In his discussion of the film's relation to modernism, Thomas Schatz finds the film an unresolved " examination of the process of human interaction and interpersonal communication " and “ immediately establishes self-referential stance ” that invites the spectator “ to read the narrative as something other than a sequential development toward some transcendent truth ”.

Some critics felt the film's massive visual scale and extended running time did not suit its small-scale romantic narrative.

Coppola and the editors returned to the cutting room to change the film's narrative structure, but could not complete the work in time, leaving the final scenes poorly timed at the opening.

The film's narrative is circular, and repeats a number of psychologically symbolic images, including a flower on a long driveway, a key falling, a door unlocked, a knife in a loaf of bread, a mysterious Grim Reaper – like cloaked figure with a mirror for a face, a phone off the hook and an ocean.

Reviewing the shorter cut in the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert criticized the film's formal choices and its narrative inconsistencies and incredulities, concluding that Heaven's Gate was " he most scandalous cinematic waste I have ever seen, and remember, I've seen Paint Your Wagon.

Criticism was also drawn from the film's ending, claiming following Stallone's last minute decision not to kill Rocky, the film's build-up and narrative was lost.

In March 1990, James Stewart recorded a special narrative introduction, that would be combined with many of the film's still photos, which would be added to the film's original release on VHS.

The score forms part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects, and comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental or choral pieces called cues which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact of the scene in question.

Lévy answered that he considers himself an " enemy of Kusturica, the man ", but that Underground is " not a bad movie " before going on to commend the film's narrative structure and conclude that " Kusturica is one of the cases, we have some writers like this, where the man is so, so, so more stupid than his work " before likening Kusturica again to Louis-Ferdinand Céline.

* The film's narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist's point of view.

* In Zhang Yimou's 2005 film Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, a nuo opera performance of Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles ( with reference to Guan Yu's fictional story of slaying six generals and crossing five passes ) forms a major part of the film's narrative.

Additionally, the film's narrative references and clarifies Agent Dale Cooper's ( Kyle MacLachlan ) fate in the series finale.

The film accurately portrays the narrative within the novel, apart from two factors: firstly, the film's plot is more complicated than the novel, consisting of more flashbacks and a change in the film's character focus ; the second major difference involves the characters, Rex Hofman and Raymond Lemorne, who spend more time together following their meeting.

It is for this reason that the " story-world " in cinema is referred to as " diegetic "; elements that belong to the film's narrative world are diegetic elements.

In feature-length narrative filmmaking, an imaginary line delineates those who have influence in the creative direction of a film's narrative from others who perform duties related to the film's physical production.

Upon its release, Richard Corliss wrote " Body Heat has more narrative drive, character congestion and sense of place than any original screenplay since Chinatown, yet it leaves room for some splendid young actors to breathe, to collaborate in creating the film's texture "; it is " full of meaty characters and pungent performances — Ted Danson as a tap-dancing prosecutor, J. A.

Critic Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars, praising the film's visual artistry but stating that there is " no narrative engine to pull us past the visual scenery ", and that he " suspected the filmmakers began with a lot of ideas about how the movie should look, but without a clue about pacing, plotting or destination.

In general, the tendency to caricature is greater the more severe the film's moral judgement although this is never totally contemptuous, there being always a touch of complacence and participation, as in the final orgy scene or the episode at the aristocrats ' castle outside Rome, the latter being particularly effective for its descriptive acuteness and narrative rhythm.

" He described the film's narrative structure as follows:

Marker used very little commentary in this film, but the film's montage structure and preoccupation with memory make it a Marker film.

The film's overall structure was influenced by the detective fiction of Raymond Chandler.

The film's plot structure also bears similarity to Orson Welles's Citizen Kane ( 1941 ), particularly the opening scenes with Lawrence's death and the reporter inquiring notables at Lawrence's funeral.

Furby argues that a " rhythm of repetition " forms the core of the film's structure.

The film's structure is often compared to Federico Fellini's 8½, another thinly-veiled autobiographical film with fantastical elements.

) The film's script is a frequent model for budding screenwriters, often used to display clear structure.

Scholars have examined Rocky IV and note the film's strong, yet formulaic structure that emphasizes the power of the individual, particularly an idealistic American.

Part of the film's structure and background is borrowed from Ingmar Bergman's Fanny and Alexander.

Even though the villain's body count is only two, the film's " whodunit " plot structure, knife-wielding and mentally disturbed killer, twist ending and ' stalking ' camera technique proved influential on films to come.

The film's structure closely follows the 1917 story A Report To An Academy, by the author Franz Kafka, in which an ape addresses a scientific audience, explaining the difficulties he encountered while becoming a man.

Philosopher Slavoj Žižek interprets the film's bipartite structure as exploiting " the opposition of two horrors: the phantasmatic horror of the nightmarish noir universe of perverse sex, betrayal, and murder, and the ( perhaps much more unsettling ) despair of our drab, alienated daily life of impotence and distrust ".

The theme of doubles is " the key element in the film's structure ," and Hitchcock starts right off in his title sequence making this point: there are two taxicabs, two redcaps, two pairs of feet, two sets of train rails that cross twice.

The American film critic Roger Ebert argued that the film's structure makes it inherently moral ; that by presenting vengeance before the acts that inspire it, we are forced to process the vengeance first, and therefore think more deeply about its implications.

Roger Ebert wrote a similar approval of this in the Chicago Sun Times stating " One of the most intriguing things about " The Vanishing " is the film's unusual structure, which builds suspense even while it seems to be telling us almost everything we want to know.

Nicholas Royle argues that the film's labyrinthine, Ouroboros-like structure reinforces several key Derridean tenets:

The film's protagonist, Sengbe Pieh ( Djimon Hounsou ), most known by his Mende name, " Cinqué " ( meaning " fifth "), painstakingly picks a nail out of the ship's structure and uses it to pick the lock on his shackles.

Meanwhile, detractors targeted the film's direction of storyline and structure.

Cannibal Holocaust is unique for its " found footage " structure in which the gradual revelation of the recovered film's content functions similar to a flashback.

Other critics claim that this widespread view of the film's structure is inaccurate.

Chuck Workman described the film's editing structure as " a sprint.

" The men are so grossly unattractive and the rapes so harrowing, long-drawn-out and starkly presented it is hard to imagine most male spectators identifying with the perpretrators, especially as the film's narrative structure and mise-en-scene force the spectator to view the action from Keaton's point of view.

Upon the film's release, Bosley Crowther wrote " it is hard to remember a picture — not excluding Henry V, Ivanhoe, Helen of Troy and, naturally, Ben-Hur — in which scenery and regal rites and warfare have been so magnificently assembled and photographed as they are in this dazzler ... The pure graphic structure of the pictures, the imposing arrangement of the scenes, the dynamic flow of the action against strong backgrounds, all photographed with the 70-mm.