The Story Archive

The Stunt Man

Richard Rush · 1980 CE · Film · Modern / American · Contemporary

A veteran running from the police stumbles onto a stretch of Californian coast where a First World War picture is shooting and a stuntman has just drowned; the director offers him the dead man's job, name and protection. Every setup afterwards might be a stunt or an attempt on his life, and the director watches it all from a crane. Rush spent years finding a distributor for a comedy about the seduction of being directed.

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Attributes

Genre
ThrillerSatirePsychological
Theme
Appearance vs RealityArt & CreationPower & CorruptionFreedom vs Fate
Archetype (Jung / Campbell)
EverymanMagicianShadow
Plot structure
MetafictionMistaken Identity
Symbol / motif
The ScreenThe MaskThe Stage
Conflict
vs Personvs Self
Mode / tone
IronicSatirical
Culture / tradition
Modern / American

Closest analogues