|
Newsletter
# 2
Why Did Recent Epic Films
Disappoint Audiences?
Creating the Emotional
Journey for the Epic Hero
By
Laurie H. Hutzler  Get to the Heart of the Epic Hero
The Epic Hero is different than the Mythic Hero, described Joseph Campbell. These dramatic characters diverge in several key respects. To mix or confuse these two types of heroes muddies a story and blurs the protagonist’s emotional journey.
Recent Disappointments
In the last few months four films made this fatal mistake. As a result, The Last Samurai, The Alamo, Hidalgo and Troy all have under-performed at the domestic box office. The Last Samurai and Troy did find more success internationally. But none of these films received wide-spread critical acclaim.
What went wrong?
Why were American critics and audiences so dissatisfied? How can you avoid the pitfalls that bedeviled these projects? How can you benefit from what these films did right?
Key Aspects of the Epic Hero’s Story:
Cataclysmic Change
Epic Films take place at the end of an era. These stories are set in times rocked by calamitous upheaval and enormous turmoil.
All four films got the setting right: The end of the Civil War, the end of Texas’ wide-open settlement period, the end of the Indian Nations and the fall of Troy were all times of incredible disruption and tumult.
All four stories open as one age is ending and a new one is beginning. In each film, a colder more “civilized” future is replacing a heroic and honorable but more “savage” past.
Gifts of Fate
At the beginning of Epic Films, fate or luck or God intervenes to give the hero extraordinary skills, powers or abilities. This protagonist believes, from the start, that he or she is specially anointed to do great things. Others acknowledge the hero’s unique aptitude as well.
Epic Heroes lead by virtue of their excellence. They can be arrogant, difficult or eccentric but they are indisputably the best at what they do. They are the purest and most refined exemplar of their particular talent or expertise. They inspire by the sheer supremacy of their gifts.
All of the films got this right. Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) is an extraordinary marksman and soldier. Frank Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen) is an amazing long-distance racer who rides Hidalgo, the undefeated champion. Davy Crockett (Billy Bob Thornton) is the “King of the Wild Frontier.” (I believe The Alamo should have been Crockett’s movie. He is the most interesting larger-than-life character in the story.) Achilles (Brad Pitt) is an unbeatable warrior.
In contrast, Joseph Campbell’s Mythic Hero is an ordinary person, easily overlooked or dismissed. Initially, no one holds this hero in high regard. He or she seems small, meek or insignificant at first. For example: Luke Skywalker is a simple farm boy at the start of Star Wars. Frodo Baggins is a young hobbit in The Lord of the Rings. Dorothy Gale is a farm girl in The Wizard of Oz.
One Hero – One
Destiny
Epic Films are not ensemble stories. Films about Campbell’s Mythic Hero, however, are all about building communities out of people or creatures who seemingly have nothing in common. In Star Wars, Luke pulls together Han Solo, CP30, R2D2 and Chewbacca in pursuit of his quest. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo must make Dwarves, Men, Elves and Hobbits work together as a team in order to complete his mission. Dorothy pulls the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man into her journey to The Wizard of Oz.
Epic Films are not about building such communities. They are stories of one individual selected by fate and called by destiny to do something amazing. Epic Films are about the exploits of a single larger than life hero. These characters stand out from the crowd. They take and hold center stage at a pivotal point in history.
This was a major failing in The Alamo and Troy. Notice the titles of these films—both are place names. Both the titles and the films focus on the community rather than the hero. In each film the hero is obscured by time-consuming subplots and minor characters. Deprived of the spotlight, the Epic Hero is sidelined and lesser men take command of the action. The story is poorer for it.
A complicated sub-plot was also a major failing in Hidalgo. The long “princess rescuing” sequence sidetracked the main thrust of the story and diverted the hero into a narrative cul-de-sac. This detour disrupted the blistering race across the desert and derailed the power of the story.
It is passion and emotional intensity that fuel the heroic blaze of glory. Epic Heroes hurtle single-mindedly across time and space to meet their appointment with destiny (and with death). These heroes are men and women in a hurry.
Violent Competition
Epic Heroes don’t apologize or feel guilty about what they do best—which often is to destroy or devastate. Their skill is to annihilate the enemy or vanquish the rival. Epic Heroes seek honor, excellence, and glory on the battlefield (whatever form that battlefield takes). They leap to the clarion call of contest, conflict or war.
The Last Samurai and Hidalgo went wrong in creating guilty heroes, ashamed of their past exploits. Algren (Cruise) and Hopkins (Mortensen) both are haunted by their participation (explicit or complicit) in an Indian massacre. They are on missions of atonement or repentance. This rings emotionally false in an Epic Film.
