If one of my students can’t quite grasp the concept of “subtext,” often I’ll have them read this scene in the movie Sideways. Written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor (based on the novel by Rex Pickett), it’s a great script for many reasons, not the least of which is that Payne & Taylor make us care about Miles (Paul Giamatti), the story’s largely unlikeable protagonist.

In this scene, Miles and Maya (Virginia Madsen) have been sharing a few moments alone together. Up to this point, there have been some indirect ‘messages’ each has sent to the other signaling perhaps a mutual romantic interest. And then Maya asks a question:

                                     MAYA                      Why are you so into Pinot? It's like                      a thing with you.

            Miles laughs at first, then smiles wistfully at the question.            He searches for the answer in his glass and begins slowly.

                                  MILES                      I don't know. It's a hard grape to                      grow. As you know. It's thin-skinned,                      temperamental, ripens early. It's                      not a survivor like Cabernet that                      can grow anywhere and thrive even                      when neglected. Pinot needs constant                      care and attention and in fact can                      only grow in specific little tucked-                      away corners of the world. And only                      the most patient and nurturing growers                      can do it really, can tap into Pinot's                      most fragile, delicate qualities.                      Only when someone has taken the time                      to truly understand its potential                      can Pinot be coaxed into its fullest                      expression. And when that happens,                      its flavors are the most haunting                      and brilliant and subtle and thrilling                      and ancient on the planet.

            Maya has found this answer revealing and moving.

                                  MILES                      I mean, Cabernets can be powerful                      and exalting, but they seem prosaic                      to me for some reason. By comparison.                      How about you?

                                  MAYA                      What about me?

                                  MILES                      I don't know. Why are you into wine?

                                  MAYA                      I suppose I got really into wine                      originally through my ex-husband. He                      had a big, kind of show-off cellar.                      But then I found out that I have a                      really sharp palate, and the more I                      drank, the more I liked what it made                      me think about.

                                  MILES                      Yeah? Like what?

                                  MAYA                      Like what a fraud he was.

            Miles laughs.

                                  MAYA                      No, but I do like to think about the                      life of wine, how it's a living thing.                      I like to think about what was going                      on the year the grapes were growing,                      how the sun was shining that summer                      or if it rained... what the weather                      was like. I think about all those                      people who tended and picked the                      grapes, and if it's an old wine, how                      many of them must be dead by now. I                      love how wine continues to evolve,                      how every time I open a bottle it's                      going to taste different than if I                      had opened it on any other day.                      Because a bottle of wine is actually                      alive -- it's constantly evolving                      and gaining complexity. That is,                      until it peaks -- like your '61 --                      and begins its steady, inevitable                      decline. And it tastes so fucking                      good.

            Now it is Miles's turn to be swept away. Maya's face tells            us the moment is right, but Miles remains frozen. He needs            another sign, and Maya is bold enough to offer it: reaches            out and places one hand atop his.

                                  MILES                           (pointing)                      Bathroom over there?

                                  MAYA                      Yeah.

            Miles gets up and walks out. Maya sighs and gets and American            Spirit out of her purse.

So what is Miles really talking about? In the External World of this screenplay universe, he’s talking about wine, but in the Internal World he’s talking about — himself. “Pinot needs constant care and attention… only the most patient and nurturing growers can do it… tap into Pinot’s most fragile, delicate qualities… only when someone has taken the time to truly understand its potential… coaxed into its fullest expression… the most haunting and brilliant and subtle and thrilling and ancient.” In that moment, this is Miles’ beatific expression of his own self-image, a misunderstood person, unappreciated novelist, and an unrequited romantic.

Now let’s look at Maya’s monologue to see who she’s really talking about: “It’s a living thing… continues to evolve… actually alive… constantly evolving, gaining complexity.” Again these words resonate about the speaker as Maya works as a waitress, however she’s evolving by taking college courses, learning about wine, and has aspirations about taking that up as a career.

In dialogue, subtext is where characters talk about Subject A (in the External World), but mean something about Subject B (in the Internal World). If you find your characters’ dialogue to be too ‘on-the-nose’ or play too much ‘up top’ in scenes, find something completely unrelated to what you want the characters to communicate — washing dishes, changing the oil in the car, playing golf. Give them some bit of business to do – then see what your characters do with that to communicate what they really mean to talk about.

[Originally posted December 12, 2008].