Climax and Resolution (92-98 min.)
- Guy follows Bruno to the amusement park where the killing took
place. They fight, Bruno is injured and is clutching the evidence. A
workman identifies him as the murderer, and Guy is free.
Notes
Strangers on a Train has many of the elements common to suspenseful
story-telling: "the ticking clock," as when Guy races to stop Bruno from
planting evidence; exotic settings, such as the train and the amusement
park; big sequences, such as the fight over the lighter; unexpected
complications to increase tension, as when Bruno drops the lighter into
a storm drain and must go to great lengths to fetch it so he can go on to
plant it as evidence.
The "call to action" isn't as clear here as in most movies. When Guy
is double-crossed, the cut is to Bruno stalking the wife. Guy doesn't
commit himself to refusing the "bargain" until the midpoint. This is a minor
structural problem, in my opinion, but an unusual antagonist (as in
The Silence of the Lambs) is gripping enough to keep the narrative
moving.
MODULE 4:
SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting
[BACK TO TEXT]
8/98