Author's Note: The script contains some voice-overs in
Spanish which have English subtitles. These are indicated
next to the character's name as (V.O./SP/S.T.). The
dialogue is actually given in English to make it easier to
read the script.
BLACKNESS
In the dark, two voices, male and female, speaking in
Spanish with English subtitles.
SPANISH MALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
(quite serious, almost
monotonous, like a
newsreader)
I want to go to Barcelona.
SPANISH FEMALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
(lighter, more friendly)
What will you do there?
SPANISH MALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
I want to see the Automata Museum
in the Tibidabo fairground. I
want to see El Mercat de la
Boqueria. The sardines there are
exceptional. I would also like to
see the buildings of Antoni
Gaudi.
SPANISH FEMALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
The red one.
SPANISH MALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
The green one.
SPANISH FEMALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
The one shaped like a mushroom on
a stick. How will you get there?
SPANISH MALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
I think I will fly.
SPANISH FEMALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
It's cheaper to take the train.
SPANISH MALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
I prefer to fly.
While they are talking the blackness fades to a pre-dawn
light.
We are in a small, uninspiring bedroom. Our view is from
the bed beginning halfway down, extending to the foot of
the bed. The bed clothes are rumpled up, indicating a body
or bodies underneath.
Beyond the bed, a single French window leading onto a black
iron fire escape. Climbing and trailing plants entwine the
fire escape. Heavy drops of water are falling from the
leaves and past the window. Beyond the leaves, a formless
grey sky.
SPANISH FEMALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
The weather is better there.
SPANISH MALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
It rains less.
SPANISH FEMALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
The sky is bluer. When will you
come back?
A pause while we watch the water dripping from the leaves
of the plants outside the window.
SPANISH MALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
I would like to find a job and
stay for the winter. Maybe I will
come back here next year.
SPANISH FEMALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
I would like that. I wish I was
coming with you, but I have to
stay here and finish my studies.
In one year I will be a
pharmacist and then I can work in
Barcelona.
Movement below the bedclothes - a body shifting.
SPANISH MALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
(more animated)
So you want to go to Barcelona
too? We both want to go to
Barcelona!
SPANISH FEMALE VOICE (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Yes. We both want to go to
Barcelona.
The two Spanish voices stop and we hear in voice-over a
woman, speaking perfect English with a slight Spanish
accent: "Okay, now you try it, 'Deseo ir a Barcelona'.
A man's voice, off camera, repeats slowly and not
convincingly 'De-se-o ir a Barthelona'. The woman with the
slight Spanish accent now says, "Good, now try saying, 'I
would like to find a job and stay for the winter.'
The camera shows us the whole of the bed. A man pushes down
the covers to below his chest and reaches out to the
bedside table and pushes the Stop button on a cassette
player.
The cassette player is contained in a digital clock-radio
unit. The digital red letters say "5:15". Next to the clock
radio is a language pack cassette box: "Teach Yourself
Spanish in 60 Months!"
The man is named JAKE, aged about thirty-five, curly black
hair. Unable to sleep, he gets up and wanders around his
flat, watches a bit of dead-time telly, goes back to bed.
He lays on his back again. We see the ceiling. It is
covered in lines which become a MAP OF SPAIN. He closes his
eyes and goes back to sleep.
FADE TO: Stock footage of a Spanish market. A man pours a
large basket of sardines onto a steel, ice-covered display
counter.
FADE TO: BLACK. We hear a man's voice say, "I want to go to
Barcelona."
A short silence, broken by the repeated bleep of the alarm
clock.
FADE TO: The same view as before: water dripping from the
leaves onto the fire escape, but this time the sky beyond
is blue not grey.
Jake wakes up, reaches over and switches off the alarm. The
time now says "7:20". He sits up, swings his legs to the
edge of the bed. Puts his head in his hands, still tired.
Looks through the window at the dripping leaves, and says,
in Spanish, "The weather is better there".
INT. JAKE'S FLAT - MOMENTS LATER
An almost bare flat, few possessions.
Jake is walking around getting ready for work. He is
dressed in blue full-length overalls and heavy-duty black
boots. The overalls are spattered with black oil marks and
other stains.
While eating his breakfast he stops to watch some letters
being pushed under his front door. He crosses SILENTLY to
the door and kneels down to look through the keyhole.
Jake's P.O.V. On the landing stands a woman about fifty,
blonde, not unattractive but losing what must have once
been a very slim figure. She is dressed as if she wasn't
losing it - short canary-yellow skirt, tight white blouse.
This is MADAME VERBIST (pronounced 'ver-beest'), the
landlady, who lives on the floor above.
Madame Verbist is interested in Jake and lingers outside
his door. He waits for her to go up the stairs then pulls
the letters through under the door.
He opens two of the letters. They are from the bank telling
him about problems with his account. He drops them straight
into the bin. The third letter is in a hand-written
envelope. He opens it and pulls out several sheets of
paper. One of them is folded twice into a square. He
unfolds it. It is a young child's drawing. It shows a small
boy and a man holding hands. The man is distinguished by a
mass of black curly hair, an exaggeration of Jake's. At the
bottom of the picture is written: "Tim and Jake, by Tim".
Jake pins the drawing to the wall above the telephone. Also
in the envelope is a birthday card. Jake reads it and
stands it on the table where the phone is. He says to
himself: "Apparently, it's my birthday."
As he walks back to the centre of the room to get his
cereal bowl, the phone behind him rings. He picks it up. We
only hear his end of the conversation.
JAKE
Hello?
(going flat)
Oh, hi. Thanks. Yes, I just got
it, thanks. How's Tim? Can I
speak to him? ... What am I
supposed to do? ... I sent you
money... I send you all the money
I can... Yeah, but I'm not going
to starve... Well, that happens
when people split up. What am I
supposed to do? ... Well, maybe
you'll have to get a job as
well... I don't know, childcare
or something... Look! I said, I'm
doing what I can. I don't want to
go back and do that. It doesn't
matter what I'm doing now, so
long as I support my son...
The phone is obviously put down on him. He bangs his fist
against the wall next to the drawing his son sent him.
He walks back to the sofa, sits down and ignores the rest
of his breakfast. He calms down. He stands up, walks
towards the front door, changes his mind and walks back
into his bedroom. He stands and looks at the French window.
Water is still dripping from the leaves. He slides a bolt
on the door, opens it and steps out onto:
EXT. JAKE'S FLAT - ON THE FIRE ESCAPE
Several large drops of water drop on his face. He lets them
run down his skin and collects one with his tongue, without
any expression.
He turns around and pulls the door to. He cannot lock it,
so just pulls it tight. He turns around again. Takes two
steps onto the metal balcony of the fire-escape. As he does
so, the dripping water stops. It is a beautiful blue day.
From the fire escape he sees a patchwork of small cottage
gardens, small houses connected by a maze of walled lanes.
He looks up at the sky. His look continues upwards to the
storey above him. Madame Verbist, in her short skirt, is
bending over watering plants with a large green watering
can: it's from there that the water is running down outside
Jake's window.
Jake is looking up backwards above his head. Madame Verbist
is looking down the opposite way. Their faces are inverted
to each other. Madame Verbist came to this country as a
young woman to teach French to schoolgirls. She's lost none
of her Gallic mannerisms: in fact, they seem to have become
accentuated by perpetually representing Frenchness to her
pupils. She is very flirty.
MADAME VERBIST
Good morning, mister Jake.
JAKE
(with humour)
Good morning, Madame Verbist.
MADAME VERBIST
Did you get your letters?
JAKE
Did you put them under the door?
MADAME VERBIST
Of course!
JAKE
(smiling)
Well, of course I got them.
MADAME VERBIST
I was just checking, because per-
aps you didn't see them and, I
don't know, they might have been
important. One of them looked
like it was from the bank.
JAKE
I'm glad that you're looking out
for me.
MADAME VERBIST
Every man needs a woman to look
out for him. And every woman
needs a man sometimes...
(laughing)
Not all the time, but sometimes.
JAKE
I suppose you're right.
MADAME VERBIST
Oh, just for a little
entertainment. A little, passion.
(changing the subject)
Oh, what a lovely day. You will
be hot working in that scrapyard.
I'm surprised you don't get a
different job, working in an
office. It's cleaner there. And
besides, you would meet more
ladies.
JAKE
I used to. I didn't like it.
MADAME VERBIST
You don't like ladies?
JAKE
I don't like working in an
office.
MADAME VERBIST
And you like it in the scrapyard?
JAKE
Hmmmm, it's okay. It suits me at
the moment.
MADAME VERBIST
Oh well, you're still a young
man...
(smiling at him)
You have time to do anything you
want.
(pause while she puts
down the watering can
and picks a dead leaf
from a geranium)
But don't wait too long - life
just flies by. Like that!
Madame Verbist drops the dead leaf over the fire escape and
it flutters down past Jake's face. He watches it fall with
a dead-pan expression.
JAKE
You are so right, Madame Verbist.
I need to seriously think about
my future. Au revoir.
Madame Verbist just smiles at him - sweetly, but not
innocently. Then she stops him:
MADAME VERBIST
You need to think about your rent
too, I think. You promised me you
would pay me last week. Did you
forget, maybe?
JAKE
No, I didn't forget. I had some
unexpected outgoings and I
couldn't find it. This week, I
get paid and I will pay you. I
promise.
MADAME VERBIST
Okay. I will trust you, but you
know I may be a woman but I can
be 'ard like a man if I have to
be.
JAKE
Thankyou, Madame Verbist - I will
keep that image.
INT. BAKER'S SHOP - MORNING
The shop is empty apart from Jake and another customer, a
young woman, looks like a student, who has FINISHED being
served by a shop assistant in her mid to late twenties. The
shop assistant is named Yazza. She is dressed
unconventionally: short skirt, hooped-tights, sabots, and
her hair is tied into a pony-tail beneath a reversed
baseball cap. She has attitude. The women are obviously
friends. Jake is waiting.
YAZZA
(to friend)
No way. I hate that, when they
make an appointment and you get
to their office and they just sit
there on the telephone like it's
more important than speaking to
you. You know what you wanna do?
CUSTOMER
What?
YAZZA
Just walk up to his bookshelf and
start taking the books out and
flick through them. They hate
that. You know why?
CUSTOMER
Why?
YAZZA
Because academics always use
whatever is lying around as a
bookmark - postcards from their
friends, notes, cheques. They
don't know what you're going to
read so it really irritates them
while they're on the phone.
Eventually they will just put the
phone down to stop you doing it.
CUSTOMER
Great!
YAZZA
Or, get a pad out and start
writing, as if you're ignoring
them but they think you might be
writing down what they are saying
and...
JAKE
(interrupting)
Are you serving?
YAZZA
Yes, I am serving. I am serving
this customer here and when I am
finished I will come and serve
you.
JAKE
I thought you were finished when
I came in the shop.
YAZZA
If that was right, I would now be
serving you, but I'm not, so that
must mean that you were not
right.
(turning contemptuously
to friend)
So do it to him. He used to wind
me up so much.
JAKE
Is there anybody else here?
YAZZA
(studiously looking
around the shop)
No. Just us three by the looks of
it.
Jake makes a sour expression. The friend shrugs, smiles.
CUSTOMER
I'll send him your regards.
YAZZA
Do, the old pervert. I could have
got a First if I'd let him.
CUSTOMER
Yuk. What a repulsive thought.
Bye, Yazz.
Jake orders his rolls and the Yazza manages to serve him
without looking at him or speaking once. She points at the
till to indicate the amount.
Jake says, "Maybe they just didn't want to speak to you"
and leaves the shop.
EXT. SCRAPYARD - MORNING
Jake arrives at his place of work, a scrapyard. He walks
through the gate towards the shed-cum-office where the
workers dump their gear. Other men are already working
around the yard. The crane is swinging.
Jake walks past a young kid, called Davey, aged about
nineteen, who is fighting with a big coil of wire.
DAVEY
Morn-in.
JAKE
Morning.
DAVEY
You look like shit.
JAKE
Thanks.
INT. SCRAPYARD SHED - CONTINUOUS
In the shed is the owner of the scrapyard, Twin, a large
built, shaven-headed man in his mid fifties. He's writing
in a ledger with his tongue pressed against his teeth.
TWIN
You're late.
Jake ignores him and hangs his bag behind the door.
TWIN (cont'd)
You're supposed to start at nine.
JAKE
Am I? And what time am I supposed
to finish?
TWIN
When the work is done.
JAKE
Seems like a fair exchange then.
Jake calmly walks to the sink area and makes himself a
coffee. There is a strange conflictual yet respectful
relationship between these men.
TWIN
You look like shit.
JAKE
So I've been told. I'm not
sleeping.
TWIN
Up all night shagging, I suppose.
JAKE
I wish. What are we doing today?
