A STUDY OF ROMANTIC COMEDIES FILMS BY RICHARD CURTIS

Abstract

        In the study, A Study of Romantic Comedies Films by Richard Curtis, the researcher used textual analysis along with the concept of storytelling structure in films, and the concept of character design and personality based on romantic comedies written and directed by Richard Curtis. Two of his works were selected for in-depth study:  Love Actually (2003) and About Time (2013).

        The study found that both films had the following storytelling structure, character personality, and character design as follows: 1) the plot is linear and chronological in steps based on Freytag’s Pyramid, consisting of 1.1) Exposition, 1.2) Rising action, 1.3) Climax, 1.4) Falling action, and 1.5) Conclusion. 2) the conflict was found to follow the content, with human-human, human-environment, and human-self conflicts could be found. 3) the theme was presented with underlying ideas or themes in various parts of the plot; 4) the perspective was different as in Love Actually, the third-person perspective was used, while in About Time, the perspective was first-person; 5) regarding symbols, there are symbolic communications through the dialogues, sound, picture, and other film components; 6) regarding character types, there are importance, roles, duties, dimensions, and character change characteristics based on their personalities. Each character will show their own personality, viewpoint, and life just like real-life people; 7) regarding character design components, all the characters had differences in terms of jobs, marital status, personal lives, and even physical, social, and mental components, as seen in the main characters, and other characters depending on their importance to the plot; 8) regarding the concept of romantic comedy, the plot and characterization concurred with the concept of romantic comedy by J Gideon Sarantinos (2012) and Lana Schwartz (2020).