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The Line Between Diegetic ‘reality' And Fantasy Is Never Clear In The Film ...


The line between Diegetic ‘reality' and fantasy is never clear in the film and narrative meaning is obtuse and deliberately elusive. Character, meaning and narration are all fluid, subject to change and open to interpretation.
A characters motivation may be the driving impetus of a films narrative, their obsession and desire being the key to their ultimate success or failure. Alternatively a character may be forced into the narrative against their will, and allow chance and circumstance to ultimately decide their fate. The voice of the protagonist may not be as informed as we would assume, and we must look for the Directors voice to ascertain meaning.
Our understanding of the resolution of narrative is determined by the qualities that the characters display through the events of the film. To return to the words of Patrick Phillips for one last time in this essay, he tells us that the relationship between character and narration is subject to the influence of the other formal elements of film making. We receive all kinds of guidance from the text about how to respond to a character, - from their overall place within a narrative cause?effect chain to very specific ways that a character can be positioned within the mise en scène.We must find the truth between how the character perceives them self and how that character is being presented. It is in this space that narrative meaning can be found.

Bibliography
Bordwell, D and Thompson, K (2001) Film Art: An Introduction (sixth edition). New York: McGraw Hill.
Branigan E (1992) Narrative Comprehension and film London, Routledge
Chion M (2006) David Lynch. London, BFI publishing
Karwin, BF (1992) How Movies Work. London, University of California Press
Kozloff S (1988) Invisible storytellers: Voiceover narration in American Fiction Film. Berkley, University Of California press
Phillips P (2006) Understanding Film Texts: Meaning and Experience. London, BFI Publishing
Thompson K (2001) Storytelling in the New Hollywood: Understanding classical narrative technique. Harvard, Harvard University Press
Wilson GE (1986) Narration in Light: Studies in cinematic point of view. Baltimore, John Hopkins University Press
Films
The Big Lebowski (1998) Dir: Joel Coen. GB/US, Universal Pictures
The Big Sleep (1946) Dir Howard Hawks. US, Warner Bros
Casino (1995) Dir Martin Scorsese US, Warner Bros
Fight Club (1999) Dir: David Fincher GB/US, 20th Century Fox
Goodfellas (1990) Dir: Martin Scorsese US, Warner Bros
Mulholland Drive (2001) Dir: David Lynch. GB/US, Universal Pictures
The Princess Bride (1987) Dir: Rob Reiner, US, 2oth Century Fox
Ray (2004) Dir Taylor Hackford, US, Universal Pictures
The Royal Tennembaums (2001) Dir Wes Anderson. US, Touchstone Pictures
Walk The Line (2005) Dir James Mangold.


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