The Prestige

I saw this film for the first time two weeks ago. The ending of this film completely took me by surprise which led to a big argument between my wife and I. The only resolution was to download the screenplay. Ok, she won the argument but I found a true gem of screenplay writing.

The Prestige is about two talented magicians Borden (Christian Bale) and Angier (Hugh Jackman) who are torn apart when a water tank escape-artist illusion goes terribly wrong resulting in the drowning of Angier’s wife. Tormented by his loss, Angier begins a deadly escalation of revenge between the two men believing that Borden’s incompetent knot tieing led to her death. Borden who is also distraught, tries to let matters lie until Angier begins to sabbotage Borden’s act, which results in Borden losing a finger. From this moment, all bets are off, as both men battle to out do one another on and off stage. The battle of rivalry is so fierce that both exact plans so deadly and conspiratorially that the viewer is one the who is constantly missing the trick.

The film is a dream to watch and most of this is down to Christopher Nolan’s apt direction and the screenplay deftly written by his brother Jonathan Nolan based on the novel by Christopher Priest. With a great supporting cast of Michael Caine (Cutter) and Scarlat Johannson (Olivia) they give the film a naturalistic and balanced perspective during the sparring of the magicians.

The screenplay is told through the journal of Robert Angier, which is being read by Borden who was convicted of murdering Angier – by drowning him in a watertank. The story is well plotted (there are some loop holes in the logic!) and it is the tricks that the screenplay / film play on the viewer that is most satisfying once you realise that what you’ve been watching is actually some great trick  – this is punctuated by the opening page:

The story will flit seamlessly between the events taking place to Borden (i.e. him being in Jail, the trial) and the reading of the journal and Tangier’s quest to unlock the secret of Borden’s illusion “The Transported Man”

The other great example of this is while Borden is readuing Angier’s journal in Jail, Angier is actually reading Borden’s journal which he writes about. This confusion all becomes apparant later when we learn that during their battles, Angier actually stole Borden’s journal and he is deciphering it with a codeword – again that we wil learn later about. There is a very good use of foreshadowing as the audience is forced to ask inner questions and maintain the different threads – or keep the spinning plates spinning!

How would we describe magic tricks in a screenplay? Read this and tell me whether you visually see what is going on. I think it’s been done very well.

I thoroughly enjoyed the screenplay and there were some nice mechanics on the efficient use of screenwriting that I’ve certainly learnt.

For those that are interested I’ve attached the screenplay – note that Jonathan Nolan forgot to spell check this draft, which is very satisfying to know that not of all us writers are perfect!

Prestige

The Dark Knight – Screenplay

After reading and making notes on two classic British screenplays, I decided to turn my attention Christopher & Jonathan Nolan’s screenplay of ‘The Dark Knight.’ The film is famed for breaking box office records – 3 days US domestic pulling in over $155m, and the unfortunate death of Heath Ledger who went on to win a posthumous Oscar for his portrayal as the Joker.

I chose to read this script for two key reasons: It has a great story and the dialogue is terrific for an action-comic movie.  The script reads at a clip and you find yourself very quickly chomping through the high octane set-pieces.  The dialogue is never on the nose and the actions are sparsely written yet give clear indication what the characters’ motives are.

How the Dark Knight is going to help me in my Arsenal script is yet to be determined, but I felt compelled to read this because the relationships between all the characters are twisted. For example, Alfred warning Bruce that his actions have forced the criminals to seek solace in the Joker; Bruce and Rachel are like two flies dancing around a fire – never destined to be together; Dent who is willing to make a stand against the criminals and be the shining knight that batman can never be, and then we have the ongoing friendship between Gordon and Batman.

These individual binary relationships are not long lasting and at some point they will begin fracture. In this scene, Bruce has to be reminded of his own limitations after the Joker gatecrashed his fundraiser:

WAYNE
Targeting me won’t get their money back. I knew the mob wouldn’t go down without a fight, but this is different. They’ve crossed a line.

ALFRED
You crossed it first, sir. You’ve hammered them, squeezed them to the
point of desperation. And now, in their desperation they’ve turned to a
man they don’t fully understand.

Wayne gets up from his monitors, raises the bat-cabinet.

WAYNE
Criminals aren’t complicated, Alfred. We just have to figure out what he’s
after.

