Is there a more classic adventure story than Raiders of the Lost Ark, featuring one of America’s most beloved characters, Indiana Jones?
Why do we still know Indiana Jones, while so many other action and adventure movies from the 1980s have fallen into obscurity? They probably all followed the three-act structure, more or less. However, as we’ll see, Raiders of the Lost Ark also utilizes the complete Novel Matrix system to develop a robust, relatable story.
While Raiders of the Lost Ark is primarily about an archaeologist racing Nazis to recover a supernatural artifact, it’s also (almost equally) about a man who is deciding between his job and love, and about a man who isn’t sure if the Bible is true or just a bunch of hocus pocus. Even if we can’t really relate to being an archaeologist or fighting Nazis, we can all feel those other conflicts.
One Universe
The universe of Raiders of the Lost Ark is not complex. We have pretty clear good guys and bad guys, and the technology is accurately simple to 1936.
However, one element of the universe is exceptionally important, and great care is taken to establish it: the supernatural power of the Ark.
Our guide character (Dr. Marcus Brody) comes right out of the gate to establish the untold power of the Ark in one of our opening scenes—the initial meeting with Army intelligence. This supernatural power is later reinforced by Sallah as well as by several visual effects, including the brewing storm as they uncover the Well of Souls, and the swastika burning off of the crate when the Ark is stowed in the ship.
Because these elements are established early on and then confirmed throughout, the supernatural resolution to the story in the Climax doesn’t feel like deus ex machina. Instead, we believe it, we’re ready for it.
Three Acts
As we would expect, Raiders of the Lost Ark follows the three-act structure perfectly. The only element that confuses this is the fact that the Little World internal conflict and Little World external conflict are both strongly developed, and almost compete to be the “Driving Conflict.”
For example, the showdown towards the end of the third act in which Indiana Jones threatens to blow up the Ark if Belloq doesn’t give him the girl is super critical to the plot of the story. It also hinges directly on Jones’s personal internal conflict. He’s once again in a position where he must choose between the girl and his mission.
However, as an adventure story, the external conflict reigns. When we examine the second half of the story through that lens, all of the pieces fall in order. If anything, the previously mentioned showdown with Belloq could be considered a second near-miss. However, even though it feels like a negative event, it does move the story positively to the Climax.
Five Conflicts
The conflicts of Indiana Jones are relatively straightforward. As we’ll see in the character breakdown, the Little World philosophical conflict is perfectly articulated by Dr. Marcus Brody and Dr. Rene Belloq.
Seven Characters
Here we see some deviation from the Novel Matrix system, in that there is no obvious “Frenemy” character in Raiders of the Lost Ark. I’ve had students suggest various candidates over the years, but any of those suggestions are stretching to serve the system, and that’s not what we’re about.
As discussed in The Novel Matrix book, we see the most variation in the characters. Some stories have one or two extras, some stories may be missing one.
How does Raiders of the Lost Ark get away with not having a Frenemy? Remember that the purpose of each archetype is to serve the story in a particular way. The Frenemy’s job is to inject a variable into the scene. When the Frenemy shows up, we’re never quite sure if things will get better or worse.
Raiders of the Lost Ark is achieving sufficient unpredictability without this character. By well developing the Little World internal conflict, the complex motivations of the Big World, and Indiana Jones’s penchant for extremely risky behavior, there are enough elements that leave us unsure what might happen next. As such, we can get away with going light on the Frenemy.
One interesting element of the story that brings a lot of nuance and fun is the conflict between the philosophical conflicts in the Little World and the Big World. In the Little World, the antagonist (Belloq) does not believe that the Ark has any real power, but the American academic (Marcus Brody) does! However, in the Big World, the Nazis believe these artifacts may have real power, but the Americans do not!
In effect, Belloq works for the Nazis despite disagreeing with their premise for doing so, and Indiana Jones works for the Americans despite (ultimately) disagreeing with their premise for doing so.
Raiders of the Lost Ark Notes
There have been lots of fun movies made over the past 50 years. Some of them stick.
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark hasn’t risen to the level of classic simply because it was the most fun. While we can’t overlook marketing, and the universal appeal of Nazis as bad guys, there’s something to the story that works.
When we compare Raiders of the Lost Ark to the Novel Matrix system, we see that it fulfills all of our expectations for story. Yes, it’s fun, but because we have five fully developed conflicts, it’s a story that also sticks to our guts. Because the universe is appropriately developed before we need any supernatural elements, the story feels complete rather than just fun and quirky.
While the adventurous external conflict is effectively unrelatable to 99.99% of the world (who among us has ever tracked down a priceless artifact?), Indiana Jones’s internal and philosophical conflicts are supremely relatable. We can all relate to the idea of being torn between the job that we have to do and the people we love. We can all relate to being unsure if what the Bible says it’s true or it’s just old stories.
Raiders of the Lost Ark proves that no matter how simple the story is that you think you’re telling, by taking the time to develop the conflicts, the characters, and the universe, your story can be powerful.
By utilizing the Novel Matrix, you’ll tell a super fun story that also hits your audience in their guts and sticks with them.
Ready to get started? Pick up your own copy of The Novel Matrix on Amazon (click here) and put these principles to work in your storytelling.
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