Though we all see the same film, we will each describe its plot, characters, conflicts, or themes differently, if we try to do so in any depth or detail. Complete the sentence, This is a film about . . . In finishing this sentence, you are beginning to interpret the film as a narrative. Will Hunting is about meeting both personal and social expectations, we are beginning to explore the themes of these films. Themes are the ideas or questions that the story raises in our minds, the conflicts, values, or issues it explores.
Plot is different from story.
Pulp Fiction is a fascinating example of a surprising movement from the present to the past and back again. Courage Under Fire is about figuring out the story of a battle in Desert Storm. It contains a series of flashbacks, some accurate, some distorted, that progressively reveal in the most surprising way what actually happened. Plots vary in shape, but there are certain types of story that we have learned to group together. Genre is the term used for classifying films that share common characteristics, such as plot, character, theme, or style.