GITS Script Reading & Analysis: “Buried” — Themes

This week we are analyzing the screenplay for the 2010 movie Buried, written by Chris Sparling.

You may access the script here.

Today we discuss the script’s themes.

I reached out to Chris Sparling, the screenwriter of Buried to see if he would answer some questions about the movie for us, and he kindly agreed. Here are his responses to questions about the story’s themes:

Scott: You mention that “one of the themes I was going for was disconnection, both literally and figuratively.” Let’s unpack that a bit if we can. Literally we have a man [Paul] who is buried in a coffin, so he is physically disconnected to the rest of humanity. That point is reinforced by the fact we never once see another human being. What about figuratively? What is going on there in your mind with this theme of disconnection?

Chris: It’s probably most evident in how Paul is repeatedly transferred, put on hold, etc. There is a blatant disconnect that exists in society today; people are tuned out. Instead of accepting responsibility, it’s easier to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to it, and then neutralize feelings of guilt for inaction with weak excuses like, “Well, I told so and so about it.” Nobody seems willing to tune in to someone else’s frequency, especially when it’s a distress call coming through the airwaves.

SM: We actually know very little about the Protagonist: He was a truck driver in Iraq, he’s married to a woman named Linda and has a son named Shane, and he had some sort of relationship with a co-worker named Pamela, but that’s about it. Was there something going on thematically with this minimalist approach to such a pivotal character and his backstory or was that simply due to the nature of the story conceit: we start with a guy trapped in a coffin and you didn’t want to dwell on too much exposition?

CS: It was more the latter. We’re immediately thrust into this world from moment one, leaving us with little time to get to know Paul. Slowly leaking information about his backstory seemed to be the more organic approach to revealing his character, far more so than just throwing a bunch of exposition at the audience in the first ten pages.

SM: Another theme that struck me is the idea of how far will a person go. Paul goes all the way to Iraq to earn a lot of money in a short time, something about which he expresses much regret to Linda in his brief conversation with her. Jabir who is willing to bury a person alive in a coffin in order to extort money as ransom. Jabir willing to shoot and kill another hostage Pamela to force Paul to make a hostage video. Paul cutting off his thumb to try to save his life. Were you conscious of this theme? If so, what were you exploring with this dynamic in your story?

CS: This one was consciously done, yes. At the end of the day, people have reasons for what they do — whether everyone else agrees with those reasons or not. In the case of these two characters, both go to extremes to ensure their survival. Paul has traveled to a war zone because he must support his family back in Michigan; Jabir, whose family lives in that same war zone, has resorted to kidnapping and murder to provide for his family. This, of course, is not to say that Jabir’s actions were justified; rather, it simply serves as a thematic example of how far a person, when truly pushed to the brink, will go.

SM: One theme I found particularly compelling is how the story has all these characters who are simply doing their job. Paul, a truck driver. Jabir, a criminal trying to get some money. The female operator following procedures, unable to help Paul. The 411 operator who can’t think outside her little box, forcing Paul to pick a city of an FBI headquarters. Rebecca Browning who can only do so much until she transfers Paul to Brenner. Brenner who honestly does try to do his best to fulfill the letter and spirit of his job. And the worst of all, Alan Davenport, the CRT personnel director, who tapes a conversation with Paul to provide legal immunity to the corporation in the event of Paul’s death. Is the presence in the story of these characters doing their job just a function of how you fleshed out the plot or combined with the ticking clock which is the sands of time filling that coffin, is there another level of interpretation you were going for, challenging viewers to think outside the box [literally in this case — the coffin], life is short, consider doing something other than just your job?

CS: I tried to accomplish both, actually. There’s nothing worse in life than being treated like a customer, and that is how Paul was treated throughout the story. And while the customer is supposedly always right, it’s only because someone’s placating them. The reality is that the waiter who just apologized for bringing your appetizer too late just spit in your entree. Paul would have at least had a fighting chance if he wasn’t constantly being treated like a customer; placated, quite literally, to death.

While most of us may think theme refers to the moral of the story, what Chris suggests here is that a story has multiple themes. And sometimes a theme is more than just a moral principle, but rather one of many emotional dynamics in the story.

See you in comments!

For Day 1 of our analysis of Buried, go here.

For Day 2 focusing on structure, go here.

For Day 3 focusing on characters, go here.

This is our last script to read and analyze in 2011, so jump in before it’s too late.

NOTE: THIS SERIES AND THE USE OF SCRIPTS IS STRICTLY FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES!