A filmmaker can hold audience interest without ever soliciting character sympathy.

Evidence

For three hours Scorsese holds the viewer’s interest without once soliciting his sympathy—that is a great feat of filmmaking. — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 414

Categorization

• XREF: XREF connects to the mechanics of character sympathy in narrative craft.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 414