--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The problem with the screenplay is that…" description: "\"The problem with the screenplay is that it's not literature, and it's not a film. It's a very weird, technical kind of blueprint that will be absolutel..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19d/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu-12_absolutely_the-problem-with-the-screenplay-is-that_2523432.jpg" --- # The problem with the screenplay is that it's not… ![“The problem with the screenplay is that it's not literature, and it's not a film. It's a very weird, technical kind of blueprint that will be absolutely transformed into something else that is not that, you know? Honestly, a screenplay is no literature.” quote by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19d/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu-12_absolutely_the-problem-with-the-screenplay-is-that_2523432.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19d/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu-12_absolutely_the-problem-with-the-screenplay-is-that_2523432.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19d/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu-12_absolutely_the-problem-with-the-screenplay-is-that_2523432.jpg) > “The problem with the screenplay is that it's not literature, and it's not a film. It's a very weird, technical kind of blueprint that will be absolutely transformed into something else that is not that, you know? Honestly, a screenplay is no literature.” [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Screenplays are technical blueprints, not finished literary works, and will change during production. **In simple terms:** Screenplays are plans, not final art. Key Takeaway Treat scripts as flexible guides. Themes creativity process collaboration transformation Mood analytical insightful Type creative educational When to use this quote - film development - directing workshops - production meetings - script revisions Key Concepts film theory writing craft Questions to Reflect On - How does a script evolve on set? - What role does collaboration play? A Different Perspective May undervalue narrative depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absolutely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutely/) [Blueprint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blueprint/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Else](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/else/) [Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/film/) [Honestly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honestly/) [Honestly Screenplay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/honestly-screenplay-1273351/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Literature Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-film-231526/) [Movie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movie/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Problem Screenplay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem-screenplay-1273349/) [Screenplay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/screenplay/) [Screenplay Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/screenplay-literature-1273350/) [Script](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/script/) [Something](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/something/) [Technical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technical/) [The problem with](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/the-problem-with/) [Transformed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transformed/) [Very](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/very/) [Weird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weird/) [Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/will/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) ## Related quotes > [Language is never a problem when you have the screenplay ready.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prabhu-deva/language-is-never-a-problem-when-you-have-the-screenplay-ready/) [Prabhu Deva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prabhu-deva/) > [Literature and film have a way of lifting you from your own existence and transporting you to some foreign place and putting you in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/literature-and-film-have-a-way-of-lifting-you-from-your-own-existence/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [Gypsies are, to say the least, underrepresented in literature and film.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stef-penney/gypsies-are-to-say-the-least-underrepresented-in-literature-and-film/) [Stef Penney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stef-penney/) > [Whenever it is inspired by literature a film is elevated and the audience connects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saswata-chatterjee/whenever-it-is-inspired-by-literature-a-film-is-elevated-and-the/) [Saswata Chatterjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saswata-chatterjee/) > [I went to Princeton to major in comparative literature. 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That's the problem with auditioning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-lillard/there-are-several-times-when-i-walked-into-a-room-and-just-felt-like/) [Matthew Lillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-lillard/) > [It's counterproductive. The problem with sentimentality is that it kills the emotion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-pierre-dardenne/it-s-counterproductive-the-problem-with-sentimentality-is-that-it/) [Jean-Pierre Dardenne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-pierre-dardenne/) > [I have my meals delivered... you know what I like? Chicken and rice... 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We are in a constant state of transformation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/life-and-death-are-illusions-we-are-in-a-constant-state-of/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I think the most experimental way to a film is to tell the story the traditional way, because everyone is doing the other thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-think-the-most-experimental-way-to-a-film-is-to-tell-the-story-the/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [Time starts out as a notion. But after you turn fifty, time is not a notion anymore but a fact that you start feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/time-starts-out-as-a-notion-but-after-you-turn-fifty-time-is-not-a/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I think bad movies are made around the world, not just in Hollywood. There are as many bad art films in the whole world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-think-bad-movies-are-made-around-the-world-not-just-in-hollywood/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [ How can \[actors\] learn their lines and be honest in front of 30 people and all the lights? It makes me cry sometimes. I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/how-can-actors-learn-their-lines-and-be-honest-in-front-of-30-people/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I love the three-act theory. It works and works beautifully. But you don't necessarily have to structure a story that way: Cortazar and Borges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-love-the-three-act-theory-it-works-and-works-beautifully-but-you/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [3D is the way we experience life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/3d-is-the-way-we-experience-life/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I made commercials for corporations like Volkswagen and Coca-Cola, but I was always the one to write them, too, which was a very good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-made-commercials-for-corporations-like-volkswagen-and-coca-cola-but/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I like to make films, but the only reason I do is because I'm a very bad musician.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-like-to-make-films-but-the-only-reason-i-do-is-because-i-m-a-very/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [It's very healthy to be aware of your ego.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/it-s-very-healthy-to-be-aware-of-your-ego/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [I personally can't handle frivolous violence. I overreact to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-personally-can-t-handle-frivolous-violence-i-overreact-to-it/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [ I saw what I could \[in Mexico City\], but we rarely got anything other than big, mainstream American films. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/i-saw-what-i-could-in-mexico-city-but-we-rarely-got-anything-other/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) > [For the actors, the talent is to serve the demands that I ask of them, to do it with naturality and truth, and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/for-the-actors-the-talent-is-to-serve-the-demands-that-i-ask-of-them/) [Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) [Explore all 262 Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu/) ## More Absolutely quotes > [I am absolutely my own biggest critic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lando-norris/i-am-absolutely-my-own-biggest-critic/) [Lando Norris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lando-norris/) > [The way I look at it is, cancer research is absolutely nonpartisan. 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That's what innovators and disruptors do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kimberly-bryant/you-can-absolutely-be-what-you-can-t-see-that-s-what-innovators-and/) [Kimberly Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kimberly-bryant/) > [There were a lot of clubs interested in me - a lot, really. But Manchester United appeared and didn't go away. They absolutely wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angel-di-maria/there-were-a-lot-of-clubs-interested-in-me-a-lot-really-but/) [Angel Di Maria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angel-di-maria/) > [People look at the same passage, and one person will say this is the best thing he's ever read, and another person will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/people-look-at-the-same-passage-and-one-person-will-say-this-is-the/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I absolutely love 'TOWIE.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gemma-collins/i-absolutely-love-towie/) [Gemma Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gemma-collins/) > [Chucky is absolutely still a puppet. He will remain to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fiona-dourif/chucky-is-absolutely-still-a-puppet-he-will-remain-to-be/) [Fiona Dourif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fiona-dourif/) [Browse all 1,136 Absolutely quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absolutely/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The problem with the screenplay is that it's not literature, and it's not a film. It's a very weird, technical kind of blueprint that will be absolutely transformed into something else that is not that, you know? 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