Chris Huntley does it again with yet another review. This time David Cronenberg’s “A History of Violence.“
The first two paragraphs are safe to read, but beware - spoilers right after!
I can’t wait to see this - somehow from the trailers, I don’t think it’s a Triumph story!
UPDATE: And here’s another one - this time, it’s “The Constant Gardener.” Again, spoiler-free for the introduction. Proceed beyond that at your own risk!
For the skeptics out there, these kinds of reviews, along with the many already located at Dramatica.com really help to point out the accuracy with which the theory can identify key story points.
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3 responses so far ↓
1 arijjan // Oct 16, 2005 at 2:44 am
Damn, had same storyform but picked the son Jack as obstacle character.
Had same problem in “American Beauty”. Lester, Angela and Ricky.. The Call to adventure is Angela, just as the resolution is preceded by his decison not to deflower her… But Lester quits work after he sees Ricky doing such… calls him his “role model” and the OS story problem perception/actuality is a direct result of Rickies father his misinterpretation..
I interpreted “A History” as son jack discovering the truth about his father and hating him for that. Mother Edie has thoughts and emotions in the same realm.
In this story the perception/actuality dynamic takes hold when the father enters the kitchen.. Both Edie and Jack decide at that moment what soort of man he is..
It is jack who upon his fathers return hands him the bread, I mean Jezus :>))
And although edie quetions him, seh doesn’t denounce him the way Jack did.
Remains the question: How doI make an informed choice??
2 Chris Huntley // Oct 19, 2005 at 10:23 am
Very good point, Arijan. It’s very likely that Jack is a hand-off Impact Character. There are a few scenes where he seems to do the duty of the IC. The two that come to mind are the scene in which he beats up the bully, and the scene when he yells at his dad saying something like, “What are you going to do–shoot me too?” (Not a real quote but the gist of Jack’s feeling.)
Chris Huntley
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3 arijjan // Oct 24, 2005 at 4:47 am
Interestingly enough I had same engine settings BUT choose SUCCESS as the story OUTCOME
My reasoning: Justin sets out to find out why his wife is killed and succeeds in doing so.
His quest is of a personal character as opposed to his wife’s who wanted to put an end to the test program.
I started within the Theme browser with the SS since the sequence when Justin goed back to England was about their conlicting memories. Had never done that before and it’s good te remember to start with the patterns that stand out most and see which players are involved..
So a different storyform but so slightly it’s neglible.
The interesting question that remains is the best way to determine the story outcome. This story reminds me of “The People vs Larry Flint”" where Larry takes on The Supreme Court. He wants Justice. But after all is said.. he goes home and lies down on his bed opposite the painting of his muse and sighs deeply :>). Here I would say it’s the other way around, everyone is involved in big business, one man is concerned with his relation with one woman. You can save this one vs This is Africa..
aj
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