Draft 2

 The role of suspense in psychological thriller:

Linguistic suspense is made by two opposite parts

Introduction:

In dictionary, “suspense” is means “a feeling of worry of excitement that you have when you feel that something is going to happen, somebody is going to tell you some news.” Definitely, suspense is not only a feeling. Suspense is an indication which used to transiting in a story. When we meet the suspense in movie, there must be something happened. The suspense holds information and signal to reader or audiences that something is being withheld.

In addition, suspense is also a way to express uncertain outcome. By using this uncertain outcome, it is easy to create conflict. With the leading of uncertain experience, audience’s emotion has been evoked. The role of the suspense has been proved immediately. However, the role of the suspense has no limited. It is not only shows the audience’s reflection, but also pushes the development of the story.

Francois Truffaut in his interview with Alfred Hitchcock reminds the “suspense is a question of how…” Suspense is made up various kinds of visual aids, such as language, dialogue. These aids make up in mess to establish visual scenes which have ability to enhance audience’s emotion. For example, it is usual to see one part of the movie to be put in the beginning in the entire movie. And this part can be regarded as suspense. Consequently, suspense is a method to express or narrative the story in special.

Not only in story, has suspense also played an important role in psychological thriller. What is psychological thriller? It is a type of movie which is related with psychological analysis. Language, as one of the basic elements in movie, plays an important role in psychological thriller, especial for creating suspense. And this linguistic suspense is useful for shaping character’s life and pushing story develop. In this study, we will focus on the role of linguistic suspense in psychological thriller.

     Several theories exist about psychological thriller and the function of movie elements—language. These literature reviews of research are focus on language usage in movie, especially for suspense which makes whole movie more interesting.

Lukas Bleichenbacher claims movie is “representation of intercultural” in this several years.(155) He also language is a basic tool for surviving in society. In his opinion, Language is a basic element in movie which “constructed” not only speakers’ dialogues but the whole story plot. (155)

 Language is important. Different language choice will affect the story settings, character moods and “main activities of scenes.” (160) However, whatever English or other languages, the language usage should base on the background setting of the whole movie.(157) The language will make up suitable dialogue, which rich character’s characteristic and conflict plot. (158) Audience’s emotion will change with the effect of language. Except for dialogue, the linguistic development in film has contributions for image and sound. This is the point from Whitaker Rod in “The language of film.” He points out the linguistic has ability to create image by using montage editing.(123)

In addition, Roel M Willems, Krien Clevis and Peter Hagoort also consider there are relationship between suspense and picture. They consider the visual image is created by suspense in movie. (404) Under the implied suspense, the feeling of fearful and intensive will be created by neural connection.(404) So, the sentence will not bring the feeling of fear. But the sentence which implicated something can be regarded as suspense will result of fear.

So, it can say, language can make dialogue in movie. Speaker’s dialogue and suspense both has ability to create visual image of the movie story.

As for psychological thriller, Ivan N, McCollom refers the fiction movie has already related with reality society. Psychological change is another change. He claims psychology is a set of rules for behavioral conditioning. (922) Based on McCollom’s theory, Mark Jancovich lists his idea in “Frighteningly real”:Realism social criticism and the psychological killer in the critical reception of the late 1940s horror-thrill that psychological themes in psychological thriller became highly valued through their association with realism. (24) However, psychological thriller is not always has fiction theme. (25) Mark Jancovich states, the closer the theme to realism, the closer people attack their attention on movie under an unconscious situation.(29) Sometimes, psychological thriller is not scary. It just shows the deep meaning for reality. (29)

In this research, I will focus on the role of suspense in psychological thriller, the Six Sense, Black Swarm and Butterfly effect. Even though the content of suspense is totally different in these three movies, the role of suspense in these movies has a similar expression.

Discussion

Here is the instance of the suspense in The Butterfly Effect.

Butterfly Effect is one of the most famous psychological thrillers in world. It talks about a young man who suffers from temporary amnesia wants to change history. Form his diary; he recognized his bad behavior in childhood. His behavior affects his friends’ life a lot. In order to make other’s life better, he begin to change what he did in childhood, however, he ignores the butterfly effect in his life. Even a small change will cause a significant change later. It is impossible to change everyone’s destiny to fine. No one can be the God. In the end, the young man uses his power to return to the time before he was born. He kills himself in his mother’s uterus.

The suspense in this psychological thriller is more attractable. There are four suspense in Butterfly Effect which makes a significance effect to audiences’ emotion.

