Does Humour Help or Hinder?

[jaimieinajar]

I have been thinking long and hard on this, and have done a little research but I would like to get the opinion of some other people.

.....so the question I pose is. Is humour important in film? Does it help or hinder? and if so, why?

Many Thanks

[Steve Crook]

I have been thinking long and hard on this, and have done a little research but I would like to get the opinion of some other people.

.....so the question I pose is. Is humour important in film? Does it help or hinder? and if so, why?

Many Thanks

When it's done well, it can help. But forced attempts at humour or ill-judged humour can damage a production.
Humour can be included in the most serious of subjects and serves to break the tension

But I wouldn't say that it's essential in any film, so does that mean that it's not "important"?

Steve

[Rowdon]

I think humour would help Richard Curtis films.

[batman]

Humour can help in many situations we find ourselves .... so it can also be used to good effect when such situations are portrayed on film.

[GRAEME]

Humour has often featured in even the greatest tragedies - some of Shakespeare's wittiest jokes are in Hamlet, Lear and Romeo & Juliet.

I can't, off-hand, think of any truly great film that is utterly devoid of humour.

Can anyone provide any examples?

[cassidy]

Batman you are so right. I was often the butt of jokes as a kid in school, but turned it round by becoming the class comedian and doing impressions of the teachers. Tragedy aside, humour will help overcome a lot of situations.

Humour can help in many situations we find ourselves .... so it can also be used to good effect when such situations are portrayed on film.

[Heinrich]

Different professions develop their own humor and sometimes it is black, as a way of coping with stress.
It can seem too casual or insensitive to lay people.

[paul kersey]

Humour can often "date" a film and render it as uncomfortable viewing. I find it incredible that some films were ever considered funny, ie Norman Wisdom,Charlie Chaplin and many Carry-ons.

[cassidy]

Could be down to personal taste. I watched Trouble in Store last week and still found it funny after all these years, and also watched Carry on Sergeant recently and enjoyed that as well. There again I can't stand some of the modern comedians who F and blind all over the place but I'm sure they have their quota of fans.

Humour can often "date" a film and render it as uncomfortable viewing. I find it incredible that some films were ever considered funny, ie Norman Wisdom,Charlie Chaplin and many Carry-ons.

[Rowdon]

In Graham McCann's book "Spike and Co." about the golden age of British comedy writers, the chapter on Eric Sykes begins with the quote (not sure where from):

If you understand comedy, you understand life. Drama, tragedy, everybody has these. But with humour you have all these and the antidote. You have found the answer.

I think that's great. It explains why comedy is so essential in fictional tragedy.

[Moor Larkin]

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow it's mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850 - 1919 / United States)

[Arfur Teacake]

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone.
For the sad old earth must borrow it's mirth,
But has trouble enough of its own.
Sing, and the hills will answer;
Sigh, it is lost on the air.
The echoes bound to a joyful sound,
But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;
Grieve, and they turn and go.
They want full measure of all your pleasure,
But they do not need your woe.
Be glad, and your friends are many;
Be sad, and you lose them all.
There are none to decline your nectared wine,
But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;
Fast, and the world goes by.
Succeed and give, and it helps you live,
But no man can help you die.
There is room in the halls of pleasure
For a long and lordly train,
But one by one we must all file on
Through the narrow aisles of pain.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850 - 1919 / United States)

I havent seen that for along time


and now realise and find it very autobiographical LOL
must go and put on Nat King Cole's version of Charlie Chaplin's song.

[Timmy_Lea]

What an odd question?!? It depends on the film!

[didi-5]

It is an odd question. I started putting together an answer but then thought, what does the OP mean? Films which are purely comedies? Black humour in drama? Unintentional humour?

Cassidy also makes a good point about personal taste in comedy/humour. As with anything else, YMMV.

[ShirlGirl]

What an odd question?!? It depends on the film!

That's what I was thinking! If it's intended to be a comedy, then obviously humour would have to help!

I suspect the question was in reference to films other than comedies, but it's still a strange question. So much would depend on the story itself, the brand of humour applied and the type of situation in which it is placed.

[Arfur Teacake]

Maybe its something to do with serious,mechanical humour? eg.carefully written, rehearsed,and reshot till its right skits...
.....and the natural warmth and humour that can just come off a particular film and certain actors and actresses?

[Rowdon]

I think the OP might be looking for specific examples where you can think "Thank God there was that light moment there!" or "Oh, WHY did they have to suddenly start getting 'funny' when the atmosphere was so dramatic?". Unfortunately I can't think offhand of any examples except in TV stuff.

[Heinrich]

I would say humor is important in a comedy film and it helps it a lot.

[Marky B]

First of all,what does OP mean.
Maybe this not the answer jamieinajar was looking for. Steven Spielberg proved with his flop 1941 and likewise Hitchcock with his dismal Mr and Mrs Smiththat they were no good at comedies,but both were good at injecting humour into films. Even Spielberg's Schindler's List had some small humour in it (not roll about laughter,but a wry smile maybe). I think all films do have humour in it,after all despite the tragedies that life hurls at us,we can earn ourselves a smile now and again. Working in a club,I can probably write a play based on a social club with my years of experience witnessing drama (yes there can be) and plenty of humour.
After all,who wants to go to a cinema and sit there looking glum from start to finish (no doubt you guys will have an answer to that).
Ta Ta
Marky B

[ShirlGirl]

First of all,what does OP mean.

The original poster - the person who started the thread.