Monday, March 18, 2024

2024 OSCARS: Oppenheimer (2023) - Simple Symbol of Shouldering Responsibility

[Quick Summary: After Dr. Oppenheimer develops the atomic bomb at Los Alamos, NM, he suffers a politically motivated investigation.]

I liked, but didn't love, this script.  On the plus side, it did show me something I'd not seen before, i.e, being written in Oppenheimer's first person POV.   

On the negative side, it is mostly dialogue, so there are fewer visuals on the page. 

My favorite one (below) is a wonderful economy of writing. 
- Oppenheimer has come to consult Einstein on whether to go forward with atomic energy research that could destroy the world.  He shows him his research (papers).
- You can almost see the action IN the dialogue (but not "telling").
- I love how Einstein handing back that piece of paper has a deeper meaning in the very last line.  It symbolizes responsibility.

EXT. LAKE, INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY - MOMENTS LATER

EINSTEIN: And here we are, lost in your quantum world of probabilities, but needing certainty.

OPPENHEIMER: Can you run the calculations yourself?

EINSTEIN: About the only thing you and I share is a distain for mathematics. Who's working on it at Berkeley?

OPPENHEIMER: Hans Bethe.

EINSTEIN: He'll get to the truth.

OPPENHEIMER: And if the truth is catastrophic?

EINSTEIN: Then you stop. And share your findings with the Nazis, so neither side destroys the world.

I turn to leave.

EINSTEIN (CONT'D): Robert? (holding out paper) This is yours. Not mine.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: In this dialogue heavy script about big ideas (there's a lot of telling), I really appreciated a simple visual symbol (showing).

Oppenheimer (2023)(revised, 1/3/22)
by Christopher Nolan
Based on the book, "American Prometheus The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer", by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

Monday, March 11, 2024

2024 OSCARS: Barbie (2023) - Things Lost in Execution; Capturing the Tone of Child's Play

[Quick Summary: Barbie leaves Barbie Land to find out why she is starting to feel real feelings, and finds out things are not as perfect as she thought.]

THE FILM: I saw the film first, and liked act 1, but not 2 and 3. I got confused, and I'm afraid, slightly bored.  Was it the script's fault?

THE SCRIPT: The script surprised me. It is clearer than the film, well-written, inventive, and reads at a zippy, carefree pace (even acts 2 and 3).

So if the script is pretty much the same as the film, why do I think the film does not quite deliver the promise of the script?  What got lost in the execution?

I don't know exactly, but here are my two cents:

1) PATRIARCHY DOESN'T LEND ITSELF TO SNAPPY REPARTEE.  I admire the writers' ambitions to tackle a BIG topic which read well on the page.

However, the arguments require time and explanation...which bogs down the speed that satire needs for laughs.*  As a result, the film was more telling than showing.

2) TOO EARNEST? Satire also requires a good dose of ridicule. In Acts 2 and 3, I found the tone...too earnest?  Trying to make a point? I wish there were more irony.

I do think this script is worth reading, especially for Act 1's breezy, ridiculous fun.  

I particularly like the first description of Barbie Land (below), which captures the mindset of how little girls play with Barbies, with exuberance and female-centric:

EXT. BARBIE LAND. DAY

Barbie Margot waves happily, sometimes with both hands, to other Barbies as her car silently drives itself through a bustling town. It's like Richard Scarry's Busy Town for Barbie. It's a wonder of color and shape. The houses are all see-through, like the toys, it's a Noah's Ark of doll-tastic magic.

It's also completely run by women. They hold every kind of job. Barbie Margot waves to a Barbie mail carrier, and an all Barbie construction crew. There is the occasional Ken, but mostly it's Barbie.

Barbie Margot drives past the Barbie White House which is, of course, pink.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I was most moved when this script captured the fun, weird spirit of a child playing with Barbies. The movement of the characters even feel like play.

Barbie (2023)
by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach

*Margot Robbie recounts (here) that Gerwig wanted her actors to speak at a certain pace and referenced His Girl Friday, one of my all time favorite screwball comedies. 

