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The
midpoint of the film is structurally
a very important part. A classical play is divided into ascending
(rising) and descending (falling) action, such as in "Romeo
and Juliet" (cf. Wikipedia: Gustav Freytag or curve).
In
the beginning of the play Romeo and Juliet ascend towards
happiness, opposing the hatred between their families. But
what could two lovers do to such an intense hatred (cf. start-up
sequence)? Romeo balances between his love and the family
obligations. In the midpoint of the play Romeo revenges his
friend Mercutio's death and kills Juliet's cousin Tybalt in
a duel. For punishment Romeo has to be exiled to Mantua. After
Tybalt's death the action turns into descending action, towards
the inevitable, or the lovers' death. In the descending action
of the tragedy the turns make the situation worse: Romeo is
falsely informed of the death of Juliet and does "the
right thing" based on this false information.
This
classic, structural solution is evident especially in Hollywood
productions, where it is easy to see the turning point placed
into the middle. The film "Crying Game" is also
worth seeing with its typical midpoint turning point. You
can also see a clear midpoint turn in the
structure of "Silence of the Lambs".
Neil
Jordan: The Crying Game (1992). [us.imdb.com/Title?0104036]
Jonathan
Demme: The Silence of the lambs (1991). [us.imdb.com/Title?0102926]
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