FILM CRITICISM

MAC 417

LANRE AMODU
www.olanreamodu.com
 GENRES OF FILM

There are different genres of films; among

them are the following:

 COMEDY: a comedy is any story that has

a happy ending. It can be easily identified
by its appearance and plots, and by the
deliberate way that these plots are
arranged so as to influence the attitude of
the audience by generating laughter
Types of Comedy
•Comedy of manners (Satirizes manners of a
social class)
•Tall tale (blatant exaggeration)
•Parody (mocks other works)
•Romantic comedy
•Comedy horror
•Comedy science fiction
• Action: these include movies that have
tremendous impact, big budgets,
continuous high energy, lots of physical
stunts, possibly extended chase scenes,
races, rescue, battles, martial arts, etc.
Almost all the time, action movies have
resourceful hero(ine) struggling against
incredible odds, life-threatening
circumstances, evil villain or traps.
Types of Action
•Military
•Spy
•Girls with guns and swords
ADVENTURE: An adventure story is about a
protagonist who journeys to epic or distant
places to accomplish something. It can have
many other genre elements included within it,
because it is a very open genre. The
protagonist has a mission and faces obstacles
to get to their destination. Also, adventure
stories usually include unknown settings and
characters with prized properties or features.
CRIME: these are movies centred around
sinister actions of criminals (mobsters,
robbers, underworld figures, serial killer). It
also involves the process of apprehending
them. A sub-genre of this is Detective-
mystery.
 Types

• Detective story (professional/amateur)

• Whodunnit (audience involved in deduction)
• Gangster
• Gentleman thief (well styled and cultured)
• Heist (plan & execute major robbery)
• Legal thriller
• Murder mystery
• DRAMA: these are serious, plot-driven
presentations, portraying realistic
characters, settings, life-situations and
stories. They usually have little or no
special effects.
Fantasy: A fantasy story is
about magic or supernatural forces. Types of
fantasy are:
-Contemporary fantasy
-Dark fantasy (with some horror)
-Fables (with speaking animals)
-Fairy tales (with magical creatures)
-Sword and sorcery
 Cont.
 DOCUMENTARY: A documentary is a
factual film about an event, thing or person,
and it presents the facts with little or no
fiction. It is a film that captures the various
stages of the existence or the process by
which something is achieved
 BIOGRAPHY: In biographical films, real life
experiences are fictionalized so as to provide
examples of virtue, bravery, perseverance,
commitment etc to the viewers (also
autobiography and memoir).
 Cont.
• HORROR FILMS: These are films that
horrify by invoking experiences that are
strange and difficult to explain. They focus
on the act and art of killing with gruesome
details and repulsive bloodiness. Some
horror movies and more irritating than
horrific.
 Types
• Ghost story
• Monster (also giant monster)
• Werewolf
• Vampire
• Occult
• Slasher (serial killer, psychopath)
• Survival horror
SCIENCE FICTION: Their own prominent
characteristic is the displacement of time into
a technological future where some current
tendencies of our culture have become
dominant. They also have to do with strange
and mysterious experiences.
It generally includes or is centered on the
presumed effects or ramifications
of computers or machines
 Types
• Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
• Hard science fiction (well-researched and
plausible science eg Jurassic Park)
• Soft SciFi (more on cultural, social and
political interaction)
• Space opera (space travel)
MELODRAMA: It usually presents a conflict
between good and evil in which good finally
triumphs. The characters in a melodrama
are easily recognizable by their moral or
social commitment to a cause. Eg
-Supernatural fiction
-Superhero fiction
• EPICS: these include costume dramas,
historical dramas and war films, among
others. It usually share the elements of
adventure films.
• TRAGDY: In this genre, the protagonist is
confronted by overwhelming dilemmas
and he finds himself participating in his
own downfall
• WESTERN: Stories in the Western genre
are set in the American West, between the
time of the Civil war and the early twentieth
century. The setting of a wilderness or
uncivilized area is especially important to the
genre, and the setting is often described richly
and in-depth. They focus on the adventure of
the main character(s) and the contrast between
civilization or society and the untamed
wilderness,