One of the things that I love about His Girl Friday is that it seemed to speed up as it went along.  It also had a small cast, and a personal, simpler story.   

I don't know if speeding up would even be possible with BarbieBarbie had a much bigger cast, and tackled a larger societal problem. The pace would inevitably slow down with that many moving parts.

Monday, March 4, 2024

2024 OSCARS: American Fiction (2023) - What Happens After the Satire's Punchline?

[Quick Summary: While he faces family issues, a frustrated black writer writes a book that's meant to be insulting, but it becomes a best-seller, much to his dismay.]

I think one of the hardest parts of satires is not losing that edgy irony.

I hate it when a script has a great scene with a zinger punchline, but then it dies.  Why couldn't the writer couldn't sustain the momentum? What happened?  

Many times, the script will simply plateau, instead of continuing to build. 

ex. Perhaps the writers were so happy with a joke that they keep going back to that same well, trying to keep cashing in on that one great scene. 

I liked this script because it never resting too long on a punchline. It also never allowed the protagonist to get too comfortable, so the tension continues to build.

For example, in the scene below:

- Carl is the head of the Literary Award committee.
- He is oblivious to the veiled insult Monk delivers ("I'm honored you'd choose me...") If it ended there, that would just be a great punch line.
- However, the writer turns the tables on Monk and plays to his weakness: "you can judge other writers like they judged you."
- This last bit of conflict is what makes the scene fresh and unpredictable.  We want to know what will happen next.

INT. CARL BRUNT'S OFFICE - SAME TIME

...MONK: Every writer knows the Literary Award, Carl. Especially those of us who haven't won it.

Carl laughs a little.

CARL: Well, that's related to why I'm calling. Like many American institutions, mine was recently rattled by the notion that our lack of diversity has led to a blindspot in our work. So we're kind of trying to remedy that and, to that end, I was wondering how you might feel about being a judge for this year's award.

Monk pauses his browsing for a moment.

MONK: Um, let me say first say, Carl, that I'm honored you'd choose me out of all the black writers you could go to for fear of being called racist.

CARL (oblivious): Yeah, you're very welcome.

MONK: But I think this sounds like a lot of work.

CARL: Yeah, I can't deny that. I mean, you're going to have to read dozens of books. We could offer you a modest stipend.

MONK: Even so, I'm not sure.

CARL: OK. One other crass perk I reference when people are on the fence is that this will allow you the opportunity to literally judge other writers for once, rather than just figuratively.

Monk considers this for a moment.

MONK: Alright. I'm in.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Beware of resting on a punchline too long. Satires particularly do well with a conflict after the punchline. 

Perhaps one reason for this is that an audience feels good after a punchline, and will want another jolt. They'll feel let down unless there's another upswing of emotion, and conflict can deliver that.

American Fiction (2023)
by Cord Jefferson
Based on the novel "Erasure," by Percival Everett

Monday, February 26, 2024

2024 OSCARS: Past Lives (2023) - Voice Over in a Setup for Later Payoff

[Quick Summary: Nora, who left S. Korea as a child, reconnects twenty years later with Hae Sung, her childhood friend.]

I loved this script because it evoked such poignant emotions of love lost and found.

In several interviews, the writer/playwright Celine Song, mentioned that this is also about the characters' younger selves getting to say the goodbye that they hadn't had.

I liked how she set up that goodbye payoff with an earlier setup, in the scene below.

We can see that the two characters still have an unresolved connection because the voice over bridges them, despite the distance of space and time:

EXT. BARN HOUSE PICNIC TABLE - NIGHT - SOMETIME THAT SUMMER

The artists are all a little tipsy with empty bottles of wine and beer -- the evidence of a good night out --splayed out all over the table.

They listen to slightly-drunk Nora with varying degrees of interest:

NORA: There is a word in Korean: In-Yun. It means providence or fate, about it's specifically about relationships between people.

Nora's voice over plays out over the following silent scenes of Hae Sung in Shanghai:

INT. PLANE TO SHANGHAI - MORNING

Hae Sung is on a flight to Shanghai.

NORA (V.O.): I think it comes from Buddhism and reincarnation.

