by Salva Rubio
DON’T BE AFRAID OF YOUR MITH
If you really want to make your characters and audiences suffer, you’ve found the ideal genre. Here’s what you’ll need:
A “monster” whose powers are or seem supernatural (insanity counts!). They are evil, on the prowl and looking for you!
A “house” or an enclosed space where your protagonists will be trapped. It can be physical or metaphorical, as small as an actual house or as big as a whole country. Just make sure your characters have no way out!
A “sin” your characters have committed, either in ignorance or perhaps from arrogance — regardless, the sin has really made someone in the dark angry, and now someone else has to pay!
So now that you have sharpened your writing tools, get ready to enter the darkness and prepare to defend against the monster... or to become one!
28 DAYS LATER (2002)
If you were alive before 2002, you will remember that the zombie genre was pretty much... dead. But just as the deceased have a tendency to rise from their graves, this British film resurrected undead apocalypse fiction, re-animating not only dozens of successful films, TV series and comic books, but turning the genre mainstream again.
Starting with a meager $ 8 M, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland exploited collective terror by portraying the usually busy and lively city of London as an eerily empty wasteland. They not only gave us an unforgettable view of the city but also struck a common chord, dealing with the fear against our fellow man and citizens in difficult times.
Many of the worldwide praise for the film also came from the fact that the formerly slow, moaning and dragging (read: boring) traditional zombies were turned into the “infected,” which have very different traits: fast-moving, enraged, agile, vicious... so don’t think about outrunning them! 28 Days Later is thus an example of the “Pure Monster” genre, in which an unusually powerful beast or animal relentlessly pursues a group of survivors. And aren’t the infected nothing more than “human animals”?
By supercharging them with “rage,” Boyle and Garland are telling us a story about survival in a zombie apocalypse, and also about a more decisive choice — even if we are safe from the virus, can we not be as deadly as the infected when we lose our human values?
MITH Type: Pure Monster
MITH Cousins: Night of the Living Dead, Attack the Block, The Mist, Dawn of the Dead, Dead Snow
28 DAYS LATER
Written by Alex Garland
Directed by Danny Boyle
Opening Image: TV images of a world in turmoil, violence and “people killing people.” Are they infected by the virus? No, but we soon find out that there is another kind of disease that is not transmitted by blood or saliva, but is equally lethal: the virus of hate, rage and violence, which is our “sin.” Is it possible to live in a world without them? Our story starts with three animal rights activists setting loose some lab monkeys and unknowingly becoming the first victims of the real virus.
Theme Stated: The theme is stated early on, when the doctor attacked by the activists answers a question regarding the monkeys. “Infected with what?” “Rage.” It can be a disease, but also an attitude — violence and hate are just as contagious as a virus, and if spread to the whole population, can it not cause the same amount of harm?
Set-Up: Precisely 28 days later, a naked man named Jim (Cillian Murphy), strapped to a bed much like the chimpanzee in the first scene, wakes up to find himself in an empty hospital, seeing afterwards the barren streets and deserted whole city of London. As with all good Set-Ups, this film describes the “systemic problem”: humanity has disappeared off the face of the earth! And Jim seems to be the only survivor, as he wanders the empty city calling out a single word: “Hello.” Jim does not seem afraid, and he is eager to find other people. He still trusts humanity.
Catalyst: At minute 12, Jim finds a newspaper and finally learns what happened. After the outbreak, all UK citizens were meant to be evacuated, resulting in global chaos.
Debate: Doubts are the foundation of every effective Debate beat. Where have the people been evacuated to? Where must he go now? The answer comes soon, when Jim seeks refuge for the night in a nearby church and is greeted by an infected priest, who shows him (and us) the real effect of the infection — people have been turned into rabid, agile, zombie-like predators who infect each other with blood and saliva. Fortunately, Jim soon finds two other non-infected people, joker Mark (Noah Huntley) and tough-gal Selena (Naomie Harris).
