Film – Page 3 – Scripts on Screen

Best Film Scripts Set in the Ancient Rome

One of the most impressive empires that have ruled our world, the story of the Roman civilization -the story of a colossus that crumbles by its own weight -has been retold thousands of times. Cinema has captured both the antagonistic side of its influence, and the vibrant, dramatic epics of its most notorious figures.

It is not a coincidence that Shakespeare and so many other English stage authors felt strongly attracted to this setting. Conquest, revenge, power struggles, religious conflicts: the Roman Empire shaped our history in countless ways, and has likewise left countless stories for future artists to tell.

The Italian movie industry even lived a period where Roman and Biblical epics (Peplum or sword-and-sandal films, as they were called) went through a golden age. And though the 50’s and the 60’s exploited the trend perhaps to the point of exhaustion, modern titles like Gladiator and The Eagle have confirmed that there’s still a place for the Roman era in the industry.

These are some of the most important film scripts set in the Roman Empire era:

(1951) Quo Vadis

(1960) Spartacus

(1963) Cleopatra

(1979) Life of Brian

(1988) The Last Temptation of Christ

(1999) Titus

(2000) Gladiator

(2010) Centurion

(2011) Coriolanus

Film Scripts Set in a Confined Space

Sometimes less is more. Screenwriters have proven that a story can be equally appealing and successful with plentiful characters and locations or with just a few of them.

Films set in closed spaces require a different development as the interactions between characters, or perhaps their thoughts and reflections, become practically the only thing that moves the plot forward. Some filmmakers have actually made a habit of turning space scarcity into an advantage.

Claustrophobia is another factor to consider in these stories. Many films have explored the effects of confinement on the human mind in different environments, and used the resulting tension as a device for character progression. Das Boot brilliantly captured the nerve-racking ride of the crew aboard a war submarine. The Mist reinforced the idea that we too can become monsters when pushed to the limit, and Buñuel added a surrealistic flavor to that same idea in The Exterminating Angel.

It is a big risk for the screenwriter to venture into a story with such limitations. Making the most out of minimal resources is probably one of the biggest challenges in filmmaking. But the reward can also be huge: authors like Kevin Smith, Vincenzo Natali or Rodrigo Cortés earned immediate prestige by taking on that task and proving that the talent goes further than the budget.

These are some of the best scripts that are set in a single closed location (or almost):

(1948) Rope

(1957) 12 Angry Men

(1975) Dog Day Afternoon

(1981) Das Boot

(1990) Misery

(1995) Crimson Tide

(1998) Cube

(2002) Phone Booth

(2006) United 93

(2007) The Mist

(2010) Buried

Medieval Fantasy Film Scripts

We owe medieval fantasy to JRR Tolkien, who certainly didn’t create it, but established good part of the foundations of the genre as we know it today. New generations of artists have endlessly reused many of Tolkien’s elements in their own worlds, but a few of them have, especially in recent times, found a way to twist them.

There is much appeal in stories set in the Middle Ages. The feudal system that ruled Western civilization for centuries is certainly an ideal scenario for artistic epics, and the contrasts between nobility and peasantry, loyalty and treason, or honor and blood still leave a strong impact in modern audiences.

Fantasy films bring many of these elements into a new reign where there are no limits other that those allowed by the author’s imagination. They guide us through numerous locations, impossible landscapes, and colourful characters, and the recent impact of adaptations like Game of Thrones is proving that fantasy works well as a mental escape for young and adult audiences alike.

It’s also worth mentioning that technological advances have provided a big boost for the genre. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was considered an impossible adaptation for decades, and the combination of computer effects and exotic landscapes has delivered brilliant cinema moments in recent years.

These are some of the best film scripts set in a fantasy medieval era:

(1981) Excalibur

(1982) Conan the Barbarian

(1982) The Dark Crystal

(1985) Legend

(1986) Labyrinth

(1986) Highlander

(1987) The Princess Bride

(1988) Willow

(1992) Army of Darkness

(1996) Dragonheart

(2001) The Fellowship of the Ring

(2005) The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

(2013) The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

(2014) Maleficent

Best Cosa Nostra Film Scripts

Films set in the organized crime world seem to be really popular among audiences and critics alike, and perhaps even more so in the USA. No other country has produced so many successful movies about the subject, and arguably the explanation for this is found in the very nature of such films and the obscure reality they illustrate.

Good scripts of the crime genre aim to accomplish much more than just showing violence, bribery, corruption and other acts inherent in hoodlum operations. They try to portray a society through characters that went on to create their own code –out of necessity, greed, or both- , and how their paths inevitably collide with those of us who never, ever thought about living in a way that involves breaking the law. Or did we?

Undeniably, there’s an enticing quality in these tales about real individuals who built their own empire through illicit means. Morality is often a concept under debate in screenplays like The Godfather, Goodfellas, or Casino: they don’t condemn nor idolize mobsters, but rather act as impartial observers, and remind us sometimes that our good, lawful side has its share of hidden dark spots as well.

