memento – Scripts on Screen

What do the films North by Northwest, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Star Wars and Saving Private Ryan all have in common? None of them received the annual Academy Award for best screenplay, but they were all nominated.

Many frustrated filmmakers have questioned how the Academy makes its decisions, but regardless of how political some claim the awards to be, they are certainly the most coveted honors in the film world, except maybe a good opening weekend. The category of Best Screenplay is used to honor the writers of exceptionally excellent scripts, an art that is perhaps as nuanced as the actual filmmaking itself. After all, its possible to make a bad movie with a great script, but all the CG in the world won’t fix a poorly written screenplay.

Throughout the years, a number of films have fallen just short of the honor, but have been remembered fondly while the winners have faded away. Of course, the popularity of the film is immaterial to the quality of it’s writing, so perhaps these hopefuls got precisely what they deserved. A point of curiosity: not a single nominee that lost Best Screenplay, won Best Picture, and most Best Screenplay winners didn’t go on to win Best Picture with the exception of Annie Hall which received both.

North by Northwest – lost to Pillow Talk – 1959

2001 A space Odyssey lost to The Producers – 1968

Easy Rider lost to Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid – 1969

Star Wars lost to Annie Hall – 1977

The Truman Show and Saving Private Ryan lost to Shakespeare in Love – 1998

Memento, Amelie, and The Royal Tenenbaums lost to Gosford Park – 2001

Despite having fewer feature length screenplays under his belt than other renowned Hollywood directors, Christopher Nolan has already written himself a page in the history books of pop culture. After successfully ushering in the era of gritty reboots with his fresh take on Batman, Nolan has positioned himself as a storyteller who likes to put some weight into his scripts.

With a passion for stories as cerebral as his themes, Nolan takes another dive into audiences’ minds with his new film Inception, due to release later this year. Usually acting as co-writer to his brother, Jonathan Nolan, it’s interesting to note that Christopher Nolan is the sole credited writer on this upcoming film.

For those looking to have a taste of Nolan on the page, here’s a list of all his feature length screenplays.

T he Dark Knight script (2008)