First, in the beginning of the movie, the young man—Evan broke into doctor’s office and write down a sentence under the desk.—“If anyone finds this, it means that my plan didn’t work, and I’m already dead. If I can somehow go back to the beginning of all of this, I might be able to save her.” In this suspense, the words are really simple, and easy to be understood. However, we all know what we understand is the superficial meaning of the sentence rather than the deeper meaning of the suspense. Just like Vorderer, Peter, Hans J. rgen Wulff, and Mike Friedrichsen have mentioned the suspense is going to create an image and keep audience to memory it. This suspense describes a dark picture that a young man is writing a strange sentence which keep long and spectral memory in audience’s mind.

Second, an old witch said Evan has no lifeline, no soul and never meant to be. It is also suspense. Of course, these words make Evan’s mom disgust. However, that horrible word reminds Evan’s mother of the poor experience of born Evan. From dialogue between Evan and his mother’s, it is easy to knowledge that Evan should have three brothers, but they all stillbirth before they are born. It seems a sad story. However, it is a clue obvious. Director will not such clear but useless number in movie. These three poor brothers must have relationship with the development of the Evan’s story. So, this suspense stimulate audience’s curiosity about the end of the story.

Third, Evan finds a box about his father under the desk. In that box, Evan finds a a certificate of death about his grandfather. The certification shows his grandfather is a crazy as same as his father. It is suspense in this movie too. In the movie, Evan finds he has super power to back to past. In addition Evan’s mother mentions more than once about the possibility of Evan inheriting his father’s psychological illness. Combined with these plots, it is not difficult to find that this psychological illness which actual is super power of fixing the history is hereditary.

The last suspense I consider is the journal that Evan write in his life. When his mother realizes he has problem about remember, she begin to something to monitor his memory such as asking Evan to writes journal. In the movie, we can find journal is the most important tool for Evan to show his super power. In other word, journal is suspense in the entire movie. The words in journal re-create the image of the past experience which Evan forgot in past. These words stimulate the deep memory in Evan’s mind and push the development of the movie.

Via confirming these four suspense, we have already realizes the suspense works in Butterfly Effect. Lukas Blechenbacher used to mention in this research, the language is used to “construct” something. (Blechenbacher 155) No matter which suspense, they all construct by language. The language in the movie makes up dialogues which are helpful for shaping character and push the development of the entire story, such as the journal suspense. Evan writes journal to monitor the function of memory in his brain. Journal in the story is not only to record Evan’s life, but as a clue to push the story go on. So the role of suspense in this movie is created visual image.

Whatever suspense, the suspense in these movies is going to express two parts, one is for the life now, and the other is the life in the past. These two opposite parts consist the entire meaning of the story. For example, the sentence which Evan wrote in the beginning is a testament in the surface. But it also stands for Evan’s next action. He is going to translate the time to the beginning, when he was not born. He tried to kill himself in that time.

Here is the instance of the suspense in Black Swan.

Black Swan once to be won in Oscar night. It is a psychological thriller which talks about a special ballet show. In this show, the boss of the company wants to revise the old Swan Lake. In his new show, the role of black and white swan should be one person. As for the main character, Nina is suited for being a White Swan bus not for Black Swan. In the process of preparing, the main character—Nina loses herself, and commit suicides in the end.

Even though it is a musical psychological thriller, language is also plays in important role in suspense. For example, first, boss’s words of the introduction about the Swan Lake can be regarded as suspense. The boss emphasis the white swan and black swan should be one person. These words are not only the introduction, but also indicate the special of this play. It is obvious that the introduction is the superficial meaning. The deeper meaning is indicated the crazy situation for main character in the end.

Second, in the end of the movie, Lily wants to be the main character in the play, so she tried her best to make trouble for Nina. In the final role, Nina gets some trouble to be the “White Swan” in the stage. So Lily enters into Nina’s room and talk to Nina. In their talk, Lily shows her ambitious to the main role in play. During the argument, Nina shows her decision and emphasizes “it is my turn.” From their dialogue, we have already felt an evil Nina which is different from the normal one. She has changed. The evil Nina becomes a picture to let audience to remember. It is a picture which is sample words, but fearful meaning.

As for the suspense in this movie, we can find the suspense is complex and hard to be understood in this movie. It is obvious that there are two meaning in one sentence. Boss introduces the new play to company. In the surface, the meaning of the sentence is just simple introduction. This introduction let audience know what will play in movie and how hard to let one person two opposite characters play in one play. However, the deeper meaning of the suspense is to indicate the depression from Nina in the end. In addition, Lily and Nina is dialogue is more dramatic. In the superficial, it is the dialogue between Lily and Nina. Nina kills Lily in the end of their conversation. But actually, it is the conversation between innocent Nina and evil Nina. In the end, the evil Nina kills innocent one. It is an internal contradiction in Nina’s mind. In the psychological thriller, the movie always has two parts of meaning. The smart screenwriter combines these two parts by using suspense. Consequently, the suspense in psychological thriller can be combined as two opposite parts. The role of these complex suspense is to make audience confused and engaged into psychological trap

Here is the example of the suspense in The Six Sense.