TWIN
I want you and Davey to cut up
the fuel tank that came in last
night.
(grinning)
You know how to do that?
JAKE
I should think so.
EXT. SCRAPYARD - LATER
Jake is now at work. Surrounded by piles of scrap metal he
is standing next to Davey, a lad who likes destroying
domestic appliances. They are both standing next to a
large, square fuel tank, preparing to cut it up with
torches. They are wearing protective helmets with visors -
the visors are up.
Beyond them, and behind the piles of junk, a large crane in
the distance is perpetually lifting, rotating, and dropping
clumps of crushed metal in its iron claw.
JAKE
Now, Davey boy, before we light
these torches, what is the first
thing we do?
DAVEY
Pull our visors down?
JAKE
Before we pull our visors down.
DAVEY
Check the gas supply.
JAKE
Before we check the gas supply.
DAVEY
Check the extinguishers.
JAKE
Maybe, but before all of that.
Before we go anywhere near this
mother-fucking tank with a naked
flame? And that's a clue for
you...
DAVEY
Okay. I've got it, I've got it.
We have to vent the gases.
JAKE
That's right, Davey boy. You're
learning. Now, the thing is, we
don't know what's been in this
tank...
DAVEY
(interrupting him)
It says 'Diesel'.
JAKE
Well diesel fumes will explode.
But anyway, just because it says
diesel doesn't mean it's had
diesel in it. In fact, let's
imagine that the person who owned
this fuel tank before it ended up
as scrap metal was doing
something nefarious and illegal,
like selling petrol without
paying duty on it, wouldn't it
have been in their interest to
hide the fact by storing it in a
tank marked 'Diesel'?
So we're not going to take
anyone's word for it, and we're
especially not going to believe
what it says on any label, we're
going to vent this tank and
sluice it out so that there's no
vapours in there, and no gunge
that will get hot and vapourise
when the torches hit it. Okay, so
you jump up on top, take this
hammer, and smack the top off
that vent.
Davey climbs up onto the top of the tank, Jake passes him
the lump hammer, and he smacks the top of the vent pipe
off. While he's up there, Jake passes him a hosepipe and
tells him to put it in the tank.
Jake walks over to a standpipe where the hose is attached
and turns on the tap. Davey stands up on top of the tank
with the sun behind him, watching the water go down into
the tank. Jake watches Davey.
JAKE (cont'd)
You know the problem with signs?
DAVEY
(giving him a goofy
look)
You what?
JAKE
They can be misleading.
Davey makes a face as if to say, "I don't give a shit."
JAKE (cont'd)
Some insurance company was
investigating why they kept
getting fires and explosions at
petrol storage plants and they
found that most of the explosions
were caused by men throwing
cigarette butts down in the
compound where they stored empty
tanks. They worked out that
because there was a big sign
saying 'Empty Containers' the men
thought they were safe, whereas
in fact they were more dangerous
because they were mostly open and
leaking combustive fumes.
DAVEY
Where do you learn all this shit?
JAKE
A long time ago I used to read
books.
DAVEY
So what happened?
JAKE
When?
DAVEY
At the end of the story, the
storage tanks.
JAKE
They just put up different signs.
Instead of 'Empty Containers' the
sign said 'Used Containers:
Dangerous and Flammable Gases',
then people stopped throwing
their butts down there.
DAVEY
Nobody smokes anymore. Except
you.
JAKE
No, but people open up fuel tanks
with torches. Is that full yet?
DAVEY
Yup.
JAKE
Okay. Let's start roasting.
Jake turns off the tap. Davey pulls the hose out and jumps
down from the tank. Jake and Davey pull their visors down
and light their torches and start cutting into the tank
from opposite ends. They just start cutting when Twin
appears.
TWIN
(shouting)
Hold it, hold it, hold it!
JAKE
(lifting his visor)
What?
TWIN
You filled that with water?
JAKE
Of course. What do you think?
TWIN
You don't need to use water.
We'll have to clean the soil up
if you use water. You should have
just used a sniffer to see if it
was safe.
JAKE
A sniffer on its own won't work.
Gases get generated by the
cutters - you need water.
TWIN
I've been doing this for twenty
years, mister, and I never use
water. And you're not going to
use water, okay. So you can just
pump it out now, into the drain.
I don't want it on the ground.
End of conversation.
Twin walks off. Jake and Davey turn off their cutters and
take off their helmets.
JAKE
That guy is really starting to
piss me off. He'd rather we blew
ourselves up than do things
properly. Just cut a hole in the
bottom and drain it. I'm going
for a smoke.
Jake leaves and Davey cuts a hole in the bottom of the
tank, the same size as the hosepipe he pushes into it. As
he pushes it in, the oily water sprays all over him, arcing
through the sunlight. He manages to get the hose in and
takes the other end over to the drain. Davey stands with
the hose in his hand, absent-mindedly watching the water
run down the drain. Jake returns from his cigarette break.
DAVEY
(his hair and face wet
and greasy)
It's all oily.
JAKE
It would be.
DAVEY
Where does it end up?
JAKE
It goes straight into the
estuary. That's the kind of guy
Twin is. What does he care about
nature?
DAVEY
Why do they call him Twin?
JAKE
I dunno, maybe they threw away
the good half.
DAVEY
I saw this programme on telly,
and they said the ocean is full
of oil lumps, from all the
tankers that have sunk. And if
you collected them all and stuck
them together, they'd be bigger
than the moon.
JAKE
Are you sure? The moon: that's
pretty big.
DAVEY
Maybe it wasn't the moon.
Stonehenge, I think.
JAKE
How could you possibly confuse
the moon with Stonehenge?
DAVEY
They're both made of rock. I saw
this program about Stonehenge,
right, they said that the people
who made it dragged the rock all
the way from Egypt, and no-one
knows how they did it. It was
before wheels, before carts. I
think it was Egypt, it might have
been Ireland.
JAKE
Are you sure it was Stonehenge?
It could have been Heathrow.
DAVEY
No, you twat, it was before ships
even, before planes.
JAKE
Yuh, okay. That looks empty.
DAVEY
(looks at the dripping
hosepipe)
Nearly empty. E M P equals T Y
squared...
JAKE
You crack me up, dyou know that?
Davey shakes the last drops of the water from the hosepipe
into the drain. Jake gets his visor on again and lights his
blow-torch and starts cutting into the tank. Sparks arc up
through the sunlight. Davey gets his visor on and lights
his torch. He starts shouting at Jake.
DAVEY
Jake, Jake, look at this.
Jake stops working and puts his visor up, mildly annoyed at
being interrupted.
JAKE
What?
Davey, underneath his black visor, does an impersonation of
Darth Vader.
DAVEY
"There is no escape. Don't make
me destroy you. You do not yet
realize your importance. You have
only begun to discover your
power."
Davey waves his blow torch around like a light sabre. Jake
smiles, shakes his head, and goes back to work. Davey is
still enacting the fight. About 50 metres away, Twin is
standing on a high walkway, throwing an old pram into a
skip. He turns around and watches Davey's silent dance.
INT. NAGEL'S BAR - NIGHT
It's near closing time. Jake is sat at a table on his own,
in his work overalls, drinking a beer and watching the pool
team playing pool. He's sitting close enough to hear
everything they say. A television with the sound turned
down is showing a football match. A jukebox is playing, not
loud.
An attractive woman, late twenties is sat alone at the bar,
smoking, doing a crossword. She is dressed in office-worker
clothes - smart suit, white blouse, high-heels, obviously
on her way home from work but never made it. Jake watches
her as she chats intermittently with members of the pool
team.
POOL PLAYER
(walking towards the bar
with the cue in his
hand)
Marie, I saw that friend of yours
last night - Julie.
MARIE
Oh yeah? Did you speak to her?
POOL PLAYER
A little bit. She's going out
with that bloke Nigel, who sells
kitchens.
MARIE
She probably needs a kitchen
then.
POOL PLAYER
Ah, now I know how she got that
car! What does she need next? I
wonder if she wants any
electrical work done on her flat?
MARIE
You might be in there!
POOL PLAYER
I'd be there straight away.
Trouble is, I'd have to spin out
the job so that she didn't get
rid of me when she needed a
plumber.
MARIE
I'm sure it wouldn't take you
that long to do what you need.
POOL PLAYER
(bantering)
God, that is so disgusting. What
do you think I'm like?
MARIE
You suggested it. Anyway, I was
joking, her and Nigel are serious
- they're booking a holiday to
America together for next year,
Disneyland.
POOL PLAYER
Disneyland! That's very serious!
Pool player returns to table to take his shot.
POOL PLAYER (cont'd)
(aside, leaning over the
table)
I'd like to sink one in her.
He strikes the ball and misses the pocket.
OTHER POOL PLAYER
You'd probably miss the hole.
ANOTHER POOL PLAYER
Yeah, he'd probably get it in the
wrong hole.
OTHER POOL PLAYER
She's too classy for you, anyway
Timothy.
POOL PLAYER
I've been there already mate.
Anyone can have her, she's easy.
ANOTHER POOL PLAYER
Bullshit! You never had her!
When?
POOL PLAYER
Two years ago. She was going out
with Ben Jenkins, that guy who
lived on the other side of the
river. Remember, his house fell
into the water during that big
storm.
OTHER POOL PLAYER
(stupidly)
Bar-room Benny with his
girlfriend Jenny.
ANOTHER POOL PLAYER
(more stupidly)
Benny and the Jets!
POOL PLAYER
I met her in a bar one night,
Benny was working, I got her back
to my place. No problem.
ANOTHER POOL PLAYER
Poor old Benny, eh? Where is he
now? Last I heard he was living
in Thailand.
POOL PLAYER
Yeah, fucked his head up taking
happy pills and smoking dope.
He's probably living in a beach
hut, lovin everyone.
ANOTHER POOL PLAYER
Getting his brains fucked out by
some Thai prostitute.
POOL PLAYER
Well, I wouldn't say no to that.
(calling out)
Marie, what's Benny boy up to
these days? Have you seen him?
MARIE
No. I saw his sister and she told
me he was in Oz. He married an
Australian girl, started his own
business. They have a child I
think.
POOL PLAYER
Benny boy? Married? You're
pulling my plonker!
MARIE
No, it's true. Well, according to
his sister.
POOL PLAYER
Well fuck me sideways - excuse my
French. And there's me thinking
that he'd fried his brains in
Thailand. Well I never. Sneaky
old Benny boy - I never thought
he had it in him.
The pool game comes to an end and the men start finishing
off their pints and putting on their jackets. They all
leave except the first one, who stands with his back to the
bar, adjacent to Marie, finishing his drink.
POOL PLAYER (cont'd)
(to Marie)
Do you want a lift home?
MARIE
No, I'm fine thanks. I'll walk.
POOL PLAYER
You haven't seen my new car.
MARIE
Show me another day.
POOL PLAYER
It won't be so new then.
MARIE
Things don't change that much, do
they?
POOL PLAYER
(looking at her
sideways)
No, you're right. Some things are
better the second time round. So
what about it? Are you coming?
MARIE
Thanks for the offer, but no
thanks.
(smiling)
I need an early night.
POOL PLAYER
Okay then. I'll catch you later.
See ya.
(to the barman)
See ya Sunday, Stan.
Jake watches the pool player leave, then walks up to the
bar and orders another drink. He watches Marie, who looks
at her paper and avoids eye contact.
JAKE
Would you like a drink?
MARIE
Why not? A vodka and tonic,
please.
JAKE
Give me a clue.
MARIE
About what?
JAKE
The crossword.
MARIE
Oh, sorry. Okay then, nine down,
four letters: large body of
water, scary.
JAKE
Erie.
MARIE
Hey, you're good at this.
JAKE
No, I hate crosswords - I just
want you to finish it quickly.
Jake hands her her drink.
MARIE
Right. Rap in Scottish makes a
pile. Nine letters, something
something something A, last
letter is P.
JAKE
Scottish rap, must be scrap.
Scrap, pile, ends in P, must be
heap. Scrapheap.
MARIE
Ooh, too easy. For a man who
doesn't like crosswords.
Short strained silence.
JAKE AND MARIE (SIMULTANEOUSLY)
Do you live around here?
JAKE
Not far. Fairlight Gardens. I
rent a flat. I've only been here
a few months.
MARIE
Where did you live before?
JAKE
At home, with my wife.
MARIE
Not here then?
JAKE
No. Far away from here,
fortunately.
MARIE
Like that, is it? I've been here
too long - 10 years too long. I
keep thinking I'll move on but I
need to be pushed - I can never
do anything of my own volition,
I'm soooo lazy.
JAKE
What's the point of moving on if
you're happy?
MARIE
I never said I was happy, but
thinking about it I suppose I am.
I know that it's nowhere but I
quite like it here. Everyone
knows you, they say hello when
you walk down the street.
JAKE
Do they? Maybe to you.
