Near the end of Billy Wilder’s Witness for the Prosecution, after the central court case seems all but completely settled, senior barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts (Charles Laughton) contemplates the surprising evidence that’s just been presented. “It’s a little too neat, too tidy, and altogether too symmetrical,” he remarks. It’s a comment that begs to be read through the lens of Wilder’s own wry approach to filmmaking, which often feels throughout his canon like an alchemic combination of effortless story execution, pinpoint humor, and acting masterclass.
Wilder effects an outward feeling of wily and out of control scenarios that are running like well-oiled machines within. The ending of Witness for the Prosecution exemplifies this by throwing its characters’ preceding buttoned-up decorum out of whack, as they race through a procession of sudden revelations that contain a clear logic and purpose. But per Wilder’s wont, the...
Wilder effects an outward feeling of wily and out of control scenarios that are running like well-oiled machines within. The ending of Witness for the Prosecution exemplifies this by throwing its characters’ preceding buttoned-up decorum out of whack, as they race through a procession of sudden revelations that contain a clear logic and purpose. But per Wilder’s wont, the...
- 2/13/2024
- by Clayton Dillard
- Slant Magazine
‘Everything is the story,’ says screenwriter Sarah Phelps. That’s why the stage directions in her scripts are so finely detailed. ‘The story isn’t just what comes out of people’s mouths, the story is what’s in the room.’
‘How high are the ceilings? Are the windows large or small? What does the air smell of? Is it cold? Is everything always slightly damp? Is there enough food on the table? Is there a fly buzzing somewhere? What can you see out of the window? Can you hear traffic? Can you hear your next-door neighbours? Is there a dog that barks incessantly?’
Without that detail, Phelps tells Den of Geek, she’d just be putting dialogue into a vacuum. Mood, weather, smell, hair, costume… it all forms the fabric of a script. But there’s more. All five of her BBC One Agatha Christie dramas are also connected through symbolic details.
‘How high are the ceilings? Are the windows large or small? What does the air smell of? Is it cold? Is everything always slightly damp? Is there enough food on the table? Is there a fly buzzing somewhere? What can you see out of the window? Can you hear traffic? Can you hear your next-door neighbours? Is there a dog that barks incessantly?’
Without that detail, Phelps tells Den of Geek, she’d just be putting dialogue into a vacuum. Mood, weather, smell, hair, costume… it all forms the fabric of a script. But there’s more. All five of her BBC One Agatha Christie dramas are also connected through symbolic details.
- 7/14/2020
- by Louisa Mellor
- Den of Geek
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