SPOILER ALERT: This series of posts is spoiler-heavy. But, seriously, the movie is from 1997!!! If you haven’t watched it by now…
Unlike a novel, which is a final, complete piece of literature in and of itself, a screenplay is a working document, designed to be shot as a movie. Regardless of the different purposes, there are literary techniques that work the same in both forms.
Literary Techniques – Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition, which essentially means the act of placing things close together, is a useful technique to create meaning in a story. It can be used for emotional impact, or to create humour.
Let’s look at some examples of the use of juxtaposition.
Example 1 -Emotional Impact
The last scene on page 68 shows the funeral of a police officer, killed in the line of duty. It is a sea of blue uniforms. Many people are present to pay their respects to the slain officer. The scene finishes with a twenty-one gun salute to farewell the deceased.
This elaborate police funeral, filled with pomp and ceremony, is contrasted with the simple burial of a criminal named Larry Fontaine, killed in the same gunfight that claimed the life of the police officer. Larry’s mother is the sole mourner.
The contrast between the two funerals speaks volumes, and creates a deeper emotional impact than seeing either of the funerals by themselves.
Example 2 – Humour
On pages 69 and 70, there is an example of juxtaposing for humorous effect. At the bottom of page 69 an Older Gentleman emphatically stands up to a smarmy Lawyer, refusing to be bullied into changing his vote to please a certain Mr Patchett.
The Lawyer produces a stack of photographs – compromising photos of the Older Gentleman clad only in a pair of socks and garters.
In the next scene, we see the same Older Gentleman rising for a vote in a State Assembly chamber. He states, “It may surprise some, but a mature man, enlightened by the facts, can change his mind…”
The Older Gentleman’s initial resistance is juxtaposed with the reversal of his decision to create a humorous effect. It is also effective because it has a plot purpose – it is not just humour for humour’s sake.