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Author: Howard Suber
Book Review by Matthew Terry
Published by: Michael Wiese Productions
ISBN#: 1-932907-17-3
I remember when I got my first Pauline Kael collection of movie reviews and how excited I was to look up my favorite films to see how she, the preeminent film critic of the 70's and 80's, liked the movies I liked. Somehow I was hoping for validation. If Kael liked it, then I was not crazy. Of course, I quickly figured out that Kael did not like a LOT of things including the films I loved. So I took the book back.
As a screenwriting teacher, I was happy when this book landed in my lap. I wanted to get a take on things that this author, a distinguished teacher of over 40 years (I've barely scraped 10 years), had on the intricacies of film.
But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. This book is a reference book set up from A - Z dealing with all sorts of aspects of film. Need to know about "Film Noir" it's in here. "Deus ex Machina" - right there under "D," are you guilty of "Aristolatry?" Want to know more about film genres? They are spelled out. Each subject takes up about a page (a few run to two or three pages) and they are each a quick read with titles of popular films included as reference points. There are over 250 of these topics in the book.
So, knowing full well that "Subtext" in a screenplay is very important (both in the script I'm writing and the film I'm watching) I go to that topic in the book. I am VERY surprised it's not there.
My Manager recently read a screenplay I wrote and she said she had issues with the "tone" of the script. I looked up "tone" it's not there.
Now, I don't want to throw the baby out with the bath-water and, still, there are 250+ topics that are talked about in this book but... As I looked and read through the book, I could not find these topics, either:
Pace or pacing
Momentum (though he does talk about "Time")
Format
Beats
Plot Points
Rhythm
Subtitles
False Endings
Red Herring (though he talks about "McGuffins")
Femme Fatale
Dramatic License
Dramedy
Boy-Meets-Girl
or even
Screenplay
Now, if you are thinking I'm splitting hairs on this, Mr. Suber cross references really well. (Under "Time" he also notes to "See Also: Flow; Crisis Point - One Hour; Deadlines; etc.") He has "Theme" but he does not have "Subtext."
Again, do not get me wrong, I think this is a very good book and a reference book that I will be pulling off my shelf for years to come but...it could have been more complete.
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