B Story: Selena is the perfect B Story Character — not only because of the obvious attraction and sexual tension between her and Mark, but also because her own humanity is at risk. She soon claims that she will kill anyone who gets infected and that “staying alive is as good as it gets.” But Jim seems to know that under that rugged façade, she is a good person, one who can still be “infected” by hatred, losing her humanity. Could he end up being infected himself?
Break into Two: After being briefed by Mark and Selena about how the outbreak took place and how there is no government, police, army, TV, radio or electricity, Jim decides that he wants to see his family in Deptford (South East London). Mark sets two rules: to never go anywhere alone and to travel only by day.
Fun and Games: And so the Fun and Games beat involves getting out in the open and risking being attacked by the infected. When they finally reach Jim’s home, he finds his parents dead and soon after, they are attacked. Mark gets infected, so Selena ruthlessly dispatches of him, showing that her words were true — she will show no remorse! They find two more survivors: Frank and his teenage daughter Hannah. The group can’t just hide, as they are running out of water, so Frank makes them listen to a radio transmission by the army promising them help from the 42 nd blockade. Selena protests, but Hannah states “We need each other.” They decide to go to the blockade, ignoring the recording’s warning that “We are soldiers. We are armed.” On the way, Jim viciously kills an infected boy. Is his own humanity at stake?
Midpoint: The false victory comes when they arrive at Waverley Abbey, where they can spend some hours in peace without fearing for their lives. It is a “Midpoint celebration,” a “campfire scene” which for them precludes salvation and fills them with hope as they see some wild horses run free. It is also time for some brief Sex at 60, as Selena kisses Jim “for a heartbeat.” She is obviously not ready for anything more.
Bad Guys Close In: The next morning, they find the 42 nd blockade, where supposedly salvation awaits. Not only is it deserted, Frank gets infected and is about to attack the group, when a hail of bullets kills him. Jim, Selena and Hannah are saved (or captured?) by a bunch of surviving soldiers under the command of a Major Henry West, who tries hard to be nice to them. He is also the Half Man of our movie, as he is keeping an infected soldier, Mailer, chained “to learn from him.” West’s intentions remain unclear, military discipline is lacking everywhere and he sees the situation as normal, because “people killing people” is what has been happening before and after the infection. Isn’t this the echo of the “sin of violence”? Soon after some of the infected enter the premises, the soldiers show their true plans: to force Selena and Hannah to have sex, because by doing so, “they mean a future.”
All Is Lost: Jim grabs Selena and Hannah and tries to flee from the house, but is knocked out, ending their last chance to escape. The lights of the house go out as their hope fades.
Dark Night of the Soul: Jim listens to the rant of a sargeant, who thinks that the UK has been quarantined but the rest of the world is still uninfected. Is there hope?
Break into Three: It seems that Jim will never find out, since in the morning he is to be shot along with the sergeant. The latter provokes the soldiers, so Jim uses the confusion to escape. And then he sees something: a plane flying overhead. They may have a chance!
Finale:
Gathering the Team: Jim decides to save Selena and Hannah, and for that he must “gather the team” of soldiers so that he can dispose
of them. He rings a siren, kills one of them and leaves West behind, fighting with some infected. But unexpectedly, West survives.
Executing the Plan: Jim — now moving, behaving and looking like an infected (synthesis man !) — enters the literal castle to execute his plan: to release Mailer, the infected soldier, so that other soldiers will kill and infect each other.
High Tower Surprise: Jim realizes that the soldier who tried to rape Selena is holding her! So from the attic (again, a literal “high tower”), he savagely attacks him as if infected.
Dig, Deep Down: When Selena thinks Jim has been infected, Jim “digs deep down” and lets her attack him, but she stops at the last moment, incapable of hurting him. Jim has shown Selena that she still has some humanity inside. They will be able to be together after all. There is still hope!
The Execution of the New Plan: The new plan involves running away from the house, which they do in the taxi they brought, while Hannah has her own revenge by letting Mailer kill West. Then unexpectedly Jim is wounded. Will they survive?
