Classical Hollywood Narrative Analysis: Back To The Future

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Narrative analysis: Back to the Future Back to the Future, from 1985, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is an example of classical Hollywood narrative. The story is moved along by the motivation of the main character, Marty McFly, who must return to 1985 after having accidentally escaped to 1955 on the time-travelling DeLorean and ends up accidentally altering his own timeline by intruding on his parents’ lives. One of the scenes that mark how the narrative is important to the entire story, is at the beginning where he talks to his girlfriend, Jennifer Parker, about a date they have been planning and hiding from his parents. During this scene, they are interrupted by a lady who is advocating for the preservation of the historical bell …show more content…

This, of course, is a phrase that is meant to foreshadow the fact that Marty does end up playing live music, but in 1955 at his parents’ Under the Sea dance. Following this scene is where Marty’s mom, Lorraine, informs the audience of how she and George met and fell in love, a story that becomes relevant once Marty travels back in time and ends up messing up the events she described. Following these scenes, Marty meets up with Doc and learns about the time machine, which he uses to escape to the past. The scenes with Jennifer and the McFly’s serve as the last glimpse at present day, 1985, that provide crucial information that Marty must follow once he goes back in time. Also, they are used to contrast how his family’s financial and social situation adjusted because of his trip into the …show more content…

Which serve to provide a parallel between the past and the present. For example, Biff says, “I gotta have time to have [the reports] retyped, you know what would happen if I turned it in with your handwriting?” which he repeats later in the movie when he tells George to finish his homework. Other scenes are also alluded to within these two scenes, for example, Marty sees a brand new truck and tells Jennifer that one day he’ll have one of those. At the end of the movie, after he has changed the past, he finds out that in this alternate timeline, the truck is his. These types of repetitions throughout the movie are relevant because they keep the audience motivated. They serve to present seemingly small, insignificant ideas and themes that once they resurface, the audience will take notice. It also serves the purpose of keeping things consistent and establishing a pattern throughout the movie: present an idea, repeat or solve the

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