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mirrors, in a condensed form, equivalent sequences in Godard's La Chinoise), the scene
implying the hazardous and unpredictable outcome of revolutionary activity. Similarly a later
emblematic sequence signifies the students backing out of the revolutionary project; it depicts
them being approached by the double one after the other. They stop at different street corners
in the city, and silently cover their faces with handkerchiefs. This kind of narration, based on
the contrast between realist visuals and the characters' theatrical performances, creates what
Grodal describes as a transposition of the representation into 'types and paradigms 1 ; the sense
of distance that is consequently created between spectators and screen events allows viewers
to identify the symbolic meaning implied by the actions being performed (Grodal 1999: 140).
The relevance of Brecht's distanciation effect
With regard to the forms of distanciation set up by the film narration, Partner also shows
how Bertolucci subscribed to Brecht's idea that viewer engagement could be interrupted to
prompt a broader awareness of the intellectual agenda underpinning a work. Brecht indicated
how viewers' attention would shift towards the device used to interrupt their affective
processes, thus awakening their critical faculties. To break Partners narrative illusion, the
filirf s camerawork and montage radically shift the viewer's attention both during scenes and
between scenes to reposition them in the role of observers, whilst increasing their awareness
of certain details of the mise-en-scene that might go unnoticed. The camera might move
arbitrarily away from the diegetic characters and towards an element of decor, lingering on it
to increase the viewer's awareness of the filmic medium. This is instantiated in the scene of a
drama class during which the double delivers a political speech to the students. The initial
framing includes the students filmed frontally as they sit listening, while the double is shot
from the back, sitting on the desk. Slowly, the frame narrows until only the lower part of his
back is visible, together with a close-up of the keyhole of the desk drawer, on which the
camera lingers. Such shots initially confuse the viewer's cognitive engagement with the
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