Final Image: 28 days yet later, Jim wakes up in a country house with Selena and Hannah. Not far away, the last of the infected are dying of starvation. When the survivors hear a plane, they display a huge sign in the green grass. Their “hell” has turned into Jim’s motto: “Hello.”
THE LIVES OF OTHERS (2006)
One of 2006 ’s film sensations, this German story earned a variety of well-deserved prizes, including an Academy Award ® for Best Foreign Language Film, truly a remarkable achievement considering it was the first full-length film of director F. H. Von Donnersmark... and shot with a $ 2 million budget, earning $ 77 million by 2007 !
In our post-Snowden world, can there be a better “monster” than the Stasi, the all-knowing secret police with thousands of plain citizen informants that filed every little private secret of the German Democratic Republic people before the fall of the Berlin Wall? And isn’t the whole country a “house” in which citizens can be enclosed and chased by higher powers? Finally, isn’t the arrogance of lying a “sin”?
It is also a good choice for this book because it breaks many expectations — it is not even a traditional horror film, but a political drama. However, all the components of a good “Domestic Monster” are here, even the Half Man, that damaged character who knows about the terrible consequences of dealing with the beast, who in a twist, stars in one of our two storylines. Wait, two?
Narratively, a number of very interesting decisions were made in this film, particularly the fact that there are not one but two parallel and overlapping stories, resulting in two beat sheets, one for each of the male characters, writer Georg Dreyman and Stasi agent Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler. In another creative twist, this results in two consecutive Finales, each with their own 5 -point structure! As in many cases, breaking the rules can definitely get you an Oscar ®.
MITH Type: Domestic Monster
MITH Cousins: Straw Dogs, We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Devils (Les Diaboliques), Knife in the Water, Hard Candy
THE LIVES OF OTHERS (DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN)
Written and Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Opening Image: It is 1984, during the tough Socialist regime in East Germany. Any citizen can be interrogated or made an informant by the talented interrogator Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe), the prototypical Stasi agent with an almost supernatural talent to recognize a liar. He is as ruthless as the State he represents, yet can someone like him become a “good man”? Soon after, we behold the Opening Image of our second protagonist, writer Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch), who for now is seen as non-subversive, loyal to the government and innocent about its wrongdoings — very different from the man we’ll see at the end.
Theme Stated: “The enemies of our State are arrogant,” says Wiesler to his pupils at University, defining our “sin.” Is it possible for a man to lie to that all-knowing “monster” that is the secret police and get away with it? Interestingly, Wiesler also labels Dreyman on first sight as “arrogant”, joining both themes. By the end of the film, we will see where that “arrogance,” in reality defiance, leads both men.
Set-Up: Indeed, when Wiesler’s lieutenant, Grubitz (Ulrich Tukur), takes him to see one of Dreyman’s stage plays, Wiesler thinks there is something fishy about him... which is also, pun intended, a Stasis = death moment: suspecting everyone, he will never be able to change. Dreyman’s own Set-Up starts in the theater (his “work scene”), then he has a “play scene” dancing with his actress girlfriend Christa (Martina Gedeck). Later we will see them in their “home scene” (also the actual “house” of our MITH).
Catalyst: At minute 11, Grubitz receives a mission for Wiesler from Minister Bruno Hempf (Thomas Thieme): to secretly investigate Dreyman, offering political influence and privileges in return. Unbeknownst to Dreyman, this is also the Catalyst for him, since this interest will set the plot in motion.
Debate: Why is Hempf interested in Dreyman, an apparently loyal writer? We start to suspect that the author’s girlfriend, talented and fascinating but insecure actress Christa, is the primary reason. As Dreyman Debates with Hempf, the only way for artists to avoid blacklisting and to get work in the GDR is to be submissive to politicians, a path Christa will soon follow when coerced by Hempf. In the Wiesler beat sheet, we learn how he lives: he is a lonely man, completely devoid of any human connection or warmth — a life so different from that of Christa and Dreyman.
