Friday, February 17, 2006

An Actors take on Writing:Brent Hanley, Jean-Claude Carriere, Milos Addica and Jonathan Glazer




This is a new segment of this Blog.


As an actor, writer and filmmaker, I am a reader of scripts.
Over the years I have come to recognize the absolute rock-bottom truth of “If it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the stage.”
In other posts I have and will focus on directors and actors and even God help me-- producers, but here it's all about the Writer.

So my first entry is the amazing film "Frailty" masterfully written by Brent Hanley. It is like no film I have ever seen before: dark and weirdly hopeful, sad and scary--genre-bending is used a lot by folks who write about movies, but this film really is.
Second up is the disturbing and brilliant "Birth" Written by Jean-Claude Carriere, Milos Addica and Jonathan Glazer. Covered very well by Sergio Leone & The Infield Fly Rule.

OK That's my focus on writing for this post.
Try watching these films with and eye on the words and I believe you'll see what I'm talking about.
Write On!
Later,
Paul Parducci
PS: For you aspiring writers out there, check out Emmy Winning Master Scribe Ken Levine.

1 comment:

Dennis Cozzalio said...

Paul: Good call on Frailty. I really liked how the movie spent its entire run time convincing us of the monstrousness of Bil Paxton's character and then, at the end, pulls the rug out from under us and reveals that, hey, he was right, while all at the same time never suggesting that he and his legacy aren't still monstrous in their own way. Very similar to The Dead Zone (book and film), in which there's a very convincing rationale laid down for what is perceived from the outside as an act of unchartable madness, yet knowledge of that rational foundation puts us on the side of, and in the shoes of, an political assassin.