Abstract
This research examines the unique narrational strategies used by Wes Anderson in his four short films, “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” “The Swan,” “The Rat Catcher,” and “Poison” which were released on Netflix in September 2023. These films are adaptations of Roald Dahl’s stories that show us distinct narrative techniques that align closely with Dahl’s original texts with their direct addressing narrators. This study aims to find out two aspects of these four films: first, how Wes Anderson used two to multiple narrators on different narrative levels of these four films. The study leads us to unveil the multi-layered storytelling in “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” to a single character-focused observational narrative in “The Rat Catcher.” Also, we have a first-person retrospective narrative in “The Swan” and another first-person observational narrative with active commentary style in “Poison.” The second aspect of this study focuses on the function of the character “Roald,” portrayed by Ralph Fiennes, who serves as a narrator across different time frames in all four films. This character's presence adds a distinctive narrative layer to all these films, placing him as a hyperdiegetic and non-diegetic narrator in the films. Through a Qualitative Comparative Analysis, the research provides an in-depth examination of Anderson's innovative use of narrative transitions and character roles, particularly the active and passive narratorial functions that enhance the storytelling experience. The findings underscore Anderson’s mastery in adapting Dahl’s works while exploring new dimensions of narrative form and function.
Author Information
Rabika Binte Humayun, Ajou University, South Korea
Woo Jin Chang, Ajou University, South Korea
Paper Information
Conference: KCAH2024
Stream: Media
This paper is part of the KCAH2024 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Humayun R., & Chang W. (2025) Wes Anderson’s Approach of Storytelling Using Narrators With Four Short Films: “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” “The Swan,” “The Rat Catcher,” and “Poison” ISSN: 2759-7571 – The Korean Conference on Arts & Humanities 2024 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 277-295) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2759-7571.2024.25
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2759-7571.2024.25
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