Manchester By the Sea was one of the most moving, refined and elegant American films of the last year by the standards of the classic American cinematic narrative formula. It tells the story of a man who caused the death of his own child through no fault of his own and had to re-face his past and settle for his nephew after the death of his brother.
Its narrative is concise, neat, and elegant. The first act introduces a flashback line from the inciting incident. The main line and the flashback line establish an emotional climax at the middle point of the second act. After that, the main line merges the elements of the two lines to construct the funeral scene of the climax of the second act. The climax builds on the protagonist's decision to make with the past (a conversation with his ex-wife on the street), his decision on the narrative goal (settle the nephew), and on the character's development.
All elements in the film originate from and settle on the protagonist, the narrative is constructed with simplicity and focus, a character has a traumatic experience in his past and a narrative goal closely related to this experience, and elegance comes from its narrative is not overly designed. Dramatic and extreme plot to achieve its purpose, but chose a simple way of restraining life. The concise and elegant narrative builds a powerful and authentic emotional force around the protagonist, which comes from the narrative's deep understanding of the characters and the emotionally real quality of middle-class American life contained in the narrative.
The film's narrative is refined and elegant because of its neat structure, and its emotional power built from deeply excavated characters, concentrated elements, and real-life textures. Because the film's story is deeply rooted in the experience of middle-class American family life, it has also received widespread acclaim in the American media.
View more about Manchester by the Sea reviews
