Luckylighter
06-06-2008, 01:26 PM
"It might be a Scottish name, taken from a story about two men in a train. One man says, 'What's that package up there in the baggage rack?' And the other answers, 'Oh that's a McGuffin.' The first one asks 'What's a McGuffin?' 'Well' the other man says, 'It's an apparatus for trapping lions in the Scottish Highlands.' The first man says, 'But there are no lions in the Scottish Highlands,' and the other one answers 'Well, then that's no McGuffin!' So you see, a McGuffin is nothing at all."
So says Alfred Hitchcock regarding his favorite story device: the infamous MacGuffin.
Throughout all of cinema, there have been many classic MacGuffins that have puzzled and entertained audiences, from the glowing briefcase of "Kiss Me Deadly," to the car trunk of "Repo Man."
In 1981 an exciting new MacGuffin was thrown in the mix, one of Biblical proportions -- the Ark of the Covenant. An army that carries the ark before it is invincible, according to dialogue from the film "Raiders of the Lost Ark," which introduced us to adventuring archeaologist Indiana Jones.
For the next 27 years, movie audiences breathlessly followed the daring exploits of the dashing professor as he tracked down powerful and ancient artifacts, in four movies, and relived his adventures on VHS and DVD.
But what of the artifacts? As MacGuffins, they are merely window dressing for the adventure-- when MacGuffins are involved, the journey is the most important part. And in Indiana Jones, the MacGuffins serve to propel the larger themes, which, I submit, are about love and relationships -- the different kinds of love that exist and repairing broken relationships. And the MacGuffin at the heart of the story is a direct reflection of the relationship in question.
At the beginning of his adventure in searching for the Ark in "Raiders," Jones is reunited with a former love, one Marion Ravenwood. As a result of their journey together to find the Ark, Marion and Indy rekindle their romance. Their relationship is repaired. So, in "Raiders" we have a story that is about "Romantic Love" -- a romantic relationship has been fixed. And when two people who love each other enter into a long term, committed relationship, such as marriage let's say, they are entered into a "covenant," a pact, just like the "Ark of the COVENANT."
Next post I will address fathers, sons and immortality in "Last Crusade."
So says Alfred Hitchcock regarding his favorite story device: the infamous MacGuffin.
Throughout all of cinema, there have been many classic MacGuffins that have puzzled and entertained audiences, from the glowing briefcase of "Kiss Me Deadly," to the car trunk of "Repo Man."
In 1981 an exciting new MacGuffin was thrown in the mix, one of Biblical proportions -- the Ark of the Covenant. An army that carries the ark before it is invincible, according to dialogue from the film "Raiders of the Lost Ark," which introduced us to adventuring archeaologist Indiana Jones.
For the next 27 years, movie audiences breathlessly followed the daring exploits of the dashing professor as he tracked down powerful and ancient artifacts, in four movies, and relived his adventures on VHS and DVD.
But what of the artifacts? As MacGuffins, they are merely window dressing for the adventure-- when MacGuffins are involved, the journey is the most important part. And in Indiana Jones, the MacGuffins serve to propel the larger themes, which, I submit, are about love and relationships -- the different kinds of love that exist and repairing broken relationships. And the MacGuffin at the heart of the story is a direct reflection of the relationship in question.
At the beginning of his adventure in searching for the Ark in "Raiders," Jones is reunited with a former love, one Marion Ravenwood. As a result of their journey together to find the Ark, Marion and Indy rekindle their romance. Their relationship is repaired. So, in "Raiders" we have a story that is about "Romantic Love" -- a romantic relationship has been fixed. And when two people who love each other enter into a long term, committed relationship, such as marriage let's say, they are entered into a "covenant," a pact, just like the "Ark of the COVENANT."
Next post I will address fathers, sons and immortality in "Last Crusade."