When Surprise becomes Dramatic Irony

In an earlier blog post, we talked about the use of surprise in filmmaking. We mentioned that maybe surprise isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Surprise is related to mystery. Think about a birthday package. If you genuinely don't know what's in the box -- and it turns out to be something you really want -- than that surprise becomes memorable and effective.

And yet, it only lasts for a moment.

You can never truly re-live that moment of surprise. Same goes with movies. Once you know the secret, it's no longer a surprise. (Unless you have a very bad memory and can't remember anything.)

Now, that doesn't mean a movie that uses the element of surprise is necessarily bad. There are very good movies that use surprise. It's just that if you were to watch the movie a second time, that particular scene is no longer operating in the same way.

For example, when you re-watch The Empire Strikes Back for the second, third, fourth (or you fill in the blank) time, you will never experience the I-can't-believe-it!-Darth-Vader-is-Luke's-father! moment again.

No, instead of surprise, it now becomes tension. Or rather, dramatic irony.

We know the secret. In the movie, Luke doesn't know it. Even in Star Wars, the whole Ben Kenobi line about how Vader murdered Luke's father brings new meaning after you've watched all three of the original trilogy.

This is probably why Star Wars fans keep coming back to these movies. They weren't just about the surprise or shock of the moment. A movie should be enjoyed on different levels. An element of surprise should be able to morph nicely into dramatic irony.

[Photo via flikr, courtesy of lawndart]