I've also had similar thoughts on this. Especially after reading the definition for the "bridge" in popular music. The bridge usually comes 3/4 of the way into the song, and the definition for the bridge, according to wikipedia:

Lyrically, the bridge is typically used to pause and reflect on the earlier portions of the song or to prepare the listener for the climax.

Which is a dead ringer for the 'dark night of the soul' which also comes 3/4 of the way into the movie and followed by the climax.

ONE: Interesting. If you're into this type of thing, one of the best 'screenwriting' books I've ever read is called "Songwriters on Songwriting," interviews with a bunch of great songwriters including Bob Dylan, Randy Newman, Burt Bachrach, Sammy Cohn, Paul Simon, and on and on.

Songwriters deal with much the same thing screenwriters do: Characters, conflict, story structure, theme. In fact, you've given me an idea. A series of posts from that book to shed a slightly different light on screenwriting. Thanks for the inspiration.

I look forward to your musings on that topic. I'm sure it would be beneficial to a lot of us.

My wife is a chorister with Chicago Chorale, and as they were performing Bach's Mass in B Minor last spring, I was struck while reading the text with the same/similar notions.

It's one of the most analyzed pieces of music out there, and its genius on so many levels is beyond my ability to fathom...but on the most basic level, the overarching structure of the story we were being carried into, there it was, in all its Aristotleian glory: the 3-act structure.

Screenplays and sonatas also relate re tone. Thinking about Nate's post on tone, in Mozart's Sonatas, he immediately establishes tone. In the first chords, Mozart makes the emotional tenor clear, locating the listener at the outset, what this will be. And then he charts such a precise emotional journey. Amazing work. Mozart's violin sonatas with Hilary Hahn and Natalie Zhu, highly recommended.