Winter Films - 2

Last week I said you might begin to think about “winter” films as films that are really about character: “A strong character trapped in a landscape he didn’t create and has little power to change… and yet we hope he will change it.”

The common setting in these winter films we’re talking about is, indeed, winter. And when I say he’s trapped in a landscape he didn’t create, I’m not just talking about the weather. In each of our winter films the main character is in some other kind of “trap”—some other kind of situation that wasn’t of his making [or so he believes] and he thinks there’s nothing he can do to get out of it.

One of the classic films that falls into this genre is The Apartment [1960], written by Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond. Look at any ‘best films ever’ list and you’ll find The Apartment in the top 10 or thereabouts. It’s an interesting film to look at because, on the surface, it just seems to be about a guy who’s trying to get ahead and makes some bad choices that will probably doom him to failure—plus he wants a girl that he’s probably never going to get. But guess what—it’s funny too.

And maybe it’s that very thing that makes this film so great—it straddles genres. One minute it’s a film about a guy who’s lending his apartment to his bosses so they can cheat on their wives and the next minute it’s about a guy who’s trying to save a girl from committing suicide. And the girl? She was having an affair with the head of his company. Oh, and yeah, he’s also kind of in love with the girl.

The film is set in December and ends on New Year’s Eve. You’ve got the contrast of the Christmas celebrations in the company and the angst of the girl who’s been naïve enough to believe the boss really loves her, that he’ll leave his wife for her. She’s deluded—just like our main character who thinks that if he provides his bosses with this service, of lending his apartment, they’ll promote him. He’s deluded too.

So neither of these characters is going to get what they want—she’s not going to get the boss and he’s not ultimately going to be promoted. But guess what? What each of them wants is not what they need.

Want vs need. This is the archetypal character dilemma. The character may not realize that what he wants isn’t what he needs until the end of the film—or, if it’s a tragedy, he never realizes it. But as the creator of these characters, you must know the character’s wants from the character's needs—this is fundamental.

And there’s something about setting this kind of corporate relationship drama/comedy in winter, that encloses it, that makes it difficult to escape from.

Think about that as you begin to think of a story you could set in winter. And one of the best ways to understand a way to structure such a story is to read the script for The Apartment—then outline it, really study how Wilder and Diamond DID this. It will be a revelation.

Copyright © Diane Lake

02Dec18

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