Mythical Narratives

the four functions of the myth in the movie A Vila

Abstract

This article points out the possible relations between the narrative of the American film A Vila (2004, M. Night Shyamalan) and the mythical narratives. Using the phenomenological method, we try to describe situations that appear in cinematographic production and compare them to the four functions of the myth (Mystical or Metaphysical, Cosmological, Sociological and Psychological or Pedagogical) proposed by Joseph Campbell. Before we look specifically at the possible analogies between the narrative of the film and the functions of the myths, we seek to contextualize the mythical narratives from the perspective of thinkers Mircea Eliade, Joseph Campbell, Carl Gustav Jung and Monica Martinez. The mythical narratives are understood, by these authors, as truths that through metaphors can explain the reality for the human being.