Dear Marty,
Re: the script of Wise Guys
It is one of the best constructed scripts that I have
ever read. At the same time it is not academic, it is not a script just on
paper. It is very much alive.
The first question I would
ask you is, What is the tone of the director? It is a take-it-or-leave-it tone?
It is a dispassionate tone? Is it meant to be the wiseguy’s thoughts – or
Meditations – or Memories? And in the final hiding place, is he resigned to his
completely anonymous existence, or does he expect that they will catch up with
him some day?
I think that the narration is brilliantly handled on
the page, and the tone of the narration will be equally important. How have you
managed to sustain the Action and narration side by side for the whole length
of the script? It’s a masterpiece. I can only compare it with the script of The African Queen or Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity.
Yes, it is a little long, and the pause, or the
length, seems to come about the 100 minute mark. By
the way, the women, when they arrive, are very good, but I would love to see
one of the women in the early part of the film as a young girl, or even a
little girl. I mean a new character – either his sister, or a ten-year
old girl. Some of the best scripting is in the first twenty pages. How are you
going to handle the youngster? There are not many actors who can play from ten
years old to thirty years old.
Dear Marty, it is a stunning script, and will make a
wonderful film, and a priceless social document.
Signed,
Michael Powell
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