"Burn After Reading": Does MacGuffin exist?

Ashleigh 2021-10-20 17:26:05

Hitchcock once said: "MacGuffin is usually a necklace in thriller films; MacGuffin is usually a file in spy films." If you look up the dictionary, you can find that this term means a certain means of advancing the plot, itself Why is it not important? Even at the end of the film, the audience won't even remember this thing. On the other hand, the central idea of ​​existentialism is that existence precedes essence (Existence precedes essence), which means existence can be given meaning. And this meaninglessness becomes the absurdity of the world. The file itself is meaningless in the film, just to promote the plot; when we see Linda and Chad have a strong attachment to the file, they also give it meaning. What matters is the meaning given, not the existence of the document. The Coen brothers cleverly blended the film technique with the script, making Macguffin have both existential and existential thinking at the same time. This article will first introduce MacGuffin in the film, a few simple concepts of existentialism, and explain the examples in the film.

Many big directors have different views on MacGuffin, George. Lucas once said that he thinks the MacGuffin in the movie should be able to attract the audience's attention strongly, just like the protagonist's attraction to the audience. Harrison. Ford thinks that in the "Indiana Jones" series of movies, the holy grail is the so-called MacGuffin. The Coen brothers stole the files in the film by Katie who looked like a spy, lost it to the office lady, and let the gym employees pick it up. The financial figures and uninteresting memoirs made Linda and Chad mistakenly believe that this could be achieved. Their dreams, and then Osbourne first told them on the phone that it didn’t make sense to do so, and then the Russian embassy seemed to give them some hope, but this was offset by the fact that the office secretary was able to recopy the files at will. Anticipation then led to Chad's "meaningless" death (absurd way of death, no revenge, no one cared), and then switched back to the CIA headquarters to inform the audience that Osborne had only three levels of authority, making the audience's expectations into nothingness . At this point, MacGuffin no longer appears, and the file, which is to restore MacGuffin to what Hitchcock and Chufu mentioned in the interview: "Nothing." Pessimistic Extential Nihilism appears here. The meaning given to (documents) by others is not valued, even despised or denied. At this point, the function of MacGuffin is completed.

The argument that existence precedes essence shows that existence itself is meaningless. In the paragraphs above, we see meaninglessness has become a film technique, and this main axis runs through the entire movie. Osborne’s existence was denied by others (the expulsion of the CIA), his memoir was mocked, and he was eventually murdered by CIA agents. Katie's divorce lost its meaning after the breakup (if it was for money, she had already withdrawn all the money in the joint account). Harry seriously considered the divorce, but found that his wife had already taken the lead, and the meaning of marriage had been lost under both derailments. Linda's surgery was originally intended to find better happiness, but the documents led to its means becoming an end. Even the officials at the CIA headquarters do not know that there is any point in investigating these people. Together with the tight drums and deep music in the cop film, the absurdity of the farce is highlighted. Absurd, it has always been the black comedy material of the Coen brothers.

The absurdity of discrimination in the title is highlighted by the contrast of language (Mormon alcoholism and Fuck), the absurdity of plastic surgery (headless and armless statue), the absurdity of MacGuffin (Shit, Sheet), the absurdity of the Internet (by Several scenes in the park show the emptiness, fast food and repetition of dating sites) and the absurdity of life (meaningless death, repeated three times). The scene in the United States in Harry and Katie’s bed became the Land of Absurdity (Land of Absurdity) , Not Land of Abundance. When the audience laughed scene after scene, it was not the people in the play that laughed at, but the absurdity of life. This technique has appeared at the end of the Ice and Blood Storm (Fargo, 1997), but the Coen brothers returned with a more mature and playful technique. At this time, there was no shelter for the detectives to hide, and the audience had to face the actors. The absurdity of the world. However, amidst the laughter, there are still a few shots with a little warmth, the helplessness described in the shopping list in the wallet and the silence of the gym manager looking at Linda through the glass may not be so desperate for life, struggling .

At the end of the film, even Linda gave up the files, Chad (and maybe Harry, but also the feelings), only to get the money for the plastic surgery, but what is the plastic surgery for? When Linda appeared in the film, we saw the doctor's various fingerings on the fat on her body. In the next discussion shot, we saw the mutilated statue at the back, which reminded me of the mutilated Venus de Venus. Milo), because of his incompleteness, he became admired by future generations. After all, the plastic surgery is not completed in this film. The future seeker becomes the gaze of the existential other (The Gaze). The other does not necessarily exist in the present, but the connection of common sense creates mutual subjectivity ( Intersubjectivity), and the definition of Linda Mei in the film through the difference of meaning. In this way, the standard of aesthetics is also visible in the film, not only plastic surgery, but also the needs of Harry's jogging and gym (the customers Linda receives are large in size) can prove this point. The author speculates, does the headless Venus mean the opposite? (This sentence is doubtful, because it is uncertain whether the statue is really Venus.)

It can be found on IMDB that the script of this film is interleaved with "No Country For Old Men" (No Country For Old Men, 2007), from the decline of the heroes of the West, back to playing with "Ladykillers" (Ladykillers, 2004) The black humor of failure is less poetic. Indeed, after all, life is so absurd, and there are not many moments for poetic embellishment. Only one or two scenes can simply bring the brothers' helplessness to the desolation of the world.

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Extended Reading
  • Luciano 2022-03-23 09:01:21

    The essence of life is idiot + idiot + idiot, in fact, they are all idiots.

  • Jazmyn 2022-03-24 09:01:21

    The child's father was young

Burn After Reading quotes

  • Chad Feldheimer: That's just a kryptonite lock. You can open those fuckers with a bic pen.

  • Linda Litzke: [to Chad] The fish has bitten!