Labyrinth Structure: the Complexity of Plot Construction as a Problem in the Theory of Drama

Dramatists have to think about the complexity of their writings so that they remain comprehensible for the viewer. There is a delicate balance between the impossibility of interpreting total chaos and the unbearable boredom of an absolutely predictable routine. How can it be discovered? How does script complexity work? What is complexity in art, after all? All these issues are important and extensive, and there is a concept that can help clarify some aspects of the interaction with the complexity of film plots.

It was introduced by Umberto Eco as a response to the need for a structural classification of modernist novels; it can also be used to analyze film plots that have certain properties. Complexity necessarily expresses the character’s challenging quest simulated by a labyrinth. But it is too confusing. In this case, the structure of the labyrinth can become a supporting system of interpretation, even when one has to deal with very chaotic elements of the narrative. This article examines multiple examples of labyrinth-like structures in film plots and assesses their impact on the complexity of the narrative.

Usually, when it comes to complexity, it is assumed that we are talking about some redundancy. Indeed, any system can be complicated by adding more and more elements to it. Such a method can be called extensive. There is also an intensification of complexity, where not so much the number of elements grows as the number of ways to classify them. Structural predictability is comparable to the narrative primitiveness. But sometimes it is only the outer layer that is primitive. It would be right to assume that a film requires both the pole of the simple and the pole of the complex. The structure of the labyrinth can be that system where the simple and complex aspects of the narrative converge. The feeling of transcending the ordinary can be extremely useful not only for horror or comedy, but also for modern drama.