TODAY'S NUGGET: The Hours (2002) - David Hare Made Me Care (Use of Suspense, Transitions)

[Quick Summary: Reflecting themes of the Mrs. Dalloway novel, three women in three different time periods grapple with love, death, and meaning.]

THREE THOUGHTS:

1) This is a tricky adaptation, with a high level of difficulty. The story is more a meditation on a theme (vs. a defined plot) plus three separate story lines.

2)  Suspense.  To be honest, I wasn't all that interested in The Hours.

However, David Hare is one of those exceptional writers one who can engage me, even when I'm uninterested in the subject matter.  How does he do it?

First, he understands good old fashioned suspense, i.e., I-want-to-know-what-will-happen-next. (See example below.)

3) Transitions. Second, Hare, who is a playwright, understands film is built differently than theater. In film, emotions are affected by editing and transitions. (See example below.)

For example, in the scenes below:
- These are two separate, non-overlapping story lines.
- Virginia Woolf and Laura are in different time periods and never meet.
- For suspense: Notice that we wonder what Virginia is going to do. Where is Laura going to go?
- For transitions: Notice how the writer positions the characters and the editing cut. Virginia and Laura are separated by time and space, yet they have the same physical positions = The reader understands that they are going through similar situations.

EXT. HOGARTH HOUSE - GARDEN - DAY

...Then it's silent. VIRGINIA is left alone. She has not moved. She is still looking at the bird's grave. The bird is perfectly at peace and surrounded with petals. VIRGINIA looks. Slowly, VIRGINIA closes her eyes. Her face becomes a death mask.

INT. BROWNS' HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY (1951)

LAURA is lain out on the bed, an identical look on her face to VIRGINIA'S. Then, impulsively, she gets up from the bed.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I'd never thought about using transitions/editorial cuts to convey similarities between story lines, and thus continuing the theme.

The Hours (2002)
by David Hare
From the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Michael Cunningham

TODAY'S NUGGET: Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) - Empathizing with the Killer-Protagonist

[Quick Summary: Though paid to bring Dickie Greenleaf back from Italy, Tom Ripley becomes obsessed with his life, willing to kill several times for it.]

It's not that Ripley wants to be Dickie, and might also be in love with him. It's that he lurks, trying to exist by taking from Dickie, i.e., a parasite and super-creepy.

The clever, uncomfortable, odd thing about this script is how it makes you empathize with Ripley, a killer and manipulator.  

It's very good at helping us feel what it's like being an outsider like Ripley.

In the scene below:
- Marge acknowledges everyone's feeling about Dickie, which mirrors Ripley's.
- Note that the other characters have more physical movement than Ripley, but we're remain focused on his reactions because he's the unpredictable one.

EXT. THE OCEAN, ABOARD THE BIRD. DAY

The boat is drifting. Freddie and Dickie and Marge are swimming, then Marge climbs back onto the boat, where Ripley is sitting alone, reading.

MARGE: You really should go in, it's marvelous.

RIPLEY: I'm fine.

She approaches him, conscious of his isolation. She's in a red bikini, and she towels herself dry as they speak.

MARGE: Are you okay?

RIPLEY: Sure.

They watch Dickie and Freddie fooling around in the water.

MARGE: The thing with Dickie - it's like the sun shines on you and it's glorious, then he forgets you and it's very very cold.

RIPLEY: So I'm learning.

MARGE: He's not even aware of it. When you've got his attention you feel like you're the only person in the world. That's why everybody loves him. Other times...

There's a yell from Dickie as Freddie wrestles with him.

DICKIE (laughing and choking): He's drowning me!

MARGE: It's always the same whenever someone new comes into his life - Freddie, Fausto, Peter Smith-Kingsley - he's wonderful - did you meet him, he's a musician, ? - ...and especially you, of course...and that's only the boys.

They watch as Freddie pushes Dickie under the surface.

MARGE: Tell me, why is it when men play they always play at killing each other...? I'm sorry about Cortina by the way.

RIPLEY: What about Cortina?

MARGE: Didn't Dick say? - he talked to Freddie...apparently it's not going to work out - (Ripley's devastated, Marge notices, can't look at him) Freddie says there aren't enough rooms.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Characters do not need to be likeable or sympathetic (I agree with what the character is doing), but do need to be empathetic (I understand why they're acting this way).

Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)(draft dated 11/1/99)
by Anthony Minghella
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith

TODAY'S NUGGET: Chicago (2002) - Theme Holds Together Fantasy & Actual Sequences

[Quick Summary: Told through fantasy and actual sequences, Roxie Hart is jailed and put on trial for murdering her lover.]

