“One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it.” — Letter to A. S. Lazarev-Gruzinsky from Anton Chekhov, Nov. 1, 1889.
“If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it must absolutely go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.” — from the Memoirs of Shchukin, quoting Chekhov. (1911)
In literary and dramatic circles, a Chekhov’s gun refers to any early dramatic setup which “pays off” by the end of the film. The first, rather shite example that springs to mind is Tom Cruise’s gymnastic skills in The Firm. We witness them early on, and he uses them later in the film to escape his pursuers. Many modern plays and films which feature a gun on the wall are making a sly reference to this dramatic convention.
I was reminded of this concept by Aimee Mann, who features the following lyrics in her song Frankenstein:
I won’t find it fantastic or think it absurd
When the gun in the first act goes off in the third
’cause it’s rare that you ever know what to expect
From a guy made of corpses with bolts in his neck
She is such a fine songwriter. I’m pleased to be seeing her at Dicks on Dicks in August.
DarrenBarefoot.com 