For this assignment, I choose to discuss five full feature films, as such that do not only contain a number of the clearly folkloric motifs but also radiate the very spirit of folklore as we know it. These films are as follows: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Shrek (2001), The Brothers Grimm (2005), Beowulf (2007), and Viy (2014). The most prominent folklore motif, explored in each of the mentioned movies, is that of magic transfiguration. This alone establishes a good rationale to refer to them as being closely interconnected, despite the fact that the concerned films differ in terms of a cinematographic genre. There is, however, even more to the semiotic similarity between the chosen items in question. For example, the plot of each of these films is concerned with telling the story of a main character’s quest (odyssey) to subdue evil. While on this quest, he discovers the hidden truth about his actual self-identity and attains a better understanding of how the world turns around. Another notable similarity between the selected films is that they expose viewers to the highly ritualist (cyclic) outlook on the surrounding reality. In its turn, such an outlook is nothing but the extrapolation of the most archetypal anxieties in people. The above-stated partially explains why the cinematographic works in question had proven to be commercially successful. After all, while drawing heavily on folklore, they appeal to the viewing audience on an unconscious level. That is, most people cannot help experiencing the elusive sensation of contentment with how one’s life and its challenges are represented in these films. This simply could not be otherwise: the themes and motifs in the chosen movies correlate well with people’s deep-seated longing for extraordinariness, immortality, and the ultimate triumph of justice despite the impossible odds. The validity of this suggestion will be explored in sub-sequential parts of the paper.
One of the most distinguishable characteristics of a folkloric fairy tale is that the twists of its plot commonly result in causing the main character to undergo some sort of transformation. Even though only one of the mentioned films (Shrek) fully adheres to the classic provisions of a fairy tale, the motif of transfiguration is prominently present in the rest of them as well. In O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the character of Pete ends up being turned into a toad by what his companions assume to have been the “evil sirens” (a few ordinary women singing songs at the river). Although at the end of the movie these men come to realize the fictitious nature of Pete’s “transformation”, the concerned development contributed heavily towards increasing the emotional appeal of the film, as a whole. In Shrek, the same motif plays even a greater role. After all, it was due to princess Fiona’s willingness to assume the appearance of an ogress that she was able to attain happiness. The directors of the other three films had also made a point in exploring the theme of transfiguration. In The Brothers Grimm, the character of Thuringian Queen is being revealed to have been drinking the blood of young virgins as a way of maintaining her youthful appearance. After having lost access to virgins’ blood, she turns into nothing short of a despicable zombie. The character of Grendel’s mother in Beowulf is shown capable of adopting the looks of a beautiful young woman and seducing Beowulf’s friends to have sex with her. In the end, however, she is revealed to have been a thousand-year-old evil witch. In Viy, the cartographer Jonathan Green ends up realizing that the seemingly harmless peasants in the remote Ukrainian village where he was having a stopover, are cannibals dedicated to serving Devil. This leaves very little doubt as to the fact that the selected movies are indeed best discussed in conjunction with what accounts for the main provisions of folklore, as a cultural phenomenon.
In all five films, the plots appear to be strongly influenced by the folkloric motif of a hero being forced to take a journey/quest. In O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ulysses, Pete and Delmar set out on the mission to find a hidden treasure. In Shrek, the main character decides that it is indeed in his best interests to travel to a far-away kingdom to liberate Princess Fiona. In The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake take a voyage to Thuringia to fight evil. In Beowulf and Viy, the protagonists travel to Denmark and Ukraine for essentially the same purpose. One may wonder why is it that the motif of a quest plays such an important role in folk tales and the modern cinematographic adaptations of the former? The answer to this question has to do with the unconscious workings of the human psyche. As the old expression goes: for as long as a man is en route to get somewhere, he is able to retain hope in his heart. Therefore, there is nothing surprising about the universal appeal of the folklore-based themes and motifs in cinematography and literature.
The undertaken analysis of the chosen films would not be complete if one did not mention yet another striking commonality about all five of them: the fact that they valorize different ritualistic practices. In O Brother, Where Art Thou? Pete announces his willingness to become a “newborn Christian” and undergo baptismal in the river. In Shrek, the main character comes to realize that despite his contempt of knightly rituals, concerned with ensuring the “proper” liberation of imprisoned princesses, he will be much better off living up to them. In The Brothers Grimm, Will and Jake are seen to continue experiencing setbacks in their confrontation with the Queen, until they decide to take practical advantage of the ritual of driving a pole through the vampire’s heart. In Beowulf and Viy, the emphasis is placed on the “rituals of consumption”. By displaying their willingness to dine with strangers (Danish Vikings and Ukrainian peasants) in the highly ritualistic manner, Beowulf and Jonathan Green do not merely express their respect for the cultural customs on the locale. Rather, they do it to acquire a part of the affiliated peoples’ strength, even when not realizing it consciously. In full accordance with the folkloric stance on the issue, to be effective a particular religious or cultural ritual does not have to make any rational sense. Quite to the contrary. As the discussed films imply, the more irrational and outright senseless happened to be one or another ritualistic practice, the likelier will it be for the affiliated practitioners to benefit from observing it. This once again proves that there is indeed a strongly defined folkloric sounding to the movies in question.
The undertaken analysis of the selected folklore items suggests the following:
- Folklore is deeply subliminal, in the sense of being reflective of the unconscious desires in people. This explains the recurrence of essentially the same themes and motifs in the oral works of folklore across the world. After all, regardless of what happened to be the color of their skin and the specifics of their cultural background, humans belong to the same species of Homo Sapiens.
- Folklore advocates the primacy of feelings and intuition over rationale. The most plausible explanation, in this regard, is that the folkloric themes and motifs date back to the time when people did not differ very much from other primates, in the psycho-cognitive sense of this word.
- Folklore is culturally, ethnically and socially biased. When assessed from the folkloric perspective, all foreigners deserve to be treated with suspicion, to say the least. Folklore also promotes a patriarchal (male-chauvinistic) outlook on the surrounding reality and one’s place in it.
- Folklore endorses people’s belief in the supernatural while encouraging them to regard different religious and cultural superstitions as such that represent an undeniable truth-value.
This, of course, raises a certain question about whether folklore can be deemed compatible with the ideological realities of one’s post-industrial living in the West. At the same time, however, there can be very little doubt that most folklore-based tales indeed contain much practical wisdom. In particular, they teach people how to recognize evilness in others and encourage individuals to exercise caution while dealing with the unknown. This conclusion appears to correlate rather well with the paper’s initial thesis.
Works Cited
Beowulf. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, performances by Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, and Angelina Jolie, ImageMovers, 2007.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? Directed by Joel Coen, performances by George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Nelson, and Charles Durning, Touchstone Pictures, 2000.
Shrek. Directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, performances by Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow, DreamWorks Animation, 2001.
The Brothers Grimm. Directed by Terry Gilliam, performances by Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Peter Stormare, and Lena Headey, Mosaic Media Group, 2005.
Viy. Directed by Oleg Stepchenko, performances by Jason Flemyng, Aleksey Chadov, Valery Zolotukhin, and Anna Churina, Russian Film Group, 2014.