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Genre Theory
- How do genres develop? A set of films "copy" an original content/form because it was successful... as several copies are made, the content AND form profile becomes recognizable to an audience... the audience expects certain things from the film because of its genre... a very commercial, American process!
- A genre may be defined by:
3 Narrative Components:
- Plot For example, there are two main types of narrative strategy: A. Order/conflict (Westerns, gangster, detective) B. Integration (musical, screwball, melodrama/"weepie")
- Setting
- Character(s)
2 Other Aspects:
- Common iconography (e.g., in Westerns, white hats = good, black hats = bad)
- Form -- structure & techniques (e.g., top shot in Busby Berkeley musicals, LS in slapstick comedy, chiaroscuro lighting in horror and film noir)
- We can see this development in the 4 genre stages described by Giannetti:
Horror l. Primitive -- Cabinet of Dr. Caligari , l9l
- Classical -- Bride of Frankenstein , l
- Revisionist -- Invasion of the Body Snatchers , l
- Parodic -- Young Frankenstein , l
Musical
- Primitive -- Gold Diggers of 1933 , 1933
- Classical – Singin’ in the Rain, 1951; Oklahoma_!_ , 1955; Music Man , 1962
- Revisionist -- West Side Story , 1961; Moulin Rouge , 2001
- Parodic -- "Springtime for Hitler" sequence from The Producers , 1968 & 2005
Genre Hybrids or Intersections:
Western + Sci. Fi. = Westworld (’73)
Sci. Fi. + Film Noir = Blade Runner (’82)
Horror + Musical = Little Shop of Horrors (‘86)
Sci. Fi. + Gothic Horror = The Fly ('86)
Film Noir + Animated Feature = Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (’88)
Gothic + Musical + Animated Feature = ??
POW War Film + Animated Feature + Comedy = ??
[and on cable TV:] Gangster Film + Soap Opera = ??
Other hybrids??
A trend toward greater hybridization over time.
Genre Analysis:
Screwball Comedy (~l934-40)
PLOT: Battle of the sexes (conflict); but conflict is ultimately resolved (integration)
SETTING: A fantasy world - - the world of the rich, during the Depression!
CHARACTERS: Most are wealthy, don't have mundane, everyday concerns. An eccentric couple (mainly the female), often set among staid old-money.
ICONOGRAPHY: Nothing very deep... Icons of wealth are trivialized, denigrated. (e.g., mink thrown on ground); verbal sparring as a euphemism/metaphor for sex (Hayes Office era)...
FORM: Mostly a "straight shoot" using classical editing... many CU's compared to other films of that era, liberal use of reaction shots... some mickeymousing (not in all films)
Examples: It Happened One Night , l Topper , l Bringing Up Baby , l Sullivan’s Travels , 1941 (Screwball, yes, but also “self-reflexive,” a film about film; and, it’s not just the wealthy misbehaving)
Genre Analysis:
Black/Dark Comedy (1960's-on)
PLOT: The most serious of topics (e.g., war, death, dismemberment) is made fun of
SETTING: Cemeteries, funerals, war rooms
CHARACTERS; The deadly serious is often juxtaposed with the buffoon... the incongruity is humorous
ICONOGRAPHY: Death (e.g., The Loved One's "slumber rooms"), religion (e.g., picture of the pope in Harold & Maude ), war & evil (e.g., "Nazi hand" in Dr. Strangelove ), sex (bomb, cigars, gum in Dr. Strangelove )... icons are objects of derision in black comedy
FORM: Often, but not always, in B&W; music may be used as a comic counterpoint ( Dr. Strangelove )
Examples (notice how many are also cult films): Dr. Strangelove , 1964 The Loved One , 1965 Harold & Maude , 1972 Monty Python and the Holy Grail , 1975 Heathers , 1989 The Addams Family , 1991
Genre Analysis: Musical (1927-1960's, and back again post-2000?)
PLOT: Two different integration plot types most common: (1) "Boy meets girl", and (2) "save the old theatre" (e.g., Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland; Blues Brothers ). Each song provides an interim resolution of problems
SETTING: Two types: (l) "Backstage" musicals are set in theatres, clubs, TV, movies, (2) "Music-integrated" musicals are set anywhere
CHARACTERS: Boy, girl, bad guy(s) keeping them apart, buffoon(s)
ICONOGRAPHY: Could be anything for music-integrated; interpretive dance or ballet is common (e.g., Gene Kelly/Cyd Charisse in Singin' in the Rain )
FORM: e.g., Busby Berkeley top-shot... moving camera at floor level... film-style shooting (inc. looping later) allows dance numbers impossible to do on stage
Examples: Singin’ in the Rain , 1951 West Side Story , 1961 The Music Man , 1962 Little Shop of Horrors , 1986 The Hunchback of Notre Dame , 1996
Genre Analysis: Biopic (Biographical Movie--from silent films through today, but particularly popular in the 1930s)
PLOT: More than “based on a true story,” a biopic attempts an actual biography of a real person, highlighting significant events in that person’s life; a biopic is not a documentary..
. as noted by film critic Roger Ebert (regarding The Hurricane , a 1999 biopic on boxer Rubin Carter), "those who seek the truth about a man from the film of his life might as well seek it from his loving grandmother... The Hurricane is not a documentary but a parable.”
SETTING: Anywhere, but spanning some substantial period of time in the subject’s life, so historical recreations of places and events are common
CHARACTERS: The central biographical figure is based on a real person; however, other characters are often amalgams of real individuals, constructed for dramatic emphasis
ICONOGRAPHY: Depends on the nature of the subject
FORM: Usually shot in realist (rather than expressionist) style; emphasis on acting of main star
Examples: Judith of Bethulia , 1914 Joan the Woman , 1916 Napoleon , 1927 Queen Christina , 1933 Rembrandt , 1936 The Life of Emile Zola , 1937 The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex , 1939 Lust for Life , 1956 Lawrence of Arabia , 1962 Chaplin , 1992 Ed Wood , 1994 Nixon , 1995 Man on the Moon , 1999 Ray , 2004 The Aviator , 2004 Milk , 2008
