14 Days of Screenplays, Version 3.0 -- Day 2: The Crying Game

Today is Day 2 of the "14 Days of Screenplays, Version 3.0" challenge and the featured screenplay is for the movie The Crying Game (1992). You can download the script from myPDFscripts.com here.

Background: The Crying Game was written and directed by Neil Jordan. The movie was nominated for 6 Academy Awards, winning 1 for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.

In this interview in 2006, Jordan discusses the main difference between writing a screenplay and a novel:

MM: In an introduction to The Crying Game, you say that writing fiction and writing movies is a very different process. Do you still think that's true?

NJ: Probably true, yeah. It's just a different process. You think differently. I tend to write films very fast. I tend to write novels very slowly. Really slowly.

MM: If you're not fleshing it out like a book, how do you know how it will come out?

NJ: It's far easier to keep a film in your head at any one time. Look at it: most movies, when people see a film they see it at one sitting, don't they? When people read a book they pick it up maybe 30 or 40 times. They can begin it in July and finish it in December, can't they? So the experience of watching a film is much more like the experience of hearing a piece of music. Of course, a film can develop and go in different ways that you didn't expect, but generally you can work out the structure in your head very easily.

The script is a great study in dramatic economy with taut description and tight dialogue befitting a realistic world, albeit one with some rather unreal circumstances.

I want to give time for people to weigh in about the script, those who have read it for the challenge as well as anyone else who has read the script in the past. I'll update this post with my thoughts on the script later tonight.

What did you think of The Crying Game?

For links to all 14 scripts in the challenge, go here.

And remember: We'll be reading 1 script per day and discussing them for the next two weeks. I'll be posting something everyday at 4PM U.S. Eastern Daylight Time / 1PM PST for your comments.

The script for Day 3 of the challange is The Apartment, available at myPDFscripts.com.

UPDATE: I saw The Crying Game once when it first came out in 1992 and had never read the script, so I was quite interested to dive into the screenplay yesterday, especially given the thunderous praise by some GITS readers when promoting it for this challenge.

And man, what a script!

First, I was struck by the script's style. There are rarely any paragraphs of scene description longer than 4 or 5 lines, and Jordan handles most of the action in 1-2 lines max. And yet the story is plenty visual and evocative. A great lesson in writing lean.

Similarly with the dialogue, which is stripped down to a bare essence. The farmhouse sequence (P. 5-31) establishes this approach to dialogue, the many conversations between Fergus and Jody like volleys in a tennis match, back and forth, Fergus with one line, Jody with one line, creating almost a hypnotic effect with the repetitive rhythm. It creates a baseline of normalcy, which underscores how Jody is - whether intentional or not - humanizing himself to Fergus, just two guys shooting the shit and swapping tiny details from each others' life, back and forth. And, of course, with each conversation, Fergus does find himself 'bonding' with Jody.

This approach to dialogue sets up beautifully to drive home one of the key thematic points of the story:

He eats. Fergus feeds himself, then feeds more to Jody.

                        JODY
            Two types, Fergus. The scorpion and the
            frog. Ever heard of them?

Fergus says nothing.

                        JODY
            Scorpion wants to cross a river, but he
            can't swim. Goes to the frog, who can,
            and asks for a ride. Frog says, "If I
            give you a ride on my back, you'll go and
            sting me." Scorpion replies, "It would
            not be in my interest to sting you since
            as I'll be on your back we both would
            drown." Frog thinks about this logic for
            a while and accepts the deal. Takes the
            scorpion on his back. Braves the waters.
            Halfway over feels a burning spear in his
            side and realizes the scorpion has stung
            him after all. And as they both sink
            beneath the waves the frog cries out,
            "Why did you sting me, Mr. Scorpion, for
            now we both will drown?" Scorpion
            replies, "I can't help it, it's in my
            nature."

Jody chuckles under his hood.

                           FERGUS
             So what's that supposed to mean?

                           JODY
             Means what it says. The scorpion does
             what is in his nature. Take off the hood,
             man.

