'LOVEFIELD' - Alex

NARRATIVE

'Lovefield' (Mathieu Ratthe, 2008) is a drama-thriller hybrid which uses restricted narration to build to an almighty plot twist. The narrative is told in linear structure and shows a dirty looking farmer who could be up to no good. This film has all the conventions of a thriller, but the big reveal makes the overall genre questionable. The camera is objective in what is revealed as close ups play a major part in filming. Figure 1 shows a good example of restricted narration through close up filming - discarded underwear on the dirty ground, covered in what appears to be blood with the diegetic sounds of a female crying gives very little information as to what is happening in the storyline. Bordwell and Thompson's theory differentiates storyline and plot by saying the story is everything that happens to the characters, including what we don't see. Whereas, the plot is what goes into the film - or what's on screen.

With Todorov's theory of classic narrative, we could suggest that the film opens with a disruption; the enigmatic sound codes, and restricted camera would suggest the setting as an uneasy place to be. The resolution would be the big reveal in which a supposed murder/rape scene turns out to be a birth. The new equilibrium would be the police turning up to ease the fright of such a public birth.  The enigmatic sound codes, and props such as a black crow (often used to resemble death) are examples of enigma and action codes - once suggested by Barthes. Enigma creates mystery, or makes the audience ask questions.  

"Was there a rape?", "Will someone be murdered?", "Is he the murderer?".  

The black crow would be an action code - a code that suggests an action will take place. Much like how a swinging saloon door would suggest a western shootout, a black crow suggests there is death in the village.

'Lovefield' also uses a lot of binary oppositions to create a genre. We get the sense old vs. young from what we see of the characters - the male farmer has the body language and occupation of someone from an older generation. The cries we hear as the bloody underwear is shown sounds as if it is coming from a female. It's a very common storyline we hear about in the news/press, so a documented film portrayal works well.                                                         

We also get a sense of good vs. bad - what appears to be a murderer/rapist against someone in which we presume is an innocent bystander raises questions. However, the resolution of the film reveals they are both 'good' characters. Binary oppositions were suggested by Levi-Strausse; some other good examples would be humans vs. aliens in 'Avatar' or cowboys vs. indians in most Western films.