This Whole Screenplay's Out of Order!
Sometimes, telling a story out of chronolical order is a great way to go. Think of Reservoir Dogs, and its dual "What happened?"/"What's going to happen?" structure. We follow the threads of the group planning the gig and the aftermath of the robbery-gone-wrong concurrently. It works because it's thrilling. There's mystery and suspense in both throughlines. And the payoff for the two threads coming together is beautiful: we see flashbacks showing us Orange is the cop just as, in the present, he needs to start acting like one.
And there are great examples of heart-poundingly charged (City of God) or heart-stoppingly beautiful (Before the Rain) nonlinear stories. These films are as much about the worlds of the stories as they are the characters and their choices.
But sometimes, the nonlinear storytelling device just gets in the way of, well, the story. 21 Grams contains a dramatic, compelling story of loss and love and revenge. If you didn't know that, it may because you had to work so hard to put the nonlinear puzzle pieces together. Instead of feeling invested in the characters, and feeling their raw, truthful emotions, we spend a lot of the experience thinking "Where are we now? Did this happen before, or after, that?"
If the story's dramatically sound, why not make the wild and crazy choice of showing us what happens in the order in which it happens? So we can feel dread and hope for what might be to come?
Can you imagine if Million Dollar Baby, Capote, or In the Bedroom had been told out of order?
Most of the time, simpler's going to be better.
Sometimes, telling a story out of chronolical order is a great way to go. Think of Reservoir Dogs, and its dual "What happened?"/"What's going to happen?" structure. We follow the threads of the group planning the gig and the aftermath of the robbery-gone-wrong concurrently. It works because it's thrilling. There's mystery and suspense in both throughlines. And the payoff for the two threads coming together is beautiful: we see flashbacks showing us Orange is the cop just as, in the present, he needs to start acting like one.
And there are great examples of heart-poundingly charged (City of God) or heart-stoppingly beautiful (Before the Rain) nonlinear stories. These films are as much about the worlds of the stories as they are the characters and their choices.
But sometimes, the nonlinear storytelling device just gets in the way of, well, the story. 21 Grams contains a dramatic, compelling story of loss and love and revenge. If you didn't know that, it may because you had to work so hard to put the nonlinear puzzle pieces together. Instead of feeling invested in the characters, and feeling their raw, truthful emotions, we spend a lot of the experience thinking "Where are we now? Did this happen before, or after, that?"
If the story's dramatically sound, why not make the wild and crazy choice of showing us what happens in the order in which it happens? So we can feel dread and hope for what might be to come?
Can you imagine if Million Dollar Baby, Capote, or In the Bedroom had been told out of order?
Most of the time, simpler's going to be better.
posted by Jennica at 6:27 p.m.
3 Comments:
Concerning nonlinear storytelling, I agree with you regarding 21 grams. It was a great story, but it was just too difficult to keep track of what was going on to enjoy it. Quentin Tarantino's screenplay True Romance is written in his trademark nonlinear fashion, but when it was shot by another director and came time to edit, the task became too difficult to keep it true to the original screenplay and was edited in a straight timeline. And it was still a great movie. Great blog!
Thanks for the compliment, John!
Great note about True Romance, which happens to be one of my faves (not sure if it's a guilty pleasure or not-- don't think so). I just can't imagine the "romance" part of that film working in any way other than linearly. The date, the visit to the pimp, the "that's the most romantic thing anyone's ever done for me...". Some stories --nay, most stories-- are designed to *build*!
I'll have to dust off my copy of True Romance and reread it in its entirety to see how it plays. I must confess to not reading it as a whole as of yet but rather flipping around to some of my favorite scenes such as "Sicilians were spawned by ..." Don't hold your breath though. I am a notorious procrastinator.
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