An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a subgenre of films consisting of several different short films, often tied together by only a single theme, premise, or brief interlocking event (often a turning point). Sometimes each one is directed by a different director. These differ from "revue films" such as Paramount on Parade (1930)—which were common in Hollywood in the early sound film era to show off their stars and related vaudeville-style acts—composite films, and compilation films.
Sometimes there is a theme, such as a place (e.g. New York Stories, Paris, je t'aime), a person (e.g. Four Rooms), or a thing (e.g. Twenty Bucks, Coffee and Cigarettes), that is present in each story and serves to bind them together. Two of the earliest films to use the form were Edmund Goulding's Grand Hotel (1932), released by MGM with an all-star cast; and Paramount's If I Had a Million (also 1932), featuring segments helmed by a number of directors. The Assamese Film Ji Golpor Ses Nai is based on the single theme of loneliness.
Examples[]
European directors such as Roberto Rossellini directed anthology films such as L'Amore (segments: "Il Miracolo" and "Una voce umana") (1948), Les Sept péchés capitaux (segment: "Envie, L'Envy") (1952), Siamo donne (segment: "Ingrid Bergman") (1953), and Amori di mezzo secolo (segment: "Napoli 1943") (1954). American studios soon followed with films like Quartet (1948) based on stories by W. Somerset Maugham. This led to two sequels, Trio (1950) and Encore (1951), as well as imitators like O. Henry's Full House (1952) and Actor's and Sin (1952).
Sometimes there is one "top-level" story, a framing device, which leads into the various "sub-stories", as in Intolerance (1916), Tales of Manhattan (1942), Flesh and Fantasy (1943), Dead of Night (1945), and The Illustrated Man (1968). Dead of Night helped to popularize the format for horror films—although they had existed as far back as Unheimliche Geschichten (1919)—and British company Amicus made several such films in the 1960s and 1970s.
The 1989 film New York Stories consists of three segments directed by Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Woody Allen.
The Red Violin (1998) could also be considered a portmanteau film, since the storylines revolve around the various owners of a precious sixteenth-century violin through the centuries. Similarly, 1964's The Yellow Rolls-Royce follows the owners of the titular vehicle.
From Beyond the Grave (1974), The Company of Wolves (1984), Trilogy of Terror (1975), Heavy Metal (1981), Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) and Creepshow (1982) are various horror themed anthologies from the 70s to the 80s.
Gene Kelly's 1956 all-dance film Invitation to the Dance consisted of three distinct stories, each different in tone and with its own plot line. Kelly appeared in each of the stories as different characters.
Four Rooms is also an anthology film which follows the protagonist and his misadventures in four different rooms of a hotel. The four different segments (or rooms) were all directed by different directors.
Eros is an anthology film tied by the themes of eroticism and desire. Developed by French-based producer Stéphane Tchalgadjieff and headlined by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, the three segments were each directed by acclaimed directors, including Antonioni, Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai and American director Steven Soderbergh. Initially, Spanish director Pedro Almodovar was to direct a segment, but was unable to do so and was replaced by Soderbergh. Of the three segments, Kar Wai's The Hand received universal acclaim, while Soderbergh's segment Equilibrium garnered a lukewarm reception and Antonioni's segment The Dangerous Thread of Things was critically panned.
Mohsen Abdolvahab's debut Please Do Not Disturb (2010) was a widely acclaimed tri-segmented Iranian anthology film.
Anthology films are often mistaken with hyperlink cinema. Hyperlink cinema shows bits of many stories throughout the movie, whereas anthology films show story segments of one at a time. Some mistaken examples include Pulp Fiction and Amores Perros, distributing their storylines non-chronologically, separated by segments.
V/H/S is a 2012 American anthology horror film created by Brad Miska[1] and Bloody Disgusting. It features a series of five unrelated found-footage horror shorts tied together by a frame narrative. The film spawned two sequels, V/H/S/2 (2013), and V/H/S: Viral (2014), and a spin-off, SiREN (2016).
On November 16, 2018, the Coen Brothers' American Western anthology film, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, was released on a limited theater run and on Netflix a week later. The film contains six separate stories written and directed by the Coen Brothers, which they wrote and accumulated over the last 25 years.
In India[]
Sirikkathe, a Tamil film released in 1939, is considered the first anthology film in India.[2][3]
The 1961 Bengali film Teen Kanya by Satyajit Ray, based on three short stories by Rabindranath Tagore, belongs to this genre.
Chithramela, a Malayalam film directed by T. S. Muthaiah, and Katha Sangama, a Kannada film directed by Puttanna Kanagal in 1975, are some of the earliest portmanteau films from India.
Recent anthology films from Bollywood include Ram Gopal Varma's Darna Mana Hai and its sequel Darna Zaroori Hai. Dus Kahaniyaan is also a noted portmanteau film from Bollywood.
Love Sex aur Dhokha, directed by Dibakar Banerjee also belong to this genre of films. While the characters of the part 'Sex' work in the supermarket, the characters of 'Love' and 'Dhokha' visits the market and acquainted with the protagonists of 'Sex'.
