Script To Screen: “Looper”
A masterful montage from the 2012 movie Looper, written and directed by Rian Johnson.
A masterful montage from the 2012 movie Looper, written and directed by Rian Johnson.
Plot Summary: In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent into the past, where a hired gun awaits — someone like Joe — who one day learns the mob wants to ‘close the loop’ by sending back Joe’s future self for assassination.
In a little over 2 minutes of screen time, we learn pretty much all we need to know about Joe’s backstory… and why he’s desperate to defend his status quo after finally finding happiness in his life.
INT. JOE’S APARTMENT - MORNINGTITLE CARD - YEAR 1His belongings in boxes. Joe unloads the GOLD BARS from the
trap door.EXT. CARGO SHIP DECK - DAYOut at sea. Joe, bundled against the cold, leans on a
railing, eagerly watching the horizon.INT. SHANGHAI APARTMENT - DAYJoe smoking in window of an empty apartment, half
unpacked.EXT. SHANGHAI STREETS - DAYJoe walking the city streets, breathing deep. Alive.INT. SHANGHAI APARTMENT - DAYTITLE CARD - YEAR 5Joe’s apartment, unpacked and lived in. Joe smokes.In a NOOK behind a wall panel - stacks of CASH.INT. SHANGHAI CLUB - NIGHTLoud and dark. Joe shotguns eye drops right out in the open,
dances like a madman.EXT. SHANGHAI STREETS - DAYTITLE CARD - YEAR 12Cloudy and cold. Joe wanders alone. Buffeted by strangers.INT. SHANGHAI APARTMENT - DAYJoe takes money from the stacks in the nook, which have grown
drastically low.LATER - sets a hypo down in the ashtray.EXT. SHANGHAI STREETS - DAYDark and menacing.TITLE CARD - YEAR 15EXT. SHANGHAI STREETS - DAYA shoot-out between rival gangs. Joe is one of them. His guns
blaze.A remorseless killer. Blasting away, cold and skillful.
Smashing up shops that won’t pay protection. He’s muscle.INT. SHANGHAI GANG HEADQUARTERSA dingy dark hallway. Distant thumping bass indicates it’s
maybe behind a club.The hall is lined with Chinese Gangsters, all similarly
dressed. Reminiscent of the Gat Men. It takes us a moment
to find Joe among them.In his EARLY 40s now. His face a hard weathered mask. A
soldier. (Note - it is here we transition from the actor
playing Young Joe to the one playing Old Joe.)EXT. SHANGHAI STREETS - DAYTITLE CARD - YEAR 22Snow on the ground.INT. SHANGHAI CLUB - NIGHTOld Joe high as a kite, in an all out brawl. Punched to the
ground. Laughing his ass off.A bar fight blossoms in slow motion all around.Old Joe looks up, sees the woman who will be his WIFE for the
first time. In a green dress. She flees the fighting, towards
the exit.Transfixed and high, Old Joe follows her. Puts his hand on
her shoulder. She turns, looks him over. Flips him off.
Leaves. Old Joe watches her go. In love.INT. SHANGHAI BEDROOM - DAYOld Joe in bed with his future Wife. They kiss. A ring goes
on her finger.EXT. CHINESE COUNTRYSIDE - DAYA cottage in the country.EXT. CHINESE COTTAGE - SUNSETOld Joe in his mid 50s, his Wife lying on a hammock with him,
reading. Hands lazily entwined. A good life.
Here is the montage from the movie:
Almost point for point a verbatim translation from script to screen. Suggests a filmmaker (writer-director Rian Johnson) who has a clear vision of what he wants… and that his vision works.
One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.
For more Script To Screen articles, go here.