MARIE
Well, maybe I just make friends
easily.
JAKE
So where do you live then?
MARIE
Not far from you, but on the
river side. I've got one of those
old fisherman's cottages going
down to the wharves.
JAKE
You know, I've never been down
there. I thought it was all just
waste ground.
MARIE
No, it's lovely down there. It's
like another world. The docks and
the fishermen are all gone but
the cottages have been sold and
done up and the sheds and
warehouses are let out for other
things.
JAKE
Well, I only know a path from
where I live, to where I work, to
here, and back again.
MARIE
Where do you work?
JAKE
Down at the scrapyard.
MARIE
You're a scrap metal dealer?
JAKE
Not me, my boss. I'm just a
monkey.
MARIE
Out of choice, I guess?
JAKE
Partly choice, partly evolution.
MARIE
Thought so - you don't seem like
a scrap worker.
JAKE
What's a scrap metal worker like,
then?
MARIE
I dunno, more macho...
JAKE
You don't think I'm macho?
MARIE
(turning over his hands)
Well, your hands are but your
face is not.
JAKE
I'm half man, half macho.
MARIE
(amused and quizzical)
What?
They finish their drinks.
JAKE
Do you want to walk back
together?
MARIE
Okay, then.
They leave.
EXT. STREET OUTSIDE NAGEL'S BAR - NIGHT
Jake and Marie walk towards her house. The lights of the
ships on the estuary blink in the night. Silhouettes of
motionless cranes and dockyard pulleys project into the
sky. A large container ship is heading out to sea from a
port further up the river.
MARIE
Makes me want to leave when I see
ships going into the night like
that. It's like there's a whole
unknown unexplored world out
there.
JAKE
What's stopping you?
MARIE
I told you - I'm lazy. I need to
have a reason to do something,
not just an urge to leave.
I'm not a natural traveller, like
some of my friends who just give
up their jobs, their flats and
head off around the world.
JAKE
You like your creature comforts.
MARIE
I do, but I'd be prepared to give
them up, if I had a reason.
JAKE
Or a someone?
MARIE
There's always someone to travel
with.
JAKE
But not necessarily someone you'd
want to travel with.
They approach the corner of the road down to the wharves.
MARIE
Okay, this is my turn-off. Thanks
for the drink. I'll probably see
you around.
JAKE
Shall I walk down with you?
MARIE
Er, no, it's not far from here,
I'll be okay on my own. See you
around.
JAKE
Do you want to go out for a drink
one night?
MARIE
Like we did tonight, you mean?
JAKE
No. I mean, somewhere else.
Somewhere you don't know
everybody.
MARIE
Now that will be difficult. Yeah,
okay. I'll give you my number.
Marie takes out her mobile.
JAKE
Er, I don't have one of those.
MARIE
You don't have a mobile?
JAKE
Call me old fashioned...
MARIE
Okay, I'll write it down for you.
Ring me later.
Marie writes down her number on a piece of card and they
say goodbye.
INT. JAKE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Jake is in bed, arms behind his head, staring out the
window. The Spanish tape is playing. A party. Tinkling of
glasses, a hum of conversation. We come in to the middle of
a conversation. The Spanish hostess is introducing the man
from the first scene to a female friend.
FEMALE SPANISH HOSTESS
(V.O./SP/S.T.)
Belinda, this is Javier. Javier
has just arrived in Barcelona -
he's probably going to stay for
the winter.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
You will like the winter.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
But less than the summer.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
The spring is nice.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
With fewer tourists.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
And their bulging sacks. When I
was a student, I used to work as
a tour guide. Maybe I could give
you a tour of the city this
weekend.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
That would be nice.
The conversation fades to silence and the instructor says
in English: "Did you notice how they said 'Fewer tourists
and their bulging sacks.' You try saying it: (Spanish
translation)."
Jake's mouth moves. He turns over and tries to go to sleep.
INT. BAKER'S SHOP - MORNING
Jake gives Yazza a ten-pound note and holds on to it
slightly too long, to fuck with her.
She returns his change and makes as if to put it in his
hand then slaps it on the top of the glass counter.
They exchange sour expressions.
EXT. SCRAPYARD - DAY
Jake is sat on a bench rolling a cigarette while Davey is
dismantling an oven, alternately smashing it with a long
handled sledge hammer and prising it open with a crow-bar.
Jake watches in amusement at the manic pleasure Davey gets
from destroying the oven.
DAVEY
Hey, the best thing about this
job is smashing things up. I
really love it. When I was a
kid...
JAKE
You still are a kid.
DAVEY
No I'm not. I mean, when we were
about eleven, we used to sneak
into the dump and throw rocks at
the television screens. Have you
ever done that?
JAKE
(smiling wryly)
No.
DAVEY
It's great. They're really strong
but when they break they implode
with a kind of boom.
JAKE
Really? So that's why you're
working at the scrapyard, because
you like breaking things up.
DAVEY
That's not the only reason. The
money's good, for me. Hey did you
see Ozzie and the Cat last night?
JAKE
Ozzie and the Cat? What is that?
A cartoon?
DAVEY
No, it's a series, an American
thing, it's on every week. Ozzie
is this guy, he works in a video
store and the Cat is this really
cool guy who comes in from the
school, like the shop is near a
high school and all the girls
come in but the Cat is this
guy...
JAKE
Who comes in from the school and
is really cool, I get it.
DAVEY
And the Cat is always chasing the
girls from the high school and he
gets Ozzie to help him by
changing the films the girls are
renting. Like when there's a girl
the Cat really likes, he gets a
tape from Ozzie and takes it home
and puts subminimal messages in
it...
JAKE
Subliminal.
DAVEY
Subliminal, yeah, whatever. Yeah,
like, he inserts pictures of
himself and messages that say "I
really love that Cat guy." Then
he gives the tapes back to Ozzie
and when the girl comes in, Ozzie
says "This is a good film, you
should watch this one."
JAKE
(faking boredom)
So the girl watches the tape,
falls in love with the Cat...
DAVEY
Yeah, but then Ozzie and the Cat
have a row because the Cat did
something to Ozzie's sister...
JAKE
What did he do?
DAVEY
It doesn't matter. They fall out
and the next time the Cat is
chasing a girl he gives Ozzie the
tape but Ozzie edits it and puts
pictures of himself in it and
messages saying, "That Ozzie guy
who works in the video store is
so cute!" And he changes the
Cat's messages to, "That Cat guy
is totally disgusting, when he
looks at me I want to barf."
JAKE
Barf?
DAVEY
You know, vomit.
Here, in his excitement, Davey starts acting out Ozzie and
the Cat, with teen American accents, interrupting himself
by laughing.
DAVEY (cont'd)
But this is so funny, oh shit,
the girl comes into the store and
Ozzie smiles at her and gives her
the tape, and she looks at him
like he's a loser, a real nerd,
and says, "I haven't seen that
friend of yours, Cat, around
lately. He is so cool!" And Ozzie
says, "Oh, he should be around
here tomorrow, why don't you come
in at ten to drop the tape off -
you might see him." So anyway,
what Ozzie didn't know is that
this girl is having a sleepover
for five of her friends and like
the next morning when she tells
them she has to take the tape
back, they're all, like, "Oh,
that Ozzie guy who works in the
store is sooo sexy!
Let's all go down and see him."
So Ozzie has told the Cat that
the girl got the tape and to be
there at ten, so the Cat is like
posing around the counter,
combing his hair like this, and
all the girls come in and
(laughing) like, when they see
him they start holding their
noses and covering their mouths
like they're gonna be sick and
they go straight over to Ozzie
and they're all stroking him and
shit. Jeesus, it's so funny. And
then...
JAKE
(ironically)
I can't believe it gets any
funnier...
DAVEY
So the Cat works out what Ozzie
has done and while he's off with
the girls some really fat greasy
truck driver comes in and the Cat
serves him and says, "This is a
very popular movie at the
moment."
JAKE
Don't tell me.
DAVEY
Yeah, you see it the next morning
and Ozzie is behind the counter
and this big fat trucker guy
comes in, while all the girls are
there, and he says to Ozzie,
"You're really cute - would you
like to come for a drive in my
truck?" And all the girls are
going, "Oh that is so gross, it's
so like, barf me out, gag me with
a spoon."
Davey collapses into laughter as Twin enters the compound
and sees Davey breaking up the oven.
TWIN
(aggressively)
Davey, what are you doing?
DAVEY
I'm breaking up this oven.
TWIN
I can see that, but I didn't ask
you to do it, did I?
DAVEY
No, but I thought it needed
doing, to strip the rubber out.
TWIN
Why are you always doing things
that I don't ask you to do? And
why are you always fucking around
when you should be working?
Anytime you don't have anything
to do, just go down to the yard
and pick up a brush and start
sweeping. I'll give you something
to do when I see you. Okay?
DAVEY
Yeah, okay.
Davey goes quiet and walks off, carrying the crow-bar and
leaving the hammer fall to the ground. Only Twin and Jake
are left; Jake continues to smoke.
TWIN
Haven't you got anything to do
either?
JAKE
There's always something to do -
that's why I'm taking my break.
TWIN
I assume you want to work here.
JAKE
I wouldn't put it that strong,
but...
TWIN
Well, let's put it this way: I
assume you don't want to leave.
JAKE
That's closer to the truth.
TWIN
Well why don't you try to
motivate yourself a bit more, and
don't encourage Davey to do
stupid things.
JAKE
Like?
TWIN
Like unnecessarily flushing fuel
tanks. Like smashing up ovens...
JAKE
Would you rather we blew
ourselves up? It's not all about
money you know!
TWIN
No, but most of it is, and that's
what keeps you and your little
friend Davey on the payroll, so
you'd better think that over next
time you sit smoking and
meditating.
JAKE
So what are you saying? You'd
rather I left?
TWIN
No...
(he stops and looks
around at the junk
everywhere, and at the
crane against the sky,
softening)
You just seem so fucking spiky,
that's all. Why can't you accept
anything for once without
opposing it? What's your problem?
JAKE
(standing up and taking
two steps forward, into
Twin's space)
My problem is, everywhere I look,
I see scrap. And that's before I
get to work. Then when I'm here,
you are always on my case,
picking holes in everything I do.
I know I'm a wage slave - this is
not the voluntary sector, I don't
see a red cross on the roof of
that shed over there - but you
don't own me. You might pay me,
but you don't own me.
TWIN
So while I'm paying you, you do
what I...
(almost saying 'say')
...ask.
JAKE
And if what you ask me to do is
dangerous, or stupid?
TWIN
You have two choices: do it or
leave.
Jake bends down and picks up the long-handled hammer. He
swings it backwards over his right shoulder while looking
at Twin.
JAKE
That closes down your options a
little, Twin.
TWIN
My options?
JAKE
Yes. One day you won't be strong -
you might need people. But if
you've only ever given them two
choices, both of them
unacceptable, they might not be
around.
TWIN
I really don't understand you.
JAKE
That's not part of the deal,
remember. Everything turns to
rust, but the world goes on:
there's a choice for you.
TWIN
What?
JAKE
Well...
(pushing his boot
through the rusted base
of a metal barrel)
You can stay with the things that
rust, or you can walk away. And
sometimes you have to walk away.
Jake walks away. Twin looks at him and shakes his head.
TWIN
You are a very weird bloke. Did
anyone ever tell you that?
JAKE
Only a few.
INT. SCRAPYARD SHED - END OF SHIFT
The men are getting their things ready to go home. Twin is
handing out brown envelopes with payslips in. Jake is sat
on the sofa reading his payslip.
JAKE
Twin, there's something wrong
here.
TWIN
What is it?
JAKE
Well, it's one hundred and eighty
quid less than last month.
TWIN
What does it say next to the
deduction?
JAKE
What do you mean?
TWIN
There's a code next to it?
JAKE
D. E. O. What's that?
TWIN
Deduction of Earnings Order. I
got a letter from the Child
Support Agency. You have to pay
up for your wife and kids.
JAKE
And you just went ahead and did
it?
TWIN
It's the law.
JAKE
And you care a lot about the law,
do you?
TWIN
Enough to not want anyone coming
around here going through my
books.
JAKE
But I could have sorted this out
myself. You shouldn't have just
caved into them.
TWIN
I had no choice.
JAKE
For fuck's sake - I already pay
them money. I can't afford any
more.
TWIN
I don't write the rules.
JAKE
No, you just break them when it
suits you. You could have lied
about how much I was earning - we
could have worked something out.
TWIN
Like what?
JAKE
Like pay me partly in cash or
something - not declare it.
TWIN
Look! I'm not going to jeopardize
my business because of you. It's
not my problem and I can't start
doing things specially for you.
I'm sorry, but you'll have to
live with it.
SQUEAK
(a fat guy with a high
voice, trying to be
conciliatory)
That's right Jake. You don't
wanna mess with the CSA. They're
bastards, real bastards. They can
do anything.
