2022 OSCARS: The Power of the Dog (2021) - Ratchet Up Tension to Create a Crucible; Alcohol Used as a Release Valve

[Quick Summary: Brothers Phil and George peaceably run a Montana cattle ranch, until George marries widow Rose, who has an adult son Peter.]

I'm quite impressed at how the writer created a gradual crucible for the Rose character (whom I believe is not as fleshed out in the novel). 

In fact, it was so effective that I was terribly relieved when Rose drank to escape.  I couldn't take much more of Phil either.

The crucible really worked because there was a constant ratcheting up of tension:

- LEVEL 1: Rose marries wealthy George, who lives in a 16 bedroom house with brother Phil.  Phil actively hates Rose. She secretly drinks to deal...and Phil knows her secret.

- LEVEL 2: Phil decides to mentor her son Peter, in order to spite her.

- LEVEL 3: Cruel Phil baits Rose when she's near the toppling point (see below)

INT. BURBANK RANCH HOUSE/STAIRS/PHIL'S BEDROOM - DAY

Phil finishes climbing the stairs carrying a newly found fossil. In his bedroom he places the fossil inside his display case. Sharp eared Phil hears the drop of the bottle and opens his dormer window peering below. He sees Rose stretched out beside the pit now using a stick to roll a bottle of Whisky toward her, a good inch of the golden liquid at the bottom. As she reaches down to grasp it's neck Phil whistles a short phrase from Rose's Strauss Waltz. Rose pauses and Phil stops whistling. She pulls the Whisky bottle out of the pit and the whistling starts again, Phil above her watches amused. Rose looks all about including back up at the house. She doesn't know if the whistling is real or if she's imagining it. She steps back against the shadows of the wall and swigs the dregs of the bottle.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I'm rarely this moved emotionally to feel such helplessness. I totally understood how alcohol could be justified as a release valve.

The Power of the Dog (2021)
by Jane Campion
Based on The Power of the Dog, by Thomas Savage

2022 OSCARS: The Lost Daughter (2021) - Voice; When the Environment Expresses a Character's Internal World

[Quick Summary: Leda (40), an Italian literature professor, vacations by the sea alone, and encounters a young mother whose life mirrors her own past.]

This script really impressed me because the writer's voice is very confident:

1) ECONOMY OF WRITING. The script includes just enough information (not too much or too little) to understand the character and his/her motives.

ex. Early in the script, Leda willingly moves her lounge chair and books because a cute guy offers to get her out of the sun. 

Later, she refuses to move her things when a family asks her to switch seats. In other words, she can be accommodating, but only when she wants to.

2) UNDERSTANDS CINEMATIC LANGUAGE. The writer really understands how an image can convey more than dialogue, and knows how to use it.

In the scene below:
- Leda has just arrived at the seaside and is shown to her room.
- Notice how the writer used the environment (beam of light, darkness, pillows).  One could say it's just laying out the facts.  However, visually/cinematically, it could be also foreshadowing things about Leda internal world.

INT. SEASIDE APARTMENT, BEDROOM - NIGHT

Leda turns off the AC, pushes back the curtains and opens the window. She takes a breath of fresh sea air.

She turns off the lights and lays on the bed in her clothes.

THE BEAM OF THE LIGHTHOUSE EXPLODES OUT OF THE DARKNESS. Filling the room with light.

INT. SEASIDE APARTMENT, BEDROOM - MORNING

Leda wakes slowly. She has covered her head with two pillows to avoid the beam from the lighthouse.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: In the scene above, Leda takes a fresh breath in --> then a beam of light crosses the screen. It's a metaphor: new air in --> the truth comes out.

That's confidence in one's visuals and that the audience will get it.

The Lost Daughter (2021)
by Maggie Gyllenhaal
Based on The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante

2022 OSCARS: Dune (2021) - Making the Unfamiliar Familiar in Sci-Fi (Clarity)

[Quick Summary: At the behest of the Emperor, Paul's family moves to the planet Arrakis and is attacked, in a great political and financial conspiracy.]  

I am impressed by this excellent adaptation of an enormous book (576 pgs.) It felt accessible to me, who knew nothing, yet it had enough for rabid fans.  

I noticed that CLARITY did two things:
- Helped increase pacing.
- Made the unfamiliar familiar, ex. simplifying complicated characters or back-stabbing politics to understandable concepts (mother-son, enemy-ally, etc.)

In the scene below:
- Jessica, Paul's mother, has left him (16) in the library with her old teacher, Rev. Mother Mohiam.
- Jessica hasn't told Paul everything about her side of the family nor about this test.
- Rev. Mother orders Paul to put his hand in a special box.
- Though the details may be sci-fi and unfamiliar, this situation is very familiar (student taking test w/ teacher; worried parent in the next room).
- Also, notice that the rawness of tone and tension makes it read faster.

IN THE LIBRARY

Paul stares at the Reverend Mother apprehensively. And suddenly he feels it: a tingling sensation in his fingers that makes his breath catch. He hisses in pain.

PAUL: Why are you doing this?

REV. MOTHER MOHIAM: An animal caught in a trap will gnaw off its own leg to escape. What will you do?

OUTSIDE THE DOOR

Jessica's voice shakes as she whispers the Litany.

JESSICA: I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

IN THE LIBRARY

Sweat beads on Paul's forehead as the pain grows into agony. He moans through clenched teeth. His left hand balled into a white knuckled fist, his arm trembling. Pain!

OUTSIDE THE DOOR

Jessica closes her eyes.

JESSICA (CONT'D): And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.

IN THE LIBRARY

Paul trembles. The gom jabbar glints against his neck. The Reverend Mother's eyes burn into him. He is panting.

INSERT: Paul's hand inside the box. Like a hand in a bonfire. The skin blackening. Splitting.

Paul CRIES OUT involuntarily. The Reverend Mother hisses:

REV. MOTHER MOHIAM: Silence!

OUTSIDE THE DOOR

Jessica's voice rises --

JESSICA: Where the fear has gone there will be nothing!

IN THE LIBRARY

Paul shudders in excruciating pain. Locking eyes with the old Reverend Mother. At the very edge of his endurance.

INSERT: Paul's hand. Crisp flesh falling from charred bones.

Paul shuts his eyes. His mouth opens in a silent scream.

REV. MOTHER MOHIAM Enough!

The pain cuts off at once. Paul's eyes snap open with a gasp.

OUTSIDE THE DOOR

Jessica opens her eyes.

JESSICA: Only I will remain.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I was surprised how fast I read this and how engaged I stayed, even though I didn't totally get all the sci-fi stuff.

Dune (2021) (6/19/20 final draft w/revisions)
by Jon Spaights and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth
Based on the novel 'Dune' by Frank Herbert

2022 OSCARS: CODA (2021) - Creating Four Different Character Arcs But One Central Theme

[Quick Summary: Ruby (18) is torn between staying home to help her deaf family, and dreams of a college singing scholarship.]

FOUR THOUGHTS:

1) This script is FUN to read (and the fastest of the 4 Oscars scripts thus far).

2) It's a true ENSEMBLE piece, and all four main characters change and arc.

3) Though all their arcs are different, they all have the SAME THEME (not being seen for who they are).  It keeps the stories unified and easier to follow.

I really like how the writer found situations that best explored this theme. 

For example, in the scene below:
- Ruby is the link for her parents to the hearing world. She often puts the family's needs before her desire to get a singing scholarship.
- The parents, Frank and Jackie, have opinions but feel isolated because they can't communicate with hearing people .
- Notice how the writer found a FUN, ENSEMBLE situation that explores the THEME. What does being unseen feels like? Can it be sustained? If not, what change will follow (suspense)?

INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE - EXAM ROOM - DAY

Ruby sits between her parents in a tiny exam room, translating for them. She's done this many times. That doesn't make it any less awkward.

FRANK: It's definitely itchy as hell.

RUBY: It itches.

FRANK: My nuts are on fire.

RUBY: His, you know...

FRANK: They're like angry hard little beets. Covered in barnacles.

RUBY: I got it.

FRANK: And your mother's got it even worse. Like a boiled lobster claw.

Ruby squirms, mortified.

DOCTOR: Right, so the layman's term for what you both have is "jock itch." It's common if you spend a lot of time in damp clothes. And it's easily transferable via intercourse.

RUBY (to her dad): You guys have jock itch.

DOCTOR: I'll give you an antifungal cream. But you both have to keep the area dry and avoid sex for two weeks.

RUBY (to her parents): You two need clean underwear. And you're not allowed to do it anymore.

FRANK: What?! For how long?

RUBY (to her parents): Never again. Done for life.

Frank and Jackie stare at her.

RUBY (CONT'D)(caving): Two weeks.

JACKIE: Can't do it.

FRANK: Impossible.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I really like the feel of the overall piece.  It's an ensemble, united by a similar theme, yet full of distinct characters.

CODA (2021)
by Sian Heder
Based on La Famille Belier