Contour At The Movies

Overall Impression – Liam Neeson brings this slick action flick to another level. 

THE FOUR QUESTIONS

Who’s your main character? – Bryan Mills.

What’s he trying to accomplish? – Professional: rescue his daughter, Kim.  Personal: rescue Kim.  Private: prove to himself that he still has a place in Kim’s life.

Who’s trying to stop him? – Members at various levels of a sex trade organization, operative-turned-police chief Jean-Claude, and plenty of Neeson-fodder along the way.

What happens if he fails? – Bryan’s world revolves around his daughter.  If he loses Kim to the sex slavers, he’ll no longer have a reason to live.

THE FOUR ARCHETYPES

Orphan –  Bryan once dedicated his life to the CIA instead of his family.  Now he’s divorced, lives alone, and feels sidelined because Kim lives with his ex-wife and her new husband. 

Wanderer – When Kim is kidnapped during her trip to Paris, Bryan uses his CIA contacts and learns that she was taken by Albanian sex slavers.  Bryan flies to Paris and, under the watchful eye of his old friend Jean-Claude, puts his long-honed skills to use.  He retraces the kidnapping, chases down leads and learns about the sale of ‘merchandise’ at a construction yard.  Bryan pretends to be a customer, finding a different kidnapped girl wearing Kim’s jacket.

Warrior – Bryan rescues the girl from the Albanians, destroying the construction yard in the process.  While he nurses her back to health, he avoids Jean-Claude, who’s been ordered to arrest him after the construction site incident.  The girl provides the location of the Albanians’ hideout, and Bryan uses Jean-Claude’s ID to infiltrate it, tear it apart, and torture their leader.  He learns that a businessman intends to sell Kim to the highest bidder, but Bryan needs Jean-Claude to get his location.  Bryan discovers that Jean-Claude has been accepting bribes from the Albanians. 

Martyr – Bryan threatens to kill Jean-Claude’s wife if he doesn’t get the businessman’s location.  By being willing to kill an innocent woman, Bryan is willing to sacrifice the very core of what he stands for: protecting the innocent.  Bryan eventually tracks Kim  to the bidder’s giant yacht, where he fights through a hoard of trained baddies to save her. 

AND, IN THE END…

IMO, TAKEN’s success lies with its great leading actor and clever execution. This isn’t to say that what transpires is any more realistic than what you’d see in the TRANSPORTER franchise (it’s made by the same folks), but it’s amazing how some actors and actresses can elevate material.

Regarding its execution, TAKEN stood out for me because it felt smart and innovative, and it’s a great illustration of the YES/NO dynamic in the Wanderer and and Warrior stages.  Providing smart answers to interesting obstacles is doubly important in these movies, since they constitute much of the action and the intrigue.  I didn’t leave thinking “I’m glad he found his daughter”…  To be honest, I didn’t care.  I was replaying the awesome torture scene in my head, or the clever ways Bryan found the information he was seeking.

This might explain why I found the ‘Professional’ and ‘Personal’ categories to be the same.  Bryan has a strong, primal goal, and there’s just enough story and character to serve the action.  Any more would’ve been too much.

It’s interesting to compare these action movies with those like DIE HARD, which had more rounded characters, probably more action, distinctive Prof./Personal/Private goals, etc.  Perhaps TAKEN and TRANSPORTER represent a separate genre of action movie.  They’re not worse because they’re lacking in certain elements – they’re just streamlined.  TAKEN’s got it where it counts, and the box office agrees. 

(NOTE: welcome back action movie karate chop.  You’ve been missed.)

                                                                                       - Dan Pilditch

For those keeping score, I haven’t been posting much lately.  There is a good reason; I’m going back into production on my series OVERRULED.

We wrapped season one last year and I’ve been chained to my desk in the production office as we gear up to shoot season two starting on March 9.  I’ll try to keep things moving along here, with the help of the lovely and talented (well, talented) Dan Pilditch.

So rest assured…I’m still around.  Just a little more sleep deprived than usual.

Overall Impression – An illuminating look at the tensions present amongst a totally displaced people.    

THE FOUR QUESTIONS

Who’s your main character? – Tuvia Bielski.

