"Neuro-comedy" is a mainstream comedy film genre in the classic Hollywood period, which flourished for a while between 1934 and 1940. Neurocomedy is a type of film that hears more than sight, and its purpose is completely different from the action comedy of the silent era. Since most of these comedies are adapted from stage plays, the dialogue is dense and it is a talking comedy. The audience also enjoys appreciating the chatty and machine-gun dialogue between the hero and heroine. Secondly, neurocomedy is mostly interior scenes, the environment lacks changes, the space is limited, and it has a distinct dramatic style. On the one hand, neuro-comedy pays attention to the interaction between dialogue and characters. With the help of plot and dialogue, it euphemistically criticizes and satirizes social vulgarities, and provides a perspective and observation of life. On the other hand, it also emphasizes body language (including beatings, quarrels, etc.) , creating a comic effect. Therefore, Zheng Shusen pointed out in "Type Films and Film Types" that neurocomedy is a type of comedy between high comedy (satirical comedy) and vulgar comedy (action comedy).
The protagonists of "neurocomedy" are mostly romantic couples, who have eccentric personalities, exaggerated behaviors, and often behave in ways that are contrary to common sense, which leads to funny and humorous anecdotes. Most of the heroines are from wealthy families, have received higher education, and have independent personalities. They are not ladies in the traditional sense, and they do not conform to the stereotyped image of women under the traditional concept of male superiority. They do not necessarily respect their elders, and they often have great independence and autonomy in the final destination under the patriarchal system—marriage. For example, such characters often show hesitation or even evasion in the face of a well-matched marriage, such as the famous "runaway bride" character. As such, they even challenged, to some extent, the tradition of the "male gaze" (the object seen by a male-dominated audience) in previous films.
The irony of "neurocomedy" often points to people's kitsch behavior, which seems to be in line with human nature, but is actually a repression and distortion of human nature. The comedy contradictions of "eccentric comedies" generally come from the confrontation between the sexes. Most of the plots and characters begin to appear in confrontational narrative layouts, and finally end in a happy ending. As a genre film, its characters, social attitudes, and narrative structures are all formulaic, with fixed plot patterns: usually set against a wealthy bourgeois family, even in hard times of economic crisis. Romantic lovers may at first be hostile to each other and come from different classes. Then wealthy parents have to change their minds, or thwart frustration.
This narrative mode of "neurocomedy" became the model for hundreds of romantic comedies in the 1930s, notably Howard Hawks' "Nursing Tales," "Friday Girl" and "War Bride," George W. · "Vacation Day" and "Philadelphia Story" directed by Cook, "Mr. Diaz Into Town" and "A Dream" and "Long Live Democracy" and "This Is John" directed by Frank Capra. As for the reason for the rise of neurocomedy, the traditional saying is that neurocomedy satisfies the escapist mentality of the audience. In addition, the "star system" is also an important reason for the prosperity of neurocomedy. Neurocomedy has nurtured a group of audience favorite stars: Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Charlie Grant, James Stewart, Clark Gable... Zheng Shusen believes: the reason for the popularity of neurocomedy It is also in the way that the film uses dialogue to express the love between men and women, which is sexually provocative. Sometimes the allure of sexual provocation is more engaging and dramatic than visuals. In addition, from a psychological point of view, neuro-comedy has a psychological soothing effect on the audience who lived in distress during the Great Depression in the 1930s. The audience realized a basic truth from this rich girl's love story: the prosperity of material life does not equate to spiritual happiness.
Neuro-comedy has actually been on the decline since 1940. During World War II, romantic love stories had to give way to war propaganda. The only one who made achievements and broke through the neuro-comedy pattern during this period was Preston Sturges. He independently supported the overall neuro-comedy situation from 1940 to 1944, and wrote and directed eight neuro-comedy films. "Jackson", "Christmas in July", "Sullivan's Travels", "Lady Elysium", "The Palm Beach Story", "The Miracle of Morgan River", "Long Live the Victorious Hero", "The Great Moment" Wait. Preston Sturges was the first to broaden the subject matter of neurocomedy, so that neurocomedy is not limited to romantic stories that take place in high society. According to the characteristics of the times, he transformed war films into a part of neuro-comedy, making neuro-comedy more realistic and more popular. For example, the protagonist of "The Miracle of the Morgan River" is a soldier who retired from the European battlefield and returned to the villages and towns on the Morgan River to have a carnival with the villagers. After a night of fun, one of the women became pregnant, but she did not know who the father of the child was, and finally gave birth to six boys at the same time. The content of the film's story is undoubtedly a clear challenge to the moral system of the American Puritan founding tradition. Secondly, it is especially commendable that Sturges's neurocomedy can even touch the social reality of the time. For example, "Sullivan's Travel" is set against the backdrop of the Great Depression. The male protagonist is a rich man, but he deliberately pretends to be a poor person to experience life and beg around in order to contact the social reality at that time. This is in stark contrast to the escapist, detached tendencies of the Depression-era neurocomedies of the 1930s (like "It Happened One Night").
Although neurocomedy disappeared after World War II. After that, filming stopped for nearly 27 years, and there have been variations in between, such as William Wheeler's "Roman Holiday". It wasn't until the early '70s that individual directors attempted to revive neurocomedy. For example, Peter Bogdanovich's 1972's "The Great Track of Love" repackages the neurocomedy to make it contemporary and urban. Unfortunately, there is no climate. The genre prospered again after the 1980s, when neurocomedy evolved into one of Hollywood's main genres, romance. "Pretty Woman", "Sleepless in Seattle", "When Harry Met Sally", "Online Love", "Runaway Bride", "My Best Friend's Wedding", "Notting Hill" Waiting for a slew of audience-friendly romantic comedies. Regarding the variation and influence of neuro-comedy, one thing I have found is that certain types of elements of neuro-comedy, such as the confrontation between the two sexes, the hero and heroine's quarrel at the beginning, the confrontation, and the final love, it seems impossible at first to complete a Love stories are the object of reference for many types of movies.
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