“Never put two people in a room who agree on anything.”
Lew Hunter
In this corner, weighing in at‚..okay, I don’t know what any of these guys weigh. But they’re all heavyweights. Giants in contemporary film and/or theater. But the one thing I’ve learned over the years from the 700+ writers and filmmakers I’ve quoted on this blog is they don’t always agree on writing and filmmaking concepts. Theme seems to be one of the major soccer balls kicked around a lot.
I did a major blitz the last few days of some Masterclass videos taking advantage of their free 7-day trial and this was one of my takeaways from four different writers and filmmakers:
“People talk about themes, and I’m very fortunate that I never opened a school book, and I went to this hippy-dippy college where they didn’t have any classes, so I never got much of an education other than washing windows and driving a cab, and all that stuff I was privileged to do. So I never learned about themes. I’m not sure I know what themes are. I know English departments care about themes. So it’s possible to look at my work, as I guess anybody’s work, and infer a theme, but it’s not something which concerns me. I’m interested in telling a story. I mean, to me, it’s—personally, it’s as pointless as talking about the theme of the joke. A joke is to make you laugh. A drama’s there to keep you interested for an hour and a half. I mean nobody ever left a great play humming the theme.”
Screenwriter/playwright David Mamet (The Verdict, Glenngarry Glen Ross)
Masterclass/Story Idea
“There are some great opening scenes that, without you realizing it, lay out the theme for the entire movie. Go to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, which is always a great lesson in everything. Opening scene, Paul Newman goes into a bank, and he looks around and sees new modern—modern being late 19th century, new, modern security systems. A safe with a heavy iron door and a big lock, a grate coming down over it. Things being closed. And he says to the security guard, what happened to the old bank it was beautiful. The security guard says ‘People kept robbing it.’ And Paul Newman says ‘It’s a small price to pay for beauty’ and walks out. Three lines in that opening scene and it lays out the theme of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid which is that their best days are over. This is the end of the wild west.”
Screenwriter/playwright Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network)
Masterclass/Writing Scenes (Part 2)
“So usually, for me, I have a thematic idea—an inspiration —and then I build everything around that.”
Writer/director Judd Apatow (The 40-Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up)
Masterclass/Writing the First Draft
“[Taxi Driver] became a passion project. When something happens like that—and it’s a script you did not write—then it has to have a point of view. It has to have more than a point of view, the theme itself has to be very close to you. In my case, I keep looking at questions of sin, the concept of sin, good and evil, sin and redemption, weakness and strength, from new angles and new perspectives if I can.
And exploring it constantly which is really part of the human condition. ..I don’t think I’ve ever set out to make a film with this moral theme. Maybe I did, but not in those words. And I do think that often those themes are always there. And what I mean by that is that they attract me to the story. Moral choices are certainly there every day of our lives. As we get older I think that, of course, our sense of a moral conflict and choice changes and deepens.”
Writer. Director Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, Casino)
Masterclass
P.S. The single film that I’ve seen the most from all of those filmmakers is The Verdict from a screenplay by David Mamet. It seems to me to be a film heavy on a redemption/second chance theme. There’s even the line in the film where the alcoholic lawyer played by Paul Newman says of possibly settling the case against his conscience, “If I take the money I’m lost.” Perhaps that theme was embedded by Barry Reed who wrote the novel. Or maybe it was put there by the film’s director, Sidney Lumet, who did believe in theme.
“The most important decision I have to make: What is this movie about? I’m not talking about plot, although in certain very good melodramas the plot is all they’re about. A good, rousing, scary story can be a hell of a lot of fun. But what is it about emotionally? What is the theme of the movie, the spine, the arc? What does the movie mean to me?
Sidney Lumet
Making Movies
The Verdict came out in 1982 when I was in film school and here we are 35 years later and that film still resonates with me. Not because of a simple story of a down and out lawyer trying to get back on his feet, not because of the great acting or direction, not because it was simply entertaining— but because of the film’s theme.
Related posts:
Writing from Theme
More Thoughts on Theme
Michael Arndt on Theme
Diablo Cody on Theme
Scott Frank on Theme
Sidney Lumet on Theme
Screenwriting from Iowa 