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5 - Locating the Beginning and the End in the Triangle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2021

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Summary

Abstract

In the final chapter, the journey of the character of Jess in the British movie Triangle is the focus. Analysing how Jess is caught within a trance of torturous and tortuous temporalities, this chapter tracks the overarching theme of the circularity inherent in temporality and the possible sifts it continues to create in its movement. Theories of affect are discussed while analyzing Jess's diabolical alternation between being gazed at and counter-gazing.

Keywords: Repetition, Circular Temporality, Maternal Love, Mortality and Death

Just the worst time of the year

For a journey, and such a long journey:

The ways deep and the weather sharp,

The very dead of winter.

‒ T.S. Eliot, The Journey of the Magi

The journey is indeed extremely long and arduous, and the timing is always a suspect ‒ any way but this, any time but this, and we could have prevailed.

This chapter will discuss British director Christopher Smith's film Triangle which was first released in the United Kingdom in 2009. The film stars Melissa George as the lead character of Jess. Apart from Jess, the plot involves five main characters ‒ Jess’ autistic son Tommy, her friend Greg, his young assistant Victor, Greg's school friend Sally and her husband, Downey. The movie begins with Jess readying to go for a weekend boat trip with her son on Greg's boat named Triangle. She, along with Sally and Downey, has been invited by Greg for this trip. A quick movement of the events, and we see a seemingly-disturbed Jess arriving at the harbour sans her son who, she claims, is at school (the group apparently expected her to bring him on the trip). Everyone seems to be behaving completely normally except Jess who seems be disturbed and out of place. While at sea, their boat capsizes because the wind drops down on their boat, and a little later, they are swept away by a sea storm.

Except Heather, Sally's single friend, everybody else survives the storm and finds an unclaimed ocean liner, Aeolus. Obviously, they all board it to escape the dangers of the sea. As they walk up and down the ship, it appears deserted and they find, to their horror, that someone has been on a spree to kill them all. While everyone else is killed, Jess manages to escape and then even goes on to throw the masked killer overboard.

Type
Chapter
Information
Women and Temporality in Literature and Cinema
Negotiating with Timelessness
, pp. 95 - 112
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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