Leonardo DiCaprio – ETB https://etbscreenwriting.com Screenwriting Tue, 16 Jan 2018 07:00:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.1 #TypesTuesday – Actors as Character Types: Kyle Chandler https://etbscreenwriting.com/typestuesday-actors-as-character-types-kyle-chandler/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=typestuesday-actors-as-character-types-kyle-chandler https://etbscreenwriting.com/typestuesday-actors-as-character-types-kyle-chandler/#respond Tue, 16 Jan 2018 07:00:12 +0000 http://etbscreenwriting.com//?p=9697 Types Tuesday

This month is Power of Conscience month, where most of the website’s content will be dedicated to those who think themselves righteous, the justice seekers, though who believe only they know what is right or wrong, and will go as far as they have to do ensure that their judgment is carried through. After last year, a light was shone on what is right and what is wrong. Power of Conscience dominated last year, so it’s a good way to start 2018 by examining these characters. I’ll be looking at some of these examples from TV, Film and the world of politics throughout the course of January.

Today, we’ll be examining an actor who seems to always play Power of Conscience characters – Kyle Chandler. He always plays the character who does the right thing, and lives a humble existence trying to hold others to the law, or some kind of code. He is honourable and loyal, steadfast and decent. He will do what he believes is the decent thing for his team, his family, and America as a whole, as we will see by analysing three of his most iconic roles, all of which are Power of Conscience characters.

Eric Taylor in Friday Night Lights

“Right here, right now, God has placed you to do what you do best. Go all the way.”

The fatherly coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) in Friday Night Lights demonstrates the best qualities of a Power of Conscience character.

He sets a moral example for the high school boys he coaches.

Taylor promotes teamwork, good sportsmanship, responsibility to others and the ethics of fair play in a small town that likes to win and has little patience for losing. He faces constant pressure to bend the rules in order to win games. He shows his team what winning is “worth” and what truly defines “winning.”

In the pilot episode, Taylor prays about strength of character.

Coach Taylor: “Give all of us gathered here tonight the strength to remember that life is so very fragile. We are all vulnerable, and we will all, at some point in our lives… fall. We will all fall. We must carry this in our hearts… that what we have is special. That it can be taken from us, and when it is taken from us, we will be tested. We will be tested to our very souls. We will now all be tested. It is these times, it is this pain, that allows us to look inside ourselves.”

Taylor is always torn between his duty and obligations to the team and the demands of his growing family. Like all Power of Conscience characters it’s not easy for him to balance the conflicting demands for his time an attention. Taylor struggles with what is the higher duty in any given situation.

John Rayburn in Bloodline

Chandler plays a similar role in Netflix’s show Bloodline, but he is the patriarch of a dysfunctional family as opposed to the father figure for a team of college football players. He is the big brother who cleans everyone’s mess up, similar to the Older Brother in the biblical parable of The Prodigal Son.

John’s reckless brother Danny (Ben Mendelsohn) is a Power of Excitement who upsets the family balance, and Rayburn is tested by a polarising opposite to his character, as is Agent Denham in The Wolf of Wall Street.

Rayburn is driven to protect his family, no matter the cost. He doesn’t do this out of love or obsession, but because they are his family and he believes it is his job to do the right thing. This is the closest Chandler gets to showing us the darkest side of Power of Conscience.

Agent Patrick Denham in The Wolf of Wall Street

Working for the FBI, it’s obvious that Chandler’s portrayal of G-Man Patrick Denham is Power of Conscience. FBI agents can often be confused with Power of Truth, for their detective/cop abilities, or Power of Reason, since FBI agents are trained to be meticulous and methodical, like Robert Mueller and James Comey.

However Denham, like all FBI agents, is driven by the law. He defines himself by it. In one telling scene, after he has arrested Power of Will protagonist Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), we see him go back to his normal life on a very average salary, in amongst the fabulously wealthy. He is content to live within his means, and not aspire for more.

In a film about greed, wealth and hedonism, Denham is the dogged Power of Conscience character upholding the law and doing what is right, even though he will never be as successful, comfortable or affluent as crooks like Jordan Belfort. It’s fascinating to see Chandler’s typical Power of Conscience character distilled into a 2.5-hour movie, as opposed to ongoing TV series.

]]>
https://etbscreenwriting.com/typestuesday-actors-as-character-types-kyle-chandler/feed/ 0
Shutter Island – Day Twenty One – #40movies40days https://etbscreenwriting.com/shutter-island-day-twenty-one-40movies40days/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=shutter-island-day-twenty-one-40movies40days https://etbscreenwriting.com/shutter-island-day-twenty-one-40movies40days/#respond Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:59:46 +0000 http://etbscreenwriting.com//?p=4484 shutter-island-dicaprioI’m going to keep it short because I have a terrible allergy attack today.  Coughing, wheezing and sneezing.  Not fun!