JAKE
Apparently.
DAVEY
I heard of this bloke right, he
left his wife and shacked up with
this rich woman. The CSA took
everything he earned and they
said he still owed them some, so
they took his car and when this
woman bought him another one,
they took that too.
The men express dissent and doubt.
DAVEY (cont'd)
It's true. It's all done on
computer. The bloke who wrote the
computer program is a
millionaire. There you are, Jake,
that's what you should do -
computers...
JAKE
Okay, Davey. Thanks for the
career advice.
Jake leaves.
INT. WINE BAR - NIGHT
A relaxed wine bar with upright chairs and tables at one
end and sofas and low tables at the other. Jake and Marie
are sat next to each other on a sofa, drinking wine. The
bar is busy with small groups of people talking and
laughing. It's noisy but not too loud to think.
MARIE
So why don't you have a mobile?
JAKE
Well, I used to have one. But
around the time my marriage was
breaking up, I was looking at the
phone, scrolling through my phone
list, and every name I saw gave
me a vibe, you know, like a got a
feeling from it, which was what
came out of my relationship with
that person. And it really
shocked me that only one or two
of them felt good. It meant that
of all the relationships in my
life, only a few of them were
positive.
MARIE
That is so sad! So you think you
solved it by getting rid of your
phone?
JAKE
No, but getting rid of my phone
was part of changing my life. You
try it. Go through your phone
list now and watch your response
to the image of the person that
rises up when you see their name.
MARIE
No, I wouldn't want to do that,
not because of what you said, but
because I think if you start
analysing everything, you destroy
it. If it aint broke...
JAKE
But when it is broke, you need to
analyse it.
MARIE
Mmmm... How long did you say
you've been here?
JAKE
About four months.
MARIE
Is that when you left your wife?
JAKE
Around then. I lived in a bedsit
near the home for a couple of
months, but it drove me insane
being near them.
MARIE
Why?
JAKE
Being reminded every day of what
was lost.
MARIE
But I don't understand why you
left your wife, if you still love
her.
JAKE
You can love someone and still be
unhappy.
MARIE
Couldn't you work it out?
JAKE
We tried for years. But it wasn't
just that, it was everything. I
was just sick of my life.
MARIE
So how do you feel now?
JAKE
Empty, but not sick. That must be
progress.
MARIE
What do you want to do?
JAKE
Nothing. I don't want to do
anything. I have no ambition.
What's the point?
MARIE
What about your child. Don't you
live for him?
JAKE
I would if he was near me, but
he's not.
MARIE
I don't know you, but it seems
like you're... dead.
JAKE
(suggestively, leaning
closer to her)
Not all of me. I'm sure there's a
part of me that could be
resuscitated.
MARIE
(ignoring it, and moving
away slightly)
It just seems so sad, for your
son.
JAKE
It happens. It's worse if you
stay together and are miserable.
Were your parents happy?
MARIE
Yeah, it always felt happy.
They're still together.
JAKE
Well you don't know what it's
like then. My parents were deeply
unhappy but then they split when
I was eleven, and the house
suddenly became happy again.
MARIE
What does your wife do now?
JAKE
Screws around, as far as I know.
MARIE
She's probably lonely, too.
JAKE
Does screwing around stop you
being lonely?
MARIE
I think all women know what it's
like. To be alone, to be dumped.
JAKE
She wasn't dumped - our marriage
broke up. Can we change the
subject?
At a table nearby a group of women are sharing stories and
there's a loud burst of laughter. Jake and Marie stop
talking. An uncomfortable silence. It's going badly. Jake
changes the subject.
JAKE (cont'd)
What's your job?
MARIE
I work as a PA for the director a
large property development
company. Well, they do lots of
things, but mainly property. They
even own a couple of casinos.
JAKE
That's convenient, for late
drinking.
MARIE
Oh, they're not around here.
JAKE
Do you like it?
MARIE
Yeah, I love it. I get to meet
loads of people, it's sociable.
Marie looks at her watch.
JAKE
Do you want to go?
MARIE
If you don't mind. I'm a bit
tired.
JAKE
It's early.
MARIE
Yeah, well, I get up early.
EXT. OUTSIDE MARIE'S HOUSE - LATER
Marie's cottage has a small front yard, filled with potted
plants and a tiny border with shrubs. A small wall topped
with iron railings separates it from the narrow pavement.
As they walk towards the gate, Marie starts fishing in her
bag for her key.
MARIE
Okay, thanks again for the drink.
I'll see you later maybe.
JAKE
Can I come in?
MARIE
No, I'm sorry, but I'm tired and
I've got work tomorrow.
JAKE
Don't you like me?
MARIE
What?
JAKE
You can say it? Be honest.
MARIE
Look, it's not that. I haven't
even thought about it. I'm just
not looking for a relationship at
the moment, with anyone.
JAKE
(taking hold of her arm)
Well, neither am I, particularly.
But we could still sleep
together.
MARIE
No, I don't want to.
JAKE
Why?
MARIE
It just doesn't feel right,
that's all. At this moment in
time, it just doesn't feel right.
Don't take it personal.
JAKE
How else could I take it? It's
not to do with world politics, is
it. Of course it's personal. I
thought you were...
MARIE
What? Easy?
JAKE
No! Looking for someone.
MARIE
But I'm not. Look, I like you,
you seem like a nice guy but I
don't want to go there. Besides,
I don't think you've got over
your wife yet.
JAKE
What's that got to do with us?
I'm not seeking commitment, or
marriage.
MARIE
But I might be. And you've got so
much... baggage.
JAKE
What is all this stuff about
baggage? Everyone has baggage,
everyone has a past, no-one
emerges from a vacuum.
MARIE
Some people carry it around with
them though, and others don't.
Look, I know how long it can take
to get over a relationship - I've
been there. Maybe you just need
to be on your own for a while.
JAKE
But maybe I should decide that.
If I'm happy with it, why should
it matter it to you?
MARIE
Look, I'm sorry, but this is a
bit deep and heavy, and I hardly
know you. Let's leave it at that.
Jake turns and looks down the road to the estuary. Some
gulls are whirling like silver paper against the black sky,
caught in the upward glare of the street lights.
JAKE
Okay. Do you want to go out
again?
MARIE
Dates are supposed to be fun.
JAKE
Well, think about it, and ring me
if you want to.
MARIE
I know what - I'll scroll through
my phonelist and when I get to
your number, I'll see what sort
of vibe I get.
JAKE
Alright, shot with my own gun.
Sleep well.
Jake leaves and starts walking up the road. Ten metres up
he stops and says: "I never gave her my number."
EXT. SCRAPYARD - MORNING
The men are sitting are taking a break and sitting around
outside a hut, bullshitting. Twin is inside the hut
falsifying the accounts. A weird looking guy walks into the
compound. They all stare at him except Jake, who looks at
the end of his cigarette. The guy is wearing black denim
jeans and a black leather jacket, topped with a black hat
with some ribbons and a small sprig of flowers on the
hatband.
The guy starts walking towards them but is diverted to a
pile of interesting scrap metal over to the side. He stands
still and stares intently at it for a while then pulls out
a few bits and pieces, turning them over and examining
them.
While he examines them, he is examined by the men outside
the hut. Squeak, walks over to him to ask him what he
wants.
SQUEAK
Can I help you?
The weird looking guy, whose name is Joost (pronounced
'Yost' with along O), carries on poking around in the
scrap. He pulls out a carburettor.
JOOST
How much is this?
SQUEAK
I'm not sure. I'll ask the boss.
Squeak walks off to ask Twin. Joost stays just where he
was, looking around the scrapyard, unconcerned by men
watching him. Twin walks out the hut with Squeak following
him.
TWIN
Can I help you?
JOOST
I hope so. I wanted to know how
much this carburettor is.
TWIN
That'll be twenty pounds.
JOOST
Mmmm. That's quite a lot of
money. I don't want to use it for
an engine - I just want to have
it.
TWIN
It doesn't matter what you want
to use it for. You can use it to
brush your teeth for all I care,
but it's still twenty pounds.
Joost ignores eye contact with Twin and looks around the
scrap landscape with a connoisseur's eye. Then he looks
down at the carburettor in his hand. The top and the bottom
are separable: he separates them and holds up the top
piece.
JOOST
Well how much for this piece on
its own?
TWIN
We don't normally sell things
separately, but that'll be
fifteen pounds.
JOOST
(looking a bit downcast)
Shit!
(then brightening,
holding up the bottom
section)
That must mean that this piece is
five pounds! I'll take it.
Twin spits on the ground then turns and walks past the men
back into the hut.
Joost carries on mooching around, watched a bit more
closely now by the other men, particularly Jake who keeps
an eye on him while drawing on his cigarette. Joost drags
various pieces of metal out of the piles and creates his
own pile. There is a mixture of steel poles and various
pieces of machine innards. When he has finished, he walks
over to the hut and knocks on the door. Twin ignores him
from inside the hut. Joost knocks again and steps into the
doorway.
I/E. SCRAPYARD SHED - CONTINUOUS
JOOST
I would like you to give me a
price for that pile of scrap over
there.
TWIN
(writing in a ledger
book)
In a minute, mister, I'm busy.
Joost walks back out the door and looks at the sky. Then he
looks at the men sat with their backs against the hut.
JOOST
How much scrap do you process in
a month, d'you reckon?
The men laugh or look vacant.
JOOST (cont'd)
All the beautiful steel, hammered
down to nothing.
Twin walks out the hut, like a boss-man, looks over the
pile of scrap. He picks over various pieces making a mental
calculation.
TWIN
A hundred pounds, plus the
carburettor. That's...
JOOST
I was joking about the
carburettor. I don't really want
it.
TWIN
Okay. One hundred then.
JOOST
I can give you seventy-five.
TWIN
No. I can't let it go for less
than ninety. All those men over
there have to be paid.
JOOST
(looking back at the
sitting men,
ironically)
I see what you mean. What about
eighty-five, and you deliver it
for me.
TWIN
Delivery is ten pounds.
JOOST
Okay. I give you eighty, plus
delivery. Agreed?
TWIN
It depends where you want it
delivered.
JOOST
Down by the wharves. There's a
row of garages by Smackers Wharf.
Mine's the third one along.
You'll recognise it by the
metalwork out front. When can you
deliver?
TWIN
One of the guys will drop it off
tonight after work, about six.
JOOST
I'll be there.
Joost reaches into his inside coat pocket and pulls out a
pile of notes. He counts out the money and hands it to
Twin. Twin counts it himself.
TWIN
What exactly are you going to do
with that stuff?
JOOST
Oh, I don't know. I thought I
might clean my teeth. Whatever.
Joost turns and walks out the yard, watched by Twin and the
other men.
EXT. SCRAPYARD - LATE AFTERNOON
Jake turns off a blow-torch, next to a pile of scrap metal,
places the torch on a bench and lifts the protective visor
of his helmet.
JAKE
(removing his helmet)
Okay, Davey boy, that's me for
the day. I'm offski.
DAVEY
There's half an hour to go yet.
JAKE
I've reached the end. And when
I've reached the end, the end is
reached. So, I'm going.
DAVEY
The gaffer will be after you.
JAKE
The gaffer is only the gaffer,
Dave. There are millions of
gaffers in this world and they
all want you to do their bidding.
The sooner you stop trying to
please them all, the better off
you will be.
DAVEY
I always start on time and leave
on time, that's the way I am. And
no-one can complain.
JAKE
You see that clock over there?
(pointing to an analogue
clock face, crushed
beneath a pile of
metal, like a distorted
smile)
That's the fate of things that
keep perfect time.
Jake walks towards the hut to put away his gear. Twin is
sat in a fourth-hand armchair looking at the ceiling,
turning stuff over in his head. Jake says Goodnight and
starts walking out the door when Twin stops him.
TWIN
Jake, on your way home could you
drop that load off at the
weirdo's place.
JAKE
What weirdo?
TWIN
The smart-ass with the hat.
JAKE
Oh, him. It's late to start doing
that.
TWIN
You came in late, remember?
Anyway, I'm not asking you to
work late. I'm asking you to take
the lorry home with you and drop
a load off on your way - it'll
only take you twenty minutes.
Jake thinks. He walks over to the desk and picks up the
keys to the lorry.
JAKE
Is it loaded?
TWIN
Squeak should've done it by now.
If he hasn't, kick him.
JAKE
You can kick him. That's your
job. Where's it going?
TWIN
Smackers Wharf. There's a garage
with a load of junk outside. Make
sure he signs for it.
