Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Charlie Kaufman tells a story



Roger Ebert tweeted this story little story that Charlie Kaufman wrote: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/03/charlie-kaufman-how-to-write

It made me think about him.  Like most people, I first was exposed to Charlie Kaufman when Being John Malkovich came out in 1999.  Retroactively, it seems that I've been a fan since Get A Life.  But I really liked this little story he wrote about himself.   Two things I liked about it:
a) I really like the exercise.  Much like in his movies, he was able to break down a simple concept that I never even thought of and make it thought provoking.   He seems to be the king of deconstruction a story which is what he did when thinking about the difference in how you tell a story the first time vs. the hundredth.

b) I was really surprised by how simply his story was told.  What I mean is, I really liked how the words he used were simple, direct and to the point.

I looked him up on IMDB after reading this article and realized he hasn't done anything in three years and has nothing in the works.  Hopefully Charlie Kaufman will work on something soon, because so fare all of his movies have been different, smart and fun.  Those are three things that are very tough to merge, but he seems to find a way to make it happen whenever he writes something new.