Script Analysis: “Women Talking” — Part 4: Themes

A week-long analysis of the Oscar-winning screenplay. 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 Women Talking. You may read the script here.

Screenplay by Sarah Polley, based on the book by Miriam Toews

Plot summary: Do nothing, stay and fight, or leave. In 2010, the women of an isolated religious community grapple with reconciling a brutal reality with their faith.

An interview with writer-director Sarah Polley:

Major kudos to Karen Liu (Dantas) for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown. Many thanks, Karen!

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 Characters 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: Women Talking.