by Salva Rubio
Midpoint: A particularly long Midpoint starts when Hanna gets a promotion at work but seems distressed by it. Soon, she and Michael have a nasty argument but they seem to make amends by having sex. Soon after, he suffers a false defeat when Hanna moves away without telling him. He finds himself alone and with no friends, and in a flash forward to 1995, a mature Michael performs his public coming out during a “Midpoint celebration” at a restaurant with his daughter: “I am not open with anyone.” Back again in time, now in 1966, Michael is shown studying at law school, still seemingly alone. Has he forgotten Hanna?
Bad Guys Close In: The Bad Guys come in many shapes and sizes for Michael when he learns that Hanna is being put on trial — she used to be a SS guard at Auschwitz and during the infamous Death Marches! And what’s worse, at the trial he discovers that the rest of the defendants have decided to accuse Hanna of plotting it all. When a key piece of evidence involves Hanna’s signature and Hanna accepts blame, Michael realizes she liked to be read to because she is illiterate. But Hannah decides to keep her inability to read and write a secret, even if it means a life sentence. Meanwhile, Michael knows he could help her if he told the judge that Hanna is illiterate, but he struggles with “internal” Bad Guys. He is determined to keep their relationship secret because of the shame it would mean to disclose that he was with someone who had such a terrible past. Meanwhile, 1970 s Michael has divorced and has been unable to forget Hanna, so even though he will not talk to her, he starts sending her tapes of him reading the books they loved. Hanna uses the books to teach herself to read and write, and she sends letters to Michael, but he never answers. In the 1980 s, Hanna is about to be released from prison, and they finally reunite, but Michael hides his feelings for her, his shame about her past too great. “That’s over now, isn’t it?” she asks.
All Is Lost: Unable to bear the fact that nothing will ever be the same with Michael, Hanna hangs herself in her cell, symbolically stepping on some books to achieve that sad demise.
Dark Night of the Soul: Michael receives the news of her death and realizes how much they loved each other. He breaks down, starting to show his feelings for the first time.
Break into Three: In her last letter, Hanna only wrote “Hello” to Michael, but she also gave him a mission to complete.
Finale:
Gathering the Team: Michael travels to New York to meet Ilana Mather (Lena Olin), one of the few survivors of the group that Hanna guarded when she was an SS to give Ilana the money that Hanna saved during her imprisonment.
Executing the Plan: Michael tells Ilana about the trial and tries to convince her that Hannah was illiterate during the war, attempting to clear her name, at least in that regard.
High Tower Surprise: On the defensive, Ilana asks Michael, “Why don’t you start by being honest with me? What was the nature of your friendship?” Michael is asked to be sincere and disclose the truth.
Dig, Deep Down: He “digs, deep down” to open up to someone about their secret love for the first time: “When I was young, I had an affair with Hanna... I’ve never told anyone.”
The Execution of the New Plan: Acting on a suggestion by Ilana, his “new plan” is to put the money Hanna left in an organization to encourage literacy, as a means of poetic justice.
Final Image: Michael meets with his daughter again and takes her to the old church where Hanna cried upon hearing the choir. He starts telling his daughter about the affair with Hanna. Doing so, he ends a 37 -year silence, overcoming his shame and acknowledging that he had always loved Hanna... and he always will.
BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (2013)
It’s not every day that a French indie film receives words of praise from Hollywood king Steven Spielberg, who, as part of the 2013 Cannes Festival judging panel, publicly lauded this film “of deep love and deep heartbreak.” It not only went on to win the Palme d’Or, but it was given to the director AND to its two lead actresses, a first in the festival’s history.
It is also a story of “Forbidden Love,” which has natural ties with doomed love films like Brokeback Mountain or the various versions of Romeo and Juliet. It is “forbidden” because in both romance dramas and real life, many passionate loves are simply not meant to happen.
