TODAY'S NUGGET: Dirty Dozen (1967) - Setting Up the Loose Cannon

[Quick Summary: Major Reisman has to train the "Dirty Dozen," a group of felons and death row inmates, for a surprise attack on the enemy.] 

I was surprised at the detailed attention to character in this script. 

For example, Maggot, the fanatic who wants to stamp out evil women, could have easily been a cardboard stereotype.  

Instead, the writers added a beat to throw us into doubt, and set up a future event.

Notice in the scene below:
- It describes Maggot's unconscious behavior (my underlines below).
- We unsure if he is even aware what he is thinking.
- This setup is a hint that pays off when Maggot goes berserk later.

EXT. WATCHTOWER COMPOUND NIGHT

...As MAGGOT climbs down the tower and sets off around the perimeter, he keeps up a constant stream of muttered imprecations.

MAGGOT: Spitting in the face of the redeemer...That's what he's doing - defiling the purity of souls that were sent into this world to live clean...

It is doubtful whether his words even have any meaning for MAGGOT, but he breathes them out as if they were some incantation that will destroy all evil spirits.

NEW ANGLE

As he gets near REISMAN'S hut, MAGGOT's speech becomes nothing more than a fierce, rhythmic breathing, but his mouth keeps moving as if it were forming words.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I liked that the audience is ahead of the character.  We see he's unhinged, but he does not. It adds to the anticipation.

Dirty Dozen (1967)(draft dated 2/4/66)
by Nunnelly Johnson and Lukas Heller
Based on the novel by E.M. Nathanson

TODAY'S NUGGET: Wag the Dog (1997) - In Satire, Using a Betrayal to Show the Obstacle

[Quick Summary: A political player and a Hollywood producer create a fake war as a distraction to an upcoming US election.]

Satire (n.) is 

the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, deriding vice, folly, etc.

However, as film critic Roger Ebert points out: 

"It is getting harder and harder for satire to stay ahead of reality."

So what keeps a satire relevant? I think when it jabs home a perennial problem.  

In politics and war, that problem is attrition.  It's one thing to lose a battle to the other side, but when your own rank and file lose faith? Double ouch.

In the scene below:
- Ames, the political aide, is about to leave for the airport, but stops to overhear a phone conversation.
- Notice that this betrayal is not simply a jab in the gut, but is used to show the hurdles that the protagonists have.
- The irony is that one expects betrayal from a foe, not a supposed supporter.

INT. SIDE OFFICE. NIGHT.

 ...AMES: I'll see you at National.

BREAN NODS, AND EXITS.

HOLD ON AMES.
HE HEARS SOMETHING, AND TURNS.

ANGLE
HIS POV.
A YOUNG STAFFER, IN THE CORNER, SPEAKING SOFTLY ON THE PHONE.

STAFFER (ON PHONE): Tell him, well, tell him we, I know we just signed it, but we're going to cancel it. (PAUSE) Because, because we're not going to be staying here the next four years. (PAUSE) Well, I can't tell you on the phone.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: This is what satire does best: poke fun at our humanness.

Wag the Dog (1997)(10/4/96 draft)
by David Mamet
Based on the book, "American Hero," by Larry Beinhart

TODAY'S NUGGET: The Untouchables (1987) - The Wily, Crafty Trickster Role

[Quick Summary: Elliott Ness hunts Capone, helped by a worn beat cop, Malone.]

What was it about this Mamet script that swayed Sean Connery to take the role (and a rare pay cut)?  I think it's because Malone is such a great trickster role.

Malone, an entirely fictional character, is both sage and "bad cop" to the upstanding "good cop" Ness. He understands what motivates human nature.

In the scene below:
- Ness has just caught George, Capone's accountant, red handed with a shipment and a coded ledger. 
- Ness wants the code but George refuses. 
- Watch how Malone uses all his skills to create a crucible situation that put mental pressure on George.

EXT./INT. CABIN - DAY

MALONE (continuing): You going to talk? (beat) You're gonna talk, pal. You're gonna beg to talk.

In frustration, Malone takes the ledger.

MALONE: Somebody's going to talk.

