Script Analysis: “Leviathan” — Scene By Scene Breakdown

Here is my take on this exercise from a previous series of posts — How To Read A Screenplay:

After a first pass, it’s time to crack open the script for a deeper analysis and you can do that by creating a scene-by-scene breakdown. It is precisely what it sounds like: A list of all the scenes in the script accompanied by a brief description of the events that transpire.

For purposes of this exercise, I have a slightly different take on scene. Here I am looking not just for individual scenes per se, but a scene or set of scenes that comprise one event or a continuous piece of action. Admittedly this is subjective and there is no right or wrong, the point is simply to break down the script into a series of parts which you then can use dig into the script’s structure and themes.

The value of this exercise:

• We pare down the story to its most constituent parts: Scenes.
• By doing this, we consciously explore the structure of the narrative.
• A scene-by-scene breakdown creates a foundation for even deeper analysis of the story.

Today: Leviathan (2014). You may download the script for here.

Written by Oleg Negin and Andrey Zvyagintsev.

Plot Summary: In a Russian coastal town, Kolya is forced to fight the corrupt mayor when he is told that his house will be demolished. He recruits a lawyer friend to help, but the man’s arrival brings further misfortune for Kolya and his family.

Leviathan
Scene by Scene Breakdown
By Piotr Ryczko
GoIntoTheStory.com

Screenplay by Oleg Negin, Andrey Zvyagintsev

IMDb Plot Summary: In a Russian coastal town, Kolya is forced to fight the corrupt mayor when he is told that his house will be demolished. He recruits a lawyer friend to help, but the man’s arrival brings further misfortune for Kolya and his family.

2: NIKOLAI (41) drives to the railroad station and picks up DMITRI (42) from the train.

3: Dmitri showers in the hotel, while Nikolai waits. It becomes apparent they were pals from the military. But Dmitri is now a lawyer working in Moscow. He has come here to help his old friend, Nikolai.

4: While driving, the two men are stopped by PASHA, a police sergeant. Pasha attempts to convince Nikolai to repair today a car owned by a cop’s named STEPANYCH’s. But to Pasha’s aggravation, Nikolai refuses and says he can do it tomorrow.

5–6: At Nikolai’s house, Nikola’s wife, LILIA (34) is making dinner. Her son ROMAN (14) wakes up and begins to quarrel disrespectfully with Lilia.

7–9: Nikolai, Dmitri, Lilia and Roman eat dinner. When Roman disrespects Lilia again, Nikolai smacks him in the head. Roman runs out. Nikolai goes after him and takes him to school.

10: Lilia stays at home and receives a visit from the cop Stepanych who wants to see Nikolai. When invited in, he refuses and tells he will wait for Nikolai outside.

11–12: Nikolai returns and convinces Stepanych that he will fix his car tomorrow.

12–14: Dmitri shows Nikolai papers containing dirt on the Mayor of the town, VADIM SERGEYICH. They plan to use them to blackmail the corrupt mayor.

14–15: Nikolai, Lilia and Dmitri drive in the car. We learn that Dmitri brougth proof that the mayor is an ex-KGB and is up to his elbows in blood. He will not go down lightly.

16–19: They go to the town’s courthouse to hear the court’s ruling on the ownership of Nikolai’s land. The court will decide if Nikolai’s appeal will hold any water. Unfortunately, Nikolai’s appeal is repelled by the court.

19–20: Sergeyich (the Mayor) drinks vodka with the priest from the town. The mayor is preoccupied that he has the clergy and God on his side, when the election comes. The priest assures him, he will win the election.

20–25: Nikolai, Lilia and Dmitri have a drink at the house. It becomes apparent that the Mayor used the law unjustly in order to squeeze Nikolai out of his property. Dmitri convinces Nikolai and Lilia to come to Moscow and start a new life.

25–28: Sergeyich arrives drunk at Nikolai’s house. He makes fun of Nikolai, reminding him the property will be his very soon. Nikolai can’t take this abuse anymore and goes back inside his house. As a response, Dmitri airs some of the dirt on the Mayor. This causes Sergeyich to listen and book a meeting with Dmitri.

28–29: After having faced the Mayor, Nikolai changes his mind. He is not going back to Moscow.

29: Dmitri writes a crime statement which he intends to file as a case against the Mayor, Sergeyich.

30–33: Nikolai repairs Stepanych’s car. Meanwhile Stepanych talks Dmitri into celebrating his birthday with him and his family.

33–35: Nikolai ends up getting arrested by the corrupt police for trying to file a criminal report against the Mayor.

35: When Dmitri attempts to file the case with the judge, it turns out that he is indisposable and will be so for an unforeseeable future.

35: Dmitri talks Lilia into getting help from Stepanych since he is a cop.

36: Meanwhile Dmitri goes to the mayor.

37–38: Lilia arrives at ANGELA’s place. Angela is the wife of Stepanych.

38–41: Dmitri shows the proof to the Mayor of the atrocities he committed many years ago. Seeing this, Sergeyich finally listens, then promises to take a closer look at the evidence Dmitri provided.

41–42: While Lilia waits, Angela calls her husband Stepanych and forces him to go to the police station, so they can get Nikolai out from jail.