TWO THINGS I LIKED:

1) I like that the filmmakers clearly thought about how to take advantage of film's strengths vs. just replicating the stage musical.

ex. Film switches easily between fantasy, reality, points of view, different locations.

2) I liked that the theme of "life is a stage" is very clear, even between fantasy and actual sequences.  The scene below is a good example of how the flow works.

NOTE:
- Roxie desperately wants to be a stage star like Velma, for the stage to be her life.
- Roxie's case has replaced Velma as the latest headline of the week. Now Roxie is being replaced by Mary Sunshine.
- How do we know Roxie is being replaced? A visual that represents how it feels, i.e., "ROXIE" sign going dark.
- Roxie fakes a pregnancy = She makes life a stage

INT. "STAGE" - NIGHT

On the stage, the "ROXIE" sign goes dark.

INT. COOK COUNTY JAIL - DAY

Velma steps up to Roxie.

VELMA: How's it feel, kid?

She holds up the morning papers, which are filled with stories about the Lakeshore Drive Massacre. 

VELMA: J. Edgar Hoover couldn't find your name in the papers.

She drops the papers in Roxie's hand and starts off. Roxie gives a sudden shriek and crumbles in a faint. She moans, with eyes closed, then lifts her head a little to call out:

ROXIE: Mr. Flynn? Miss Sunshine?

She faints again. The reporters make a beeline for Roxie. Mary Sunshine peers down at her through the open bars.

MARY SUNSHINE: What is it, dear?

Billy turns to a guard, gestures grandly for the cameras.

BILLY: Someone unlock that door immediately.

ROXIE (wan and sweet): Oh, don't worry about...me. I just hope the fall didn't hurt the baby!

MATRON: Baby!

Roxie nods solemnly.

VELMA: Shit.

Roxie and Velma exchange looks. Flashbulbs pop and peppy MUSIC plays ("Me and My Baby")...

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Despite a high amount of razzle dazzle, I never was lost because the theme keeps the script grounded.  

This is always about life and stage imitating each other.

Chicago (2002)
by Bill Condon
Based on the musical play "Chicago"
Book of the musical play by Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb
Based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins

TODAY'S NUGGET: 52 Pickup (1986) - How to Amp Up a Thriller-Action-Adventure

[Quick Summary: When a businessman deals with his blackmailers, neither expect the twists and turns.]

This script was an unexpected emotional ride for me because:

1) Characters have REAL reactions: 

It also isolates the key ingredient in Leonard's best novels, which is the sight of a marginal character being pushed far beyond his capacity to cope. In "52 Pick-Up," there are three such characters, and by the end of the movie they are all desperately confused and frightened. -R. Ebert (underline mine)

2) There are REAL consequences = jeopardy & stakes:

The problem with so many action adventures is that nobody in the movie ever seems scared enough. People are getting killed in every other scene, and they stay cool. If the movies were like real life and this kind of torture and murder were going on, everybody would be throwing up every five minutes - like they do in John D. MacDonald's novels. "52 Pick-Up" creates that sense of hopelessness and desperation, and it does it with those three performances - three guys who are in way over their heads and know it all too well. -R. Ebert (underline mine)

I especially like how the writers do this by showing how the situation is edgy for the blackmailers (Bobby, Alan, Leo) as well as the blackmailee (Mitchell):

INT. THE BALL - NIGHT

Bobby strolling into the club. In rear booth sit Alan and Leo. On stage dancing, naked, is Doreen. Bobby walks to booth and sits.

LEO: You want something to drink?

BOBBY: Don't need nothing, man.

ALAN: I can see it. (pause) This guy's not scared yet. He's twitchy, but he's not scared.

BOBBY: Man's lookin' for a way out. So would I.

ALAN: I don't know -- who's he think he's dealing with a bunch of ding-dongs, freaks, clowns?

BOBBY: You getting close.

ALAN: I think we're going to have to dig the hole a little deeper--and man, I got an idea, a way to do it, that's un-fucking believable.

BOBBY: Well, lay it on me, see if I like it.

INT. MITCHELL'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

he sits on edge of bed and reaches into coat pocket for cigarettes. He pulls out pack --sees that it's empty. he throws it angrily at wall. 

MITCHELL: Shit.

He stretches out on his back, staring at ceiling.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: When there's real obstacles (greed) + real consequences (death) + no easy way out (no cell phones, internet), tension does rise because the stakes are so close to home.

52 Pickup (1986)(6th draft, 3/25/86)
by John Steppling and Elmore Leonard
Based on the novel by Elmore Leonard