The Club (1980)

The struggle for power and success in football doesn’t only happen on the playing field. In The Club, directed by Bruce Beresford and scripted by David Williamson from his own play, the bloodiest and vindictive battles happen off the oval. They happen in the boardroom of an Australian Rules football club by men in suits calling themselves “businessmen”. Ironically, a film about the great Victorian game was funded by the South Australian and NSW Film Corporations. In this absorbing comedy-drama, the conflict not only evolves around who will run the club but, most importantly, what defines a football club: is it who controls the club or is it the playing staff and the fans? On one side there are the men (women are most definitely on the sidelines in this film) who want to control the club for the sake of power. The main players on this side are Jock (Frank Wilson) and Gerry (Alan Cassell). On the other side is the coach Laurie (Jack Thompson), the most sympathetic of the characters and the President (Graham Kennedy). These protagonists love the club and love football and their goals revolve around success for the club and for themselves.

From the very beginning the different levels of the club are in conflict: from the President and the Committee to the coach and players. The President is trying to bring in new business ideas to the club to help win that elusive Premiership that’s been missing for nineteen years. He has brought in the top football administrator, Gerry, to help him with the reforms. On the other side is the traditionalist Jock, who holds the record of games played for the club and who has won 4 premierships as coach. Jock, while spouting the virtues of tradition is actually a “cunning and ruthless old turd” who wants to use the club for his own ambitions. One of the main changes brought in by Ted is the buying of new star players. This brings him into conflict with Laurie the coach. The club spends $120,000 buying the new wunderkind, Geoff Hayward (John Howard) without consulting Laurie, which infuriates him. Geoff immediately clashes with the coach and players. Laurie is disgusted with Geoff's lack of discipline especially arriving late for training and being stoned during a match, while the captain Danny Rowe (Harold Hopkins) is angree over the fee.

The first act introduces the conflicts and the characters. The second act brings together the different factions and their grievances under a central theme: the control of the club. Under the watchful eyes of the photos of past teams and champions on the boardroom walls, Jock’s real motives come out: he wants to become President of the club (with Gerry the administrator pulling the strings). Parker faces trouble from two fronts: not only from Jock and Gerry but from Laurie and the players who threaten to strike if Laurie is sacked. Kennedy plays Parker as a tragic figure. Indeed Parker is a glorified fan with money. He even pays Geoff $10,000 out of his own pocket to sign with the club even though his business is facing bankruptcy. In a key moment Ted reminisces with Laurie about Laurie’s first kick for the club. This shows both men’s love of the club and through this an alliance is formed. However, due to a scandal Parker is forced to resign. His loyalty to the club means he cannot allow its name to be dragged through the scandal. The second act ends with a confrontation between Laurie and Geoff, where Geoff’s pride is hurt when Laurie describes him as “a kid with potential”.

The third act completes the alliances between Laurie, the players and Geoff whose pride pushes him to perform and who finally becomes accepted by Laurie and the other players. This conciliation occurs when the coach and players storm the boardroom and remove the historical photos off the walls with the inspiring song “Up There Cazaly” playing. In one fell swoop, the people who create the traditions and history of a club, the coach, the players and the fans (in the guise of Ted Parker) have reclaimed the club. While Gerry and Jock may control the club they cannot contain its spirit. In the end the real “losers” are the individuals whose ambitions at the club are personal and selfish while the winners are the individuals who have compromised their individual self-regard for the welfare of the club. It is this communality that steers the team to the grand final with great victories on the field, a place where the machinations of the administrators have no physical influence. The irony is that even though the power struggle in the film occurs mainly inside the walls of the boardroom the success of the team on the oval means their influence and power at the club has increased, at the expense of Jock’s. Meanwhile, Gerry, ever the professional (he doesn’t particularly love the club or even cares too much about football) has distanced himself away from Jock by the end of the film, aligning himself with another group.

Beresford uses photos and pictures of Collingwood’s past players and teams very well as a tool for tradition. When Laurie explains to Geoff that the club is not “Jock, Ted and Gerry” but 100 years of history, Beresford juxtaposes this dialogue with pictures of early football games. Also, the great football song Brady’s “Up There Cazaly” is used to good effect in scenes of triumph, especially in the beginning when Geoff wins a contest at training and, most importantly when the players take the photos down. However, the football doesn’t really intrude into the main action of the film, so much so, that the film ends without showing the winner of the grand final. Then again, showing a Collingwood Grand Final victory in 1980 would probably have been too unrealistic for film goers.

Witness Pulp Fiction Does Have A Structure

Hollywood films usually use the traditional three act structure to tell their stories. Such a structure traditionally contains a linear beginning, middle and end. We follow a character or characters through a journey which contains two major turning points that propel the character into the next act. In the first act the major character is introduced and what he/she wants is revealed. In the next act the character has to struggle against something or someone to achieve his/her goal and ultimately loses. This turning point introduces the third act where the character fights back to achieve the objective. This is a very basic telling of a three act structure but most films abide by these rules as these work well for such a visual medium. Witness (1985) is a prime example of a three act Hollywood film that follows the conventions. There are times, however, when a film is released that does not comfortably fit into the three act structure and which seems difficult to define. One such example is Pulp Fiction (1994) which has a non-linear approach to storytelling that is difficult to pin down structurally and, on the surface, seems not to have a strong structural approach. However,Pulp Fiction does indeed follow a three act structure within its non-linear parameters, and it is clever writing that camouflages it.

