Narrative structure in VG
Jul. 2nd, 2003 11:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lobelia321Not having seen Velvet Goldmine for 3 days running, I needed my fix of girl-porn tonight so indulged in my 4th viewing of t'film. It must be love.
I had some more thoughts!
Narrative structure in Velvet Goldmine
In her book Storytelling in the New Hollywood, Kristin Thompson points out that nearly all Hollywood films are divided into what she calls four large-scale parts. Each of these parts is of equal duration. Each new part is introduced by a crucial plot point. She calls them: 1) set-up 2) complication 3) development 4) climax (as far as I remember).
So I watched out for what happens at each 30-minute mark in VG. Because VG is 2 hours long which means that a new large-scale part would begin every half hour.
And hey presto: It is on the dot after the first 30 minutes of the film, that we get TV Eye. And then on the dot, 30 minutes after that, we get Brian meeting Curt zoned out in the bar in America. And then, woohey, 30 minutes later that we get Curt singing 'Gimme danger' and Arthur becoming part of the story.
I love it. It's beautiful. As a viewer, I think you sense this intuitively but it's so nice to have the intuitive grasp of the structure actually confirmed.
Interesting, too, (and it makes total sense to me) that all the key moments are iconic Curt-moments.
I was thinking about the gaze exchanged by Curt and Arthur before the rooftop scenes. Is that not a key moment? I think, yes, but it is actually the 'Gimme danger' song that introduces this whole new section. It is then that Arthur becomes part of the plot, after he asks Mandy in the 1984 section, 'What concert?' And already we are at *his* concert, and *he* is there, *he* sees Mandy, sees Brian, sees Curt. The music ties all the different scenes together and then we end up with the exchange of gazes which really is all the mosaic pieces of the previous scenes (after 'Gimme') falling into place. So the gazes don't start a new part, they complete one.
So the parts are: 1) set-up, where we are introduced to all the major players and to the flashback structure; 2) complication, after Brian's first encounter with Curt (well, it's not really a complication in Kristin Thompson's sense of the word but the film definitely moves onto a different *register* once Curt's involved, there's a completely new energy level; 3) Brian meets Curt, again we move onto a new register and the chemistry changes, there follows their romance; and finally 4) Arthur's story.
Random droolings
I still love Arthur's smile at the end, and I discovered that Arthur, too, has a *forelock*! Several forelocks, even! *hearts Arthur*
I also love *Curt's* smile at the end. Because he does smile, as if he's reconciled to something. And Arthur tells *him* stuff and tells *him* that he's okay -- god, the hairs on my nape stood up.
I think I love most of all, more even than TV Eye or Baby's on Fire, Ewan/Curt singing 'Gimme Danger' (Iggy Pop) which for some reason (grrr, &*@) is not on the CD-soundtrack. I adore the pulse of it. I adore the whole tension and the play of gazes (Arthur-Mandy-Brian-Curt). I adore what it leads up to and that suddenly you are *with* Curt and you are sucked into the movie, into its heart. And I *adore* Ewan singing this, I love his writhing on the floor. *has brief guh-attack over image of the writhing* And the angst and passion in the song, and Ewan's *voice* in this.
*blows fuse*
Also, I forgot to mention for the benefit of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
badgermonkey and all other ELFs, that there is of course a *Wainthropp moment* in the film! Yes, knitwear, tweed hat and moustachioed elderlyness makes an appearance, hand on knee and all!!!!
I had some more thoughts!
Narrative structure in Velvet Goldmine
In her book Storytelling in the New Hollywood, Kristin Thompson points out that nearly all Hollywood films are divided into what she calls four large-scale parts. Each of these parts is of equal duration. Each new part is introduced by a crucial plot point. She calls them: 1) set-up 2) complication 3) development 4) climax (as far as I remember).
So I watched out for what happens at each 30-minute mark in VG. Because VG is 2 hours long which means that a new large-scale part would begin every half hour.
And hey presto: It is on the dot after the first 30 minutes of the film, that we get TV Eye. And then on the dot, 30 minutes after that, we get Brian meeting Curt zoned out in the bar in America. And then, woohey, 30 minutes later that we get Curt singing 'Gimme danger' and Arthur becoming part of the story.
I love it. It's beautiful. As a viewer, I think you sense this intuitively but it's so nice to have the intuitive grasp of the structure actually confirmed.
Interesting, too, (and it makes total sense to me) that all the key moments are iconic Curt-moments.
I was thinking about the gaze exchanged by Curt and Arthur before the rooftop scenes. Is that not a key moment? I think, yes, but it is actually the 'Gimme danger' song that introduces this whole new section. It is then that Arthur becomes part of the plot, after he asks Mandy in the 1984 section, 'What concert?' And already we are at *his* concert, and *he* is there, *he* sees Mandy, sees Brian, sees Curt. The music ties all the different scenes together and then we end up with the exchange of gazes which really is all the mosaic pieces of the previous scenes (after 'Gimme') falling into place. So the gazes don't start a new part, they complete one.
So the parts are: 1) set-up, where we are introduced to all the major players and to the flashback structure; 2) complication, after Brian's first encounter with Curt (well, it's not really a complication in Kristin Thompson's sense of the word but the film definitely moves onto a different *register* once Curt's involved, there's a completely new energy level; 3) Brian meets Curt, again we move onto a new register and the chemistry changes, there follows their romance; and finally 4) Arthur's story.
Random droolings
I still love Arthur's smile at the end, and I discovered that Arthur, too, has a *forelock*! Several forelocks, even! *hearts Arthur*
I also love *Curt's* smile at the end. Because he does smile, as if he's reconciled to something. And Arthur tells *him* stuff and tells *him* that he's okay -- god, the hairs on my nape stood up.
I think I love most of all, more even than TV Eye or Baby's on Fire, Ewan/Curt singing 'Gimme Danger' (Iggy Pop) which for some reason (grrr, &*@) is not on the CD-soundtrack. I adore the pulse of it. I adore the whole tension and the play of gazes (Arthur-Mandy-Brian-Curt). I adore what it leads up to and that suddenly you are *with* Curt and you are sucked into the movie, into its heart. And I *adore* Ewan singing this, I love his writhing on the floor. *has brief guh-attack over image of the writhing* And the angst and passion in the song, and Ewan's *voice* in this.
*blows fuse*
Also, I forgot to mention for the benefit of
badgermonkey and all other ELFs, that there is of course a *Wainthropp moment* in the film! Yes, knitwear, tweed hat and moustachioed elderlyness makes an appearance, hand on knee and all!!!!