Life or movie: Which comes first? An aspiring screenwriter's discovery of... Review

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Life or movie: Which comes first An aspiring screenwriter's discovery of... ReviewIn just a little over a hundred pages this dissertation on screenwriting takes the reader on a journey through several "high concept" movies, explains from the authors viewpoint some of the metaphors for real life found in these films and makes some conclusions about successful movie making in general. Are these specific rules true to all successful high concept movies?, I'm not sure, could it be that the movies picked for examples fit the conclusions? I'm going to leave that to other readers to decide for themselves but the insights are interesting.
There are plenty of footnotes and quotes in this book, the author certainly did lot's of homework, but I wasn't always sure if some of his conclusions about what certain articles in movies, or certain acts by the actors or directors really meant what he concludes they meant. However, whether he is always on spot or not, the "thinking about it" part of the read was interesting and entertaining and I enjoy thinking about and discussing the theoretical blend of reality with fiction.
Some of the movies discussed here are 'Titanic', Disney's animated version of 'Tarzan', 'The Beach', 'Fight Club' and 'Seven'. There are many others and he includes an extensive filmography and bibliography at the end of the work. The author makes some assertions about how audiences view the movie and how the movie acts as a both a piece of fiction and as something bigger than that. From the back cover: "fiction is like magic; you cannot explain it or it will break the spell, ruin the magic." Of course that brings to light a paradox, a book on screenwriting fiction, acknowledging that you cannot really explain the magic, yet attempting to break the spell anyway. He goes on to say "...there are no two rational ways of making a rabbit appear from a hat." Perhaps. But perhaps not. Perhaps the magic is deeper still, unexplainable and ambiguous and in multiple forms.
Yet, agreeably, there are some themes, some rules that are simply inescapable when it comes to good stories, whether they be screenplays or novels.
Is there really, as a blurb on the back cover states "recipes the entertainment industry wants to keep secret?" Maybe. I've always believed that if you could tell a good story, people will listen, but it is true that certain rules (generally) must be adhered to for success in any industry.
I recommend this work to any that have a desire to get all the information they can on successful screenwriting, to get into the mind of one that believes he has found some universal secrets to great films. I'm going to complain here that the price of the book, in relation to the size is a bit steep, and it could have used a little more polishing in the editing process. It is not a "nuts and bolts" or "how to book" however, so keep in mind that the book assumes a basic knowledge already in place for fictional story telling and script or screen writing in general.
For those serious about writing screenplays how do you place a cost on even one good idea? I enjoyed the read and the thinking inspired by it.Life or movie: Which comes first An aspiring screenwriter's discovery of... Overview"Life or movie: Which comes first?" is a glimpse into an aspiring screenwriter's mind as he tries to figure out the inner workings of high concept movies. The author starts out with the premise that there are very easy rules that govern storytelling, rules which are universal and tolerate no exceptions. That is how he was led to discard traditional perspectives of movie analysis one after the other (Field, Campbell, Jung, Freud) which all proved to be unfaithful to observable facts. The author proposes then a change of paradigm and a different look at storytelling: fiction is like magic; you cannot explain it or it will break the spell, ruin the magic. But when you think about it, there are no two rational ways of making a rabbit appear from a hat.

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