History and Film: The Winslow Boy

Another thing that I hope to do regularly on Fridays. Which means, of course, that I'm off to a great start.

For a writer/director known for his very modern, highly stylized verbal tics, David Mamet offers up two surprises in this adaptation of Terrence Mattigan's stage play. First, with the exception of a couple of additional lines (including, apparently, the "how little you know" exchange at the end), he holds to Mattigan's original script pretty tightly.

Second, and more interesting, he relies heavily on props to tell his story (a fact that comes through clearly on his DVD commentary). While the characters aren't above relating exposition to each other, Mamet repeatedly refers to handwriting samples, editorial cartoons, calendars, and even umbrellas to show how damning the evidence is against the title character, and the state of popular support for his case throughout the period the film covers. Film is a visual medium, and the heavily reliance on props to set atmosphere and covey key story points works particularly well here, allowing the dialogue to focus less on historical exposition, and far more on hitting the emotional beats of the story.