One of the staples for any screenwriter or TV writer working in the mystery or police drama is the "interrogation scene." You've seen a million of them; you know why they're there. They're easy to shoot so they can eat up a lot of pages & be shot quickly. They're a good way to get out all the things that you need to get out -- exposition (pipe), character revelation, plot advancement, and in the hands of the right actors they can even be elevated to something greater: great drama. A good Two handed interrogation scene can be some of the most memorable things in a show.
Programs like The Shield, NYPD Blue, and especially the wonderful and underrated Homicide: Life on the Street, used the interrogation to incredible effect. In my two years on The Border, I tried to always make sure that my interrogation scenes had something going on in them other than the surface obviousness. I did a better job with that in some places than others, and overall, it's one of the areas where I always wished that show was a little better.
The other thing about an interrogation scene is that it's familiar. You know the format, and the stakes, and how it works. Information that comes out this way is information easily processed by an audience, even if you do manage to dress it up with great character involvement, a la Criminal Intent, or subtext a la Homicide, or simply just through bravura performance, as in Prime Suspect or Homicide. (Interestingly enough, though it was one of my fave Canadian shows, I sometimes think that Intelligence suffered because it didn't use this trope enough. Overhearing actuality doesn't give you the same clear expositional stake as interrogation does -- and for some people that made it hard to follow.)
Canadians who follow the news might vaguely remember the Liberal Party's sponsorship scandal of a few years ago. It's a tale of payoffs in the Quebec wing of the party that severely damaged that wing, and led to the Liberals' fall from government to Minority party in the last few Canadian elections.
Last week the Globe & Mail released tapes, and did a story on the sponsorship scandal and how the RCMP brought in one of their most skilled interrogators to get the key confession that would provide the proof to prove the conspiracy.
The story of Corporal Greg Bishop's interrogation is a great primer for the real-life in the interrogation game:
The signs were homemade – six large computer printouts bearing the RCMP logo next to a picture of the federal Parliament building. Each sheet was labelled “sponsorship scandal – corruption unit” but had been given a different heading: analysis; police shadowing; investigations; co-ordination; proceeds of crimes; evidence.
It was Sept. 14, 2007, and props were needed to make an impression three days later when a man accused of defrauding the Liberal Party of more than $100,000 and accepting a $50,000 bribe would walk through the Montreal office of the Mounties’ commercial-crimes unit en route to his interrogation.
The goal was to be sure that Benoît Corbeil, former director-general of the federal Liberals’ Quebec wing, knew just how thorough the investigation into the sponsorship scandal had been and how serious the accusations he faced really were.
And the stage was set for Greg Bishop, the big, sympathetic corporal whose abilities are legendary within the force. “He looks like Yogi the Bear,” according to one insider, “but he is a formidable interrogator.”
Years of legwork had brought them to a critical point in “an exceptional case.” Now “a superior level of competence is required” to close the trap on the only Liberal Party official they felt they could prove had accepted money in exchange for a political favour.
They got their wish.
But even better than the story linked above, is the fact that the Globe & Mail has posted the tapes. They're in French, but subtitled, so you can see how a superior interrogator actually manipulated a suspect into a confession. It's fascinating viewing for any screenwriter.
The RCMP Interrogation tapes:
Part 2 - The Introduction
Part 3 - The Watergate analogy.
Part 4 - The Bad Cop
Part 5 - The Confession
Part 6 - The Second Confession
Part 7 - The Hug
For my part, it's that last part -- the hug -- that I find most interesting and compelling. All the histrionics we've seen in interrogation scenes, and we forget that sometimes the reality is a subtle, human need. Keep that in mind next time you have to go into "The Box" in your script...
3 rumbles:
My favourite part of The First 48 (A&E) is watching how each cop handles their interrogations.
Dude, you should have mentioned The Closer. Upwards of 50% of each episode takes place in the interrogation room, and the entire premise of the show is based on the efficacy of interrogation. For any up and coming screenwriter working on an interrogation scene, I think that show, above all other, epitomizes the form.
The RCMP interrogation really felt like it could be an episode of The Closer.
Good post, thank you.
I do just want to say that Intelligence, dealt mostly with professional drug dealers, membes of criminal organizations and they rarely, if ever, submit to interrogation without a lawyer. Even then, they pretty much never say a word, as is their right.
There was an interesting decision from the Supreme Court recently that allows police to ask as many questions as they want - they can even rotate cops through the room as much as they want - but they cannot compel the suspect to speak, and the pros know this.
The interrogation works fine with amateurs and even crooked politicians, but not many of the guys they were after on Intelligence would have given them anything.
Another good thing about that show. But another place where the gap between what really happens and what happens on TV can be a problem for shows trying to be as real as possible.
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