Yes: Screenplay and Notes [Paperback]

Sally Potter (Author), John Berger (Author), Pankaj Mishra (Author)

Book Description

Series: Newmarket Shooting Script | Publication Date: April 22, 2005

The only book by the writer/director of Orlando and The Tango Lesson about her daring, new movie starring Joan Allen, coming from Sony Pictures Classics in May.

"How can I describe Yes? Is it a love story? It's certainly romantic, but it is also quite definitely political. And it is also funny, though you couldn't really call it a comedy," says Sally Potter about the movie she began writing immediately following 9/11 as a response to the demonization of the Arab world in the West and the simultaneous wave of hatred against America. The story: She (Joan Allen) is an Irish-American scientist who is being strangled by her marriage to Anthony. She begins an affair with He (Simon Abkarian), a Lebanese surgeon exiled in London, who is working as a cook. Sam Neill plays Anthony, the betrayed and betraying politician husband, and Shirley Henderson is a philosophical cleaner who witnesses the trail of heartbreak the lovers leave behind them, as they embark on a personal journey through several countries—from London and Belfast to Beirut and Havana—which forces them to evaluate their beliefs and each other. To have her characters better express ideas which might be abstract or hard to digest, Potter chose to write their dialogue in verse, though such is the narrative drive and the strength of the performances that for much of the time this seems like just a more lyrical version of everyday speech. She says of her choice: "I read somewhere that in times of war the sales of poetry books go up. It's as though we need to use our most clear and rich tool, which is the tool of language, to express the subtleties and the nuances of our experience. And I think that verse is a kind of structure that allows us to explore language in a more interesting, more heightened way, than we tend to in everyday conversation." In addition to the complete screenplay and filmmaker's notes, the book includes essays written exclusively for this edition by the acclaimed, literary figures John Berger and Pankaj Mishra. 20 color photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Potter's upcoming film Yes is set in London, and centers on the affair of an Irish-born American biologist, "She," and a Lebanese émigré who is a waiter in a chic hotel, "He." She is unhappily married to a British politician; at a diplomatic event in He's hotel, the two meet, and while their affair doesn't take them anywhere we haven't gone before, the script is remarkable because it is written entirely in rhymed verse. As if this weren't enough to scare off a script reader (or moviegoer), there's even a Greek chorus of sorts, in the form of a cleaning woman who comments continually on the action, as well as a number of shifts in location as She and He's affair moves around the globe. Potter, the English screenwriter best known to Americans for her films Orlando and The Tango Lesson, might have a hard time selling this latest project to Generation Multiplex; it sounds like the worst combination of literary conceit and faux dialectics. But whatever one thinks of the film (which will be released in June), it's surprising, and rather incredible, that the screenplay reads as beautifully as... well, a poem. The book also includes a q&a with Potter and Joan Allen (who plays She). Photos. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Published screenplays are usually worth reading only if one has seen the films, and often resemble souvenir brochures more than books. Potter's complement to her latest film is the rare published screenplay that transcends those limitations. Pictures are corralled into a discrete section, there's no press-book boilerplate about actors, and the screenplay per se, trimmed to reflect the completed film, is good reading. It helps immensely that the dialogue consists of rhymed couplets, for the discipline involved helps Potter pack in significance without becoming verbose. Basically the story, serious but not without humor, of an affair between an Irish American scientist whose marriage to a British politician has collapsed and a Lebanese physician whose exile to Britain has reduced him from practicing surgery to filleting meat in a restaurant, the piece brims with political and relationship issues, on which a succession of cleaning women makes ontological commentary a la a classical Greek chorus. Questions and answers between film-festival audience members and Potter about the film's making wrap things up very satisfactorily. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 108 pages
• Publisher: Newmarket Press (April 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557046662
• ISBN-13: 978-1557046666
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #971,443 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Screen play and Notes to DVD Yes by Sally Potter, May 12, 2007

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S. T. Wood (London.U.K.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Yes: Screenplay and Notes (Paperback)

These notes are fascinating and explain the background to making the DVD, and how it was shot, along with the entire script of the film. the film itself is magnificent, and I think should be purchased to be seen first. The dialogue is liambic pentameters, but the poetry rarely intrudes and always adds an intensity to the speech. Having the script helps as some part of the film are spoken very softly, especially the commentary from a cleaner who acts as a Greek Chrous. The script was begun the day after 9/11 and Sally wished to say something positive. She has produced a witty, highly political, both in the international and domestic arena, touching love story, with beautiful shots. Where these are and how they were taken, especially the clever variety of angle shots and CCTV footage is explained in the notes, and the rationale behind it. Anyone who wishes to buy the DVD must be careful as I bought a number for friends but they were area 1 and could not be played in the UK. The book is the next best thing, but its full impact comes as an adjunct to the film.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes: Screenplay and Notes, February 22, 2006

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Priscilla A. Campbell "Published Poet" (Fl United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Yes: Screenplay and Notes (Paperback)

A friend who reviews movies recommended this book to me. To be honest, being a novel reader, I didn't expect to like a screenplay that much, but it mesmerized me. The addition of the photos helped bring it that much more alive. I ended up reading it twice I enjoyed it so much. I would highly recommend the book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars best picture I've seen this year, June 29, 2008

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Joanna Sharon - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Yes: Screenplay and Notes (Paperback)

This movie covers politics, ethnicity, gender biases and a love story. It leaves you thinking long after the movie is over. The actors are wonderful. Every person fits and it wouldn't be the same if any is eliminated. Not all movies can claim that. I fell in love with each one.