burp. mi è andata di traverso una palata di banalità.
(noiosissima sceneggiatura, e non avevo nemmeno i popcorn).

La historia no es muy verosimil

This screenplay is for the dedicated Paul Auster reader, but nevertheless a quite amusing tale of the author (Martin Frost) and his muse, Claire. While Pygmalion comes to life in the hands of the sculptor, the fate of the relationship between Martin and Clair is more ambiguous. The screenplay actually led to a successful film.

la vita interiore di Paul Auster

uno scrittore in una casa isolata, una donna misteriosa, un racconto che prende vita, un male inspiegabile...

breve sceneggiatura, inserita in nuce ne Il Libro delle illusioni, in cui Auster esplora la sua personale visione della musa artistica e del processo creativo, lieve e intrigante, ma essendo una sceneggiatura forse andrebbe più vista sullo schermo...lo cercherò

Un guión que no llegó a convencerme.

Je pense que lire les scénarios ne m’intéresse pas. De plus, lire un livre peu impliqué en français n’était pas facile. Moi j’aime bien tout les œuvres d’Auster mais il me semble que quant à ce livre il sera mieux le regarder comme un film.

Paul Auster es uno de mis autores favoritos. La vida interior de Martin Frost es el guión cinematográfico que escribió para su película, del mismo nombre. No la he visto ni creo que lo haga, porque el guión me ha dejado muy buena sensación, y creo que con ello basta.

Está cargado de misterio y simbolismos. Al principio no se sabe muy bien qué es lo que está pasando, pero el desconcierto hace que quieras averiguar, que quieras seguir leyendo.

Y cuando por fin todo empieza a tener algo de sentido, te maravillas con el significado, con lo que Auster tiene en la cabeza y te está transmitiendo.

Es una historia de un hombre que escribe un cuento sobre un hombre que escribe un cuento, pero esto no es lo que importa. Lo importante es lo que va pasando mientras está escribiendo. No puedo contar más sin desvelar "sorpresas".

Rewards a deeper look

Pictorially and artistically this is an interesting book. But there are problems. The text is from The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster. Effectively speaking it is a short story about a couple watching a 41-minute black and white film from the forties in which two people are thrown together in the empty house of mutual friends. The woman, Claire is there to study philosophy, the man, Martin to write a story. The text is set in a gray all caps non-serif font (Futura) so that the words run across the page or at angles down the page like ghostly words from a teletype. The text is broken up in such a way that the reader is not sure at once where the eyes should go next. Sometimes the text is hidden within an artfully folded page so that the reader must open that page instead of reading what appears to be the direct continuation of the text on top of the folded page. Sometimes the text is broken up seemingly for no apparent reason.

I thought the story itself was brilliant in the way Paul Auster was able to use media within media and point of view piled upon point of view to demonstrate levels of human consciousness. The text flows through the intricacies of plot and theme effortlessly as can only come from the skill of a masterful story-teller.

The artwork by Glenn Thomas is tantalizing in that some of the exclusively black and white drawings seem to promise a hint of something recognizable, but then do not entirely fulfill the promise. Occasionally there is a deliberately recognizable image set among the whirling lines and hints and allegations of images so that the viewer's mind is intrigued. Too often however (at least to this intrigued viewer's mind) the images tail off to something unclear. Perhaps my eye is not as well trained as it might be. Some of the images are on translucent paper, and some are like some of the text, folded under a page. Some of the drawings are of an optical, illusionary quality. The overall effect somehow complements a story about a black and white film about a man writing words on paper that he burns, or of a young woman studying philosophy that may or may not apply to her life, so that we have layers of consciousness and layers of experience somehow not fully grasped by the human mind or senses. There is also a light and graceful air to both the story and the artwork with a mildly comic undertone. The topography itself is the message, as Marshall McLuhan might have said.

I say "there are problems," but the problems, like all artistic problems may exist simultaneously in the minds of both artist and the consumer of art or in one or the other. In this case I am sure there will be those who say that this book is a good short story spoiled by a distracting presentation. On the other hand there will be others who find the story itself to be extraneous to the creativity of Glenn Thomas. For myself I think the collaboration of writer and illustrator does achieve its aim, which is to use two art forms side by side and literally on top of one another to exponentially augment an effect, an experience or an understanding.

--Dennis Littrell, author of the mystery novel, “Teddy and Teri”

Must be a bootleg screener: Keeps flashing every few oftens:
PROPERTY OF NEW YORKER FILMS
NOT TO BE USED FOR SALE OR RENTAL

Could've sworn I saw this in, what, 2005? From 2007!

No es el hecho de que sea un guion de cine lo que no me ha llenado, los he leído desde pequeña y siempre me han gustado mucho. Es que no he conseguido que la historia me llegase, me ha faltado algo, quizá la visión del propio Auster, no sé...

*Disclaimer: I didn't watch the movie yet, only read the script*

I first discovered The Inner Life of Martin Frost while reading The Book of Illusions. I am doing a thesis on Paul Auster so when I realized The Inner Life of Martin Frost was an actual movie that Paul Auster wrote and directed, I had to find a way to watch it. I haven't watched it yet, but when I found the script in a second-hand bookstore, I had to buy it. And here we are now.

Here's the thing. Economically, The Inner Life of Martin Frost was not a success. And when you read the script, you can understand why.

The first half of the movie is good. It's really good. I really liked the whole muse thing. Claire is Martin's muse, helping him write his new book. Once the book is finished, she dies. Martin understands that and starts burning pages of his book to bring her back to life. The destruction of his work is bringing Claire back to life. That makes you wonder about the role of the author in his own work, how it affects him, the death of the author and what it means, and it fits very well in The Book of Illusions. That's where the movie was supposed to end. But it wasn't long enough for it to be a movie, and there comes the second half of the script.

The second half of the script is also well written, don't get me wrong, but it falls flat compared to the first half. In the second half, we understand that there is some sort of company that sends muses to artists to help them create. Anna, another muse of 18, is introduced. She has been sent to someone who's a bad writer which makes her look like some kind of zombie. Martin and Claire have to help her in order to be able to stay together. Otherwise, Claire is going to disappear forever, which is something both Martin and Claire want to avoid because they're in love. And then that's it. We don't know if they succeed or not, but let's assume they do.

In my personal opinion, I don't think this second half was necessary. I think the script would've been better if the relationship between Martin and Claire was shown more in-depth and ended with Martin bringing Claire back to life. The thing I didn't like much in the first half of the movie is the fact that Martin and Claire are supposed to fall in love, but the spectator (here, the reader) doesn't see it happening. At first, they meet abruptly and decide to stay away from each other, each staying on one side of the house. One page later, they're having a drink, and the next they're having sex. And from then on, they're in love. I have read a lot of romance books –like, a lot. A slow burn always does the trick. I think it would've been more interesting to see them falling in love than to see the whole Anna plot-line. Show us how they fell in love and what made them fall in love. Make them actually fall in love with each other. Being awkward at first. Discreet glances. Shy smiles. Eye contact. I think that would've worked better.

But hey, that's just my personal opinion. It doesn't change the fact that it's a rather well-written script.

Lovely plot and story!