I am not a big modern dance fan or a big dancing fan actually, maybe that is why I actually did not understand what was going on last thursday when we went to see the "Ballet de Londrina" that is a modern dance group from Brazil that was presenting one of their acts in the ICPNA and to be fair I did not like it very much. I am a big movie buff, but I like movies with a good dialogue and even though movies and plays are not the same thing I like it when plays have a good dialogue, I like it when I get out of the theater or the movie theater and I am able to repeat the great dialogue they had in the play/movie. I have literally watched the first 20 minutes of pulp fiction about 50 times because of the diner scene, the royale with cheese dialogue, the foot massage debate and the interrogation scene; one of the reasons why I like Tarantino movies so much is because he writes the best discussions out of nothing, he can take a simple conversation starter like "you know what they call big macs in Paris?" and make it one of the most iconic scenes in movie history and towards the end of the conversation Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) asks Vincent(John Travolta) "and what do they call a whopper?" and Vincent gives him one of the most simple and real answers I have ever heard in a movie "I dunno, I didn't go to Burger King" and all of this with jungle boogie by Kool and the Gang in the background, for me that is just brilliant. There is another scene in the movie that has great dialogue, here is an excerpt:
JULES Goddamn Jimmie, this is some serious gourmet shit. Me an' Vincent woulda been satisfied with freeze-dried Tasters Choice. You spring this gourmet fuckin' shit on us. What flavor is this? JIMMIE Knock it off, Julie. JULES What? JIMMIE I'm not a cobb or corn, so you can stop butterin' me up. I don't need you to tell me how good my coffee is. I'm the one who buys it, I know how fuckin' good it is. When Bonnie goes shoppin;, she buys shit. I buy the gourmet expensive stuff 'cause when I drink it, I wanna taste it. But what's on my mind at this moment isn't the coffee in my kitchen, it's the dead nigger in my garage. JULES Jimmie – JIMMIE – I'm talkin'. Now let me ask you a question, Jules. When you drove in here, did you notice a sign out front that said, "Dead nigger storage?" Jules starts to "Jimmie" him – JIMMIE – answer to question. Did you see a sign out in front of my house that said, "Dead nigger storage?" JULES (playing along) Naw man, I didn't. JIMMIE You know why you didn't see that sign? JULES Why? JIMMIE 'Cause storin' dead niggers ain't my fuckin' business! Jules starts to "Jimmie" him. JIMMIE – I ain't through! Now don't you understand that if Bonnie comes home and finds a dead body in her house, I'm gonna get divorced. No marriage counselor, no trial separation – fuckin' divorced. And I don't wanna get fuckin' divorced. The last time me an' Bonnie talked about this shit was gonna be the last time me an' Bonnie talked about this shit. Now I wanna help ya out Julie, I really do. But I ain't gonna lose my wife doin' it. JULES Jimmie – JIMMIE – don't fuckin' Jimmie me, man, I can't be Jimmied. There's nothin' you can say that's gonna make me forget I love my wife. Now she's workin' the graveyard shift at the hospital. She'll be comin' home in less than an hour and a half. Make your phone calls, talk to your people, than get the fuck out of my house. JULES That's all we want. We don't wanna fuck up your shit. We just need to call our people to bring us in. JIMMIE Then I suggest you get to it. Phone's in my bedroom.
Scenes like this one are the ones that make me want to watch a movie its because they are not what you expect to see.
There is another movie that I think has very good dialogue and its Superbad, I think I know about 80% of the whole script and its because I identify with every single line of text in that movie and its because the characters in that movie are just like my friends and I, for example:
EVAN
(reading the card)
Okay Mr..."McLovin"? What kind of a
stupid name is that? What are you
trying to be, an Irish R&B singer?
FOGELL
Well, they let you pick any name you want
when you get there.
SETH
So you picked McLovin?
FOGELL
It was between that or Muhammad.
SETH
Why was it between that or Muhammad? Why
didn't you just pick a common name like a
normal person?
FOGELL
Actually, Seth, Muhammad is the most
commonly used name on earth. Read a
fucking book for once
EVAN
Have you ever actually met a guy named
Muhammad?
FOGELL
Have you actually ever met a guy named
McLovin?
SETH
No! That's why you picked a dumb ass fucking
name.
I feel that the reactions that Seth has in this movie are the same reactions that I would have and that is what I like in movies and plays to have a character that represents you or to listen to a conversation that you could have with a friend. That is why I liked "Mas pequeños que el Guggenheim" so much because it had very good dialogue.
For the one act play I would like to have a play that has good dialogue, one that does not have lines just to get the play movie *cough*Santhagar use your magic*cough* I would like for every pun and every twist to be there because it was placed there not just some big buildup for a pun that makes no sense and I know that (pardon my french) I will get shit for trying to have a play that sound like a movie or has movie-ish dialogue but that is what I like and maybe if I dont get the chance to do it for the one act play I will probably do something like it for the independent project.
And that is why I did not like the ballet so much because it had no dialogue and when it has no dialogue or bad dialogue its hard for me to remember a play because I dont enjoy it. But even though you dont need dialogue for a good play or even a movie how dependent is the play of the dialogue? and can a play be made with a movie script? and if it can could it have the same effect on people? would pulp fiction work as a play or is it just made for a movie? can you make a play about the little differences?
Your final questions appear in what should have been halfway through your entry, cause then you should have attempted answers to them. They are authentic and insightful. Unfortunately, the rest of your entry sounds like you went to a gourmet French restaurant and were complaining because they didn't have whoopers... Taste is a matter of education, and you have a long way to go...
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