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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on May 26, 2018 23:15:33 GMT
From Wikipedia: "In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin or maguffin) is a plot device in the form of some goal, desired object, or another motivator that the protagonist pursues, often with little or no narrative explanation." Since it's oftentimes the driving force behind characters' motivations, I thought it might be interesting to post what different 'MacGuffins' have appeared in movies. It's hard to go past the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - especially since it melts Nazis.  But I've personally always had a special fondness for the Omegahedron from Supergirl (1984). I recall reading somewhere that it was achieved in a very 'low-tech' way, with the spinning ball attached to a ring on the finger of whichever actor was holding it (something like that, anyway).    |
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Post by bravomailer on May 27, 2018 0:21:54 GMT
The glowing briefcase in Kiss Me Deadly, which was given homage in Repo Man and Pulp Fiction.
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Post by politicidal on May 27, 2018 0:35:47 GMT
The stolen microfilm in NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959).
The suitcase in Ronin (1998).
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Post by mikef6 on May 27, 2018 2:43:26 GMT
A few more Hitchcock McGuffins
What he knew in The Man Who Knew Too Much
Uranium in the wine bottles in Notorious
Robie trying to clear himself in To Catch A Thief
The formula in Torn Curtain
Spy vs. Spy in Topaz
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Post by manfromplanetx on May 27, 2018 5:02:37 GMT
God: Arthur, King of the Britons, your Knights of the Round Table shall have a task to make them an example in these dark times. King Arthur: Good idea, O Lord! God: 'Course it's a good idea! ...  |
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Post by Primemovermithrax Pejorative on May 27, 2018 5:26:36 GMT
I dont quite understand the idea of a MacGuffin as it applies to Raiders of the Lost Ark since it is in effect, God. How can that be inconsequential?
In that case God completely overrides all other character considerations (and as has been pointed out, if Indiana Jones was not in the story, Hitler would have died).
I feel the MacGuffin is sort of like the Hero's Journey. Every story is a journey. Who is going to spend their lives standing still with no contact with anyone else?
Many of the elements attributed to the Hero's Journey could be explains as a practical requirement of story physics.
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Post by jervistetch on May 27, 2018 5:51:59 GMT
In CHARADE, the MacGuffin turns out to be... |
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Post by BATouttaheck on May 27, 2018 14:43:39 GMT
Chalice_Of_Evil Would the Letters of Transit be a McGuffin in CASABLANCA ? and the Locket in Men in Black ?
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Post by Doghouse6 on May 27, 2018 16:13:49 GMT
Chalice_Of_Evil Would the Letters of Transit be a McGuffin in CASABLANCA ? and the Locket in Men in Black ? While I'm not the one you asked, I'd say that the letters of transit very much qualify as a McGuffin. As you might recall, Hitchcock's explanation had a man describing it to his traveling companion as "A device used for trapping lions in the Scottish highlands." When the companion pointed out that there are no lions in the Scottish highlands, the man replied, "Then that's no McGuffin." In other words, nothing at all, in its purest sense. So letters of transit, which were invented for the story and never actually existed in real life, fill the bill. |
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Post by BATouttaheck on May 27, 2018 17:48:37 GMT
Doghouse6 re: While I'm not the one you asked...
always happy to see you pop out of the puphouse to post a reply … especially when it confirms something I was not 100% on !
Would the Falcon be a MacGuffin ?
