Film: The Historical Impact of Melodrama
In the first half of the 19th century, classical cinema was the norm in the American film industry, and filmmakers had become accustomed to uniform styles for creating visuals and sounds used in making motion pictures. Due to the dominance of this distinctive cinematic style, viewers had come to anticipate certain stylistic choices for certain narratives. However, by the second half of the century, melodrama had become the most popular kind of theatrical entertainment, and according to Williams, it successfully tested the boundaries set by the classical Hollywood style (353). By definition, melodrama is a genre in film designed to appeal to the emotions of the audience. The style derives its name from the music it uses to create tension, accompany action, and generate mood; and it is characterized by moral polarization, pathos, heightened emotions and extravagant theatricality. Its popularity in the 19th century was attributed to the omnipresence of active villainy, where the villain would trigger a series of events that would pose a threat to the safety, livelihood or reputation of a hero or a heroine. Each melodrama would typically end with the defeat of the villain and the triumph of good over evil.
Apart from playing an important role in public recognition of pathos, some filmmakers manipulated melodrama to introduce elements of modernity in cinema (Mercer and Shingler, 79). They used it to test boundaries, to eliminate stereotypes, and to reexamine the theories of contemporary film - alongside the prevalent changes in social experiences. The success of their films proved that melodrama was a significant catalyst in the formation of modernity. Thus, melodrama marked the end of classical cinema and its modes of production; and marked the beginning of a more defined and modern cinema. This text analyses the works of two of the most successful films in history: James Cameron's 'Titanic' and Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho'. It identifies some of the changes these melodramas made in the American film industry.
Emotion and graphic violence
Melodrama had always been associated with heroic tales of the battle between good and evil. However, the film 'Psycho' by Alfred Hitchcock was the game changing masterpiece of horror (Williams, 355). In fact, the film's famous shower scene still ranks among the most violent scenes ever shot in an American film. The scene, which shows a violent attack in a shower, came as a great shock to the audience, who were left clutching themselves involuntarily, covering their eyes and ears, and recoiling in fear. With unmatched prowess, Hitchcock is able to capture the attention of his audience during the first half hour, where they build engagement with the films lead female character; then, in an unexpected twist, she is hacked to death, with chilling audio effects in the background accompanied by graphic pictures of blood flowing down the shower drain. The camera work expertly captures the darkness of the drain accompanied by a clockwise spiral of the water, then goes ahead to include a reverse pull back out of the dead eye of the actress, evidence of the spectatorial disorientation that made the film unique (Williams, 355). Furthermore, Hitchcock later explained that it was convenient for the film to be shot in black and white as it would have been too grotesque in color and it would have been rejected by censors at the time. Thus, the film tested the boundaries of melodrama, and successfully so. It represented the shift in the levels of violence in cinema by introducing screen violence, which was emulated by other film makers.
The ability of melodrama to appeal to different varieties of audience was also evidenced by James Cameron's 'Titanic' in 1997 (Maslin). Produced three decades after Psycho, Titanic aimed to relive the experience of the sinking of the real titanic in1912; and it was able to bring a new perspective to love, life and death. One key to the film's impact was Cameron's ability to incorporate images of the real Titanic in his story. The film starts off with footage from the bottom of the Atlantic, where the audience looks at a ship...
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