The Narrative in Classical Hollywood Films - Case Study Example

Narrative in Classical Hollywood Films 2009 Hollywood films do not follow pure genres, rather these combine romantic with other genres (Staiger, in Bordwell, 2006). The cluster of films that we are going to study in this paper (An Affair to Remember, directed by Leo McCarey, Donnie Brasco by Mike Newell, When Harry Met Sally, directed by Bob Reiner and Brokeback Mountain by Ang Lee) are of mixed genre, one of the major trends that evolved in classical narrative Hollywood films from the 1950’s onwards. One thing that is common in all these films, as a general trend of classical Hollywood narratives, according to David Bordwell (2006) is a formula stressing four stages to the plot: a peaceful stage, the trouble, the fight, and the happy end. Obviously, love and friendship that asks for devotion, commitment that involves risky voyages and dangerous challenges match with such classical narratives which is why all these above films have plot lines and characterization that attempt to establish such values. It is not that with changing times and social perspectives do not affect the crude simplicity of romance or friendship as people used to understand few decades ago. Straight relations and simple love stories are some times nudged away to give prominence to the more debatable and controversial themes (like homosexuality). Yet the basic structure remains the same—to eulogize the human bond above everything else. Let us for example examine two films— An Affair to Remember (starring Grant as Nickie Ferrante, a notorious playboy and an art connoisseur, meets Deborah Kerr, as Terry McKay), a 1957 remake of the 1939 Love Affair, directed by Leo McCarey (he also directed the first), a film treated as one of the most romantic of all time, the two acting as strangers on a cruise ship but who can't resist falling in love and want to test whether this is real love or just infatuation of some kind by agreeing to separate and then to date atop the Empire State Building in six months. But Kerr has an accident, misses the meeting and loses the use of her legs-- the tragic mishap almost separating them. The plot that deals a very simplistic love affair makes the most use of the attraction for soft sides in human relations even if it does not involve complexities. We find two seemingly cool people feeling the experience of going through relation, which they are in the beginning not sure of it exactly is—may be a puerile emotion to be revealed gradually. The plot and the style of the narrative are abundant with humorous conversation handled deftly by Mr. Grant and Miss Kerr yet we are also takes gradually as it happens in the classical Hollywood narrative that hard are looming over the couple after the couple Hollywood the ship leaving that area of romance to the realities of dry land. These narratives also don’t pay much heed to what we generally expect in daily life—like Mrs Gran’t s failure to inform Nickie about her accident and his not knowing about it all appears absurd. Yet there lies the strength and magic of such style that it can suspend all disbeliefs as the story deals with a classical love relation (Crowther, The New York Times). Quite contrary to the cool romantic relation that is explicitly shown in An Affair to Remember and Donnie Brasco (1997) directed by Mike Newell (starring Al Pacino as Lefty and Joseph D. Pistone as Depp) is a film that finally deals with the difficult and thorny friendship between Lefty and Depp (an outstanding FBI agent going covertly in the 1970s New York going in 1970 New York as diamond salesman Donnie Brasco. His main help is Lefty Ruggiero, an aging and some a bit of a lowlife hoodlum seeking deliverance in "Donnie"). As the plot advances, Pistone makes a true bond with Lefty. Lefty is clearly a debased, always babbling and grumbling about the poor way he dealt with from mafia chief Sonny Red (Robert Maino), and also But his friendship with Donnie makes the situation a little problematic as the FBI starts to draw in on Piston’s case, and Pistone must make a tough decision about what he should do with Lefty, as they are really good friends now. In a certain sense, the narrative of the film is made clear by the script (written by Paul Attanasio) merging the life of Pistone and of Brasco, two different characters finally becoming one. Mafia films generally flaunt gangster expressions and idioms, but in "Donnie Brasco" the dialogue raises to a different height, establishing the actions between Lefty and Donnie building a true bond, in spite of their conflicting professions—something, that in An Affair to Remember is established by director Leo McCarey’s as like an ideal, divine state of being and not just an option. In Donnie Brasco, the easy characterization of Lefty and Donnie is pure magic, Mike Newell, bringing right direction to the film which is not just about the mafia but rather more of a relationship film, the narrative presenting the audience the way two men could unite despite their differing status, the acting by Pacino and Depp, fantastically adding to this theme. Pacino a master of gangster here portrays the poor foot soldier purposely hobbling along to create his "loser" character, but it's the nuances that are most credible! The Mob's head man is awed of him