“Hello, Mr. Gump.” Oh wait, wrong movie... “Happy Anniversary.” I wrote in the comments on Monday why I think that line and scene is so effective. Nice echoing dialogue on page 17 - MALCOLM: And, Cole. Next time I won't be late for you. COLE: Next time I won't be scared of you. Page 41 – COLE: Instead of something I want, can I have something I don't want? That's the first sign of Malcolm getting through to Cole. An actual response. And my favorite: Page 25 - COLE: They don't have meetings about rainbows. With that line, Cole shows how much he understands the situation. It's a defeat of sorts: I'll give them what they want, they wouldn't believe me anyway if I told them the truth.

And let me add that this week's comments have been just awesome. I'm so impressed by everybody's analyses and insights. Great job!

Dialogue plays into the whole perspective bit quite well. A lot of it is given new meaning once we have the revelation. For instance, Cole, upon completion of his play, asks Malcolm "I'm not going to see you anymore, am I?" (which, incidentally isn't in the script). And of course, the "I see dead people... they don't know they're dead". Much of this goes into how one interprets Cole's awareness. I never really thought about whether he knew Malcolm was a ghost or not until a couple of years ago, and I'm still not quite sure if it's really intended to be interpreted that way or not (as the attached paper noted yesterday, the perspective from Cole never shows Malcolm's wounds in the same manner he perceives other ghosts - and for obvious reasons). But never the less, it's hard not to go back and re-watch the movie with this in mind and see how ambiguous some of the dialogue may have been from Cole.

Concur, Teddy. I think this once-a-month approach where we pick a popular script is the way to go. I will be adding my comments on character, themes and dialogue over the weekend. But everyone is to be commended for their input. And just think: Your observations will help hundreds of writers down the road as they check out these links for their own edification. Ergo good karma for all who contributed time, thought and energy to comments!

Any thoughts about Shyamalan switching the "Happy Anniversary" line from Malcolm to Anna?

Is it possible we are reading a different version of the script? Pretty sure I downloaded Scott's link. Mine is photocopied and dated September 12, 1997. Top of page 115 I'm seeing “I’m not going to see you anymore am I?”

There's really some great dialogue here. I think my favorite exchange is when Malcolm tells Cole he believes the boy's a seer. MALCOLM: Hello again. COLE: You been running around? Malcolm nods, "Yes." COLE: It makes you feel better? Malcolm nods, "Yes" again. COLE: I like to run around. It's good exercise. (beat) You want to ask me questions now? Malcolm shakes his head, "No." COLE: You want to play soldiers? Cole holds up his plastic rifleman. MALCOLM: Maybe later. Beat. COLE:Something happened, didn't it? MALCOLM: Yes, it did. COLE: Are you wigging out? MALCOLM: Yes, I am. COLE: We're not gonna start crying again, are we? MALCOLM: No, we're not. COLE What happened? Beat. MALCOLM: Do you know what 'Yo no quiero morir' is? Cole shakes his head, "No." MALCOLM: It's Spanish. It means... 'I don't want to die.' Malcolm leans forward slowly and speaks in a hushed tone. MALCOLM: These people... People that died and are still hanging around. Maybe they weren't ready to go. Maybe they wake up that morning thinking they have a thousand things to do and a thousand days left to do them in... And then all of a sudden, it's all taken away. No one asked them. It's just gone... Cole studies Malcolm's passionate face. A new face. COLE You really look better. MALCOLM: Maybe some of them feel cheated. So they pretend they're still alive...Not even knowing, they're pretending... COLE: You have nice red in your cheeks now. I just like how Cole is the one analyzing Malcolm now—it's a nice reversal. Not to mention that yet again, Cole fails to mention the gaping hole in Malcolm's torso.

Oh yes, you're correct. See, seeing is a problem! I think when I went over this earlier, I was a bit further down the page and noting how a bit of the dialogue had changed and for some reason attributed it to that particular line. In the movie, he actually says that after the Tommy comment and then the part absent in the script is Cole suggesting how Malcolm can talk to his wife. So when I went back to the script, that's where I was looking, but he says it before.

