2021 OSCARS: The White Tiger (2020) - Ah, The Difficulty of Showing Mental Anguish

[Quick Summary: A country boy, who becomes the driver of a rich man's son in Delhi, climbs his way out of poverty, but not without dark humor and corruption.]

How do you show a character (gasp!) thinking? Usually by a physical gesture.

But what if it is even more difficult, ex. a complex thought like changing one's mind or mental anguish?

Writers are always looking for new way to show "thinking," and was impressed in the gesture in the scene below.

First, I'd not seen it anywhere else before.  Second, the addition of the internal monologue helps the actor strike the right tone.

FYI: Italics = Hindi.

INT. ASHOK'S DELHI APARTMENT - AFTERNOON

...Balram serves them lunch.

BALRAM: Here you are, sir.

ASHOK: I don't want food right now.

BALRAM: I made it like we had together the other night, sir.

Mukesh wonders what this is about.

ASHOK: I don't give a shit.

BALRAM: Just a taste, sir.

Ashok slaps the food out of his hand, sending it crashing to the floor, the bowl breaking apart. 

ASHOK: I said I'm not hungry....Get lost.

MUKESH: He doesn't feel like it, why are you up his ass! Get rid of it, you fucker.

ASHOK:  Just leave me alone for a fucking second.

Balram walks away with the tray.

MUKESH: Until Ashok Sir calls you, don't hover over him like a fly!

BALRAM: Yes, sir.

INT. ASHOK'S DELHI APARTMENT; ELEVATOR - MOMENTS LATER

Balram pinches his hand hard, again and again. - Why am I still in servitude to this man?

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: One way to show mental anguish is using an unusual repetitive gesture.

The White Tiger (2020)
by Ramin Bahrani
Based on the novel by Aravind Adiga

2021 OSCARS: One Night in Miami (2020) - Explaining an Unfamiliar Gesture Without Losing the Reader

[Quick Summary: Boxer Cassius Clay, singer Sam Cooke, preacher Malcolm X, and football player Jim Brown spend a night together in Miami, 1964.]

What is "craft"? To me, it's the ability to wield words simply, precisely, economically.  

How does one get it? Experience over time (and it's generally a long time).

What does it look like?  As an example, the scene below explains a "dap" gesture.

Notice how the writer uses simple words and keeps the motion flowing from one guy to the next.  It's also an economical way to show friction and differences.

Also, he does not belabor the explanation.  If you can't envision it, it's ok. All you need to know is that the guys tried to connect with a some kind of cool move.

INT. HAMPTON HOUSE MOTEL - MALCOLM'S ROOM

...JIM: Well, what flavor is it?

MALCOLM: Well, we have vanilla, Jimmy, and...

Malcolm looks back into the fridge.

MALCOLM (CONT'D): ...vanilla.

JIM: Shit.

SAM (chuckles): How is that for some irony?

MALCOLM: Last time I checked, vanilla was your flavor of choice.

JIM AND CASSIUS (mocking):Oooooooooooooh....

Sam respects this witty retort, as he turns to Jim and Cassius, who both have an expression that says, simply: "Damn." Malcolm and Sam both laugh as Sam holds out his hand for some "dap."

MALCOLM: That's right, jack...

Malcolm slides Sam some "skin," an older dap that signifies the generational difference. Sam just stares at his hand as the pleased Malcolm laughs to himself as he returns to the fridge to put one tub of ice cream back, before closing it.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I used to equate fewer words = clearer.  But it's not necessarily fewer words... it's the RIGHT combination of words.

One Night in Miami (2020)
by Kemp Powers
Based on his original stage play

2021 OSCARS: Nomadland (2020) - Emotional Arcing During the Passage of Time

[Quick Summary: Fern (60s) learns to survive in her first year living out of her van.]

Fern is a college graduate, self-sufficient, kind, but stand-offish.  She lost her beloved, well-liked husband a year ago, and packed up everything into a van.

I got the sense that he was the more sociable one, the one who connected her to the world.  I don't think she realizes how she's emotionally adrift or who she is now.

One of the strongest thing about this script is how you experience Fern's emotional arc with the passage of time. 

Sometimes months will pass and Fern is the exact same. Sometimes a day will pass and she has grown enormously (see below).

In the scenes below:
- Fern met fellow nomad Dave on the road and they got along well. However, his son James had a baby and wanted Dave to come home. Dave invited Fern to come, but she refused.
- Fern has now finally made it to Dave's house.
- Notice in the flow of visuals shows us how she feels, but the audience must participate to give it meaning: sharp longing for things that anchor --> family is Dave's anchor, what is hers? --> she realizes this is not her --> she leaves.

INT. DAVE'S HOUSE - STAIRS - LATER

Fern carries her laundry down the stairs. She hears music and looks into the study --

Dave and James are playing the piano together. A simple melody in beautiful synchronicity -- something father and son had played together many times in the past.