Jake walks into the yard and jumps in the cab of the lorry
and drives to:
EXT. DOCKYARD WHARVES - A BIT LATER
Jake sees a sign that says 'Smackers Wharf' and turns his
lorry off the main road. A very narrow lane takes him past
a row of pretty, traditional cottages with flower boxes and
potted plants out the front. It is the same lane that Marie
lives in. At the end of the lane, a wide estuary is
visible. He drives down the lane and turns on to the
quayside road. He drives past a row of garages and
workshops, some of them with people working inside them. He
finds the one with scrap metal outside. He parks the lorry,
drops out the cab, walks to the large metal door and pushes
it open. Joost is inside, working at a metal sculpture with
an arc-welder.
INT. JOOST'S WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS
JAKE
Hello?
A silence. Joost is aware of him but is not finished. Jake
looks around. He stops. He watches Joost, who is intent on
what he is doing.
JAKE (cont'd)
Where do you want it?
Joost stops working. He removes his protective helmet and
visor. He looks around his workshop, thinking of where to
put the delivery.
JOOST
(clearing some space)
Most of it should go here.
Jake walks back to the lorry and starts unloading it. A
yacht under sail is tacking up the river.
JAKE
I never knew this place existed.
JOOST
(helping him to unload
the lorry)
Most people don't.
JAKE
(pulling an I-beam from
the truck)
How long have you worked here?
JOOST
How long? Hmmmm, I don't know.
Three years, four years?
A seagull swoops low near the wooden land-ties at the edge
of the harbour. They finish unloading the lorry.
JAKE
I need your signature.
JOOST
For a load of junk? Just in case
something is missing?
JAKE
You never know, I might take a
shine to it and take it home with
me.
No, that guy Twin, the one who
runs the place, he's a stickler
for paper-work. Keeps everything
written down.
JOOST
Oh, that guy. What's his problem?
He seems a bit aggressive.
JAKE
He's okay once you know what he's
like. If you don't, he appears
rude.
JOOST
No - he is rude. But that's his
affair I suppose - we reap what
we saw.
JAKE
Sow.
Joost signs his name and returns the clipboard.
JAKE (cont'd)
(looking at that
signature)
What is that, 'juiced'?
JOOST
It's pronounced 'Yost' - it's
Dutch.
JAKE
Dutch. How did you end up in this
little corner of nowhere?
JOOST
Well, you are either born here,
or you come here by boat or
desperation.
JAKE
And which one did you take?
JOOST
(points through the door
to a forty-two foot,
steel yacht tied up on
the quayside.)
That one? And you?
Jake ignores the question and walks around the garage,
looking at the metal sculptures.
JAKE
What is all this stuff?
JOOST
Some people call it art.
JAKE
What do you call it?
JOOST
I call it what I do.
Jake stops in front of one that resembles a man's head
constructed from pipes and bolts. The head is growing out
of a miniature town made from box metal.
JAKE
What's this one called?
JOOST
Lonelyville.
JAKE
I'd be lonely if I looked like
that.
JOOST
(picking up a dented,
shiny hub cap and
holding it in front of
Jake like a mirror)
You do.
JAKE
(points to another
sculpture, a huge pair
of loins giving birth)
Why don't you move it over next
to that one and it won't be so
lonely?
JOOST
Ya, but everyone is its own
thing. It exists in its own
world, whether it likes it or
not.
JAKE
That's tough.
JOOST
That's why I make them out of
metal.
JAKE
Well, nice to meet you, Joost,
but I have to go. No doubt we'll
meet again.
JOOST
No doubt. Hasta la vista.
Jake walks out the shed and as he turns towards his lorry
he gets a glimpse into the next shed, through a crack
between the door and its frame. A naked woman is lying on a
rug. Jake stops and watches her. She changes position,
looks around, says something to someone not visible. Almost
immediately, the wicket door opens and a woman leans out.
She is about thirty, long black hair tied back. She is
wearing a paint spattered green smock that reaches below
her waist. Below that, black jeans and Doc Marten boots.
Her name is MARINKA; she's a painter.
MARINKA
(with an amused,
indulgent grin)
Do you want anything?
JAKE
Er, no. I was just delivering
next door and I...
MARINKA
I'm always looking for male
models, if you're interested.
JAKE
Are you? It looks like it might
be a bit cold. You should cover
up that...
(a beat)
hole.
MARINKA
You shouldn't be so nosey.
JAKE
It's hard to ignore, if you're
just walking past.
MARINKA
Yeah, yeah. It doesn't matter.
See you around, mister Peeping
Tom.
JAKE
Bye. I'm not really a...
Marinka goes back inside and closes the door. Jake walks to
the lorry and climbs in the cab. He does a 3-point turn and
drives back up the lane.
INT. NAGEL'S BAR - THAT NIGHT
There are more people in the bar than before. A poster says
that a group is playing that night, 'The Great Pretenders'.
The group is one man on keyboards and beatbox and a female
singer. They are setting up their equipment on a small
stage. Some of the same guys are playing pool. Jake is
drinking alone and can hear them.
POOL PLAYER
It's music night.
OTHER POOL PLAYER
Bollocks! Oh well, so long as we
can carry on playing pool, I
don't care.
POOL PLAYER
Don't you like music, then?
OTHER POOL PLAYER
Not pub bands. I like dance
music, in my car. I like to have
it really loud. Not all this old
stuff.
POOL PLAYER
Covers.
(starts singing the
Rolling Stones song,
Under Cover of the
Night)
"Under cover..."
OTHER POOL PLAYER
"Pushing down on me, pushing down
on you..."
POOL PLAYER
(laughing)
No, we got that wrong.
OTHER POOL PLAYER
I wonder if that Marie will be in
again tonight. She's quite tasty.
Jake listens intently.
POOL PLAYER
I rang her up. I've got a date
with her on Saturday. I told you
she was easy.
OTHER POOL PLAYER
Really? Timothy, you dirty old
man.
You know what they say: a cuckoo
never goes back to the same nest
twice.
POOL PLAYER
Who says that? You just made that
up. Anyway, would you refuse it?
OTHER POOL PLAYER
I wouldn't climb over you to get
to her. No, that's wrong. I
wouldn't climb over her to get to
you. Something like that, anyway.
The band start warming up. The lights go down except for
the one over the pool table, a spotlight on the singer, and
a hidden light behind the bar. The female singer is dressed
like a cabaret chanteuse in a black cocktail dress. They
play Lonelyville, by Combustible Edison. While they are
playing, everyone in the bar exists in a silent dream, like
mimes. The pool players strike the balls silently, the
balls scatter, their mouths move without words. The barman
wipes the bar, serves drinks, and leans on the pump, speaks
silently to his customers. All we can hear is the song.
Jake sits staring at the poster on the wall, "Tonight, The
Great Pretenders."
"Lonelyville The name of my town is Lonelyville Nobody down
in Lonelyville Nobody here but me
Lonelyville I'm spending my nights in Lonelyville Seeing
the sights in Lonelyville But nothing's here to see
Population of three Just me, myself, and I So if you happen
to be passing by
Lonelyville Don't let me stay here in Lonelyville Not one
more day here in Lonelyville How I want to go Back to where
I know I will never be lonely..."
The song ends, the bar comes back to life, Jake wakes up.
Desultory clapping around the bar. The singer says
'thankyou'. One of the pool players shouts, "That was
bloody cheerful! Play something happy." The musicians look
at each other, agree something, and start playing some
upbeat rock number.
Jake stands up, empties his pint, and leaves the bar with
his head down.
EXT. TOWN STREET - A BIT LATER
Jake walks towards a chip shop. A fat woman, JENNY, almost
trips out the door holding a bag of chips. She is wearing
high-heeled strappy shoes and a tight black, low-cut dress.
She's very drunk.
JENNY
I've lost my friends!
JAKE
That's careless of you.
JENNY
Do you want a chip?
JAKE
No thanks.
JENNY
What's your name?
JAKE
Jake. What's yours?
JENNY
Jenny. I don't know where they've
gone. They said they'd meet me
here and they didn't. I went to
another pub with some bloke and
he was a twat, so I got rid of
him, and now I can't find them.
You're not a twat are you?
JAKE
Hmmmm, I'm not sure. You'll have
to tell me.
JENNY
You don't look like a twat. Have
a chip.
JAKE
No thanks - I'm really not
hungry.
JENNY
(mocking)
Neither am I, really.
(she looks down at the
chips as if to throw
them away)
But I'll eat them anyway. Do you
think I'm too fat? You can be
honest.
JAKE
Too fat for what? No, I don't
think you're too fat, whatever
that means.
JENNY
That other bloke did, but he was
a twat.
You're not a twat, I can see that
- you're kind, you've got a kind
face. Are you married?
JAKE
Yes.
JENNY
Why aren't you with your wife
then?
JAKE
We don't live together.
JENNY
Separated? I'm divorced. My
husband was a bastard to me -
well, not at first, but after we
split up. I never see him now,
he's in Guatemala.
They walk down the road together.
JENNY (cont'd)
I don't even know where I'm
going. I'm supposed to be sharing
a taxi, but I've lost my friends.
I can't get home?
JAKE
Where do you live?
JENNY
Not here. Denton.
JAKE
Denton?! That's miles away.
JENNY
I know. Do you think I'm stupid?
JAKE
What? No, I don't think you're
stupid.
JENNY
My husband always told me I was
stupid. I must have been to marry
him.
Jenny falls off her shoe and grabs hold of Jake.
JENNY (cont'd)
God, I'm so pissed, I can hardly
stand up. I can't afford a taxi
on my own. Shit! What am I gonna
do?
JAKE
Why don't you try and find your
friends?
JENNY
No, I reckon they've gone without
me. They probably thought I'd
scored with that wanker.
Jenny sits down on a wall.
JENNY (cont'd)
It's crap here, isn't it?
JAKE
In this street?
JENNY
No, this town. There's nothing
happening. It used to be good,
when I was a kid, but now there's
nothing going on. Did you grow up
here?
JAKE
No. I moved here.
JENNY
You moved here? You must be mad.
JAKE
I sort of like it - it's out of
the way.
JENNY
Do you get lonely? I get lonely.
Do you think I'm nice?
JAKE
I don't know you. Of course
you're nice.
JENNY
My ex told me I was horrible. But
he was a twat. All men are twats
or wankers. Except you, you look
kind. Can I stay at your place?
JAKE
My place? I've only got one
bedroom.
JENNY
That's alright... I can sleep on
the couch. I can't get home
otherwise.
I'll get up early and take the
train. I won't make a noise,
honest. Please. Can I?
JAKE
My landlady is nosey.
JENNY
So, you're an adult aren't you?
You can do what you like. Tell
her to get lost - I'll do it for
you.
JAKE
You're definitely not coming
back, then.
JENNY
Okay, I'll be on my best
behaviour. I'll be very quiet and
won't say a word, and in the
morning I'll go early - you won't
even see me - I'll tip-toe out
the door. Promise.
JAKE
Okay, then, come on.
Jake pulls her up from where she's sitting.
JENNY
Ow, these bloody shoes are
killing me. I'm taking them off.
EXT. JAKE'S FLAT - ON THE FIRE ESCAPE
Jake and Jenny make their way up the fire-escape. Madame
Verbist's light is on.
JENNY
Why are we going up the fire
escape?
JAKE
I don't want the landlady to hear
me coming in.
JENNY
Why?
JAKE
I told you.
They get to Jake's back door and go in. Jenny flops
straight down onto Jake's bed.
JENNY
Can I sleep here?
JAKE
That's my bed.
JENNY
Do you mind?
Jake doesn't reply. He puts the light on and walks through
into the lounge. When he comes back, Jenny is getting
undressed.
JENNY (cont'd)
Don't look at me. I'm really shy.
Do you think I'm fat?
JAKE
I'm not looking at you. Shall I
put the light out?
JENNY
Yeah, put the light out. I don't
like people looking at me - I'm
so fat.
They both undress and get into bed. They're lying on their
sides, spoon-wise, not quite touching. Jenny starts
snuggling closer to him.
JENNY (cont'd)
I can't believe I'm doing this. I
don't even know your name.
JAKE
Yes you do. I told you.
JENNY
Oh yeah, Jake. That's okay then.
Do you want a shag?
JAKE
Probably.
Jenny climbs on top of him and starts moving up and down
slowly but noisily. Suddenly she stops and wipes her hair
from her eyes and says:
JENNY
God, I'm so pissed. Do you think
I'm pissed?
She flops down on top of him and passes out.
JAKE
Yes.
Jenny's white body on top of Jake. Spanish language tape
with subtitles (sound of phone ringing on tape):
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
(answering phone)
Hello?
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Belinda, this is Javier, I met
you at the party.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Javier! You cannot call me here.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
I know, but I can't stop thinking
about you. You said you could
show me the city.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
I will, but I have to wait for my
boyfriend to go away. Can you
meet me Sunday?
The Spanish instructor says in English: "Tell her you can
meet her in El Raval, at the Palau Guell." Sound of Jenny
and Jake snoring.
FADE TO BLACK.
