About illustrative of America on the international scene. A Comparison of American and European Movies

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A Comparison of American and European Movies
Every passing day the American and European cultures prove to be very different in many ways particularly in the areas of cinematography or movies. For each country, there is no doubt that the producers, directors and studios work very hard in order to meet the various specific needs of their audiences. The major areas of comparison are the predictability of the movies, the budget of the productions, level of control and exposure, the focus and pace of the films, and the re-making of movies. However, these are not the only differences as the two also differ in other significant ways as will be discussed in this paper.
In terms of predictability, one can easily predict American films as compared to European ones. For example, in the movie Salt staring American actress Angelina Jolie, the story begins with many questioning who Salt is in the film. Along the way, a Russian defector reveals that the character Salt will be the one that kills the Russian President and this prompts Evelyn Salt to run away from the CIA. After joining her Russian compatriots very early in the movie, it is almost predictable where a twist will come in in the end. As is typical of most American movies plot twists, Salt ends up being depicted as a loyal agent to the United States. Seemingly, Americans have been known to prefer clear endings that are equally not ambiguous. In this regard, the hero and villain need to be known from the start in American movies in a way that the audience does not have to struggle much in trying to decipher the real intent of the author. The Titanic is another easily predictable movie given its well-known historical context. Compared to American films, the plots and endings in most European movies tend to be more realistic. An example is the movie The Third Man, which involves many twists and turns that leave the audience guessing about the next move.
The budget that goes into filmmaking and production is another area where the American and European movies differ. American moves that are usually produced in studios often have bigger budgets that involve the use of auteur directors, blockbuster stars of great renown, big special effects and great make up. Considering this, there is no doubt that in American film industry, focus is placed more on how much returns a movie will make instead of the quality of the end product, thus explaining the very expensive cost of production. Examples include the Avatar movie that cost $237 million USD to be produced, Spider-Man 3 cost $258 million USD, and the 2010 movie Tangled, which cost $260 million USD. European movies on the other hand have a budget that is much lower, use less quality make-up and less special effects. The stars are not blockbusters or major stars like in the American case and in most instances, countries have major actors that are only considered as stars in only those specific countries. Examples of very successful but low-budget European movies include Downfall film that cost 13.5 million Euros to produce and the film Black Book whose budget was $21 million. By comparing the cost of production, it is quite evident that while Americans focus on making blockbusters, Europeans tend to lean more on those that sell the name of their country to the outside world.
The level of control and exposure allowed in the two differ largely. In terms of control for example, American films are in most cases, under the control of the studio or the producer. In European films on the other hand, the director is the one with the control. Since the government gives grants to the industry, most directors in the European film industry...