[Quick Summary: After meeting an intriguing woman at 2 a.m., Paul, a bored computer processor, has a bad, bad, bad, horrible night.]
This is one weird script. Ebert calls this the "tensest comedy" and a satire.
I get "comedy" but "satire"?
In this story, Paul meets a stranger, Marcy, at 2 a.m. in New York. She
invites him to her friend's apartment, and he encounters stranger and stranger situations.
Oh, I see! They're trying to satirize is what it feels like to live in a big city, i.e., the dealing with the unexpected.
But how to pull it off?
a) Satire = Exaggeration. The writer gave Paul merciless, unrelenting waves of the unexpected. This is funny for some reason.
b) Pacing & Tension. However, it was crucial to have strong pacing and tension to harness the waves. Otherwise, it's just random scenes leading nowhere.
In the scene below, note:
- The pacing races along until Kiki's reveal, i.e., the a-ha! moment.
- Paul is quite tense &/or relieved, based on wrong facts.
- The overall effect is feeling discombobulated. These people are not real, are they?
- It's a funny scene...Is it because of the situation? Or how people respond to tension?
ex. "EXT. SPRING ST.
PAUL begins heading int he direction of the bar, when, crossing a street, he sees, to the south, two FIGURES, one carrying a TV set and the other that life-size sculpture from KIKI'S loft. The FIGURES stop behind a van parked on the street. PAUL runs toward them.
PAUL: Hey! [This scene establishes Paul's expectations: Robbers stole an acquaintance's sculpture. Paul is offended.]
Hearing this, both FIGURES drop what they're carrying. They quickly climb into the van and drive off, speeding by PAUL who soon reaches the TV, the tube broken, and the sculpture. He straddles the latter behind him, piggy-back style, and carries it toward Broome St. [Paul has rescued Kiki's stolen property & is relieved.]
CUT TO:
EXT. LOFT BUILDING.
PAUL presses KIKI's buzzer, then looks up at the fourth floor window. KIKI pops her head out, but she is gagged and, apparently, bound. Her head disappears, then pops out again with her keys dangling from her mouth. She lets them fall. [Paul sees Kiki is bound & assumes it was before the robbery. He is tense again.]
INT. LOFT BUILDING.
PAUL rounds a landing with difficulty, the statue an awkward burden. [This is ironic that he wouldn't put down the statue. This is unexpected & funny.]
CUT TO:
INT. KIKI'S LOFT.
PAUL enters. KIKI is huddled in a corner, tied up. PAUL moves over to her and removes her gag.
KIKI: Paul...
PAUL: Kiki...
KIKI: It's raining!
PAUL: No, it isn't.
PAUL begins to untie her.
PAUL: How'd they get in?
KIKI: How'd who get in?
PAUL: The burglars.
KIKI: What burglars?
PAUL stops untying her, confused. [Pacing: It's been fast, fast, now slows.]
PAUL: The guys I just saw with your sculpture...and a TV set. [Paul states his beliefs.]
KIKI slowly breaks into a grin.
KIKI: Neil and Pepe?..I just sold them my television. What are you doing with my sculpture? [Reveal: Kiki's property was not stolen. Paul's beliefs are upended.]
At that moment HORST enters, dressed in black leather clothing, with spurred boots and spiked bracelets. [Pacing: A new character is introduced, adding to the mayhem.]
KIKI (to PAUL): I'm sorry, but you can't stay the night. Not after the way you walked out on Marcy. Regular ladykiller, aren't ya? [Twist: Kiki is acting as if being bound is normal. This is odd to a normal guy like Paul.]
HORST: This the guy? (to PAUL) I'm Horst. [Twist: Horst is acting as if Kiki being bound is normal too. This is doubly odd for Paul.]
PAUL: Paul. Could you...? (indicates sculpture still on his back)" [Comedy: It's funny that Paul is carrying the sculpture all this time.]
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: It took me awhile to see the satire. I am impressed that as weird as it was to read, it was simply grounded, i.e., This guy just wants to go home.
After Hours (1985)(4th draft, dated 6/6/84)
by Joseph Minion
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