The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations

May 1, 2017

Best known in this country for the Oscar nominations for best screenplay and best director for 1995's Leaving Las Vegas, English director and musician Figgis serendipitously stumbled upon George Polti's seminal 1895 theatrical treatise, The 36 Dramatic Situations, which postulates that all dramatic situations can be delineated among 36 types. Intrigued by the application this system may have for film, Figgis adapted Polti's construct for cinema. The result is this complementary and slightly modified spin on Polti's text. Following an introduction and explanation of his methodology, Figgis sequentially presents the situations in, generally, brief three- to seven-page chapters. Each one opens with a description of a specific film or films (some 150 used) followed by possible narratives that might employ a particular scenario. Appendixes include a chart of the films used as supporting material, grids for personal use, and, finally, a visual representation of the scenes onto a template of cards that could be reproduced. VERDICT Will be of particular benefit to screenwriters and playwrights but also potentially revelatory for all fiction practitioners.--Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX

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