Sarah Forrest

The Unreliable Narrator

Sarah Forrest

Jack Paton

A short film in which a magician performs close magic and cardistry to camera. The title of the work, The Unreliable Narrator, could be understood simply as a warning to be cautious, like a pre-emptive nudge signalling that care should be taken as to who or what is believed. As someone whose stock in trade is the art of deception the magician conjures a narrative that we knowingly enter into even though we understand it is false. However, throughout the film the position or identity of the named narrator is left ambiguously open, bringing attention to the sleight of hand and potential duplicity of not only the magician but also the filmmaker.