but he doesn’t dare to go near him. Johnny Depp as Brasco is much too restrained, communicating basically with his eyes (as his face have remains mostly without expressions maintaining his disguise). Close to the climax we find the relationship is facing a lot of problems as it happens in all classical narrative- Donnie realizing that he's frayed between his devotion to his family, his job, and his friendship with Lefty. The question is, how long can Pistone sustain his mission without hampering his and stability. Pistone's wife, Maggie and their three daughters suffer his months of absence without questioning. The nearly unendurable strain on their marriage leading one to conclude doesn’t match a family man. Subsequent gangster elements in the narrative (like a fight between two mafia gang leaders-- Sonny Black and Sonny Red for power and authority leading to a carnage, until the FBI pulls Donnie out) could have diverted the film to another mafia film but here Mike Newell sticks to his classical narration as we find it in dénouement when we see Depp's eyes communicate with Lefty’s in the hospital scene, as Lefty's son is treated for drug overdose—Lefty looking to Donnie as his proxy son (Harrill, 2002). In all classical films ” the turning points almost invariably relate to the characters’ goals. A turning point may occur when a protagonist’s goal jells and he or she articulates it .… Or a turning point may come when one goal is achieved and another replaces it.”(Thompson). Thompson considers that a well-made classical film doesn’t just have a particular narrative and a pinnacle filled matters with in between. She thinks that once the story is introduced, there is a long series of “complicating action,” often acting as a sort of second set of connections, making a whole new setting arising from the first turning point. The third part is the “development,” holding a series of obstacles to keep the complications from remaining to stack until the whole plot becomes too messy also serving to keep away the climax too start soon. The third turning point of a film is the final basis needing before action can advance toward the climax. In An Affair to Remember and Donnie Brasco, this climax has been reached in a in well-executed classical way when “all the premises regarding the goals and the lines of action have been introduced” (Storytelling, p. 29). After the second turning point (the accident changing the psyche of Terry) the delay and obstacles found in the third part of An Affair to Remember (the wheelchair bound Terry saying no to meet Nickie in order to hide her paralysis, Terry finding Nickie with his former girlfriend at the ballet, which she where she is also present with her former lover, Nickie not noticing her disability as she is seated saying hello as he passes her) are ultimately overridden leads to the climax when surprise visit to Terry by Nickie reveals him about the present position of the position Terry, reconciling the pair in the final scene. This, according to Thompson is another turning point, where a revelation reaches to climax, just as Lefty's changing feelings for Donnie from the strictly passiveness to a sort of paternal pride, gradually becomes apparent . Near the end we realize that to Lefty, Donnie stands out in his macho world, a man who values loyalty and commitment most rather than the constant conspiracy and back-stabbing (Todd Macarthy, Donnie Brasco). Thompson would have depicted this turning point reaching the climax as “characters working at cross-purposes resolve their differences.” Nora Efron’s Sleepless in Seattle, is of course not the weepy kind (but more bizarre m for that matter) we find classical Hollywood a man and a woman romance a elements albeit having the basic elements, like, a beautiful girl (Meg Ryan as Annie) and the handsome young man (Tom Hanks) to conclude in the usual way all Hollywood classical romance movies do. Yet the difference s that this film surpasses such clichéd films in the big 2 seconds before the climax where the couple spends together, Annie Reed and Sam Baldwin fall in love without really meeting each other—things that can only happen in cinema. Genre wise, Sleepless in Seattle is quite close to An Affair to Remember. Here, Sam’s (Hank) wife dies, Annie (Meg Ryan) is a young woman soon to be married to, a press executive one night she hears Sam speaking on a radio talk show about his wife’s sudden demise fall madly in love with this voice. cut the story short, Annie breaks off her engagement meets Sam (at the top of the Empire State Building at midnight on Valentine’s day symbolizing the emotion This apparently ridiculous plot has been quite magically turned into successful film. Such a funnily absurd plot could be turned into a runaway success only because of the use of “narrative space” operating on the emotions of the audience and create suspense, a technique that Efron employs from the classical Hollywood ways of storytelling. According to Mark Garett Cooper (“Narrative Spaces”) “the look”, has a special connotation in the classical Hollywood narrative -- the swap and separation of ‘looks’, bringing both narrative and spatial information. In Sleepless, the ‘looks’ between Annie and stressed the intensity of their love. Several shots in the film show Annie and Sam looking into the dark