Premise

The contents of a film can be defined by using a so-called main clause or premise. The crucial contents of the film are squeezed into one statement or sentence. Synonyms for premise include main clause, leading idea, main idea and main message.

Using a premise comes from the theater. The main clause is defined as the makers' opinion on the basic conflict. It is the statement that the film attempts to claim. The best premise is simple and clear, and it provokes expressions of opinions.

Some examples of premises in plays:

• Shakespeare's Macbeth: "Blind ambition leads to destruction".
• Shakespeare's Othello: "Jealousy kills love."
• Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House: "Woman's inequality
• in marriage leads into woman's liberation"
• Molière's Tartuffe: "What goes around comes
• around"

Some examples of premises in films:

• "External
• splendor and power do not bring inner happiness." (Orson
• Welles: "Citizen Kane")
• "Love
• destroys a girl, if she is ignorant." (Claude Goretta:
• "The Lacemaker")
• "Oppressing
• people leads to rebellion." (Gillo Pontecorvo: "The
• Battle of Algiers")
• "Loyal
• battle against oppression leads to victory." (Akira
• Kurosawa: "The Seven Samurai")
• "When
• a woman leaves a man, he must start thinking and developing."
• (Robert Redford: "Kramer vs. Kramer")

Gillo Pontecorvo: La Battaglia di Algeri.
[us.imdb.com/Title?0058946]