Chapter 6
Character in cinema
Objectives: In this chapter, learners will understand how a character is developed in films and what are the key
features of a character.
Key words: flat characters, static characters, dynamic characters, external and internal conflict, stereotypes
Background
The idea of discussing character in literature is nothing new. It was Aristotle who in Poetics (4th century BC),
clearly articulated the requisites of a hero and paved the way for subsequent character analyses. For the Greek
philosopher, an Ideal Tragic Hero, embodying complexities must be an essentially a good man with a fatal flaw
or hamartia. In the classical Greek theater, a character was defined and explained by the mask he wore.
Films are about people and how they react in a particular situation, and although characters in films are like real
people to some extent, they are not exactly akin to people in real life. As Henry James points out in ‘The Art of
Fiction’ (1884), ‘Character is action and action is plot.’ Many of us watch films because we are interested in the
people on screen and their actions. Director Frank Capra talks about involving an audience, ‘You give them
something to worry about, some person to worry about, and care about, and you’ve got them involved.’
EM Forster in Aspects of the Novel (1927), discriminates between flat and round characters. A flat character is a
type, a stock, or ‘two dimensional.’ Flat character is presented without much individualizing detail and can be
described in a single phrase or sentence. Still, even in a flat character who seemingly remains unchanged,
viewers demand consistency. A round character is complex in treatment & motivation and is represented with
subtle peculiarities. Such a character is difficult to describe with any adequacy ----like any person in real life
and is capable of surprising us.
According to the American novelist and critic Henry James, “What is character but determination of incident?
What is incident but the illustration of character?” In Art of Fiction (1884), James gives two categories of
portraying characters: Telling characters where the author intervenes authoritatively in order to describe and to
evaluate the motives and dispositional qualities of the character (Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice); and
showing characters (also called the dramatic method), where readers/spectators infer what motives and
dispositions lie behind what the characters say or do.
Character and Dialogue
A character’s accents, dialect, vocabulary, grammar etc tell us about his/her background including, socialeconomic level, education, and mental processes. A character in a cop drama or a gangster saga will speak very
differently from the protagonist in a martial arts, samurai or the Western film. A typical character from Mumbai
cinema can be usually found speaking ‘Bambaiyya’ language that is, slang of Mumbai streets.
In a film such as Possession (Nein La Bute, 2002) the two pair of lovers belong to different periods and use
different dialects.
A character’s appearance, clothes, make-up can also tell us a lot about them. A walking stick and bowler hat
combination still evoke the image of Charlie Chaplin’s Tramp. Filmmakers often resort to using the right ‘look’
for a character and tell the audience what to think of the people on the silver screen. Consider for e.g Grease
(1978), where we have Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) who is prim-and-proper and must look so in long skirts
and high ponytail. The hero, Danny (John Travolta), however sports the ‘cool’ lock with long sideburns and
leather jackets. For instance, Alfred Hitchcock was well known to monitor the clothes and appearance of the
leading ladies in his films, and would give details to the costume designers to dress his characters well. Stars
such as Audrey Hepburn were as renowned for their clothes as for their acting abilities. Hepburn’s look as the
chauffer’s daughter-turned fashion plate in Sabrina (1954) can be cited as a prime example of clothes lending
to a character’s appeal.
Sometimes directors may create a look that goes against the type. In Fargo ( Coen Brothers, 1996) Frances
McDormand is a pregnant police chief, investigating murders. The first impression the audience get about this
character belie the shrewdness and insight Marge possesses. Similarly, Julia Robert’s style of dressing in Erin
Brokovich is initially misleading, and camouflages the character’s seriousness of mind and purpose.
Characterization Through External Action
The best reflections of character are a person's actions. We get external action when characters do what comes
naturally to them (For ex., John Rambo in the Rambo series of films). Internal action of characters is projected
through secrets, aspirations, memories, dreams, and fantasies. It must be assumed, of course, that real
characters are more than mere instruments of the plot, that they do what they do for a purpose, out of motives
that are consistent with their overall personality. In a well-developed character sketch, there should be a clear
relationship between a character and his or her actions. If the motivation for a character's action is clearly
established, the character and the plot become so closely interwoven that they are impossible to separate, and
every action that the character takes in some way reflects the quality of his or her particular personality.
