ABSTRACT
The settings of Alejandro Amenábar’s first three films (Tesis / Thesis [1996], Abre los ojos / Open Your Eyes [1997], and The Others [2001]) refer to the characteristic universe of the thriller. The characters wander about in sinuous—and often claustrophobic and threatening—spaces that increase their anxiety and, by extension, that of the spectator. The secret corridors of a university, a video library plagued by abject images, a prison that is at once physical and mental, or a haunted house into which sunlight cannot penetrate—these are spaces that connect with the best tradition of the film thriller, a tradition in which the labyrinth is the central metaphor not only of the characters’ condition and worldview, but also of the structure of the film itself. As in classic labyrinths, Amenábar’s first productions create dead ends that entrap the spectator. Their plots are complex, digressive, and twisting, filled with unexpected turns and tangles.
