He went on to experiment by referencing himself and other films of his as his career progressed, breaking down the fourth wall on a larger, ongoing scale. It is because of cinematic risks like this that Brooks became an icon as opposed to simply a talented comedy director. Brooks is commenting on the cinematic conceit of fourth wall breaking, thus taking it to an entirely new level.

The villain of the piece, Hedley Lemarr, then tears through New York and even goes to see a screening of Blazzing Saddles, cracking jokes the whole way. In fact, the actors say point blank that they are “ …working for Mel Brooks,” before a huge fight breaks out with the musical production. In the final act of the movie, the characters we have been following actually crash through a physical wall into a neighboring Hollywood film. Breaking the fourth wall is taken quite literally and had more of a structural impact on the film in this specific instance. Excluding mockumentaries that are designed to do so, below are 15 of the strongest and most effective examples of breaking the fourth wall in recent television and film.īlazing Saddles was a defining film for Mel Brooks for many reasons. Regardless of the reason, it is the closest thing to the literary inner monologue that is sacrificed when translating something from the page. Sometimes it is even a wink to the audience, acknowledging the absurdity of what is taking place. Sometimes a character needs to explain something to audience more clearly, while other times a creator wants to give the audience better insight to a character’s actions or motivation.

There are different reasons for breaking the fourth wall. Some see this as a cheat when it comes to storytelling, but when done well, it can give us quite a bit of insight into the inner workings of an otherwise complex character. Dating back to Shakespeare, it adds an entirely new level of meta-awareness that has become common place in current film and television.

Put simply, breaking the fourth wall is when a character breaks free of the world established by the story and talks directly to the audience.

Clarissa explains it all torrent