THE HANGOVER FILM ANALYSIS

Film title: The Hangover Director: Todd Phillips Editor: Debra Neil-Fisher Initial release date: June 5, 2009 Production Company: Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures Genre: Comedy Stars: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis Filming locations: Nevada, Las Vegas Film rating: 15 Distributor: Warner Bros Budget: $35 million/ 22.5 million Plot Summary: Angelenos Doug Billings and Tracy Garner are about to get married. Two days before the wedding, the four men in the wedding party - Doug, Doug's two best buddies Phil Wenneck and Stu Price, and Tracy's brother Alan Garner - hop into Tracy's father's beloved Mercedes convertible for a 24hour stag party to Las Vegas. Phil, a married high school teacher, has the same maturity level as his students when he's with his pals. Stu, a dentist, is worried about everything, especially what his controlling girlfriend Melissa thinks. Because she disapproves of traditional male bonding rituals, Stu has to lie to her about the stag, he telling her that they are going on a wine tasting tour in the Napa Valley. Regardless, he intends on eventually marrying her, against the advice and wishes of his friends. And Alan seems to be unaware of what are considered the social graces of the western world. The morning after their arrival in Las Vegas, they awaken in their hotel suite each with the worst hangover. None remembers what happened in the past twelve or so hours. The suite is in shambles. And certain things are in the suite that shouldn't be, and certain things that should be in the suite are missing. Probably the most important in the latter category is Doug. As Phil, Stu and Alan try to find Doug using only what little pieces of information they have at hand, they go on a journey of discovery of how certain things got into the suite and what happened to the missing items. However they are on a race for time as if they can't find Doug in the next few hours, they are going to have to explain to Tracy why they are not yet back in Los Angeles. And even worse, they may not find Doug at all before the wedding. Narrative The hangover trailer is very funny and really makes the viewer laugh and want to see the film at the end. After watching the trailer and reading the film synopsis and plot summary it is very easy to piece to

together the film and to follow the storyline. In relation to Todorovs theory of narrative the film complies with this theory and it is easy to work out the different stages of the narrative. The state of equilibrium for the hangover would be right at the start of the film when they arrange a holiday just before the marriage, this is where everything is good and there are no problems and everything is going great. The stage of Disequilibrium would be when the lads all wake up from there night out and all have horrible hangovers and remember nothing from the previous night. The recognition stage of Todorovs theory would be when they release they have lost Doug who is suppose to be getting married within 2 days and they release they have to find him. The repair stage of the narrative would be when they are looking for Doug and find him after en-counting various problems with the well known Chinese gangster Mr. chow. This now leads to the final stage of narrative the new stage of equilibrium in which they take Doug to get married and they then everything is good once again. The hangover film definitely does comply with Todorovs theory; however it doesnt really work the same with Propps theory as only some elements of Propps narrative characters work. An example would be that in the hangover having watched the film there is no-one to play the role as the donor character as there Is no item that posses magical elements to help them find Doug or any item at all really, also that the princess character is the hangover is Doug who is male, this does not fit in the with the conventions of a princess being a female character at all. However some characters do fit Propps theory, the villain figure would be Mr. Chow as he opposes and actively blocks the actions of the hero, who in the hangover would be Alan, stu and Phil. The hangover film does work with Levi Strauss theory of binary opposites. Two words the work very well in the hangover film would be miracle and disaster as the whole film is based on a huge disaster that eventually after many events and miracles leads to the successful marriage at the end of the film. Audience: The hangover is a 15 rated film, therefore the target audience would be the 15-50 age range this is because the film is incredibly hilarious and innovative in its plot when it first came out, the film is based on real events that have a element of fantasy incorporated into it. the film would most likely be watched by couples married or dating, and large or small groups of friends as they can socialize and enjoy each other's company while enjoying the great comedy of the film. even though the film certificate of 15 lenient parents may watch the films as a family with the kids which is quite common in today's society ,other than the bad language and mature content the film would truly be a quadrant audience young, old, female, and male Media Language: the camera and mis-en-scene of the trailer throughout is very realistic and good for imagining and visualizing being one of the characters, this is because the trailer was filmed and the film actually in the real location of Cesar's palace on the Las Vegas strip which helps the view to imagine in real life also makes the film more realistic. at the start we see a two shot of 2 characters getting changed into suits and ties, the shot allows us to see a communication between the characters and also suggests a divide as Alan the character to the left is not really friends with the other lads in the group who are going to Vegas. at the start we immediately see a long shot of Alan in his pants this is funny and immediately suggests to the audience that this film is going to be a comedy and very funny. later a non-digetic sound

track that has won various awards and is very well associated with night live and lively atmospheres is played as the boys drive down to Vegas, this gives the film a good sense of enjoyment and liveliness, this is then reinforced by a quick flurry of camera shots of various buildings such as MGM grand and Cesar's palace very well know destinations in Vegas, this is smoothly done with the non-digetic sound track through continuous editing which allows the smooth transition of shots and scenes this all together creates a great 10 second clip that sets the scene for the audience in Vegas. when the scene in the trailer of the boys waking up from the night out we see a guy on the floor with his glasses broken, empty beer cans and a chicken walking around this reinforces the comedy genre and makes the audience laugh. the music changes throughout the trailer to more upbeat and faster music as the lads wake up this is too show that the film is very fast and upbeat and that its very lively as the music changes as the scene transitions get faster and faster as the trailer is not meant to give too much away normally. Genre: The genre for the hangover would be a comedy, the film shows elements of crime, social realism, and love in it but in very small amounts not enough to be classed as a hybrid genre. The film is easily identified as a comedy throughout, right at the start when we see the long shot of Alan in his pants, shortly followed them waking up with a chicken and mike Tyson's tiger in their hotel room. also the plot summary explains how the film is based on a giant hangover in Las Vegas, and how they encounter a Chinese gangster by the name of Mr. Chow who helps and also blocks them finding their friend just before their marriage. Representation: The film itself represents the characters very different as each of the character can be interpreted differently. Phil could represent laziness and a rebellion as the way he acts he is like the cool guy in the group who goes with the flow and against every rule while also being the biggest and strongest in the group, Stu would be the sensible and boring guy who worries about everything represented as a bit of a nerd being a dentist and being really conscious about everything and always thinking ahead in case of accidents and emergencies, and Alan who is very unpredictable and is represented as a bit of a huge baby/child who hasn't yet matured. the film represents the actual thing of a ''hangover'' as not such a bad thing like it is in everyday life, this is done by adding the comical side to it throughout the film and storyline however does stick to the ideology's/ set beliefs and values that people believe of it being a very bad thing as in it makes them forget everything and leads to the loss of their friend.