The Art of the Hyperlinked Film
“There are stories of coincidence and chance, of intersections and strange things told, and which is which and who only knows? And we generally say, ‘Well, if that was in a movie, I wouldn't believe it.’ Someone's so-and-so met someone else's so-and-so and so on. And it is in the humble opinion of this narrator that strange things happen all the time.” - Magnolia
Two Hong Kong police officers, a waitress, and a drug dealer; parallel stories of breakups and finding new love. A spontaneous young couple pursuing an armed robbery, two hitmen, a gangster and his wife, and a boxer, linked by their opportunities for redemption. A dying producer and his wife and nurse, a game show host and his daughter, a borderline-misogynist public speaker, a police officer, and two child trivia prodigies, each reconciling various relationships in their tree of connections.
While these works are recognizable by their characters and themes, their unique narrative structures linking together unlikely characters is near indescribable. A term originally coined by author Alissa Quart, the ‘hyperlinked film’ emphasizes elements of coincidence and connection; interwoven storylines between somehow related characters, parallel themes and occurrences, and frequent time jumps or non-chronological structure. Oftentimes, these works are massively successful, and for good reason. Presenting synchronic protagonists in their seemingly disjointed lives, all individually motivated, and later skillfully linked by connections, is a difficult art which, when done correctly, is fully worthy of high critical and audience praise.
Critics Alberto Toscano and Jeff Kinkle have likened this multifaceted category of film to a modern adaptation of the ‘it-narrative’; a genre in British literature that follows an object through its changing ownership. While the definition of an object becomes more abstract as these films are examined - think love and solitude in Chungking Express or Marsellus Wallace’s bidding in Pulp Fiction - the ‘it-narrative’ in modern cinema is far from lost.
‘What Do Kids Know’, the fictional game show at the orbital center of Magnolia, (which also later borrows from an even more ancient literary subject), acts largely as an item traced between changing hands, most notably between characters Donnie Smith and Stanley Spector, both, at one time in their life, contestants on WDKK. The ‘object’ has changed hands, yet aspects of their lives, specifically relationships with their respective parents, mirror each other in a significant way. Donnie, now older, had his prize money spent by his parents, and we observe Stanley’s father pressure him for the money he is in line to win. Though this parallel is most direct, allowing us to link the change of ownership with a repetition of the past, other relationships without an ‘it-narrative’ structure, act as further catalysts to Magnolia’s theme of reconciliation.
Similarly, the concept of spatial thinking - finding meaning in the interaction and relative positions of objects - has also been linked to the type of human experience displayed in hyperlinked works. Chungking Express’s perfectly parallel stories, (splitting the film into seamless halves), emphasize the analysis of location, trajectory, and subsequent interactions. The opening scene, displayed under He Qiwu’s narration, where he and the mysterious blonde-wigged woman first meet, simply and perfectly sets up the following chain reaction of relationships, later focusing on waitress Faye at the restaurant he frequents, and another police officer. The film operates on the concept of chance connections and the space between individuals. When He Qiwu finds new love with a stranger, connected only by their shared table at a club, he transitions the focus effortlessly to Faye and Officer 663, who also connect based on where they are located - the Midnight Express restaurant and the officers’ apartment. As said perfectly by Gary Bettinson; “Wong suggests that the sharing of 0.01 cm in a busy city can produce an affect. In the second, the possibility of sustaining a relationship through the non-simultaneous sharing of space is posited.”
Where each of these stories eventually reveal their intersection plays directly to their respective themes. Magnolia poses as a slower burn, only crystallizing relationships when producer Earl Partridges’s name is revealed at the end of the ‘What Do Kids Know’ broadcast. We spend time with the initial characters in Chungking Express, only to move on to observe a new relationship, (as some of the film's leading characters also do). The subject of redemption in Pulp Fiction, however, is explicit only at its conclusion. Leaving armed-robbery pair Pumpkin and Honey Bunny at the opening scene, and only returning to them at the very end, now with the knowledge that Jules and Vincent are dining in the same establishment, the film culminates in a charming full-circle effect. Jules, now in a transitional redemptive period after a chanceful escape from death, similarly meets prizefighter Butch’s separate, gruesome vindication earlier in the film, only then fully solidifying the overarching theme during his conversation analyzing his last rights read before execution. The audience receives multiple examples to pull from and dissect, consequently allowing for more powerful messages.
Presenting stories as initially seemingly disconnected, plays directly to a key element in successful filmmaking: intrigue. Not only do these films thrive on a variety of strong, individually motivated characters, but there is also - at this point in cinematic history - an expectation of connection. Looking for a line between the different storylines and awaiting any sort of reveal, whether conscious or not, a knowledge of this genre may be nestled in audiences’ minds. We put our trust in filmmakers to ensure each scene has a purpose. Experiencing any multilinear films for the first time, we expect no characters to be in their own orbit, separate from others we observe.
Alternatively, we may just be simple creatures with an affinity for pattern and connection seeking.
Who doesn’t love to fall down a rabbit hole of who-follows-who on Instagram, finding connections within our own circles? Ultimately, what allows this structure to succeed so consistently is precisely this pull of a multiplied form of storytelling and mystery; with numerous narratives to become fully engrossed in, we easily lose ourselves in deciphering relationships and connections concurrently with individual conflicts and drives, pushed by either our past experiences with these types of films or just our habits of seeking relations in what we observe. When glimpses into unknown storylines aren’t pointless and are connected in a meaningful, potent way, everything falls perfectly into place for the viewing experience.