The opening credits of the movie are animated, which was not uncommon for the period in which it was made, especially for comedy movies. This establishes the films genre before an actor has even crossed the screen, as it relies on the audiences previous knowledge of what might be expected from such a film with an animated opening. The animation is essentially a visual representation of the title, as it shows a globe being distorted and manipulated in various ways which mirror certain events of the movie. This animation is actually a 3 minute round up of the movie, as it displays key events in chronological order and gives the audience a sneak preview of some of the hilarity that will ensue come the start of the movie. As well as the small tidbits of prophetic animation, absurdist humour is also something used throughout this movie; present from the opening credits, and continued into the very narrative of the film. This surrealism is carried over to cinematographical, performance and editing aspects of the movie. This can be described as form-imitating-meaning, in the sense that the movie’s bizarre premise, of four complete strangers looking for the buried ‘three-hundred and fifty gees’ of a crazed old man they find dying near the road, is reflected in the canted camera angles, the alternating of fast and slow shot changes and the manner in which the four men speak. This form of outlandish and slightly eccentric comedy was common in the 1960’s, and was copied relentlessly with movies such as Help! This queer manner of presenting a movie proved popular with audiences, as it lent itself to heightening the humour present in the more conventional gags of 60’s slapstick comedy. Contradictions are frequently used throughout this film, both verbal and visual, and are integral to the overall narrative of the piece, as they reflect the madness the title is referring to, as well as adding to the absurd and illogical atmosphere. Lines such as ‘I am a liar’ and ‘The only thing you are sure of is that nothing is sure’ are frequently used in this movie, marking the instances where deception and dishonesty occur. This adds to the comedy on numerous levels, as no character within the movies immediately catches on to the betrayal at hand when such a contradictory line is said, despite it being made painfully obvious the audience. This form of humour, where a character misses or misunderstands a situation, and ends up in some form of hilarious predicament is a staple mark of slapstick comedy caper movies, going hand in hand with the humour associated with a characters ignorance. One must remember the era of film production this was created in, as many of the jokes used in this movie are now considered to be cliché, and act almost as stereotypes for a comedy movie. However, at the time humour like this was considered to be highly sophisticated, and often reflected the comic-styling of whom ever was portraying a certain character
The film opens on a stretch of curved, winding road somewhere in the Southern California desert. The camera follows the progress of a black car as it haphazardly weaves in between the truck and three cars that are driving ahead of him, as he does this car horns and loud, screeching tires can be heard. This gives the impression that the occupant of the black car has little regard for other drivers, and is either driving at breakneck speed to get somewhere soon, or he is being chased. This immediately sets the tone for the rest of the movie, starting as they mean to go on, as it were. This opening shot establishes the movie to have a theme of fast, dangerous car chases with highly comical consequences. The shot cuts to one inside the black car, shot from the backseat, so only the back of the driver can be seen; his rigid stance, with his elbows sticking out and his knuckles white over the driving wheel, coupled with his continuous honking of his horn are very telling to the viewer regarding what this character is like and solidifies the previous assumption that he is in fact running away from something. The very fact that the camera is only focusing on the black car and its occupant tells the audience that he is an important character to the plot.
Following this, we see the black car and its driver veer off the road and over a small cliff. At this point many techniques which are more commonly associated with action films are utilized, such as rapid zoom in, slow motion and viewing the car from multiple angles as it flies off the road. It can be easily argued that this is an example of satire, as the techniques used seem to be highly exaggerated; with the slow motion descent of the car being incredibly lengthy, and changing shot angle and perspective no less than 15 times. Satire is something common in all forms of comedy, and generates response in a movie as it allows a viewer to relate what they’ve just seen to the original format; these mental comparisons expand the sense of surrealism already present in the movie, and show how important that sense of strangeness is vital to the movie.
Perhaps this movies most obvious comic device is the use of visual metaphors; when the man in the black car is dying; with his last breath he quite literally kicks the bucket. This technique is used over and over in the film, using physical slapstick comedy to provide an unspoken narrative which is easily understood and greatly enjoyed by the audience.
Overall, I believe this movie uses its style to effortlessly convey its meaning and narrative. However, I believe it would be unfair to say that this movie used generic genre conventions, as there were none at the time of its creation. If anything, this movie started certain generic genre traits, and influences many films even to this day.
