#NewsBytesExplainer: Understanding anti-climax in movies with prominent examples
If a solid beginning sets the stage for a film to soar high, so does the climax. After all, it is the takeaway people carry with them when they walk out of the theater—a memory they passionately hold onto for a long period. But what happens when the film takes a different turn and doesn't behave the way it is supposed to? An anti-climax!
What exactly does anti-climax mean?
Studio Binder says, "An anti-climax is a rhetorical device that functions as an abrupt let-down or tonal shift at the end of a narrative build-up." It is anything following a film's high point, the climax, that is seen as a disappointing or unsatisfying let-down. Usually, what you expect to happen doesn't happen. It's not exactly a twist but simply an indigestible turn of events.
People usually aspire for conventional, happy ending
Sometimes, anti-climaxes can be intentional, but they are mostly viewed through a negative lens by the audience. People spend close to two or even more hours in the theater, invest themselves in the story, submit themselves to the maker, and when the movie ends on a disappointing note, it leaves them dissatisfied. For instance: Two rivals simply resolving their differences after a long battle.
Why do makers use this device at all?
However, Studio Binder says anti-climax sometimes can serve a thematic purpose. "War movies, or, more specifically, anti-war movies, use the anticlimax technique all the time. A character will go through hell and back, losing comrades along the way, for a mission which, in the end, is revealed to be futile. The message in such a seemingly meaningless ending? War is meaningless, of course."
Understand it through some examples
Popular examples of Bollywood movies that offered a climax diametrically different from what the audience expected are Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, Mohit Suri's Aashiqui 2, and Tigmanshu Dhulia's Paan Singh Tomar, among others. Some well-known Hollywood examples include No Country for Old Men, Kill Bill: Volume 2, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and Red Lights, among a few others.
