John Wick 4 runs for 2h50m. Which is almost a whopping 3 hours.
That said, the longest piece of Dialogue by John Wick is the following Singular line:
“You and I left a good life behind a long time ago, my friend.”
—John Wick to Koji Shimazu, in Osaka
From the writer's point of view this is of extreme interest.
Let's look at that line again, the word count is: 12.
And in the whole movie he only speaks 380 words, in 103 lines.
So, doing the math, the 12-word line is (rounded) down about 3% of his total dialogue. Crazy.
This is absolutely crazy, and unheard of.
But Brevity is the way of the Samurai.
And the Samurai is all about character.
At the heart of Aristotelean rethorics is Ethos, which is CHARACTER.
Without character your writing is lifeless.
The reason why John Wick gets away with this sparsity is because it fits his character.
The baba yaga (across all Slavic cultures there’s a old lady monster like this, the names of the creatures even sound the very same; a story for another time..)
He's a hitman, an assassin. They dont NEED to talk.
They're just there to get the job done, they're there to do the work. Wet works.
In fact, it would be flabbergastingly contradicting if he'd open his mouth every 5 second to throw out a quip.
Yes Marvel, looking at you.
It's emasculating to talk and joke the whole time.
There’s a Russian saying that goes like:
”He who smiles the whole time and for no reason is a clown.”
Not to say the Jester / Joker / Clown Archetype is not immensely powerful, if not one of the most powerful ones in existance; but that’s a punchline for another time.
Behind the delivery of a man's word, there is timing, and timeliness.
Which is another pillar of Aristotelean rhetorics, Kairos.
This is in fact the secret pillar, the fourth Rhethoric device absolutely very few talk about.
A man needs to HAVE timing, and the best way to showcase that is through his word.
Through his word he shows he's of the world.
"For a samurai, a simple word is important no matter where he may be. By just one single word martial valor can be made apparent. In peaceful times words show one's bravery. In troubled times, too, one knows that by a single word his strength or cowardice can be seen. This single word is the flower of one's heart. It is not something said simply with one's mouth."
—Hagakure.
Less is more.
Say less, but say more.
Be more, then speak.
This is the Way of the Samurai.
"A warrior should not say something fainthearted even casually. He should set his mind to this beforehand. Even in trifling matters the depths of one's heart can be seen."
The aforementioned was actually an example of the Fury Cornerstones of Writing;
I improved my writing While consuming.
Check out the rest of my methods here.
Further substack pieces about cinema, screenplay writing check out the following:
Interested in the Hagakurian quotes above? Start your samurai journey here, with the furyan selected samurai verses from the whole book. Essenstials only: