The Dialogue of Eszterhas, Darabont and Tarantino - Part I: Eszterhas and BASIC
March 14th, 2004
The
Dialogue of Eszterhas, Darabont and Tarantino.
Part I: Eszterhas and Basic Instinct
Part I: Eszterhas and Basic Instinct
by: Christopher Wehner
10/15/97
For me, when it comes to dialogue, Eszterhas,
Darabont and Tarantino are in a league of their own. These three writers
seem to always use the right words, they each could be called the
Hemingway of the screenwriting profession. Before you get too excited
about my comparison, consider the following.
Hemingway scrutinized over every single word he wrote and when
it comes to dialogue: Eszterhas, Darabont and even Tarantino are
no different. One may use a more eloquent and sophisticated variety
of words, while another may use the kind of words that dismay, shock,
and perhaps disturb some movie goers. But, as far I'm concerned
each has a way with words that brings the conflict in their scripts
to a level rarely captured by others.
Dialogue should serve as conflict as much as action scenes, if
not more so. Characters in conflict is best presented by dialogue
and once you master your dialogue, you'll master your script.
Properly written dialogue encompasses dimension, tempo, pace and
savvy. We've all heard that each character must speak with a different
voice. Well, that is the first step but it doesn't end there.
Real life people use profanity, speak in incomplete sentences
and often use poor grammar... even the educated ones. Also, know
when not to disrupt a character by using Tarantino like dialogue.
It's a fine line that only great screenwriters can effortlessly
accomplish, the rest of us are stuck scratching our heads.
The worst thing you can do is go to one extreme or the other.
Don't fashion your characters by trends, but by your own ideas.
Everyone in your story shouldn't curse and not everyone should be
so good that they are always polite.
Be real, and make your characters real. Go out and sit in a coffee
shop, a local pub and a dance hang-out. Or go to the park and watch
kids and families play. Watch people at stoplights and busy intersections... you're
getting the point. Watch, observe and take mental notes. If you
can get away with it take notes on a pad of paper. I used to work
in adult probation, so you can imagine the people I met... they influenced
my writing greatly.
Okay, so we've talked a little about dialogue and we have a pretty
good idea that it's not easy writing truly great dialogue. For to
be sure, only scripts with great dialogue will sell. Lets
look at some examples of great dialogue from the masters themselves.
My first example is from Eszterhas and more specifically his script
Basic Instinct. This is one of the best scripts for
the intermediate writer to read. The script reads like a breeze.
It has a pace and rhythm that only a great writer can achieve. The
action lines are on average shorter then most, but with very few
words Eszterhas gives us an extremely visual description. His dialogue
though, is right on. Each character has their own voice and the
dialogue moves with grace, flamboyance and with a certain edge to
each word.
(Note: be sure to notice the amount of "white space."
Slug lines and descriptions are solid and tight. No wordy descriptions
or ramblings.
EXT. A BROWNSTONE IN PACIFIC HEIGHTS - MORNING
Winter in San Francisco: cold, foggy. Cop cars
everywhere. The lights play through the thick fog. Two
Homicide detectives get out of the car, walk into the
house.
2.
NICK CURRAN is 42. Trim, good-looking, a nice suit: a face
urban, edged, shadowed. GUS MORAN is 64. Crew-cut, silver
beard, a suit rumpled and shiny, a hat out of the 50's: a
face worn and ruined: the face of a backwoods philosopher.
INT. THE BROWNSTONE
There's money here -- deco, clean, hip -- That looks like a
Picasso on the wall. They check it out.
GUS
Who was this fuckin' guy?
NICK
Rock and roll, Gus. Johnny Boz.
GUS
I never heard of him.
NICK
(grins)
Before your time, pop.
(a beat)
Mid-sixties. Five or six hits.
He's got a club down in the
Fillmore now.
GUS
Not now he don't.
Past the uniformed guys... nods... waves... past the
forensic men... past the coroner's investigators... they
get to the bedroom.
INT. THE BEDROOM
They walk in, stare -- it's messy.
It's like a convention in here. LT. PHIL WALKER, in his
50's, silver-haired, the Homicide guys: JIM HARRIGAN, late
40's, puffy, affable; SAM ANDREWS, 30's, black. A
CORONER'S MAN is working the bed.
LT. WALKER
(to Nick and Gus)
You guys know Captain Talcott?
They nod.
GUS
What's the Chief's office doin'
here.
CAPT. TALCOTT
Observing.
3.
LT. WALKER
(to the Coroner's
Guy)
What do you think, Doc?
