We go to the movies to enter a new, fascinating world, to inhabit vicariously another human being who at first seems so unlike us and yet at heart is like us, to live in a fictional reality that illuminates our daily reality. We do not wish to escape life but to find life, to use our minds in fresh, experimental ways, to flex our emotions, to enjoy, to learn, to add depth to our days.
So says Robert McKee in his book Story. It's a book to help budding screenwriters hone the craft, but like the stone table in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, it can be used for other purposes.
Buying and reading this book could also be the first concrete step towards me writing that movie on Paul. I have some ideas floating around in my head. Perhaps have an older Paul tell his story to a younger soul while under house arrest in Rome - something not unlike what happens in Amadeus.
There's also some stuff I want to avoid, like this being seen as a Christian movie - merely yet another bland vehicle for mentioning Jesus. How do you avoid that while grappling authentically with the life of Paul? I don't honestly know. I guess you could start by taking Robert McKee seriously - make the film be about a man "who at first seems so unlike us and yet at heart is like us": Paul the human being, driven by real human desires and motivations, experiencing a transformation of worldview and struggling to work out the implications with all sorts of opposition coming internally and externally.
I suppose what would both make this film relatable and set it apart is that most others make something god - money, a job, fame, love. This would be a film that simply makes God God.
Am I a fool to think such a film possible and enjoyable? Does anyone out there have some ideas, such as "Don't bother"?
Buying and reading this book could also be the first concrete step towards me writing that movie on Paul. I have some ideas floating around in my head. Perhaps have an older Paul tell his story to a younger soul while under house arrest in Rome - something not unlike what happens in Amadeus.
There's also some stuff I want to avoid, like this being seen as a Christian movie - merely yet another bland vehicle for mentioning Jesus. How do you avoid that while grappling authentically with the life of Paul? I don't honestly know. I guess you could start by taking Robert McKee seriously - make the film be about a man "who at first seems so unlike us and yet at heart is like us": Paul the human being, driven by real human desires and motivations, experiencing a transformation of worldview and struggling to work out the implications with all sorts of opposition coming internally and externally.
I suppose what would both make this film relatable and set it apart is that most others make something god - money, a job, fame, love. This would be a film that simply makes God God.
Am I a fool to think such a film possible and enjoyable? Does anyone out there have some ideas, such as "Don't bother"?
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