THE BRIGANDS OF RATTLEBORGE
by Craig Zahler
Western Drama
A God-fearing Sheriff sets out for revenge after his wife and 60 of his townspeople are murdered during a devastating storm. But when the Sheriff alies with a mysterious gunman who also seeks revenge, he learns the high moral cost of retribution and must determine what "justice" truly means.
As many of you may know, THE BRIGANDS OF RATTLEBORGE was the number-one rated script on 2006's "Blacklist," the place every screenwriter wants to get black-listed. This is a sort of unofficial poll taken of agents, managers and production companies about the best scripts they read in the prior year. BRIGANDS got the highest marks in 2006.
Wanting to get black-listed myself, I had to get my hands on a copy of this script. With the help of a fellow DD'er (thanks, 12!), I was able to do so.
First, and no surprise here, BRIGANDS is fantastic. I remember Chris Lockhart saying (paraphrase) "the best scripts haunt you long after you put them down." This one still haunts me. Not so much due to the gritty storytelling (think UNFORGIVEN meets DEADWOOD) and oft violent and heart-breaking subject matter, but rather because the story was so damn good.
In a way, BRIGANDS is a frustrating script for a pre-pro to read. While it is exceedingly well written, the script violates many of the "rules" that are often squalked at us by parrots who think the forumla to greatness is written down in a book somewhere. Well, "nobody knows anything," right?
The broken rules (in short): it's a Western (which probably didn't help it sell, which as far as I know, this one did not), it's not high concept in the least, it's 138 pages long and the writer increased the margins drastically to keep it that short, there are long, flowery prose descriptions of characters, settings and action, and the main story really doesn't get started until the halfway point (the rainstorm and robbery of Rattleborge). Hell, the guy doesn't even captalize his character introductions!
But BRIGANDS was spectacular. The characters are unbelievably well-drawn. The dialogue is lyrical. The villains are nasty, evil and scary bastards. The story (once it kicks into gear on page 54) is a page turner that has the reader rooting for the good guys to suceed in their bloody, hateful quest. This all goes to prove the long-repeated sentiment: "write a great script and the rest will fall into place."
The only thing I took issue with was the very end (the last 10 pages or so). I think it hits a good set of beats about revenge and the associated moral cost, but there was something that seemed a bit "Hollywood" about it after 130 pages of a decidedly non-Hollywood script. But this is incredibly minor -- read it on your own and decide for yourself. I won't ruin a great read. BRIGANDS is one of those scripts that make you forget you're reading a screenplay.
THE BRIGANDS OF RATTLEBORGE will make you want to be a better writer.
by Craig Zahler
Western Drama
A God-fearing Sheriff sets out for revenge after his wife and 60 of his townspeople are murdered during a devastating storm. But when the Sheriff alies with a mysterious gunman who also seeks revenge, he learns the high moral cost of retribution and must determine what "justice" truly means.
As many of you may know, THE BRIGANDS OF RATTLEBORGE was the number-one rated script on 2006's "Blacklist," the place every screenwriter wants to get black-listed. This is a sort of unofficial poll taken of agents, managers and production companies about the best scripts they read in the prior year. BRIGANDS got the highest marks in 2006.
Wanting to get black-listed myself, I had to get my hands on a copy of this script. With the help of a fellow DD'er (thanks, 12!), I was able to do so.
First, and no surprise here, BRIGANDS is fantastic. I remember Chris Lockhart saying (paraphrase) "the best scripts haunt you long after you put them down." This one still haunts me. Not so much due to the gritty storytelling (think UNFORGIVEN meets DEADWOOD) and oft violent and heart-breaking subject matter, but rather because the story was so damn good.
In a way, BRIGANDS is a frustrating script for a pre-pro to read. While it is exceedingly well written, the script violates many of the "rules" that are often squalked at us by parrots who think the forumla to greatness is written down in a book somewhere. Well, "nobody knows anything," right?
The broken rules (in short): it's a Western (which probably didn't help it sell, which as far as I know, this one did not), it's not high concept in the least, it's 138 pages long and the writer increased the margins drastically to keep it that short, there are long, flowery prose descriptions of characters, settings and action, and the main story really doesn't get started until the halfway point (the rainstorm and robbery of Rattleborge). Hell, the guy doesn't even captalize his character introductions!
But BRIGANDS was spectacular. The characters are unbelievably well-drawn. The dialogue is lyrical. The villains are nasty, evil and scary bastards. The story (once it kicks into gear on page 54) is a page turner that has the reader rooting for the good guys to suceed in their bloody, hateful quest. This all goes to prove the long-repeated sentiment: "write a great script and the rest will fall into place."
The only thing I took issue with was the very end (the last 10 pages or so). I think it hits a good set of beats about revenge and the associated moral cost, but there was something that seemed a bit "Hollywood" about it after 130 pages of a decidedly non-Hollywood script. But this is incredibly minor -- read it on your own and decide for yourself. I won't ruin a great read. BRIGANDS is one of those scripts that make you forget you're reading a screenplay.
THE BRIGANDS OF RATTLEBORGE will make you want to be a better writer.
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