Script Analysis: “CODA” — Part 4: Themes

A week-long analysis of this movie which was a big hit at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Download. Read. Discuss.

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 CODA. You can download the script here.

Screenplay by Sian Heder, based on a motion picture by Victoria Bedos & Stanislas Carré de Malberg & Éric Lartigau & Thomas Bidegain

Plot summary: As a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) Ruby is the only hearing person in her deaf family. When the family’s fishing business is threatened, Ruby finds herself torn between pursuing her love of music by wanting to go to Berklee College of Music and her fear of abandoning her parents.

Major kudos to Laura Bolton or doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown.

To download a PDF of the breakdown , go 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 100 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: CODA.