Sleepless in Seattle according to Bordwell

There is much debate as to whether or not Cinema Paradiso is an example of classical Hollywood narrative as described by David Bordwell in his article “Classical Hollywood Cinema.” There may not be a correct answer to that debate; however, Sleepless in Seattle is a prime example of classical Hollywood narrative.

Bordwell lays out the basic structure of the narrative with regards to character saying, “[t]he classical Hollywood film presents psychologically defined individuals who struggle to solve a clear-cut problem or to attain specific goals. In the course of this struggle, the characters enter into conflict with others or with external circumstances. The story ends with a decisive victory or defeat, a resolution of the problem and a clear achievement or nonachievement of the goals” (18). This is seen in both of the main characters, Sam and Annie (portrayed by Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, respectively), as the movie progresses. The movie’s plot is pretty straight-forward, but what makes the film unique are the struggles of the main characters. Sam spends the movie struggling with raising his son and trying to date a woman his son doesn’t like, and he himself doesn’t feel the magic with. These are fairly minor struggles, but they work to add to the tension that builds to the ending at the Empire State Building. Annie’s struggles really drive the plot, as she internally fights with the decision to stay with the man who is comfortable, but whom she doesn’t have any magic with, and the mysterious connection she has with the man who she has never met, but somehow knows that she should be with him. The movie ends as Bordwell says it should, with a resolution and achievement of the goals set out in the beginning.

There is one way in which the film deviates slightly from the classical structure that Bordwell presents, only in that Annie and Sam are never in the same place, so they have their separate lives and also their joint love story. Bordwell describes the traditional classical syuzhet in this way, “[it is] usually… a double causal structure, two plot lines: one involving heterosexual romance (boy/girl, husband/wife), the other line involving another sphere-work, war, a mission or quest, other personal relationships” (19). The heterosexual romance is there between Annie and Sam, even if they don’t really realize it, but they each have their own other plot line, involving friends and another romantic relationship. In a sense, there are two movies in one, as each character has a separate plot that affects the main romantic story line. I don’t think this deviation means that this movie shouldn’t count as a classical Hollywood film, however, as it is simply a twist on the structure and both plots work to create a connection between the two main characters, even from across the country.

What really interests me is the parallel that the movie itself makes to a classic Hollywood film within the narrative of the film. On more than one occasion, characters on both “sides” of the plot make reference to An Affair To Remember (1957), which has many parallels to Sleepless and in fact, Annie is motivated by the movie during several key points in the plot. This, combined with the amazing soundtrack that is comprised of many wonderful songs that are pulled from Hollywood classics, and some songs that evoke that feel, adds to the feeling of the film being a classic Hollywood film.

The ending of the film is both conventional and unconventional at the same time. Bordwell says, “the classical ending is not all that structurally decisive, being a more or less arbitrary readjustment of that world knock awry in the previous eighty minutes” (21). He then goes on to say that roughly 60% of films end “with a display of the united romantic couple-the cliché happy ending, often with a ‘clinch’-and many more could be said to end happily” (21). While Sleepless doesn’t end with a “clinch,” the ending is a happy one, however, there is a certain amount of ambiguity to it. The film ends happily, with Annie and Sam meeting on the Empire State Building and connecting hands to feel the “magic” between them; anything more or less would seem like too much or too little, and the purity of the moment is a wonderful ending to the film. The ambiguity comes from the desire to know what happens after they connect; after all, they live on two different sides of the country, something that no amount of “magic” can instantly fix. We see them get on the elevator together and hope that they have a happy ending, however, there is no guarantee. We want to believe that their struggles are over, but we can’t know that for sure. That being said, there are many classic films that end that way, and the audience just has to trust that it’s going to be happy.

All in all, I do believe that the film is an example of classical Hollywood film as Bordwell describes it. The main characteristics are there, and the film itself takes pains to equate itself to other Hollywood films, clearly wanting to evoke the memories and feelings of those other, older films. There is a sense of nostalgia that permeates the film, and adds to the mysterious and wholesome feeling that only adds to the call-back of classic Hollywood films.