INT. SHANGHAI DORM ROOM - DUSK

Hae Sung is sleeping in his new dorm room. It is small and crappy, but the view of Shanghai is magnificent. 

On the bed is an information package about his language exchange program in both Korean and Mandarin with things like class schedule and local restaurant recommendations.

NORA (V.O.): It's an In-Yun if two strangers even walk by each other in the street and their clothes accidentally brush -  

EXT. SHANGHAI NIGHT MARKET - NIGHT

Hae Sung and the other language exchange students walk around the fish market on a group outing. Steam emanates from the food stalls, and it is full of late-night lovers.

It smells pungent and looks gorgeous.

There is a very cute GIRL (Korean, fellow language exchange student, 20) in the group who keeps glancing at Hae Sung.

Hae Sung doesn't notice.

Hae Sung lights up a cigarette, and offers one to his fellow students, who eagerly grab one from the pack.

NORA (V.O.): - because it means there must have been something between them in their past lives.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I liked that the voice over bridges the characters and keeps them emotionally connected, and is not merely an information dump.

Past Lives (2023)(undated)
by Celine Song

Monday, February 19, 2024

2024 OSCARS: May December (2023) - Suspense, Which Lends an Edge, Lies in Character

[Quick Summary: To portray their relationship, an actress spends time with a controversial couple (Gracie was 36 and Joe was 13 when they met).]

Q: Isn't sex with an underage minor is an icky subject matter for a feature?
A: I thought so, but this the writer did something interesting with it.  

Q: What was so interesting?
A: She added suspense, which lends an edge to the story, akin to a psychological thriller.

Q: Like waiting for the other shoe to drop?
A: Yes.  After Gracie went to jail and exited, she still married the guy. Now this actress (Elizabeth), shows up to study them, and Joe is seeing his life differently.  

Q: How do the other characters add to the suspense?
A: We never know what they're thinking or going to do next. ex. As Elizabeth starts to mimic Gracie, is she getting involved with Joe for herself or for the film? 

Q: What do you think is a key to this suspenseful edge?
A: One of the keys is the Gracie character. They all say she knows exactly what she's doing, but are we sure?

The scene below showcases Gracie, who the writer said she wrote as the "center of her universe."  In her worldview, everything is cheery, and/or ignored. 

Note the hold she has on everyone, and her obliviousness (is it?) that it affects anyone adversely.  We keep on reading to see if she really is that oblivious, or not:

INT. ATHERTON-YOO KITCHEN - DAY

...Gracie thinks about it, skeptical. Then, suddenly lightly: 

GRACIE: Alright.

Elizabeth and Joe both look relieved.

GRACIE (CONT'D): Of course I talk to Georgie. And to Billy and Cassidy. I'm their mom.

ELIZABETH: Sure...

JOE: Cassidy was just here last -- (looks at Gracie) What was it? ...And we'll see everyone at graduation...

GRACIE: The twins are in the same class as Cassidy's son Peter, my grandson. So we'll all be at graduation together, which you're welcome to come to if you're still in town.

A big smile.

GRACIE (CONT'D): Now who wants cake?

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: This script surprised me on a few fronts:
- The basis of this relationship is an unpleasant topic, but it wasn't the point of the script.
- I'd never thought to put this kind of suspenseful spin, and that it would work because it's about character.
- Going deeper into character made this script more interesting than my initial glance at the logline.

May-December (2023)(undated)
Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik
Screenplay by Samy Burch

Monday, February 12, 2024

2024 OSCARS: Maestro (2023) - Music Intersecting with Action = Shows Her Impact on Him

[Quick Summary: A portrait of the up and down marriage of composer- conductor Leonard and Felicia Bernstein.]

Though well-written, I was not wildly moved by this script. 

I think it is a bit too much "slice of life" for me.  It's not exactly a biopic, but the story of a marriage between a passionate conductor and his equally vibrant wife. 

However, I did like how the writers crafted moments where Bernstein's compositions intersect with important emotional moments. 

The scene below was one of those moments:
-  The combination of music and action carry the theme of the film: Felicia's emotional impact on Lenny.
- As the first composition bursts forth through Lenny on the stage, we see how her support enables him to reach the highest emotions.
- Then with a second composition, the music breaks them apart.

