[HN Gopher] Screenwriters' Lecture: Charlie Kaufman (2011) ___________________________________________________________________ Screenwriters' Lecture: Charlie Kaufman (2011) Author : s-video Score : 75 points Date : 2023-12-12 06:03 UTC (1 days ago) (HTM) web link (www.bafta.org) (TXT) w3m dump (www.bafta.org) | wanderingstan wrote: | The video/audio of this talk is also quite good: | https://youtu.be/eRfXcWT_oFs?si=clFM0bNLTO7ll7bK | empath-nirvana wrote: | > In many cases a major obstacle is your deeply seated belief | that you are not interesting. And since convincing yourself that | you are interesting is probably not going to happen, take it off | the table. Think, 'Perhaps I'm not interesting but I am the only | thing I have to offer, and I want to offer something. And by | offering myself in a true way I am doing a great service to the | world, because it is rare and it will help.' | slap_shot wrote: | I'm a huge fan of Kaufman's work but only recently saw | Synecdoche, New York, which immediately became my favorite movie, | ever. That led me down a rabbit hole of listening to basically | every recorded interview he's ever given. He's absolutely | brilliant, sincerely humble, probably depressed, and just an | absolute joy to listen to. I have a simple quote from him on my | computer that I look at from time to time: | | I try to do what I can to put something in the world that is not | garbage. | empath-nirvana wrote: | Synecdoche, New York is an awe-inspiring work, but it's | incredibly hard to watch and left me ruined, mentally, for days | afterwards. It's obvious why it's not a popular movie -- he | talks about wounds in this speech, and that movie is basically | an open psychic sore. It takes a tremendous amount of courage | to make a movie that's so relentlessly grim and honest. | slap_shot wrote: | I also found found it incredibly hard to watch, and was also | ruined me for days if not weeks. In fact, I think a certain | part of me has been permanently changed. | | And that is exactly why it is now my favorite movie. A lot of | movies have moved me, but this thing did something I didn't | even know movies could do. | detourdog wrote: | I was going to watch it based on the first review in this | thread. I think I will have to wait to watch it based on | the 2 ruined people. | | I don't currently have time for that. thank you for the | warning. | tutuca wrote: | It leaves such a lasting impression. I find myself | remembering some pieces on many ocassions. With my kids, my | projects, some aspect of self absorbedness on my own goals. | subdane wrote: | I took a first date to Synecdoche, New York and we didn't have | a second (good film though). | reqo wrote: | If you like that movie, then I highly recommend checking out | The Rehearsal (2022). Basically a show version of the movie! | slap_shot wrote: | The Rehearsal (and Finding Frances) is with Synecdoche, New | York in the bucket of "I didn't know art could do that". I | was just in complete awe of what he did with with both of | those. | prhn wrote: | Adaptation is one of the gems of Postmodern cinema. I really like | what that film did to my brain the first time I watched it. It's | hilarious. | | It's a keen insight into the process and emotional rollercoaster | of creative work. | | The layered hilarity to it all is that it's based on the real | experience of Kaufman trying to adapt The Orchid Thief. | jmkd wrote: | Adaptation is the film I didn't know I wanted to write. It's | perfect. | jmcphers wrote: | If you have Netflix, check out one of Kaufman's more recent | films, "I'm Thinking of Ending Things". It's an (increasingly | loose) adaptation of Ian Reid's book of the same name. The book | is deliberately disorienting and unsettling which makes Kaufman's | style really shine. | | https://www.netflix.com/title/80211559 | munificent wrote: | I loved "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" so much. Kaufman's work | scratches a deep itch that nothing else can really reach. | zoogeny wrote: | I'm a huge fan of Kaufman, I think I've seen almost everything | he's done. In my opinion, "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" is | not his best work. But I have to admit, I think of the themes | in this movie more than almost any other film of his. | | I read a few interpretations of the film _before_ I watched it | and I would actually recommend people to do the same. I think | it is worth spoiling the premise behind the movie to understand | what is going on. The film is purposefully obtuse which is off- | putting to some. In fact, the "twist" of it wouldn't be | obvious to most people who watch it. But to appreciate the | depth of the story you have to get passed the surreality of the | presentation. | | Like "Synecdoche, New York", what remains once you strip away | the fantasy is pretty bleak in an existential angst kind of | way. But that is pretty much what you get with Kaufman: a bleak | existential crisis. | Finnucane wrote: | Long ago I was the assistant to the movie tie-in editor at Tor | Books. One day we're going through the mail and there's the | script for Being John Malkovich. I read it, and I'm like, holy | shit, we have to do this. But wait, how are we going to do this? | So I show it to the editor, and he says, yeah, this is great, but | how are we going to make this a book? I mean, I could think of | ways, but no way that Tom would pay for. So I spend the better | part of year just blabbing to people about this great script, but | no one has any better idea of what do with it. Still | disappointed. | bparsons wrote: | If you haven't already, pick up a copy of Kaufman's only novel, | Antkind. It is easily the funniest thing I have ever read. The | audiobook version is perfectly done. I have never laughed so hard | in my life. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2023-12-13 23:00 UTC)