So I decided to read and remark upon all the awards scripts that are going around in Caty’s excellent post.
Bridge of Spies is a fantastic example of how to do a period drama. It focuses on one charismatic character with a momentous, specific problem that he is perfectly drawn to be unable to walk away from, no matter what it costs him.
I cried at the end.
Despite all the massive machinations of the plot, which uses the cold war as a backdrop to explore the universally embraceable thematic element of how to do the right thing, the script does not get bogged down in exposition. Read Bridge of Spies for a master class in delivering information in carefully chosen scenes of conflict. Notice how the characters in talking scenes deliver information while skirmishing for what they each want. Their goals are mutually exclusive. It’s a screenwriter’s magic trick for slipping lots of knowledge in without sounding like a Wikipedia page.
Read also to see how a main character is constructed to create story rather than observe it.
Project recommendation: Venerate