Editing Road to Perdition (section)

=== Writing ===
Spielberg first contacted screenwriter [[David Self]] to adapt the story into a feature film.<ref name="Killer"/> Self wrote an initial draft that remained close to the source material and retained most of its dialogue. The screenplay was then rewritten by uncredited writers, distancing the script from the graphic novel but leaving the core elements of the story intact.<ref name="Facts"/> Some of the harsher aspects of the story were toned down as the script became more streamlined. For example, in some early drafts of the screenplay, Sullivan became an [[alcoholic]], but this element was ultimately absent from the final version.<ref name="Killer"/>

The story is deeply informed by the ''[[Lone Wolf and Cub]]'' [[manga]] series. Novelist Max Allan Collins acknowledged the influence of ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' on his graphic novel ''Road to Perdition'' in an interview with the BBC, declaring that "''Road To Perdition'' is 'an unabashed homage' to ''Lone Wolf and Cub''".<ref>Allan Collins, Max. Interviewed by Daniel Etherington,{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A832808 |title=Graphic Novel: 'Road To Perdition' |access-date=2008-06-22}}. ''BBC Collective''. 2002-09-19.</ref>

Some characters' names were slightly changed from their original versions in the graphic novel: the surname of the real-life gangsters [[John Patrick Looney|John Looney]] and his son Connor were changed to Rooney, and the surname of Tom Hanks' character and his family was streamlined from the original O'Sullivan to simply Sullivan. One significant addition to the script was the creation of Maguire to provide a persistent element of pursuit to the Sullivans' departure from the old world.<ref name="Facts" />

Hanks and cinematographer [[Conrad Hall]] requested Mendes to limit violence in the film to meaningful acts rather than gratuitous carnage. Hanks' character, Michael Sullivan, is known as "The Angel of Death" and invokes fear in those around him, but his infamy is downplayed in the film.<ref name="Rumblings"/> Mendes, who described the graphic novel as "much more pulpy", sought to reduce the graphic novel's background to its essence, seeking the "nonverbal simplicity" of films like ''[[Once Upon a Time in America]]'' (1984), ''[[Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid]]'' (1973),<ref name="Killer"/> and films by [[Akira Kurosawa]] that lack dialogue.<ref name="Self"/> Duplicate language in characters' confrontations in ''Road to Perdition'' was trimmed to the absolute minimum.<ref name="Paul">{{cite news |author=Lyman, Rick |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/sep/15/features.review |title=So, as Paul said to Tom ...|work=[[The Guardian]] |date=2002-09-15 |access-date=2010-04-24 |location=London}}</ref> Mendes described ''Road to Perdition'' as a "poetic, elegiac story, in which the pictures tell the true story".<ref name="Power"/> An example of one such unspoken scene in the film was the piano duet between Rooney and Michael Sr., intended to convey their relationship without words.<ref name="Paul"/> In the final 20 minutes of ''Road to Perdition'', the script was written to have only six lines of dialogue.<ref name="Power"/>

Max Allan Collins originally wanted to write the adapted screenplay but was not given the opportunity.<ref name="Facts"/> Collins chose to stay out of the scripting process out of respect for the different writing styles for a different medium, though he served as a consultant. Collins praised the addition of Maguire and considered the minimalist use of dialogue to be appropriate.<ref name="Future">{{cite news|author=Singh, Arune|url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=1446|title=COLLINS' 'ROAD' TO THE FUTURE|work=[[Comic Book Resources]]|date=2002-08-07|access-date=2007-06-06|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924141224/http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=1446|url-status=dead}}</ref> The author also applauded the film's version of Rooney as "more overtly a father figure" to Sullivan.<ref name="Facts"/>

Collins opposed the profanity in the script, as the vulgar language did not fit his vision of the 1930s.<ref name="Future" /> Collins also contested the path of Sullivan's son in the film. In the graphic novel, the son kills once; in the film, Michael does not kill anyone. Collins also disagreed with the film's narration technique. In the novel, the son narrates the story as an adult, becoming a priest, while in the film, Michael narrates while still a young boy.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Duerson, Adam |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,321309~1~0~howroadtoperdition,00.html |title='Road' Warrior |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=2002-07-17 |access-date=2007-06-07 |archive-date=20 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220232214/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,321309~1~0~howroadtoperdition,00.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>