2011 THE TREE OF LIFE
A grieving mother rejects the bland consolations of her priest.
FATHER HAYNES
He’s in God’s hands now.
MRS O’BRIEN
He was in God’s hands the whole time, wasn’t he?
Dir: Terrence Malick • Scr: Terrence Malick • Cast: Kelly Koonce (Father Haynes), Jessica Chastain (Mrs O’Brien)
Terrence Malick has never been noted for his conventional narrative style. Even so, viewers in one Italian cinema may have thought the director had surpassed himself when Tree of Life was shown for an entire week with the first two reels reversed. Until the projectionist spotted the error, nobody else noticed.
INCITING INCIDENTS AND PINCH POINTS
‘Screenplays are structure.’
William Goldman
Some time around 335 BC the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote his Poetics, a treatise on dramatic theory. Identifying six key elements – plot, character, theme, diction, music and spectacle – he attributed the greatest importance to plot (mythos). He also suggested that ‘a whole is what has a beginning and middle and end’, and this maxim has endured among playwrights down the centuries through the idea that narrative action should be divided into three parts.
Since then many others have attempted to anatomize the ingredients of a coherent and resonant story. The British writer and scholar Arthur Quiller-Couch (1863–1944) suggested seven fundamental scenarios:
• Man against Man
• Man against Nature
• Man against God
• Man against Society
• Man in the Middle
• Man and Woman
• Man against Himself.
In 1916 the French writer George Polti (1867–1946) proposed a mathematically pleasing thirty-six situations ranging from ‘vengeance’ and ‘deliverance’ to ‘necessity of sacrificing loved ones’ and ‘fatal imprudence’. In 1946 Lajos Egri (1888–1967), widely recognized as ‘the father of modern screenwriting gurus’, published The Art of Dramatic Writing. Developing many of Aristotle’s ideas, he established a logical method for setting out narrative structure. Within a matter of decades, the world of screenwriting was flooded with similar books analysing successful films, showing how their episodes conformed to such theories and thus seeming to prove that any script is fundamentally a set of rules for shepherding its characters from opening titles to credits.
Although today’s largest productions have budgets upward of $200 million, studio executives – and their development staff – frequently test their investment with ‘screenwriters’ bibles’ readily available from any good bookshop. ‘Creative meetings’ echo with reassuring buzz-phrases such as character arc, the call to adventure and threshold guardians.
Contemporary analysts have distilled their theories into a clear prescriptive outline. Joseph Campbell (1904–87), borrowing the term ‘monomyth’ from James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, proposes seventeen heroic stages:
Departure
1.1 The Call to Adventure
1.2 Refusal of the Call
1.3 Supernatural Aid
1.4 The Crossing of the First Threshold
1.5 Belly of the Whale
Initiation
2.1 The Road of Trials
2.2 The Meeting with the Goddess
2.3 Woman as Temptress
2.4 Atonement with the Father
2.5 Apotheosis
2.6 The Ultimate Boon
Return
3.1 Refusal of the Return
3.2 The Magic Flight
3.3 Rescue from Without
3.4 The Crossing of the Return Threshold
3.5 Master of Two Worlds
3.6 Freedom to Live
Other well-known gurus today include Christopher Vogler, Syd Field and Robert McKee. McKee’s former students include thirty-six Oscar winners and he has advised companies as diverse as Disney, MTV, Microsoft and NASA, although his own writing credits run to a modest five TV movies. Syd Field’s last screenplay was for a documentary in 1967 but the Hollywood Reporter calls him ‘the most sought-after screenwriting teacher in the world’. His books have been translated into nineteen languages and he has even recently released an iPhone app, Script Launcher.
Julia Roberts gazes at her subject with a characteristic blend of toughness and innocence in Closer (2004).
George Hurrell, one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed photographers, captures Clark Gable’s elegant insouciance perfectly in this 1933 studio shot.
In Carry on Cleo Kenneth Williams gave us a memorable example of death by double entendre.
Endings
1937 A DAY AT THE RACES
Dr Hackenbush takes his patient’s pulse.
DR HACKENBUSH
Either he’s dead or my watch has stopped.
Dir: Sam Wood • Scr: Robert Pirosh, George Seaton, George Oppenheimer • Cast: Groucho Marx (Dr Hugo Z. Hackenbush)
1938 THE LADY VANISHES
A young woman returns from a tour of Europe on the eve of her wedding.
IRIS
I’ve no regrets. I’ve been everywhere and done everything. I’ve eaten caviar at Cannes, sausage rolls at the dogs. I’ve played baccarat at Biarritz and darts with the rural dean. What is there left for me but marriage?
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock • Scr: Sidney Gilliat, Frank Launder • Based on a story by Ethel Lina White • Cast: Margaret Lockwood (Iris Henderson)
1940 THE GRAPES OF WRATH
The mother of a migrant family during the Great Depression remains convinced of the strength of the oppressed.
