I didn’t watch all of Australian television’s  Logies Awards presentation last night but did catch the last half hour or so.  I should have gone to bed as I was very tired, but kept putting off the effort of doing so.

What I did see pleased me. Not one but several of the award winning actors paid tribute to the excellent writers of various television series. Writers are far too often overlooked in such events, but where would they be without the writers first having the ideas for the story lines, and then doing the hard work of putting the plot, characters and setting and all the other elements of a good story together? Without writers – good writers – we’d have no television drama, no comedy series, no films and little entertainment.

I know it’s not an Australian series, but I’ve recently become a fan of the American crime series called Castle. In an interesting twist, the main character is a crime writer called Castle who helps a detective and the police solve everyday crimes. I also enjoy the gentle humour incorporated in the scripts.

Enough from me: I’d like to acknowledge the fine skills of the many wonderful television and film writers out there. Well done.

While not as funny as the previous two in the series, “Shrek the Third” is still good entertainment. It must be hard for the writers to come up with new material in a series like this. Most of the cliches have been used, so it takes quite an imagination to come up with new gags.

I’m not sure if I embarrassed my wife or not near the beginning. The old king of Far, Far Away was turned back into a frog at the end of “Shrek 2″. The beginning of this latest movie sees him on his death bed. The shocked audience was very quiet during this sombre moment.

Then yours truly has to mutter, “He’s going to croak.”

No-one laughed.

I guess I’ll just stick to my day job.

I thoroughly enjoyed this latest offering, marvelling at the amazing special effects and the over the top sword fights. It is not quite as funny as the first in the series but still most entertaining. I find it interesting how Keira Knightly has developed as an actor, from an average performance in “Bend it like Beckam” through a great portrayal in “Pride and Prejudice” and on to this series. I thought she was somewhat out of her depth in the first “Pirates” movie but this last one has her in a very dominant role. She obviously revelled in the opportunity to show off the vast range of her talents, sword fighting being one of them.

It was interesting to see this latest movie in the “Pirates” series just two days after seeing the second in the series (“Dead Man’s Chest”). We missed this when first released in the theatres and I’ve only just recently bought the DVD. This particular movie is the poorer for having only one scene featuring Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbossa. Fortunately he has a much more prominent role in this latest movie.

Now for a warning to all who have yet to see the movie – or those impatient people who leave the theatre before the credits have finished. There is a most important scene AFTER all the credits have finished – so stick around. It rounds off the story nicely.

It has been quite a few years since I last saw the movie. I recently bought a copy on DVD and we had a film night last night. Not having seen it for so many years it was almost like coming to a movie for the first time. It was a memorable experience.

This article is in my series called Movies About Writers. At first glance this movie is NOT about a writer, nor is it about writing. Think again. Writing as a mechanical act does feature on a few brief occasions through the movie but that is not what I would like to focus on.

One short piece of writing given a very prominent place in the movie is a letter. The letter written by Ilsa Lund (played by Ingrid Bergman) is delivered to Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) as he is about to leave Paris. This was during a flash back to when they had first met some time earlier. The letter is short, simple and extremely poignant. It is a turning point of the movie and upon this letter revolves the whole tension between the two main characters.

Simple words. Yet so devastating in their effect upon Rick. We feel the intense disappointment of Rick as he screws up the letter and tosses it from the train as it moves off. The pain of that moment floods back as Ilsa enters his bar in Casablanca and the passion of their love is reignited. Just a few simple words, but their devastating effect is so far reaching.

Writers everywhere should take note; a few, simple words can leave a lifelong legacy. Encouraging words can turn a life around for good but words of rejection can destroy a life.

Such is the power of the written word.

While the movie only mentions writing and poetry in passing, the whole story revolves around the reading of what is a journal like notebook. The story it relates is both joyful and deeply touching, especially in its sadder moments. To me it illustrated the importance of the written word in holding on to treasured memories and joyful moments.

McGregor plays the part of a popular journalist while Zellweger’s character is a popular writer for women. Set in the 1960s she writes a blockbuster pre-feminism book encouraging women to put career before love. This popularity makes her the target of journalist “Catch” Block (McGregor) who is determined to bring her down. Block is a compulsive womaniser and pursues her relentlessly, all in the cause of writing about her in a scathing way.

