How far do the narratives of love actually and notting hill communicate similar values and messages 40 marks 50 mins exam

Love actually is a film directed by Richard Curtis and is a Working Title film, released in 2003 and is presented as a romantic comedy. The film is set in London and follows a period of five weeks and outlines the story of eight, intertwined people and aims predominantly to explore the complexities and importance of the most important emotion of all: love. Some of the characters touched upon in this film are David (Hugh Grant), the classically attractive newly elected Prime Minister, who controversially finds himself falling for his newly appointed young maid Natalie (Marine McCutcheon). Mark (Andrew Lincoln), a dedicated photographer who falls in love with his best friends newly wedded wife Juliet (Keira Knightly), who takes no interest in him and Harry (Alan Rickman), a married man tempted by his attractive new secretary. Similarly NottingHill is also a Working Title film presented as a romantic comedy, released four years earlier in 1999 however. This film is also set in London, with much of the same cast being used, however this film is centred around the story of two characters love in particular, not focusing on every other story line within. The pair of lovers focused on in this film are William (Hugh Grant) and Anna Scott (Julia Roberts), who find it increasingly difficult to form and maintain a relationship due to such a difference in their lifestyles; with ‘Anna’ being a movie star and ‘William’ being a simple book shop owner.

There are a number of key elements which are presented to us in these films, including Comedic aspects, various filmic devices such as: varying camera angles, Mise en sen, juxtaposition and performance, as well as the obvious prominence of ‘British society’ within the film. Each of these things are used in some way so exaggerate the four main themes of Jealousy, family, loneliness and of course love, as well as some minor themes, such as loss, family, politics and social class. There are a huge number of key moments in the films, but for the purpose of this comparison I shall pick out the few which stand out the most to me.
The first section I would like to delve into is how the films explores British society. Our first glimpse into British society in ‘Love Actually’ is at the very beginning of the film, where we hear the recognisable voice of Hugh Grant atop the vast ‘Heathrow airport’. This use of narrative immediately suggests to us that the film is going to be of British origin using a mixture of panning, tracking shots and canted frame in order to piece the scene together. These camera shots are particularly effective in the context of Britain, as stereotypically London is seen to be a vast, fast paced, culturally diverse atmosphere, which is exaggerated by ‘flitting’ between shots. Similarly to this Hugh Grants well spoken lilt is used as a narrative to begin NottingHill, again atop of typical British backdrop of a market street. Continuing with the culturally diverse theme we are introduced to a different stereotype of Britain, with a classic British market being presented, which is just as busy, but using a tracking shot and less fast paced camera shots we are led to feel calm instead of excited.
Overall we are given an incredibly stereotypical view of British culture, from both an upper and lower class perspective. This is shown within ‘Love Actually’, wherein we are introduced to the newly appointed ‘Prime Minister’, who is then shown around Ten Downing Street. The interior design of the residence is immaculate, which coupled with the ‘Prime Ministers’ clean, cut suit, gives the impression that we are now in the company of someone who is posh and ostentatious- a stereotypical view of what Britain is like. This grandeur is enhanced by the panning shot used to show the interior of the house, as it gives us time to take in the scene and creates a breath taking atmosphere. On the other hand, another stereotypical view of British culture is the contrasting view of the lower class being rude, vulgar and socially inept. This is presented to us in the form of newly appointed maid ‘Natalie’, who seems unable to control her inappropriate use of language and is in general lacking in social finesse, referring to the ‘Prime Minister’ as David. In contrast to this, in NottingHill the ‘upper class’ character is actually a movie star ‘Anna Scott’. We are shown clearly the class divide inn the scene where ‘Anna’ is left to talk to the book shop assistant. During this scene we see a medium close up of the shop assistant showing his clammy skin and wringing of the hands, showing that he is clearly nervous even in the presence of someone who’s famous. As well as this the book shop is cluttered with books, but with warm colours portraying the messiness of lower society, but still with connotations of calm and kindness.
Furthermore, we can suggest that Britain is a proud Nation. This is shown during ‘David’s’ speech, in ‘Love Actually’, to his people in which he says ‘we may be a small country but we are a great country’. This makes the audience feel pride and confidence within Britain as is feels as though he is addressing us as an audience as well as the British people in the film, due to the point of view shot which is being used. This honourable atmosphere is exaggerated with the use of triumphant music playing in the background, reaching its peak as the speech comes to an end. In contrast to this in ‘Notting Hill’, we are given a different view of ‘The pride of Britain’. This is shown in the tracking shot of William at the beginning of the film when he is describing the features of ‘Notting Hill’ itself. All of these being particularly vulgar, specifically an medium shot of a large bald man, with a confused facial expression on his face towards his new tattoo. The fact that ‘William’ uses a neutral tone to describe the scene, shows that it isn't an unusual occurrence and doesn't give a very good view of Britain.
