This technique turns the screenplay into a "hypertext." When the character Henri delivers a monologue, he is often reciting a text he has read, not words he feels. This creates a distance between the character and the dialogue—a technique known as distanciation (alienation). The script is not trying to make you believe these are real people; it is trying to make you listen to the ideas being spoken.
To understand the La Chinoise script, one must first understand what it rejects. The traditional screenplay, codified by Hollywood and adopted by much of European art cinema, relies on the "well-made play" structure: exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution. Characters are driven by psychological desires; they want something, and the story chronicles their struggle to get it. la chinoise script