As we all know, some actions are more important than others. Even the most ordinary choice can be revealing,
for some kind of choice is involved in almost everything we do. Sometimes the most effective characterization
is achieved not by the large actions in the film but by the small, seemingly insignificant ones.
Characterization Through Internal Action
Remember Michael Corleone from The Godfather? You are sure to notice that much of the action takes place in
the mind of the character, rather than externally or verbally. Many characters are interesting because of their
psychological behavior, for example, Blanche Du Bois in Streetcar Named Desire or Major Penderton, Marlon
Brando’s character, in Reflection in a Golden Eye (John Huston, 1967). These characterizations are concerned
specifically with the workings of the human mind. Many a time such characters represent complex studies in
human condition and serve to dramatize specific ideas.
Dramatic Foils
One of the most effective techniques of characterization is the use of foils contrasting characters whose
behavior, attitudes, opinions, lifestyle, physical appearance, and so on are the opposite of those of the main
characters. The strange love story of the main characters in Harold and Maude turns on characterization
through contrast. As the movie poster reads: “Harold's 20 and in love with death... Maude's 80 and in love with
life.” The strong-silent vs loud-flamboyant characters act as foil in buddy movies. Again, think of Fenster and
Klint in The Usual Suspects (1995) and how different they are from each other as well as from Dean Keaton
who is as suave and sophisticated as they come.
A similar means of characterization, leitmotif, is the repetition of a single action, phrase, or idea by a character
until it becomes almost a trademark or theme song for that character. Because it essentially exaggerates and
emphasizes (through repetition), such a device acts very much like caricature. For example, in Quentin
Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vol. 2, the title character’s playing of his flute creates a leitmotif, and so is Amitabh
Bachchan’s playing of harmonica in Sholay (1975). Sometimes a character may have a defining catch phrase,
as in: “I’ll be back” or “The name is Bond. James Bond.” Occasionally, directors use visual-aural metaphors to
vivify the inner world of the characters. For e.g., in Psycho (1960) stuffed birds are mounted on the wall.
Characterization through Choice of Name
One important method of characterization is the use of names possessing appropriate qualities of sound,
meaning, or connotation. This technique is known as name typing. A screenwriter usually thinks out his
characters' names very carefully, as Paul Schrader's choice of name for the Robert De Niro character in Taxi
Driver illustrates the case:
It has to be euphonious, because you want people to repeat the name: to use it in reviews, to use it in
copy, a name people want to repeat. And Travis Bickle was successful in that way; people remembered
the name and it appeared in a lot of reviews.... A memorable name. Beyond that, you want to have at
least one component which is evocative, and/or symbolic. Travis is evocative rather than symbolic,
Travis/travel. The sense of traveling, never stopping. Then Bickle. Travis is romantic evocative, and
soft—and Bickle is hard, an unpleasant name. And it fits the character.
Coherence
The film editor is responsible for putting the pieces together into a coherent whole. He or she must guide our
thoughts, associations, and emotional responses effectively from one image to another, or from one sound to
another, so that the interrelationships of separate images and sounds are clear and the transitions between
scenes and sequences are smooth. To achieve this goal, the editor must consider the aesthetic, dramatic, and
psychological effect of the juxtaposition of image to image, sound to sound, or image to sound, and place each
piece of film and soundtrack together accordingly.
Static and Dynamic characters
Static characters remain essentially the same throughout the film. The action does not have an important effect
on their lives (as might generally be the case with the hero of an action/adventure film). Or they are insensitive
to the meaning of the action and thus are not capable of growth or change, as is the case with the character of
Paul Newman in The Hustler (1961), and with Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) in Citizen Kane.
Dynamic characters are affected by the plot development. Often them may undergo personality changes. They
become wiser, mature, more responsible, self-confident, and essentially end up learning life-lessons. Dynamic
characters are essential for serious drama.
Flat characters are two dimensional and predictable. They lack complexity/psychological depth. They are
representative character types. For example, Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean is a flat character and it is his
repetitive behavior that makes for comedy.
Stereotypes and caricatures
All of us are familiar with a dumb blonde, an alcoholic lover, a prostitute with a heart of gold. These are
stereotypical characters meant to evoke a certain kind of response in the audience. Caricatures are exaggerated
features in a character. In Hindi films of the 70s, a good-hearted Muslim character was a constant figure whose
loyalty towards the hero would remain beyond question even amidst most trying circumstances.
