ABSTRACT
At the most fundamental level, absence marks all representation in so far as an object or world which is not itself present is being ‘re-presented’ through a particular medium. Film theory asserts that the techniques of classical film narration mask this play of absence and presence, thus suturing-or stitching-the spectator into the seamless fabric of the film’s diegetic world (see suture; diegesis). This view has subsequently been criticized for its inability to account for the multiplicity of spectator positions possible in film viewing.
