Low Budget

Natural editing and Napoleon Dynamite

There are some movies that you can start watching at any point on cable, convincing yourself that you just want to see “this one scene,” and then you find yourself sitting through the whole thing, again. Animal House, the first three Star Wars movies and The Matrix fell into this category, until ruined by sequels. Saving Private Ryan was, for awhile, though the ending never really held up. Of course Pirates of the Caribbean.
You might think this would never happen with a modest little movie like Napolean Dynamite. Did anything really even happen in the movie? Yet there I was, watching credits roll. I had already announced, long ago, I was just going to watch a few minutes. I even waited for the additional scene, the one that comes up after the credits. What makes this movie work?
To say it’s authentic because it is a modestly produced, real-life small-town movie with believable characters and a down-to-earth story is too easy. In spit of the constant wailing of critics about explosion laden block-busters, these little gems are actually coming out in a fairly steady stream. Many are good, some worth watching twice. Few will nail you randomly to the couch as try and tear yourself away to go do something else.
I believe it comes from the approach to writing each scene. Classic screenwriting philosophy is that each scene should rise to some conclusion or transformation. To tell a story, we’ve chosen only those elements which contribute most strongly to the development of the story. This parallels our real world experience only in the retelling of events. When we chat about our day, we recast it in terms a few scenes that lead to punchlines or emotional catharsis. As we retell the better stories, we usually refine and lengthen them, possibly integrating other, less complete events into more coherent narratives.
Real life, however, takes place in shorter, less conclusive sequences. The “first time” we remember is often the culmination of a variety of almost first events. The story of our day builds out of a set of shorter scenes, tied together in memory, and often merged together.
Napolean Dynamite captures this rhythm, building the story out of shorter, less dramatic scenes. Few of the scenes tries to get an over-the-top reaction or conclusion. Few contain all the elements necessary to tell us why it’s that gripping. But they slip from one to the next, each giving little satisfactions along the way.
One sequence departs from this philosophy, the time-travel scene. Here, a device is ordered over the internet. Napoleon sees it, is told by Chip not to try it. A moment later, we see him buckled in, part of the device clearly threatening his groin. Naturally, pain ensues. Moments later, to complete the humorous potential, we get a shot of Uncle Rico coming out of his room, walking funny. The scene is funny, and it doesn’t untrack the movie completely. But it is like something from another, more traditional film. One where the kick in the groin is an ever-ready fall-back to punch up the humor.

posted by dan @ 3/27/2005 10:48:00 AM