Enigmatic characters
Characters are mysterious, where not much is known about their past. In John Ford’s The Searchers (1956), the
hero, a Civil War veteran, arrives on the scene, several years after the war gets over. His feelings for his
brother’s wife are hinted at but never articulated. After his brother’s family is massacred he goes on a rampage
against the Native Americans and displays extreme prejudices against them. The viewers are expected to probe
into the character’s psyche to understand his motivation. As Roger Ebert gives us an insight into Shane’s
protagonist:
There is a little of the samurai in him, and the medieval knight. He has a code. And yet--there's
something else suggested by his behavior, his personality, his whole tone. Here is a man tough
enough to handle any threat and handsome enough to win the heart of almost any woman. Why
does he present himself as a weakling? Why is he without a woman? There must be a deep
current of fear, enlivened by masochism. Is he afraid of women? Maybe. Does he deliberately
lead men to think they can manhandle him, and then kill them? Manifestly. Does he do this out
of bravery and courage, and because he believes in doing the right thing? That is the
conventional answer. Does he also do it because it expresses some deep need or yearning? A real
possibility. "Shane" never says, and maybe never knows. Shane wears a white hat and Palance
wears a black hat, but the buried psychology of this movie is a mottled, uneasy, fascinating
gray.(Ebert, 2000).
Allegorical characters
In High Noon (1952), Gary Cooper is a lone ranger sheriff in a small town. In the face of danger, he is
abandoned by the people and is left to confront the outlaws on his own. The film refers to the McCarthy period
where the right wing section in the government aggressively resorted to eliminate the so-called Communists
from the USA. Allegorical characters may also refer to presenting certain moral or philosophical dialectics, for
eg., Persona (1966 ), Being John Malkovich (1999).
The most immediate way to understand a character is to pay attention to what s/he says, how it is said and the
facial expressions of the character. Think of Verbal Klint’s character in The Usual Suspects (1995), and the way
the plot unfolds through his recounting the details of what happened on the boat. Once you look backward and
watch the film again, you will realize the number of times his expressions belie the so-called truth he has been
trying to sell. Another source of information is what other characters say about the person in question. For
instance, whatever different people say about Charles Foster Kane after his death, give us a glimpse (though not
a completely accurate picture) of Kane. We also understand and appreciate characters better when we
understand the context in which they operate, for instance, all Woody Allen characters function in an upper
class, intellectual environment and cannot be compared in the context of a western hero.
While character analysis is an interesting exercise by itself, finally it should lead us more deeply into the film as
a whole.
Films for viewing: Rear Window (1954 ), To Catch a Thief (1955), Vertigo (1958), Breakfast at Tiffany’s
(1961 ), Pretty Woman (1990), Zanjeer (1973), One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest ( 1975), Annie Hall (1977),
Pulp Fiction (1994 ), Heat (1995), The Insider ( 1999), Chocolat (2000 ), There Will be Blood (2007 ),
Midnight Run (1988), Rainman (1989), DilChahtaHai (2001), The Ocean’s series.The Godfather( 1972), In the
Mood for Love (2000 ), Juno (2007), Carnage (2011 ).
References
Ebert, Roger. “Shane.” 3 Sep 2000.http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-shane-1953 (accessed on
30 Aug 2013).
Selected readings:
1. Allen, Walter. The English Novel. NY: Penguin, 1991.
2. Foster, EM. Aspects of the Novel. NY: Harcourt, 1927.
3. Horton, Andrew. Writing the Character-Centred Screenplay. California: University of California Press,
2004.
Suggested websites
•
http://www.writing-world.com/screen/film3.shtml
•
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characterization
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKC3W0awjm0
•
http://www.filmsite.org/100characters.html
•
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/mar/15/john-yorke-best-screenwriting
•
http://harpers.org/archive/2014/05/a-study-in-sherlock/
Quiz
1. Answer the following:
i. What are stereotypical characters? Give examples.
ii. Give examples of foil characters in buddy films.
iii. What is a leitmotif? Give examples.
2. Match the following:
i
Margo
a
Rowan Atkinson
ii
Sabrina
b
Frances McDormand
iii Erin Brokovich
c
Robert De Niro
iv Travis Bickle
d
Audrey Hepburn
v
e
Julia Roberts
Bean
3. Assignment
Discuss any one character from a film of your choice.
Answer key
2. i. -b; ii-d ; iii.e -; iv. -c; v-a