Fern watches them. She is moved at first, smiling gently. Then, something restless stirs inside of her. She suddenly feels a little short of breath.

INT. DAVE'S HOUSE - GUEST ROOM - THAT NIGHT

Fern lies in bed, unable to sleep. She stares at the ceiling. It feels too tall.

She gets up and walks out of the dark room.

EXT. DAVE'S HOUSE - NIGHT

Fern walks out of the house and runs to Vanguard.

She climbs in, closes the door and lies under the covers.

She touches the ceiling. A  moment. She closes her eyes.

EXT. DAVE'S HOUSE - NEXT MORNING

Dark clouds on the horizon. A storm is approaching.

Fern stands outside Vanguard and smokes a cigarette.

She looks up at Dave's house. It's beautiful and tranquil.

INT. DAVE'S HOUSE - LIVING/DINING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Everyone is still asleep. The house is quiet.

Fern looks at the family photos of different generations on the wall. She recognizes a younger Dave with an infant James.

She sits down at the empty dining room table and looks around. Silence.

A moment passes, Fern gets up, quietly straightens the wooden chair and walks away.

EXT. ROAD IN TOWN - SAME MORNING

Large rain drops on windshield.

Fern drives through the quiet town lashed with wind and rain.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I was impressed how the images told the story.  I could see Fern thinking, "Is it easier to stay on the outside side than go in and attempt messy, emotional relationships?"

Nomadland (2020)(1/12/19 draft)
by Chloe Zhao
Based on the book by Jessica Bruder

2021 OSCARS: The Father (2020) - Describing the Character's Mental Attitude

[Quick Summary: Anthony has difficulty remembering, to the dismay of his daughter Anne.]

An outstanding (and newly minted Oscar winning) script!

More than any other script in my recent memory, this one makes you FEEL Anthony's memory loss:

a) He can only hold on to bits and pieces, so he is discombobulated when new information arrives or has to retrieve old information that is no longer there.

b) The cyclical, repetitiveness of daily living becomes frustrating and frightening.

c) The writers included Anthony's mental attitude, even though we can't see it, and thus is supposedly forbidden under "screenwriting rules."  It works well here.

For example, in the scene below:
- Anthony keeps thinking his watch is missing/stolen/lost.
- He does not really remember Paul, his son-in-law.
- I've underlined the lines below with Anthony's mental attitude.

INT. LIVING ROOM 2 - DAY

...ANTHONY has noticed Paul's watch. He seems fascinated. He's wondering if it might be his.

ANNE: Laura.

ANTHONY: Mm?

ANNE: The young woman who came to see us just now.

ANTHONY: Oh, yes.

ANNE: And we went to see the doctor...

PAUL: And? What did he say?

ANTHONY: Has anybody seen my watch? Can't seem to find it.

ANNE: Again?

ANTHONY: I've been looking for it for some time.

ANNE: You must have put it in your cupboard. Don't you think? In your hiding-place...

ANTHONY starts, afraid that PAUL has heard the word 'cupboard' and will discover his hiding-place.

ANTHONY: What are you talking about, Anne? I really don't know what you're talking about. What cupboard? Mm? There's no cupboard. No cupboard.

He takes ANNE aside.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: If it helps the reader, don't be afraid to describe the character's mental attitude.

The Father (2020)
by Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton

2021 OSCARS: Borat 2 (2020) - A Simple Light Bulb Moment in a Satire

[Quick Summary: To bribe the US, Borat is sent to deliver his daughter as a tribute to Vice President Mike Pence.]

Satire (n.): The use of irony, ridicule, sarcasm, etc. exposes, denounces, derides vice or folly.

The trick with satire is that it has to be funny. Otherwise, it's a lecture.  

Or in this case, the point gets lost in the extremely crass behavior. Which is probably the point.

But I didn't laugh and I didn't enjoy reading it.  (But to be fair,  I'm probably not the audience for this either.)

There was one heartfelt light bulb moment I did like. Tutar, Borat's daughter, is literally wearing blinders when she learns her father (and country) had been lying to her:

INT./EXT. BABYSITTER'S CAR/ STREET - MOMENTS LATER

The babysitter is driving. Tutar, wearing her BLINDERS, is freaking out.

TUTAR: What are you doing?

BABYSITTER: We're driving. Women can drive.

Tutar begins to cry.

BABYSITTER (CONT'D): Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. It's okay.

TUTAR: You can't drive, you can't drive, you can't drive!

BABYSITTER: I can drive! I can!

TUTAR: It's impossible for woman to drive!

BABYSITTER: Nope! Nope! No!

TUTAR: You are a man! Dressed like a woman!

BABYSITTER: No, no!

TUTAR (screaming): Help me!!! It's a woman driving the car!!!

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Does this irony land better because of the extreme preceding behavior? I don't think so.  So is the extreme-ness necessary? Or funnier?

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2020)
by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, Lee Kern
Story by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Nina Pedrad