A number of screenings in this year's film festival started out like this: The director comes out to say that he or she had a deliberate approach and story to tell, but did not have a script; the actors were allowed to improvise.
After seeing three of these unscripted improvisations over a span of less than 24 hours, I have new appreciation for screenplays. So did another woman I ran into when I went to the "Funny Bones" screening (now there's a good script!). She had seen me the night before at a late-night showing of a film whose lack of a script slowed it down and gave us each plenty of time to lose interest in the characters.
The unscripted films had some fine scenes and moments, and I don't believe filmmakers have to follow rules. But they can break even more rules with a good screenplay. I'm hoping that as these young filmmakers mature, they'll do that in ways I can only imagine.
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1 comment:
Anne,
I was at the same screening of "Alexander the Last" as you, and when the director told us how he "wrote" the movie I thought I would hate it. It wasn't as bad as I thought an unscripted movie would be, although I did fall asleep 'round about Midnight. The two blonds kept me awake.
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