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Post by Doghouse6 on May 27, 2018 18:38:40 GMT
Would the Falcon be a MacGuffin ? That's another good one. As Hitchcock also said, it can be anything, using the example of Notorious: "If not uranium, it can be industrial diamonds; it doesn't matter." In the first Falcon remake, 1936's Satan Met A Lady, it was a jewel-filled ram's horn. |
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on May 27, 2018 21:49:28 GMT
The Skulls of Touganda are the magical MacGuffins in The Phantom (1996).     Chalice_Of_Evil Would the Letters of Transit be a McGuffin in CASABLANCA ? and the Locket in Men in Black ? While I'm not the one you asked, I'd say that the letters of transit very much qualify as a McGuffin. As you might recall, Hitchcock's explanation had a man describing it to his traveling companion as "A device used for trapping lions in the Scottish highlands." When the companion pointed out that there are no lions in the Scottish highlands, the man replied, "Then that's no McGuffin." In other words, nothing at all, in its purest sense. So letters of transit, which were invented for the story and never actually existed in real life, fill the bill. Thank you for answering that question, Doghouse6, since I could not. Regarding Men in Black (1997) - yes, I think locket would count. |
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Post by Doghouse6 on May 27, 2018 22:54:50 GMT
While I'm not the one you asked, I'd say that the letters of transit very much qualify as a McGuffin. As you might recall, Hitchcock's explanation had a man describing it to his traveling companion as "A device used for trapping lions in the Scottish highlands." When the companion pointed out that there are no lions in the Scottish highlands, the man replied, "Then that's no McGuffin." In other words, nothing at all, in its purest sense. So letters of transit, which were invented for the story and never actually existed in real life, fill the bill. Thank you for answering that question, Doghouse6, since I could not. Regarding Men in Black (1997) - yes, I think locket would count. That worked out perfectly, since I was unable to answer the Men In Black question (and remember next to nothing about it). It could be said, I think, that the land/water swindles in Chinatown served as that film's McGuffin, if an unusually well-integrated one from a thematic standpoint, as secrets surrounding civic and business corruption serve as metaphor for those surrounding personal corruption. In the sequel, The Two Jakes, a similar construction was used with a switch to oil and gas extraction. Viewing the device in an even larger sense, it might be fair to say that The Civil War and the Russian Revolution were the McGuffins for, respectively, Gone With the Wind and Doctor Zhivago, as those nation-disrupting political upheavals are mere backdrops to intimate stories about doomed romances. Although Hitchcock didn't invent the term, he popularized it, and I might go out on a limb (pardon the pun) and say that he took it to its fullest and most mischievous extreme in The Birds, in which the birds themselves - and their unexplained attacks - are the McGuffin: the dramatic involvement comes from the struggle of a small group of people to survive rather than what's behind the attacks, which is left unanswered...because, as Hitchcock said, "It doesn't matter." |
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Post by jervistetch on May 28, 2018 0:15:49 GMT
Sure, all of the characters in IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD we're after the money but if I had to name the MacGuffin I would have to say it was The Big W.  |
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Post by Doghouse6 on May 28, 2018 1:14:38 GMT
Sure, all of the characters in IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD we're after the money but if I had to name the MacGuffin I would have to say it was The Big W. I like this kind of thinking outside the box; uproarious comedies might not be the type of films where most would think of looking for McGuffins, and IAMMMMW is less about a quest for treasure than it is about the extremes to which greed and mistrust can lead average people. Likewise, Bringing Up Baby, Man's Favorite Sport? and What's Up Doc? are about free-spirited young women liberating cautious young men from their repressed lives, rather than about a dinosaur bone, a fishing competition or mixed-up but matching traveling bags. |
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Post by BATouttaheck on May 28, 2018 1:20:00 GMT
Doghouse6Does Groundhog Day have one ? For that matter … do all movies have MacGuffins ?
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Post by jervistetch on May 28, 2018 1:48:03 GMT
For that matter … do all movies have MacGuffins ? I'm not sure but an Egg MacGuffin sounds really good right now. |
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Post by BATouttaheck on May 28, 2018 1:52:55 GMT
For that matter … do all movies have MacGuffins ? I'm not sure but an Egg MacGuffin sounds really good right now. I was spelling it McGuffin and the same thought came to me. GMs do TA  emergency translation Great Minds do Think Alike
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Post by Doghouse6 on May 28, 2018 1:53:15 GMT
Doghouse6 Does Groundhog Day have one ? For that matter … do all movies have MacGuffins ? Well, I honestly couldn't say about all (since I haven't seen them), but they may be more common than might be suspected. For example, if Groundhog Day has one, I'd say it's the repetition of the day itself. What it really presents is a fable about a man with disdain for humanity discovering his own. Howzat? |
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Post by BATouttaheck on May 28, 2018 1:55:55 GMT
Howzat? Doghouse6 I like it !
The GOLD in TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE The meaning of "Rosebud" How to get home in ET Why so many people are obsessed with Devil's Tower in CLOSE ENCOUNTERS... ? |
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