Analysis Of: Bridget Jones' Diary

Bridget Jones's Diary is a 2001 British romantic comedy film based on Helen Fielding's novel of the same name. The adaptation stars Renée Zellweger as Bridget, Hugh Grant as the caddish Daniel Cleaver, and Colin Firth as Bridget's "true love", Mark Darcy. Shot in the United Kingdom, the films only spoken language is English with a budget of $26 Million and a gross revenue of $281,929,795.

Shortly after the Miramax, Universal Studios, Studio Canal and Working Title logos are shown, a non diegetic voiceover provided by lead cast member Renee Zelwegger is heard, setting the narrative and informing the viewer of where her character (seen walking through the bitter snow) is heading.

Her voiceover talks of her being single with comedic elements (signifying the romantic comedy factor) mixed with the fairytale like ''It all began...'' show that this is going to be a film about this characters love life, and her quest to find happiness.

Shots of her walking up to her mothers house include establishing shots, medium shots and long shots all fading into each other, adding to the fairy tale feeling that the viewer has at this stage.

Upon entering her mothers house, mise-en-scene indicates that it is a typical countryside W.I. setting that is quite middle class, further reinforced with her mothers immediate gossiping about ''very well off'' people and sly racism towards the Japanese.

The scene then cuts to the lead character in a new bright red costume that could be seen to signify love, romance and even danger towards this character. This hints that Bridget is incapable of holding down a relationship no matter how hard she tries.

A long shot of Colin Firth's characters back is then shown, so the audience can see his face at the same time as the lead characters. This indicates that the film is a 3rd person poin of view story as told by Bridget Jones.

Awkwards two shots are then shown of the two lead characters talking to each other, with Colin Firth's character Mark standing awkwardly in a reindeer jumper with Bridget talking non stop, a fact she herself later realises.

Another key shot is of Mark insulting Bridget in a medium shot of him and another older female character, with Bridget clearly seen in the middle of the two, able to hear everything.

During this sequence several diegetic love songs performed by Andy Williams could be heard in the distance.

A montage of Bridget is then shown singing a romantic ballad while drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, this encourages the viewer to feel sympathy towards her, even when she runs out of alcohol.

The viewer is now keen to find out more about Bridget's life, hoping that she finds the happy ending that she is clearly craving.