MA JOAD
That’s what makes us tough. Rich fellas come up an’ they die an’ their kids ain’t no good, an’ they die out. But we keep a-comin’. We’re the people that live. They can’t wipe us out. They can’t lick us. And we’ll go on forever, Pa, ’cause. . . we’re the people.
Dir: John Ford • Scr: Nunnally Johnson • Based on a novel by John Steinbeck • Cast: Jane Darwell (Ma Joad)
1948 THE NAKED CITY
A murder mystery unfolds against the backdrop of New York with its myriad inhabitants.
NARRATOR
There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.
Dir: Jules Dassin • Scr: Albert Maltz, Malvin Wald • Cast: Mark Hellinger (Narrator)
Most unusually for the time, director Jules Dassin filmed a good deal of the picture on location, often using hidden cameras to let actors perform amid crowds without the need for unconvincing background players. If he needed to control passers-by, he would stage diversions, on one occasion hiring a juggler and on another sending a crew member up a lamp post to wave a large American flag.
1949 THE THIRD MAN
Black marketeer Harry Lime tries to justify his criminal activities to his friend Holly.
HARRY
Don’t be so gloomy. After all, it’s not that awful. Like the fellow says, in Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love: they had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long, Holly.
Dir: Carol Reed • Scr: Graham Greene • Cast: Orson Welles (Harry Lime)
‘A DELICATE MATTER’
With its ambiguous encounters in echoing alleyways, The Third Man perfectly captures the atmosphere of a divided Vienna in the aftermath of war. Robert Krasker’s chiaroscuro cinematography won an Oscar and his tilted camera angles were hugely influential on thrillers thereafter, but they were not to everyone’s taste; director William Wyler sent Carol Reed a spirit level with a note saying, ‘Carol, next time you make a picture, just put it on top of the camera, will you?’
Although Reed had proven his talent with two earlier productions (Odd Man Out (1947) and The Fallen Idol (1948), the latter also based on a story by Graham Greene), The Third Man was dogged by rumours th
at Orson Welles was its true director. Welles’ performance as Harry Lime is a tour de force and he seemed to enjoy the idea that he might also have been secretly in charge. In later years he did little to settle the controversy, giving one interview in which he hinted that it was ‘a delicate matter’, but subsequently that it was indeed ‘Carol’s picture’. The latter is undoubtedly the case since Welles spent much of the time when he was supposed to be on set travelling around Europe and many of his non-speaking scenes had to be filmed with body doubles.
Reed’s role can hardly be doubted: he insisted on running three production units simultaneously to get all the location footage they needed within the six weeks scheduled for Vienna. One crew covered the daytime shots, another the night and a third was responsible for the sewer scenes. By the end Reed was reportedly working twenty hours a day and was relying on Dexedrine (speed) to keep his energy levels up.
Other ambiguities linger: the famous speech at the top of the Ferris wheel does not appear in Greene’s original treatment and was reputedly improvised by Welles, although he claimed it was inspired by an unnamed Hungarian play. Whoever did write it should have checked their facts: the Swiss have never been famous for making cuckoo clocks (their true home is Germany) and Switzerland itself was not neutral but a proud and feared military power during the Renaissance.
1951 THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD
After narrowly defeating an alien invader who adopts human form, Scotty warns humanity never to drop its guard.
SCOTTY
I bring you a warning. Every one of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are. Watch the skies. Everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies...
Dir: Christian Nyby • Scr: Charles Lederer • Based on a story by John W. Campbell Jr • Cast: Douglas Spencer (Ned ‘Scotty’ Scott)
The producers asked the US Air Force for assistance with aircraft and locations but were refused because the government’s official stance is that UFOs do not exist.
1956 THE TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON
A wise Japanese translator defuses tensions between American occupiers and the inhabitants of Okinawa.
SAKINI
Little story now concluded. But history of world unfinished. Lovely ladies, kind gentlemen, go home to ponder. What was true at beginning remains true. Pain make man think, thought make man wise, and wisdom make life endurable. So, may August moon bring gentle sleep. Sayonara.
Dir: Daniel Mann • Scr: John Patrick • Based on a novel by Vern J. Sneider • Cast: Marlon Brando (Sakini)
Brando’s performance as the Japanese Sakini was so convincing that many viewers demanded their money back, believing that the actor had not appeared in the film at all.
1957 THE SEVENTH SEAL (DET SJUNDE INSEGLET)
Antonius, a wandering knight, challenges Death to a game of chess in a bid to escape his fate.
DEATH
Are you ready?
ANTONIUS
My body is ready, but I am not.
Dir: Ingmar Bergman • Scr: Ingmar Bergman, based on his play • Cast: Bengt Ekerot (Death), Max von Sydow (Antonius Block)
1957 THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN
After being exposed to a radioactive cloud, a man condemned to grow ever smaller makes peace with his destiny.
