Author
Amuthan M
Amuthan shows great interest towards post-modern story narration and loves analysing and writing about them. He is persistently trying to understand the minds of creators of arts and how they construct the society.
15 Movies you should watch if you are an aspiring screenwriter (or a movie buff)
Before dwelling into the list, we would like to make a few things clear. We have planned to release an article every month completely dedicated to movies based on their different aspects. As an act of kick starting the suit, this month’s article is titled “15 Movies you should watch if you are an Aspiring Screenwriter”. This exclusive list encompasses 15 movies of different languages (except Tamil) which are appreciated for their screenplay. The list has no Tamil movies since we have planned to post a separate article for Tamil movies under the same title! Moreover, these movies are meant not just for aspiring screenwriters, we honestly believe every movie buff will genuinely enjoy these movies.
The movies are ranked in no particular order and they made to the list based on different perspectives which have been mentioned in the article. If you feel a potential movie is not mentioned, we genuinely apologize, and we request you to mention the name of the movie in the comments! Finally, we don’t mean these movies are the best ones, instead we are just providing you a list from which we hope you will learn something about screenwriting!
- Wind River(2017)
Image from the movie “Wind River”
For: Genre satisfaction, neo-modernism
The 70s and 80s witnessed a huge drop in the number of Western and noir films made due to the entry of modern and postmodern thoughts. But as wise men would say “Time always repeats itself”, these concepts have now been reaffirmed according to modern concepts of writing, thereby giving birth to neo-modern, neo-western, and neo-noir styles of filmmaking. These genres of movies are the best resources for understanding how we have evolved as artists. Wind river is one of the most stunning movies made in recent times. The quality of the content is top notch and the depiction of human lives in this neo-western genre is satisfying for an old cinema fan too. One thing seems certain from the revival of western genre: “We may reach new heights in technology, but human nature and behaviors never change.”
2. 12 Angry Men (1957)
Image from the movie “12 Angry Men”
For: Realism in the interaction between Characters
Do you believe a single room and a dozen characters are enough for creating a 2.5 hours movie? You may say yes, in fact recently filmmakers are coming up with tons of creative ideas to make these kinds of movies. But in 1957, it was extremely difficult to pull the crowd for such movies. 12 Angry Men is a must watch if you are an aspiring filmmaker. Every aspect in the movie such as the camera movement and the knife sharpened dialogues will make you paranoid about conventional cinema. It sometimes makes me wonder, how such levels of realism worked in 1957, and how a director actually had the guts to execute such script.
3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Image from the movie “The Godfather II”
For: Storyline manipulation and Sequence Development
The Godfather trilogy is an adaptation of the novel under the same title by Author Mario Puzo. The first part of the movie became a huge success and is considered even now as the pioneer of all gangster movies. Naturally, all eyes were focused on The Godfather II during its release. The second part is focused on two timelines: The Son’s rising and The Father’s history of rising. Both the timelines explain their characters’ pursuit of attaining power and becoming the supreme. The intercuts between the timelines create a unique style in the way in the portrayal of the similarities in the situations faced by the characters. And because of this storytelling approach, the last scene of Vito’s birthday celebration becomes epic. Credits must be given to the screenplay writer as the writing perfectly blends with the realities in the timelines. This is one of the very few movies where the sequel turned out better than the original.
4. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Image from the movie “Inglourious Basterds”
For: Conversation building
The opening scene of Inglourious Basterds gives the audience a clear-cut idea about the movie. This, a little over 20 min scene is entirely built up on a conversation between two characters. Most viewers would consider such scenes to be boring since the normal audience expect the opening sequence to be fast paced or action packed. Not only this scene, the entire movie can be dissected into 6 or 7 scenes. Despite this lack in the number of scenes, elements such as Suspense, Irony and Drama all are incorporated well into the script thereby delivering spicy content for the viewers. Though the movie is slow paced, it sure teaches an aspiring writer a few things on writing.
5. The Social Network (2010)
Image from the movie “The Social Network”
For: Social psychiatric and post-modern touch
As some of you might already know, the Social Network is the biography of Mark Zuckerberg. Though the notion about Biographies is that they are boring, directors like David Fincher know how to insert cinematic elements in the plot while retaining the soul of the story. The movie in no way looked like a biography or a documentary. It is an incredible gem and a psychological grunge made as dark as possible. The realistic dialogues between characters, portrayal of envy, lies and similar tiny emotions build the screenplay beautifully. With his own non-linear style, Fincher ensured this movie stays a modern classic.
6. New World (2013)
Image from the movie “New World”
For: Cinematic style
In the case of movies, though the script is much important, its portrayal should not be like a novel or stage play. That is why we call the writing “screenplay”. The screenwriting should contain its own style reminding that it is indeed a movie the viewers are watching. Korean movies hugely lack the formal writing but instead they focus on realism and the above-mentioned cinematic style of writing. Though New World is not a thriller, it is a great source for understanding the elements of slow pacing in writing. If you are an aspiring slow-paced screen writer, this movie is a jackpot for you. The writer succeeds in making the audience very casually light up a cigarette after watching!
