There’s a genre of movies that I wish DVD stores would devote a shelf to, maybe in between drama and horror, because that’s what it’s like trying to get through a confusing movie.
You might know what I mean – any film that has more questions than credits and merits some kind of warning like “Only watch this if have some basic understanding of the Middle East peace process.”
So, why do confusing movies exist, what is their place in cinema, and how can the audience enjoy them?
+++What is a confusing movie?+++
You know you’re watching a confusing movie when your mind is scurrying about with more questions than a Trivial Pursuit deck. Like, ‘why did that happen?’, or ‘I must be so dumb arggggh I’m not getting this!’ Memories of high school aptitude tests return – except you can’t just colour in ‘ABBA ACDC’ for the entire film.
+++What’s so confusing?+++
Mind messiness can be caused by one or both markers of such movies: what it looks like and what it’s about; direction and plot.
If directors and editors opt for techniques such as split screens (Kill Bill) shaky cameramen (Bourne Identity) and subliminal cut shots (Fight Club), then it’s brain overload, given that we’re typically only used to anything as flashy as Cameron Diaz’s white-as-light smile. Directors like to tease with false hints, like leaving the camera on a piece of paper for too long, or slipping in a crescendo of ooh-ah music.
As for plot, when the characters all look the same or talk the same, they become ‘that guy with the bad moustache’ (CIA dude in Charlie Wilson’s War) or ‘Leonardo di Caprio’ (The Departed). That’s even if you can understand what the actors are saying with their patois of potty pommy such as in Snatch.
Witty scriptwriters flex their knuckles with glee when writing any script with time-shifting and flashbacks. The audience is left to function on a Friday night’s worth of brainpower to determine when the hell they are, let alone what is going on (Memento, 12 Monkeys).
+++Why do confusing movies exist?+++
So then, if the audience folds origami frowns in foreheads, why do studios produce confusing movies? Because it makes the film seem arty – “Oh well, it must be a good film because it was on so much a higher level.” However, just because something seems smarty-pants does not make it entertaining.
+++Confounding can be astounding…+++
All that intense thinking needed for confusing movies though can be entertainment – anything you have to watch more than once to understand is like hiring two DVDs. Plus, there’s the smug feeling of “Oh of course it’s so obvious now.” Who remembers watching The Sixth Sense the second time and seeing how it was all done? Pretty clever hey. And Fight Club – well, if you weren’t offended you’d be commending how the script, editing and direction all came together.
+++But perplexing is too vexing+++
What happens though when the tricky elements don’t come together? Unless you’re watching Inconvenient Truth for education, or a WWF Smackdown ‘documentary’ for post-lobotomy recovery, most films fall into that happy medium of entertainment to keep one occupied for a couple of hours. What a confusing film does to upset this aim is to spark arguments and popcorn fights when the less clever/awake moviegoers forego cinema etiquette and rasp out too many ‘who was that’s’ and ‘I don’t get it’s’.
And, just as Dada artist Duchamp rotated a urinal 90 degrees and called it art, some films are just as much a joke – and just as much piss-takers. Producers know the plot is dodgy, so they make it look arty to draw in crowds.
+++How to enjoy a confusing movie+++
Until such time as the Office of Film and Literature Classification runs a statement of ‘Warning, may cause wrinkles’, what is the humble moviegoer to do to ensure they understand what’s going on?
1. —Read the reviews first. If words such as ‘artful’, ‘complex’ and ‘confounding’ crop up, prepare yourself by watching the trailer on the internet. You may even need to read Homer’s Greek epic ‘The Odyssey’ before seeing George Clooney in ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’ to get more from it. And for Georgy boy again, read several issues of The Economist to understand what he’s up to in Syriana.
2. —Stay awake. Do not drink red wine before seeing such a film. Go with caffeine, but not too much to need a trip to the loo in those crucial scenes.
3. —Damage control. If you’re in the cinema wondering why some guy went into a hotel room and whether the scene is in the past, present or future, then keep quiet. Even if everyone else is stirring their grey matter into a tangle, imagine if they all started whispering “who was that” or “why did he do that”. You’d then miss the next line, protracting into an echo of “what did he just say?” Remember, there’s no rewind button between choctops and super soppa sodas.
4. —Recover. Just get it out on DVD and hope that dinner parties for the next three months don’t involve any intense conversations about how extraordinarily delightful that eight Oscar-nominated film is.
+++Studios should shape up+++
Perhaps the studios would make more money if people weren’t so intimidated by confusing films – it is possible to get the balance right. So I plead to the honchos of Hollywood to consider some factors in their confusing films. Give your characters names that are distinguishable and memorable. If you must tell a story that requires watching SBS news every night, just pass it off as ‘based on true events’ and leave it at that – or do a Star Wars style text intro. Keep the fancy editing to a minimum and please, if you’re going to use accents (The Wind That Shakes the Barley), shout us all a Guinness beforehand so we can get native.
Next time you’re thinking about what kind of movie to see, consider something a little more engaging than a chick-flick or action blockbuster. Confusing movies needn’t be a drama or horror story for audiences; by knowing how to follow a convoluted plot, excellent entertainment value is possible.
