Rom-Com: British Film Review 2 - Love Actually

Love Actually is a 2003 rom-com, written and directed by Richard Curtis. The film is shown through ten separate stories of varying individuals, many of whoms path interlink as the film progresses. The ensemble cast is composed of predominantly British actors (of which several have worked with Curtis before). Set in London, the film begins five weeks before Christmas, a commonly chosen time for a romantic comedy to be set.

Richard Curtis is an experienced director, having previously directed many popular rom-coms, including Four Weddings and a Funeral as well as the Bridget Jones films.

As the plot progresses, the relationships between the characters develop and the film is shown through each of the 10 major characters. The opening scene shows families reuniting in Heathrow airport. The camera cutting between various shots of people hugging could be used to symbolise the multiple relationships that are had throughout the film between the ten characters.

The contrast is brightened during the first scene consisting of families reuniting at an arrivals lounge in Heathrow airport. Harmonious, angelic-like non-diagetic sounds replace the diagetic noises at the start of this scene. These two effects combined give an extremely serene feel, making the whole scene quite relaxed. The camerawork is used to give off a handheld-esque feel, as if someone at the airport was recording the families reuniting, due to the focusing of shots, quick cuts and pans. However, the camera is more likely to be positioned on a tripod, based on the steadiness of the shots.

The serene atmosphere is broken only by the sound of Hugh Grant’s voice, performing a monologue over the scene. In this he relates the on-scene events to the calls made by the passengers of United States Airline flight 175, during the tragic events of 9/11. He states that the overall consensus of people nowadays is that we live in “a world of hatred and greed”, where really “love actually is all around”, as proven by the calls of love, not hate, during 9/11.

The next scene fades in from black, depicting Bill Nighy as Billy Mack, an artist covering The Troggs “Love Is All Around” as “Christmas Is All Around”. He appears to be a very laid-back character, shown through his Hawaiian shirt and general attitude, such as when he comically messes up the lyrics.

The movie was released in November, just a month before Christmas. The timing of this release was crucial as it tied in with the advertising and marketing campaign. The above poster shows the ten characters in front of several Christmas trees, this along with the red ribbon (slightly framing the poster) gives an extremely festive feel.

The positive reviews and ratings are essential, especially the keywords such as "magical", "deliciously Christmassy" and "warm" as these are the feelings that the audience will relate to Christmas, and what they want from a film during this time of year.

Rom-Com: British Film Review 1 - Four Weddings and a Funeral

Four Weddings and a Funeral, directed by Mike Newell is a 1994 British romantic-comedy. The film was an unexpected success, with worldwide box office in excess of $245.7 billion and receiving an academy award for best picture nomination. Hugh Grant stars as Charles, the main protagonist in the movie.

The film opens to a shot of embroidered flowers on a piece of paper, then zooms/rotates out to show the title “Four Weddings and a Funeral” in a serif font, written upon the same piece of paper, resembling that of a wedding invitation. Swing/jazz music plays over the top of this scene, further adding to the themes of weddings, illustrated in the title of the movie. This introduction itself helps us to realise that this film is directed at an older demographic.

The film then cuts to an establishing close-up shot of Charles (Hugh Grant) in bed, fumbling around to stop the alarm clock from alerting him to wake up. The film then cuts again to a very similar shot of another man sleeping whilst his alarm clock is ringing, but instead he wakes up and lies a suit out on his bed. This shows a contrast of attitude between these two characters, possibly even hinting at their personalities.

The film then cuts again to a medium-long shot of a woman sampling two different dresses in a mirror. She seems to be disinterested in both of the dresses, resulting in her dropping them both and walking off screen, again possibly hinting at her personality, that she’s never pleased. The film then cuts to a close-up shot of a gay couple having breakfast, smiling and laughing as one man wipes off some food from the other’s beard. There is high-key lighting in these first few shots to indicate that the scene is set in the morning, and that they’re all getting ready for an event (most likely a wedding, judging by the title of the movie).