In Kannada Cinema famous director S. R. Puttanna Kanagal's 1976 film Katha Sangama is the first attempt in making anthology films.But the audience did not accepted this movie.However today Katha Sangama counted as one of the cult movie in Kannada Cinema history.It is made by three different stories of different authors.
Recently in 2010, V. K. Prakash's Kannada movie Aidondla Aidu attracted people to theatres.People accepted the movie.He used author Jayaprakash Koloor's five stories in this movie.
An Indian Malayalam movie, Kerala Cafe (2009) includes 10 different stories packed up in a single movie by Ranjith, a well known Malayalam film director. The ten stories are directed by ten directors and more importantly, every film has a different team for its making. Another Malayalam Example is 5 Sundarikal which had 5 Different Short-Movies. It also pays tribute to Indian film industry on its centenary. Yauvanam/Vandikkari (1974) and Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Naalu Pennungal (2007) are two other portmanteau films in Malayalam.
Bombay Talkies is an Indian anthology film consisting of four short films, directed by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar. The film was released on May 3, 2013, to mark the centenary year of Indian cinema.
Solo is a 2017 Indian bilingual anthology romantic thriller directed by Bejoy Nambiar, telling the story of four different people all played by Dulquer Salmaan, each story revolving around four different elements: Earth, Fire, Wind and Water, each with the different facets of Lord Shiva
In Assamese Cinema, Samiran Barua Ahi Ase was the first attempt to make a film based on Anthology consisting of four chapters revolving around a leader of a terrorist outfit. Based on a story by Journalist Manoj Kumar Goswami and directed by Prodyut Kumar Deka, the film received official entry in the 12th Kolkata International film festival in 2012.[4][5] Rum Vodka Whiskey, a film consisting of three love stories, directed by Prasant Saikia also belongs to this genre.[6]
Prasant Saikia, Utpal Datta, Prodyut Kumar Deka and DoP Ratul Barman is on the background.
Ji Golpor Ses Nai is a 2019 Assamese Anthology film by three directors Prodyut Kumar Deka, Prasant Saikia and Utpal Datta. Loneliness links the three different films based on stories by Maupassant, Balzac and Homen Borgohain. Eminent critic Vishwanath Subramaniam commented: Eclectic, experimental and enterprising, Ji Golpor Ses Nai (Never Ending Stories) is an engaging and ensemble triptych of tantalizing tales told with a deft touch of cinematic acumen. Inspired by three different short stories, each of the strand, which runs into half hour plus narration, is knit by the common denominator of death and a rumination on life and living by the three men that figure in them.[7][8][9]
Package film[]
Package film is a film consisting of several short films, often a feature-length compilation of short subjects in animation.
See also[]
- Anthology series
- Composite film
- Hyperlink cinema
- Frame tale
- List of animated package films
References[]
- ↑ Smith, Nigel N. "Bloody Disgusting Founder and "V/H/S" Producer Brad Miska On Why the Found-Footage Movie Is Here To Stay"". Indiewire. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ https://www.deccanherald.com/content/338926/anthology-romance.html
- ↑ https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/chitramela-1967/article2115673.ece
- ↑ "Assamese Film News: In mid March "Samiran Baruah Ahi Ase" (সমীৰণ বৰুৱা আহি আছে)". Assamesefilmnews.blogspot.in. 2012-01-23. Retrieved 2017-07-08.
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ "'Samiran barua finally arrives'".
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ "'Rum Vodka Whisky – a new age Assamese film'".
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ "New Assamese Film Launched".
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ "A New Experiment".
{{cite web}}
: - ↑ "Loneliness links three stories".
