Plot Structure

From Lost Highway

Revision as of 07:11, 2 June 2007

Analysis of Lost Highway's plot structure treats the film in a linear fashion, considering the scenes in the order in which they appear in the film. However, the analyses of plot structure should remain neutral toward the different Theories of Lost Highway, some of which may construct a chronology of events that is not restricted to the linear order of scenes in the film.

Thematic Development

One way to analyze Lost Highway's plot structure is to focus on the film's method of developing its central themes by repeating and reconfiguring thematic elements.

During the first third of the film,

• Fred is portrayed as suspecting that Renee is cheating on him (Fred's unanswered phone call home; Renee leaving the bar with Andy; Renee flirting with Andy at Andy's party)
• Fred is portrayed as being frustrated with his inability to satisfy Renee sexually (Fred's and Renee's sex scene)
• Renee is portrayed as concealing unseemly "skeletons in her closet" (Renee's nervousness about the first videotape, prior to viewing it; Renee's answer to Fred's question about the "job" that Andy told her about)

After the above themes build up to Fred murdering Renee, Lost Highway introduces doubles (Pete and Alice) while inverting key characteristics:

• Fred is middle-aged and is an inadequate lover
• Pete is young and is a virile lover
• Renee is sexually unsatisfied and brunette
• Alice is sexually insatiable and platinum blonde

Through the doubles, implicit themes are made explicit:

• Alice is virtually possessed by another man (Dick Laurent/Mr. Eddy)
• Pete is literally threatened by the possessive "other man" (Mr. Eddy threatens Pete with a gun; Mr. Eddy and the Mystery Man threaten Pete with death over the phone)
• Alice is portrayed as a whore (Alice's answer to Pete's question about the job that Andy told her about; the scenes at Andy's house)
• Pete kills the man associated with Alice's whorishness (Andy)

The doubles and their character inversions are then exposed as lies driven by the truth that she (Alice/Renee) eludes his (Pete's/Fred's) possession:

Pete: "I want you Alice."
Alice:"You’ll never have me."
(...Pete transforms into Fred...)
Fred: "Where's Alice?"
Mystery Man: "Her name is Renee! If she told you her name is Alice, she’s lying. And your name?... What the f*ck is your name?"

Reintroducing the original pair of Fred and Renee, the final section of the film recapitulates, synthesizes, and concludes the plot’s development (compare the following with the previous list of bullet points):

• Renee is with the possessive "other man" (Dick Laurent/Mr. Eddy) at the "Lost Highway Hotel"
• Fred beats the possessive 'other man' with a gun, while wearing his counterpart's virile clothes (Fred wears Pete's motorcycle jacket throughout the concluding section of the film)
• Renee is portrayed as a whore (the scenes at Andy's house shown on the handheld tv)
• Fred murders the possessive "other man" (Dick Laurent/Mr. Eddy) with the help of the Mystery Man

For more detailed analyses of the repetition and reconfiguration of thematic elements, see Psychogenic Fugue: Musical below and Lost Highway Scene Analyses: Repetitions in Lost Highway.

Freytag analysis

Though originally based on an analysis of five-act dramas, Gustav Freytag's model of dramatic structure has been adopted, adapted, and applied to plot structures in various mediums and genres.

Freytag's pyramid

Freytag divided a dramatic structure into five components:

• Exposition (and inciting incident)
• Rising action
• Climax (or turning point)
• Falling action (and resolution)
• Dénouement

Freytag's model is sometimes represented visually as Freytag's Pyramid.

Exposition (and inciting incident) The exposition introduces the central characters and the central conflict of the story and ends with an inciting incident which set the remainder of the plot in motion.

Rising action During the rising action, the central conflict may be intensified, or may be complicated by the introduction of additional conflicts; additional obstacles that frustrate the protagonist's attempt to reach his or her goal; and/or additional antagonists, who may work with other antagonists or independently, by and for themselves.

Climax (or turning point) The climax, or turning point, marks the culmination of the central conflict for the protagonist and is typically characterized by the protagonist's effective or imminent success or defeat, a stalemate, a redefinition of the protagonist's goals, etc..

Falling action (and resolution) The falling action may unravel the aftereffects of the climax; the protagonist's additional conflicts; and/or the fate of additional antagonists or other characters. The falling action completes or ends with the resolution of the plot's conflicts and the characters' fates, whether in confirmed success or triumph, irreversible failure or loss, resignation, preparation for a new direction, etc..

Dénouement The resolution may serve as the plot's dénoument, or the dénoument may a feature a final reflection on the protagonist, the central conflict, or its outcome; a recognition of the protagonist's virtues or flaws; a recognition of self-knowledge gained or lost; a recognition that the success achieved has an uncertain future or does not satisfy the protagonist as hoped; a celebration or mourning of the conflict's outcome; etc..

Treating Lost Highway

• Exposition (and inciting incidents): The exposition introduces Fred and Renee and explores their relationship, with Renee as the antagonist who prevents the fulfillment of Fred's desires. The inciting incidents are Renee's murder and Fred's transformation into Pete, though Fred's receiving that message that "Dick Laurent is dead" may also be considered an initial inciting incident.
• Rising action: The rising action focuses on re-exploring the dynamics of Fred and Renee's relationship via the relationship between Pete and Alice, with Alice appearing not as an antagonist but as fulfilling Pete's desires. The rising action also introduces Mr. Eddy as an antagonist for Pete in his relationship with Alice.
• Climax (or turning point): The climax consists in the re-emergence of Alice as an antagonist at Andy's house and in the sex scene at the cabin, culminating in Alice's rejection of Pete's desire to possess her ("You'll never have me.") The desire for possession having ended in failure, Pete's transformation back into Fred marks a turning point, immediately after which the identities of Pete and Alice are revealed as lies by the Mystery Man ("Her name is Renee! If she told you her name is Alice, she’s lying. And your name?... What the f*ck is your name?").
• Falling action (and resolution): During the falling action and resolution, Fred finds Renee with Laurent at the "Lost Highway Hotel", Fred and confronts and murders the antagonist Laurent with the help of the Mystery Man. On some interpretations of Lost Highway, the resolution may be considered to include the remainder of the film, ending with Fred's death. See
• Dénouement: If the resolution is interpreted as ending with the murder of Laurent, Fred's return home and delivery of the message, "Dick Laurent is dead," may be interpreted as Fred's acquisition of self-knowledge and his simultaneous state of being condemned to the psychological cycle he has just completed. See