Witness, scripted by Earl W. Wallace and William Kelley and directed by Peter Weir, is a crime story that deals with police detective John Book (Harrison Ford) attempting to protect himself and a small Amish boy from three corrupt detectives. The action is pushed along through the three act structure. The film has a long set up where viewers are introduced to the Amish society and to the small boy Samuel who witnesses a murder in a train station toilet, while journeying with his mother Rachel (Kelly McGillis). It is 15 minutes into the film before the main protagonist Book arrives on the scene. He is the investigating police detective on the murder case. It is when Samuel recognises one of the murderers as McPhee, a decorated police officer, that the first beat to the coming turning point occurs. This pushes the narrative forward to the subsequent shootout between Book and McPhee. Book’s resulting serious gunshot wound leads Book to leave the mean streets of his city and head to the safety of the Amish town with Samuel and his mother Rachel. Book's injury is so serious that he collapses. This is the first major turning point and the end of the first act. As Book cannot return he has no choice but to stay and recover in the Amish town. He is stuck and cannot go backwards, only forwards.

In comparison Pulp Fiction has no straightforward set up or first act. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction has a very complex structure with two main interlinking stories where many of the characters make cameo appearances in the other stories. The first scene of the film is set up in a coffee shop where a couple of armed robbers, Honey Bunny and Pumpkin, discuss the pros and cons of who to rob. The scene ends with them about to rob that actual coffee shop. The opening titles then roll and following the credits the next major narrative concerns Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel Jackson), two hitmen who are on their way to sort out some trouble for their boss Marsellus Wallace. The third story in the film concerns Butch (Bruce Willis) and his last professional fight. Butch’s story is actually set up quite well in a somewhat recognisable three act structure. We first see Butch in a cameo in the Vincent and Jules storyline where we discover he has to take a fall so Wallace can clean up financially. Later we see Butch as a young child receiving his dead father’s gold watch. The first narrative punch in Butch’s story occurs when he double crosses Wallace and wins the fight. Butch is now on the run. If he stays around Marsellus will kill him. However, his girlfriend has forgotten the gold watch, the most important thing in Butch’s life so he has to go back to retrieve it. The first major turning point is when he discovers Vincent in his apartment, sent by Wallace to get him. Butch accidentally shoots Vincent. The second act of his story sees Butch driving back to his girlfriend, with his gold watch and apparently, safe.

In Witness, the second act deals with John Book’s recuperation and his attempt to merge into the Amish community. He helps with the construction of a building and his relationship with Rachel becomes closer. However, his background is an impediment. This is apparent when he beats up a non-Amish local for harassing some Amish people. This is the second major turning point as his cover is blown. Amish do not act violently, so his violence stands out a mile. This alerts the corrupt police to his whereabouts which ultimately leads to a confrontation between them and Book in the third act. With the help of the Amish, Book defeats the corrupt police and he returns to his own world. The conventions of the three act structure are used well by the filmmakers to produce a fine film.

Butch’s story in Pulp Fiction compares favourably to the three act structure and to the linear approach that Witness uses. For instance, Butch, in the second act confronts Marsellus Wallace and together they are captured by two sexual perverts which is the second turning point in the Butch instalment. However, in the third act Butch fights back and defeats the perverts and helps Wallace as well. The story is tied up well when a grateful Wallace decides not to kill Butch if he leaves town. Thus, Butch’s story ends with a happy ending. The story is told in a linear way and does indeed, if it’s separated from the rest of the film, have a traditional structure to it.

It is the Vincent and Jules storyline which is difficult to pin down. Unlike Witness, the story goes forwards and backwards and ends up in the coffee shop which is about to be robbed. Yet Jules does go on a journey throughout the film and comes out the end a changed man. His journey is traversed in a three act structure. The first act of his story sets up his partnership with Vincent and the type of work they do. Jules is an experienced killer and doesn’t feel any remorse as he casually shoots one of the college kids who have double crossed Marsellus. Tarantino then shows us Vincent and Jules returning to Marsellus’ club dressed in t-shirts and shorts. This scene is the set up for Vincent’s adventure with Mia, Wallace’s wife. Tarantino then returns to the college kids scenario later on in the film. This time we discover that there’s a guy in the bathroom with a powerful handgun. He exits and shoots half a dozen shots at Jules and Vincent. All the shots miss which to Jules is some form of “divine intervention”. The cool killer is starting to seriously think about his life after experiencing his "miracle". Vincent and Jules end up at the coffee shop where they get mixed up in the robbery that began in the film. Jules’ transformation is made clear when he doesn’t kill the thieves but lets them go. Not only is this last scene an ideal circular closure for the whole of the Pulp Fiction film, but it details Jules’ journey and conversion in a clever and complex three act structure.

Pulp Fiction, while cleverly masking its structure in non-linear storytelling, its skeletal framework does have a three act structure that may be compared to such a traditional three act structured film like Witness.