THE CORONER'S GUY
The skin blanches when I press it --
this kind of color is about right
for six or eight hours.
LT. WALKER
Nobody say anything. The maid came
in an hour ago and found him.
She's not a live-in.
GUS
Maybe the maid did it.
LT. WALKER
She's 54 years old and weighs 240
pounds.
THE CORONER'S GUY
(deadpan)
There are no bruises on his body.
GUS
(grins)
It ain't the maid.
LT. WALKER
He left the club with his
girlfriend about midnight. That's
the last time anybody saw him.
NICK
(looks at body)
What was it?
THE CORONER'S GUY
Ice pick. Left on the coffee table
in the living room. Thin steel
handle. Forensics took it
downtown.
HARRIGAN
There's come all over the sheets --
he got off before he got offed.
GUS
(deadpan)
That rules the maid out for sure.
CAPT. TALCOTT
This is sensitive. Mr. Boz was a
major contributor to the mayor's
campaign. He was Chairman of the
Board of the Palace of Fine Arts --
4.
GUS
(to Nick)
I thought you said he was a rock
and roll star.
LT. WALKER
He was a retired rock and roll
star.
CAPT. TALCOTT
A civic-minded, very respectable
rock and roll star.
GUS
What's that over there?
We see the white powder laid out in lines on the small
mirror on the side table.
NICK
(deadpan)
It looks like some civic-minded,
very respectable cocaine to me,
Gus.
CAPT. TALCOTT
(evenly, to Nick)
Listen to me, Curran. I'm going to
get a lot of heat on this. I don't
want any... mistakes.
Nick and Talcott look at each other a beat, then --
NICK
Who's the girlfriend?
Lt. Walker looks at the notepad in his hand.
LT. WALKER
Catherine Tramell, 162 Divisadero.
Nick writes it down. He and Gus turn, leave. Captain
Talcott watches them. He looks disturbed.
My next example from Basic Instinct
is when Catherine is being interrogated at the police station. It's
a great sequence, and the dialogue is right on. Pay attention to the
flow and development of the dialogue, it really is excellent.
The Conflict in these scenes is not about action, but about dialogue. There's not only this confrontation between Catherine and the investigators, but also there is this verbal game between her and Nick. It's conflict on a multi-level, and that makes it even more interesting. Lets take a look:
INT. A POLICE INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY
It is large, fluorescent-lighted, antiseptic.
She walks in with Nick and Gus. In the room are prosecutor
John Corrigan, Lt. Walker, Captain Talcott, Harrigan, and
Andrews. There is a police stenographer: a plain young
woman in her 20's.
As soon as she comes in --
CORRIGAN
I'm John Corrigan. I'm an
assistant district attorney, Ms.
Tramell. Can we get you anything?
Would you like some coffee?
CATHERINE
No thank you.
TALCOTT
Are your attorneys --
NICK
(hiding a smile)
Ms. Tramell waived her right to an
attorney.
21.
Corrigan and Talcott glance at Nick. She sees the look.
CATHERINE
(smiles)
Did I miss something?
NICK
I told them you wouldn't want an
attorney present.
LT. WALKER
Why have you waived your right to
an attorney, Ms. Tramell?
CATHERINE
(to Nick)
Why did you think I wouldn't want
one?
NICK
I told them you wouldn't want to
hide.
CATHERINE
I have nothing to hide.
The two of them keep their eyes on each other.
She sits down. They sit around her. Nick sits directly
across from her. She lights up a cigarette. They watch
her. She is poised, cool, in complete command of herself.
CORRIGAN
There is no smoking in this
building, Ms. Tramell.
CATHERINE
What are you going to do? Charge
me with smoking?
Ever so casually, she blows her smoke across at Nick.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. THE INTERROGATION ROOM - LATER
CORRIGAN
Would you tell us the nature of
your relationship with Mr. Boz?
CATHERINE
I had sex with him for about a year
and a half. I liked having sex
with him.
22.
She has control of the room: she looks from one man to the
other as she speaks.
CATHERINE
(continuing)
He wasn't afraid of experimenting.
I like men like that. I like men
who give me pleasure. He gave me a
lot of pleasure.
A beat, as they watch her. She is so matter-of-fact.
CORRIGAN
Did you ever engage in sado-
masochistic activity with him?
CATHERINE
(smiles)
Exactly what do you have in mind,
Mr. Corrigan.
CORRIGAN
(after a beat,
little flustered)
Did you ever tie him up?
CATHERINE
No.
