Save the Cat! Goes to the Indies

by Salva Rubio

  Finale:

  Gathering the Team: In the morning, Bob calls Charlotte from the lobby to try to see her once more.

  Executing the Plan: Bob, ignoring a blonde bimbo who is trying to hit on him, meets Charlotte and says goodbye. Although she seems open to his suggesting something, he does not dare to say anything more. And off she goes, maybe forever...

  High Tower Surprise: Just when he thought he had lost her, Bob spots Charlotte’s blonde hair in a crowded street. It is his last chance, either now or never!

  Dig, Deep Down: Bob “digs, deep down,” jumps from the taxi and chases Charlotte, embracing her and releasing the tension between them. At last, they are being sincere with their feelings.

  The Execution of the New Plan: Bob has a plan for both of them, which he whispers in her ear. There has been much debate about his actual words, which remain unheard. But what is important (show, don’t tell) is that afterwards, he kisses her, at last showing his love for her and thus signaling his own change.

  Final Image: Bob gets in the taxi, smiling at Charlotte. He is a changed man. In the beginning, he was out of touch with himself, but after acknowledging his feelings for Charlotte, he is starting a new phase in his life, having found “acceptance.” We don’t know what will become of Bob and Charlotte... but we do know they will never be the same.

  BLUE VALENTINE (2010)

  Can you “love like crazy” your wife, your daughter and your family... and still be completely stuck in life? This small ($ 1 m) independent film by one of my favorite directors, Derek Cianfrance, perfectly manages to photograph the beginning and the end of the love story of Dean and Cindy as if twice frozen in time.

  In many ways, Blue Valentine tells the story of one of those “crazy loves” that happens in so many movies: the magical encounter, the mutual seduction, the drama and difficulties of being together... but interestingly, it is told from the point of view of who the lovers have become after five years, when decadence, drinking and lack of passion have taken their toll on the “perfect” love story, leading to an almost inevitable separation.

  What is especially interesting is that this film’s clever structure features not one, but two parallel storylines... and that, my friends, equates to two potential beat sheets. Can a film keep its general, logical overall structure while having two non-linear plots happening back and forth in time that also perfectly fit the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet?

  The answer is yes — indeed, this fantastic movie is one example of the flexibility the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet offers. In the right hands, it can become a powerful creative tool with which to make miracles like this heart-breaking story of love and separation.

  ROP Type: Separation Passage

  ROP Cousins: Silver Linings Playbook, Three Colors: White, Cashback, A Separation, The Squid and the Whale

  BLUE VALENTINE

  Written and Directed by Derek Cianfrance

  Opening Image: A clear Opening Image if there ever was one: Dean (Ryan Gosling) starts off sleeping alone on the couch, a symbol of his current state in the “time-out chair of life”; by the end, he will have had quite a rude awakening from his dream of a family life. Yet we learn he is in a sense a family man, evidenced by his close relationship with his charming daughter Frankie (Faith Wladyka), the opposite of what we will see in the end.

  Set-Up: As Blake advised in Save the Cat!® Strikes Back, we visit the “at home,” “at work” and “at play” scenes of the main character — “at play” being the scene where father and daughter wake up mom Cindy (Michelle Williams) sleeping alone in bed, “at home” being the family breakfast where Dean behaves like a child and “at work,” where Dean (who drinks and drives) has a job as a painter, while Cindy is a nurse at a clinic, where she is hit on by her boss, Dr. Feinberg... and does not seem to mind. Clearly, there are many things that need fixin g in their lives.

  Theme Stated: “Dean, I don’t need to clean after two kids.” This line, spoken by Cindy, pretty much summarizes their main problem: despite what she expects in a husband, Dean behaves as an immature child, something exciting when falling in love... but maybe a drag when you have a family. Or is it that Cindy has forgotten how to have fun?

  Catalyst: Cindy finds Megan, their lost dog, dead in a ditch, which makes her late for Frankie’s school show. But instead of supporting her, Dean can only blame her to disguise his own guilt, asking her, “How many times did I tell you to lock the f****** gate? Huh?”