The movie contains very little about the process of writing nor comments much about the life of a writer. It focusses almost entirely on the relationship between the two main characters and the two supporting roles.

This is billed as a romantic comedy. I found it to be nothing but a pointless piece of fluff with a few mildly humourous moments. My wife enjoyed it and my daughter said it was hilarious, but I’m not about to rush out and buy the DVD for my collection.

What a romp.

I haven’t laughed at a movie as much since first seeing “The Gods Must be Crazy.” (I still laugh every time I see that movie and its sequel.) The makers of this movie must have had a ball making it; how the actors kept straight faces using all those cliches that screen writers and directors love so much. Just about every type of movie gets the treatment; from horror through to romance and everything in between. The improbable plot is a tour de farce of moviedom.

Screenwriter:

William Holden plays the part of a screenwriter. He has had months to write the script of a new movie but has frittered away both his time and the advance he was paid. The script is due in two days. So, in desperation, he employs a secretary (and wannabe writer) played by Audrey Hepburn to help type the manuscript.

Unlikely plot:

Between them they concoct a series of preposterously unlikely plots. As the film cuts to each scene they think up, the pace increases until they are finally satisfied with the movie. It is interesting that the act of creating a story is shown vividly in this movie – more so than any other I can remember.

Storyboard Technique:

At the very beginning Holden paces around the room laying out sheet after sheet of paper, each sheet representing another scene, another twist in the story, another problem to be solved. Trouble is – he has absolutely nothing written or drawn on any of the sheets of paper. This storyboard technique is well used in movie production and is increasingly employed by writers.

In this method, the writer adds minimal text or draws quick sketches on each sheet, each piece of paper representing a scene, or chapter or other section of the story. In this way the writer can see a visual representation of the story line, possible problem areas and places where the plot deviates unnecessarily. It is a very valuable technique to use when helping children to write, and is also employed by illustrators of children’s picture books. These days, many authors use sticky labels instead of sheets of paper, rearranging them as they sort out their thoughts and plot ideas.

Until pointed out by my daughter, I did not realise that the character played by George Peppard was a writer. This seems somewhat incidental to the plot, however. We certainly hear very little about the writing process in the movie, and rarely see him actually writing. Early in the movie, Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) observes that he does not even have a ribbon in his typewriter, so he mustn’t be much of a writer. When he does sit at his typewriter I was amused to see him using basically only two fingers. Some writer.

Still, despite the drawbacks, he does have some limited writing success, receiving a cheque for fifty dollars as part of the story. I guess he never felt the urge to take his writing seriously. His wealthy sponsor ensured he rarely had time for actual writing anyway.

Related articles:

• Movies about writers – includes a list of movies.
• Movies about writers: Iris – about the life of Iris Murdoch
• Movies about writers: Shakespeare in Love – about the life of Shakespeare
• Movies about writers: Finding Neverland – about the life of JM Barrie.

The movie never really deals much with the process of writing except for several scenes where Barrie is shown in the park writing in a notebook. What is understated is Barrie’s ability to take real life situations and use these experiences to fantasize and dream. The young Freddie Highmore as Peter does a superb job as his character struggles to come to terms with the death of his father and his mother’s illness. He is Barrie’s inspiration for the character Peter Pan, the boy who never wanted to grow up.

I found it a strangely moving film. The pace is slow, the dialogue introspective and the atmosphere somewhat moody. It shows very well that, for many writers, their personal lives impact strongly on their writing lives. The oft quoted mantra by teachers of writing, “write what you know” is clearly illustrated through this film as Barrie draws on real life situations to inspire his writing. It also shows the power of dreaming and the potency of using one’s imagination, even in the face of tragedy.

Links: Finding Neverland – the official website, including the trailer.

The Shakespeare portrayed in the movie Shakespeare in Love shows a writer really struggling with words, struggling to make a living, feeling pressured by critics, his patron and writer’s block. Over the course of the film we see the haphazard writing process employed to get the play finished on time for the production, the distraction of falling desperately in love and the many pressures brought to bear on this creative genius. This portrayal of a struggling author is far removed from the image I have entertained for all these years.

Joseph Fiennes as Will Shakespeare and Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola carry the movie brilliantly.