Sunday, April 09, 2006

Ten Pictures, Ten Screenplays

Will the list of 10 greatest screenplays exactly correspond to the list of 10 greatest films? Not necessarily. According to the members of the Writers Guild of America these are the ten greatest screenplays.

There are two Billy Wilder films on the list. And how could they have not voted for both of them? When Wilder, Brackett and I.A.L. Diamond write, you can feel the magic coming off the page. I kid you not.

Script # 3 is not just a great script, it is a terrific read on its own. I must have read the shooting draft at least 20 times but it still packs so much surprise and tension.

But why is Lehman (North By North West, Sabrina) not on the list? I would have voted for the former any day over "Network" (great film, but....). And where's "Pulp Fiction" (Tarantino and Roger Avary)? That screenplay, other than being simply brilliant, has had so much impact on screenplay writing since the mid-90s.

I call for a re-vote. The future happiness of so many fanboys depends on this list!

8 comments:

J. Alfred Prufrock said...

Poor Larry McMurtry!

J.A.P.

Alok said...

I would have put the apartment or double indemnity anytime over some like it hot, which had some terrific lines but lacked the moral seriousness and depth of the other two films.

also it is interesting to see that the list is all-american. europeans did everything to devalue the contribution of an independent scriptwriter.

anurag said...

I saw 'The Apartment' on Friday and read its script (first few pages) on Saturday. Its really awesome. In some ways its better than Sunset Blvd. There are great dark comic lines.

FRAN: when you're in love with married man, you shouldn't wear mascara.

or
FRAN: I know. I like it [mirror] this way --makes me look the way I feel.

or
FRAN: I'm going to send him a fruit cake every Christmas.

Infinitely amusing !

ichatteralot said...

Lists are bound to be controversial and each person can have their own unique lists. But yes I agree that this is an unfair representation of American cinema

km said...

Alok, "Some like it hot" may lack the moral seriousness of Sunset Blvd but as a screenplay, it is simply magical. They took so many old plot devices of mistaken identity, screwball, drag comedy and made it completely new.

JAP: McMurtry chose to wear jeans to the Oscars. Now there's a man I respect and admire! The man must have big brass ones.

Eve: Why do you think it's an unfair representation of *American* cinema? What scripts (not films) would you have liked to see on that list?

Anurag: That mirror device - which could have been simply melodramatic - is just wonderful in The Apartment, isn't it? Not until after the film do you realize how ugly and sad the story actually is.

Reel Fanatic said...

Amen brother ... It's like they added Pulp Fiction as an afterthought, because they were too clueless to realize it belongs, easily in the top 10 ... and writing, which will hopefully always be key to any movie not based on a video game, is still only one component of a great film

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