Friday, April 19, 2013

My Top 10 Screenplays of All Time


Few things fascinate and inspire me more than the written word, specifically as they relate to film. Whether it’s the seamless structure of scenarios, or that one perfect line that cuts right to the heart of things – I’m utterly engrossed with every aspect of a screenplay. Some of my choices below are known primary for their dialogue, others for the way in which they evolve their stories. All have planted themselves in my mind and never dared to go away. They’ve encouraged, amused, and captivated me many times over. And I realized something funny while drafting this post: sometimes writing about words is the hardest kind of writing; for someone has already said it better themselves.

(Note: This post was hacked and deleted earlier this week. It initially ran on April 12.) 

Casablanca (1943)
Screenplay by Julius J. & Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch, based on the play “Everybody Comes to Rick’s” by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison
Widely considered by many to be the finest screenplay ever conceived, the script for Casablanca is perfect for reasons I have trouble articulating. It’s expertly crafted, tersely worded, and equipped with as much venom as it is bliss. It never feels forced or rushed, instead moving at the exact proper pace, with characters who say all the right things at all the right times. For whatever reason – blame it on closeness of their releases, popularity, whatever – Casablanca is frequently matched against Citizen Kane as the best film of all time. The late, great Roger Ebert said it best when he compared the admiration for the two films: “Citizen Kane is general considered to be the ‘greater’ film. But Casablanca is more loved.” Yes. Exactly.

12 Angry Men (1957)
Screenplay by Reginald Rose, based on his teleplay of the same name
One of the best things about Rose’s script for 12 Angry Men is that it’s always two steps ahead of its audience. For example, while the 12 jurors in question debate the fate of a young boy accused of murdering his father, you may wonder why the son stabbed his father in the chest, wiped it clean of finger prints, left the scene, and returned three hours later to retrieve the knife (which was still lodged in his father’s chest). Why? Why would someone wipe a blade clean and NOT take it with them? Once the 11th Juror asks that very question, we’re releaved that someone thought to ask what we were already thinking. This is a script that leaves nothing out.

The Godfather (1972)
Screenplay by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel by Mario Puzo
It just flows so well, you know? The extended set pieces, the glorious inter-cutting of multiple actions, the understated dialogue – everything about The Godfather simply works. It doesn’t really interest me to compare a film to the material it’s based on, but this may indeed be my favorite cinematic book adaptation. The proper cuts were made to enhance the film’s pace, and the alterations (typically to make the film more grim) were all tonally perfect. I never grow tired of it.

Network (1976)
Screenplay by Paddy Chayefsky
There are a few scripts on this list that are here for their dialogue, and not really much else. Every single exchange of words in Chayefsky’s Network moves like a freight train and ignites like a brush fire. It’s a deeply cruel, oddly humorous, and wildly intelligent work of contemporary poetry. Every time I watch this film, I marvel at the words being spoken and I ask myself, Jesus, how the hell did someone even think of that?

Taxi Driver (1976)
Screenplay by Paul Schrader
Taxi Driver is my favorite personal screenplay of all time. After an ugly divorce and an equally gut wrenching break-up with his live-in girlfriend, Paul Schrader spent the next several months wandering the seedy streets of New York City. Sleeping in his car, ducking into porno theaters, drinking too much, snorting too much. And it was from his personal anguish that Taxi Driver was born. Schrader was able to morph the isolation he gained from his depression into a masterful work of alienated art. Taxi Driver is my favorite flick of all time, and it all started with a screenplay; a complex, secluded, infuriated screenplay.

Fanny and Alexander (1982)
Screenplay by Ingmar Bergman
There must be a Bergman, and I wrestled extensively with which one to include. And instead of listing all of Bergman’s best scripts, and why they would’ve merited inclusion here, I’ll just say that what finally led me to choose Fanny and Alexander was its massive scope. Most every Bergman film is armed with a type of magnetism. There’s an allure that draws you in almost immediately, often inexplicably. Fanny and Alexander has this mystery, of course, but, on a more elementary level, it’s the impressiveness of its size that I’m most taken with. It’s the way it keeps transforming – how it could end there, but instead keeps going. And going. And going. More characters are introduced, while others are fully realized. There’s humor, horror, dread and compassion. A magnum opus from cinema’s finest master.

The Big Chill (1983)
Screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Barbara Benedek
Of all the characters in all the screenplays on this list, I honestly think the ones I know best are the seven friends in The Big Chill. After their eighth counterpart unexpectedly kills himself, married couple Harold and Sarah, repressed housewife Karen, People Magazine journalist Michael, hotshit attorney Meg, television star Sam, and emotionally and psychically damaged Nick, reunite for the first time since college at Harold and Sarah’s large summer home. During their impromptu reunion, they fight, they cry, they drink, they do drugs, they have sex – all with a universal understanding of acceptance. Which means two things. One, through Kasdan and Benedek’s script, it’s so obvious how well this group of people knows each other. How close they once were and how their lives have all been fractured in some way since separating. And two, because this script is to well defined, we the audience are able to accept and believe these relationships from scene one. As natural and organic a screenplay that has ever been written.