This week’s list is specifically focused in screenplays related to the Cosa Nostra –the original Italian mafia developed in the 19^th Century in Sicily- and the families that followed these operations in American territory during the Prohibition Era and afterwards:

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre poster thumbnail

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)

Written by:Howard Browne (Screenplay)

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Godfather (1972)

Written by:Mario Puzo (Screenplay), Francis Ford Coppola (Screenplay), Mario Puzo (Novel)

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The Godfather Part II (1974)

Written by:Mario Puzo (Novel), Francis Ford Coppola (Screenplay), Mario Puzo (Screenplay)

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Once Upon A Time In America poster thumbnail

Once Upon A Time In America (1984)

Written by:Harry Grey (Novel), Leonardo Benvenuti (Screenplay), Piero De Bernardi (Screenplay), Enrico Medioli (Screenplay), Franco Arcalli (Screenplay), Franco Ferrini (Screenplay), Sergio Leone (Screenplay), Ernesto Gastaldi (Screenplay)

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The Untouchables (1987)

Written by:Oscar Fraley (Novel), Eliot Ness (Novel), David Mamet (Writer)

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Bugsy (1991)

Written by:Dean Jennings (Novel), James Toback (Screenplay)

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Goodfellas (1990)

Written by:Nicholas Pileggi (Author), Nicholas Pileggi (Screenplay), Martin Scorsese (Screenplay)

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Miller's Crossing (1990)

Written by:Joel Coen (Author), Ethan Coen (Author), Joel Coen (Screenplay), Ethan Coen (Screenplay)

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A Bronx Tale (1993)

Written by:Chazz Palminteri (Screenplay), Chazz Palminteri (Theatre Play)

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Bullets Over Broadway (1994)

Written by:Douglas McGrath (Screenplay), Woody Allen (Screenplay)

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Casino (1995)

Written by:Martin Scorsese (Screenplay), Nicholas Pileggi (Screenplay), Nicholas Pileggi (Novel)

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Donnie Brasco (1997)

Written by:Joseph D. Pistone (Novel), Richard Woodley (Novel), Paul Attanasio (Screenplay)

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Sexy Beast (2000)

Written by:Louis Mellis (Screenplay), David Scinto (Screenplay)

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Road to Perdition (2002)

Written by:Max Allan Collins (Novel), Richard Piers Rayner (Novel), David Self (Screenplay)

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Eastern Promises (2007)

Written by:Steven Knight (Screenplay)

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Public Enemies (2009)

Written by:Bryan Burrough (Novel), Michael Mann (Screenplay), Ronan Bennett (Screenplay), Ann Biderman (Screenplay)

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The Irishman (2019)

Written by:Steven Zaillian (Screenplay), Charles Brandt (Book)

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Greatest Biopic Film Scripts

It is said that truth is stranger than fiction, which is why cinema owes a lot of its greatest accomplishments to reality. Biographical films are a special breed among movies based in true events, because they try to portray the evolution of real life characters through the most important events of their lives.

It’s a daunting task for the screenwriter, sometimes hard-pressed to fit decades of life into roughly 100-120 pages. That is probably why biopics often become monumental projects that bring the audience to a fast paced journey across a bunch of dissimilar environments.

But they are often the stories of those who shaped the world- for better or worse. And well written biopics seem to generally succeed in fulfilling the demands of reviewers and audiences alike. They are a challenge for the performer as well, compelled to carry most of the narrative weight through the whole shooting process. However, those efforts are often rewarded with wide recognition, and the Academy seems to have a certain weakness for biographical dramas.

A lot of moviegoers feel an inherent curiosity about watching the tale of a notorious figure in the big screen, and the list of famous –or infamous- individuals whose life has been adapted into a film keeps growing.

Here are some of the most acclaimed biopic film scripts of all time:

(1960) Spartacus

(1962) Lawrence of Arabia

(1967) Bonnie and Clyde

(1972) Lady Sings the Blues

(1980) Raging Bull

(1980) The Elephant Man

(1982) Gandhi

(1984) Amadeus

(1987) The Last Emperor

(1990) Goodfellas

(1992) Malcolm X

(1992) Chaplin

(1994) Ed Wood

(1995) Braveheart

(2001) A Beautiful Mind

(2002) Catch me if you Can

(2005) Walk the Line

(2010) The Social Network

(2014) The Theory of Everything

Top 10 Film Scripts About Vampires

The myth of the vampire has been carving its tooth marks on our nightmares since way before Bram Stoker popularized it, and seems to have permeated into nearly every single culture.

In spite of plagiarism lawsuits that could’ve destroyed it forever, F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu unknowingly started a whole subgenre and became as immortal as Stoker’s creation. The vampire smoothly transitioned to the sound era, and such illustrious names as Béla Lugosi, Lon Chaney and Christopher Lee kept the myth out of the coffin.

And just like good art does, the vampire didn’t keep his original shape but split itself in many different forms. It couldn’t have survived otherwise. Through the perspective of many different artists we have seen the human and the inhuman vampire, the powerful and the tormented, the modern (Only Lovers Left Alive) and the vintage, the dark teenager (The Lost Boys), the western-flavored (Near Dark), the satirized and even the meta-vampire (Shadow of the Vampire).

