscious personality, a denied part of the protagonist that appears in his life as a shadowy menace who won't go away. Devoting a chapter to each movie, the book starts with Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and three cinematic pairs: two Hitchcock films, Shadow of a Doubt and Strangers on a Train; two versions of Cape Fear, J. Lee Thompson's 1962 original and Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake; and a pair of Clint Eastwood films, In the Line of Fire and Blood Work. The book then examines Something Wild, Sea of Love, Fight Club, Desperately Seeking Susan, Apocalypse Now and The Lives of Others. Overall the book aims to show how movies envision the unconscious Other we all too often project on other people.