Craft Notes
The Greatest Adventure Story: Part Two, A Movie
He's so cute when he's angry
The other night, just after I read that Chabon essay about the Wilderness of Childhood, I watched This Is England on a whim and I was positively floored. It’s about a twelve year old boy in rural England in 1983 who becomes entangled with a twenty-something skinhead, who exposes the boy to a lot of violence and extremism. (The two main characters mirror each other perfectly: a child who is forced to act like a man and a man who can’t help but act like a child.)
The first thing that stood out to me was how beautifully it was plotted. Maybe I just picked up on this because my boyfriend has been reading John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction to me in any spare moment he finds, but we both couldn’t help but gush about how each scene was perfectly weighted to balance each plot line: the political context, racial tension, the boy’s romantic interest, the two main character’s back-stories and ideas about family and fatherhood.
Also, it’s acted beautifully, written beautifully and is somehow extremely funny, horrifying, engrossing, violent, and heartbreaking all at once. It’s the kind of movie that I feel is an education in plot and character development. It’s up on Netflix and you can stream it right now if you’re so inclined. I already want to watch it again.
What are some other movies that you feel have been beneficial/influential to your writing?
Tags: john gardner, This Is England
Im glad this has limped over to America.
Its a stunning film.
I thought that, beyond the racism and violence, it was a film about desperation.
The skinhead is desperate for a cause, the boy to prove himself etc etc
Im glad this has limped over to America.
Its a stunning film.
I thought that, beyond the racism and violence, it was a film about desperation.
The skinhead is desperate for a cause, the boy to prove himself etc etc
Love that Toots Mayal version of Louie Louie.
and the Maytals.
Love that Toots Mayal version of Louie Louie.
and the Maytals.
you the living by roy andersson. you gotta go download it off the internet. it’s not here yet. changed my writing completely. or my writing was changing and it came along and showed me how to do things better. how to line things up and knock things down. how being awake and being in a dream are only different if you tell someone they are different.
you the living by roy andersson. you gotta go download it off the internet. it’s not here yet. changed my writing completely. or my writing was changing and it came along and showed me how to do things better. how to line things up and knock things down. how being awake and being in a dream are only different if you tell someone they are different.
Movie rules.
Movie rules.
is this the movie where the skins are holed up in some corrugated metal fort and a rival gang tries to kill them?
if that scene is in this movie, i’ve seen it.
i have no clue what movie i’m thinking about if not.
is this the movie where the skins are holed up in some corrugated metal fort and a rival gang tries to kill them?
if that scene is in this movie, i’ve seen it.
i have no clue what movie i’m thinking about if not.
I agree with your assessment, generally–it is a very tight movie, both in terms of plot and character development–but I actually think it went too far. For me, if the intentions of a scene can be easily summarized, the scene has failed in an important way.
I agree with your assessment, generally–it is a very tight movie, both in terms of plot and character development–but I actually think it went too far. For me, if the intentions of a scene can be easily summarized, the scene has failed in an important way.
Every movie I’ve seen has been influential, I think, but here are some important ones for me:
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Shining
Caché
The Seventh Continent
Straw Dogs
Yikes. I could go on and on and on.
Every movie I’ve seen has been influential, I think, but here are some important ones for me:
2001: A Space Odyssey
The Shining
Caché
The Seventh Continent
Straw Dogs
Yikes. I could go on and on and on.
one of these nights kenny we are going to have to drink and talk movies.
peckinpah so good.
one of these nights kenny we are going to have to drink and talk movies.
peckinpah so good.
I did it. I did ’em all
We’ve got to start thinkin’ past our guns
Five cents a glass? Do you really think that’s the price of a drink?
I did it. I did ’em all
We’ve got to start thinkin’ past our guns
Five cents a glass? Do you really think that’s the price of a drink?
This list makes me hurt, but in a good way. Add FelliniSatyricon and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
This list makes me hurt, but in a good way. Add FelliniSatyricon and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
The other night I watched Roman Polanski’s version of Oliver Twist. I was absolutely enraptured from the first scene to the last. Highly, highly recommended.
