Stranger Than Fiction
In the film ‘Stranger than fiction’ by Mark Fortster, the director portrays the issue of time and how it has affected the protagonist who is Harold Crick. Harold Crick is an IRS agent who lives a ‘life of solitude’ and monotony. Harold Crick lives a calculated life timed to perfection by his wrist watch. This lasted for 12 years until one regular Wednesday when he hears the voice of Karen Eiffel narrating his life. The issue of time pays such a vital role in stranger than fiction and is shown right at the start of the film but is most notably noticed when his wrist watch shuts down and leads to his ‘imminent death’.
During the opening scene of the film we are introduced to Harold Crick who is described as a man of ‘infinite numbers’ and ‘endless calculations’ but also shows the importance of time. The director uses an extreme wide shot of earth zooming onto Harold’s wrist watch to portray the idea of the issue of time. The opening scene sets the scene throughout the movie. The significance of the extreme wide shot zooming onto Harold’s wrist watch is that it acts as Harold’s companion and is seen as his way to make the most out of his time. This shows how the issue of time is affecting Harold’s life even though he doesn’t know it his mundane lifestyle is only breached when the announces in a 3rd person omniscience view that his ‘seeming innocuous decision would lead to his imminent death’ when he starts to live his life to the fullest before in time he dies.
The wrist watch is a very important motif throughout the movie. The wrist watch is given a persona and quote ‘his wristwatch thought it made his neck look fat but said nothing’. The wristwatch could be seen as Harold’s self-conscious but also portrays the issue of time throughout the movie. This is evident from the start of the film that it is important because of the extreme wide shot zooming onto the watch which suggests this. The watch is portrayed as the issue of