Script Analysis: “After the Wedding” — Part 4: Themes

Read and analyze the script for the acclaimed drama mystery starring Michelle Williams, Julianne Moore, and Billy Crudup.

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule:

Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Dialogue
Saturday: Takeaways

Today: Themes.

I have this theory about theme. In two parts. First, a principle: Theme = Meaning. What does the story mean? Second, while there is almost always a Central Theme, there are multiple other Sub-Themes at play in a story. Therefore the question: What does a story mean takes on several layers of meaning?

Time to ponder themes in After the Wedding. You can download the script here.

Written by Bart Freundlich.

Plot Summary: A manager of an orphanage in Kolkata travels to New York to meet a benefactor. A mystery unfolds as secrets are revealed.

Major kudos to Nikhil Kamkolkar or doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown.

To download a PDF of the breakdown for After the Wedding, click here.

For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown discussion, go here.

For Part 2, to read the Plot discussion, go here.

For Part 3, to read the Character discussion, go here.

To access over 80 analyses of previous movie scripts we have read and discussed at Go Into The Story, go here.

I hope to see you in the RESPONSE section about this week’s script: After the Wedding.