Point 19 - Narrative Theories

The Todorov Narrative Theory:

(I found a majority of this information on this website - http://dtugby10.wordpress.com/the-todorov-narrative-theory-within-bond/ ).

Here is information about The Todorov Narrative Theory - and how it links into Bond films. The information I found is in blue and my comments and information on it is in pink.


Izetan Todorov was a Bulgarian structuralist linguist publishing influential work on narrative from the 1960’s. Todorov suggested that stories begin with an equilibrium or status quo where any potentially opposing forces are in balance. This is interrupted by a series of events; problems are solved so that order can be restored to the world of the fiction. Todorov claimed that conventional narratives are structured in five different stages.

• A state of equilibrium at the outset
• A disruption of the equilibrium by some action.
• A recognition that there has been a disruption.
• An attempt to repair the disruption
• A reinstatement of the equilibrium.

Todorov's narrative structure is used very often and is used in a lot of 'mainstream' film narratives. Here I have found an example of his theory used within the opening sequence of James Bond, as the opening sequence of the famous film 'Quantum of Solace' follows Todorov's theory:

• The equilibrium in this opening sequence is the protagonist agent (James Bond) as he is the character that the viewer wants to succeed. The villain in the plot is the man chasing after Bond in an attempt to kill him.
• At the beginning of the film, there is a moving establishing shot of the island to set the location and take the audience through the surroundings. At 0.56 and 0.59, there is an ECU of the actor Daniel Craig then a dark shadow casts over his face to show a sense mystery of this character. This use of minimal lighting is very effecting at representing the characteristics of the character. Also with the shot, idealises the determination and sorrow in his eyes, which is very effective.
• All of the James Bond films follow Todorov’s theory as they have the agent and villain(s) that fight out a battle of hatred towards each other. Often there is a female involved and participate in a journey throughout the film consisting of car chases and brutal fights to try and complete the main aim of the film.

Here is a good view on Todorov's theory- I think that we can use this for our opening sequence in our movie as it seems as though by using his theory, it creates tension and makes the viewers curious about what is going to happen. I think that this is going to be an important thing for us to use with our opening sequence because of our theme being 'Thriller'.  Here is a diagram to show Todorov's theory:




Todorov's theory in a diagram form