Bloody Danish action film in premiere plan – film professionals about screenwriting

Varga, lecturer of ELTE Department of Film, and Gábor Krigler, lecturer of the University of Film and Theatre, screenwriter of Hungarian TV series, gave a crash course in screenwriting after the Danish film. The two film professionals did not have an easy job, as they had just seen the film for the first time.

„A predictable, yet strong, tight, and raw storyline, as well as highly professional directing” - continued Kriegler, talking about the work of acclaimed Danish screenwriter Mogens Rukov, who contributed to the directing debut of newcomer Omar Shargawi.

„This film too follows the logic of the classis three-act drama: it has a beginning, a middle, and an end” - was the answer to the question whether there was a ready-made formula for the screenwriter. And Krigler immediately added: „The psychology of storytelling works this way, and nobody has been able to escape this three-part structure yet, no matter how much they tried”.  

„It is important that the piece can highlight current themes by using the motifs of popular film” - described Krigler the advantages of mainstream moviemaking. The film portrays the closed world and conflicts of an arab immigrant community in Copenhagen in an entertaining and engaging way. In contrast, the dialogue, following the motto „violence bears violence” is too simple, and the characters, in the absence of refined acting, are less memorable. The visual imagery relies heavily on premier plans, we only see a long shot introducing the relationship between characters and their environment somewhere halfway into the film. The many close-ups enhance the dramatic effect, but the fact that the setting is not easly recognisable takes away from the clarity of the film’s message.  

After the film we asked Varga about the success of a public meeting. He claimed they had an easy job, as the un-initiated. non-professional viewers are naturally curious and therefore it’s easy to involve them in the discussion. As Go in Peace Jamal is an excellent example of classic storytelling closly following the rules of the genre, the organisers picked the perfect piece from the festival program to hold a public meeting on screenwriting.
 
Balázs Varga also admitted that he is most excited about Werner Herzog’s Rescue Dawn, which comes after a long pause of directorial silence. The film is scheduled for Friday 8:45 p.m. in Uránia National Film Theatre.