The other night I watched Roman Polanski’s version of Oliver Twist. I was absolutely enraptured from the first scene to the last. Highly, highly recommended.
I love Polanski. China Town is one of my favorite films. Knife in Water is amazing. Honestly, I can’t think of one Polanski film that isn’t massive
I love Polanski. China Town is one of my favorite films. Knife in Water is amazing. Honestly, I can’t think of one Polanski film that isn’t massive
dance of the vampires
dance of the vampires
Actually, I have missed that one. Is it not good?
Actually, I have missed that one. Is it not good?
Nope. That’s not it, but that sounds good.
Nope. That’s not it, but that sounds good.
Hell, Rosemary’s Baby is great.
Hell, Rosemary’s Baby is great.
yeah jereme is right, Dance of the Vampires AKA Fearless Vampire Killers, was pretty miserable. But yeah- Rosemary’s Baby, Knife in the Water, Repulsion. The list goes on and on, and each movie is SO different from all the others. Awesome awesome.
That sounds like Romper Stomper, an Australian movie about skinheads. It’s good, but I don’t think it’s in the same league as This is England.
yeah jereme is right, Dance of the Vampires AKA Fearless Vampire Killers, was pretty miserable. But yeah- Rosemary’s Baby, Knife in the Water, Repulsion. The list goes on and on, and each movie is SO different from all the others. Awesome awesome.
That sounds like Romper Stomper, an Australian movie about skinheads. It’s good, but I don’t think it’s in the same league as This is England.
songs from the second floor is pretty great too. it’s a film poem. could also be a little hard to get in the us, but you might be able to download it.
songs from the second floor is pretty great too. it’s a film poem. could also be a little hard to get in the us, but you might be able to download it.
Some of Shane Meadows films – especially This Is England – remind me rather of Mike Leigh’s movies, especially his 80s and 90s ones (Naked, High Hopes, Life Is Sweet, Secrets and Lies) in how the dialogue feels so natural, though of course the improvisational process that Leigh adopts helps that (I’m not sure if Shane Meadows follows a similar method). It makes me wonder if and how it’s possible to be that ultra-natural in dialogue on the page – I think so much of what is said in Leigh’s and Meadows’ films rely on the merest flickering hints of what’s happening on people’s faces.
Some of Shane Meadows films – especially This Is England – remind me rather of Mike Leigh’s movies, especially his 80s and 90s ones (Naked, High Hopes, Life Is Sweet, Secrets and Lies) in how the dialogue feels so natural, though of course the improvisational process that Leigh adopts helps that (I’m not sure if Shane Meadows follows a similar method). It makes me wonder if and how it’s possible to be that ultra-natural in dialogue on the page – I think so much of what is said in Leigh’s and Meadows’ films rely on the merest flickering hints of what’s happening on people’s faces.
Total Recall for the sheer coolness of it. “You can do anything”.
Adventures of Baron Munchausen for the absurdity. Opened me up.
Guyver 2: Dark Hero for the fight scenes. When I wrote a non-fiction piece in jr. high about a fight I had, the teacher read it without telling the class who wrote it, and one kid, after it was finished, said, “That was cool.” That was cool of him.
Demon Knight. The characterizations in that film are point. Each person is a developed personality before they hit the screen, and they automatically ooze it. Plus, Billy Zane is heelarious. I think I watched that film twenty times and laughed every time when he’s in front of the mansion and doing a cowboy dance calling the people insider “motherfuckers”. The humor informed my writing. Same with Total Recall actually. And based on this film, I took my father’s typewriter and started writing for the first time. I think this was 3rd grade? I had the movie on TV and then copied the first chase scene. Ahh… Tales from the Crypt. They don’t make TV like that anymore….
Total Recall for the sheer coolness of it. “You can do anything”.
Adventures of Baron Munchausen for the absurdity. Opened me up.
Guyver 2: Dark Hero for the fight scenes. When I wrote a non-fiction piece in jr. high about a fight I had, the teacher read it without telling the class who wrote it, and one kid, after it was finished, said, “That was cool.” That was cool of him.
