|
|
|
|
TWC Home |
TWC - Free Previews We provide the free previews for you to get a feel for the kind of content that makes The Writers Channel such a great community, and show you why you should join now.  Each week Lesley Bracker breaks down a classic or current movie to show how the screenplay succeeds in the telling of a great story in A Closer Look.
A Closer Look at The Royal Tenenbaums 
Wes Anderson is the best of the new group of Hollywood auteurs (Rushmore, Bottle Rocket) that includes Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), the team of director Spike Jonze with writer Charlie Kauffman (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich), and Alexander Payne (Election, About Schmidt).
 Wes Anderson (who writes with Owen Wilson), like the others mentioned, has a singular voice. All of these directors are a bit quirky and their view of our world is a bit off, but at the same time their observations about life are right on the money. They explore the lives of damaged people. Much like the films and filmmakers of the 70s, these writer/directors explore adults who have taken many hits in life. However, films of the 70's express a much more raw anger than the current crop of directors. Instead, in these current films, the characters anger is so deeply repressed and buried that they are, quite simply, depressed. Thecharacters live by rote and don't dare reach beyond their world, nor do they lash out. They turn inward and cut themselves off from everyone except to talk about the most trivial things. Mostly, they stare out, not interacting. That is, until the event that changes their lives and forces them to live again.
Marking time All the characters in The Royal Tenenbaums are deeply dissatisfied. They are depressed. They have learned how to function in their daily life without interacting too deeply with anyone. But thanks to Royal, they break down and open up. He comes along and shakes things up and shows them that the way they are living is equivalent to a slow suicide. The dying man brings the living dead to life.  At the core of The Royal Tenenbaums is a theme all of us can relate to, family. This is a movie about family, about family ties. Even if you have a difficult time relating to this quirky world that Anderson outwardly creates, what the writers explore is a theme and subject matter that we all can relate to, a theme of family bonds, family ties, family hurts, family heals. Basically, this is a movie about how damaging divorce is to a family. In this movie, the divorce has plopped all over their lives, 22 years later.
One very interesting aspect about the writing in The Royal Tenenbaums is the writer's need for an audience to relate to this as though it's a tale told by a friend, or a tale that feels familiar. And, the writers use a very interesting device, the voice over narrator is careful to always include how much time has passed, how old certain characters were during certain passages, he always points out the exact time. In fact, all of the characters are hyper aware of time - how many years since they've seen Royal, how many years Margot has smoked, how many years Richie has been on the boat, how many months since Chas' wife, Rachel, died, how many years since Ethelene has been with a man, and so on. They relate everything in their lives to how long it's been, how long ago, how old they were - just like we all do, in our lives. It gives us a sense of order, recalling how many years it's been since X Y or Z. We like to place things in perspective, particularly our hurts, to help make sense of things - to chart how we've grown or changed. Well, these characters haven't grown much, they've simply turned inward, and it's up to Royal to "save his family from the wreckage of a destroyed sinking ship" before he passes away. Stuck in time Besides how visually satisfying this film is (the old world crashing into the new - Macintosh computers in Chas' old bedroom that's filled with relics, the costumes where Margot wears a traditional children's La Coste dress but pairs it with a very hip Hermes purse, Chas wears modern Adidas sweatsuits -all the costumes have a vintage feel that are updated enough to make it hip). They all seem to be living in the past, but refuse to look at their past. This is seen outwardly in their dress, as though they're stuck in a time warp. Each character lives in an altered reality. Margot lives in her bathroom, secretly smoking. Chas is obsessed with controlling his kids and shaping their lives, Richie escapes on an ocean liner, Etheline has no sense of how attractive she is and simply goes about her daily business, totally shut down. Then there's Eli who is in a drugged world of his own and has always lived in a fantasy world (wanting to be a Tenenbaum), perhaps the only one of the bunch who dares to dream. Royal of course, ran away years ago, a rejected man. He is a self-described asshole who is totally self involved which has led his ex-wife and children to hate him. But now Royal needs his family's forgiveness. Spurred on by a somewhat troubling medical exam and being evicted by the hotel, Royal uses his ability to scam and con his way through life to storm back into his kids life. What he finds there is what makes this movie a classic. He finds that family is what is most important in life -- that forgiveness is lifeblood, and that unconditional love is what makes us really live. Royal dies a changed man who changes his family and alters their lives forever, all because he brought them forgiveness. He returns because he seeks their love, but it's his own need to love that opens their hearts. Here's a group of people who have absolutely no communication tools. They have shut out the world, literally. Only Richie stays mildly in touch, through Eli Cash, but in stilted telex language. When Chas, the angriest of the bunch and the least forgiving, shows up on his mother's doorstep to move back into the house, it sets up a series of events that change their lives forever. Chapters in life Notice the interesting structure of this movie - another reason why this movie would be considered a modern classic. All the movies mentioned above have a non-conventional structure and sometimes non-linear narration. Ultimately, this movie is structured in the standard beginning, middle, end (Act I, Act II, Act III) but broken up in an unconventional format. Where all the major notes that need to be hit are hit at the standard moments, we can't call this a three act screenplay. It's set up in chapters, like a book. In fact, the story is told to us, read aloud chapter by chapter. Anderson and Wilson explore a new way to tell a tale that's not so new it's a device used in older classic movies, mostly adaptations. But this isn't an adaptation, so why do they use this device?  Anderson and Wilson are telling us a universal story, one about family and forgiveness. It could easily be told in a bedtime story with pretty pictures, but this story is a bit more subversive than your usual bedtime story. It certainly plays with structure (memories are explored through flashback, tales told visually [i.e. Margot's past]), much like novels are free to play with structure.