INT. JAKE'S BEDROOM - NEXT MORNING
Jake is getting dressed. Jenny is hiding her head under the
duvet.
JENNY
Oh, I can't believe I did this.
JAKE
You didn't do anything.
JENNY
(she pulls her head out
the duvet)
I feel awful. Do I look awful?
JAKE
Yes. I have to go. Just leave
from this door and pull it to
behind you. I hope you get home
okay. Nice to meet you.
Jake walks towards the door to the fire-escape, sees the
water start dripping down, turns around and leaves by the
front door instead.
EXT. SMALL STREET - MORNING
Jake walks down the maze of lanes emerging onto a narrow
street full of shops. He goes into:
INT. BAKER'S SHOP - CONTINUOUS
The shop is more crowded, with people standing at the
counter. In addition to Yazza, there are two more serving.
Marinka is standing at the other end of the counter to
Jake: she hasn't seen him. He gets served by Yazza.
YAZZA
Yes?
Jake is consumed by Marinka.
YAZZA (cont'd)
(snapping her fingers)
La-di-da... Hell-o-o!
JAKE
Chicken sandwich, please.
YAZZA
Brown or white?
Jake is back looking at Marinka.
YAZZA (cont'd)
(leaning forwards and
turning her head
towards Marinka,
copying him)
Brown or white?
JAKE
Brown.
YAZZA
Salad? Mayonnaise? Plain?
Jake watches Marinka get her change and start to leave.
JAKE
Yes please.
YAZZA
Which?
JAKE
The middle one.
YAZZA
Salad?
JAKE
Yes.
Yazza slowly prepares his sandwich, slowly bags it, slowly
enters it on to the till.
YAZZA
Anything else?
JAKE
No, that's it.
YAZZA
No doughnuts today?
JAKE
No, thankyou. That's fine.
YAZZA
Okay! At last! That's two pound
twenty.
Jake pays her and exits to:
EXT. SMALL STREET - CONTINUOUS
Jake looks up and down the street. No sight of Marinka. He
starts walking down the street. As he walks past an art
shop she walks out right in front of him.
JAKE
Hello.
MARINKA
Oh, hi, Mr Peeping Tom.
JAKE
My name's Jake.
MARINKA
Peeping Jake, then.
JAKE
I wasn't peeping, I was just
curious.
MARINKA
All peepers are curious.
JAKE
I was delivering some metal to
your neighbour.
MARINKA
Oh, Joost. Are you a sculptor?
JAKE
Me? No, but I liked his stuff. I
do a bit of welding but I've
never made anything - I mainly
destroy things.
MARINKA
Well, Joost mainly destroys
things and then makes something
else from them. Maybe you should
try it. Why don't you come in and
see us some time - our doors are
always open.
JAKE
Shouldn't I knock first.
MARINKA
If the door is closed, you should
knock.
Jake is about to say goodbye when Jenny appears next to
him, dishevelled and obviously in last night's going out
clothes.
JENNY
Hi, Jake.
JAKE
(downbeat)
Oh, hi.
JENNY
I left you my telephone number on
your table, in case you want to
see me again.
JAKE
Oh, right. Thanks.
Marinka is standing by, amused. Jenny hangs around.
JAKE (cont'd)
Jenny, this is...
MARINKA
Marinka.
JAKE
Marinka? Marinka is a painter.
JENNY
You wouldn't want to paint me.
You'd need a lot of paint.
MARINKA
You would make a good model.
JENNY
Would I? You don't think I'm too
fat?
MARINKA
No! There's no such thing for a
painter.
JENNY
Oh, you're really kind, you are.
Jake's kind too. Don't you think
he has a kind face?
JAKE
Do you know where the train
station is?
JENNY
Of course I do. Are you going to
walk with me?
JAKE
No, I work the other way.
JENNY
Okay. My feet are killing me
anyway. Gotta go, I'll see you
later. Ring me if you want a
night out.
Marinka and Jake say goodbye to Jenny.
JAKE
She's my cleaning lady.
MARINKA
She starts work early.
JAKE
So, I'll come and see you
sometime.
MARINKA
(touching his arm)
Don't leave it too long.
JAKE
I won't.
Jake waves goodbye and walks down the street, saying to
himself, "Marinka. Marinka. Marinka?"
EXT. SCRAPYARD - MORNING
Jake arrives outside the gate the same time as Davey gets
dropped off by his girlfriend.
DAVEY
Bloody hell. You're early this
morning. Someone kick you out of
bed?
JAKE
Is that why you're always here on
time?
DAVEY
(waving goodbye to his
girlfriend)
That's right. Hey, guess what.
JAKE
What?
DAVEY
We're getting married!
JAKE
Wow - congratulations. When?
DAVEY
Next April. We're having a big
engagement party and everything -
you can come.
JAKE
Does that count as an invitation?
You can come, if you want to.
DAVEY
Yeah, you can come. And then
we're going to buy a flat.
JAKE
Can you afford a flat? I mean,
you told me you don't earn very
much.
DAVEY
Yuh, it'll be okay, but don't
tell Twin, I've been offered
another job. I'll give my notice
in a couple of weeks.
JAKE
Shit. Whereabouts?
DAVEY
Working for her dad, in the car
salesroom. To start with I'll
just be cleaning up the cars,
delivering them and stuff, but
later on he'll train me to sell
them. I can't wait.
I mean, I like the scrapyard and
everything but it'll be great not
to get so dirty all the time.
JAKE
You'll miss the smashing.
DAVEY
Hey, I'll be able to smash new
cars instead of old.
INT. SCRAPYARD WELDING SHED - DAY
Although it's day, the inside of the shed is dark except
where shafts of light cut through some grimy upper windows.
The walls are covered with racked shelving containing all
kinds of metals and tools.
Jake is alone, busy doing something. He stops to adjust the
volume of his Walkman on which he is listening to his
Spanish tape.
He works with a welding torch - bright flashes of coloured
lights, flares, smoke. Mysterious, silent movement in the
mist.
While he works, the Spanish voice-over:
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
So this is the city.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
The city of my dreams.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
You can see everything from up
here.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Every tiny house, and all the
little people. How high are we?
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Five hundred and sixty metres. Do
you get dizzy when you look down?
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR (V.O.)
(in English)
Tell her you only get dizzy when
there is nothing beneath your
feet.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
I only get dizzy when there is
nothing beneath my feet.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Shall we hold hands and pretend
we are flying?
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR
(in English)
Tell her that is what you came
here for.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
That is what I came here for.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Let's close our eyes and leave
the world behind.
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR
(in English)
Tell her that you are happy to
have made such a good friend in
Barcelona.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
It would be really good if we
could sleep together tonight.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Pardon, I didn't hear you - it's
too windy!
INT. MARINKA'S STUDIO - EVENING
Jake's head appears around the swing door of the garage.
Marinka is cleaning up her brushes in front of a nude
portrait. She smiles at Jake.
MARINKA
Hi!
JAKE
Hi, I was out for a walk and I
thought I would take you up on
your offer.
MARINKA
Great. Come in and have a look.
Do you like painting?
JAKE
Well, yes I do, but I don't know
much about what I like.
MARINKA
Well, if you like it, you like
it; if you don't, you don't.
JAKE
How long have you been a painter?
MARINKA
I've always done it - since art
school. Sometimes I teach, to pay
the rent, but mostly I just do
this.
JAKE
And do you find it hard to sell
them?
MARINKA
(pretending outrage)
No!
JAKE
No, I didn't mean that they were
bad or anything - I told you that
I know nothing. What I meant was,
how easy is it to... Oh, you
know, where do you sell them?
MARINKA
I know what you mean. Oh,
sometimes in exhibitions. There
are a couple of galleries in the
city that show my stuff. A few
collectors. Sometimes people even
walk off the street into here and
buy them.
Jake looks at the nude life portrait, in the style of
Lucien Freud.
MARINKA (cont'd)
You recognise her?
JAKE
Yes.
MARINKA
Do you want to go and meet the
others? Let's see who's around.
They leave Marinka's studio and walk next door into
Joost's. Joost is moving stuff around.
MARINKA (cont'd)
Hey, Joost. Jake is here.
JOOST
Hi, Jake. How's life at the
scrapyard.
JAKE
Same as it ever was.
MARINKA
Have you just finished something?
JOOST
Ya, but it's not quite complete
yet. I have to join them
together.
Joost points to a large Heron made from lightweight steel.
JOOST (cont'd)
It's a mobile. The heron is one
end and the shoal of fish are on
the other. The whole thing is
suspended above a fountain and
when the shoal of fish or heron
get hit by the water coming up,
the heron swoops down and almost
gets the fish but they get tugged
away and it straightens up again.
The fish are mirrored so they
flash when the water hits them.
MARINKA
Nice, eh!
JAKE
It's great! Who's it for?
JOOST
Some big company, to hang over
their fountain. Keep the workers
happy.
JAKE
I recognise those wings. They
came from that oven I brought
over, didn't they.
JOOST
That's right - there is life
after death.
MARINKA
Is Daniel in?
JOOST
I haven't heard any strange
noises, but then I've been making
lots of strange noises myself so
he might be.
MARINKA
Daniel does stuff with computers -
multimedia. You'll like it. Weird
films and sounds.
Marinka and Jake walk towards the door.
JOOST
See you later, Jake.
JAKE
Yeah, see ya. I'll see if I can
find some nice scrap for you.
JOOST
Thanks.
JAKE
(to Marinka)
How do you know I like weird
films and sounds?
MARINKA
You have a good sense of humour.
That's all that matters.
JAKE
Really?
MARINKA
And you work in a scrapyard -
that's sounds weird.
Marinka leads Jake into the next shed. It's darker than the
others. Daniel is sat at a console with lots of equipment
on it, computers, samplers, mixers, digi-cams, etc. There
are wires everywhere. Sequences of strange electronic
sounds and white noise, like metal animals giving birth.
Daniel is looking at a large flat screen, freezing and fast
forwarding images.
MARINKA (cont'd)
Daniel.
Daniel doesn't hear her.
MARINKA (cont'd)
Daniel! Hoo-hooooo.
Marinka walks up to Daniel and touches him gently on the
shoulder.
MARINKA (cont'd)
The mad genius is at play.
Daniel swivels round in his seat. He removes some small
headphones from beneath a bush of wild curly hair. He has
positive energetic features.
DANIEL
Hellooo, I was just merging some
flim with some flam, to make some
jam.
MARINKA
Really? Which is the flim?
DANIEL
(pointing to a button on
a console)
That one there. And that one over
there is the flam.
MARINKA
Daniel, this is Jake. Jake works
in the scrapyard.
DANIEL
Really? I would like to come and
film in there sometime. All that
crushing and bending, there are
some great images.
JAKE
Yeah, that's true. It's
aesthetically pleasing, for sure,
but I wouldn't recommend it for
those reasons.
DANIEL
Would you recommend it at all?
JAKE
Well, okay then. I'd recommend
you made a film about it - that
might be interesting.
DANIEL
Do you ever get computer
equipment just thrown away?
JAKE
Not really, we only deal in
metal. Why?
DANIEL
I'm always looking for stuff. If
you get anything - screens,
whatever, bring it to me and I'll
try it. I can always dump it
again if it's no use.
JAKE
Okay. I'll think of you.
DANIEL
Thanks. Nice to meet you. Hope to
see you later.
Daniel puts his headphones back on. Marinka and Jake walk
out onto the quayside.
MARINKA
Hey Jake, what with your scrap
for Joost and computers for
Daniel, you'll be keeping
everybody here going. I don't
suppose you have any canvasses
you don't need do you?
JAKE
That's one thing I haven't seen
in a scrap metal yard. Can you
paint on sheet metal?
MARINKA
I've done it before and it gives
great effects. But I prefer
canvass.
JAKE
There's a really nice atmosphere
down here.
(points towards the
scrapyard)
It's so different from just over
there.
MARINKA
What's just over there?
JAKE
The scrapyard.
MARINKA
Well, you can come just down here
and see us whenever you want, you
know.
JAKE
Can I come and see you?
MARINKA
Well, I might make you do
something. I might use you as a
model - we don't allow free
looters.
JAKE
Is that a cross between a free
loader and a free-booter?
MARINKA
Probably.
JAKE
I can even improve my English.
MARINKA
You never know what you might
learn, till you try. Now I'm
going back to work before the sun
goes down.
JAKE
And I will go and waste my
evening drinking.
MARINKA
Tchh, tchh - you Englishmen. Bye.
INT. NAGEL'S BAR - EVENING
Jake sits drinking alone.
A pool player assembles a three-part pool cue.
The barman inserts an opaque pipe into the top of a barrel.
Above the bar there is a mobile constructed of steel wires
and small lozenges of flashing metal.
Jake watches the mobile spin. The pool player breaks the
balls with a loud crack. Jake gets suddenly restless,
finishes his beer and leaves.