He walks O.S., out onto the porch. WE HEAR him talking.

MALONE (O.S.)(continuing): Hey you, on your feet. We need you to translate this book. And you are going to. I won't ask you again.

EXT. THE CABIN - DAY

Malone has picked up the dead body of the slain bootlegger and is holding him up by the chin, while holding a pistol to the other. Malone shoves the pistol in the dead man's mouth.

MALONE: What's the matter. Can't you talk with a gun in your mouth? One...two...three...

He fires, as he heaves the body toward the open door.

INT. THE CABIN - DAY

The GUNSHOT, and the body flying through the door. Beat. Malone comes in the door.

He takes a step toward George, who is seated on a chair. The chair falls over, George struggles to his feet.

GEORGE: Yes. Yes. Yes...I'll...yesyesyes I'm going to...

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I like that nothing about this scene above is unearned. 

The threat is imminent (body a few feet away), so it's realistic that George is scared and willing to spill. 

The Untouchables (1987)
by David Mamet

TODAY'S NUGGET: Atlantic City (1980) - What I Wished I'd Known About Formatting

[Quick Summary: Lou, a numbers runner who yearns for his neighbor Sally, becomes an inadvertent drug courier for her estranged husband who arrives unexpectedly.]

Q: How good is this script? 
A: Good.* Really good.**

Lead actor Burt Lancaster said of his role:

A part like that, especially at my age, happens every ten years, if you’re lucky.

Q: But the script is written in the format of a play!
A: Here's what I wished I'd known about formatting as a new writer (but you can't tell new writers until they figure it out for themselves): It's not about formatting.

Q: But I LIKE doing the formatting.  Don't you?
A: I love it. It gives me a sense of "control" over the story.

Q: What's wrong with that?
A: Nothing, unless I'm using it to hide from the truth. ex. I simply can't fix this story.  It's the formatting!  Or my characters are flat. It's the formatting!  

Q: So focus on ...what?
A: I think the writer's job is to get the reader to go in with the character, and wonder where he came from, where he's going.  

If the reader is focusing on commas and periods, you've failed.

In the scene below:
- Notice how writer (and playwright) John Guare keeps you wondering why this very neat older man is  living in a doomed building. Who is ringing for him?
- Also note that you're so into Lou's world that the format falls away.

INT. LOU'S APARTMENT. DAY.

LOU IS A MAN IN HIS 60'S, VERY FIT, VERY HEARTY. IT SEEMS
A SURPRISE TO SEE HIM IRON A TIE IN HIS ONE-ROOM APARTMENT
IN THIS DOOMED BUILDING.
BEHIND HIM A BELL RINGS. AND RINGS.
THE BELL IS CONNECTED IN A VERY MAKESHIFT MANNER TO A
CLOTHESLINE LEADING DOWNSTAIRS.
THE APARTMENT IS ALARMINGLY BARE, EVEN THOUGH HE HAS
LIVED HERE HOW MANY YEARS NOW---THIRTY? CALENDARS
ON THE WALLS. OLD MAGAZINES. THAT'S ABOUT IT.
LOU TAKES HIS TIME. HE BUTTONS HIS SHIRT VERY CAREFULLY.
HE IS A VERY NEAT GUY.
HE TAKES A PAIR OF CLEAN SOCKS FROM THE LAUNDRY PILE.
HE STUFFS THE SOCK INTO THE BELL. IT QUIETS IT, BUT IT
DOESN'T STOP ITS PULLING.
HE LOOKS OUT THE WINDOW.
LOU'S POV. WE SEE SALLY, DAVE AND CHRISSIE FROM ABOVE
ENTERING THE BUILDING.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: If musicians reading music can't wait for the next sequence of notes, the last thing they're looking at is the staff paper.

Atlantic City (1980)
by John Guare

*I am terribly impressed that it was written for a $5M budget and on a time crunch (begun in Aug., 1979, & shot Oct. 1979-Jan. 1980).

**Also, it received five Oscars nominations for:
- John Guare (Best Writing)
- Burt Lancaster (Best Actor)
- Susan Sarandon (Best Actress)
- Louis Malle (Best Director)
- Best Picture