The film is also particularly long, just a minute short of three hours, but as you can guess, this doesn’t affect its strict adherence to our Blake Snyder Beat Sheet. It only serves to demonstrate that you can have the freedom to play around with the beats and their impact, for example, like having a particularly long Break into Three.
All the rest of the elements are also present: an “incomplete hero” who must figure out her life and sexuality, a bizarre “counterpart” who has everything already figured out and possesses qualities that the hero needs, and a “complication” (Adèle’s youth and lack of experience) that brings them together and — at the same time — sets them apart. So let’s enjoy this terrific film and... fade to blue!
BL Type: Forbidden Love
BL Cousins: Harold and Maude, The Graduate, Let the Right One In, Benny & Joon, My Beautiful Laundrette
BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR
Based on the graphic novel by Julie Maroh
Screenplay, adaptation and dialogue by Abdellatif Kechiche and Ghalia Lacroix
Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche
Opening Image: Adèle (Exarchopoulos) leaves home early in the morning and walks to the bus stop in the distance. This is our first “bookend,” or Opening Image, since our ending will be a very similar one, with the distinction that Adèle will be a very different woman — her life will have “changed for having known another.”
Theme Stated: In class, the teacher asks, “When you cross paths and you both exchange glances spontaneously, like with love at first sight, is there something less or more in your heart?” This is the theme of our story, and as we will see, relationships are complicated and involve both gaining and losing.
Set-Up: We get a better glimpse of Adèle’s life. She seems like a good student; she is pretty and popular and causes no trouble to her parents. She has some things that need fixing, like how easily influenced she is by her nosy girlfriends, who place so much peer pressure on her that she hooks up with a boy named Thomas whom she doesn’t really like.
Catalyst: Adèle’s world is shaken. Just like her teacher set up for us, she crosses a stranger — a girl with blue hair, a lesbian who seems so different from her — and they exchange an intense glance. Enter the “unique and bizarre” counterpart for our hero.
Debate: The inner Debate becomes an intense one for Adèle, since she apparently has always been heterosexual. She decides to date Thomas, but that night she masturbates thinking about the blue-haired girl. At school her friends push her even more, so that she ends up having sex with the boy. However, she feels “messed up and crazy,” so she sorts out her thoughts with her gay friend Valentin. Further doubts arise when a female friend kisses Adèle and afterwards claims it was not to be taken seriously. Adèle feels depressed, so Valentin takes her to a gay bar.
Break into Two: Fascinated to see so many gay people living openly, Adèle is later surprised to glimpse the blue-haired girl in the street. Curious, she follows her and makes the proactive decision to enter a lesbian bar, thus also entering the upside-down world of Act Two.
B Story: At the bar, she finds the blue-haired girl, Emma (Léa Seydoux). She is a Fine Arts student from a better upbringing, is well-cultured and ambitious, but also older than Adèle. They seem too different, don’t they? But it is clear that there is an electrifying connection between them. Emma leaves with a girl who appears to be her current girlfriend but asks what school Adèle attends.
Fun and Games: As is typical in “Buddy Love” stories, the Fun and Games section of the script becomes the opportunity to explore the world of the friend, lover or colleague who is about to change the hero’s life. In Adèle’s case, this happens merrily (as when they exchange conversations linking Sartre to Bob Marley), but als
o unhappily — when her nosy friends see Adèle with Emma, they confront her and she has to defend herself. Also, Emma won’t kiss Adèle on the lips, implying she is still dating another person, an important set-up for later. Adèle starts spending more time with Emma, who takes her to museums and opens a new world of culture and sensibility to her.
Midpoint: After a picnic in which they finally kiss, Sex at 60 occurs, shown in the controversial but naturalistic way the movie became famous for. There is a public coming out (pun intended) when Adèle and Emma attend the Gay Pride Parade. It is also a false victory, since their relationship is flourishing and Adèle is at ease as a lesbian — further supported when they have a “Midpoint party” at the home of Emma’s parents, who are nice, well-cultured, open-minded, and accept the girls and their lifestyle.
