2. The writing. Fences was based on a Pulitzer prize-winning play by August Wilson, and indeed it’s been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay here. Admittedly, there’s nothing particularly flowery about the dialogue: Troy’s a garbage man with an uncertain education, and he spends much of his time drinking in his prized, postage-stamp-sized yard. Fences is filled with blue-collar folks, and they talk like it.
But there’s a poetry, even a majesty, in the language. Wilson’s wordcraft turns Troy into a believable king and tyrant in his own tiny realm, and Rose his powerful, underappreciated queen. A quick sample, from Rose:
“I married your daddy and settled down to cooking his super and keeping clean sheets on the bed. When your daddy walked through the house he was so big he filled it up. That was my first mistake. Not to make him leave some room for me. For my part in the matter. But at that time I wanted that. I wanted a house that I could sing in. And that’s what your daddy gave me. I didn’t know to keep up his strength I had to give up little pieces of mine.”
Graceful. Natural. Poignant. Powerful. Good stuff.
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