It’s not important to me if the film is predictable or unpredictable. In fact, I almost prefer the film to be inevitable. That the unfolding of events in the film proves itself to be something that you could have predicted could happen. I think that this view of cinema enables you to get out of the way of “surprise”. If you look at Macbeth, for example, the witches basically tell you what will happen. The pleasure becomes not WHAT will happen, but WHY it happens. “What” will happen creates art that has a limited shelf life. Once you know the answer, it becomes irrelevant. If the question is why, it never ceases to be interesting. That for me, is a higher calling for any creative work.
-James Gray
