The Vow narrative analysis
This film trailer both conforms and deviates from Propps theory of narrative.
The man character Leo is the hero, he tries to restore the equilibrium that was lost when his wife lost her memory. This is his quest, and distinguishing him from the victim, he is the texts main character; this is evident from the trailer.
From the trailer we infer that the villain is not a character in this film but the memory loss, in some scenes it appears that the wife becomes the villain due to the memory loss as she stands in the way of the equilibrium being restored.
The trailer doesn't show much evidence of donors or helpers as it is common in romance films that the trailer is completely based around the two characters who are in love. However from what we seen in the trailer the nurses at the hospital may act in these role, if only in small ways.
The wife Paige is mainly presented as the princess, as she is threatened by the hypothetical villain (the memory loss). Our hero spends his time trying to save her from her peril. But the trailer doesn't reveal whether he succeeds, this entices the audience to watch the film to find out what happens.
The narrative of this film also fits to the conventional narratives suggested by Todorov, these are structured into 5 stages.
The trailer shows the state of equilibrium right at the beginning, the high lighting and brighter colours represent their happiness. The fast pace editing shows different parts of their lives, suggesting that they are always happy together and that things couldn’t get any better. This is a typical convention of most romance films, often when the characters are at their happiest everything starts to go wrong.
This takes into stage 2 the disruption of the equilibrium, from this point on in the trailer the lighting is a lot darker and the music turns slow and sad.
This is closely followed by the recognition of the disrupted equilibrium and our hero realises that his princess doesn’t remember him. These show slower paced shots which reflect the feeling of the characters, as we reach stage 4 where our main character attempts to repair the equilibrium.
The trailer does not tells us whether stage 4 follows into stage 5 and the repair of the equilibrium, this leaves the audience in suspense and tempts them into going to see the full.
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