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
Screenplay by David Mamet, based on his play of the same name
“All train compartments smell vaguely of shit. It gets so you don’t mind it. That’s the worst thing that I can confess. You know how long it took me to get there? A long time.” Real estate shark Ricky Roma (Al Pacino) says this to a whale he’s trying to pitch, early in Glengarry Glen Ross. The two are having drinks in a local dive bar, and Roma, possibly sensing that his mark can be manipulated through subtle flirtation, dives into a seemingly nonsensical monologue that starts with shitty train compartments and ends with volcanic orgasms. On the surface, Roma’s grand, philosophical speech means nothing, but Mamet knows better. He knows exactly what it’s doing, through every word, punctuation mark, beat, and fiery fit of profanity.

And this is just one brief, often overlooked passage from the film. The entirety of Glengarry Glen Ross is filled with the best that words have to offer.

Pulp Fiction (1994)
Screenplay by Quentin Tarnation
Pulp Fiction is and remains a cultural phenomenal. For those old, it reminded them of screenwriting as an art form. It paved way for studio execs to seek new, inventive scripts – to crave the original and the bold. For those young, well, it told them that anything on paper is possible. No matter how insane, just write the fuckin’ thing and see what comes out. And I ask: what can possibly be better than that?

Traffic (2000)
Screenplay by Stephen Gaghan, based on the television series “Traffik,” written by Simon Moore
Stephen Gaghan’s script for Traffic was the first screenplay that turned me onto the process. I had loved movies long before seeing Traffic, but when the film was released, I thought for the first time that maybe this nagging dream of mine, this desire to create something out of moving images, could start with words. I realized then that I could propel my dream with words of my own. I was well aware that movies came from screenplays, but up until then, I never had the slightest interest in writing one. Traffic changed that. And who knows, maybe one day I’ll get to say the rest was history.

Click here for more lists from And So it Begins, including:

32 comments:

  1. You mentioned in another post that you'd like readers to re-comment. I probably can't remember whatever the hell I said, but here goes ... If I made such a list, I don't know what I would include, but Taxi Driver and Pulp Fiction would definitely be on there.

    You wrote: "I was well aware that movies came from screenplays, but up until then, I never had the slightest interest in writing one. Traffic changed that. And who knows, maybe one day I’ll get to say the rest was history." ... Definitely! There is no doubt in my mind. With your intelligence and gift for words, you're going to be creating great stuff. I look forward to seeing it on the big screen.

    I am sorry about your losses. I know how devastating that can be.

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    1. Thanks so much for commenting again, Steph! What you said about my writing is really nice of you :)

      And thanks for the support... shit was rough but things seem pretty much back on track!

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  2. Good to see this post back. I definitely recall mentioning Somewhere as one of my favorite scripts that I mentioned in the comments so I'll just mention it again.

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    1. Thanks for commenting again man, Somewhere is a brilliant choice. Such a tight, well conceived script there.

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  3. "Chinatown" is my personal #1. And I'd throw Newman & Benton's "Bonnie & Clyde" in there too, though, of course, that one was aided immeasurably by a Towne re-write. I mean, really, when Robert Towne was on his game.....

    As far as more modern day scripts, I've always though Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton" was kind of a masterpiece.

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    1. Chinatown was number 11 here. That is a perfect damn script. So tight. And yeah, when Towne hit... dude hit.

      Michael Clayton is a great choice. That always felt like a genuine '70s throwback to me, which is a very good thing. With that one, it's really all about what's not said, you know?

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    2. Glad you love the Chinatown script too, my favorite movie. All of these are superb also- need to see The Big Chill- It was you that introduced me to Traffic, and the screenplay is certainly one of the things that make it the best film of the 2000s, at least to me :P

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    3. LOVE hearing that, my friend. Stephen Gaghan's Traffic script is such a thing of wonder. So big, yet still so personal. His best scripts always manage to do that, like the sub plot of Jeffrey Wright and his dad in Syriana.

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  4. That Glengarry Glen Ross script is fuckin' perfect. Agree with the others, too. Great choices.

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  5. Again, this is a wonderful list man. Mine would probably look something like this: All the President's Men, The Apartment, Casablanca, Chinatown, A Fish Called Wanda, The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, Rear Window, The Seventh Seal (maybe Persona instead), and Sunset Blvd.