What’s he trying to accomplish? – Professional: lead the Jewish survivors to safety.  Personal: keep his brothers together, as a family.  Private: hold onto the will to fight.

Who’s trying to stop him? – The Nazis, Tuvia’s brother by questioning his leadership, Tuvia’s own self-doubts, and conflicts amongst the survivors.

What happens if he fails? – Tuvia and the survivors will die.

THE FOUR ARCHETYPES

Orphan – When the Nazis begin their persecution of the Jews, Tuvia and his two brothers lose not only their parents and homes, but their place in society.   They flee into the wilderness to avoid being caught and killed.

Wanderer – When the brothers encounter other Jewish survivors, they agree to take them under their protection, necessitating raids on local farms for food and supplies.  Before long, Tuvia avenges his parents by murdering the local police chief responsible for their deaths, and the brothers begin attacking the Nazis in earnest.  However, resulting Jewish casualties cause Tuvia to reconsider this approach, which opens up a conflict between him and his brother, Zus: do they defy the Nazis by killing them, or by surviving in the forest? 

Warrior – Everyone becomes a warrior of some form: Zus joins a company of Soviet partisans to take the fight to the Nazis.  Tuvia becomes the true leader of the survivors and they start rebuilding their lives, taking on new roles for the survival of the group and training to fight.  All of this is done in the face of sickness, a deadly winter and an ever-nearing enemy.  When the Nazis finally discover their position, everybody puts their skills to the test in the final fight for survival.

Martyr – During their escape from the Nazis, Tuvia loses hope when they encounter a seemingly impassable marsh.  Tuvia’s youngest brother, Asael, inspires hope by being willing to risk almost certain death to cross it, believing that they can overcome anything if they work together.

AND, IN THE END…

I enjoyed the movie, but felt the third act wasn’t as powerful as it could have been.  That isn’t to say the final fight against the Nazis wasn’t awesome, or that the action was lacking in any way.  For me, it’s that the crossing of the marsh made for a weak MARTYR element, which diminished what followed.  

First – the marsh just didn’t seem hard enough as an obstacle, and it felt less insurmountable than some of the challenges they’d already faced.

Second – was there really a choice here?  In the circumstances, who wouldn’t choose a marsh over a squad of murderous Nazis?  I was unconvinced that this moment was powerful enough to restore Tuvia’s will to fight and survive.

Third – during the final fight, Tuvia and one of his men are pinned under fire behind some trees.  Tuvia’s man finds a grenade and runs at a firing squad, getting shot two steps into his attack.  Clearly he was willing to die fighting rather than be hunted down, but if that mentality and determination is present, was crossing the marsh really something to lose faith about?

I suppose the biggest point this raises for me is the ordering of obstacles in terms of difficulty, and how these obstacles operate.  I took away more from the failed grenade run than the marsh crossing, which I don’t think was the intent.

                                                                                           - Dan Pilditch

Overall Impression – A great and exciting action adventure movie that blew me away when I saw it for the first time in the 80’s, and it holds up even today.

THE FOUR QUESTIONS

Who’s your main character? – Indiana Jones

What’s he trying to accomplish? – Professional: Find the Ark of the Covenant before the Germans do. Personal: Fix his relationship with Marion. Private: He doesn’t believe in ancient curses or superstitions…and this belief will be challenged at the very end of  the story.

Who’s trying to stop him? – Belloq and the German Soldiers.

What happens if he fails? — If Indy fails, the Ark will be in hands of Hitler which could give him and his army of German soldiers a great power and make them the strongest force on the planet (according to the biblical stories), also, a great artifact (the Ark) that belongs in a museum would be lost, and Marion, the woman he loves, would be harmed or killed.

THE FOUR ARCHETYPES

Orphan — Indy had a relationship with Marion in the past but broke up with her in a way that apparently wasn’t very gentle, something that is made clear when they meet again after many years. Marion is still angry with him and her first reaction when she sees him is whacking him in the face.

Wanderer — Indy is searching for the headpiece to the Staff of Ra, whose crystal will allow him to determine the exact location of the Ark. He flies to Nepal, goes to Egypt, and eventually discovers where the ark is buried.  

