I've read the entire script of this film over and over. The first time I watched this film that's when I said to myself, "I'm going to be a screenwriter." I was 17 years old. Ever since then I've been learning the craft and wrote 4 scripts. I'm 22 now. This film is my all time favorite film and will never ever forget how much it influenced me. When I watched this film for the first time I didn't believe what I've just seen at the end. I said to myself, "no way!" Then watching it for the second time is even better. You get to pick up on the hints from the beginning that leads to the major twist in the end. This is one of the best written screenplays ever. Take notes on this classic.

Its screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie won Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Well deserved. You can follow him on Twitter, a very funny feed: https://twitter.com/chrismcquarrie

There's a few really interesting things here: 1) How close Bryan Singer stuck to McQuarrie's script. He made, as far as I can tell, almost no changes. 2) The few changes he did make *really, really* work. It's totally right that Kujan should be *alone* when he's in the depot, that Rabin doesn't follow him or even make it outside. The layering of the sound design (don't know who, but it might've been picture editor John Ottman) as the movie reminds us of all the things Verbal prob. picked up. My god, what a genius move. It's the perfect audio-visual expression of the bulletin board. 3) Ending on a very quick flashback to two separate lines in the movie. it works because one line is the theme of the movie itself--and a useful reminder that it's not JUST a twist ending, that the failure to recognize evil when it's right in front of us is the entire point. 4) John Ottman (editor, score) and Newton Thomas Siegel (DP) did incredible work here too. 5) McQuarrie's tone as he's writing is somehow, like alchemy, captured in Singer's direction. When McQuarrie writes: "One might want such a bulletin board for one's self. One would look to see who makes such a bulletin board"--that's cool. That's sardonic. And the slow zoom in and the escalating noise and everything else Singer & co. do convey that.

Greg, excellent analysis. Demonstrates how a director can take a great scene or sequence as written on the page, and take it to another level of cinematic goodness. And this point is a great one: "Ending on a very quick flashback to two separate lines in the movie. it works because one line is the theme of the movie itself–and a useful reminder that it’s not JUST a twist ending, that the failure to recognize evil when it’s right in front of us is the entire point." Something to consider when pondering twist endings of our own, there should be something there that ties into theme, not just a twist for twist's sake. Thanks!