                           FERGUS
             Why?

                           JODY
             'Cause you're kind. It's in your nature.

Fergus walks toward him and pulls off the hood. Jody smiles
up at him.

                           JODY
             See? I was right about you.

                           FERGUS
             Don't be so sure.

                           JODY
             Jody's always right.

Jody's monologue about the scorpion and the frog is the longest side of dialogue in the entire script. And that fact is underscored by the spare approach to dialogue up to this point. As a result, a reader is forced to pay attention to the monologue, it underscores its importance. And what's so important?

On one level, the story is all about Fergus' soul. Through whatever unknown set of events in his past, he has cast his lot with a violent terrorist group. And yet, Jody - in trying to connect with Fergus, most assuredly in an attempt to save his own life - correctly identifies that Fergus is a "kind" person because it's "in his nature." That tension - will Fergus lose his soul or gain it - runs throughout the entire story. And Jordan's stylistic approach to dialogue helps to make that point in this pivotal scene.

The second thing I noted in reading the script is how the story follows a classic structure:

Act One -- The Opening (where Jody is kidnapped) and the farmhouse sequence, ending with Jody's death and Fergus disappearing to England.

Act Two -- Following up on Jody's request, Fergus tracks down Dil and they develop a relationship, albeit with some twists and turns along the way. Then Jude and Maguire show up, which drives the story toward the All Is Lost moment at the end of the act: Where Fergus has to commit to assassinating the judge or else Jude and Maguire will kill Dil.

Act Three -- Fergus thinks he figures out a way to save Dil, but Dil turns the tables on him, tying Fergus to the bed, which causes the assassination to go awry, leading to Jude showing up, enabling - ironically - Dil to kill the woman who lured Dil's former lover Jody to his death.

And the denouement with Dil visiting Fergus in prison. All very tidy.

Moreover the story follows a 'traditional' Protagonist transformation arc:

* Disunity (Act One): Fergus is a volunteer in a violent terrorist group and yet, as Jody asserts, he is a "kind" man, that's his "nature. That is at the core of his disunity.

* Deconstruction (Act Two - 1st half): Intersecting with Dil, Fergus is drawn to her in part by his guilt about Jody's death, by his physical attraction to Dil, and by his kindness (e.g., when he steps in to save Dil from being beaten up by Dave). In all of these respects, the 'hardness' he would have to display as a terrorist is 'assaulted' by his encounter with humanity and heart, deconstructing him.

* Reconstruction (Act Two - 2nd Half): The Transition happens in P. 57-59, when Fergus discovers that Dil is a man. His initial response is to hit Dil -- a violent demonstration of his hardness. But throughout the rest of the second act, Fergus' homosexual and trans-gender bias gets deconstructed via the very specific nature of his relationship with Dil - his kindness winning out over his his hardness.

* Unity (Act Three): After Dil kills Jude, Fergus fully embraces his 'kind' nature, 'saving' Dil by taking the rap for Jude's murder and his involvement with the terrorist group.

And what happens in the Denouement? The last lines of dialogue are Fergus telling Dil the story of the scorpion and the frog, signifying the 'completion' of Fergus' transformation, his soul saved through his salvific act of kindness toward Dil.

What about a breakdown by character archetype:

Protagonist - Fergus
Nemesis - Maguire
Attractor - Dil
Mentor - Jody
Trickster - Jude

Jody as Mentor because he provides Fergus the key insight into his kind nature, as well as steering Fergus toward Dil.

Jude as Trickster because she is at one point Fergus' ally (as a terrorist), then an enemy (when she finds him in England). Plus she tests Fergus, threatening to kill Dil if Fergus doesn't kill the judge.

Which is to say that this quirky independent movie is imbued with some pretty 'classic' narrative elements, both in terms of structure and character.

Of course, the beauty of a well-written script is that it plays out as an organic narrative, which The Crying Game most assuredly does. In sum, a fantastic script, well-deserving of the praise it received.