Why “The Princess Bride” should not work as a movie: Part 2
Last week marked the 25th anniversary of the premiere of The Princess Bride [released on September 25, 1987]. In a nice bit of synchronicity, last month in an online “Hero’s Journey” class I’m teaching with 15 really sharp middle-schoolers, we read William Goldman’s novel “The Princess Bride,” comparing it to the movie’s script. While I was at it, I watched the movie again. And after all that, I came to this inescapable conclusion:
The Princess Bride should not work as a movie… that is if you subscribe to the so-called “rules” of screenwriting.
For the next few days, I’d like to spotlight some narrative elements which should certainly mean that The Princess Bride fails as a movie.
Today: Important characters introduced late in the story.
One of the supposed screenwriting ‘rules’ is that the primary characters in a script shouldbe introduced in Act One. Yes, there is some wiggle room for secondary or tertiary characters, but if a significant character appears for the first time in Act Two or especially Act Three, and especially if that character does something to influence the plot in an important way, that is problematic. Why? Because it can come off as writers convenience, inserting a character into a story to manipulate the plot in an artificial way. As Robert McKee’s character tells Charlie Kaufman in the movie Adaptation:
McKee: Find an ending. But don’t cheat! Don’t you dare bring in a deus ex machina. Your characters must change and the change must come from them.
Here is a list of key characters who are introduced well after Act One in The Princess Bride:
* The Albino: The Pit of Despair in the middle of Act Two, an assistant to Westley’s torture.
* Yellin: Humperdinck’s chief enforcer [introduced late in Act Two] who is tasked with shutting down the Thieves Quarters.
* The Impressive Clergyman: Played by Peter Cook, the character [introduced in Act Three] is important because he oversees the wedding ceremony of Buttercup and Humperdinck.
The Impressive Clergyman gets a pass. There’s no logical reason to introduce the character earlier and since the wedding has been set into motion early on in the story, that in effect ‘introduces’ the Clergyman, at least in theory.
But Yellin and The Albino? A whiff of writers convenience.
Yellin is responsible for this unseen “shutting down the Thieves Quarters” which is how Montoya and Fezzik intersect again. Perhaps more telling is this: When Westley, Montoya and Fezzik pull of the Dread Pirate Roberts ruse to chase away the crowd of thugs, they still have to access Humperdinck’s castle via the front gate. That requires a key. Who has the key? Yellin. Both important plot elements. Both effectuated by a character introduced on P. 73 of the script.
The Albino is introduced on P. 66 of the script and helpfully provides exposition about what Westley can expect regarding his upcoming torture. But on P. 85, The Albino shows up with a wheelbarrow ostensibly to carry away Westley’s body. That wheelbarrow, of course, is critical to the plan by Westley, Montoya, and Fezzik to pull off the Dread Pirate Roberts ruse.
But even if we cut the script slack for both of these characters, there is the not so insubstantial issue of Miracle Max.
* Miracle Max and Valerie: Introduced on P. 89. The beginning of Act Three. What is their characters’ function? To provide the pill that brings Westley back to life!
In other words, the narrative is dead [along with Westley] unless Miracle Max works his magic.
A definite aroma of writers convenience. Combine that with The Albino and Yellin, all of whom are introduced after the story’s midpoint, each a key character who significantly influences the plot, but especially Max who could be the poster boy for deux ex machina.
Those who subscribe to a narrow-minded view of what one can do in a screenplay would doubtless wave yellow flags over a script with a similar set of characters introduced so late in the story.
And yet The Princess Bride works even with such acts of supposed ‘writers convenience’:
The simple fact is The Princess Bride works. Indeed it is an utterly delightful movie. And yet there are several reasons why it should not work.
What does that tell us about so-called screenwriting “rules”?
Tomorrow another reason why The Princess Bride should not work as a movie.
UPDATE: More synchronicity. There was a cast reunion of The Princess Bride last night and the LAT reports on it here. Money quote from Williamd Goldman who wrote the novel and adapted it into a screenplay about a possible sequel:
“I’m desperate to make it and write it and I don’t know how,” said an emotional Goldman, who also penned the scripts for “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “All the President’s Men.” “I would love to make it, more than anything else I’ve not written.”
What angle would you for a TPB sequel?
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