TODAY'S NUGGET: Rocco and His Brothers (1960) - How Pacing Helps to Flesh Out a Character

[Quick Summary: Rocco and his brothers are uprooted to Milan, where a prostitute comes between him and his brother Simone.]

I appreciate that Visconti scripts are very naturalistic, but disciplined.

It takes a lot of rewriting:
a)  to make sure that the right pacing gives characters and scenes time to breathe, but not dawdle; and
b)  to boil down characters and scenes to their essences.

For example, in the scene below: 
- Rosaria is the mother of Rocco and his brothers.
- Vincenzo is one of her sons.
- They are quite poor and live squashed together in housing for the evicted. 
- Notice how the writers take the time to show Rosario's mental calculations through her reactions: She hears Vincenzo, freezes, carries on wrapping, expresses her thoughts to Ciro, then addresses Vincenzo. 
- This fleshes out Rosaria into a three dimensional character. She has a life outside this scene and concerns other than Vincenzo.  The writers give her time to finish what she was doing (wrapping) then turn to Vincenzo's problem.  

 

Rosaria's room at the housing for the evicted.

...As Luca runs to rummage through some drawers, a heavy silence settles over the room, as if something is about to happen. Rosaria clears the table. The others get up. Luca bring the paper and Rosaria begins to wrap up the remaining sweets.  Vincenzo and Ginetta gaze at each other for mutual support. Then Vincenzo speaks.

VINCENZO (suddenly taking courage): Mama, Ginetta and I have to get married! 

Rosario freezes for a moment. Then she continues wrapping up the sweets in silence. She seems not to have heard.

ROSARIA: Tell Ciro to eat them, and that I'm sending them to him.

A very expressive glance passes between Vincenzo and Ginetta.

VINCENZO: Ma, did you hear what I said?

Rosaria turns and hand him the package. She is cold as stone.

ROSARIA: (her voice trembling): Vince, what are you asking me? (Louder) What are you telling me? (She indicates Ginetta for the first time, alluding to the Ginnellis.) After what happened with them, if you want me consent...(Melodramatically) you'll have to bury me first. (She gestures broadly toward Ginetta.) It's just a pity for this poor girl who doesn't have much to do with it.

 But Vincenzo touches Ginetta's head and finds the strength to go on.

VINCENZO: No, I'm marrying her, Mama. I'm telling you I'm going to marry her.

Rosaria shrieks in answer.

ROSARIA (shouting): You're treating me this way? My sons treat me this way? Can a person stand such injustice?

She strides up and down the room, prey to an exaggerated agitation.

ROCCO (trying to stop her): Calm down, Mama. Ginetta's a good girl. Why shouldn't Vincenzo marry her?  

ROSARIA (impersonally): If Vincenzo wants to do just what he wants to, it means he hasn't got a mother any more. (She throws herself on her home-town saints - blooming there for Easter - and groans.) I've brought them up, I've taken care of them, I've watched over them, these sons of mine...And now must they raise their heads? (She continues to address the saints, as everyone listens in an atmosphere charged with apprehension; looking at the saints.) Vince, open your eyes, open your eyes. "Two eyes have gazed upon you -- three want to help you - Saint Anne, Saint Lena, Saint Mary Magdalen..."

VINCENZO: Mama, what are you exorcising for? (Embarrassed pause) It's too late... (Resolutely) now. 

WHAT I'VE LEARNED:  I don't trust the audience like these writers do.  

I worry I'm boring the audience, so jump to answering the question too quickly.  

Here, the writers observe reality, which is that Rosaria has a lot on her mind and would be juggling in her head how to respond.  They allow the question to linger (will Rosaria give her approval) and give her time to finish what she was doing.  This fleshes out the character because Rosaria's actions are not about getting to the next plot point, but about what she'd really do as a mother living her life. 

Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
by Luchino Visconti, Suso Cocchi d'Amico, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa, Enrico Medioli
Based on the book Il Ponte della Ghisolfa, by Giovanni Testori 

TODAY'S NUGGET: White Nights (1957) - How to Make Your Point by Visually Sequencing a Scene

[Quick Summary: One lonely night, a lonely guy connects with a lonely girl, though she is waiting for her boyfriend who left her a year ago.]

This is my first exposure to the neo-realistic, post-war, Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti (best known for The Leopard).  

One of the things Visconti does well is plumbing the depths of character with the sequencing of his visuals. 

This is an element of cinema that has been difficult for me to learn, i.e., that the sequencing of pictures can convey to the audience more about the character's internal feelings even than plot alone. 

A good example is the scene below. Prior to this scene: 
- Mario wanders around at night and doesn't want to go home.
- He's come to work in this small town a few months ago.
- He sees Natalia on a bridge, waiting for someone. 
- He follows her, but she disappears.
- He eventually finds her and they engage in a conversation.
- She tells him the story, that she lives with her anxious, protective grandmother, and that they had a Lodger in the house.
- She and the Lodger fell in love, but he has had to go away for business for a year.. 
- She promised  to wait for him, with no guarantees.  Mario thinks she's absurd.
- The sequencing of the visuals (FLASHBACK, PRESENT, JUXTAPOSITION) does tell the story, but the purpose of the scene is more about conveying the emotional impact on Mario.
- Notice how Mario's abrupt objection changes the dynamic (and how the audience feels as well).
- Also notice the effective juxtaposition at the end.  The visual contrast of  the situations (Mario and Natalia apart and upset vs. a kissing couple close and happy) makes us feel even more for Mario.

