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A Fish Called Wanda: The Screenplay
Complete screenplay from this outrageous comedy.
“ Wanda defies gravity, in both senses of the word, and redefines a great comic tradition.” – Time
“The meanest, most consistently hysterical film in ages ... the writing is sharply pointed and delightfully irreverent.” – Gannett Newspapers
“ Wanda defies gravity, in both senses of the word, and redefines a great comic tradition.” – Time
“The meanest, most consistently hysterical film in ages ... the writing is sharply pointed and delightfully irreverent.” – Gannett Newspapers
106 pages, Paperback
First published October 13, 1988
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133 people want to read
About the author
John Cleese
116 books573 followersJohn Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and singer.
Cleese is probably best known for his various roles in the British comedy Monty Python's Flying Circus, his role as Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers and his various roles in the British comedy The Frost Report. He also played the role of Archie Leach in the American / British comedy film A Fish Called Wanda.
Cleese is probably best known for his various roles in the British comedy Monty Python's Flying Circus, his role as Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers and his various roles in the British comedy The Frost Report. He also played the role of Archie Leach in the American / British comedy film A Fish Called Wanda.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 18, 2020
Boy, they just don't write 'em like they used to: John Cleese's watertight comic caper is presented here in stage-play format, and it's a masterclass in economic screenwriting -- perfect plotting, sharp dialogue, and confidently suggestive stage description (Cleese does not attempt to "direct from the page"). And it's a tribute to all the actors that it's nearly impossible to read the dialogue without hearing their idiosyncratic deliveries in your mind's ear; they helped take a strong script and make it an unforgettable movie.
A Fish Called Wanda is a bittersweet reminder of the bygone days when movies put a premium on writing, direction, and performance, not special FX and Easter eggs and franchise fan service. Before amorphous, meaningless crap like Game of Thrones became the culturally accepted benchmark of quality screenwriting, this is what disciplined storytelling looked like. More, please.
A Fish Called Wanda is a bittersweet reminder of the bygone days when movies put a premium on writing, direction, and performance, not special FX and Easter eggs and franchise fan service. Before amorphous, meaningless crap like Game of Thrones became the culturally accepted benchmark of quality screenwriting, this is what disciplined storytelling looked like. More, please.
November 12, 2021
not sure why I bought this
I do think the relationship between Wanda(the woman) and Archie was underdeveloped, like you don't really follow along with her emotional journey - I get Archie, he's trapped in this austere marriage with a woman who barely tolerates him, and he hates the middle-class society the two of them live in, and her comes this woman who actually finds him attractive and competent and has a use for him and so on, but I don't see how Wanda gets into him, beyond maybe the fact that he's competent, which only is really accomplished in the last scene. Otherwise he's just a sort of, fetish, like the whole of the relationship with him is based on her lust for foreign languages. Yeah he's not going to suddenly forget how to speak but it doesn't seem like a solid basis for a relationship.
The relationship between Wanda the fish and Archie was so severely underdeveloped I can't even...
I do think the relationship between Wanda(the woman) and Archie was underdeveloped, like you don't really follow along with her emotional journey - I get Archie, he's trapped in this austere marriage with a woman who barely tolerates him, and he hates the middle-class society the two of them live in, and her comes this woman who actually finds him attractive and competent and has a use for him and so on, but I don't see how Wanda gets into him, beyond maybe the fact that he's competent, which only is really accomplished in the last scene. Otherwise he's just a sort of, fetish, like the whole of the relationship with him is based on her lust for foreign languages. Yeah he's not going to suddenly forget how to speak but it doesn't seem like a solid basis for a relationship.
The relationship between Wanda the fish and Archie was so severely underdeveloped I can't even...
May 16, 2007
Terrific movie, terrific script.
June 18, 2008
the movie was better
September 18, 2008
Hilarious!
November 11, 2013
Hilarious even in script form!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews