JohnDeNatale18 at 2012-09-26 19:17:00:

Micheal Mann's, The Insider. Everyone may think Russell Crowe's character is the insider, but it is actually, Al Pacino's character. We see this in the opening scene, when Al and Christopher Plummer as Mike Wallace from 60 Minutes are blindfolded on their way to see the Ayatollah Khomeini. And when Al's character Lowell does everything he can to keep his word to Russell's character Jeffery. Lowell gets the original 60 Minutes interview aired. It saves Jeffery's life.

EDN_80 at 2012-09-26 19:36:42:

Freddie Quell in PTA's THE MASTER. Quell. To quell. Freddie is a man who cannot seem to live down his last name. He has not been able to crush, to suppress, to allay, to overcome his own failings, his own nature. He is a Hobbesian man at the most primal level. Lancaster Dodd. Dodd dodders, coggles, toddles the fine line that separates true "visionaries" from hopeless frauds. Shysters. A man caught between two fronts. Some could go as far as to say that Dodd is not far removed from Todd or Tod, which in German means death. Der Tod. The death of a thing for the birth of another. The death of one kind of man for the birth of another. A better man. The Cause. Dodd also rhymes with God. Dodd is God. Dodd is THE MASTER.

Shaula Evans at 2012-09-26 21:04:37:

Which movies? All the best ones! But off the top of my head, one that stands out is A Comedy of Power (2006), written by Claude Chabrol and Odile Barski. (The original French title, L'ivresse du pouvoir, translates into English literally as "the intoxication of power" or "drunk with power".) Isabelle Huppert plays the protagonist, a ruthless and inhumane magistrate named Jeanne Charmant-Killman. Given that Charmant is French for "charming", her name means Charming Killman or Charming Killer, which describes her to a tee. It's such a great name I'm determined to steal and recycle it some day. (François Berléand, who GITS readers will likely recognize as Inspector Tarconi from the Transporter movies, gives a fantastic performance in the film as well.) I'll think on this and try to come back with more. I'm fascinated by the etymologies of names so it is something I pay attention to with films. The canonical masters of giving meaning names of course are Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.

Shaula Evans at 2012-09-26 21:09:18:

Another classic: Harry Caul, in his membrane-like transparent trenchcoat, the title character of Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 film The Conversation, who is separated from the world by a layer, or caul, of overheard sound. There's a fascinating discussion of Harry Caul, how his name evolved, and where his trenchcoat came from, in The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film,

brendonbouzard at 2012-09-26 21:38:51:

Ugh, awful stuff. I don't want my audience member noticing some 'symbolic name' I thought was clever. I want them engrossed in a fucking story. "Symbolic names" do nothing but take audiences out of the experience. Don't do this shit, please.

EDN_80 at 2012-09-26 22:09:09:

To Shaula, Would you say A COMEDY OF POWER is worth watching? I've watched all Isabelle Huppert/Claude Chabrol collaborations except that one. To brendonbouzard, "Symbolic names" shouldn't distract the audience if it's done well, if the names are an integral part of the story, woven in seamlessly. In fact, they give greater meaning to said story and in a sense, predestinates the protagonist for the events to come. It's been done since the dawn of time. On an etymological level, things, people, and concepts have been named, throughout history, for their appearance, skills, or particular qualities. If stories are but a mere reflection of real life, why shouldn't we use "symbolic" names?

Shaula Evans at 2012-09-26 23:19:49:

EDN_80, I really enjoyed A Comedy of Power and I recommend it, particularly if you enjoy Huppert and Chabrol (I adore them both, individually and collectively). The last Huppert film I saw, Special Treatment / Sans queue ni tête (2010) is sans Chabrol but was just outstanding, too, and surprisingly funny.

Shaula Evans at 2012-09-26 23:23:12:

Sci Fi is often good for this. Star Wars has Luke Skywalker the trans-galactic adventurer, Han Solo the lone wolf, and Dark Vader the dark father. The Matrix has Neo the new everyman, Trinity of the Matrix trinity, and Morpheus god of sleep.

Annika Wood at 2012-09-27 00:56:19:

PTA is a bit of the master himself (ha ha) when it comes to symbolic names. Frank T.J. Mackey in Magnolia. The character played so well by Tom Cruise who made a living teaching men how to get women into the sack. (To mack down, mack on, etc..) There's a lot of great names in that movie which, I'm sure, all mean something. Gator, Partridge, Solomon Solomon. (I just haven't seen it in a while and it's late!)

Scott at 2012-09-27 03:51:19:

So when Christopher Nolan dubs a key character in "Inception" Ariadne, which is part of Greek cosmology and deals with mazes and labyrinths, and Mallorie Cobb, aka "Mal" [short for malevolent) that's a bad thing?

Shaula Evans at 2012-09-27 04:51:05:

mommyfollows, I like that you qualified that as "if done properly". This conversation reminds me of the religious wars that break out on screenwriting sites when discussions of voiceover or flashbacks come back up: yes, if you make a writing choice and you execute it badly, the script will suffer, but if it serves the story and you execute it well, that's a different situation. If you are a writer with both the inclination and the knowledge base or research skills to give your characters meaningful names, go for it. Just do it well. I take it as read that "do it well" is an unstated part of all the conversations here. Perhaps it bears stating aloud from time to time.

Joan Adamaitis Agerholm at 2012-09-27 06:07:32:

"Annie Savoy" Ron Shelton, the writer-director of "Bull Durham", played in the minor league system of the Baltimore Orioles for 5 years. So it was natural that when he wrote this fantastic screenplay about minor league life, he named the Attractor (and the film's narrator) after the "Baseball Annies" that help our heroes to relax and unwind after the game. John A :-)

brendonbouzard at 2012-09-27 08:28:04:

It's a horrible thing. The names in "Inception" were incredibly distracting. "Inception" is a terrible script -- 80% inane exposition in order to justify its confusing premise, and then 20% action sequences. I didn't care about a single character in that movie.

brendonbouzard at 2012-09-27 08:29:00:

I *winced* when I heard that there was a character named Ariadne. It's such a ridiculous name that no one in contemporary society has that it was obviously supposed to be 'symbolic' -- it just comes across as the writer trying show how clever and smart he is.

brendonbouzard at 2012-09-27 08:38:38:

I have no problem with flashbacks or voiceover if done well -- but character naming is such a hard thing to fuck up, and writers do it all the time, because they think it's a way of showing how smart they are, and writers love to show how smart they are (because we're all insecure). Give your characters a name that won't derail the script. That's it. If you're working within certain genres, creating a name with a bit of 'iconic heft' helps. I've never heard a name in a movie where I've gone, "Huh -- that really is an interesting name. I'm glad I, the viewer, am thinking about this clever, symbolic name, rather than what's going on in the story." It's always wincey, especially in contemporary big-budget movies that have pretentions of being smarter than they actually are (the below-mentioned Inception being a great example).

Michael McGruther at 2012-09-27 09:39:01:

Symbolic names seem to happen in real life all the time. I know that Bernie almost Madoff with all the loot. Also movie stars use symbolic names all the time. Just ask Tom Mapother how different his career might have been if he stuck with his original last name. It does play into the image that is created in your mind. Any time there is a character named Miles they better be on a very long journey...

Annika Wood at 2012-09-27 13:14:16:

It IS bad when the name is so obvious it's distracting -- in the same way that on the nose dialogue is distracting. It's the same kind of flub. Ariadne was so heavy handed, it gave me an icky feeling about the character from jump. On the other hand, I didn't get the symbolism of Mal until reading this blog... and I think that's great. Yeah. She had a French accent. Yeah, her hubby called her Mal. Those are the kinds of little mysteries that make watching and rewatching a film interesting. Things that work on a conscious level for some, a subconscious level for others, and not at all for a portion of viewers. (That's the same way subliminal messages work -- some people see them outright, some register them subconsciously, and some miss them entirely.) My vote for worst character name goes to Bella Swan. Before Twilight was everywhere, a friend of mine who's into Y.A. recommended the first book to me, which had just come out. When I found out the name of the protagonist, I couldn't do it. Just couldn't.

Joan Adamaitis Agerholm at 2012-09-28 10:29:21:

"Thematic significance"? There are tons of them: * Juno ("Juno") - named after the Roman goddess of women and childbirth. * Marty McFly ("Back to the Future") - "flies" back in time to 1955. * Gordon Gekko ("Wall Street") - "Greed is good". Whenever I think of the 1980's, Gekko comes to mind. * Dean Wormer ("Animal House"). (Even Mrs. Wormer has a great part! To this day, whenever I'm in the produce section of the supermarket with my wife . . . ). * Tony Stark ("Iron Man") - weapons manufacturer who witnesses the stark results that his products cause out in the field, then he "finds religion". But my 2 favorites are in the same movie! Hannibal (the Cannibal) Lecter and Clarice Starling ("The Silence of the Lambs"). The handle of Jody Foster's character is brilliant. To quote Roger Ebert: "Lecter toys with most of his inquisitors, or dismisses them, and so the (senior FBI) agent (Jack Crawford) hits on the idea of sending in an untried young female trainee (Jody Foster). Perhaps she will appeal to the monster." And that young, innocent, small/short, scared agent-trainee is named . . . Clarice Starling. John A

Shaula Evans at 2012-09-29 01:14:11:

One of the most egregious examples of ham-handed naming for me is in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. If I recall correctly, the introduction for one of the boys who has won a golden ticket goes something like this: "My name is Mike Teevee and I love to watch TV." Really Roald Dahl? That was the best choice you could make there? My husband points out that it was based on a book for young children but... the other names are great! It's not just ham-handed, it is out of step with the other names and the tone of the story. Do I really have the hubris to question Roald Dahl? Yes, in this case, I do.

mommyfollows at 2012-09-30 05:44:50:

Two resources I like for names -- nymbler.com (You can pop in names you already have and it will generate new name suggestions) behindthename.com (Lots of history, helpful when looking for names by nationality; also has a very useful section called Behind the Surname) And screenwriters would do well to test their chosen names out loud. Theoretically, somebody's got to say these names at some point. It's probably a good idea to make sure they flow well and aren't tongue twisters. It's also a good idea to make sure characters don't have names that are too similar to each other. That might not matter as much to someone saying the name out loud, but I bet anyone stuck reading the names over and over again (quite a few people in the process) would appreciate some real distinction.