I finally caught up with Shutter Island last night.  I wasn’t interested in the movie when it was released.  Something about the trailer turned me off or was irritating.  I can’t remember what that was.  But I’m preparing for my Thriller Workshop in New York City and thought I should see it.  I’m glad I did.

I liked the movie a lot.  It’s a classic Power of Truth story asking: Who can I trust?  Do I see what I think I see? What’s really going on?  What does it all mean? ** SPOILERS AHEAD **

Shutter Island reminded me very much of Memento.  In both films a man’s wife dies in the aftermath of a violent act.  Each man constructs an elaborate narrative about what happened and who is responsible.  Each man searches for his wife’s “killer.”  After the shock of being confronted with the truth, each man retreats back to his fictional narrative.

The film is an interesting follow up to What The Bleep Do We Know.  That film and my interpretation of it argues:

I am who I say I am.  I am the story I tell about myself– to me and to others.
I chose my story and I continue to chose it consciously or unconsciously every day.
Events in the past do not create or destroy my character– my reaction to, attitude toward and interpretation of those events is what creates or destroys my character.

I am who I say I am.  I am the story I tell about myself– to me and to others.

I chose my story and I continue to chose it consciously or unconsciously every day.

Events in the past do not create or destroy my character– my reaction to, attitude toward and interpretation of those events is what creates or destroys my character.

shutter-island-review4At the end of Shutter Island, the protagonist (Leonardo DiCaprio), chooses madness.  He can’t face his role in the deaths of his wife and children.  He would rather “Die a good man (his fictional self) than live as a monster (and face what really happened)”.  He cannot do the work to process his grief, forgive himself and resolve his loss.

At the end of Memento, the protagonist (Guy Pearce) chooses to kill the only man who has the key to his wife’s killer.  He can’t face his role in her death. The truth is too painful so he “makes up his own truth”.  He cannot forgive himself and resolve his loss.  So he creates a mystery he can never solve.

Reality is the story we choose to tell about ourselves and our world.  Power of Truth characters struggle to define what reality they can accept and what reality they choose to ignore (or to hide).  Although they seek the truth, the person most often lying to them is themselves.

The protagonists in Shutter Island and Memento choose a story that fictionalizes and twists the truth. Each would rather be insane/lobotomized/lost in a haze of distorted memories rather than face responsibility for the death that haunts him.

Shutter Island is a fascinating psychological thriller that unwraps the protagonist’s psyche in a slow tortuous fashion.  The surprise twist is extremely satisfying.   Although the protagonist is judged insane, he makes a choice that proves his sanity in that he is fully conscious of what he’s doing.

]]>
https://etbscreenwriting.com/shutter-island-day-twenty-one-40movies40days/feed/ 0
Revolutionary Road – Power of Idealism https://etbscreenwriting.com/revolutionary-road/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=revolutionary-road https://etbscreenwriting.com/revolutionary-road/#respond Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:00:46 +0000 http://etbscreenwriting.com//?p=1454 revolutionary-road-movie-poster-etbscreenwritingThe film Revolutionary Road tells the story of Frank and April Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet), two Power of Idealism characters who feel trapped in the bonds of a mundane suburban lifestyle. It is a devastating shock to discover they are more like their neighbors than not.

Power of Idealism characters fear living and loving without the passion and intensity of a Grand Destiny. They want their lives to matter and their love to mean something important in the greater scheme of things.

These characters fear not attaining their true pinnacle of excellence, courage or nobility. They worry about not fulfilling their highest potential. These characters fear a lack of deep and true meaning in their lives and love. Consumed by such fears of mediocrity, meaninglessness or mundane-ordinariness, Frank and April become bitter and deeply disillusioned.

Although Frank and April have no special talents, they are convinced they are destined for something extraordinary. When a trip to France doesn’t pan out, because April becomes pregnant and Frank is offered a lucrative new job, their marriage and their lives fall apart. April kills herself in despair, by inducing an abortion at home.

The yearning and the longing “for something more extraordinary” creates a white hot intensity of feeling. In contrast, long-term relationships and the comfortable companionship that committed loving couples (and families) share seems suffocatingly pedestrian to these characters. The sheer ordinariness of day-to-day love is a staggering disappointment to Frank and April.

Power of Idealism ETB ScreenwritingIn order to find salvation, Power of Idealism characters must turn away from the Dark Side of narcissism and the yearning to be “special.” They must learn to find the magic and passion in the small details of life with family, friends and the ordinary miracle of being alive.

Power of Idealism characters often are unprepared to make the ordinary, small, everyday sacrifices real long-term love requires, especially when there are children involved. These characters would rather fantasize about a perfect or “unattainable” love than try to make a less than perfect love work. Their tragedy is failing to accept the limitations of being human. That is the tragedy of Revolutionary Road.

]]>
https://etbscreenwriting.com/revolutionary-road/feed/ 0