Top 6: Mysteries Where the Mystery Is Unimportant
Our Top 6 list for Episode 15 is a strange one: mysteries where the mystery isn't important. It sounds paradoxical, but actually a number of genre films have ulterior motives and only cling to a genre's framework to take advantage of our preconceived familiarity. In a mystery comedy, for example, the mystery provides the forward impetus of a story, but the heart of the film is in the laughs. There are all sorts of reasons why the mystery in a mystery film might not be what's important about it, and we attempt to explore a diversity of scenarios in our lists.
Do you have favorites of your own? What about other genres of films where the key component of the genre doesn't really seem to be the point?
As always, we recommend listening to the episode before reading further.
Stephen
- Rear Window (1954)
- The Big Sleep (1946)
- Blowup (1966)
- The Conversation (1974)
- The Big Lebowski (1998)
- Clue (1985)
Sam
- 12 Angry Men (1957)
- Blowup (1966)
- Gosford Park (2001)
- L'Avventura (1960)
- A Shot In the Dark (1964)
- Murder By Death (1976)
| 