ALFRED
Respectfully, Master Wayne, perhaps this is a man you don’t fully understand, either.

Another really good example about the dichotomy of relationships is clearly shown towards the end after Batman has strung up the Joker :

THE JOKER
Just couldn’t let me go, could you? I guess this is what happens when an
unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You truly are incorruptible,
aren’t you?

Batman secures the Joker UPSIDE DOWN. The Joker is LAUGHING.

THE JOKER
You won’t kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness… and I won’t kill you because you’re too much fun. We’re going to do this forever.

The script / film contains some memorable scenes which I also think are very important, as the reader / viewer should always be left with some imprint of great scenes.  For me this is important because as a viewer / reader this is the first question I will always ask: What was your favourite scene? In the Dark Knight we have the prologue – the bank scene, Joker and the vanishing pencil, Batman abducting Lau from Hong Kong etc. One of my favourite scenes is when he kills Gambol (who has ordered a hit on Joker- dead or alive) and opens a position for Gambol’s men to join him:

The Joker FLICKS his wrist- the Body Guards flinch as Gambol goes down.  The Joker turns to them.

THE JOKER
Now, our organization is small, but we’ve got a lot of potential for aggressive expansion… so which of you fine gentlemen would like to join our team?

The three bodyguards all nod. The Joker SNAPS a pool cue.

THE JOKER
Only one slot open right now- so we’re going to have try-outs.

The Joker drops the broken cue in the middle of the men.

THE JOKER
Make it fast.

The men stare at each other. Then at the jagged pool cue.

The main reason why I wanted to read and briefly blog about this script is the difference in script styles. Whilst the observational research module is very focussed on creating characters/stories from our chosen arena, I can’t help but think about dialogue. Because for me, whilst I’m aware that writing visually is so important I don’t want to get too sucked into the whole art nonsense where I forego dialogue. As a writer, I want to write visually but not at the expense of the story. What I mean by this, is that I don’t want to labour the reader / viewer with too much visual and constantly make them figure out the story because it’s mentally draining for me and not my cup of tea!

Dangerous Liaisons – Christopher Hampton

I decided last night that I would sit down and read Dangerous Liaisons in its entirety in one sitting. An hour and 20 minutes later I can only say that Christopher Hampton truly deserved to win the Oscar for best adapted screenplay – based on his play ‘Les liaisons dangereuses’. In this blog I will refer to excerpts from Christopher’s script – therefore the assumption is that you have either seen the film, or read the script. These excerpts are areas that I myself want to learn and improve upon in my own writing.

The screenplay has all the elements which appeal to me:  The world and its setting is introduced in the first 2 pages; the characterization and dialogue are aptly written; the scenes move effortlessly and the visual description is succinct.

The first 3 pages introduce us to the world and in particular Madame de Merteuil (Glenn Close) and Vicomte de Valmont (John Malkovich).

One of the things I love about this script is the dangerous and witty dialogue that Christopher has injected. In one scene, Merteuil is entertaining Volanges and her beautiful but naive daughter, Cecile, when Valmont is announced. Volanges is alarmed to hear this news:

The script is littered with sexual references and more so as this is a film about the power of sex and its salacious grip upon women – who are not so subjugated as we are meant to believe during this period.

The threading of the scenes between characters who are at different locations is expertly handled. As a writer, how would we handle scenes in which our main character writes letters to his supposed loved one? Do we see him writing, sending the letter off, and it arrives all done within a montage – something I personally detest in screenplays? Or do we simply merge the scenes into a seamless thread. In this scene, Valmont is in post coital and is writing a letter to Madam Tourvel (the pious woman who we must seduce):

Notice how elegantly we move from Valmont writing the letter to Tourvel who is reading the letter aloud. It’s great method to demonstrate the spatial difference without having to slow the story down.

Another great example of impressionistic writing, is how to deal with people looking at one another and to describe externally how they are feeling.  This excerpt is full of feeling and betrayal when Valmont who is seated next to Merteuil at the Opera is caught looking at Madam Tourvel:

This section is elegantly written and you can feel the swathes of emotion that are exhibited by all three characters in synchronicity with the emotional peaks and troughs of the ensuing Opera.

This is another great example of British Writing that exhibits Impressionistic writing that I want to develop in my own writing.