INT. HOUSE/STAGE, ALDEPHI THEATER, NEW YORK - NIGHT

He smiles at her. A smile that'd make another woman blush. Felicia pulls back up against her seat to watch the ballet. We've jumped later in the piece to Fancy Free: VI. Three Dance Variations, Variation III (Danzon) and one of the sailors is dancing solo, like a serenade for the other two sailors. We PUSH IN on the dancer; the movements are sensual.

And we see the sailor is not LB himself, through Felicia's eyes, lost in his own movements, the eroticism of it all, titillating both to himself and his audience. We see this land on Felicia's face, this recognition of this complicated man.

On stage, LB moves through the end of the Variation, closer and closer to Felicia. First coming up to the barstool, drumming on his knee. Then standing on top of one, pounding on his chest, gorilla style, declaring his art form and then leaping up, landing almost in front of her as the music stops. 

Felicia shoots up from her chair and claps energetically for LB breaking free and expressing himself fully. LB beams, and moves right toward her, and they embrace and kiss.  [I thought this was great descriptive writing:"breaking free and expressing himself."]

We go into the kiss, close on them, the passion of their embrace as the top stage lights fair and BAM!!!

We hear the horn wail that marks the beginning of On the Town: Act 1: Opening: New York, New York. This breaks them apart.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I think this scene, with only music and action, may have been the best way of explaining the unexplainable impact Felicia had on Lenny.

Maestro (2023)(undated)
by Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer

Monday, February 5, 2024

2024 OSCARS: The Holdovers (2023) - When a Juxtaposed Sound Is Ironic

[Quick Summary: A cranky teacher, a grieving cook, and sullen student stay at a 1970s boarding school over Christmas break.]

I liked this script much more than I thought.

I think it's due to the unexpected combinations of humor and humanity.

I particularly liked the scene below in which Mary, the cook, pours out her heart. It's especially poignant because of the two moments of irony (see comments): 

INT. KITCHEN STAFF COMMON ROOM - CONTINUOUS

...MARY: I took this job when Curtis was little, so he could get a good education. You know, he flourished here.

PAUL: He was a great kid. I had him one semester. Very insightful.

MARY: Uh-huh. He hated you. He said you were a real asshole.

PAUL: Well, like I said, sharp kid. Insightful. [This is one of my favorite ironic lines. She was blunt, and he appreciated the truth.]

MARY: He had his heart set on Swarthmore, and he had the grades, but I didn't have the money. Even with financial aid it wasn't enough. So when he got called up, no student deferment, off he went. You know what he said to me? He said: "Hey ma, look at the upside. When I get discharged, I can go to college on the GI Bill." College. (keeping it together) And here we are. With my Curtis in the cold ground, and those boys safe and warm in their beds. It's like you said. "Life is like a henhouse ladder." That's right -- I can hear everything you're saying from the kitchen. Especially that little Kountze kid. Crown prince of all the little assholes.

Silence, which is broken by APPLAUSE from the studio audience. [This juxtaposed sound afterwards is so wonderfully ironic. It's an audible contrast to what she's just said (mourning vs. happy). Also, it encapsulated my visceral reaction to her words: bittersweet, funny.]

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: This is a sharply observed story about coping with sadness, which might've been too depressing, if not for its unusual ways to insert irony.

The Holdovers (2023)(undated)
by David Hemington

Monday, January 29, 2024

2024 OSCARS: Anatomy of a Fall (2023) - How a Supporting Character Shapes Our Opinions

[Quick Summary: After her husband falls to his death in France, his  wife is on trial, and their sight-impaired son is the main witness.]

Did Sandra hit her husband?  Or did her depressed husband commit suicide?

Though I did not know for sure, I found myself having decided opinions, and was impressed how this script played with those assumptions. 

One of the characters that shaped my view of Sandra was her defense attorney.  

I found him believable, and not flat, i.e., he didn't exist just to make a point about Sandra.  It was clear he had a life of his own outside this case.