Warrior — Indy digs for the ark, right under the noses of the Germans soldiers and Belloq.  He finds the Ark, and then gets locked up in this same room by Belloq who takes the Ark from him. Indy escapes and has to get the Ark back from Belloq and his fellow Germans soldiers, who have also now taken Marion.

Martyr — Indy risks his own life and seems willing to blow up the Ark of the Covenant to save Marion.  

AND, IN THE END…

The wanderer and Warrior stages in this movie are easily to spot. It’s a different story with the Orphan and Martyr. How is he an orphan? He is an archaeologist, a teacher and has friends and as far I can see he’s not emotional very scrutinized. He is not being disrespected, living in a place he is not welcome, all typical Orphan stages. So how is he an orphan? It’s there though. I discovered it when I realized that he had a relation with Marion in the past and that it ended badly.

The Martyr stage is in my opinion the moment he wants to sacrifice the Ark to save Marion. But I still have the feeling that there is a martyr moment in the last scene as well where he tells Marion to close her eyes while the Ark is being opened and everybody around them is being killed by the power of God. It is a Martyr moment in that he must give up seeing the most amazing archeological event of all time in order to finally believe what he never dared believe before…that the ancient wisdom had truth and power behind it.  

–  André van Haren

GOOD GUY VS. BAD GUY OVER STAKES (pages 95-105)

The climax of every well-told story is the protagonist in pitched battle against the antagonist over the stakes of the story. I’ve seen films where the final battle is handed to some subordinate or minor characters (THE HUDSUCKER PROXY comes to mind), and you can feel your brain rebel while watching.

In your story, make sure it is your main character who has to get his or her hands dirty, not someone else. You main character might get some desperately needed help, but choices and action belong to your main character.

In romantic comedies, this is the final moment when the lovers seem both destined to be together and fated to be apart.  

And when this is over toss in a short denouement that caps off the story and shows the main character in his or her new reality, and everyone goes home from the theatre happy!

• Brody is on the sinking Orca and squares off against the shark to save Amity. ( JAWS)
• Jack fights Barbossa to save Will and Elizabeth. (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL)
• Sam finds Jonah at the top of the Empire State building, almost misses Annie, but finds her when they come back to retrieve Jonah’s backpack. (SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE)
• Luke destroys the Deathstar and saves Leia. (STAR WARS) 

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WHAT’S THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN? (pages 85-95)

The title says it all! Your protagonist’s whole life (your whole story) has been built towards both avoiding this moment as well as confronting it. Avoiding, because it is his or her worst fear. Confronting because this is what the protagonist needs to do in order to become the person he or she needs to be. 

• Luke is out-gunned, out-numbered, and the Death Star is closing in on destroying the Rebel Base and killing Leia. (STAR WARS)
• Jonah runs away and Sam frantically has to go to New York to find him.  Sam’s worst fear is losing Jonah the way he lost his wife. (SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE)
• The ship is breaking up and Jack and Rose are being pursued by the murderous Cal. (TITANIC)
• And lest we forget…the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man! (GHOSTBUSTERS)

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DEATH & REBIRTH (pages 75-85)

Another classic moment. Have your main character seemingly die and then be reborn. In many ways this is the ultimate moment in the arc of your protagonist; the moment when the skin of his or her old life is shed and your main character emerges newly formed, self-actualized, and ready to prove himself or herself to the world.

The death and rebirth can massaged in a variety of ways, and you can sometimes hand it to the character most closely associated with your protagonist’s highest aspirations. In romantic comedies, write this section so that it charts the death of the hoped for relationship followed by the realization of what’s needed to give it new hope.

• Elliot is fading, and E.T. “disconnects” himself from Elliot. Elliot’s vital signs improve and E.T. “dies.” Once Elliot heartbreakingly admits how little he now feels, E.T. is resurrected with the return of the spaceship to take him home. (E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL)
• Annie believes that Sam is involved in a serious relationship and is giving him up, only to be called to action by Jonah’s letter asking her to meet at the Empire State Building. (SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE)
• Bob jumps into the water and is presumed blown to bits. (THE INCREDIBLES) 

Want to read all 12 steps to the Contour Guide?  CLICK HERE