Cigarettes and coffee script

Started by nomorecoffee, November 09, 2020, 12:41:55 PM

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nomorecoffee

Hey you all, while waiting for the next PTA film I wanted to ask a question about his early short film Cigarettes and Coffee. I really love this work to be honest, I might be the only one but I think there is such a maturity in the writing already, even if everyone kind of agrees (PTA himself too) that it's a total ripoff of Mamet way of writing dialogue. I think he just took the concept of repetition by Mamet and developed some amazing dialogues. Especially the opening :

...and then, then we will talk
about making sense of the matter.
Once the coffee is poured, and the
tip of the cigarette is lit, and
placed in the ashtray, then, we
will address the matter. We focus
our attention when the time comes.


or

Now I'm going to light this. And
I'm going to wait for the coffee
to be poured. Because that is the
correct order of business.
And I'm
gonna make myself comfortable
first and I think you oughta do
the same thing. Otherwise, this
thing of urgency, that you have to
tell me is gonna, it's gonna be
like a conversation in two passing
cars on a highway.
Yeah, you're
right, it is a matter of
tradition. And that's why we have
these things. That's why we have
this coffee and these cigarettes.
You understand? I'm talking about
our bonfires for today
- look, you
have something to tell me,
something you wanna say?

Starting the movie with 'and then' and delivering lines of dialogue like that (I highlighted some of my favorites) at 22/23 is really beyond me. So now, my question would be, do you know/feel like there could be ANY influence to the writing/conception of this beyond Mamet? What was the man himself doing those days to get to this good writing?

Robyn

In film school, didn't he steal a scene from Mamet and submited it as an assigment too? Or was that from someone else?

WorldForgot


nomorecoffee

Yes that's correct. The scene was from Hoffa and he got C+. It is also the film school I'm currently studying in...

WorldForgot

Quote from: nomorecoffee on November 09, 2020, 01:11:10 PM
Yes that's correct. The scene was from Hoffa and he got C+. It is also the film school I'm currently studying in...

'If you're not a myth,
whose reality are you?'

Best of luck, enjoy it, graduated from there meself  -- check out their Super 16mm and 35mm opportunities.


WorldForgot

Haha great clip, we've got it on the XixaxTV youtube channel, too!