Demon Knight. The characterizations in that film are point. Each person is a developed personality before they hit the screen, and they automatically ooze it. Plus, Billy Zane is heelarious. I think I watched that film twenty times and laughed every time when he’s in front of the mansion and doing a cowboy dance calling the people insider “motherfuckers”. The humor informed my writing. Same with Total Recall actually. And based on this film, I took my father’s typewriter and started writing for the first time. I think this was 3rd grade? I had the movie on TV and then copied the first chase scene. Ahh… Tales from the Crypt. They don’t make TV like that anymore….
Shoot. Lemme mention The Hidden (not part 2). When you have a unstoppable slug infested Stripper killing a bunch of cops non-stop. It is automatic fun.
Shoot. Lemme mention The Hidden (not part 2). When you have a unstoppable slug infested Stripper killing a bunch of cops non-stop. It is automatic fun.
Hm, everybody was recommending that movie to me but it left me kind of cold. It had a great soundtrack, and the actors were good, but the plot was a little thin and had too many silly twists (like the scene in the caff where the kids mom basically hands him over to the skinhead gang and gives them a daft “well, i cant raise him, you’ll probably do a better job than i can…” speech. That just seemed totally out of the blue, and not based in any kind of reality) But the stuff that really bothered me about that movie, and bothers me in every movie when it happens, was the abundance of ‘music video moments’. As I said, the soundtrack was brilliant, but there was too many scenes of those skinheads walking around in slow motion set to music. If you cut out all of those scenes, the movie would have only been an hour.
But what the fuck do I know? Everybody else thought it was great.
Hm, everybody was recommending that movie to me but it left me kind of cold. It had a great soundtrack, and the actors were good, but the plot was a little thin and had too many silly twists (like the scene in the caff where the kids mom basically hands him over to the skinhead gang and gives them a daft “well, i cant raise him, you’ll probably do a better job than i can…” speech. That just seemed totally out of the blue, and not based in any kind of reality) But the stuff that really bothered me about that movie, and bothers me in every movie when it happens, was the abundance of ‘music video moments’. As I said, the soundtrack was brilliant, but there was too many scenes of those skinheads walking around in slow motion set to music. If you cut out all of those scenes, the movie would have only been an hour.
But what the fuck do I know? Everybody else thought it was great.
The Quiet Man.
The Quiet Man.
i’ve seen romper stomper a few times but i am having a hard time remembering much about it other than bana being a bad ass and the scene with his dick.
the kid in the red straps looks so familiar to me though. i’ll have to rent it i guess.
i’ve seen romper stomper a few times but i am having a hard time remembering much about it other than bana being a bad ass and the scene with his dick.
the kid in the red straps looks so familiar to me though. i’ll have to rent it i guess.
Even though I’m being told that it is bad, now I want to see Dance of the Vampires. There may be something wrong with me.
Props to Rosemary’s Baby, though.
Even though I’m being told that it is bad, now I want to see Dance of the Vampires. There may be something wrong with me.
Props to Rosemary’s Baby, though.
yay. rent. yes.
yay. rent. yes.
At certain points you could tell they were improvising, either that or the acting and writing were working in incredible concert.
At certain points you could tell they were improvising, either that or the acting and writing were working in incredible concert.
Music video moments were definitely abound. The movie made no effort to hide that it was a movie… all the footage of Thatcher and riots and 80’s nostalgia bothered me at first, but I somehow was OK with it by the end. It was half documentary, almost….
Music video moments were definitely abound. The movie made no effort to hide that it was a movie… all the footage of Thatcher and riots and 80’s nostalgia bothered me at first, but I somehow was OK with it by the end. It was half documentary, almost….
bana was in chopper i think. where he cuts his ears and shit. romper stomper was russel crowe.
bana was in chopper i think. where he cuts his ears and shit. romper stomper was russel crowe.
no you can get it off amazon. i did.
it’s worth getting. really.
no you can get it off amazon. i did.
it’s worth getting. really.