-The way the story was told-
In the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard, the black and white film presents a variety of methods that make it unique in its story telling. A few of the methods used are, the use of flashback, use of narration, and an actual character in the movie telling the story. These factors made for a lot of suspense, an easy way to follow the story through story telling, and it also provided a sense of discovery. I will explain why all of these things enhance the value of the story and adds something new to the way a movie is presented.
The use of narration in this story is key; you can tell that there is importance to the guy who is narrating but you are unaware until his role and true identity is revealed toward the end. Narration is a style in which a story can be presented I am for this style and in this case it sets the tone of each scene. Joe Gillis’s narration did certain things like revealing how he felt about a certain thing that happened; at times it even revealed what he was thinking in a specific scene. This adds information to a scene that we would not regularly get without narration, or in other words we would have to assume.
The other and maybe most interesting thing about the narration and story telling method is that the narrator was an actual character in the main storyline that becomes identifiable. Usually in a movie or story a narrator is a character that is not connected to the main plot maybe someone who is telling a story from a distant perspective or as a minor role in the main story. This case, Gillis was the main character and without us actually knowing it he was telling his side of the story the whole movie. This is not something that we are usually accustomed to with movies that have narrators.
One of the most interesting things that happen in this story is provided mainly because the narration being given by the main character. We discover that the initial image in the beginning of the movie is actually the narrator himself. At the beginning the narrator addresses this image but we don’t actually know, or have the idea that it may be him until more than half way through the film. I feel because discovery is one of the things we look forward to most as an audience it enhances the discovery when you discover something about someone you are more connected to, for example Mr. Gillis. He connects with you through telling you the story and then we find out that he is the dead image at the beginning.
Another tool used as a method of story telling is the flashback that we have at the start of the movie. This makes you more attentive of the story, because as the audience you want to discover why and how this came about. So with the added anticipation you are on the edge until you can get back to the flashback point.
The method of story telling can enhance a story in so many ways, some of which I described. Sunset Boulevard used a method that enhanced the value of the story.
-Kendrel Dickerson
I completely agree that the way the story of this movie was told, especially the narration, made this movie very unique. You make a good point about the usual narration of films; that it is usually a character with a minor role or someone that doesn’t have anything to do with the story whatsoever, a more omniscient point of view. To further the point of discovery in this film, one of my favorite aspects is finding that the narrator of the story is in fact a dead man. I find that this would make it harder for the writers of the movie to stay away from the omniscient narration and they actually did it very well. They were able to keep that mystery identity of the floating body in the opening scene by never drifting away from our central character, Joe Gillis. I really enjoyed the idea of the main character being the narrator because we were given a behind the scene look, if you will, throughout the movie. We always knew what he was doing and exactly what it was he was thinking. Especially in the scenes where he is with Norma, we get thoughts outside of our own about this incredibly vein woman who is struggling to hold onto the grip of reality. The story telling aspect of this movie does great things that make it unique and I believe really make the movie as great as it is. Narration we are used to would not have delivered the story nearly as well.
ReplyDeleteWyatt B. (Group 2)
This was a very unique and well thought out post. I enjoy the thorough evaluation of the narration as a key tool in the success of the movie. Joe Gillis' involvement in the film does, in fact, go beyond the character we see on screen. Though it may have taken some people a while to figure out that the dead body floating in the pool was the narrator, it keeps the leading actor in focus at all times. Funny to think that when Joe the narrator is looking out the window with actual Joe from his bedroom over the garage to the dilapidated swimming pool and overgrown yard, that we could be hearing either thoughts, dead or alive. This theme carries over throughout the movie as we are introduced to the other main and secondary characters; are we hearing the dead Joe Gillis' thoughts or the live one? It adds to the overall mystery of the movie that is sparked by the man floating wide-eyed and clearly dead in the pool in the beginning. What is truth in Hollywood when everything is a story? A script? Is Norma's reality just as true as Joe Gillis? Maybe the dead Joe is creating everyone else's reality as Max has been creating and re-creating Norma's as her seventeen year-old self. Again, I think this is a very solid post about the structure of the movie and I certainly agree that traditional, removed narration from a third party would not have made it as intriguing.
ReplyDelete-Katie Conley (Group 1)