Framing the Narrative Journey
Bookend scenes are a powerful and elegant screenwriting device used to provide a narrative frame for a story. Just as physical bookends support a row of books, these opening and closing scenes support the central body of the film, giving it structure, context, and a powerful sense of closure. The opening bookend introduces a character, a setting, a theme, or a central question. The closing bookend revisits that same element, but from a new perspective. The differences between the start and the finish serve as a clear and resonant measure of the journey that has taken place in between, making the film’s overall impact more profound and deliberate.
Functions of the Bookend Technique
Bookends are a versatile tool that can serve several distinct storytelling functions:
- Illustrating Character Arc: This is their most common and effective use. By placing a character in a similar situation or location at the beginning and end of the film, the audience can clearly see how much they have grown or changed. A character who starts the film afraid of heights might end it by confidently looking down from a skyscraper, providing a simple, visual payoff to their entire arc.
- Providing Thematic Unity: Bookends can encapsulate a film’s central theme. The iconic opening and closing shots of the floating feather in Forrest Gump serve as a visual metaphor for the film’s themes of destiny, chance, and the unpredictable journey of life.
- Creating a Framing Device: A common use is to establish a ‘present-day’ narrator who is recounting the events of the past. The film opens with the older character beginning their story and closes by returning to them, having finished their tale. This structure, seen in films like Titanic and The Shawshank Redemption, adds a layer of reflection and gravitas to the narrative.
Varieties of Bookends
Bookend scenes can be constructed in several ways:
- Literal Parallel: The location, dialogue, and camera angles of the opening and closing scenes are nearly identical, but the emotional context has been completely transformed by the events of the film.
- Thematic Echo: The scenes are not identical in action or location, but they mirror each other thematically. The opening scene of Saving Private Ryan at a military cemetery is thematically echoed by the closing scene, framing the brutal story of war with a somber reflection on sacrifice and memory.
- Question and Answer: The opening scene poses a question, either literally or metaphorically, and the final scene provides the answer, giving the audience a satisfying sense of resolution. When executed well, this technique makes a film feel perfectly complete, as if the final piece of a puzzle has just been locked into place.