David Mamet Discusses Why He Believes Movies Don’t Need Dialogue – The Hollywood Reporter
David Mamet
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David Mamet emphasizes his belief that films do not need dialogue to be enjoyed.
In the last episode of at presentThe Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, screenwriter, and director discussed the topic with Bill Maher after the anchor asked, “We don’t want to go back to silent films, do we?”
“Yes!” Mamet answered. “That’s why… We watch movies with subtitles, right? It’s been done. So we don’t know what the dialogue is, right? We watch movies with subtitles that have subtitles, so we don’t know what the dialogue is. We’ll also watch a movie with the sound off.” On the plane. We’re watching the movie Next Man. You can’t tell the dialogue, can you? You have no idea, (and) you have no problem following this movie.
Maher is quick to note that people have no problem following along.”some Films.” But Mamet quipped, “Yes, French films you can watch, but who cares?”
Later during their conversation, Maher told the screenwriter that one of the points he took away from his new book, Everywhere Wink Wink: A bitter, disturbing, and accurate account of forty years in HollywoodIt was that he cared “more than anyone I’ve ever read about the audience and not boring them and making sure they’re interested in what’s coming in the next scene.”
“Because I’d rather be a playwright than a taxi driver,” said Mamet, known for his trademark snappy dialogue.
He explained that he learned a lot when he had a small theater group in a parking garage with Billy Macy and Joe Mantegna “a million years ago,” where they would put on plays at night.
“It used to be that the only way one could learn how to write a play was to sit down with the audience and say, ‘Wait a second?’ Mamet said. “Just like you and comedy writers, right? You’re writing for them (the audience), and you’re not writing because some suit had a good idea. You realize you’ve got their attention until you lose it. If you add an extra line in the joke, you’ve lost their attention. If you add an extra joke, You won’t be able to get them back.
To this end, Maher asked the playwright: “So you say plays.” Do Need dialogue?
But Mamet noted that he writes dialogue because he can write dialogue, and that “dialogue can only serve the purpose of audience interest.” If not, I’ll go back to driving a taxi.
He continued, “You learn this when you’re working with an audience because you feel, just as you feel, when they lose their attention, when they start to drift off. You come back and say, ‘Guys, you know, I don’t think this is quite working, let’s try it again.’ So when You write for an audience, you learn to write a play, and it’s a shame to say: Oh my God, I thought that was the best thing anyone had ever written.
Elsewhere in the interview, Mamet said he wanted to prove to… at present Audience Why dialogue is not necessary in films.
“Next time you’re sitting in the living room watching TV. At some point, you might want to get up and use the facilities, right? … But here’s my question: How do you know what the point of doing that is? Because you know nothing will happen,” he explained. (Verbally) in the scene.”
Mamet’s book Everywhere Wink Wink: A bitter, disturbing, and accurate account of forty years in Hollywood It hits bookshelves on December 5.
