Too Many Twists and Asian Cinema…
Ninety pages later (half of which will be tossed into the shredder) I’ve come to the realization that the third act is subdued by too many twists – or big reveals. At this point, the twists feel organic and appropriate for the flow of the story, yet...
Is it possible to put in too many twists into the final minutes/pages? I remember Saw had a few nice WHAMMIES, as did The Usual Suspects and Frailty. This is, of course, relative to each viewer’s movie-going experience, but does anybody have any examples of third act twists which made you feel as if you were being nailed over head with revelation after revelation?
If you haven’t caught onto the Asian film craze, you can start by Netflixing/buying either one, or both, of the following:
I purchased Oldboy on a whim and have enjoyed, at least, four repeat viewings. It follows a man who is locked in a hotel room for fifteen years, only to be released to seek out his captors. It's a dark action extravaganza in the vein of Sin City and the noir video game Max Payne. I hear
The act of jumping from fear while partaking a horror flick has been foreign to me only since Zelda cried out for Rachel in Stephen King’s Pet Semetary; I’ve been a jaded horror fan since. The “jump” returned to me while viewing certain scenes in A Tale Of Two Sisters -- the story of two sisters released from a mental institution, only to return home to a wicked stepmother and emotionally-deficient father.
Whether it be the slow-burn story-telling, great cinematography, or the fuck-with-your-brain phantasmagorical aesthetic of the third act, ATOTS is one for the Netflix queue.
posted by DDog @ 2/02/2006 08:18:00 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I completely loved, loved, loved Oldboy.
Hey, we love those twists and turns in Act 3. If there are multiple twists, just don't lose your audience. Haha, that's not too tall of an order, is it? Usual Suspects was an amazing piece of writing, esp. at the end.
Good luck on your script there!
WILD THINGS
A few twists too many at the end. Just got silly. Maybe the whole thing was meant as parody, but whew.
MAVERICK
Definitely one twist too many at the en, and the same oneat that...she got the money. Now WE got the money ...now SHE got -- (and probably not enough twists on the way to the end)
Even the original TERMINATOR goes to the "It's dead...NO IT'S NOT!!!" well one time too many and I'd call that too many twists.
So, yes, I think it's possible to have a twist or two too many at the end of a movie. That said, when it's just the right amount and they're coming fast and furious and goes just one or two beyond expectation into "I SHOULD have seen THAT coming" land and further gratification (not irritation) comes with each one...it can be pretty great. Probably tricky to tell on the page...
chris
OSL -- Without a doubt, Oldboy owns. Looking forward to the remake.
The first time I caught Usual Suspects, I walked into my buddy and his wife's apartment just as the last three minutes played out...
That sucked.
But I purchased the DVD a few years ago, and the entire story played out -- to me -- as an accessory to the final twist (i.e. if a movie is all about the twist, it doesn't resonate). Even though I knew the twist, the entire movie still rocked.
The movies that rely just on the twist don't hang with me. Sort of like Shyamalan's Village -- liked it, didn't love it -- as the story seemed to be there JUST to serve the twist.
Soth -- Ahh, Wild Things... besides having one of the best three ways captured on celluloid... the twists at the end came and came and came. There was no set-up for those twists, so it felt empty.
In my current script, I try to set up three (or four) questions... which are answered throughout the third act.
The only issue for me now: coming up with a nice, punchy Act One.
i agree, wild things was out of control at the end. didn't even make sense at that point. i think sometimes writers throw in twists just for fuck's sake and don't think them back through to see if they really work.
and dog makes a great point - if your movie isn't interesting w/o the twist, then it needs more work. it can't all just be setup.
i have to disagree with chris on terminator and maverick. i loved both films and didn't have any problem with the endings. and with terminator i wouldn't say those are twists. that's more like the horror-movie-is-it-dead-yet? ending. the whole movie is about the incessant persistance of this machine, so it fits.
i'll have to be in the minority and say that although i thought oldboy was interesting i wasn't blown away by it. in fact the best moment in the film for me was as he walks away from the hotel after meeting with the guy who was going to commit suicide. i laughed out loud at that.
i've got 'sympathy for mr. vengenance' at home right now so we'll see what that's like.
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