Bad Guys Close In: What are the obvious Bad Guys in a relationship? Doubt, jealousy and temptation. First, the couple has dinner at Adele’s parents’ house, where Emma deduces that Adèle has not talked to her parents about their relationship, forcing Emma to pretend that they are only friends and that she has a boyfriend. Not only that, Adèle’s parents frown upon Emma’s choice of painting as a profession. Adèle is now a practicing teacher and temptation courts her in the form of one of her colleagues, whose advances she has to dodge but is obviously flattered by. And when they have a party with Emma’s artist friends, Adèle can’t help but feel out of place, also being hit on by Samir, an actor. Jealousy crawls in the distance when Adèle sees Emma flirting with Lise, an old friend, who is pregnant. That night, Emma tells Adèle that she should become a writer, further showing their differences and how she does not really appreciate Adèle’s teaching career. Soon after, when Emma is working at Lise’s, Adèle gives in to temptation and ends up kissing (and probably more than that) her male colleague.
All Is Lost: Oh la la! Adèle arrives home some time later and discovers that Emma knows about her infidelities. Emma calls her a liar and kicks her out of her home and her life.
Dark Night of the Soul: In a classic Dark Night of the Soul moment, Adèle cries alone at night. When the semester ends, she enrolls in summer school, seemingly to avoid being alone. Has she forgotten Emma?
Break into Three: It is implied that around three years have passed when Adèle and Emma reunite at a bar. In this very long (almost 15 minutes!) and intense Break into Three, A and B Stories cross as they acknowledge their feelings — Adèle still loves her, and Emma has strong feelings, but she is in a fulfilling relationship with Lise. She tells Adèle that she will always have a place in her heart, then she leaves as Adèle breaks down in tears.
Finale:
Gathering the Team: Some time has passed, and Adèle has become a full-time teacher, as she wanted. She puts on make-up and a bright blue dress, “gathering her (seduction) tools.”
Executing the Plan: Adèle’s plan consists of attending Emma’s opening exhibition to see if she can win her back.
High Tower Surprise: Their past passion and closeness seem lost, as Emma does not really pay attention to her; in fact, Emma (symbolically not having blue hair anymore) seems bothered by her presence and dedicated to Lise.
Dig, Deep Down: Adèle “digs, deep down” to leave the place when she bumps into Samir, who had flirted with her at the party earlier. Even if she seems interested, now that she is left alone again...
The Execution of the New Plan:... Adèle realizes it is time to move on. Samir tries to find her, but takes the wrong way.
Final Image: As in the beginning, Adèle is a woman walking alone toward the horizon, but this time against a symbolic sunset. We know that she is a very different person, and we realize that she is finally able to leave behind the one who completed her. She may be alone, but she is ready to face the future.
7WHYDUNIT
The world of tough private detectives, men in trench coats, blonde femme fatales, expressionist lighting, sax music at night, dark motivations, gun shots and endless double whiskies are not really the first things that come to mind when we talk of indie film, are they?
But when you think of independent masterpieces like Brick by Rian Johnson (which Blake covered in Save the Cat!® Goes to the Movies), you’ll realize that the human obsession to find the answer to every deep mystery, and our willingness to step toward the darkest corners of morality to unveil the enigma, is as current in non-mainstream film as in Hollywood — it is after all, a dark reflection of ourselves.
Thus we present you the “Whydunit,” a most classic of genres, present in our culture since the mythical times of Osiris, Cain and Oedipus — who did it, and more importantly, why? We crave the revelation and will do anything in our power to discover it, even if darkness must swallow us to do so.
The Whydunit genre corresponds with the type of story in which a detective must discover a secret that is at the core of the case, but most importantly, he or she will have to perform a dark turn to crack the mystery that will show us “what evil lurks in the hearts of men.”