Break into Two: In this overlapping beat, following the minister’s orders, a team of Stasi agents wire and bug Dreyman’s house, while Wiesler prepares his listening station in the penthouse. Everything is ready for the mission to begin — there is “no turning back” for either of the characters.
B Story: The “love” story beat is also dual, since it not only concerns the relationship between Christa and Dreyman, but how Wiesler becomes fascinated by these particular “lives of others” — how his reactions to them are at first based in lies and mutual deceit, and later in truth and sacrifice.
Fun and Games: We explore the upside-down world of every character. In Dreyman’s case, he visits Jerska (Volkmart Kleinert), his old depressed mentor who has been blacklisted by the government, a fate that would await him should he dare defy the Stasi. Dreyman lies to him, if only to give him hope. Jerska gives Dreyman a gift; sheet music for Sonata for a Good Man. Wiesler explores the upside-down version of his own lonely world: the full life of a dynamic couple, first discovering that Christa’s and Dreyman’s life together is also driven by lies, from the petty one he tells her about his ability to knot a tie to the most serious secret she hides — an addiction to pills. There is one lie that Wiesler does not tolerate. He discovers that Minister Hempf is using him to destroy Dreyman’s career so that he can have Christa for himself. “Is that why we joined [the Stasi]?” asks a disappointed Wiesler. He then “helps” Dreyman discover Christa’s infidelity so that they will split up and he can shut down the stakeout. But much to Wiesler’s surprise, Dreyman “lies” — not revealing what he’s learned, he just hugs Christa in support. Dreyman understands what it is to “bed” government officials to get work. Shaken by this unexpected show of love and protection, Wiesler decides to learn more about the couple’s private lives, caring more and more for them.
Midpoint: A false defeat comes for Wiesler when he learns that Jerska has hanged himself. And the time clock starts ticking for Wiesler as Minister Hempf gets impatient and asks for results from the surveillance, but Dreyman has done nothing wrong. At home, he and Christa argue, and he reveals to her, publicly coming out, that he knows about her affair with the politician. Worried about them, Wiesler also stages his own public coming out (as A and B Stories cross), approaching Christa in a bar as if one of her theatre fans. She is kind and tells him he is a good man... but is he? Minutes later, Christa and Dreyman reconcile and have Sex at 60.
Bad Guys Close In: Angry after Jerska’s suicide, and determined to be a “good man,” Dreyman decides to wri
te a denounciation. To keep his identity hidden, sympathetic friends provide an “untraceable” typewriter with red ink, an act that will attract Bad Guys. Wiesler has to face his own Bad Guys when he starts taking more risks to protect the couple, as first his associate at the wire station and then Grubitz get suspicious. When Dreyman’s article is published, more Bad Guys Close In as Wiesler lies to his superiors and risks too much to protect the couple. Regardless of his efforts to keep them together, their love is fading — they start lying to each other once again.
All Is Lost: Tired of her continuous rejection, Minister Hempf decides to end Christa’s career. All Is Lost for Dreyman when she is arrested on account of her drug addiction and confesses that he wrote the article, but she reveals nothing about the typewriter which would prove he did. With Grubitz becoming certain that Weisler is helping the couple, he summons him for his own interrogation — ironically, the worst possible scenario for a man who understands the cruel workings of the system. This is his own All Is Lost.
Dark Night of the Soul: Dreyman laments Christa’s arrest, while the whiff of death is in the air as Weisler enters the interrogation offices knowing that he may be facing his own demise.
Break into Three: When forced to interrogate Christa (A and B Stories cross again), she recognizes Wiesler as the fan she met in the bar. Sensing that she can trust him — and as the actress she is — she plays along with his cues, so both of them manage to fool Grubitz. Christa then confesses to Wiesler where the typewriter has been hidden — perhaps he can save them after all, if he gets to it before the other agents.
Finale: As pointed out before, this film has two consecutive finales, the first concerning Wiesler.