Teddy did a great job identifying some of the highlights. Thanks. But what strikes me--perhaps because I'm behind and still stuck in Themeland--is the way the dialogue plays into the theme. The characters talk, we hear, and we expect that the lines are mostly directed to the other characters in the scene. But no. The characters are often literally talking past each other. (It is interesting to think about when Cole lies. I'm not sure of this, but I think he tells the truth until the end, when he learns to tell white lies to make people feel better. Again not entirely sure, since the thought occurred to me near the end of the movie. I'm blanking on the first white lie. In any case, he tells the truth and no one believes him, or he hints at the truth and no one gets it. See next point.) This has an interesting effect on the key scene in the movie, where Cole is describing Malcolm. In the film, Shyamalan holds tight on Malcolm as Cole delivers on-the-nose lines perfectly describing him: "Some of them don't know they're dead." Then Malcolm asks, "Are there ghosts in this room right now?" Cole nods. Reading it, I was clueless. Watching it later, Bamm. On the DVD someone said they couldn't believe that the audience didn't make the connection, but most of them didn't. It's possible to argue that Cole could have been more on-the-nose, like Scott's "Yo, dude, you're dead," but it's close enough for me. As to TBBB's point about Cole's awareness, something I assumed (that's why Cole goes into the church when he first meets Malcolm in my view). At the end of the movie, when Malcolm is in the room where he will be killed, he turns and we see the exit wound in his back. On the DVD again, they claimed they were very careful to make sure that the movie was consistent. For example, when Malcolm sits at the restaurant, the chair doesn't move so the other diners wouldn't see a chair magically moving by itself. Malcolm only wore clothes he wore in the first scenes. I can't say for sure, but it is possible that we never see Malcolm from a POV where his wound would be obvious to us, until the end. Or he is wearing his coat. When the kid with the missing piece of his head walks by, at first he looks fine--new POV and yikes.

I thought the line about him talking to his wife was too direct and out of character, so I didn't like all of the changes. But the language Shyamalan uses after the goodbye scene--Cole "See you tomorrow"-- is amazing. Malcolm is "barely visible" and he "dissolves into sheets of driving rain." "Rain comes down like gunfire..." Then the first line of dialogue, from Lynn. "I hope nobody got hurt." Somebody did get hurt. More than hurt. Malcolm, and we still don't know it yet.

Great point, Nadria. Shyamalan talked about how he used the color red as an indicator of the "other" world. I didn't realize it was in the script. By Cole telling him there is red in his cheeks, he is showing us that Malcolm is coming to see that he is part of that other world. Side point: Ghosts only make things cold when they are angry--hence you see their breath. We don't see Malcolm's breath because he is not angry. Which is interesting and something to be said for his character for those who don't like him. Of course you might argue that he should be angry. That his clinical detachment is part of his problem. All thinking and no feeling.

Holy moly! I actually missed that when I read the script! I remembered the scene from the movie so vividly. Well, as it is in the movie works a lot better in my opinion. It makes it even more heartbreaking because it puts the focus on what Anna feels, not Malcolm. Plus, it underscores the ambiguity whether or not Anna can actually see him, so in retrospect that line packs more punch since we now know she didn't. However, she's actually talking to "Dead Malcolm" even though she didn't know he was there and we the audience didn't know it at the time. Okay, now my head's spinning... In the movie, there's Malcolm's added line "I thought you meant that other Italian restaurant I asked you to marry me in." He's trying to make a joke of it. We think she's not buying it. That also helps make the conversation seem like it's actually taking place.

I'll add to that: It packs more punch because if Anna says the line, it makes it seem like Malcolm forgot the anniversary altogether. If he had said the line, that would mean he knew it was their anniversary but was just late. The way it's in the movie makes Malcolm look like a bigger jerk.

The following lines on page 17 articulate the goals of the two main characters. MALCOLM And Cole, next time I won't be late for you. COLE Next time I won't be scared of you. Is Malcolm the first ghost Cole is not scared of? In the scene with Mr. Marschal (not in the movie) it appears not. But it seems to work better if the answer is yes. And Cole actually ask Malcolm is he is good. We think he means, is Malcolm a good doctor, but ... Is Malcolm the first ghost willing to enter the church? Perhaps because Malcolm has a childlike innocence or focus--he is unaware that he can't or shouldn't?

While not dialogue, there is some interesting writing in the scenes with "the only place setting on the table." On page 13, the first time, we get a slugline and a single line of action. So the fact that there is only one place setting leaps out. On page 26, the second time, Shyamalan uses the exact same line, but this time it is buried among other descriptions, including a bolded reference to a "PIECE OF CAKE WITH A CANDLE." This scene was shot as a single shot, and Malcolm has hurried in late, and of course the restaurant has other diners. But I find it interesting that I didn't notice the single place setting in the second scene, either reading or viewing. We don't see the absence in the midst of the public space. We don't see what isn't there.

Interesting thought about the church. The only times when there's a hint of Malcolm's injury are when he's in the church. I believe the script says he winces or limps a bit in both those scenes. And what about Cole's little shrine? How come no ghosts can come in there until it's not 100% structurally sound anymore?

