Viewer–Character Information Asymmetry as a Cultural-Creative Strategy in Global Cinema

Abstract

This article examines narrative asymmetry as a screen production strategy in contemporary global cinema, focusing on the technical and creative methods filmmakers employ to establish, maintain, and resolve information disparities between viewers and characters. While existing scholarship has predominantly approached it through psychological or cognitive frameworks, this study positions information asymmetry as a craft-based screen storytelling technique with significant implications for narrative tension, emotional engagement, and thematic development. Through practice-based analysis of three acclaimed international films—Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet 2023), The Salesman (Asghar Farhadi 2016), and Brooklyn (John Crowley 2015)—and drawing on interviews with creative teams, I analyse specific production choices that create instances where either viewers possess knowledge unavailable to characters or characters hold information concealed from the audience. By comparing diverse stylistic approaches to asymmetry across different cultural and production contexts, I situate these techniques within evolving transnational cinematic practices. This study argues that viewer-character information asymmetry represents not merely a narrative device but a cultural-creative strategy—a form of cinematic authorship—that fosters viewer speculation, interpretive co-creation, and ethical engagement with the film. The analysis would be valuable to screen and media scholars, students and industry practitioners engaged in crafting films across cultural and transnational contexts.