Movie Analysis: “Nightingale” — Characters

Another in our bi-weekly series in which we analyze movies currently in release. Why? To quote the writing mantra I coined over 5 years ago: Watch movies. Read scripts. Write pages. You will note which one comes first. Here are my reflections from that post about the importance of watching movies:

To be a good screenwriter, you need to have a broad exposure to the world of film. Every movie you see is a potential reference point for your writing, everything from story concepts you generate to characters you develop to scenes you construct. Moreover people who work in the movie business constantly reference existing movies when discussing stories you write; it’s a shorthand way of getting across what they mean or envision.

But most importantly, you need to watch movies in order to ‘get’ how movie stories work. If you immerse yourself in the world of film, it’s like a Gestalt experience where you begin to grasp intuitively scene composition, story structure, character functions, dialogue and subtext, transitions and pacing, and so on.

Let me add this: It’s important to see movies as they get released so that you stay on top of the business. Decisions get made in Hollywood in large part depending upon how movies perform, so watching movies as they come out puts you in the same head space as reps, producers, execs, and buyers.

This week’s movie: Nightingale, written by Frederick Mensch.

This is a special movie for many reasons. It is the first movie produced from a script discovered on the Black List website. It debuted and currently airs on HBO. It stars David Oyelowo who played Dr. Martin Luther King in the movie Selma. And it is essentially a one-actor contained drama-thriller. Plus there’s this: You don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home to watch it. It’s an HBO original.

Remote control. Click! Boom! Movie!

Our schedule for discussion this week:

Monday: General Comments
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Takeaways

For those of you who have not seen the movie, do not click MORE as we will be trafficking in major spoilers. If you have seen Nightingale, I invite you to join me in breaking down and analyzing the movie.

In considering the characters in Nightingale, first and foremost we have to deal with the fact that throughout the entire movie, we only see one actual individual: Peter. Everyone else ‘appears’ via either some form of electronic media, most commonly a telephone (and then filtered through Peter’s one-way conversation0, or noises outside the house (e.g., fists banging on doors, agitated voices off-screen).

So while this is a story with a single character, there are ‘ghosts’ hanging out, vexing Peter: Edward, his sister Vickie, Lillian, etc. Thus while it’s a single-protagonist story, there are actually several subplots which get serviced throughout the movie, but all from Peter’s singular, claustrophobic experience.

All of which raises an interesting question: How can characters manifest themselves without ever being seen? We know it’s possible because Nightingale does it. How?

What are your thoughts about the movie’s characters? Head to comments with your insights.

I posed two questions related to character to Frederick Mensch. Here they are with his responses:

Were you at all concerned about writing a story with a character who does things which make him hard to like?

Not really. As a dramatist I’m less concerned with making my characters likable than I am with makig them human. Even the most amiable among us can occasionally be a little self-obsessed or short tempered. You know, we’ve all had relationships that haven’t played out the way we’d like them to, and those situations don’t usually inspire our best behavior. Peter is no different, and I think makes him very relatable, if not conventionally likable. That said, he also has a really exuberant, theatrical personality that makes him pretty good company.

How did you go about developing the Peter’s character?

I just tried to see the world through his eyes. I think it’s really important not to judge our characters. From his perspective, everything he does is perfectly justified.

I think this is key: The point isn’t so much likability, rather it is to make the characters relatable. Peter may be delusional, even psychotic, but what he does is — to him — entirely “justified”. Moreover the feelings he has — loneliness, frustration, desperation — are all emotions we have experienced. Dipping into those with Peter’s character shrinks the distance between the screen and the viewer.

For an interview Frederick did with HBO, go here.