Carnal knowledge: A screenplay

by Jules Feiffer

Book by Feiffer, Jules

Genres: Film

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Jules Feiffer was an American cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, and author whose work left a significant imprint on American satire and cultural commentary. Emerging from the postwar era of newspaper comics, he first gained recognition through his long-running comic strip published in The Village Voice, where his loose, expressive line drawings and psychologically sharp dialogue captured the anxieties, contradictions, and social performances of contemporary life. Feiffer used humor to critique politics, relationships, and everyday neuroses, developing a voice that felt conversational, self-aware, and deeply engaged with the shifting cultural moods of the United States. His graphic style, which often emphasized gesture and tone over detailed renderings, was equally distinctive, and helped expand the visual vocabulary of editorial and literary cartooning. Beyond his cartoons, Feiffer became an accomplished writer for stage and screen; his play Little Murders offered a darkly comic exploration of violence and alienation in urban America, while his screenplay for Mike Nichols’s film Carnal Knowledge drew widespread attention for its unflinching examination of intimacy and desire. Feiffer also wrote children’s books, including the popular The Phantom Tollbooth, for which he provided the illustrations that helped establish the book’s imaginative visual identity. He demonstrated an enduring commitment to making art accessible, engaging with students and general audiences alike through teaching and public appearances, and continued producing work across multiple genres throughout his life. His comics and writings were often autobiographical in spirit, even when fictionalized, providing commentary on his experiences growing up in New York and moving through decades of cultural change. Feiffer received numerous honors for his contributions to American arts, including major awards recognizing his innovation in cartooning, his influence on graphic storytelling, and his impact on theater and film. His later work included longer-form graphic novels and personal memoirs, reflecting on childhood, family, and the evolution of his artistic voice. Feiffer remained an active and inquisitive creator well into his later years, consistently exploring new creative forms and responding to contemporary political and social issues. His legacy is seen in the work of generations of cartoonists and writers who drew inspiration from his willingness to bring emotional depth, social critique, and literary ambition to comics and satire. Feiffer’s work stands as a testament to the power of humor to illuminate the complexities of human behavior and the cultural forces that shape everyday life.

Reviews

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right now I can't think of a better American screenplay.

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carnal Knowledge, written by Jules Feiffer and directed by Mike Nichols
9 out of 10

Notes and thoughts on other books are available at:

- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list... and http://realini.blogspot.ro/

Carnal Knowledge is an exceptional film.
It is included on The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list:

- http://www.listchallenges.com/new-yor...

The director is the wonderful Mike Nichols, the genius who gave the audiences:

- The Graduate, Charlie Wilson’s War, Closer and other great films

Jack Nicholson, one of the best actors ever, has the role of Jonathan, an interesting, excited, curious, not very loyal young man.
Art Garfunkel, better known for his musical career and his contribution to the soundtrack of The Graduate, plays Sandy.

Jonathan and Sandy talk about girls, their desires and preferences, if they would rather love than be loved…
Jonathan appears the earthier, experienced, the winner type when compared with his more naïve companion.

The former is encouraging the latter to approach Susan, portrayed by the resplendent Candice Bergen.
When Sandy does not get anywhere, Jonathan wants to try his luck, but Sandy persists and gets close to Susan.

Only later on, Jonathan makes a comeback, calls the girl and says that he is the friend of her boyfriend…
They get together and a sort of a ménage a trois follows, with innocent Sandy unaware of being betrayed.

In fact, the pushy, more assertive Jonathan advances much more quickly and becomes intimate with the woman.
Feeling compassion, perhaps pity for Sandy, who admits that it is the first time he kissed or did anything with the girl, she encourages him…

So much so that Jonathan is jealous and even goes as far as to say to the girl who is caught between that:

- Why can’t you be like with Sandy when you are with me?

This was the first period in the lives of the two friends, a stage in which they did not know much about a relationship with a woman.
From this “Age of Innocence” we move to a later time, when Jonathan is more like a Don Juan, a womanizer and a hedonistic type.

He meets Bobbie, portrayed by Ann-Margret- winner of the Golden globe for this performance and nominated for an Oscar.
Their relationship is developing well, albeit based more on Carnal Knowledge rather than on a deeper understanding.

It may be that Jonathan, more interested in sex and maintaining independence at the same time is too shallow to commit to a long term bond.
When Bobbie keeps bringing up her need for stability and a solid association, Jonathan is showing anger and anxiety.
The tension is increasing and there is aggression and violence, more verbal than physical, but the trend is destructive.

The fact that Bobbie quits her job does not help, even if she is bored with it, staying all day at home, mostly in bed is a recipe for disaster.
Psychology research has showed that almost all couples experience a “Honeymoon Effect” and after about two years, creativity is needed so that someone new does not benefit from novelty and need for variety to break the couple.

Jonathan appears to be bored, looking for variety- which is indeed a necessary ingredient for happiness, but can be introduced through other means- and is ever more demanding of Bobbie, who wants to get married.
Sandy’s partner attracts the attention of Jonathan and they are both more interested in someone new, rather than their girlfriends…

And an interesting aspect of the filming, the accomplished way in which Jack Nicholson could act at his best:


“Screenwriter Jules Feiffer said he had no idea how Nicholson would tackle the multiple levels of the Jonathan/Bobbie fight, in which the character is "defensive, enraged, contemptuous, and bullying." If the actor got half of everything Feiffer had put into the scene on paper, the writer said he would be more than satisfied. Nicholson got everything, and on the first take, according to Feiffer. Astonished, the writer asked director Mike Nichols what he had told the actor. "Nothing," Feiffer reports Nichols replying with a grin. "I told him absolutely nothing. He came up with it all himself.”

[Zack · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant screenplay that became a brilliant film. Feiffer's lacerating dialogue between two men with differing but equally poisonous views on women is one of those works that makes you wince in recognition. Mike Nichols and a stellar cast did a great job bringing this to life, but the script deserves to be read on its own.

[Tanguy · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book from another time. Sharing a past perspective is its only utility, otherwise it is the perfect description of what you would call pure sexism today, if not worse.
The back cover lets you think that it’s about reasoning and meaning of love but I’m still waiting for the reasoning to take off.
A friendship that makes you wonder why they are even friends, supposely some relationship that are no more that a fuck-show and a place for the two men to judge if a women has breast big enough to be laid.

Only advantage of this book, very short so you can finish it in 30min

[Nick LeBlanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished reading Jules Feiffer’s stage play Carnal Knowledge, famously adapted into a film in 1971 by Mike Nichols. It’s a scathing critique of masculinity, misogyny, and male homosocial relationships. Unfortunately, most folks will be able to see bits of their worst qualities in these characters from cold avoidance to gaslighting to objectifying sexual partners and the one-upmanship that causes it. A brutal show. Two choice lines: “I’d almost marry you if you’d leave me!” and “Imagine yourself in a room full of hard-ons. It’s fascism.”
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tl;dr—Men are cruel to women because they are insecure about themselves. Watch the movie.