By Zaheer Shahid February 05, 2022
Independent films often adopt digressive narrative treatment in which the story plot tends to sidetrack from time to time. The narrative focuses on characters' subjectivity rather than a determined goal. The main characters' motives depend on socio-cultural setting and relationships with other characters rather than cause and effect. So in a way, the character's decisions and actions lead the story, and a pre-determinant plot becomes irrelevant.
Who breaks the traditional narrative structure?
Of course, the filmmakers. They deliberately break the traditional narrative structure and create alternative plot points; the characters' choices drive the story.
The French New Wave filmmakers are prominent supporters of unconventional storytelling. The French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard analyzes two essential attributes of independent cinema. First, writing is a process where ideas are put together in a context. Still, it cannot determine the finished film's final quality. Second, it is a fluid method of filming, rather than writing, that determines the film's story.
Godard commented on his writing methods, "I always use a written text, though it may often be written only two or three minutes before shooting...Usually, the lines are written at the very last minute, which means that actors have no time to prepare" (Jean-Luc Godard: Interviews; 7); "I had written the first scene, and for the rest, I had a pile of notes" (Godard on Godard; 172).
Do we need a movie script?
Yes, we do. A well-thought-out script is essential for the engagement of a story and characters. The question is if there is only one way of writing a script? There is no straight answer because filmmakers' artistic style and vision define the movie. For some filmmakers, a well-written script is everything, from the first word to the last; they want to film it as it is written. But for some, it is like a collection of ideas. The script is evolving while they are directing and editing the movie. As Godard pointed out— "If you can write everything very clearly you are a writer; you don't need to make a movie" (Jean-Luc Godard: Interviews; 30).
Works Cited
Narboni, Jean, and Tom Milne, eds. Godard on Godard; Critical Writings. By Jean-Luc Godard. NewYork: Viking Press, 1972.
Sterritt, David, ed. Jean-Luc Godard: Interviews. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998.