February 11, 2025 | Rome, Italy

Tragedy or comedy?

By |2025-01-25T19:59:20+01:00January 24th, 2025|"Critics Notebook", Home|
A scene from the Korean black comedy "Parasite."

A question came up recently whether the films “Parasite” (2019) and “Kinds of Kindness” (2024) should be considered comedies or tragedies. A case could be made for their being either since it is not clear whether in the end the characters in these stories succeed or not, but, to complicate things further, both movies may be seen as satire, which, again, may be viewed as both comedy and tragedy.

If it seems problematic, it is. And most likely the problem is in the question itself.  A film may contain many conflicting elements, which is why it’s almost better to not try to pigeonhole it. Unfortunately, description usually entails some amount of pigeonholing.

Being able to consign a film to a genre makes it easier to understand. Also, not categorizing it that way might mean that filmmakers fail to get the financial support that they need.

A film may contain many conflicting elements, which is why it’s almost better to not try to pigeonhole it. Unfortunately, description usually entails some amount of pigeonholing.

But, still, why is it so important? Of course, the answer is money — money, which comes from theatergoers. Needless to say, the heart of a film is the story it tells, and the story cannot be parsed out. Yet, what gets these theatergoers out of their homes and into the theaters is an expectation about this or that movie, and these expectations have to be carefully crafted, which is where marketing comes in. To promote a film, it helps if you can assign it to a genre, since that tells people what they can expect, be it comedy or tragedy.

Yet, the most successful films might just possibly be those that turn out to be something entirely different than what was originally expected.

There was a time when story was not necessarily the driving factor. Early on in the history of the motion picture, everything was dictated by what was technically possible. But even then, whether a film shows a horse galloping or a locomotive approaching, the human mind naturally places the action into some sort of context. In other words, there is still some sort of story taking place in the mind of the viewer.

But with feature films, it became common to show not just a simple sequence of events but to tell a story. It could be crime or romance or merely the drama of everyday life, but a story there had to be, and as every story of its kind followed its own pattern, viewers could reasonably expect love at the end, the bad guy discovered, the hero’s survival, a happy ending.

Such cinematic formulas have developed into a staple, which of course results in genre labeling. And although sorting films into genres this way might seem dismissive, and even might work against the nature of sincere and original storytelling, it is nonetheless a by-product of the decision-making process during commercialization and branding. In a sense, data regarding genre can provide clarification on what to produce next.

For example, it’s important for production companies to know that the most popular film genre is still drama. According to a recent survey of the more than 17,000 films released in North America during the eight-year period leading up to 2024, more than thirty percent were drama. This is followed by comedy, then documentary, and then by thriller/suspense. Perhaps surprising to some, horror comes in seventh with a mere five percent. Curiously, only forty-nine are considered multiple-genre films, which causes one to wonder how these judgements are made in the first place.

Can you create a story without falling into genre? The short answer is, of course, but again, when it comes to industry, production follows the money and movies that do not fall into a recognizable genre are less likely to get immediate attention.

There’s no question that some highly respected films might easily be referred to by genre. Some examples include “Battleship Potemkin” (1925), which is historical; “It Happened One Night” (1934), which is romcom; “The Maltese Falcon” (1941), which is noir; “Seven Samurai” (1954), which is epic; and so on.

But that’s not quite accurate for all films, because some cross genres. Ask some people what genre “Cold Mountain” (2003) falls into and you’re just as likely to get romance as you are American Civil War drama. And what do they make of Fellini’s somewhat autobiographical yet fantasy-driven “8½” (1963)? Also, just because a film was assigned to a certain genre, it doesn’t mean that it cannot escape those boundaries. Take the serious anti-drug film of the 1930s, “Reefer Madness,” which, in the 1970s, turned into a stoner comedy.

And what is to be made of films by experimental filmmakers such as Luis Buñuel, Gaspar Noé, or Harmony Korine? Viewers attempting to place the aberrant work of these directors into any genre might easily feel nonplussed, as if they themselves are in an amorphous scene from one of these films.

Which brings us to the question, can you create a story without falling into genre? The short answer is, of course, but again, when it comes to industry, production follows the money and movies that do not fall into a recognizable genre are less likely to get immediate attention. Some movies made by exceptional, visionary filmmakers are recognized for defying this, but those are definitely outliers.

As a viewer, best leave such questions for sport, and just sit back and watch.

About the Author:

Steve Piazza is a poet and writer living in Athens, GA with his wife. He spent his career as an educator committed to the promotion of literacy, critical thinking, and efficacy of media and technologies. Raised in part on Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, he believes clarity of the world resides in places of discourse where image and word mingle.