Outside, along the canals. Night. 

NATALIA'S VOICE: We came here too. He told me again that he couldn't take me with him then...he couldn't marry me then... but he swore I was the only woman who could make him happy.

The lodger and Natalia walk along the canal in a nocturnal setting very similar to the present scene.

LODGER: Listen to me, Natalia. I have to go away for a year. And I can't ask you to promise me anything. I don't want you to promise me anything. I don't want you to be unhappy because of me. You have to be free. When I come back next year, if you still love me then, I swear to you, we'll be happy.

NATALIA"S VOICE: You want to test me, I told him. But I'm not afraid. I'll wait for you.

Outside. Night.

Natalia speaks to the young man, whose back is to the camera.

NATALIA: I'll be here to meet you a year from now...at this very time...and you'll still love me... and I'll be yours... yours forever... 

With those words, Natalia has drawn closer to Mario, almost as if she were addressing them to him, with the same intensity that she mist have had with the other man. Mario at once moved and uncomfortable, moves a bit away from her.  

NATALIA: He left the next morning... and.. I'm here to wait for him.

There is a long silence. Natalia bows her head.

MARIO (violently): But this story is absurd! 

To recover from the emotion the girl's closeness and her confessions have provoked in him, Mario raises his voice and speaks with irritation and extreme agitation.

A pair of lovers who have been kissing in a dark corner not far from them. Mario and the girl turn in alarm.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED:  My fear in my own writing is that the audience won't connect the dots in my sequences. It helps to see here how the visual sequencing flows with the clear purpose of making a point (hearing Natalia's story --> results in an impact on Mario). 

White Nights (1957)
Story and script by Suso CecchiD'Amico & Luchino Visconti
Based on the novel by Fedor Dostoevski

TODAY'S NUGGET: The Temptations of Doctor Antonio (1962; part of the Boccaccio '70 anthology) - When Hypocrisy is Revealed in a Satire

[Quick Summary: Outraged Dr. Mazzuolo tries to get a provocative billboard of a woman removed, but is shocked when the billboard woman literally speaks to him.]

In this short film, Dr. Mazzuolo lives a "very moral" life and has definite ideas of how women should behave and dress. 

When a billboard goes up with a provocative woman drinking milk, Dr. Mazzuolo is outraged.  He causes a loud commotion to get it taken down. 

The satire is his obsession over a paper billboard and the over-the-top lengths he'll go to get rid of it.  It's hypocritical because his motives are not particularly virtuous. 

This is best seen in the scene below:   
- Dr. Mazzuolo has gotten the billboard woman covered up with a covering, but the rain has brought it down.
- Anita, the gigantic billboard woman, comes to life and speaks to Mazzuolo.
- Her sheer size is so exaggerated vs. Mazzuolo.  It's a good visual of how he feels; of her vs. him; of one man trying to fight against a larger idea. 
- I really liked the irony of this scene too. Anita's unexpected reaction to Mazzuolo's verbal abuse (shower of tears) brings home to me that he could deal with the billboard woman as an idea but had difficulty dealing with a real woman.

 E.U.R. quarter. Night.

... He laughs once more, harshly and somewhat hysterically. His laughter is suddenly echoed by Anita's, which explodes unexpectedly, bloodcurdling despite her cordial tone. Mazzuolo shudders in horror.

MAZZUOLO (with mixed aggressiveness and terror): What's so funny? ...

ANITA: You laughed, so I laughed too. What's the matter, can't I even laugh? I have a cheerful disposition, you know ...

To overcome his terror, Mazzuolo now explodes in violent abuse, all a-tremor with sanctimonious indignation.

MAZZUOLO: No! ... I can laugh. Not you? Your laugh is cynical or irresponsible! ... You haven't any right to laugh at decent people! You think it's so easy to be decent and pure? It's much easier to be licentious, like you are! For shame! ... Do you have any idea of the ruinous effect you have on people? on the family? on Society? ... Ah, you're just taking the sun, eh? ... Enjoying the scenery? ... You liar! ... I'll shout it right to your face: liar, hypocrite, corrupter of morals! ... You're sowing ruin and scandal! ... If so many decent people go wrong ... if there's so much evil in this world of ours, so wanting in faith and hope, it's your fault! ...

An enormous tear plunges down from on high, forming a little puddle on the ground beside Mazzuolo. Then another, and another. Sidestepping to avoid them, Mazzuolo goes on, his face flushed with wrath.

MAZZUOLO: ... You're crying? ... Cry, cry, it'll do you good! ... I'm glad I made you cry! ... At last I've been able to confront you face to face ... give you a moral whipping ... Weep, weep! 

