Young and Old, black and white, good and evil, truth and fiction: ‘The Lighthouse’ is full of binaries. On a remote island in the 1890s, two wickies arrive to tend the lighthouse, and find themselves assaulted by fog, waves, storms, rogue seagulls and the onset of madness. William sits down with Alan to discuss this brilliant screenplay written by the brothers Robert and Max Eggers, paying particular attention in this episode to the symbolism and literary themes.

We encourage you to download and read the screenplay while it remains available. Disclaimer: This is a link to the production company A24’s website where they have chosen to make it available for fans to read. We are not hosting the screenplay and no copyright infringement is intended.

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Stuart Voytilla (author of ‘Myth and the Movies’) joins The 21st Rewrite to discuss the iconic film Gladiator. We analyse the screenplay using the ‘Hero’s Journey’ model, which is explored in detail in Stuart’s book. Learn about the functions of the archetypes, audience expectations regarding story structure, and much more as we delve into the characters and themes of this epic historical drama.

Buy Stuart Voytilla's Myth and the Movies 

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Eventually 'The 21st Rewrite' may cover all of the films in Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth trilogies, and we’ll be aiming to feature special guests to create a special series of 'Perspectives on Tolkien'. To begin with, William has chosen to feature Cube Command’s Tommy Savoia as a representative of the new generation which is responding enthusiastically to Tolkien’s work. This episode covers differences between the novel and the screenplay, an assessment of the nature of iconic characters such as Bilbo Baggins, Gollum and Gandalf, and the larger themes that were highlighted in the blockbuster film adaptations of the original literary work.

Learn more about Tommy Savoia

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It's finally time to take on possibly the most controversial winner of the Academy Award for Best Screenplay (not to mention Best Picture!). Eposi Litumbe, a wonderful and talented writer, is taking over as guest co-host to discuss this parable of racial tensions in early twenty-first century Los Angeles.

Learn more about Eposi Litumbe 

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In his masterpiece 'The New World' Terrence Malick sets out to chart both sides of the forces of human history: love and betrayal, coexistence and genocide, the simultaneously miraculous and tragic nature of life on this troubled planet. William and Alan sit down for one of their most detailed discussions yet, sharing their experiences of reading the original screenplay (which was written almost in the style of a beautiful historical novel) and the profound experience of rewatching the new extended cut of the film. You will learn more about the real lives of John Smith and Pocahontas, the history of the Jamestown colony and the use of metaphor and allegory in Malick's version of the story.

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Jet-lagged, worn-out and struggling to get his life back on track … no, we're not talking about Bill Murray in 'Lost in Translation', but William, who returns from Japan ready to catch up with Alan and dig into this screenplay by Sofia Coppola. We consider the two intimate portraits that the writing provides for the main characters of Bob and Charlotte, the anecdotal initial impressions of Japanese culture that form the setting for the story, and provide our view of the romantic connection that forms between the protagonists over a few short days in a luxury hotel in Tokyo.

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For this episode, William and Alan brushed off their French dictionaries in order to read the screenplay to Amélie, written by Jean-Pierre Jeaunet and Guillaume Laurant. A classic that has come to define the identity of French cinema for audiences in the rest of the world, it is a vibrant tale of a young woman facing her first steps into adulthood, a realm filled with the dangers of love, pain, grief and risk. A memorable cast of characters and some magical elements combine to create an unforgettable and touching story.

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We celebrate our 21st episode with ‘The 21st Recap’! This episode is the perfect introduction to new listeners, for those who are unsure where to start with the podcast, you can hear a summary of our episodes which may help guide you to which ones you may want to listen to first. For our long-time fans, we also present the first round of ‘Rewrite’ awards, with every screenplay up for nomination. At the end, we also reflect on the experience of starting this project and what it has meant to William and Alan. Enjoy this look back at a year of hard work, approximately 2500 pages of feature screenplays read, memories from our favorite episodes and some thoughts on the wonderful experiences we had with our first guests on the show.

Skip ahead to approx. 1:20:00 to hear the awards if you don't want to hear the recaps.

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With all that’s been happening over the last eight years, what do you think might happen to a romantic/political comedy that was written while it was still Obama’s first term in office? In this episode of The 21st Rewrite, we review the development of Dan Sterling’s 2011 screenplay ‘Flarsky’ into the 2019 film 'Long Shot', co-written by Dan Sterling and Liz Hannah and starring Seth Rogan and Charlize Theron.

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It would always be difficult to adapt Kazuo Ishiguro's phenomenal novel 'Never Let Me Go' for the screen, but Alex Garland was uniquely well set up for the challenge. In this episode of The 21st Rewrite, we digest the profound impact that the novel had on us as readers, give our thoughts on which parts of the screenplay worked brilliantly and which could have been improved, and start to explore the key themes of this exceptional coming-of-age story and dystopian romance.

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