A little boy has ability to communicate with ghost. He is scared of his super power. He doesn’t know the reason that ghost wants to find him for help. With the help of psychological doctor, the littler boy begins to help ghost. In the process of help, he overcomes his fear of ghost, and gets forgiveness from his mother.

There are some suspense in this movie.

First, in the beginning of the movie, the main character Doctor Malcolm Crowe was killed by a crazy nude man. The crazy nude man says: he knows why people feel afraid when they are alone. He also mentions that he has cursed. After the nude man speaking out, he kills Doctor, and himself. In fact, it is a fearful beginning. Audience understands the surface meaning of what young man says, but audience didn’t know the deeper meaning of these words. These words crates a crazy but confuse image which makes audience fear.

Second, when Cole’s mother entered into kitchen again, she noticed all drawer was opened which was different from she did before. She was shocked. She thought Cole did it so she blamed Core. But when Cole left table, the wet table shows evident that Cole never left table. The image of wet hands and opened drawer make up a feeling of thrill.

Third, Cole said, he can see dead people when he is awake. The dead people don’t know they are dead. They walk on road as normal people. It is Cole’s secret. As for audience, Cole ’s word is scare. These words creates scare scene which are used to expressing fearful content.

It is obvious that the sentence in this movie is scared. But the sentence is not scared actually. What makes audience feel scare is not the sentences; it is the image that sentence creates. Therefore, the sentence has no power to stimulate audience’s emotion. What affect audience’s emotion is the image what sentence creates.

Finding:

From these three movies, we have already realized the language plays an important role in movie. Language makes a dialogue which create visual scene to attack audience’s eye. Evan and his mother’s dialogue indicate a sad ending of Evan. In surface, the meaning of sentence is very simple. Everyone can easy to understand it. But we all know there must something be hidden behind the dialogue. That is the deeper meaning of the dialogue, which is hard to understand. Actually, the dialogue is not scared. What makes us feel scare is the image, which dialogue created and the deeper meaning behind dialogue. The dialogue makes a visual scene, which enhance the feeling of fearful.

As a good aid for constructing a good suspense in move, dialogue not only enhance audience’s fear, but also leads the development of the story. For example, young man who suicide himself creates a great suspense. He refers an enigma in the beginning which attaches audience a lot. And the following story is just to narrative his story again, just in other child. Due to man’s words, audience becomes more interested in content of the movie. Young man’s words promote story into climax. Consequently, suspense has ability to lead the development of the whole story.  

Conclusion:

To sum up, the role of language in movie is making up a series of dialogue to enhance audience’s fear, and promote story into climax. As for the linguistic suspense, I have another idea. As I have mentioned before, the suspense is a way of sharing information. Suspense will not share all the information to audience, but only a litter, which is similar with Hemingway’s iceberg theory in writing. Actually, suspense only shares half of information and hides the other half of parts, such as the suspense in these three movies. In the butterfly effect, the whole movie includes two parts. One is focus on the accident happened in past, the other pay more attention on the reality life now. The part of memory is hidden. Movie only shows audience the part of reality life. In the Six Sense, movie prefers show the part of life rather than dead. In the movie, young man expresses his feeling about dead in reality. It is obvious combine death and life. In spirit Black Swan is also divided into two parts. One is for reality musical show in reality, the other is stands for fictive scene which main character images. It is no doubt that movie only focus on one side to express.

However, linguistic suspense only focus more on one side is not means the linguistic suspense only focus on one side and ignore the other side. Actually, in psychological thriller, these two opposite parts really combines with each other and expresses the story together.  

Therefore, we can assume that the role of suspense in Six Sense, Black Swan and Butterfly Effect are similar, even the content of suspense is totally different. The suspense in these movies is expressed by language. Language always has extraordinary and significant meaning in movie, especially for creating suspense. Language has ability to create a dialogue between characters in movie. As usual, the story of psychological thriller always divide story into two opposite parts. With the help of language, the suspense combines these two opposite parts in movie to enhance audiences fearful and lead the story enter into climax in order to make a wonderful story.

Generally speaking, language has ability to stimulate the emotion, such as evoke audience’s curiosity. But audience’s emotion is not created by language. It is created by the image which language creates in dialogue.

The role of the suspense is linguistic suspense in psychological thriller is created visual images; lead the development of the whole story which is useful for stimulate audience’s curiosity.

Reference:

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