Inherent Vice (film) Literary Elements

Inherent Vice (film) Literary Elements

Director

Paul Thomas Anderson

Leading Actors/Actresses

Joaquin Phoenix

Supporting Actors/Actresses

Ketherin Waterston, Josh Brolin, Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson

Genre

Comedy, Crime, Drama

Language

English

Awards

Nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Writing-Adapted Screenplay

Date of Release

2014

Producer

Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Lupi, JoAnne Sellar

Setting and Context

1970 Los Angeles

Narrator and Point of View

POV is that of Doc. Narrator is Sortilège

Tone and Mood

Comedic, Dramatic

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist is Doc. Antagonists are Shasta Fay, Bigfoot, Adrian

Major Conflict

Shasta Fay wants to help Mickey, a real estate mogul she's been sleeping with escape from being admitted to a psych ward by his wife. So, she hires her ex-boyfriend, Doc to help.

Climax

Shasta has been entangled with a heroine cartel and brought trouble on Doc's head. He ends up with 20 kilos of heroin that he exchanges for his life and the freedom of Coy.

Foreshadowing

Doc being knocked out and his first lead being dead foreshadows that his investigation is not going to be paint by numbers.

Understatement

It is understated that Shasta Fay is still alive.

Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques

N/A

Allusions

Shasta Fay's relationship to Doc is an allusion to how someone can use a former lover.

Paradox

Shasta Fay asks Doc for his help, paradoxically she's knowingly led him into danger.

Parallelism

Sortilege on the porch with the ouija board parallels the scene with her in the car with Doc as they drive to Channel View Estates, as she is a hallucination in both.

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