  Debate: How does a couple end up like this? Did they really love each other once? To answer these questions, we go back in time about five years earlier (although it seems much more), to learn about their love and relationship expectations. Here, Dean is a young man working for a moving company. He thinks “men are more romantic than women,” and his philosophy is that girls “marry the guy that has a good job and who’s gonna stick around.” Is he right? Is that enough to keep a couple happy?

  Break into Two: Dean buries the dog, breaks down in tears and watches old family films while Cindy stands strong and cleans the house. Immature Dean does not realize that she expects him to support and help her, so instead, he avoids his responsibility again and suggests to Cindy that the pair have a reckless romantic weekend: “Let’s go get drunk and make love.” She clearly does not feel like it, but as her own character flaw dictates, she ends up going along with the plan. Ironically, at the hotel Dean chooses the Future Room.

  B Story: In the liquor store, Cindy finds Bobby Ontario, a former boyfriend who immediately hits on her and who looks like the complete opposite of Dean: young, well-groomed and fun. Also, although we won’t find about it until later, Bobby is Frankie’s true father and the proof that Cindy’s life could have been very different. Can it still be?

  Fun and Games: This section starts with another flashback where we see a young Cindy stuck in her previous relationship with Bobby, an abusive father and a grandma who tells her, “You gotta be careful that the person that you fall in love with is worth it to you.” Back in the present, Dean and Cindy are about to start their “romantic” weekend in a cheesy love hotel. There, they hold on to their roles: he continues to be immature while she acts responsible. Little by little, they try to bring back the passion... but it doesn’t seem to work. They are each attempting to solve this crisis the “wrong way.”

  Midpoint: In this case, the Midpoint refers to the false victory of their falling in love. In the past, Dean encounters her on the bus and raises the stakes with his childlike romantic wooing, and in a night to remember, they live their own public coming out as their relationship charmingly flourishes among bad jokes, street tap-dancing and ukulele-serenading.

  Bad Guys Close In: But again in the present, the “internal” Bad Guys that have accumulated over the years slowly seep out as Cindy asks Dean why he doesn’t do something else in life if he is so talented. A good ROP character, he defends his being stuck: “This is the dream.” For Dean, there is nothing more to achieve in life than having a wife, a daughter and a job that lets him drink. Dean tries to have sex with Cindy, but she punishes him — their drunken romantic weekend is not working. Back in the past again, we learn that Cindy is pregnant. Dean forces her to confess: “Is it mine?” “Probably not.”

  All Is Lost: In accordance with our flashback/flash-forward storytelling, at minute 70, Cindy is about to get an abortion, but she stops the procedure at the last minute. Meanwhile, in the present, she is woken up by a call from work and decides to leave Dean behind. The romantic weekend has been a total failure and they are “worse off than when the movie started.”

  Dark Night of the Soul: Again, we have dual parallel beats. In the past, Dean consoles the shocked Cindy, giving her all his support and care. In the present, Dean wakes up alone in the Future Room, wondering why she has left.

  Break into Three: These beats also overlap. During the flashback, Dean says, “Let’s do it. Let’s be a family,” showing that he deeply loves Cindy even though he is not even sure he is the father. And
in the present, once he finds out where Cindy is, he gets drunk and is about to trigger the third and final act of their relationship.

  Finale:

  Gathering the Team: In the present, a very drunk Dean arrives at the clinic to ask Cindy for an explanation of why she left. / In the past, Dean walks to Cindy’s home, ready to “gather with her team,” or family.

  Executing the Plan: In the present, Dean’s plan is to force Cindy to go home with him, which he expects to happen if he insists, embarrasses her and lays a guilt trip on her. / Dean dines with Cindy’s family, telling them about his own parents. Cindy talks about school, revealing how little her parents are involved in her life.

