Fans of Rent's Screenplay. . . For your consideration

The music was great. Screenplay....not so much.

Thanks, though.

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that was like the first novel I read....still keep it close to me. I dont think the adaptation of Rent was his best but, it worked.

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Consieration for what? Oscar? It will never, ever, EVER, happen. EVER!

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Updated On: 11/30/05 at 12:18 PM

I think it meant consideration to read Perks of Being a Wallflower, not an oscar.

AMAAAAZING book! I loved it endlessly, and it's falling apart from the number of times my sister re-read it. :)

Chbosky's Screenplay was preceded by this introduction...

In New York, you see it all the time. Street performers. Homeless performers. Rock Clubs. Protests. Young artists jamming. Any season, any year. This city sings. So, when reading the following pages and trying to see the wet streets and alleys, young faces, and Christmas lights, I encourage you to try and HEAR the movie as well. The soundtrack mixed like a rock concert, not a film. The performers not lipsynched. But vibrant. The emotional and visceral sensation we all had going to our first concert. Our ears ringing. Our cheeks red. So God Damn happy. Imagine that sensation as you get to know Mark, Roger, Mimi, Angel, Collins, Benny, Maureen, and Joanne. The sound in the red. Blasting over the cold wet streets. Alive. This movie, like the show it was based on, and opera, and short story, is a celebration. A celebration of young people struggling to make art and live life in the face of heavy obstacles, both inside and out. A document to the idea that youth is fleeting, we only live once, and there is no day but today.

It was good. He gets it. Too bad so much was changed.

That screenplay is one of the reasons why I had a hard time listening to everyone who kept screaming about all the changes that were made. As if the stage play was this holy text that was NOT TO BE CHANGED, EVER and HOW DARE COLUMBUS EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. And the problem with Columbus being such a big fan of the original is that he fell into the same trap.

Of course, the irony is that if they had kept it exactly the same as the stage play, it probably would have been better than what ended up on the screen. The movie had it's moments, and I enjoyed myself for the most part, but it definitely ended up in this hell place between too faithful and not faithful enough.

The screenplay used for the current movie seems like its actually Chris Columbus', but since he took ideas from Chbosky's 2000 draft, he credited Chbosky as well. I don't know if that's REALLY how it was, but it seems that way.

I think Chbosky's 2000 draft would have just made an incredible film, though I think it took out too much of the music, and almost strayed from this being an adaption. I think if more ideas from Chbosky's screenplay had been used with more of the music intact than in Chbosky's draft, the film could have been brilliant.

The ending of the draft confused me, though. Perhaps it was my reading it over very late at night, but I wasn't exactly sure of what was going on there...

And while we're talking about Chbosky, does anyone know exactly how to pronounce his name? I have an idea, but I feel silly everytime I try to talk to someone about him...

Ch-Boss-Ski

Updated On: 11/30/05 at 06:46 PM

i had issues with the cuts they made to the libretto that justified the Roger/Mimi/Benny triangle

Benny to Mimi in the Life Cafe:

"Mimi - I'm surprised
A bright and charming girl like you
Hangs out with these slackers (who don't adhere to deals)....

Benny and Mimi's interaction after "La Vie Boheme A":

Benny: Your new boyfriend doesn't know about us

Mimi: We're taking it slow

Benny: Don't you think that we should discuss...

Mimi: That was three months ago... etc.

Even the exchange that was originally part of "Happy New Year B" between them could have been retained as dialogue.

Unfortunately all of it was cut. They might as well should have finished the job by cutting out that whole plotline out.

They did a half-@ssed job of adapting it.

Updated On: 11/30/05 at 06:55 PM

After re-reading it Chbosky's draft is quite flawed in some parts, but it is brilliant in many. The flaws were easily repairable, and this should of been the skeleton for the movie.

I didn't care for his screenplay, but THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER is amazing.

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