Since I am an aspiring screenwriter, I thought it would only be right for me to make a list of my favorite screenplays in film. There are three major things I look for in a screenplay: First I pay attention to the characters and try to find characters that draw certain interests in me. Character development is essential to me. Then it's the dialogue, how a character talks and interacts with other characters is major in revealing things about the character. And lastly I see how the themes of the film are used and portrayed. If a film is using a certain theme and then doesn't do anything to work with it, well that would be very bad. It wouldn't be good either if there are constant symbolic aspects in the film where the viewer is not shown what there meanings are. So there is a slight intro to this blog, now here comes the list.
1. Taxi Driver (1976)- Written by Paul Schrader
Accolades: Nominated- Golden Globe Award Best Screenplay- Motion Picture
Thoughts/Opinions: I have never restricted myself on praising Taxi Driver as a film, and I don't intend on restricting my praise for its screenplay which, along with Scorsese's direction, is the most powerful part of the film. The film features arguably the most iconic character in film history, Travis Bickle played by Robert De Niro. The film's major theme is the isolation of an individual from the world. Travis is a Vietnam veteran who has become a taxi driver because he can't sleep at night. The screenplay does something both unique and wonderful; it leaves you in the dark from just about all of Travis' life prior to the time of the film. His night time taxi job doesn't help Travis' already dark views of the world. He sees the world at its most darkest time, and I don't mean because it's night. Travis' dialogue and narration allows us to realize he darkening mental state before he crosses over into complete insanity. What this screenplay is able to do with a single character is revolutionary, but one character cannot make an entire film. As the character Travis Bickle dominates the film other smaller characters are used with great effect on the film. I don't know if there will ever be a more perfect screenplay than Taxi Driver's.
Memorable Quotes:
Travis Bickle: "Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere, in bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere.There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man...June 8th. My life has taken another turn again. The days can go on with regularity over and over, one day indistinguishable from the next. A long continuous chain. Then suddenly, there is a change."
Travis Bickle: "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talking...you talking to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? Oh yeah? OK.
Travis Bickle: "All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets. I go all over. I take people to the Bronx, Brooklyn, I take 'em to Harlem. I don't care. Don't make no difference to me. It does to some. Some won't even take spooks. Don't make no difference to me."
Travis Bickle: " Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit. Here is a man who stood up.'
2. American Beauty (1999)- Written by Alan Ball
Accolades: Winner- Academy Award Best Original Screenplay
Winner- Golden Globe Award Best Screenplay- Motion Picture
Nominated- BAFTA Best Original Screenplay
Thoughts/Opinions: American Beauty is a film that has been one of my favorites since the first time I watched it. When I watched it the first time, it was when I was just getting into film, but I knew there was something special about it. So then I rewatched the film and was blown away even more. It hit me like a punch how deep and relateable the film is. There is not one person in this world who doesn't relate to American Beauty in various ways. Now on to the character that makes the film great, the character that is the most wonderfully crafted characters I have ever seen. That character is Lester Burnham played by Kevin Spacey. A middle-aged man who is looking for purpose in life. Could that be anymore relateable? Spacey is one of the greatest actors ever, and I can say with assurance that this is the finest role of his career. I guess that explains why he won the Best Actor Oscar. I'm not going to rample on about all the things that make this screenplay great, so let me finish up. This script features real characters with real life struggles portrayed in the most wonderful ways leading up to one of the most powerful themes in film....beauty in the world.
Memorable Quotes: Lester Burnham: [narrating] " I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all, it stretches on forever, like an ocean of time... For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars... And yellow leaves, from the maple trees, that lined our street... Or my grandmother's hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper... And the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand new Firebird... And Janie... And Janie... And... Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday."
Carolyn Burnham: "Your father and I were just discussing his day at work. Why don't you tell our daughter about it, honey?"
Lester Burnham: "Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go fuck himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus."
Carolyn Burnham: "Your father seems to think this type of behavior is something to be proud of."
Lester Burnham: "And your mother seems to prefer I go through life like a fucking prisoner while she keeps my dick in a mason jar under the sink."
Carolyn Burnham: "How dare you speak to me that way in front of her. And I marvel that you can be so contemptuous of me, on the same day that you LOSE your job.
Lester Burnham: Lose it? I didn't lose it. It's not like, "Whoops! Where'd my job go?" I QUIT. Someone pass me the asparagus."
Lester Burnham: "Look at me, jerking off in the shower... This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here."
Lester Burnham: I feel like I've been in a coma for the past twenty years. And I'm just now waking up.
1. Taxi Driver (1976)- Written by Paul Schrader
Accolades: Nominated- Golden Globe Award Best Screenplay- Motion Picture
Memorable Quotes:
Travis Bickle: "Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere, in bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere.There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man...June 8th. My life has taken another turn again. The days can go on with regularity over and over, one day indistinguishable from the next. A long continuous chain. Then suddenly, there is a change."
Travis Bickle: "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talking...you talking to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? Oh yeah? OK.
Travis Bickle: "All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets. I go all over. I take people to the Bronx, Brooklyn, I take 'em to Harlem. I don't care. Don't make no difference to me. It does to some. Some won't even take spooks. Don't make no difference to me."
Travis Bickle: " Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads. Here is a man who would not take it anymore. A man who stood up against the scum, the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit. Here is a man who stood up.'
2. American Beauty (1999)- Written by Alan Ball
Accolades: Winner- Academy Award Best Original Screenplay
Winner- Golden Globe Award Best Screenplay- Motion Picture
Nominated- BAFTA Best Original Screenplay
Memorable Quotes: Lester Burnham: [narrating] " I had always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die. First of all, that one second isn't a second at all, it stretches on forever, like an ocean of time... For me, it was lying on my back at Boy Scout camp, watching falling stars... And yellow leaves, from the maple trees, that lined our street... Or my grandmother's hands, and the way her skin seemed like paper... And the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand new Firebird... And Janie... And Janie... And... Carolyn. I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me... but it's hard to stay mad, when there's so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once, and it's too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst... And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life... You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure. But don't worry... you will someday."
Carolyn Burnham: "Your father and I were just discussing his day at work. Why don't you tell our daughter about it, honey?"
Lester Burnham: "Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go fuck himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus."
Carolyn Burnham: "Your father seems to think this type of behavior is something to be proud of."
Lester Burnham: "And your mother seems to prefer I go through life like a fucking prisoner while she keeps my dick in a mason jar under the sink."
Carolyn Burnham: "How dare you speak to me that way in front of her. And I marvel that you can be so contemptuous of me, on the same day that you LOSE your job.
Lester Burnham: Lose it? I didn't lose it. It's not like, "Whoops! Where'd my job go?" I QUIT. Someone pass me the asparagus."
Lester Burnham: "Look at me, jerking off in the shower... This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here."
Lester Burnham: I feel like I've been in a coma for the past twenty years. And I'm just now waking up.
I love Taxi Driver's screenplay, it's brilliant.
ReplyDeleteAnother one that is worth checking out is Adaptation, that film has got one of the best screenplay's ever written.