Their conversations dropped hints about their previous relationship (more assumptions!). I had to re-think again when he started asking questions.

I changed my mind yet again after he argued her position in court. 

The last line below hit home because it was a subconscious belief that I had not realized I was carrying: 

VINCENT (on his way) Embarked on a headlong rush, he only postpones the moment of realizing that transcribing is not writing: Paul Nachez's silence has enlightened him all too cruelly on this truth. The energy we hear in the argument of November 23 is that of despair, a desire that insists before giving up. What marked the last months of this man's life was not a war in his relationship, it was the realization of a personal bankruptcy, one failure too many. If Sandra Voyter is guilty of anything, it is that she succeeded where her husband failed. (bolded emphasis mine)

WHAT I'VE LEARNED:  I liked that this supporting character brought out something (both literally in this dialogue, but also in their interactions) about the main character, which she alone could not do.  

Anatomy of a Fall (2023)
by Justine Triet & Arthur Harari

Monday, January 22, 2024

TODAY'S NUGGET: The Horseman on the Roof (1996) - One of THE Most Romantic Lines of Dialogue

[Quick Summary: During the chaos of a cholera epidemic, a heroic Italian officer hiding in France offers to help a young wife find her husband.]

Is romance dead?*  The scripts have been scarce.

However, this script restored my faith with one of the most romantic lines of dialogue I've ever read.  

First, I have to give credit to the story which leads up to that moment.  There are a few elements that really work well together:
- Angelo, the hero, is honest, brave, and trustworthy.
- He's attracted to mysterious Pauline, who barrels about, looking for information.
- There are real stakes and conflict that builds and builds the tension.
- The drama is heightened by the situation, i.e., in the middle of a cholera epidemic.

Second, this line of dialogue comes at the end of a great build up (last 1/3 of script):
- Pauline is jailed and Angelo gets inside the prison to rescue her. 
- For the entire script, he's been delaying getting back home to help her.
- He continued to help her, even after finding out she's been looking for information about her husband.
- Also, notice the transition out of this very romantic moment. It reminds us that despite this very important moment in their lives, life goes on.

INT./EXT./ TOWER WINDOW; VAUMEILH - DAY

PAULINE: I came over here a little while ago, before you arrived. I looked down...I thought that it would be so easy to die, so swift, just a second or two, you just let yourself go...

ANGELO: Stop that!

PAULINE: There's nothing we can do, you know it as well as I do. The illness is out there, everywhere. I'm not even afraid of it anymore. Maybe it's already in us.

ANGELO: That's not true!

She sits on the stone ledge inside the opening.

PAULINE: What I see, what I do, nothing makes me want to live...

ANGELO (sitting beside her): Go and rest some. Go sleep.

PAULINE (looking up at him): Aren't you ever hesitant, or flustered?...Are you always sure of what to do?

ANGELO: I think it over and do the best I can.

PAULINE: It's as though the illness were your battlefield.

ANGLEO: You could say that.

PAULINE: Why are you always following me?

A beat.

ANGELO: Because I don't feel lonely when I'm with you. [My emphasis. This is an elegant expression of what all of us seek: someone putting us above them, and wanting that connection, togetherness. Also: note what happens after this important line.]

PAULINE: I don't even know your name. [This is a reminder that they hardly know each other. It makes everything previous to it more romantic because he did this for her, not her status.]

ANGELO: Pardi. Angelo Pardi.

PAULINE: My name's Pauline.

Just then, the drape is pulled back REVEALING the HANDSOME MAN who looks like a horse dealer, his notebook in hand.  [Notice how the writers pull us back to the present. Romance does not happen in a vacuum. Life goes on.]

HANDSOME MAN: I beg your pardon, colonel, and I hate to disturb you thus...I'm Alexandre Petit, dealer in seed and feed! 

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I really liked how the peak of this romance happened in the middle of normal life, and not in a vacuum. It felt even more real. 

Also, I was swept away by the couple's aching and longing, which I think the writer Jean-Claude Carriere writes very well.