Troy got this essential element right. Achilles never agonizes about nor apologizes for his bloody accomplishments. He knows he will be revered and celebrated for them. Nor is he a fool. He understands that he will meet and answer to his dead across the River Styx.
The Alamo tries to play it both ways. Crockett matter-of-factly tells the story of the Indians burning in the barn and how the dripping fat from their bodies cooked potatoes in the cellar. Is Crockett on a mission of atonement? He certainly is trying to escape from his past celebrity as an Indian Killer.
Active Choice
Although the Epic Hero is blessed by fate with extraordinary gifts— Epic Films are not stories about luck or fate. They are stories about destiny. Fate and destiny are two very different things. You meet your fate but you seize your destiny.
Fate is determined by chance, God or the universe. It is something outside your control—it just happens. You can’t change it and you can’t prevent it. It is a blessing or a curse that you don’t choose and can’t avoid.
Dr. Howard Suber, film structure professor to generations of UCLA students, taught that in film and in life, seizing your destiny involves making an informed, conscious and active choice. Your destiny is an opportunity that lies before you. You recognize this and choose either to walk away or hurry toward it. This choice defines who you are. Seizing your destiny (or not) determines how and for what you are remembered.
A character must choose to be an Epic Hero. This is not a compelling choice if no temping alternative is offered. The emotional climax of an Epic Film is severely undercut if the hero isn’t given one last opportunity to stop, reconsider and abandon his or her perceived destiny.
If the hero isn’t tempted at the last possible moment by love, forgiveness, happiness or the delights of an ordinary life, there is little depth to the hero’s sacrifice. This fundamental emotional decision in the film can’t be simple and easy, or worse, non-existent.
All four films neglect this critical element. None of their heroes personally grapple with the competing forces of desire and duty at the end of the film. These heroes don’t seriously consider turning back. There is little struggle or personal pain in the choice to meet destiny head-on. This makes the hero’s death less compelling.
Death of the Hero
Dr. Suber taught that a fundamental element of the Epic Film is the death of the hero. Death is the hero’s ticket to transcendence. Only in death does the character’s exploits rise to the level of myth and legend. The essential paradox at the heart of Epic Films is—only by dying does the hero become immortal.
Troy and The Alamo got this right. Achilles dies in the sack of Troy and lives in song, story and legend. Davey Crockett dies at the Alamo and inspires some of America’s most enduring folk ballads and tall tales.
Hidalgo and The Last Samurai got this crucial element wrong. The temptation to create a “happy” ending robs these heroes of transcendence. It cheats the audience of an emotional catharsis and destroys the promise of immortality—that in a noble death there is eternal life in song and story.
In Hidalgo, the mighty little horse should have given his all to the race and died a valiant hero’s death at the end of the film. His death (and prize-winning victory) should be what sets the other mustangs free.
In The Last Samurai, Algren should have ridden to his doom, just as the brave Spartans did in the story he tells Katsumoto, the Samurai leader.
In contrast, the Mythic Hero described by Campbell returns after his or her final ordeal. Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins and Dorothy Gale all live to tell the tale. The audience intuitively knows that Campbell’s Mythic Hero will live. They also know in their hearts the Epic Hero will die.
Emotional Satisfaction
An audience robbed of this expected emotional satisfaction is an angry audience. When The Last Samurai didn’t deliver the necessary catharsis critics focused their wrath on “cultural issues.” A heated factual debate also arose around Hidalgo and the “real” Frank Hopkins.
This is a red herring. Had either film delivered the critical emotional punch, few would have cared about details of historical accuracy or cultural sensitivity. Correctness, political or otherwise, is not why audiences go to the movies.
Audiences go to the movies for emotional release, catharsis and satisfaction. They are adamant about emotional truth and will reject a character that is false. They don’t desire “happy” endings they demand endings with emotional integrity and a powerful inner truth.
The Heart of the Story
The Last Samurai is exactly the kind of film Tom Cruise should be making as he completes the transition from eager, enthusiastic and youthful Ambition-powered characters and stories like Jerry Maguire to more intense, passionate and transcendent stories about heroes powered by Idealism.
The Last Samurai got so much right. It is a stunning visual masterpiece filled with thrilling battle scenes and wonderful performances. A few key changes would have rescued the narrative and lifted the story into the realm of the truly Classic Epic Film.
CLICK HERE to find out how.
Consulting Services
If you need help finding your story’s emotional focus let
Laurie Hutzler’s unique interactive problem-solving sessions
center the power of your story and clarify your character’s
inner truth. Whether working on a television program or feature film
production, Laurie helps writers, producers, story editors, and creative
teams get to the heart of a story. She offers a set of practical
methods to create the emotionally satisfying programs audiences love.
Contact: Laurie@EmotionalToolbox.com
|
