Friday, November 11, 2011

TODAY'S NUGGET: #54 WGA Script of All Time - Manhattan (1979)

[Quick Summary: A unhappily divorced man falls for his best friend's mistress. Woody Allen type chaos ensues.]

This story is about a guy who falls for his friend's mistress against his better judgment, & is left with egg on his face when the mistress goes back to the friend.

The script is approx. 90% dialogue & it's ok there's very little narrative.

Why? The emotional conflict is so primal, so full of contradiction, so ripe for heart break again & again that it totally engrosses you.

MARY (chuckling): Oh well, how about Vincent Van Gogh (pronouncing it "Goch")...or Ingar Bergman?
IKE: (overlapping) Van Goch? (Aside, to Tracy) Did she say "Van GOch"?
MARY (to Yale): How about Ingmar Bergman?
IKE (overlapping, shaking his head): Van Goch.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Above all, keep the emotion raw.

Manhattan (1979)
by Woody Allen
Four Films of Woody Allen (book published 1982)

No comments:

perPage: 10, numPages: 8, var firstText ='First'; var lastText ='Last'; var prevText ='« Previous'; var nextText ='Next »'; } expr:href='data:label.url' expr:href='data:label.url + "?&max-results=7"'