  High Tower Surprise: As Dean tries to force her to go home, he ends up trashing the room and assaulting Dr. Feinberg. And to Dean’s astonishment, the High Tower Surprise arrives: Cindy asks for a divorce: “I am so out of love with you.” / In the past, Dean and Cindy make love in her room, and he gives her a song: “You and Me” by Penny and the Quarters.

  Dig, Deep Down: Dean tries to use all of his usual manipulative tricks to get Cindy to stay with him, but this time, it doesn’t work. So he has to “dig, deep down,” to try to keep her: “You said for better or worse. This is my worst. But I am gonna get better.” / In the past, Cindy is looking at herself, pregnant, in a mirror. She is “digging, deep down” herself, gathering strength to be with a man who she probably does not love that much.

  The Execution of the New Plan: Dean finally decides to leave, and to prove that his final decision is a proactive one and not merely a reactive one, he sends his beloved daughter Frankie back with mom. / In the past, Dean and Cindy get married, carrying out their New Plan, which is to love each other for the rest of their lives.

  Final Image: Dean leaves the house and walks away amidst fire-works that light up the sky (and usually accompany a celebration). He started off with a family: he had a wife, a dog, a daughter... and now he is a broken man and on his own. Will he recover, or will he drown in pain? The only thing we know is that he is not stuck anymore: he has accepted going on with his life, even it if is far from his loved ones.

  THREE COLORS: BLUE (1993)

  In the first of Kieslowski’s famous Three Colors trilogy, a woman must overcome the death of her entire family. While being a “Death Passage” if there ever was one, this masterpiece goes far beyond the movie-of-the-week premise to give us a serious insight into the process of overcoming grief by using love and creativity as catalysts.

  When Julie decides to start a new life from scratch, she does so by leaving behind all that reminds her of her family instead of properly grieving. We doubt that the choice will really help her to overcome the loss — but what if, in the process, she discovers that she had actually lost her true self before the tragedy? And, now alone, will she take the opportunity to rebuild herself?

  As Blake said, “Only the counterintuitive move of embracing pain will help,” and in this case, Julie must regain the sense of who she really was, is and wants to be. Only then will she be able to start a new life and love again.

  Like all masterpieces demonstrate, there are no easy solutions on how to live life, but this gem of a film allows us to better understand that sometimes the answers are not written in black and white, nor even in shades of gray, but entirely in blue.

  ROP Type: Death Passage

  ROP Cousins: The Descendants, The Station Agent, Amour, The Sweet Hereafter, Ponette

  THREE COLORS: BLUE

  Written by Krzysztof Kieslowski and Krzysztof Piesewicz

  Directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski

  Opening Image: A car accident. Julie (Juliette Binoche), the mother, is the only survivor. As we will see in the end, something else has been destroyed, for family was the place in which Julie had decided to drown her own personality, future and independence.

  Set-Up: After waking up from the accident, Julie seems like she is about to flee from the hospital, but in reality, she wants to kill herself by swallowing pills. She is ultimately unable to do so, indicating that there is hope for her, but she still must overcome her Stasis=Death. Can she regain her will to live?

  Theme Stated: A doctor asks her, “Do you feel able to talk?” This is our theme: will Julie be able to overcome grief and express herself again as a human being and as an artist?

  B Story: We meet Olivier (Benoit Regent), a friend of the family and her B Story hopeful lover, who shows how he cares for her by bringing a small TV set so she can watch her family’s funeral. “Is there anything I can do for you?” he asks, showing his character’s warmth. We learn then that Julie’s husband, Patrice, was a famous composer who left an important Concerto unfinished.

  Catalyst: At minute 11:30, Julie gets the first of her “blue musical panic attacks”: a powerful symphonic melody that will haunt her in her intense moments of synesthesia — as we will learn later, it is the music of the unfinished Concerto still dwelling in her mind. She was secretly composing it in Patrice’s name, a fact that a nosy journalist threatens to reveal to the world.

