Screenplays to Read . . .
When You're Not Writing
'Part of the fun is trying to guess what the ending might be. The challenge was to let the audience know in a way that wouldn't upset them that there wasn't going to be an ending. To switch off the expectation. . . . To mesmerize the audience, I had to experiment with rhythm. Too slow and the film would become indulgent. You would see the wheels turning.'
-- Peter Weir
There's never much of a selection when you're looking for published screenplays in book form in the USA. So from the current minimal pool, here's a selection well worth reading. In each of these, character is as important as what-happens-next. So they're all from the top end of this business . . .
Pure Hollywood with Class and Brains
- CHINATOWN
- One of the best that's ever been done in Hollywood during the last 30 years.
- THE GODFATHER
- Among the great American films of all time. The screenplay's out of print -- of course -- in an inexpensive edition. But at least it's in Best American Screenplays 3 along with seven other scripts [so that's only about $6.25 US a script]. And nobody ever says, "I liked the novel better."
- THE ENGLISH PATIENT
- One of the best examples of successful adaptation of a very complex novel.
- MOONSTRUCK
- A wonderfully romantic, bizarre, and moving original by one of America's noted playwrights.
Hollywood knows how to do it when it wants to. . .
- MANHATTAN
- Woody Allen's best work by far -- still. And ANNIE HALL is next.
- FARGO
- It has all the feel of the best independent film making.
- RAISING ARIZONA,
- The weirdest of the lot, is a practical lesson in writing well within the real constraints of low or modest production budgets.
- PULP FICTION
- It probably belongs in the "Hollywood" category, but it has all the characteristics of the best writing for independent film.
- DINER
- A classic independent affair, drawn directly from the screenwriter's memories of his young adult years in Baltimore.
The independents are where the best writing is now . . .
How the Other Half Does It
You can't make films like this in America. Unless you're a demonically driven independent type willing to risk most of your life at film festivals rather than the local cineplex. Read 'em and weep, as they say . . .
Before you start on any of these, take a look at Reading Professional Screenplays for cautions on the scene/shot descriptions and format often used in screenplays published for a mass market audience.
There's an excellent selection of recent screenplays you can download to your computer -- everything from pure action flics to character centered ones -- available free from Movie Magic Screenwriter, the screenwriting software folks. You can get to this through the Screenwriting Software page of the Playwriting Seminars site.
If you can't find a good bookstore with a large selection of film and theatre titles, you can order recommended plays, screenplays, videos, and books through the Web without having to do title searches. Look for linked book covers [as above] or the amazon.com logo throughout The Playwriting Seminars. And the world's leading Internet bookstore can get them to you in a few days.
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