The second thing I would like to talk about is the moral purpose of the films and the message they're trying to get across to the audience. One of the key points made in ‘Love Actually’ is that love conquers all. This is shown throughout the relationship between ‘Jamie’, a novelist and ‘Aurelia’ his ‘maintenance woman’. To begin with because of the language barrier, Jamie and Aurelia are saying the exact opposite things to each other, which we find humorous as an audience because they are struggling. However as we move on and they slowly but surely begin to fall in love, their speech begins to synchronise and although they still can’t understand each other, they are saying the same things. This brings in the theme of ‘Love defeats all’, because even with a language barrier their love pushes through. This is exaggerated, through the use of a slow motion special effect during the panning of ‘Aurelia’s’ body. This makes it seem as though time has literally slowed down for ‘Jamie’ and he is taken aback by her beauty. Similarly in ‘Notting Hill’ at the beginning of the film when we see a montage of shots of ‘Anna Scott’, the shots are in slow motion, this coupled with the fact that ‘William’ speaks shortly after, suggests to us that this is how he envisages her, as though seeing her allows him to relax and appreciate the exact moments. Furthermore, this montage allows to see that she is a huge movie star, as there are many flashing lights and lots of cheering within the shots as well as beautiful dresses and her teeth are crystal white. This coupled with the fact that ‘William’ is woking class shows us that even with an extreme social difference love can still prevail.
In conjunction to this, ‘Honesty is the key to happiness’ is also a key message, presented throughout the films. An example of this in ‘Love Actually’ is when we see Harry embracing Karen after returning from a flight at the end of the film, in which we see a point of view/ medium long shot of Harry walking toward Karen, and then a medium close up shot of them hugging. This contrast of shot perhaps represents the fact that after some time of being distant with each other, now that everything is out in the open they are both more relaxed and more happy being around each other. ‘Notting Hill’ also presents this message and we are shown this in the scene where ‘William’ finds out that ‘Anna’ is already in a relationship, even though she has kissed ‘William’. After finding this out ‘William’ is shown from a close up point of view shot of his face, showing his saddened and disappointed facial expression. This shows that because ‘Anna’ was dishonest about her promiscuity that ‘William’ was now unable to trust ‘Anna’ and is therefor unhappy.
Furthermore, a message which stands out for me is that ‘people are not always as they seem on the exterior’. A key scene which displays this is the scene in which Billy Mack declares his love for Joe. When he does this we see a medium shot of the pair with ‘Billy’s’ hands on ‘Joe’s’ shoulders. This allows the audience to see how sincere ‘Billy’ is being and is a tender side to him which we don't previously get to see. This coupled with how Billy is originally seen as a ladies man, with lots of female sexual promiscuity, shows how he is not originally how we thought he was. In ‘NottingHill’ there is a similar situation with ‘Spike’. When we are first introduced to ‘Spike’ it seems as though he only really cares about attention and sex. This is seen in the scene where he is trying on all of the different shirts, using a medium point of view shot. all of the shirts have something sexual on them and the point pf view shot exaggerates the overtness of them as it suggests that this is how people see him as a person. However, later on in the film when ‘William’ is frantically trying to get to ‘Anna’ we see a different side to ‘Spike’. A long shot of Spike standing in front of traffic for ‘William’ is seen and fast paced music is used showing the danger and excitement of the scene. this shows that ‘Spike’ in fact, although not always showing it, does care about others and wants others to be happy, not just himself.
The medium of comedy is used as a way of exhibiting serious issues, as well as simply lightening the films and making them both hilariously funny. The films rely heavily on the use of prop comedy, Blue comedy and physical comedy:
A key scene in which prop comedy is used, is near the end when David and Natalie are on their way to see her brothers and sisters school nativity. In the car with them is one of her brothers who is dressed in an octopus costume. This is effective as a comedic element, as they were anticipating a romantic car journey, in which they could reveal their inner emotions to each other and instead we are left with an awkward, somewhat strange atmosphere due to the bizarre costume design. Another use of this costume is that it could possibly be a reflection of the jealousy that is felt by David when Natalie has any mention of another man. This is similar to the scene in ‘Notting Hill’ where ‘Anna; goes to ‘William’s’ little sister ‘Honey’s’ birthday party. This scene uses the physical comedy of ‘Honey’ squeezing ‘Anna’ into a huge hug, in order to get to show her obsession with the actress. This is funny as well as awkward, because not only is this childish behaviour from an adult, but it is also not what ‘William’ would be useful if he brings a love interest home.
In conclusion, after comparing and contrasting the many aspects of the two films, that the similarities outweigh the differences. I would therefor have to say that although there are a number of important differences, such as power switches between characters and general storylines, that the amount of comedic/British elements and morals that are the same shows that overall the two films are coherent in their values.
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