We can look at the structure: Chapter One and Royal announces that he is separating from their mother, the event that changes them forever. The movie opens with this event, which shows us the moment that scarred them for life. Note how the children react - each says the very thing all children say and secretly worry over "Do you still love us?" " Do you still love Mom?" "Is it our fault?"  Chapter One also introduces us into their lives, shows how the characters lived their childhood, introduces each one by one. We see how Royal damages each -he invites Richie out with him, not the others, he criticizes his 11 year old Margot's play, he embezzles Chas' fortune, each event marked with how old they were, or how much time has passed since, and ends with the statement that the Tenenbaum genius is erased by betrayal, failure and disaster. Characters and their inherent conflicts are introduced.
Chapter Two and Chas arrives home with his kids which leads to Margot's return "Why is Chas allowed to do that?" "He's depressed" says Etheline", "SO AM I" announces Margot who finally leaves her bathtub to dress and pack. At the same time, Royal announces that he's dying, and the news reaches Richie, the only sympathetic child of the family, who comes home. The family is home together, the first time in 22 years. Major Conflict introduced - the family back home, together again. Chapter Three furthers the conflict, as any second act would. But the difference with how this story is structured is that because it's told in chapters, the acts are split into two, or more, parts. What's interesting to note is that almost all acts in all movies can be viewed as having two parts. Many top screenwriters believe that movies are six acts, not three. The middle furthers conflict until it is brought to a head - in this chapter the characters all interact with one another for the first time in years, they get to know each other again. Chapter Four and Royal moves back in. His original motivation is to stop Henry from marrying Etheline, the tension of the two men in the house, and them vying for Etheline's attention which comes to a head in the kitchen confrontation which leads Henry to investigate Royal's illness and expose it at the end of Chapter Five. This would be the traditional end of Act II, things are at their worst for the main character, Royal. He's kicked out and broke. Chapter Six opens with Richie learning about Margot's secret life which leads him to attempt suicide. This brings the family together again, such a shocking event softens them all. Secrets are exposed, betrayals explored and real communication begins. One could look at this chapter as an extended Second Act end, characters sorting through the rubble. Chapter Seven and Richie seeks out Royal to get his advice on loving Margot. Royal is thrilled to be asked, and gets hyper about it, even leaves work to help him with Eli. Seeing that Richie forgives him, Royal reaches out to Etheline and hands her divorce papers, freeing her as Richie freed his bird Mordecai earlier. You never lose family, family is always there, we see it when the bird returns to it's nest. Even freed, we return to our home, our family, no matter where we are. And the movie ends with Chapter Eight, the resolution, the wedding, the trauma comes to a head, and all are together and at peace. Chas, finally done with his anger says "I've had a rough year, Dad". He,and all the characters could say that. Having done his work, Royal finishes his life and truly "saves his family from the wreckage of a destroyed sinking ship". :: Lesley Bracker, founder of The Writer’s Channel is an independent film producer and script consultant living in Santa Monica, CA. Lesley, a UCLA graduate, has worked at ICM and Warner Brothers as well as having sold several TV and film projects. She is currently producing 'Sometimes Life is Hard', an independent film. :: Script Notes offered |
| ||||||||||||||||||