night apparently at each other. Another element helping the film to make it effective is the way it uses narrative space to develop the intuition of the audience. The ‘looks’ between Annie and Sam is typical of the ending of a classical Hollywood film, indicating that a nearly foregone conclusion that Annie and Sam will fall in love and live happily ever after. When Harry Met Sally (1989) directed by Rob Reiner, is a total comedy about love at first sight or the tradition of immediate, uncontrolled passion which go against every obstacle. When Harry Met Sally tried to answer, the question: Can straight men and women remains as friends without sexual bonds? When Harry Met Sally searches the long, at times rutted, and often hilarious way two people could realize they are in love-- one of the film's powerful themes is that everyone has his/her own way to romance. The narrative of the film spans 11 years beginning in 1977 when Harry and Sally first meet on an 18-hour car trip from the University of Chicago, where they both graduated from, to New York City, planning to start their new lives. The cheerful and bubbly Sally does not understand Harry's cynicism and they disagree on everything from sex to whether to Ingrid Bergman's character in Casablanca, especially on the film's theme: Whether or not men and women can be friends without sexual involvement. Sally thinks yes, they can; Harry does not think so. In the middle part of the film we see a beautiful friendship between the two-- narrating the increasing relationship between them—this part being made of brief montages showing their lives in New York where they help each other carry home Christmas trees and doing familial chores together combined with sequences where they share life joyfully together generally depending on each other’s support. This is also a narrative dealing with the classical Hollywood theme of friendship and love, but the style of the narrative is altogether a new one, apparently from a frivolous viewpoint. The film which obeys the classical rules of Hollywood narratives, is divided in three parts. In the last part the film deals with the fight after Harry and Sally sleep together taking us back to square one, which is the film's main question, "Can two friends sleep together and still love each other in the morning?"—a real tricky question indeed. The scenes between Harry and Sally after they have had sex are uncomfortably difficult, and they ring absolutely true. This is final turning point of the narrative—this revelation of something that changes the perspective of friendship and love (Kendick). Brokeback Mountain (2005) directed by Ang Lee is also about friendship, albeit having the shades of post-modern life, where homosexuality and lesbianism are also considered to be integrated part in human relationships. Brokeback Mountain is a love story between two men in 1960s Wyoming. The film accepts the bias against homosexuals in that time, but it’s not really it’s theme: almost has the he same classical narrative dealing with the prohibition of a Montague courting that we have read in Romeo and Juliet. As Phillipa Hawker pointed out in The Age, it is perhaps the traditional nature of the film that has really upset conservatives and homophobes. Lee would have rather tolerated more had he made the film more scandalous that seemingly suits this theme. The film doesn’t advocate any politics, doesn’t demonize any group or person. This is the magic of Lee’s classical narrative-- traditional, artistic, belonging to the genre of epic, picturesque, romantic drama, so brilliantly portrayed that it can’t be disregarded as just another average story of ruined love set in stunning surrounds. Works Cited McCarey, Leo dir. (1957), An Affair to Remember Starring: Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Richard Denning, Neva Patterson, Cathleen Nesbitt, Robert Q. Lewis, Charles Watts, Fortunio Bonanova, Written by: Leo McCarey, Delmer Daves, Donald Ogden Stewart Newell, Mike (1957), Donnie Brasco, Cast: Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby, James Russo, Anne Heche, Zeljko Ivanek, Gerry Becker, Robert Miano. Efron, Nora, Sleepless in Seattle, Written by Jeff Arch, Nora Efron, David.S. ward, Starring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan Bordwell, David, Staiger, Janet, Thompson, Kristin (1988) The Classical Hollywood Cinema: films style and mode of production to 1960, Routledge Bordwell, David (2006), The Way Hollywood Tells It: Story and Style in Modern Movies, University of California Press; 1 edition Crowther, Bosley (n.d), The New York Times, Archives, The Critics' Corner: An Affair to Remember, retrieved from http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=220695&rss=mrqe Harrill (2002), September, Sense of Cinema, issue no 51 http://www.dvdbooty.com/dvds/donnie-brasco-special-edition/) Thompson, Kristin (2003), Storytelling in Film and Television, Harvard University Press Cooper, Garett (2002), Mark, Screen 43(2):139-157, OUP James (n.d) When Harry Met Sally, Film Desk Review, http://www.qnetwork.com/index.php?page=review&id=871 Hawker, Philippa (2005), review, Brokeback Mountain, The Age, January 25 Lee, Ang (2005), Brokeback Mountain, review, retrieved from Cinephobia Review, http://www.cinephobia.com/brokebck.htm 1960e genres, 2002 Read More