43–45: The mayor reads the files which Dmitri has on him. When he realizes what they contain, Sergeyich promises Dmitri 3.5 million rubbles and Nikolai released from jail.

45: Dmitri sends to the Prosecutor a letter containing a report of Mayor’s crimes.

46–47: Dmitri meets Lilia and they are about to eat dinner. But when Dmitri goes up to take a shower, Lilia follows him and they end up having sex.

47–50: Sergeyich, the Prosecutor and the Judge are meeting. The Mayor is about to blow up emotionally and threatens the other two into action. They decide to dig up anything they can on Dmitri.

51–56: Nikolai and Roman poke fun at Dmitri’s past which has them laughing on the floor. Nikolai is proud that Dmitri managed to blackmail the Mayor with is lawyer skills. If everything goes well, Nikolai is prepared to move to Moscow.

57–64: Nikolai, Dmitri, Lilia, Angela and Stepanych go the countryside to camp. They drink vodka and do target practice at cardboards of Lenin, Brezhnev and Gorbachev in a forest glade.

64: Lilia goes to pee in the forest. Dmitri notices this, and pretends he wants to chop wood for the fire. Then he follows Lilia.

65–67: Angela’s kid, Vitya, comes back running scared from the woods. She saw Dmitri “choking” Lilia. Nikolai and Stepanych decide to go into the forest to look for Lilia and Dmitri.

68–69: The Mayor goes to see the BISHOP who pardons him of any responsibility or guilt for his past or future actions.

70: Dmitri and Lilia drive back towards the town. It is apparent Dmitri has been in a figght and is now bleeding.

71–74: Nikolai, Stepanych and Angela are back at Nikola’s house. Nikolai is also bruised. Later on Lilia returns and asks Nikolai if he loves her, because she wants to have a baby with him.

75: Sergeyevich arrives in his Lexus SUV with his bodyguards. Dmitri gets in and drives off with them.

76–78: The Mayor and his people arrive with Dmitri at a lake shore. They over power him and threaten him with a gun. Then they leave Dmitri stranded in the middle of nowhere.

79: Lilia wakes up beside Nikolai. She gets up and goes to work.

81: Dmitri is on the train and is about to leave town.

81: After the whole Dmitri ordeal, Nikolai looks at Lilia with newfound affection. She responds in kind. Soon they have sex. Roman is a witness to that. The kid runs away.

82–84: Roman comes back home and gets to his room. He tells them he hates both Nikolai and Lilia. He wants Nikolai to kick Lilia out since she is not his proper mother and was whoring around with Dmitri. Roman breaks down. Nikolai responds this time not by hitting but by taking his son into his arms and caressing him to calm him down.

85: Lilia walks around by the sea. She cries after the hurtful words from Roman.

86: Nikolai arrives at Lilia’s work to pick her up, but learns that she wasn’t at work today.

87–89: Nikolai is at Angela’s and Stepanych’s house. Nikolai is a ball of nerves as he is now sure that Lilia left him for Dmitri.

90: The next day, Nikolai is woken up by Stepanych who tells Nikolai they found Lilia. They go to the seaside where they find Lilia’s dead body, after it has been fished out from the sea.

91–93: Nikolai buys himself vodka. On his way home, he meets the Priest. He demands to know why he lost his Lilia and is now about to lose his property. Is there any justice in it? The Priest thinks that Nikolai is just a poor whiner driving himself crazy in the face of God.

94–95: Stepanych and Angela eat dinner and come to the conclusion that it might have been Nikolai who killed Lilia. Nikolai certainly had the motivation since his wife cheated on him with Dmitri.

96–98: The next day, three police officers barge into Nikolai’s house. They arrest Nikolai and take him to the police station.

98–99: A detective presents overwhelming proof that Nikolai killed his wife. The police has obviously constructed their own version of the events which transpired in the last three days. And despite that we know, Nikolai didn’t murder his wife, every one of these events speaks heavily against Nikolai.

100: Nikolai is being taken to prison. He begs the authorities to take care of his son.

100–101: Meanwhile a bulldozer is about to level Nikola’s house to the ground. Angela tries to get Roman out before he gets hurt. Roman finally opens the door. Angela explains to him, he will have to go to an orphanage until he turns 18.

103: The bulldozer levels Nikolai’s house to the ground.

103–104: A lost Nikolai stands in court, as he is being read his sentence. He is found guilty of murdering his wife and sent to 15 years in prison.

105: The Mayor celebrates with vodka, as he hears how many years Nikolai got.

105–106: The mayor, the Prosecutor and the chief of Police stand in the newly built church. Bishop talks about the national values and the orthodox faith as the corner-stone of the Russian society. The Mayor proudly explains to his son the beauty of the Lord’s ways.

107: The newly built church turns out to have been built on the grounds where Nikolai’s house used to be. As the liturgy ends, the rich people stream out to their black and expensive SUV’s.

Writing Exercise: I encourage you to read the script, but short of that, if you’ve seen the movie, go through this scene-by-scene breakdown. What stands out to you about it from a structural standpoint?

If you’d like a PDF of the Leviathan script breakdown, go here.

Kudos to Piotr Ryczko for doing today’s breakdown.

To see dozens more screenplay scene-by-scene breakdowns, go here.