Just an observation about the characters writers have to work with.
Radio and television and their progeny have produced generations of
observers rather than performers.
I watched GRAND ILLUSION yesterday in a series of Manny Farber's
(Negative Space) favorite films presented by the La Jolla Museum of
Contemporary Art in conjunction with a gallery showing of his art
works. One thing that struck me as a screenwriter is how Renoir
blended a staged play performance into both GRAND ILLUSION and RULES OF
THE GAME, and it seemed natural to believe that the characters of these
stories had learned to play instruments, recite, act, perform tricks,
etc as there were few outside forms of entertainment for most people at
that time.
Many of the characters of today's screenplays dealing with today's
times (not period pieces) are less skilled in interpersonal
entertainments (other than the sex scenes) and have less to develop in
regard to story.
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