Conclusion

Devoted to the question of film adaptation, the conclusion to Murder in Motion reverses the perspective of the introduction by examining the suspense of speed as a complement to the speed of suspense. More exactly, the speed of the medium of the cinema determines the increased acceleration of depicted actions in the move from the page to the screen, usually resulting in a heightening of suspenseful effects. From a Benjaminian standpoint, moreover, film itself operates as a potent figure for modernity. While considering a number of transfers of themes and contents to a separate medium, I also uphold differences between the translations of the works of Patricia Highsmith and Cornell Woolrich to the screen as exemplary of the manifold problematic of adaptation.