The Horseman on the Roof (1996)(10/20/93 draft)
by Jean-Paul Rappeneau and Nina Companeez & Jean-Claude Carriere
Based on the novel by Jean Giono

* Also, I wonder if the lack of good romantic stories is the reason Gen Z is valuing friendships over romance: "An inability to find quality romantic relationships could be one reason Gen Zers want more friendships, or commitment-free romantic relationships."

Monday, January 15, 2024

TODAY'S NUGGET: The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) - Sex as a Metaphor

[Quick Summary: On the 1968 eve of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia, a serial bed-hopping surgeon meets a woman who wants monogamy.]

Q: Is there a lot of sex in this script?
A: Yes (and nudity too*).

Q: Is it gratuitous? 
A: No, because the main character, Tomas, focuses a lot on it.  But when it debuted for its sexuality and sensuality. 

Q: But if that was all, why does the film still resonate with audiences? 
A: I think Roger Ebert said it best: 

What is remarkable about "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," however, is not the sexual content itself, but the way [director Phillip] Kaufman has been able to use it as an avenue for a complex story, one of nostalgia, loss, idealism and romance.

Q: How? What's so great that this script got an Oscar nomination?
A:  I think it's the way the story unfolds and how Tomas arcs. Ebert made very astute observation about where Tomas begins:

For him [Tomas], sex seems like a form of physical meditation, rather than an activity with another person.

Tomas then learns that freedom from any commitment (that "lightness of being") becomes unbearable. 

Q: What surprised you about the script?
A: I'd heard a lot about the writer (the often cited Jean-Claude Carriere), but little about what makes his writing so special. I came to see:

1) He writes longing really well. I felt it build through the script.

2) This script surprised me at how deftly Carrier gets to the heart of the matter. There's a direct simplicity that is deceiving because it's really difficult to write well.

In the scene below:
- This is a very early scene (p. 2), in the hospital operating suite.
- Dr. Tomas has just gotten his latest fling (Nurse) to flash him in another room, while his colleagues have been eavesdropping on them.
- Notice how each of the characters voices the various opinions about sex (spoken), and how they think it will satisfy (ex. unspoken need for attention, status, etc.)

IN PREPARATION ROOM. Nurse's face is flushed as she buttons her robe and silently brushes past Tomas. Their cheeks touching. 

IN PREPARATION ROOM. Nurse's face is flushed as she buttons her robe and silently brushes past Tomas. Their cheeks touching. 

NURSE: Will I see you in three weeks?

TOMAS: Exactly three weeks.

ADJOINING ROOM. She exits. Tomas goes into adjoining room and sees JAN and JIRI have been eavesdropping on him.

JAN: Tomas, I caught him spying again.

JIRI: Not spying, just learning. I want to know how you do it, you bastard. She's incredible. How can you not see her for three weeks?

Tomas and Jan being to have some fun with Jiri.

TOMAS: Because it's the rule of threes, Jiri.

JIRI (he wants to know - a pupil): What rule of threes?

Tomas acts like he doesn't want to explain, so Jan volunteers.

JAN: It's simple, Jiri. But it must be very carefully worked out. Either you see a woman three times in quick succession and then never again, or you maintain a relationship over the years but make sure that the meetings are at least three weeks apart.

JIRI: And what else?

TOMAS: Nothing else. That's the basis of the erotic contract.

JIRI: A contract?

TOMAS: Yes. An unwritten contract that stipulates that sentimentality has no place in a relationship.

JIRI: But what about love?

JAN: The contract stipulates that you exclude all love...

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Sex is a metaphor for Tomas' life: It's his way, all the time.  However, his shift from "I" to "we" did not happen as I expected it to.  

It's hard to explain, but it's truly moving how his imperfections become exposed upon meeting Tereza and facing war, and the longing becomes contentment.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)(revised draft, 9/4/86)
by Jean Claude Carriere and Philip Kaufman
Based on the novel by Milan Kundera

* In Roger Ebert's review, he wrote: 

There is a lot of nudity in the film but no pornographic documentary quality; the camera does not linger, or move for the best view, or relish the spectacle of nudity. The result is some of the most poignant, almost sad, sex scenes I have ever seen - sensuous, yes, but bittersweet.

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