Nice, Nadria. I didn't catch the direct association of the wound and the church. I checked the script, since I made a mistake on another post, and noticed A SHOOTING PAIN PIERCES HIS SIDE happens on page 12, immediately before he enters the church, so I think your association still works. I am finishing up with one of Scott's classes and I posted the trailer on my class discussion since some of Scott's feedback on my work refers to trailers. So some of the posts have bled over. But Scott raised a point that suggests Christ imagery here. *** SCOTT Of course, the color red is a visual motif throughut the movie so it's interesting they begin with that. Red is an exciting color, color of blood, suggestive of life and in the context of a shooting violence. And interesting, too, it's so Cole-focused. But then he is the source of the mystery. MIKE M Bing, bing, bing, bing. "But then he is the source of the mystery." Red--"color of blood" Mystery, blood, dying, rebirth, showing yourself to prove you are alive, before being at rest. There has to be some kind of reverse-Jesus thing going on here. As if the ghosts needs to show themselves to Cole to be saved. Cole Sear-Cole Savior. Shyamalan went to Catholic school for 10 years! *** I think your church-injury connection clinches it, Nadria. Thanks. Still not sure how it works though.

Okay, once again, some stellar commentary and analysis. Before I get to some specific dialogue sides, let me make this general note: The script has many scenes with a TON more dialogue than the movie. Sometimes when you do a comparison of script to screen, it's clear they shot the lines from the script, but edited them out. And there are some scenes in TSS like that. But there are other scenes where the dialogue appears to have been cut down to the point where the narrative flow would have to have been different than what is present in this draft. That leads me to believe there must have been subsequent revisions to the script. The other point off that is writer-directors often tend to overwrite in the script stage, especially dialogue and especially exposition. Once they shoot, then assemble the footage, it becomes apparent they don't need all those lines. There is a lesson for all of us which is when writing dialogue, it's advisable to follow the dictum, "Less is more." And when we can move the story ahead through actions and visuals, that is preferred to dialogue. Okay, as to specific sides of dialogue, apart from those already mentioned by others, here are some that stuck out to me on this read: 6: "You don't know so many things." This line from Vincent to Malcolm is replete with subtext, most notably a portent of Malcolm's ignorance of the fact [later] -- he is dead. 28: "I know I've been kind of out of it for a long while and you resent it. You do. I know you're mad. I know it's put some distance between us. But I'm getting a second chance here. I can't let it slip away." While in general we want to avoid on the nose dialogue, sometimes it's helpful to provide a clear statement of a character's inner emotional state. Here this works because of its honesty. Also two little bits of business: (1) "Distance" is a reference to the thematic issue of miscommunication, characters talking past each other, disunity. (2) The use of the word "second" is interesting. In the movie, Malcolm says in his final moments with Anna, "You were never second... never." And yet, the fact is (A) she felt [in the movie] otherwise: "That you have put everything second, including me, for those families they're talking about; (B) His excuse on 28 is a tacit acknowledgment that his work with Cole is more important than her. Which is to say, I never bought the validity of the Malcolm's line: You were never second. I believe he believed in that moment -- or had to believe -- that to be true in order to say good-bye. But basically it feels like a line to nail down a happy ending and is certainly a stretch in terms of what seems to be the reality of the situation with the couple. 29: "Don't look at me. I don't like people looking at me like that." An oblique reference to the ghosts in his life, yes? Including Malcolm. 36: MALCOLM April or March of Eighty-seven. Two weeks into sessions with Vincent Gray. I was treating a couple, Donald and Robin Wagner, who had lost their child to Leukemia. They were waiting with Vincent in the reception room of the downtown clinic. They were alone together maybe fifteen minutes. When I entered the room, all three were crying. The Wagner's progress from that afternoon was dramatic and sudden... As if some door had been opened for them. (beat) I'm not at all clear what happened in those fifteen minutes. But I now believe Vincent tried to tell me something, show me something and I didn't listen. (beat) Cole Sear allowed me to witness something today. (beat) This time I'm going to listen. What's that old saying, "Show it, don't say it?" Sometimes I guess the opposite can work. 42: "I don't want to be scared anymore." Callback to a line from Vincent. 87-89: A pivotal scene where Malcolm says he can't help Cole, a piece of the story's All Is Lost plotline point. It's interesting to compare this to the movie because it's a rare scene where the movie has more dialogue than the script. The movie adds a whole section about Malcolm wanting to be with his wife, spend time with his family, etc. Also he confesses he was a "paper champion," a "fake." In other words, in the subsequent draft, Shyamalan transformed this scene into a real 'come to Jesus' moment for Malcolm where he really sees things, at least psychologically, clearly [if not his own death-state]. One thing which came up in this thread is how honest Cole is in his dialogue. Children as characters can pull that off better than adults as we have been trained to fib or lie our way through life's daily transactions. But children haven't developed that refined ability [I know a broad generalization]. In Cole's case, it makes him seem even more sympathetic, in part because of the honesty, in part because it makes him more vulnerable. The dialogue, in my view, is one of the strengths of the movie.