Gran Torino Film Analysis
Part A
1. Story and Plot
Story and Plot differ from one another. The total world of the story is made out of “diegetic elements”. These elements (such as characters, events, surroundings, sounds and objects) create the world in which the story takes place. In a television series as Baantjer, there are a lot of diegetic elements which the audience can relate to, whereas in the world of Disney’s Wall-E, there are diegetic elements which the audience can’t relate to because it is a whole other world than we know. A story consists of two types of diegetic elements. Firstly, there are elements that are presented on the screen. Secondly, there are elements which are not presented on the screen, but where the viewer (audience) refers to as something that has happened (presumed and inferred elements).
Besides diegetic elements, there are also nondiegetic elements. These elements include for example voice-overs, background music and titles and credits and are part of a plot, but not part of a story.
A plot consists, beside the diegetic elements of the world of the story presented on the screen, also of nondiegetic material. Apart from (non)diegetic elements, the story also differs from the plot because of the chronological order. Within a story, every event happens in chronological order, but within a plot, events do not necessarily have to appear in chronological order.
In Gran Torino the difference between the story and the plot is immediately visible at the very first scene: Walt is already old and his wife passed away. As the viewer you won’t get to know everything that has happened in Walt’s life before the plot starts and you won’t get to know his wife. One of the few things Gran Torino does refer to is Walt’s past in Korea (therefore, this element is part of the plot as well as the story).
2. Character traits in Gran Torino
If the viewer would know exactly what has happened in Korea, then the audience might think Walt is not being unrealistic towards
1. Story and Plot
Story and Plot differ from one another. The total world of the story is made out of “diegetic elements”. These elements (such as characters, events, surroundings, sounds and objects) create the world in which the story takes place. In a television series as Baantjer, there are a lot of diegetic elements which the audience can relate to, whereas in the world of Disney’s Wall-E, there are diegetic elements which the audience can’t relate to because it is a whole other world than we know. A story consists of two types of diegetic elements. Firstly, there are elements that are presented on the screen. Secondly, there are elements which are not presented on the screen, but where the viewer (audience) refers to as something that has happened (presumed and inferred elements).
Besides diegetic elements, there are also nondiegetic elements. These elements include for example voice-overs, background music and titles and credits and are part of a plot, but not part of a story.
A plot consists, beside the diegetic elements of the world of the story presented on the screen, also of nondiegetic material. Apart from (non)diegetic elements, the story also differs from the plot because of the chronological order. Within a story, every event happens in chronological order, but within a plot, events do not necessarily have to appear in chronological order.
In Gran Torino the difference between the story and the plot is immediately visible at the very first scene: Walt is already old and his wife passed away. As the viewer you won’t get to know everything that has happened in Walt’s life before the plot starts and you won’t get to know his wife. One of the few things Gran Torino does refer to is Walt’s past in Korea (therefore, this element is part of the plot as well as the story).
2. Character traits in Gran Torino
If the viewer would know exactly what has happened in Korea, then the audience might think Walt is not being unrealistic towards