  Debate: Will she let the world know the truth about her husband? And how will Julie cope with the loss of her family? Will she let the painful symphony out? As a hurt ROP hero, Julie chooses to avoid the pain, emptying the manor of any object that might remind her of her family, hoping that oblivion will take away suffering. “Why are you crying?” Julie asks her maid at one point. “Because you’re not,” the maid replies. Meanwhile, Olivier is gathering Patrice’s papers at his office when he discovers that his deceased friend was having an affair.

  Break into Two: To further destroy anything that can bring back memories, Julie instructs a notary to sell the house and to keep “a secret,” as she prepares to disappear. She even dumps the unfinished score of the Concerto in the trash, renouncing the will to express herself through music. There is no turning back... except for one little thing: Julie decides to keep a blue glass bead lamp. Maybe there is hope for her, after all.

  Fun and Games: The promise of the premise here is seeing someone as they elude any kind of human relationship to prevent the potential pain that comes with it. At first, Julie has to finish cutting away from her past: she burns, destroys and even eats every personal object that brings back memories. She decides to sleep with Olivier, destroying the act of sex as a symbol of love, after which Julie scratches her fist on a stone wall to replace her inner pain with outer suffering. She then decides to disappear and get a new home. When the real estate agent asks what she is doing in life, she answers with a simple, “Nothing.” Also, she has begun to suppress her own instincts of caring for people, such as when she decides not to help a man who gets beaten. And she seems to be getting good at it — the synesthetic “blue musical panic attacks” are less intense; Julie is getting close to her goal of emptying her life of all love and sensibility.

  Midpoint: The past is never very far, so Julie meets Antoine, the young man who witnessed the accident. He tries to return a golden cross to her, a symbol of salvation. Even though she experiences a brief panic attack when memories return, she manages to reject the cross and laughs at his story. It is a false victory and her public coming out — Julie has almost succeeded at living a life devoid of any kind of pain. But does she realize all she could lose in the process?

  Bad Guys Close In: As Julie’s goal is to avoid any feeling of caring, the Bad Guys in this story are mostly encounters with other people — like Olivier, who has tracked her down, showing that he has not given up on her. Or a flutist who plays her own melody and says, using his flute case (symbolizing music) as a pillow, “You have always to hold onto something,” reminding her that her own music could be her salvation. Or her mother, who, due to dementia, has lost all memories and ability to care for anyone. Does Julie want to end up like her? Meanwhile, pressure is building, the “panic attacks” get stronger and Julie literally tries to drown them in blue water. By not caring, Julie can become mean and cruel, as she realizes when she finds a little rat and its of
fspring in her home, and disposes of them using the neighbor’s cat. Consumed by guilt, Julie confesses to Lucille, her prostitute neighbor. And maybe because Julie showed some openness and caring by reaching out, Lucille puts her to the test by asking for her help. Julie hastily complies — she can still be saved, but there is a long way to salvation... especially when Julie sees what is happening on a nearby TV set.

  All Is Lost: On the air, Olivier is announcing that he has been asked to complete the Concerto. Also, some private photos are shown, in which Patrice can be seen with a mysterious red-haired woman, forcing Julie to realize that her husband had an affair. The whiff of death surrounds her — not just the literal death of her family, but also in the way she remembers her husband.

  Dark Night of the Soul: Julie tracks down Patrice’s assistant (Florence Vignon), who confesses that she kept a copy of the Concerto, which will allow Olivier to finish the score now that it is in his possession. When asked why she did it, the assistant answers, “That music is so beautiful. One can’t destroy things like that.” As in love or caring, some things are too precious to die.

  Break into Three: In a powerful Break into Three moment, A and B Stories cross when Julie confronts Olivier, accusing him of wanting to finish the Concerto. And in pure B Story Character fashion, he replies that it is the only way to make her emotionally alive again. She also asks him about Patrice’s lover, for now she must choose to either confront her past or live in denial. Her choice as she Breaks into Three is inspired and reinforced by Olivier’s caring.

  Finale:

  Gathering the Team: Julie tracks down Sandrine, Patrice’s lover, and follows her into a restaurant.

  Executing the Plan: In a restroom, Julie confronts Sandrine, who seems sad, because “now you will hate the two.”