In all classical films ” the turning points almost invariably relate to the characters’ goals. A turning point may occur when a protagonist’s goal jells and he or she articulates it .… Or a turning point may come when one goal is achieved and another replaces it.”(Thompson). Thompson considers that a well-made classical film doesn’t just have a particular narrative and a pinnacle filled matters with in between. She thinks that once the story is introduced, there is a long series of “complicating action,” often acting as a sort of second set of connections, making a whole new setting arising from the first turning point.

The third part is the “development,” holding a series of obstacles to keep the complications from remaining to stack until the whole plot becomes too messy also serving to keep away the climax too start soon. The third turning point of a film is the final basis needing before action can advance toward the climax. In An Affair to Remember and Donnie Brasco, this climax has been reached in a in well-executed classical way when “all the premises regarding the goals and the lines of action have been introduced” (Storytelling, p. 29). After the second turning point (the accident changing the psyche of Terry) the delay and obstacles found in the third part of An Affair to Remember (the wheelchair bound Terry saying no to meet Nickie in order to hide her paralysis, Terry finding Nickie with his former girlfriend at the ballet, which she where she is also present with her former lover, Nickie not noticing her disability as she is seated saying hello as he passes her) are ultimately overridden leads to the climax when surprise visit to Terry by Nickie reveals him about the present position of the position Terry, reconciling the pair in the final scene.

This, according to Thompson is another turning point, where a revelation reaches to climax, just as Lefty's changing feelings for Donnie from the strictly passiveness to a sort of paternal pride, gradually becomes apparent . Near the end we realize that to Lefty, Donnie stands out in his macho world, a man who values loyalty and commitment most rather than the constant conspiracy and back-stabbing (Todd Macarthy, Donnie Brasco). Thompson would have depicted this turning point reaching the climax as “characters working at cross-purposes resolve their differences.

” Nora Efron’s Sleepless in Seattle, is of course not the weepy kind (but more bizarre m for that matter) we find classical Hollywood a man and a woman romance a elements albeit having the basic elements, like, a beautiful girl (Meg Ryan as Annie) and the handsome young man (Tom Hanks) to conclude in the usual way all Hollywood classical romance movies do. Yet the difference s that this film surpasses such clichéd films in the big 2 seconds before the climax where the couple spends together, Annie Reed and Sam Baldwin fall in love without really meeting each other—things that can only happen in cinema.

Genre wise, Sleepless in Seattle is quite close to An Affair to Remember. Here, Sam’s (Hank) wife dies, Annie (Meg Ryan) is a young woman soon to be married to, a press executive one night she hears Sam speaking on a radio talk show about his wife’s sudden demise fall madly in love with this voice. cut the story short, Annie breaks off her engagement meets Sam (at the top of the Empire State Building at midnight on Valentine’s day symbolizing the emotion This apparently ridiculous plot has been quite magically turned into successful film.

Such a funnily absurd plot could be turned into a runaway success only because of the use of “narrative space” operating on the emotions of the audience and create suspense, a technique that Efron employs from the classical Hollywood ways of storytelling. According to Mark Garett Cooper (“Narrative Spaces”) “the look”, has a special connotation in the classical Hollywood narrative -- the swap and separation of ‘looks’, bringing both narrative and spatial information.

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