{{cite web}}
:
Film genres | |
---|---|
By style | Action (Arthouse • Heroic bloodshed • Hong Kong action) • Adventure (Survival) •
Art • Biographical • Christian • Comedy (Black • Commedia all'italiana • Commedia sexy all'italiana • Bromantic • Dramedy • Gross out • Horror • Parody • Mo lei tau • Thriller • Remarriage • Romantic • Sex • Screwball • Silent • Slapstick) • Documentary (Animated • Docudrama • Mockumentary • Mondo • Pseudo • Semi • Travel) • Drama (Dramedy • Historical • Legal • Melodrama (Korean) • Erotic (Commedia sexy all'italiana • Pink • Sexploitation • Thriller) • Educational • Social guidance • Epic (Sword-and-sandal) • Experimental • Exploitation (see Exploitation film template) • Fantasy (Comic • Contemporary • Dark • Fairy tale • Fantastique • High • Historical • Magic realism • Science) • Film noir (Bad girl • Neo-noir • Occult detective • Pulp noir • Tech noir) • Gothic (Romance • Southern • Space • Suburban • Urban) • Horror (Body • Cannibal • Comedy • Eco • Fantastique • Found footage • German underground • Ghost • Giallo • Japanese • Korean • Mumblegore • Natural • New French Extremity • Occult detective • Psycho-biddy • Psychological • Religious • Science Fiction • Slasher • Splatter • Satanic) • Mumblecore (Mumblegore) • Musical (Backstage • Jukebox • Musicarello • Operetta • Sceneggiata) • Mystery (Giallo • Occult detective) • Pornographic (Hardcore pornography • Softcore pornography) • Propaganda • Reality • Romantic (Comedy (Bromantic)) • Gothic • Paranormal • Thriller) • Science fiction (Comic • Cyberpunk • Fantastique • Fantasy • Gothic • Horror • Military • Mundane • New Wave • Parallel universe • Planetary romance • Space opera • Steampunk • Western) • Thriller (Comedy • Conspiracy • Erotic • Financial • Giallo • Legal • New French Extremity • Political • Psychological • Romantic • Techno) • Transgressive (Cinema of Transgression • New French Extremity) • Trick |
By theme | Animals • Beach party • Blaxploitation • Body swap • Bourekas • Buddy (Buddy cop • Female) • Cannibal • Chicano • Colonial • Coming-of-age • Concert • Crime (Gentleman thief • Gong'an • Heist • Hood • Gangster • Mafia • Mafia comedy • Poliziotteschi • Yakuza • Gokudō) • Dance • Disaster (Apocalyptic) • Drug (Psychedelic • Stoner) • Dystopian • Economic • Ethnographic • Extraterrestrial • Food and drink • Funny animal • Gendai-geki • Ghost • Goona-goona epic • Gothic (Romance • Southern • Space • Suburban • Urban) • Ecchi • Girls with guns • Harem • Hentai (Tentacle erotica) • Lolicon • Kaitō • Magical girl • Mecha • Shotacon • Yaoi • Yuri • Homeland • Jidaigeki • LGBT • Luchador • Martial arts (Bruceploitation • Chopsocky • Girls with guns • Gun fu • Kung fu • Wuxia) • Mecha • Mexploitation • Monster (Giant monster • Jiangshi • Kaiju • Vampire • Werewolf • Zombie) • Mountain • Mouth of Garbage • Muslim social • Nature (Environmental issues) • Opera • Outlaw biker • Ozploitation • Partisan film • Pirate • Prison (Women) • Race • Rape and revenge • Road • Rubble • Rumberas • Samurai • Sexploitation (Bavarian porn • Commedia sexy all'italiana • Mexican sex comedy • Nazi exploitation • Pornochanchada • Nunsploitation • Sex report) • Shomin-geki • Slavery • Slice of life • Snuff (Crush) • South Seas • Sports • Spy (Eurospy) • Superhero • Surfing • Swashbuckler • Sword-and-sandal • Sword and sorcery • Travel • Trial • Vigilante • War (Anti-war • Euro War • Submarine) • Western (Acid • Florida • Meat pie • Northern • Ostern • revisionist • Space • Spaghetti • Weird) • Zombie (Zombie comedy) |
By movement or period |
Absolute • Australian New Wave • Auteur films • Berlin School • Bourekas • Brighton School • British New Wave (Kitchen sink realism) • Budapest school • Cannibal boom • Cinéma du look • Cinema Novo • Cinema of Transgression • Cinéma pur • Commedia all'italiana • Documentary Film Movement • Dogme 95 • Erra Cinema • European art cinema • Film gris • Free Cinema • French New Wave • German Expressionist • German underground horror • Nigerian Golden Age • Grupo Cine Liberación • Heimatfilm • Hollywood on the Tiber • Hong Kong New Wave • Iranian New Wave • Italian futurist • Italian neorealist • Japanese New Wave • Kammerspielfilm • L.A. Rebellion • Lettrist • Mumblecore • Neorealist • New French Extremity • New German • New Generation • New Hollywood • New Nigerian • New Queer • No wave • Nuevo Cine Mexicano • Parallel Cinema • Persian Film • Poetic realist • Polish Film School • Poliziotteschi • Praška filmska škola • Prussian film • Pure Film Movement • Remodernist • Romanian New Wave • Spaghetti Western • Socialist realist • Social realist (Kitchen sink realism) • Soviet Parallel • Structural • Surrealist • Sword-and-sandal • Telefoni Bianchi • Third Cinema • Yugoslav Black Wave |
By audience | Chick flick • Children's • Cult (midnight movie) • Guy-cry • Teen • Woman's |
By format, technique, approach, or production |
3D • Actuality • Animation (anime • cartoon • computer • stop-motion • traditional) • Anthology • Art • B movie • Black-and-white • Blockbuster • Bollywood • Cinéma vérité • Classical Hollywood cinema • Collage • Color • Compilation • Composite • Database cinema • Docufiction • Ethnofiction • Experimental (Abstract) • Feature • Featurette • Film à clef • Film noir • Film-poem • Found footage • Grindhouse • Hyperlink cinema • Independent (Guerrilla filmmaking) • Interstitial art • Live action (animation) • Low-budget • Major studio • Making-of • Masala • Message picture • Meta-film • Mockbuster • Musical short • Mythopoeia • Neorealist • No budget • Paracinema • Participatory • Poetry • Postmodernist • Sceneggiata • Semidocumentary • Serial • Shinpa • Short • Silent • Socialist realist • Sound • Underground |