He walks down the road to:
EXT. SCRAPYARD - CONTINUOUS
Jake walks past the scrapyard, making sure there is no-one
there. He knows a way in, around the side, over some rough
ground, behind some bushes to where there is gap between
the fence-post and the back of a shed. He squeezes through
into:
INT. SCRAPYARD - CONTINUOUS
Jake looks around at the now quiet scrapyard. The piles of
just-dead artifacts. He walks over to a pile and pulls out
some interesting pieces of metal and takes them to:
INT. SCRAPYARD WELDING SHED - CONTINUOUS
Jake drops the metal on the floor and messes around
arranging them together in different configurations. He
hums as he thinks.
He puts on a visor and lights a welding torch. He starts
beating, sawing, and welding the metal, turning it into a
sculpture.
As he works, it grows dark. Sparks and flames light up his
face.
Fade to black.
EXT. JAKE'S FLAT - SAME NIGHT
Jake stands beneath the streetlight in the lane at the back
of his house. He looks up at Madame Verbist's bedroom
window and sees her silhouette behind the curtains. He
decides to use the front-door instead. He is carrying
something in a black sack.
Front of the house. Jake quietly opens the front door and
creeps up to his flat. He is just opening his door when
Madame Verbist appears at the turn of the stair.
MADAME VERBIST
Hello, mister Jake. You are late
in tonight. I've been waiting up
for you. There's an important
letter, I had to sign for it and
I thought you would want it.
JAKE
Thanks, that's very kind of you,
but you shouldn't have waited up -
tomorrow would've been okay.
MADAME VERBIST
It must be important.
JAKE
What's more important than a good
night's rest?
MADAME VERBIST
Oh, I can think of one or two
things worth staying up for.
JAKE
Sadly, I suspect that this is not
one of them.
MADAME VERBIST
No, brown envelopes rarely are.
Brown skins maybe...
JAKE
Probably best not to go there
tonight.
MADAME VERBIST
I was just going to have a whisky
- would you like to join me? It
will help you sleep.
JAKE
No thanks, I am pretty tired
already, I've been working late.
MADAME VERBIST
Yes, I can see. But you are not
sleeping well, are you. It's
because you have worries and you
have left your wife but you
haven't got a woman in your life.
JAKE
Well, I don't think...
MADAME VERBIST
I hear you at night, getting up
and walking around. And you play
the radio. That is not good of
you, you know, it keeps me awake.
You are always listening to the
Spanish radio.
JAKE
It's a tape, a language tape.
MADAME VERBIST
Oh, you are learning Spanish?
JAKE
It just helps me sleep. I found
it in the bottom of the wardrobe.
MADAME VERBIST
You know, I think you are right.
The previous tenant, Isabel, she
was studying Spanish too.
JAKE
I'm not studying it - I just
listen to it - it stops me
thinking of other things.
MADAME VERBIST
I know you have problems, Mister
Jake, but you still have to pay
your rent. You owe me two months
now and you promised me you would
pay this week.
JAKE
It's difficult. I'm trying to
save. I have a wife and I child
and...
MADAME VERBIST
Oh, I cannot listen to this. We
have an arrangement - there is
life and there is business, they
are completely separate.
JAKE
So what is whisky?
MADAME VERBIST
Oh, you Englishmen, you do not
understand how to be civil, how
to return a courtesy. You are all
rough. But that changes nothing -
I must be paid.
JAKE
Okay, I will find a way to get
it.
MADAME VERBIST
How? How will you get it?
JAKE
I don't know. I'll ask my boss to
give me an advance or something.
Don't worry. I will pay you.
MADAME VERBIST
I will give you one more week.
JAKE
Thankyou so much.
MADAME VERBIST
And remember, wear your
headphones! Bon soir.
INT. JAKE'S FLAT - CONTINUOUS
Jake opens the letter. It is from the Child Support Agency.
He reads, sarcastically: "The Agency has made a preliminary
assessment of liability with regard to your wife and child.
This assessment has taken account of you current income and
living costs. You are now required to pay a weekly sum
of..."
Jake breaks off reading, mutters "Well, thankyou for
telling me" and drops the screwed up letter into the bin.
He opens the sack he is carrying and puts his sculpture on
the table.
He walks to the fridge, gets a beer and walks to the sofa.
He looks at his sculpture. He walks over to it, turns it
around, feels it in his hands, holds it up to the light to
look at its surface. He takes it back to the sofa with him
and sits with it on his lap.
He turns on the TV, flicks through the channels, settles on
a film. He turns out the lamp. The room is dark apart from
the TV light.
He sits there for a while, drinking, expressionless. Soon
he is asleep. On the TV is a tough-guy movie. We see a
scene in which the hero is at the mercy of the villain. The
villain threatens to slice off his ear and says, "Don't
provoke me, I'm a mean, angry motherfucker and I hate your
face!"
A small movement of Jake's sleeping lips. There is a scream
from the television. Jake wakes, startled, realises where
he is, watches the action on the screen, winces, says
"Ooooh, you mean motherfucker." He turns off the TV, picks
up his sculpture, and walks in the dark to:
JAKE'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Jake is in bed with the sculpture on the bed next to him.
He puts his earphones on and starts listening the tape. He
lays on his side with one hand on the sculpture.
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR
(in English)
Here are some words you can use:
(in Spanish, with
English subtitles)
Desire, Ignoramus, Percussion,
Frustration, Onion, Orgasm, Wing
tips, Anger, The Ramparts, Mural,
Desire...
FADE TO BLACK.
EXT. SCRAPYARD - NIGHT
Jake sneaks into the empty scrapyard.
INT. SCRAPYARD WELDING SHED - NIGHT
Jake is working on another, bigger, sculpture.
While he is working he hears a sound outside. He turns off
his torch and watches out the window.
The scrapyard gates are opened by Squeak. A tow-away truck,
driven by Twin, enters. On the back of the truck is a black
Mercedes limousine.
Jake drives to a remote area of the scrapyard and unloads
the Mercedes into a large warehouse which is then locked
up. Jake watches Twin and Squeak park the lorry. Twin gets
out the lorry carrying something the size of a briefcase
and takes it into the office. They both then leave.
Jake doesn't do any more work. He leaves the way he came
in.
INT. BAKER'S SHOP - NEXT MORNING
Jake is waiting to be served, listening to his Walkman in a
post-insomnia haze. He looks at the cabinet full of
uninspiring filled rolls and pasties.
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR
(whispering, in English)
The waitress wants to take your
order, tell her you will start
with an aperitif.
A pause.
SPANISH WAITRESS (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Of course, sir. What would you
prefer?
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR
(whispering, in English)
You notice a man sitting at
another table. Point to him and
say that you will have the same
as him.
A pause.
SPANISH WAITRESS (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Oh, no no no, sir. He is English -
you do not want a litre of
Sangria this early in the
morning.
Jake's POV. Yazza is standing in front of him. Her mouth is
moving but we can only hear Jake's tape.
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR
(in English)
Tell her, in that case you would
like a Campari and soda.
Silence. Yazza is getting pissed off. She waves her hands
in front of his eyes to wake him up. Jake jerks out of his
dream and removes his earphones.
YAZZA
(for the third time)
What - do - you - want?
Jake, unable to think, turns and sees a very fat man being
served next to him.
JAKE
I'll have the same as him.
Yazza tilts her head and looks at Jake goofily.
INT. SCRAPYARD SHED - SAME MORNING
Jake stows his lunch on the side and gets ready for work.
Twin is busying himself, undoing something with a spanner.
TWIN
(nonchalantly indicating
a laptop computer
sitting on the
workbench)
There's a computer there.
JAKE
Yup.
TWIN
You want it?
JAKE
What do I know about computers?
TWIN
It's free.
Jake walks over to it and runs his hand across its
contoured surface.
JAKE
Where's it from?
TWIN
Dumped. People throw out anything
these days. It's even got a bag.
JAKE
It must be stolen.
TWIN
Why?
JAKE
Would you dump an expensive
computer?
TWIN
Look, take it or leave it.
JAKE
Okay, okay. I'll take it.
INT. MARINKA'S STUDIO
Marinka is at work. Jake arrives with the laptop case over
his shoulder and a black sack.
JAKE
(tapping on the wicket
door)
Marinka.
MARINKA
Hi. Come in - you don't have to
knock if the door is open.
JAKE
Oh, I haven't learnt the rules
yet.
MARINKA
It's not a rule - it's just
behaviour.
JAKE
Right. I brought something for
Daniel, is he here?
MARINKA
I don't think so. I haven't heard
any strange noises coming from
there.
JAKE
That's what I thought. His door
was shut, so I thought I would
give it to you.
MARINKA
What is it?
JAKE
It's a laptop computer. Somebody
dumped it and I thought he could
use it. But tell him that I don't
know if it works or not.
MARINKA
(taking the case and
putting it on one side)
Okay. That's great!
(looking at him straight
on)
So, how are you?
JAKE
Yeah, I'm okay.
MARINKA
Just okay? How's your cleaner?
JAKE
Oh, I had to get rid of her. She
was too enthusiastic. She arrived
too early for work.
MARINKA
You'll need to replace her.
JAKE
I think I can do it myself.
MARINKA
That sounds tiring. Actually, you
look a bit tired. You must have
been working too much, as well as
cleaning.
JAKE
Yeah, I lie awake at night,
worrying about the cleaning.
MARINKA
You shouldn't do that you know.
If you don't worry about it, the
cleaning takes care of itself.
JAKE
Right.
(a beat)
I brought you something, er,
something to show you.
MARINKA
Another gift?
JAKE
Sort of.
Jake reaches into the sack and takes out his first
sculpture.
MARINKA
Wow, that's great! Did you make
it?
JAKE
Yeah, well I was just messing
around and it sort of happened.
MARINKA
Hey, don't be modest! It's
fantastic - I'm going to show it
to Joost. Come on.
She grabs his arm and drags him round to:
INT. JOOST'S WORKSHOP
MARINKA
Hey, Joost. Look at this
sculpture. Jake made it. Isn't it
great.
JOOST
Whoooa, hi Jake, you've been
roasting.
JAKE
It's nothing really - I was just
messing around with the welder
and it sort of happened.
JOOST
No, it is something. You made
something, man - don't delegrate
yourself. What's the word?
MARINKA
Denigrate?
JOOST
Ya, don't denigrate yourself. It
means something. I love this line
here - the way the circle just
takes off into an arc - it's
beautiful. Perfect welding too.
What do you call it?
JAKE
Nothing. It doesn't have a name.
JOOST
You have to give it a name, to
mark its entrance into the world.
MARINKA
Something to do with the
scrapyard.
JAKE
"Man's Inhumanity to Things".
JOOST
Ooh, that's big!
JAKE
"Barcelona"?
MARINKA
Why Barcelona?
JAKE
That's what I was thinking of
when I made it: "I want to go to
Barcelona."
MARINKA
Do you?
JAKE
Yeah - no - I don't know. It was
just what I was thinking of.
JOOST
Cool. Call it that: "I want to go
to Barcelona." You gave birth to
your first sculpture. Now you've
got something to do for the rest
of your life. What are you
working on now?
JAKE
Working on? Well, I have started
something else. Something a bit
bigger.
JOOST
Great. If you want to, I can try
and sell them for you. If you
want to that is.
JAKE
You mean people are prepared to
pay for this stuff.
JOOST
Yeah, it's art, man, you're
creating something from nothing
out of your own being. Just
because you never went to art
school doesn't mean it's not art.
You do what the fuck you like and
if it means something to you,
that's good enough. So long as it
has meaning for you and you
believe in it, that's all you
gotta worry about. And if they
like it, and are prepared to pay
for it, what's wrong with that? I
can ask people for you.
JAKE
Really? Shit - maybe I could even
pay my rent?
MARINKA
Can't you pay your rent?
JAKE
It's just a temporary thing - I
have a problem at the moment.
MARINKA
You should do what we do and live
on boats, it's cheaper.
JAKE
You live on a boat too?
MARINKA
I live on a houseboat - come on,
I'll show you.
JOOST
Don't forget to bring me
something I can sell, so you
won't be homeless.
Marinka leads Jake outside to:
EXT. DOCKYARD WHARVES - CONTINUOUS
MARINKA
See that houseboat over there?
JAKE
The one with all the plants on?
MARINKA
That's my home.
JAKE
Do you own it?
MARINKA
No, I rent it, but it's cheaper
than having an apartment and it's
near my studio.
I'll show it to you sometime but
I'm working now - later maybe.
You could come over for something
to eat one night, if you want.
JAKE
I do want.
MARINKA
There you go then. When do you
want?
JAKE
Any time is fine with me.
MARINKA
No cleaning duties arranged?
JAKE
I told you, it's too much like
hard work.
MARINKA
Okay, what about Wednesday night?