He opens his umbrella as the huge tears continue to shower down around him. 

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I liked that the writers didn't try to soften the hypocrisy and make Dr. Mazzuolo more likeable. Satire requires that characters are unrepentant as they go hard after what they want in order to lampoon them.

The Temptations of Doctor Antonio (1962) 
by Federico Fellini & Ennio Flaiano & Tullio Pinelli

TODAY'S NUGGET: Il Bidone (The Swindle)(1955) - Don't Be Afraid of the Discomfort of a Confrontation

[Quick Summary: Three con men must deal with the job and family pressures.]

In reading this second of three scripts by Fellini et al.,  I am reminded:
a) that great conflict confronts something the character values (stakes).  
b) do not to shy away when the confrontation gets uncomfortable.  In fact, it's the writer's job is to lead the audience through the discomfort. 

The scene below is an excellent example of a character who tries to "save face" during an uncomfortable confrontation: 
- Roberto, Picasso, and Augusto are con men together.
- Picasso is married to Iris. She has no idea he's a con man.
- Augusto brings Roberto, Picasso, and Iris to Rinaldo's house for a party. 
- Rinaldo is a competing con man and an acquaintance.
- Rinaldo suspects Roberto has stolen a guest's cigarette lighter and pressures him to confess. 
- The stakes are about status.
- Notice how Roberto tries to evade the confrontation and how Rinaldo will not allow him to dodge it (tension).
- Note also that it's the writer's job to put these characters through the situation, not avoid or lessen the discomfort.

Rinaldo's apartment. Night.  

At the door, Iris, Picasso, and Roberto are preparing to leave. Roberto winds a silk scarf around his neck; as he sees Rinaldo, he addresses him with his usual bantering voice and brazen assurance.

ROBERTO:  Oh, here's our hospitable host! ... I was looking for you to thank you for this magnificent evening, and to wish you the very best for the coming year.

IRIS: Thank you.

PICASSO: We really thank you.

RINALDO (staring into Roberto's eyes): Listen ... There's a girl in there that's lost her cigarette case ...

ROBERTO (displaying regret): Really? The poor girl ... I'm sorry ... Of course it's what you'd expect, with all this confusion.

RINALDO: The cigarette case happens to be gold.

ROBERTO: Sorry, I don't understand.

Picasso and Iris hold their breath. Iris still does not fully understand. Picasso looks at Roberto in alarm. Augusto appears just behind Rinaldo, and other people are gathering about. Roberto's bearing is still self-assured.

RINALDO: You don't understand! You didn't happen to find it, did you?  You know, lots of times a person might be thinking of something else and doesn't remember. And then, when they get home, they find it.

He laughs as he stares at Roberto.

ROBERTO: You know, I still don't understand.

Rinaldo laughs again. Another man whispers to him.

MAN: You know this guy's really a scream? 

RINALDO: You know what I'd do if I were you?

ROBERTO: No, what?

RINALDO: I'd start looking for it and I'd find it.

LADY (to the swarthy little man): What's going on?

LITTLE MAN: I have the impression, dear Countess, that somebody's pinched something.

ROBERTO: Listen, the thing is ...  Of course I'd be very glad to do it, but you know, I ... (Augusto is staring severely at Roberto. Roberto glances at him and then feigns aggressive astonishment) What is this anyway? ... What do you want from me? ... Excuse me, what kind of a way to talk is that?

RINALDO (calm, sure of himself): My friend, you got a long way to go ... before you can come play around in here ... The lady wants to smoke - offer her a cigarette, no?

ROBERTO (trying to react once more): You mind telling me what you're driving at?

RINALDO (with icy calm): Come on, make believe you were just joking, no? You say you were joking and everybody'll be happy. (Shouting angrily) Well, you going to tell us you were joking, yes or no?

Roberto looks around. There is an icy pause; then, with a slight smile, he goes over to the woman Rinaldo has indicated, takes the gold cigarette case out of his pocket, opens it and holds it out to her.

ROBERTO: Well, yes, I was joking. (To the lady) You got scared, didn't you? I was just joking.

The lady takes the cigarette case; Rinaldo throws an ironic kiss to Roberto and opens the door.

LADY: Thanks.

ROBERTO: You're welcome. (To Rinaldo) Satisfied?

Rinaldo: My God!

Only slightly embarrassed, Roberto waves broadly to the crowd.

ROBERTO: Happy New Year to everybody!

He departs

RINALDO (turning to Augusto): Augusto, what the hell kind of friends do you have anyway?! And you go around with them too?

Augusto is standing stock-still.

Iris is pale as death.

Picasso is mortified.

They hurry out.

Rinaldo begins to dance with Luciana.

RINALDO: Hey, Lucy, sew up your pockets! 

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: This scene reminds me that real confrontation is messy and takes time to explain the stakes and tension, i.e., I need to give it more room on the page to breathe than I think. 

Il Bidone (1955)
by  Federico Fellini & Tullio Pinelli
Story by Federico Fellini & Ennio Flaiano & Tullio Pinelli