The films I have been studying are V for Vendetta and Children of Men. Both of the films seem to follow your classical hollywood narrative, although in both the main character dies it still ends on a positive (to some extent) resolution as there sacrifice has not been in vein. The genre of the two films however is slightly more complicated.
The films V for Vendetta and Children of men both have something this is that they both do not conform to one main Genre. They are both what is called a Hybrid Genre which is a cross between two genres for example a Rom Com is a Romantic Comedy. The films Children of Men and V for Vendetta are a cross between Thrillers and Sci-fi. Although they are a cross between the two this doesn't mean they strictly follow the rules of both Genres this means that although it is also a Sci-Fi it does not mean that there is going to be laser guns or space ships or set in space. There are much more suttle things for example in Children of men it is the use of technology as it s every were for example there are TV screens on the sides of busses and it is set in the future. In V for Vendetta the film is also set in the future and something not so suttle would be the fact that V has 'super powers'.
Both films display cause and effect, this is when an event occurs which causes someone to retaliate to it. The film Children of Men is set in a future where everyone is infertile and the youngest person becomes a celebrity, this changed when Theo's ex Julian comes to him asking for help to take the first child in 18 years he reluctantly agree's and they leave. While they are traveling they get ambushed and Julian gets shot and she dies, this is the 'cause' part as then Theo really takes control and really wants to get Kee to safety which is the 'effect' part. In the film V for Vendetta there are a few cause and effects but one of them becomes aware to you later on in the film, the 'cause' in the film is they experimented on V which gives him super human abilities he then sets out to get revenge on them by killing them and then destroying parliament, this being the 'effect'.
The film V for Vendetta is very character driven as every event leads on to another. For example if Eve did not go out at the start of the film she would of never encountered the Finger men and or V, this would also mean that she would not of lost fear and the uprising could not be completed as V would of died and no one would of been there to complete his work. Personally I believe that V's motives wasn't solely meant to benefit everyone but instead to get his revenge on the people that created him, so although in the end it does benefit everyone it could not of happened unless V went out and started it. In Children of Men the film is quite character driven as well for example if Julian didn't ask Theo to help he would of spent the rest of the film sitting round in a office and if Julian didn't die he wouldn't of been motivated enough to see the task through in my opinion.
In the films Children of Men there is not a very clear opposition and conflict, when I say clear I mean one main opposition as there are many different groups that are a potential threat to Theo and Kee throughout. This is much different to V for Vendetta as it is mainly V against Norsefire, good v evil which you class as a typical hollywood narrative, it also ties in with cause and effect as the Evil (Norsefire) done something making Good (V) retaliate.
Both films follow a typical 3 act structure which is a Beginning a Middle and an End. The beginning or Equilibrium is a event that occurs which causes someone to react, in Children of Men the youngest person dies causing Kee to become important and in V for Vendetta Eve gets attacked by the Finger men and V saves her. The middle or Disruption in Children of Men is when Juilan dies and it falls down to Theo to get Kee to safety on his own and in V for Vendetta when V tortures Eve and strips her of her fear. Finally the End or Resolution in Children of Men Theo gets Kee to 'safety' and in V for Vendetta V's uprising is complete, unfortunately in both cases the Hero died (Theo and V) but that is a stereotypical convention of a Hero that they are willing to lay there lives on the line. You could say that there is a sense of closure in V for Vendetta but in Children of Men you never know wether Kee is actually safe or not as you do not find out if the Boat was actually there to rescue or capture them.
To conclude I believe that the film V for Vendetta would conform more to your typical Hollywood Narrative purely based upon how the film ended, this is because it had a very clear resolution compared to Children of Men which left a couple of loose ends untied which could lead the film on to a sequel. Although in the types of Genre they are you would not expect the main character to die they have to change the typical conventions as they become predictable and unenjoyable to watch, this is also were the idea of Hybrid genres came from.
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