In
the wake of Tinker, Tailor and with Contagion and the terrifyingly
star-filled New Year's Eve on the way, we ask what ensemble casts add to
movies
To
generalise for a moment, ensemble casts are more often seen in
television shows than on the big screen. Having a number of characters
who hold equal status or importance to the ongoing narrative is a format
upon which 20-something-episode seasons of a show can be sustained, but
isn't quite so effective in the finite time-scale of a movie.
Nevertheless, filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh and Edgar Wright have consistently deployed ensemble casts in their movies, with Soderbergh having notably gotten a whole Ocean's trilogy out of one big, starry ensemble.
Essentially, there are two types of ensemble movie. You can either
tell a single story in which every character is played by a good or at
least recognisable actor, or go down the increasingly prolific route of
showing a number of interweaving narratives populated by stars given
equal stature, a method of storytelling that is closer to the
complexities of popular television.
Nevertheless, filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh and Edgar Wright have consistently deployed ensemble casts in their movies, with Soderbergh having notably gotten a whole Ocean's trilogy out of one big, starry ensemble.