SCOTT
And I felt my body dwindling, melting, becoming nothing. My fears locked away and in their place came acceptance. All this vast majesty of creation, it had to mean something. And then I meant something, too. Yes, smaller than the smallest, I meant something, too. To God there is no zero. I still exist!
Dir: Jack Arnold • Scr: Richard Matheson, based on his novel • Cast: Grant Williams (Scott Carey)
1958 TOUCH OF EVIL
Corrupt police captain Quinlan realizes it cannot be long before justice catches up with him.
QUINLAN
Come on, read my future for me.
TANYA
You haven’t got any.
QUINLAN
Hmm? What do you mean?
TANYA
Your future’s all used up.
Dir: Orson Welles • Scr: Orson Welles • Based on a novel by Whit Masterson • Cast: Orson Welles (Captain Hank Quinlan), Marlene Dietrich (Tanya)
1959 ON THE BEACH
In a world dying from radiation poisoning after a nuclear war, a survivor opts to take a lethal sedative.
MARY
God, God forgive us, Peter. I think I’ll have that cup of tea now.
Dir: Stanley Kramer • Scr: John Paxton • Based on a novel by Nevil Shute • Cast: Donna Anderson (Mary Holmes)
‘THE REST IS SILENCE’
If Shakespeare had handed in a draft of Hamlet to one of the Hollywood studios, he would have found himself swiftly summoned for a creative meeting. Executives might murmur that the Danish prince’s speeches are meandering and his character arc lacks clarity. Worst of all, his final zinger – ‘the rest is silence’ – doesn’t come as the credits roll.
Even if Sam Goldwyn or Louis B. Mayer hadn’t demanded a rewrite, any decent star playing the prince would surely have asked the bard to lose the closing speeches by Horatio and Fortinbras in case they overshadowed his magnificent death scene.
Here are some examples of how a film should really end:
Oh, Auntie Em, there’s no place like home!
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Casablanca (1942)
Remember, honey, on your wedding day it’s all right to say yes.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
Well, nobody’s perfect.
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.
Chinatown (1974)
The horror. . . the horror...
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Not everybody gets corrupted. You have to have a little faith in people.
Manhattan (1979)
I’m the boss, I’m the boss, I’m the boss, I’m the boss.
Raging Bull (1980)
I’ll be right here.
E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982)
Let’s just wait here awhile, see what happens.
The Thing (1982)
Well, ma’am, if I see him, I’ll sure give him the message.
Blood Simple (1984)
Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.
Back to the Future (1985)
I’m too old for this.
Lethal Weapon (1987)
Asshole!
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
VINCENT: I think we should be leaving now.
JULES: Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
I find I am so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it’s the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
You met me at a very strange time of my life.
Fight Club (1999)
I’m going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.
The Matrix (1999)
Now, where was I?
Memento (2000)
1966 ALFIE
Handsome but self-centred ladies’ man Alfie begins to wonder what his string of conquests really adds up to.
ALFIE
You know what? When I look back on my little life and the birds I’ve known, and think of all the things they’ve done for me and the little I’ve done for them, you’d think I’ve had the best of it along the line. But what have I got out of it? I’ve got a bob or two, some decent clothes, a car, I’ve got me health back
and I ain’t attached. But I ain’t got me peace of mind — and if you ain’t got that, you ain’t got nothing. I dunno. It seems to me if they ain’t got you one way, they’ve got you another. So what’s the answer? That’s what I keep asking myself — what’s it all about? Know what I mean?
Dir: Lewis Gilbert • Scr: Bill Naughton, based on his novel and stage play • Cast: Michael Caine (Alfie Elkins)
1967 COOL HAND LUKE
Dragline tells his fellow convicts how Cool Hand Luke kept his dignity even as he was shot down by prison guards.
DRAGLINE
He was smiling. . . That’s right. You know. . . that Luke smile of his. He had it on his face right to the very end. Hell, if they didn’t know it ’fore, they could tell right then that they weren’t gonna beat him. That old Luke smile. Oh, Luke. He was some boy. Cool Hand Luke. Hell, he’s a natural-born world-shaker.
Dir: Stuart Rosenberg • Scr: Frank Pierson, Donn Pearce • Based on a novel by Donn Pearce • Cast: George Kennedy (Dragline)
A complete prison set near Stockton, California, was constructed for the shoot, including barracks, mess hall and warden’s quarters. Truckloads of Spanish moss were shipped from Louisiana and the cast actually tarred a mile-long stretch of highway while filming. A passing building inspector thought the buildings had been put up by migrant workers and posted ‘condemned’ notices on them for shoddy construction.
1970 CATCH-22
The eccentric Yossarian tells his lover about a fellow soldier he saw buried that day.
YOSSARIAN
He was very old.
LUCIANA
But he was a boy.
All the Best Lines Page 31