Cinema and Its Discontents ─ The Dialectical Nature of Character

Dramatic beings--characters--are dialectical because the human beings they are based on are dialectical, themselves products of a dialectical universe, says Rush. So, the best way to understand dramatic characters is to to understand dialectic, he says. He urges practicing and aspiring screenwriters to forget all they have heard and read about creating characters, and focus on dialectic and character. He discusses the first in such terms as speculative dialectic, Augustinian dialectic, and 20th-century dialectic. Turning to character, he considers such types as gypsies, tramps, and thieves; April lovers, chanteuses, and writers, and male models, machinists, and matrimony. Annotation c2016 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Zachariah Rush is a screenwriter, film critic and regular contributor to Film International magazine. He has written essays for eight volumes of the Directory of World Cinema, and has contributed scenic analyses to five volumes of World Film Locations. He lives in Citrus Heights, California.