tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post1430701892050110856..comments2023-11-05T07:45:02.082-05:00Comments on Mystery Man on Film: The GodfatherMystery Manhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17486331815227364944noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-15911159474254838182010-04-03T13:33:12.083-04:002010-04-03T13:33:12.083-04:00Trileptal 600 Mg<a href="http://onlinedrug-store.net/group.php?group_id=56" rel="nofollow">Trileptal 600 Mg</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-78929681523949127852007-04-03T12:42:00.000-04:002007-04-03T12:42:00.000-04:00Thanks so much, Carl, so great to hear from you.I'...Thanks so much, Carl, so great to hear from you.<BR/><BR/>I've been meaning to blog about exposition, because I've never been satisfied with what anyone else has written on the subject, and I'd like to feel completely settled on this subject for myself. I think it's rather complicated and multi-faceted, because there really are different kinds of exposition. The kind that most difficult "telling a backstory" is handled by Coppola and Puzo as well as it could possibly be handled.<BR/><BR/>Generally speaking, though, you have to be careful about characters saying exactly what they are thinking and feeling. (In fact, I think that's the very reason why the dialogue is bad and we had melodramatic scenes in Godfather III.) I also think David Mamet is correct in saying (in his new book "Bambi vs. Godzilla") that most scenes are about 3 questions: who wants what from whom? why now? and what happens if that person doesn't get it? And I think, VERY generally speaking, that most scenes really are about persuasion, a character is trying to persuade another character about something, and thus, with persuasion comes subtext. And you have those instances where one character is saying one thing but meaning something else in order to accomplish X, Y, and Z. When you have characters bigger than life up on the screen in front of you, you notice subtleties far more and it's a dissatisfier if you get beaten over the head with people stating the obvious. We're magicians in a way by using tricks to pull an audience into the story because you're not stating the obvious. Ya know? Are you with me? Hear me now...<BR/><BR/>It's a very tough subject, and I hope for us to have a real good discourse about it later on.<BR/><BR/>-MMMystery Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17486331815227364944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-47441924060840066262007-04-03T12:00:00.000-04:002007-04-03T12:00:00.000-04:00Amazing look at an amazing script. The part about...Amazing look at an amazing script. The part about exposition was interesting because the more I study screenwriting, the more I realize that all dialog is exposition. It's there to explain how someone feels about something. The trick is to write it so well that nobody knows you are holding their hand and explaining things to them.<BR/><BR/>Great work as usual, MM>Carl Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07145297032733680067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-27896732865027296392007-04-03T08:02:00.000-04:002007-04-03T08:02:00.000-04:00Thanks so much. I was drinking orange juice when I...Thanks so much. I was drinking orange juice when I wrote that. Kinda freaked me out.<BR/><BR/>Hehehe...<BR/><BR/>-MMMystery Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17486331815227364944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-41090486474588879332007-04-03T00:37:00.000-04:002007-04-03T00:37:00.000-04:00superb...superb..the one on oranges...spookeysuperb...superb..the one on oranges...spookeyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-53504992997884053692007-04-02T12:15:00.000-04:002007-04-02T12:15:00.000-04:00Thanks so much! I really appreciate it.-MMThanks so much! I really appreciate it.<BR/><BR/>-MMMystery Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17486331815227364944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-13949111209143194252007-04-02T11:54:00.000-04:002007-04-02T11:54:00.000-04:00This is great stuff. I learned so much from this s...This is great stuff. I learned so much from this single article. Isn't it a shame that most screenwriting books (if any) don't examine details like this with such such depth and insight.<BR/><BR/>I'm so glad I subscribed. Thank you!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-22315271815639478812007-04-01T21:14:00.000-04:002007-04-01T21:14:00.000-04:00Hey Bob, The character depth article had to be 300...Hey Bob, <BR/><BR/>The character depth article had to be 300 words or less, so I couldn't explore everything about him. However, I liked your take on "family" and wouldn't argue with that. I especially enjoyed your point about him emulating his father. That's certainly true although he just never had his father's knack to inspire those around him. Maybe it would've been better to say that he <I>thinks</I> he loves his family and would declare his love to anyone who challenged it, but in reality, he wouldn't know the meaining "love of family" if his life depended on it.<BR/><BR/>Hehehe...<BR/><BR/>On the other, Michael was incredibly vengeful. Why else would he have wiped out the heads of the five families before moving to Nevada? Why else would he have insisted that they kill off Hyman Roth when it wasn't necessary to do so? And there is no other motivation to describe why he killed his own brother - you hurt me and thus, I'm going to make you pay the ultimate price. In fact, at his confession in Part III, Michael explained why he killed his brother - "he injured me." At the very heart of the Godfather series is that lofty of Italian opera themes - honor and vengeance - "they hit us, so we hit 'em back."<BR/><BR/>-MMMystery Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17486331815227364944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-21810848357506763122007-04-01T20:09:00.000-04:002007-04-01T20:09:00.000-04:00Sorry I missed your original post about Michael Co...Sorry I missed your original post about Michael Corleone, but now that you've quoted it, I'd like to add my two cents to your otherwise excellent (natch) analysis.<BR/><BR/>You wrote:<BR/><BR/><I>He loved his family dearly. Family was the most important thing in the world to him. Yet, he was so vengeful, he would kill his own brother, Fredo.</I><BR/><BR/>I think this is slightly off the mark. Michael does not love his <EM>family</EM> dearly; he loves his <EM>father</EM> dearly. And to the extent that his father elevated "family" above all else, Michael strives to emulate him. His tragic flaw, however, is that he does not have a familial bone in his body. (Filial but not familial!) Nor is he especially vengeful <I>per se</I>; he is simply carrying out the steps he believes are necessary to preserve "the Family." He is wrongly devoted to an abstraction of Family, on the altar of which he sacrifices his real one. I believe that the contradiction drives him slowly mad (though I would like to have seen that dramatized more).<BR/><BR/>(I made a version of this comment a few months ago on my blog, in <A HREF="http://www.geebobg.com/2006/12/22/a-movie-you-dont-like-as-much-as-you-think-you-do/" REL="nofollow">a post critiquing The Godfather Part II</A>.)Bob G.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06580681482674779258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-72503663139757268432007-04-01T14:06:00.000-04:002007-04-01T14:06:00.000-04:00Thanks so much, Mim. I really appreciate it.-MMThanks so much, Mim. I really appreciate it.<BR/><BR/>-MMMystery Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17486331815227364944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30413383.post-64571788323559080312007-04-01T11:46:00.000-04:002007-04-01T11:46:00.000-04:00Great job, MM. This review really focuses what we...Great job, MM. This review really focuses what we should be looking for when we write. I love how you compare thematic composition in The Godfather to thematic composition in opera. We should never forget the roots of any form of entertainment, or social tradition.Mimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11590214841424958129noreply@blogger.com