The film cuts again to another close-up, eye-level shot of Hugh Grant still in bed, whilst the rest of the characters are getting ready. This indicates that he’s a somewhat irresponsible, possibly more relaxed character in comparison to the others shown in the first few shots. Just after another shot of the gay couple boarding a car, (presumably to transport them to the wedding) there is an establishing, long-shot of London bridge, depicting the vehicles on route to the event. This helps to set the scene; London is also a very commonly used location for rom-coms.

There is then another two quick-cuts, showing a high-angle shot of Hugh Grant still sleeping, followed by a cut back to the cars on the motorway. This highly suggests to the viewer that Hugh Grant is going to the same event, and that he’s most likely going to be late. The original swing/jazz music is still playing as the film again cuts to the vehicles on the motorway, then cuts back to Hugh Grant a second time. This time he begins to wake up, and as he does so, the music stops playing. The camera pans during this match-on-action, close-up shot of his hand as he nonchalantly reaches over to check his clock for the time and his eyes widen in realisation that he’s late for the event. He jumps out of bed and the camera cuts to him waking up his sister, who utters the word “Fuck”, the same as what Charles did when he checked his clock. This use of dialogue injects a sense of hilarity into the situation, as they both desperately get ready.

After this, the camera quickly cuts to a shot of the two of them sitting in Charles’ car. The quick cuts and use of hand-held camera in this scene are used to depict the rush that they’re in to get ready; also the music has stopped to be replaced by the diagetic noises of the car’s engine flooding to add to the sense of urgency.

A couple minutes later, they arrive at the social event. From the mise en scéne in the scene, we can quickly come to the conclusion that they’re gathered for a wedding. You can also hear diagetic noises of wedding bells in the background to further add to this impression. As a limo-type vehicle drives past, most likely carrying the bride/groom, there is a shot-reverse-shot between Charles and his sister, who run to enter the church after their exchanged expressions of desperation and horror.

From the poster of the movie above, we can see that the title of the movie is in a serif font, which is generally preferred to sans-serif when writing wedding invitations. From the mise en scéne, we can also see one of London’s highlights. Also, in semiotics, the heart with the lightning bolt struck through it could be a sign for something interrupting a couple’s relationship. The title “Four Weddings and a Funeral” indicates that the relationship being affected could lead to the event of the funeral.

Rom-Com: American Film Review 2 - Juno

Juno was created in 2007 and was directed by Jason Reitman. Ellen Page plays the main role of an independent-minded teenager confronting the issue of an unplanned pregnancy and the subsequent events which put pressures of adult life onto her. Michael Cera plays the role of Paulie Bleeker, the father of her child and a long time admirer of Juno.

The movie opens to an establishing shot of Paulie’s house and front lawn, with Juno standing towards the corner of the screen at the edge of his garden. She is facing towards the source of light in this shot, which is the light emitted from the sun, this could be interpreted to symbolise that her future is bright and positive, and that Paulie may be a part of it. The word „Autumn“ also appears in the top right corner of the screen during this shot, to indicate the time of year.

Juno then has a flashback to the night where Paulie got her pregnant. During this scene, there is a focus pull along with an extreme close up with Paulie’s lips in the foreground and Juno’s ear in the blurred out in the background. This is so that when he speaks the words „I’ve wanted this for a really long time“, it has a greater impact on the audience.

The film then cuts to a tracking shot of Juno walking along a road, whilst Barry Louis Polisar’s „All I Want Is You“ plays over the scene. This song could have been used to emphasise Paulie’s affection towards Juno, supporting the words he whispered in her ear in the first scene. As she’s walking along the road, the film has been edited so that when she walks past the tree in the screenshot below, she transitions into a cartoon.

The setting of this movie is quite different to that of a conventional rom-com, as it’s set in Vancouver, Canada. Although Vancouver is one of the largest cities in Canada, the film itself is set away from the huge metropolitan area, in a more rural area. This interlinks with much of the chosen music for the movie, which is generally Indie/Blue Grass, such as Barry Louis Polisar’s song.

This choice of music, along with the setting, is also unconventional to that of a stereotypical rom-com. This „alternate“ choice of location and music could symbolise Juno herself, as she could be viewed as being indie/alternate.

Whereas the comic relief in rom-coms are typically provided through the best friends of the main protagonists, Juno is arguably the funniest character in the film and thus provides the comedy herself.