The Lord of the Rings (at least the Frodo plot)
The Last Unicorn (I’d be interested to see if we could find a complete story here. I doubt it, but even if it is just a tale, this story is fascinating to me)
The Fault in our Stars
The Searchers (1956) is an incredibly obvious Grand Argument story to me, I’m surprised that hasn’t been done yet. The Main Character and Objective throughlines are especially clear.
I’d also be interested in seeing Sullivan’s Travels (1941) analyzed. One of the most thoughtful comedies I’ve seen, even if the thematics at some points are a little bit too obvious (I imagine partly because of the restrictions given in the Hays Code of the time).
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I second The Searchers and Sullivan’s Travels and add a Kramer vs. Kramer and Stalag 17.
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Has anyone seen A Man for All Seasons (Best Picture 1966)? Great script and dialogue. Thomas More is a strong example of Steadfast MC. I think it has a solid storyform.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles seems like a pretty natural fit for the theory.
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Trading Places would be an interesting analysis. There are also a few classic movies I’ve seen recently that have interesting thematic conflicts - The Nun’s Story (1959), The Red Shoes (1948), The Man Who Would Be King (1975) and The Grapes of Wrath (1940).
I watch too many movies.
No, jamjam1794, I would say you watch just the right amount of great movies!
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I saw A Man for All Seasons in the movie theater when it came out. This might be one film with no flaws.
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Sicario. Just finished watching it - definitely one that’s worthy of some analysis with a handoff going on with the IC.
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How about The Martian? I watched it yesterday and it’s really exciting. But on my way back home I was thinking who could be the Influence Character? What’s the relationship story? Is it just a tale?
The IC confused me for a good portion of the movie. I wasn’t sure who could have a recognisable impact on the MC since everyone was being so secretive. It wasn’t until after the credits began rolling that everything clicked for me and I realized that same IC handoff (assuming we’re on the same page).
@Alejandro, I will be the first to say I didn’t like The Martian as much as I would have liked, but I’ll try not to let that infringe on my storyform opinion. Like you, I can’t pick out a single candidate for IC, because there’s nobody that Matt Damon (obvious MC) really comes into conflict with. He has one scene that I can remember in which he argues with someone through a computer. There’s no subjective story in the movie, either, so it must be a tale. It’s all objective story (Physics – rescuing him) told through two groups of people, and one Main Character throughline (Universe – survive until they find him). I’m not convinced it could be anything other than a tale.
The only other movie I’ve seen recently worthy of any analysis would be Ninotchka (1939), which I found to be completely charming.
Yes, I believe we’re on the same page!
Spoilers, guys. This isn’t the thread for this.
Oops, my bad. I’ll fix it.
Another vote for Sicario (2015).
As @JBarker wrote, it’s worthy of analysis.
I’m not sure there is a handoff, but rather a case of separate MC and protagonist.
I read many of Benicio del Toro’s lines were cut right before filming, so that perceived handoff may be a side effect.
Should we start a thread to discuss it?
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I think for sure there is an IC handoff, as @JBarker pointed out. This isn’t the place to discuss that, though, so I’ll elaborate a little more on my thinking in a separate thread if enough people are interested.
Big (1988)
I checked the Dramatica Expert example stories, Dramatica.com, and Narrative First archives and did not see an analysis on this film, which seems to have a clear storyform.
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I’d probably have to view it once more for a good analysis, but I’m game - just might not be available here and there as I have some travel scheduled soon.
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The movie had some incredibly convenient holes and found that it failed to capitalize on the stakes. However, I have been reconsidering since I saw an old video on YouTube that explains how some movies don’t have complete “grand arguments” but only address one or two of the pillars — like Manipulation & Universe. Interesting enough, I haven’t been able to use the software to force the story to only work within this granulated view. Anybody have any ideas on this?
My idea would be not to spoil the film for people who haven’t seen it yet lol! I’ll break these out into a separate discussion and try not to read what you guys wrote. I really wanted to see it but missed it in theaters but I’m sure it would be a good one to do.