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    1. Thanks Josh!

      Oh dude, excellent choices there. I had the damnest time picking my Bergman. I wanted to limit it to one, but that choice did not come easy. Love seeing A Fish Called Wanda on your list.

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    2. Thanks man. Picking one Bergman is so tough. Glad you dig the Fish mention. It's one of my all-time favorite comedies.

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    3. I need to watch that movie again. Kline, man... so deserving of that Oscar.

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  6. It's not a screenplay list without Network. I am in love with the dialogue in that film, everything is so tight. Taxi Driver is a must. Schrader's script is such a magnetic read, I would love to see you dig into Paul Schrader's filmography one of these days.

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    1. First off man, I want to tell you how much I appreciate your comments. Sincerely, it means a lot!

      Also, I see you have 4 blogs attached to your handle but none of them have been updated recently... do you blog on any other site? I'd love to read your stuff!

      Glad you dig the picks here. I really should buckle down and crush out all of Schrader's films.

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    2. I mostly write for my own personal enjoyment and have yet to start a new film blog. That said, I've written a number of essays and film analysis' over the year, I should suck up my nervousness and make a tumblr already haha. I'm glad I can bounce off of you, your blog serves as quite the inspiration.

      Yeah get to it already! Schrader is a very interesting character in that his films rarely work but are so very important nonetheless. I always found he's been grasping to capture the magic he had with Taxi Driver but just misses the mark.

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    3. Hey man, I'm glad I can help encourage you. I'd love to read some of your essays, so I DEFINITELY think you should start your own blog. Most new bloggers are crazy nervous about not getting a lot of hits and/or comments, but I say who cares. If the writing is good, the people will soon follow.

      I've seen most all of Schrader's directorial efforts, and yeah, I'm more of a fan of his scripts than his own movies. But still, he has some great ones. Affliction...? Jesus.

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    4. Affliction is a really powerful flick, Nolte's acting is so fucking even at all times, good lord! And Coburn! I stand somewhat corrected but even still, Schrader has had a hard go at being one of the big directors despite being an exceptional writer and having a really solid visual eye, sense of atmosphere etc.

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    5. So happy to hear you're a fan of that film. That one has mad power.

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  7. Let's see, the wordplay in 'Dr. Strangelove' has always been a favorite of mine. The amount of foresight that had to go into the script for 'Momento' is unbelievable. 'The Sweet Smell of Success' dialog does sound ridiculous on paper, but when it's said by Lanchaster and Curtis it just works. 'Rashomon' for it's pioneering narrative technique. Other than that love all the choices here. Especially, Casacblanca Brian Cox said it best in 'Adaptation', "best ever screenplay"

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    1. Great picks, all of which were extremely close to cracking my Top 10. Rashomon was a film that helped change what films were to me. I never knew you could jump around like that. Kurosawa, man.

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  8. I'd say Network has the greatest screenplay of all time. It's astounding how that film is more relevant to news media and corporations today, than it was in 1976. Loved your list! So glad to see Casablanca and 12 Angry Men get a mention.

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    1. Thanks man! I rewatched Network a few months ago, and I couldn't agree more with you, that movie is shockingly relevant. It's actually kind of frightening.

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  9. Just saw The Big Chill and you were so right. Perhaps I was just looking for ‘knowing’ the characters just because you mentioned it, but damn if you don’t by the end (and hell even from the beginning) of the film. So many little things I love about it…

    1-That opening

    2-The fact you are just waiting for the condoms to come out of Michael’s bag

    3-A whiter shade of pale

    4-How “It’s quiet in here, too quiet” would be a bad line in any other film, but works so well to build the character here

    5- “Alex and I made love the night before he died it was fantastic” :’D

    6-And of course- of course- that shot. That song. That line. Perfection.

    The Big Chill is a movie that is definitely a film OF the 1980s, but its also one of its very best.

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    1. YES! So happy you watched it. I love love LOVE that movie. Ah, so good. And I love all the things you pointed out about it. Great stuff!

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    2. Its great to be pointed in the direction of some great movies I would never have known about before, so thankyou.

      Its the non-theatrical Fanny & Alexander yet. Wish me luck finding that one :/

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    3. Criterion has the television version of Fanny. Do you have access to that? SO worth it.

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    4. Sadly Criterion is region 1 only, as I found out the hard way (-_-). And thus I cannot. Will find it eventually, somewhere though. Almost snapped up the 3 hour cut at BFI

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    5. Criterion is only Region 1?! That's outrageous, I had no idea. Bummer!

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    6. Yep. Finding older American films over here in the UK is surprisingly hard too. You have no idea how long it took to get a region 2 Deliverance :/

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    7. Man, I really take that for granted. That sucks dude.

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