It’s a global superstition art has been feeding off for centuries. And each generation of filmmakers seems to find new a way to process that inspiring blood and nurture our imagination with it. The vampire has truly crossed oceans of time to find us.

These are notable film scripts about Vampires:

(1922) Nosferatu

(1958) Horror of Dracula

(1987) Near Dark

(1992) Bram Stoker’s Dracula

(1994) Interview with the Vampire

(1996) From Dusk Till Dawn

(1998) Vampires

(2000) Shadow of the Vampire

(2007) 30 Days of Night

(2008) Let the Right One In

Tom Stoppard

A truly gifted author who has achieved success on TV, film and stage, Tom Stoppard had to survive a tragic background before even having the chance of developing an interest in writing. After fleeing from the Nazi invasion in Czechoslovakia, he grew up in India and Singapore, where he lost his father. He would later become a journalist in England and began writing radio and television plays. Eventually he would become an acclaimed playwright with numerous Broadway performances and several Tony awards.

His first works for the big screen came in the mid-70s, with Terry Gilliam’s Brazil granting him his first Academy Award nomination. A highly intellectual writer with extensive knowledge in classic literature, he has proven his mastery outside drama in titles such as The Russia House and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, for which he rewrote the final draft.

Stoppard has been commended for his methodical research when writing historical scripts and his witty command of language, which results in a certain ideological playfulness that often shapes his characters and dialogues. He was knighted in 1997 and currently lives in London.

List of Tom Stoppard Scripts:

(1985) Brazil

(1987) Empire of the Sun

(1989) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Final Rewrite)

(1990) The Russia House

(1991) Billy Bathgate

(1998) Shakespeare in Love

(2001) Enigma

(2012) Anna Karenina

The Plot Twist Gamble

Nothing like a sudden turn of the wheel that leaves the audience in disbelief. But what happens when the audience actually disbelieves? Screenwriters are aware of the double edged sword quality of plot twists: they can make a story successful almost by themselves, but can also turn against it if they come off as predictable or implausible.

In some genres (horror, thriller) they have become an expected, almost mandatory device. Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) set the foundations for the use of narrative unreliability in films. And it’s already a great example of a twist that didn’t only aim for shock- it also tried to provide a solid justification for the visual and narrative styles of the film.

Night Shyamalan’s irregular career illustrates both the rewards and the risks of subjecting the story to a plot twist. The recent success of Split may have brought him to a second youth, but for many years, the ‘Shyamalan twists” served more as a burden than a perk, becoming the smoking gun that proves and defines the film’s failure.

So what makes a good plot twist? If Aristotle stated that good art should be both unexpected and inevitable, contemporary screenwriters like William Goldman have pinpointed a reality that Hollywood has exploited well: that a controversial ending may still work effectively if it’s at least satisfying.

Some examples of films with memorable plot twists are:

(1941) The Maltese Falcon

(1958) Vertigo

(1960) Psycho

(1968) Planet of the Apes

(1973) The Sting

(1973) Soylent Green

(1973) The Wicker Man

(1980) The Empire Strikes Back

(1987) Angel Heart

(1992) The Crying Game

(1995) The Usual Suspects

(1995) 12 Monkeys

(1996) Primal Fear

(1999) The Sixth Sense

(1999) Fight Club

(2000) Memento

(2004) Saw

(2006) The Prestige

(2016) Arrival

Film Scripts with Great Dialogue

Dialogues are just one of the many mechanisms that can move the plot forward. For some screenwriters though, it doesn’t seem to be a resource, but their chief weapon. While Quentin Tarantino may have become the ultimate modern reference, many other authors have also forged a reputation as masters of dialogue.

Aaron Sorkin has compared dialogue to music. There is indeed a rhythmic nature in the way his characters interact: from courtroom battles to rapid-fire Harvard computing chatter, Sorkin enjoys taking his characters to the limit not by physical, but argumentative exhaustion.

Always proud of his origins, Kevin Smith often uses real life friends as direct models for his characters. The Star Wars exchange in Clerks is both hilarious and genuine: Smith wasn’t afraid of driving the plot with the same kind of conversations he’d have with his own buddies- expletives and pop culture references included.

Which brings us to Richard Linklater, who inspired Smith to start his career. Watching Slacker or the Before trilogy, one might feel that those conversations are going nowhere. But they’re slowly, cleverly taking us to the next point.

Conversations are dynamic, and so are film dialogues, which are as diverse as the minds that crafted them. They can introduce us to the main conflict (Glengarry Glenn Ross), read a character’s thoughts for us (Juno, Fight Club), make outlaws be likable (Point Break, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) or just captivate us through absency (enjoy The Artist and There Will Be Blood’s brilliant opening!).

Some other examples of films with great dialogues are:

(1942) Casablanca

(1949) The Third Man

(1972) The Godfather

(1974) Chinatown

(1976) Taxi Driver

(1979) Manhattan

(1985) The Breakfast Club

(1989) Do The Right Thing

(1991) The Silence of the Lambs

(1994) Pulp Fiction

(1996) Fargo