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Films

Mystic River

Our movie maestro Thomas Wartenberg says that Clint Eastwood’s recent film Mystic River is a tragedy – but in the good sense of the word.

Although tragedy is one of the classical genres of drama, it does not translate easily onto the silver screen. While there are many film comedies, varying in form from slapstick to romance, there are far fewer examples of successful film tragedies. Certainly there have been some. Just the mention of Marcel Carné’s 1945 masterpiece Children of Paradise or Vittorio de Sica’s 1948 austere, neo-realist film The Bicycle Thief makes it clear that tragedy has been presented on the screen in convincing terms.

And yet I still have a sense that film is not a natural venue for tragedy.

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