ANDREWS
You never tied him up.
CATHERINE
No. Johnny liked to use his hands
too much. I like hands and fingers.
They stare at her.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. THE INTERROGATION ROOM - LATER
LT. WALKER
You describe a white silk scarf in
your book.
CATHERINE
I've always had a fondness for
white silk scarves.
(she smiles)
I have a very vivid imagination.
NICK
But you said you liked men to use
their hands.
23.
CATHERINE
No. I said I liked Johnny to use
his hands.
(she smiles)
I don't give any rules, Nick. I go
with the flow.
They have their eyes on each other.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. THE INTERROGATION ROOM - LATER
CORRIGAN
Did you kill Mr. Boz, Ms. Tramell?
CATHERINE
I'd have to be pretty stupid to
write a book about a killing and
then kill him the way I described
in my book. I'd be announcing
myself as the killer. I'm not
stupid.
She smiles.
TALCOTT
We know you're not stupid, Ms.
Tramell.
LT. WALKER
Maybe that's what you're counting
on to get you off the hook.
NICK
Writing a book about it gives you
an alibi for not killing him.
CATHERINE
Yes it does, doesn't it?
She holds his eyes a second, then --
CATHERINE
(continuing)
The answer is no. I didn't kill
him.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. THE INTERROGATION ROOM - LATER
GUS
Do you use drugs, Ms. Tramell?
CATHERINE
sometimes.
24.
HARRIGAN
Did you ever do drugs with Mr. Boz?
CATHERINE
Sure.
GUS
What kind of drugs?
CATHERINE
Cocaine.
She looks directly at Nick.
CATHERINE
(continuing)
Have you ever fucked on cocaine?
(she smiles)
It's nice.
He watches her.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. THE INTERROGATION ROOM - LATER
NICK
You like playing games, don't you?
CATHERINE
(smiles)
I've got a degree in psych. It
goes with the turf. Games are fun.
They are holding each other's eyes.
NICK
How about boxing? That's a game.
Was that fun for you?
They don't take their eyes off each other for a second.
TALCOTT
I think that's irrelevant to this
inquiry.
CATHERINE
(to Nick)
Yes it was. Bobby died.
NICK
How did you feel when he died?
CATHERINE
I loved him. I hurt.
Their eyes are still on each other.
25.
NICK
How did you feel when I told you
Johnny Boz had died -- that day at
the beach.
CATHERINE
I felt somebody had read my book
and was playing a game.
NICK
But you didn't hurt --
CATHERINE
No.
NICK
Because you didn't love him --
CATHERINE
That's right.
Their eyes are digging into each other.
NICK
Even though you were fucking him.
CATHERINE
(after a beat)
You still get the pleasure. Didn't
you ever fuck anybody else while
you were married, Nick?
A bet; he stares at her, expressionless.
LT. WALKER
How did you know he was married?
CATHERINE
(watching Nick)
Maybe I was guessing. What
difference does it make?
She lights a cigarette. He stares at her.
CATHERINE
(continuing)
Would you like a cigarette, Nick?
He just stares at her, expressionless.
CORRIGAN
Do you two know each other?
NICK
No.
CATHERINE
No.
26.
INT. THE INTERROGATION ROOM - LATER
ANDREWS
How did you meet Mr. Boz?
CATHERINE
I wanted to write a book about the
murder of a retired rock star. I
went down to his club and picked
him up. Then I had sex with him.
LT. WALKER
You didn't feel anything for him.
You just had sex with him for your
book.
She looks at Nick.
CATHERINE
In the beginning. Then I got to
like what he did for me.
GUS
That's pretty cold, ain't it, lady?
CATHERINE
I'm a writer, I use people for
what I write. You write what you
know. Let the world beware.
She and Nick have their eyes on each other, then --
CATHERINE
(continuing; to
Corrigan, smiles)
Would you like me to take a lie
detector test?
DISSOLVE TO:
I hope you picked up on how Eszterhas
keeps dialogue compact, and in rhythm with the action and story. The
story moves at an exciting pace. You want to keep turning the pages,
not just because of a good story, but because the characters are interesting
and speak with flare and a type of erotic nature in some degree. The
writing hooks the reader, and continues to draw us in.
- Points of Reference: Eszterhas
- Dialogue should be as tight as possible.
- Rhythm, keep the dialogue in rhythm with the story.
- Pace & Flow, keep the dialogue flowing.
- Voice, each character has their own style of language. Be consistent.
- Direct Words, use words that are easy to read and understand.
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