Re: Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead

[Doug Alan <nessus@mit.edu>]

> From: amdcad!tymix!boris!nancyh@decwrl.dec.com (Nancy Holt)

>> [|>oug:] Tom Stoppard (who also, by the way, wrote the original screen
>> play for the movie *Brazil*).

> Terry Gilliam wrote the original screenplay, although he got Tom Stoppard
> and Charles McKeown to help him with large portions.

> Sorry about correcting you, it's just that film is one of my
> favourite subjects and _Brazil_ is one of my favourite films.  I
> mean, after all, you could be somewhat correct in your statement as
> Terry Gilliam hadn't finished the screenplay when he asked for Tom
> Stoppard's help.

No, I must insist -- Tom Stoppard wrote the original screen play.
Before Tom Stoppard was involved, Terry Gilliam had all the dream
sequences worked out in exquisite detail.  (In fact, originally the
movie was to have been at least half dream sequences, but budget
constraints reduced the number of dream sequences.)  He also had the
general idea of the movie being about the life of a confused
beaurocrat in an oppressive system.  He took these detailed dream
sequences and the vague story idea to Tom Stoppard to have him do a
screen play from this.  Stoppard wrote the original screen play
(except that he was forbidden to mess with the dream sequences) and
several rewrites, but Gilliam felt that Stoppard wasn't listening to
Gilliam's wishes and that Stoppard was writing the movie that Stoppard
wanted to make -- not the movie that Gilliam wanted to make.  Gilliam
also felt that Stoppard's screen play was a bit too dry and too
complicated.  So Gilliam had Charles McKeown, who was much more
willing to listen to input, do the final rewrite.  (Stoppard was not
pleased in the least.)

The source for this information is the book, *The Battle of Brazil*.

|>oug

P.S.  *Brazil* is by far my very favorite movie.