James Walters,
Alternative Worlds in Hollywood Cinema: Resonance Between Realms.
Chicago: Intellect Books, The University of Chicago Press, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-84150-202-1
US$30.00 (pb)
232pp
(Review copy supplied by Unireps)

The recognition of fictionalized or fantasy worlds is nothing new to cinema studies. However, in Alternative Worlds in Hollywood Cinema: Resonance Between Realms, University of Birmingham professor James Walters builds upon previous scholarship and develops a new understanding of the use of alternative worlds. What Walters means by alternative world films are works that contrast a character’s inhabited reality with an “imagined”, “potential” or “other” world. Drawing upon seven case study films from classical and contemporary Hollywood, Walters uses close textual analysis to show how alternative worlds are placed in film narratives.

The bulk of Alternative Worlds in Hollywood Cinema outlines a new framework for classifying and understanding alternative world films. Walters breaks his seven case study films into three groups, crafting a theoretical chapter for each category, followed by a chapter of detailed close analysis of two or three key films in this model. Walters uses The Wizard of Oz (USA 1939), The Woman in the Window (USA 1944) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (USA 2004) to exemplify “imagined worlds”, films where characters construct an imaginary world in their minds. Walter’s second category uses Groundhog Day (USA 1993) and It’s a Wonderful Life (USA 1946) to highlight “potential worlds” or alternative versions of character’s inhabited reality. Lastly, Pleasantville (USA 1998) and Brigadoon (USA 1954) showcase “other worlds” or locations that characters are transported into, which are completely different from their inhabited reality. Each of these sections provides insightful commentary about the narrative complexity of these works, outlining the “resonance” between the alternative world and established world. While each of the three categories uses an alternative world differently, Walters concludes that these worlds are fundamental to each film’s narrative and understanding of a character’s “real world”. As he points out, “Knowing whether a world a character experiences is Imagined, Potential or Other is crucial if we are to appreciate fully the statements each film wishes to make about the experiences, emotions and actions of its protagonists” (p. 214). In addition to providing insight into the underlying ideology of a character’s “real world”, Walters’s study also touches upon the broader existential questions surrounding these films, such as the value of one’s life in an increasingly complex world. Walters stresses this point throughout the book, noting that the use of alternative worlds “brings the character’s reality into sharp focus, demanding a vital re-engagement with ordinary life” (p. 211).

In order to justify the audience’s acceptance and reception of alternative worlds within films, Walters addresses some issues in cognitive and analytical film theory in his first chapter. Drawing upon Edward Branigan, V.F. Perkins and David Bordwell, Walters points out that in order for any film to utilize fantasy, specifically alternative worlds, it is necessary that the narrative establish and maintain coherence, credibility and internal logic. Walters summarizes and acknowledges the complexity of these debates, but instead of placing more weight on one over another, he uses bits and pieces from each to point out that alternative world films are dependent upon “the logic of the film’s fiction, rather than whether we find it more or less probable” (p. 27).

Although Walters cites the helpfulness of concepts of classical Hollywood film narration proposed by scholars like David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, nonetheless he disputes the idea that alternative world films have a chronological, linear cause-effect narrative structure. Using his seven case study films and earlier silent works like G.A. Smith’s Let Me Dream Again (UK 1900), Walters argues “there is no perceivable rupture between classical and post-classical Hollywood,” because both periods contain films that not goal oriented nor linear (p. 218). The text challenges the notion of a separation in narrative form between classical and post-classical Hollywood films, proposing that scholars should re-examine the complexity of classical Hollywood films, as he does with Brigadoon. Walters notes that in this film, there is an ambiguity to the actions of Gene Kelly’s character, Tommy. Unlike theories of classical Hollywood narration that stress a goal-oriented plot, Walters notes that in Brigadoon “it is not essential to completely understand Tommy’s motivation” throughout the film because it allows for greater character depth than plot (p. 217). Walters challenges classical Hollywood narration by proposing that the main characters of alternative world films like Brigadoon have an ambiguity to their actions and do not move the plot forward by accomplishing a goal or overcoming a problem.

In addition to addressing cognitive, analytic and formalist theoretical debates in cinema studies, Walters’s book provides insightful chapter length commentaries about the seven films he uses as case studies. Besides providing close textual analysis for each film studied, Walters provides a new way of reading each text. One compelling example is Walters’s application of Stanley Cavell’s comedy of remarriage to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Comparing this film to Cavell’s analysis of The Lady Eve (USA 1941), Walters points out that these couples breakup because of selfish, childlike behavior. Quoting Cavell, Walters explains that in both films the characters go through a maturing process and are brought back together because the main characters “make room for playfulness within the gravity of adulthood” (p. 87). Alongside these chapter length studies, Walters also briefly engages a few other alternative world films. Most notably he provides innovative commentary for recent films like Donnie Darko (USA 2001) and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe (USA 2005).

As a whole, Walters’s book is a refreshing examination of the use of alternative worlds within both classic and contemporary Hollywood films. The book provides an innovative and lucid framework for classifying these works and suggests the need to carefully examine the narrative complexity of films that utilize these modes. Although Walters focuses upon older, well-known films like The Wizard of Oz, his insights into these works are just as fresh as interpretations of more contemporary movies like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. While Walters’s text is primarily concerned with Hollywood cinema, the work is just as relevant to other modes and styles of filmmaking. Alternative Worlds in Hollywood Cinema is useful to scholars and students wishing to gain insight into the use of alternative worlds and new ways of reading the seven key films discussed.
Thomas Salek,
New York University, USA.

Created on: Sunday, 30 August 2009