seeing, being seen, and awareness of both
Tristram Shandy, or a Cock and Bull Story (2006)
The two opening sequences establish the position of this movie in our reality. The first sequence of the two actors in makeup alerts us that this is going to be a movie about making movies. The second sequence (Coogan, ostensibly in character as Shandy) clues us into the layering; he relates to the camera an anecdote about Groucho Marx, suggesting that the actor is in Coogan mode, then tells the audience that he's Shandy. Or perhaps it's the other way around.
Winterbottom understands cinema in a practical way; he's made at least two others in this self-aware vein (24 Hour Party People (2002) and In This World (2002)), both of which were excellent, though very different in subject matter. One of the things I find fascinating about this theme is that the viewer's attention is rewarded; our perspective on the frame is privileged, and the individual elements in the frame have perspective. Do we hear some kind of voiceover or is it diagetic? Is the actor delivering the line in character, or is it coming from another layer? Ultimately, it probably is just wanking, but being aware of all these overlapping contexts requires a level of sophistication that is de rigeur for our own multilayered existences.
Plus, it's just funny; Coogan gives a hilarious performance as The Star Who Is a Twit, and the situations the screenwriter creates are sly and clever. There is a battle in the book that the "production" needs to shoot. So they do, but it's during the day, there aren't enough extras, and it looks terrible; we see the actors and production team lamenting at how wretched it is. Then the camera follows Coogan on a night stroll through the location. The extras have all camped on the grounds, and are essentially having a party -- fireworks, cookouts, mock battles. Coogan wanders through, and we're treated to the brawling Spectacle -- at night, with fireworks, complete with shouting, dirty uniforms, and hordes of people running around -- that the "production" wanted to capture.
I was very entertained during the hour and a half running time.