Being John Malkovich (Faber and Faber Screenplays) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A wonderfully demented fantasia . . . inspired madness . . . a metaphysical journey about identity, gender, creativity and the urge to transform oneself, Being John Malkovich looks as if it were hatched by Terry Gilliam or Lewis Carroll on drugs."
--Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle

"A clever and outrageous piece of whimsical fantasy that is unique, unpredictable, and more than a little strange. Kaufman . . . has a truly singular imagination."
--Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times

"More than just the latest cool, smart, funny movie. It jumps off the screen with . . . freshness, originality and [a] light-handed stranglehold on the Zeitgeist."
-- Jay Carr, The Boston Globe

"Every once in a long, long while a movie comes along that is like no other. A movie that creates a new world for us and uses it to produce wonderful things."
--Roger Ebert, Chicago-Sun Times

"The most excitingly original movie of the year."--Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Product Description

What do you get when a down-on-his-heels puppeteer working as a file clerk on the seventh-and-a-half floor of a Manhattan office building discovers a secret portal into the brain of John Malkovich? Hilarity, drama, and perhaps the most unique film of the 90s. Being John Malkovich, which stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz and, of course, John Malkovich as himself, is Charlie Kaufman's screenwriting debut. The movie premiered to universal acclaim and is guaranteed to become a classic of modern cinema.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber; 1st edition (October 20, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571205860
• ISBN-13: 978-0571205868
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #566,782 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth it just for the introduction, April 4, 2001

By	William F. Parrish "Dante_Mosier" (Atlanta) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"Being John Malkovich" is one of the most insanely creative films ever made,and a large portion of the credit for that goes to Charli Kaufman's moody,intimate,and sly script,presented here in pretty much the same form as it is in the finished film.Which is great,but on top of that you get,a stellar,caustic introduction in which the author is told to say a few words to the readers,beacause the readers are"owed...something"."I said I would try" replys our intrepid narrator,and what follows is a darkly hilarious trip through his mind as he tries to come up with something insightful or inspirational to say,all the while revealing his self-loathing and profound contempt.In the end, the best he can manage to come up with is "And if you're going to write a screenplay,try to keep it around one hundred and ten pages".Which when you think about it,is probably the most practical advice he could give.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kaufmanian self-loathing triumphant, November 25, 2000

By	Matthew Wilder (l.a., ca United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The real bonus here is Kaufman's intro--which, rather than explicating the writing or making of this movie, is an anguished, hysterical, can't-take-it-any-more Dance of Despair and Disillusionment that will brighten the day of any struggling scribe. "Wow!" one thinks, avidly turning the pages, "Charlie Kaufman waited five years, got the huge payoff, had a critical and commercial hit...and he's still absolutely bananas! God bless America!"

Los Angeles writers will especially enjoy the part about making friends with the take-out bags left on the floor of one's ever-more-apartment-like car.

Kaufman's growth proceeds apace: his new script ADAPTATION is like a feature-length expansion of his intro here. You've just got to love a guy who's an addled mess and doesn't try to whittle it into a cutesy Woody Allen persona. He's just cuckoo!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charlie Kaufman is a Genius!, January 20, 2006

By	Alexandra Karova (LA, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Charlie Kaufman is a very loveable genius! I use "genius" as Emerson defined it: " To trust that was is true for you, in your secret heart, that is genius!" Wow! Kaufman is as vulnerable in his intro to the "Being John Malcovich Screenplay" as his character in "Adaptation". He is in such truth, that even his sad confessions are funny and healing to this reader & millions, who made this original masterpiece a hit! I have seen this movie so many times & reading the dialogue still makes me laugh, because it is so alive! It is great to see where he let the actors improvise, which shows how secure Kaufman is with his self. The actors were appreciated as artists with a great sense of humor & allowed to create & adlib. The end result is one of the greatest intellectual comedies ever made.This book is generous in teaching how to write with complete honesty and wild creativity.If you watch the DVD, while reading this screenplay, you can attain insight on why it is so wise to encourage actors to ad their own words to make a brilliant screenplay come alive! A writer who can let go of their ego, enough to do that is very confident within himself and nurturing to the artist within every being, even the chimp, who was traumatized by childhood memories in the script, but was allowed to make spontaneous chimp sounds. But seriously, Kaufman is a wonderful comic genius & we are lucky if we see his movies & read this special book he authored.