So let’s get to know the components of this genre better. To start, we need a detective, a character who may work as such or not, so that it’s quite possible our POV character is an amateur sleuth. What’s important is that our detective usually “thinks he has seen it all, but is unprepared for what he’ll find,” meaning that not even the toughest, most jaded private dick could anticipate the grimness he or she will unveil. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this revelation usually does not change our main characters, as their cynical view of the world is just confirmed. Yet even if they do not change — look in vain for any trace of change at the end in the faces of Michael Caine as Jack Carter in Get Carter or Gene Hackman as “Popeye” Doyle in The French Connection — we change watching them. That is the power of the Whydunit.
The detective usually “unveils the clues,” sharing each one with us as we accompany him on his trip into the “ever smaller chambers of a Nautilus shell,” as he strives to find the answer to a secret. This is an enigma, a question that must be uncovered — something life-threatening, as who planted the bomb in Michael Clayton ’s car, who murdered the hero’s wife in The Constant Gardener, who kidnapped the main character for 15 years and why in Old Boy, or something, well, simpler like who “micturated” upon the Dude’s rug in The Big Lebowski. No matter what, the secret’s lure is so strong that the detective will do anything to know the answer... including breaking the rules.
The third element of this genre, the detective’s dark turn, is the particular moment where the pursuit of the secret makes the hero choose a “wrong way”— breaking the rules of trust (as in Michael Clayton), the rules of the underworld class (Get Carter) or keeping with the investigation even though you know it can destroy you (Pi). In any of these cases, going against the rules means that he is setting himself up as “part of the crime,” or will make us realize he has been “guilty of a similar crime all along.” Thus, the Whydunit detectives become part of the darkness they are investigating.
Of course, mysteries and evil await in many shapes and sizes so as always, we have five types of Whydunits to investigate. The first one is the Political Whydunit. As its name suggests, politics are our chosen realm, but not only governmental — any kind of corporate, industrial or law-related world will serve our purpose. That’s the case in Costa-Gavras’s ’70 s masterpiece Missing, big pharma underworld-set The Constant Gardener, properly political Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the power games dealt inside a medieval abbey in The Name of the Rose, or our chosen one, Michael Clayton, in which lawyers are not always on the correct side of the law.
Our setting could even be a nonexistent, surreal or made-up world, including dreams, hallucinations or the trippy fantastic environments in which some protagonists (and directors) live. As mainstream examples of the Fantasy Whydunit, Blake cited Blade Runner, Who Framed Roger Rabbit or The Sixth Sense; as our indie, auteur and cult examples, we will reference David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, Alejandro Amenábar’s Abre los Ojos (remade in the commercial fil
m realm as Vanilla Sky) and the so visually powerful debut of Darren Aronofski, Pi.
Cop Whydunits speak for themselves. In this subgenre, it is a lawman who will have to unveil the “secret” as part of his everyday job, but this case will be the most important and shocking of his or her career. The Coen’s Fargo is one of the best examples, along with Friedkin’s The French Connection, the Korean masterpiece Memories of Murder and the French series Crimson Rivers.
On the other hand, the Personal Whydunit is solved by an individual who is not a cop, but an amateur sleuth or someone who might even be from the other side of the law. What matters is their drive and their “dark turn,” as we see in Argentina’s The Secret in Her Eyes, Austria’s (and Haneke’s) Caché, Spain’s Thesis, France’s controversial Irreversible and our groovy British classic Get Carter.
Finally, the classic noir detective aesthetics or narrative devices will have a genre of its own, if only in our European, auteur or indie realm. It’s called Film Noir Whydunit, and the well-known look, characters and plots of the dark classics of Hollywood’s Golden Age, along with the hardboiled worlds of Hammett, Cain and Chandler will be a mirror for these productions. Just watch all-time French classic Le Samourai or more modern proposals like the Millenium trilogy (preferably the Swedish version), Blood Simple, the blue-period films of Takeshi Kitano and, even though it may not seem like it in the first place, The Big Lebowski.