tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post9133909949366553687..comments2024-03-28T06:25:00.013-04:00Comments on Cockeyed Caravan: Straying From the Party Line: The Multiple Heroes of The Shining Matt Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-49803915361299960642013-05-03T14:10:00.139-04:002013-05-03T14:10:00.139-04:00PULP FICTION is an exception because there are cle...PULP FICTION is an exception because there are clearly separate stories. But RESERVOIR DOGS is also a pretty good example of films with a central narrative or thematic problem where different characters take center stage and try and tackle it from their POV in alternating sequences. It's blatantly novelistic in this regard, starting off each chapter with a title card that bears the hero's name.j.s.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-66317148418347640522013-05-03T12:52:58.028-04:002013-05-03T12:52:58.028-04:00Yes, but I think movies like this and Psycho are d...Yes, but I think movies like this and Psycho are different from standard multiple-protagonist movies like Pulp Fiction in that there's just one problem and each hero takes up the baton only when the other hero fails, so that, for the viewer, we have a very typical experience, only rooting for one person at a time, because at each moment there's only one person who can solve the one problem. <br /><br />It's more like a relay race than a team sport. It could be that this happens all the time, but I'd never noticed it before. Matt Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-55774181927602383082013-05-03T12:31:36.141-04:002013-05-03T12:31:36.141-04:00Ensemble films like RESERVOIR DOGS and PULP FICTIO...Ensemble films like RESERVOIR DOGS and PULP FICTION hand off the role of protagonist relay-style from one story or POV to the next. Some of the characters stick around and become the antagonists in others' arcs.<br /><br />Then there are the kind of Hitchcockian shifts of perspective whereby the protagonist of PSYCHO is killed suddenly and, depending on the way you look at it, Norman Bates becomes the new anti-heroic protagonist or Marion's sister and the detective fill in for her when they come searching for her whereabouts. You can see an excellent fresh take on this kind of abrupt and shocking narrative shift of a protagonist in Park Chan Wook's SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE.<br /><br />The way Matt describes the shifts in THE SHINING feels more like a novel (where we follow a different character each chapter) or even like an artier European chamber drama, the way that characters in Bergman's films hand off the lead -- in a kind of psychic and metaphysical power exchange -- especially obvious in films like SHAME and PERSONA.<br /><br />I think Kubrick used this kind of approach repeatedly throughout his career. 2001 is a good example. But it's possible to argue that there's no single hero throughout the whole of FULL METAL JACKET, THE KILLING, DR. STRANGELOVE and even BARRY LYNDON, where the world of the supporting characters is often foregrounded at the expensive of the ostensible protagonist.j.s.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-56210492999688855512013-05-02T22:49:04.864-04:002013-05-02T22:49:04.864-04:00The hero turns into the villain in the star wars p...The hero turns into the villain in the star wars prequels. - Not that they're very good writing example of anything.Paul Clarkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15688568338235157470noreply@blogger.com