7. Memento (2000)
Image from the movie “Memento”
For: Meaningful complexity and film noir elements
These days, many writers are obsessed with non-linear storytelling, and there is nothing wrong with it. But the question the screenwriters must be asking themselves is “Does the plot require it?”. In the case of Memento, if I ask the above question, the answer would be, since the protagonist has a short-term memory loss and he can’t remember what happened before 10 minutes, non-linear storytelling does more justice to the plot than conventional storytelling. Thus, the director wants us to empathize with the protagonist while watching the movie, as we won’t be knowing what happened in the previous incident just like the protagonist. So, “Meaning in complexity “ works very well here. To be honest, even Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige didn’t satisfy this aspect. This teaches us not to make non-linearity just for style.
8. Andhadhun(2018)
Image from the movie “Andhadhun”
For: Dramatic Irony
In terms of writing, Irony can be defined as, “Delivering an outcome that is contrary to what was, or might have been, expected by the Audience or the characters”. Not much can be understood from the definition of this term, it just has to be experienced and felt. In Andhadhun, we can specifically notice such great scenes entirely built up on irony. The scene where the policeman hides in the restroom, the protagonist’s arrival at the police station and the audience’s knowledge on his blindness while the characters are puzzled over it are a few examples of dramatic irony from the movie which makes it more than just a thriller.
9. A Separation (2011)
Image from the movie “A Separation”
For: Partial detailing
Some movies deeply concentrate on the details of the story or certain sequences. Is it always needed? A Separation is a brilliant attempt to break this convention. There is an important moment in the movie that is key to the plot, but it has very less information, and some of the details are splattered by the dialogues. This partial detailing works for many scenes in the movie, since we as the audience are left to assume certain details throughout the course of the movie. Asghar Farhadi’s screenplay is the forerunner to this not so explored way of storytelling.
10. Amores Perros (2000)
Image from the movie “Amores Perros”
For: Justified hyperlinking
There are a lot of movies based on hyperlink concepts, where three or four parallel storylines meet at one point. In many such movies, the theme of the storylines is not justified, and the purpose of hyperlinking seem to be simply the sake of hyperlinking. Contrastingly, in this movie, a horrific car accident connects three stories that involves characters dealing with lots of flaws in the name of love. After the accident occurs, the story focuses on how the characters’ arc change. The theme of the movie is “How love can hurt people”. Through this movie, the writer shows how to flip the fate of the characters in one moment and this movie is a very good reference for writers who wish to write meaningful hyperlinks.
11. Thondimuthalum Dhriksakshiyum (2017)
Image from the movie “Thondimuthalum Dhriksakshiyum”
For: Realism in Characters and scenes
Most of the movies these days fail in bridging the gap between the real world and the world it portrays. When simple storylines are increasingly portrayed in such fanciful worlds, the filmmaker has taken in hand a simple plot and has pulled it off entirely in a completely realistic world. For instance, you might think of the character Sudhakar as a minor character. But everything from the costume to the dialogues for that character were deeply chiseled. If that hadn’t been done, it would have not been possible to create the realistic world the plot sails in. This movie reiterates the fact that you don’t actually need to write a character and the details very deeply, instead if the character is closer to the real world, the details of the character will turn out awesome. There are many iconic scenes in the movie which deeply connect with the real world. “When movies are closer to life, they are remembered”. This movie should be watched by everyone who loves cinema.
12. Oldboy (2003)
For: Dark humor, Absurdity, and Surrealism
Oldboy is arguably one of the best postmodern cinemas ever made. The plot of this movie is a serious taboo topic. The establishment of the characters and scenes in the movie are strange and absurd. Black comedy writers should watch this movie at any cost and must analyze its script. Dialogues are a great influence for the postmodern writers and the dialogues in this movie are sharp and precise. The film looks vintage made and the depiction of scenes are super realistic and in its unique way.
13. Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)
Image from the movie “Gangs of Wasseypur”
For: Black Comedy, self-referentiality and cultural-referentiality
The movie portrays the violence happening at a place for over 3 generations in 2 parts. The depiction of violence in the writing is magnificent. In fact, aspiring writers can learn many aspects of world-building from this movie. The movie strongly focuses on the reference of its own content in the film. This movie is a great source of information for those who love realism in violence.
14. John Wick (2014)
Image from the movie “John Wick”
For: World building
Realistic characters are built for the real world. But some stories need to step away from the world and it must narrate some fantasy. In that case, how would you determine the behavior of the world you create and justify the characters? John Wick is an excellent suggestion to find the answer to this question. As a writer, if you manage to find the answers to this question, you would have become capable of creating your own world for your story. How did the director manage to make us believe that John avenged for his dog’s murderers? The answer is dumped in the script and task of finding it lies in your hands. Also, the character formation is brilliant in this created world.
15. Waltz with Bashir (2008)
Image from the movie “Waltz with Bashir”
For: Documentary style
Waltz with Bashir is a documentary about the Lebanon war. It is a visually stunning animated movie which never compromises its cinematic effects just for the sake of it being a documentary. The symbolism and magical realism in the writing are perfect. This movie’s ending will stay for a long time in your memory. As a writer, this movie is the collective resource for philosophical elements in your story.
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