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Re: The 8-step "Secret" Hollywood Formula

216.244.0.87

Posted by Bambi B on December 13, 2002 at 16:46:33

In Reply to: Re: The 8-step "Secret" Hollywood Formula posted by Victor Khomenko on December 13, 2002 at 12:46:20:

VK,

Your characterization of separating plot-driven action from character- driven action is highly important. When the movie moves because of a kind of clockwork force with deceptions, it is done to maintain a certain kind of interest- an intrigue as to what will happen next. When it is charcter driven it becomes what will a person choose to do next-(and remotely, what would I do?)- the intrigue of human action.

The first is just easier. The recent version of "Ocean's Eleven" is a case of being extremely plot driven so that there is little memorable about the charcters except Elliot Gould and Carl Reiner who had some personality. Clooney's Ocean did not have any believable inner drive, Andy Garcia walked around stiff as a board in his wierd wardrobe and Julia Roberts at $20,000,000 was getting $1,000,000 per useful word. Contrast this to the original Rat Pack version and esp. the great Las Vegas charcters in "Casino."

The second- character driven- is much more difficult. And you mention one of my favourites- Bergman- who manages to portray a real psychology and how deep personality causes people's choices in interactions. The difference too might be that "O-11" tries an impresive big scale external, epic and Bergman goes into the epic scale of one or two people's internal life.

As you recently heated the plate with the discussion of "Sola," I would be interested in applying the idea of plot-driven against character-driven to it. I am inclined to think that Sola's amazing violence is plot(incidence)driven to purposely de-humanize. Perhaps Pasolini didn't establish for viewers the two sides of Fascism- that it is a nightmare for those who oppose it, but there are many, many more people who fall for it and admire it's order, benefits, and clarity to the point of looking away at it's costs. In pro-fascist movies we see politics, morality, military, public order, and justice based on enforced compliance with the needs of the production of wealth and maintainance of a pyramidal power structure as a kind of meritocracy. With Pasolini, we are forced into seeing the costs close up but still in a general way. A plot-driven rather than character-driven world portrayed.

Cheers,

Bambi B

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