JAKE
That'll do.
(offering her his
sculpture)
Listen, I'd like you to have
this.
MARINKA
No way. That's your first one -
it's special.
JAKE
That's why I want you to have it.
I would never have made it if I
hadn't spoken to you in the
street that day.
MARINKA
But you should always keep your
first thing so you know where you
started.
JAKE
I started with you. I want you to
have it.
MARINKA
Are you sure?
JAKE
Sure. Take it. You can put it
with your plants and watch it
rust.
MARINKA
No, I'll keep it dry so it
changes slowly.
JAKE
Okay, I'll see you Wednesday
then. What time?
MARINKA
Just wander over early evening.
(she surprises him with
a big hug)
And thankyou so much for this -
it means a lot to me.
JAKE
Me too.
MARINKA
Do you want to keep it then?
JAKE
I meant that giving it to you
means a lot to me. See you later.
INT. SCRAPYARD - MORNING
Lots of work activity. Through the main gates a silver
Subaru pulls up at the kerb and two men get out. One of
them, MITCH, is small, neat, and wiry. The other, JASON, is
tall, with seventies-style Afro hair; he's even dressed a
bit disco, with an ostentatious jacket and shirt.
They walk into the scrapyard. Mitch quickly scans the
layout and walks off towards the back of the yard where
most of the sheds and warehouses are. None of the workers
notice them.
In a quiet area of the scrapyard Mitch is standing on tip
toes, jumping a bit, trying to see into the high windows of
one of the warehouses. He motions to Jason:
MITCH
Drag that pallet board over here
so I can climb up.
JASON
It's dirty.
MITCH
Just fucking get it!
JASON
You get it!
Mitch stands and waits, as if he is the boss.
JASON (cont'd)
I'm not touching it.
MITCH
It's only dirt.
JASON
Well you do it then.
MITCH
And what will you do?
JASON
Whaddya mean, what will I do?
MITCH
You're just going to watch me?
JASON
You move it and I'll climb up and
look in.
MITCH
I'm not moving it so you can look
in. If I have to move it, I'm
going to look in.
JASON
Okay, you move it then.
Mitch drags the pallet board over and stands it against the
side of the shed. He rubs the dirt from his hands and
starts climbing up.
CUT TO:
Twin standing 20 metres away watching them. He bends down
and picks up lump of metal the size of a grapefruit and
throws it so that it smacks against the wall of the
warehouse, right next to Mitch.
Mitch calmly turns round, looks at Twin, then turns back
and looks in the window again.
TWIN
Oy, mister, that meant "get
down!"
Mitch looks at him again and smiles - he starts climbing
down.
TWIN (cont'd)
What are you doing?
MITCH
(to Jason, ignoring
Twin)
There's nothing there. Let's try
that one.
Mitch walks back to get the pallet board.
TWIN
I asked you what you are doing?
Twin walks over kicks the pallet board to the ground. Mitch
removes his hands just in time.
MITCH
Whooaaa - excitable. We're
looking for something.
TWIN
Well you should have come to the
office - we don't let members of
the public just wander around
here. It's not safe.
MITCH
Well, I am very sorry, but you
see, I'm looking for something
quite important and I didn't see
it amongst all those piles of
rubbish you have down there so I
thought I would come and look for
it myself, to save you the
trouble.
TWIN
There's nothing here to interest
you. If you want something, ask
me.
MITCH
And you are?
TWIN
I'm the owner.
MITCH
Oh, you must be Twin. Jason, this
is Twin. We were wondering who
you were. Well, Twin, now I know
that I'm speaking to the right
person, I can tell you what we
are looking for.
TWIN
I don't care. This is private
property - just get out.
MITCH
Ah, ah - that's not the right way
to treat your customers.
I told you that we are looking
for something important so I
would've expected you to ask me
what it was so that you could
maybe find it for me.
TWIN
I'm choosy about who I sell to.
MITCH
That's not a good attitude to
have. You might find yourself
going out of business.
TWIN
Are you going?
MITCH
Don't you want to know what I'm
looking for?
TWIN
No.
MITCH
Well, while we walk back to your
office, let me tell you.
Mitch and Jason start walking back with Twin behind them.
MITCH (cont'd)
You see, someone told us that you
sell cars. Is that correct?
TWIN
No. We don't sell cars - we scrap
them.
MITCH
Really? Jason, didn't someone
tell us that Twin sold cars?
JASON
Yup. And they're normally right
about such things.
MITCH
You hear that Twin? They're
normally right.
Twin puts his arms out and walks into them ushering the
along.
JASON
Hey, hey, don't touch me.
TWIN
Do you want me to get in that
fucking crane over there and lift
you out?
MITCH
Hmmmm, strong man. Come on,
Jason, we can walk and talk at
the same time.
They carry on walking, but Mitch slows it down so that he
can talk to Twin, in a relaxed way.
MITCH (cont'd)
Let me just tell you this, Twin:
a good friend of mine needs to
buy a car.
TWIN
Tell him to go to a car
salesroom.
MITCH
But that's it you see: another
good friend told us that this is
a car salesroom, of sorts. Now
the reason my friend needs to buy
a car is because he lost his old
one.
TWIN
That's careless of him.
MITCH
You could put it like that. Or
you could say that it was
thoughtless of the person who
stole it. Now I know that cars
get stolen every day and the
insurance pays up and you just go
and get a new one, but it's not
just that, is it? Cars have
sentimental value. And not just
the cars themselves but the
things in them. And this friend
of mine, he kept a lot of things
with sentimental value in his
car, and there was one thing in
particular that he would like to
get back.
TWIN
I'm not listening, mister. I told
you, we don't sell cars.
MITCH
No, but what if someone asked you
to scrap a car that might have
been stolen. You would know that
wouldn't you, if it was in good
condition?
Twin says nothing. They walk into the main compound, near
the office, where other men are working, including Davey,
Squeak, and Jake.
MITCH (cont'd)
So you wouldn't remember? Maybe
one of your guys would remember.
Jason, see that guy over there
breaking up the fridge - go and
ask him.
Twin jumps in front of Jason, squaring up, not at all fazed
by the younger man.
TWIN
I asked you both to leave. Now
leave.
Mitch smiles.
MITCH
Okay, Jason. Forget it. We'll
come back later and talk to Twin
when he's on his own. Maybe his
memory will be better when it's
quiet and there's none of this
noise and, distraction.
Jason turns and Twin helps him along by pushing his back.
Jason jumps angrily away:
JASON
I told you before - no touching!
The other men are now watching the scene.
MITCH
Okay. Let's go.
(walking up close to
Twin, talking quietly)
We'll come back and speak to you
later, Twin.
TWIN
Don't bother. I don't speak to
strangers.
MITCH
I'm not a stranger, Twin. I
already know quite a lot about
you. So you will see us again
but, if, in the meantime, someone
should bring you in a black
Mercedes with cream leather seats
and maybe a few personal items in
the boot, remember that it
belongs to very good friend of
mine, someone very powerful with
a lot of influence who would very
much like to get it back.
Twin says nothing.
MITCH (cont'd)
I think you understand me.
Twin stands at the entrance to the scrapyard with his arms
folded. He watches Mitch and Jason get in their car and
drive off.
INT. JAKE'S FLAT - EVENING
Jake is sat at the table sketching. Open in front of him is
a book of photos of the Sagrada Familia cathedral. He
messes with the designs.
A knock at the door.
MADAME VERBIST
(from outside the door)
Mister Jake, are you there? I
think you are there.
Jake pauses. The telephone rings. Jake ignores it and gets
up quietly. He leaves the flat by the fire-escape door.
EXT. ROAD OUTSIDE SCRAPYARD - NIGHT
Jake climbs into the scrapyard over the fence.
INT. SCRAPYARD WELDING SHED - MOMENTS LATER
Jake is welding another, bigger, sculpture, again listening
to his Spanish tape.
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR (V.O.)
Now we're going to practice some
of the grammar you have learned
so far. Try some phrases saying
one thing is not another thing.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
A passport is not a pig. The
hotel is not an anchovy. A fridge
is not an onion. Your aunt is not
a bomb. A lilo is not a
pamplemousse. Your arm is not
your car. His head is not a
stamp. A guitar is not a scalpel.
A dream is not a life.
Jake stops the tape and takes off his visor. He finishes
his sculpture and washes it down. He puts it into a large
black burlap sack. He carries it outside to:
EXT. SCRAPYARD - A BIT LATER
Jake leaves the door open while he carries the sack to the
fence. He is on his way back to lock the door when the main
gate opens and the pickup truck drives in with another car.
He hides behind a pile of household appliances.
Squeak drives the truck through to the same warehouse as
before, leaving Twin to lock the gates. Twin walks across
the yard towards Squeak when he notices the open door of
the welding shed. Bemused, Twin goes inside, walks back
out, looks around, closes the door, and walks off.
Jake waits until they've both left the scrapyard and then
drops his sack over the fence and climbs out.
EXT. DOCKYARD WHARVES - LATER
It's after midnight. The docks are silent. Jake carefully
and silently leaves his sack on the deck of Joost's boat.
He walks back up the lane past Marie's house. A small light
shows through her bedroom window. As he walks past, Jake
hears a woman's gasp of pleasure come from the window.
INT. JAKE'S FLAT - EVENING
Jake is dressed ready to go out. His table is covered with
sketches, ideas for sculptures. He LOOKS AT HIMSELF IN THE
MIRROR and whistles.
A knock at the door. The whistle dies on his lips. Another
knock.
MADAME VERBIST
Mister Jake, I know you are
there. We have to talk. You
cannot ignore me forever.
Jake opens the door. Madame Verbist is dressed up fancily,
to go out. She is wearing a short black skirt.
JAKE
(breezily)
Madame Verbist - I was not
ignoring you, and you look
divine.
MADAME VERBIST
Why, thank you. I have an
invitation with a friend, a new
friend.
JAKE
A male friend?
MADAME VERBIST
Why, of course. Actually, I know
his wife quite well, but they are
not really 'appy. He needs a
little excitement, a little ...
adventure, in his life. Do you
think that's wrong?
JAKE
I'm not his wife.
MADAME VERBIST
But if you were him?
JAKE
If I were him... I would be very
discreet.
MADAME VERBIST
Oh, thankyou, that is a very
French answer. And you, have you
met someone? You don't look so,
lonely.
JAKE
I'm not lonely.
MADAME VERBIST
But you have met someone, haven't
you? Women can see these things
in men. There is nothing worse
than being lonely.
JAKE
Being alone together?
MADAME VERBIST
Yes, but you must learn to enjoy
yourself and have fun.
(changing to her
business persona)
Now. You know what I want to
speak to you about.
JAKE
I have some money coming.
MADAME VERBIST
You made me a promise.
JAKE
I'll sort it out.
MADAME VERBIST
You have until the end of the
week.
JAKE
Okay. I promise this time I will
get it for you.
MADAME VERBIST
Thankyou. I expect you to keep
your word. A gentleman always
keeps his word.
A knock at the downstairs door.
JAKE
And there he is now, unless I'm
very much mistaken.
MADAME VERBIST
Oh, oh, I am not ready yet. Would
you go down and show him up.
Madame Verbist hurries upstairs to her apartment. Jake
walks down and opens the front door to a handsome, greying,
solid, respectable, smartly-dressed man wearing a flower in
his buttonhole and carrying a bouquet.
LOVER
Sorry, I thought Madame
Verbist...
JAKE
Yes. You're in the right place.
She asked me to show you up.
(conspiratorially)
She's not quite ready.
The lover nods his head with absolute understanding. Jake
leads him up the stairs.
LOVER
These old houses - full of
character. Do you live here?
JAKE
I rent an apartment. She's my
landlady. And you're, her
brother?
LOVER
No, no, just a friend.
JAKE
Well, friend, she's behind that
door. The one that's slightly
open.
The lover walks up, indicating "This one?". Jake nods and
smiles. The lover taps on the door.
LOVER
Nicole, can I come in?
MADAME VERBIST (O.S.)
Ye-es.
INT. MADAME VERBIST'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS
Madame Verbist is standing on chair at the window,
stretching up to adjust the curtain hooks. The lover looks
at her LONG LEGS.
MADAME VERBIST
Oh, I didn't realise the time -
you surprised me! One moment
while I adjust these curtains.
EXT. DOCKYARD WHARVES - EVENING
A calm blue evening. Shot of moored houseboats and yachts.
Joost and Marinka are sat on deck of her houseboat,
drinking a beer. Marinka waves at Jake as he gets closer.
MARINKA
Hi. We're just having a beer,
celebrating. Joost sold another
work today.
JAKE
Great.
JOOST
(reaching into his
jacket pocket for an
envelope)
And guess what? I sold yours.
JAKE
You're joking. Who to?
JOOST
Oh, some big guy I know who likes
to buy art. Remember, I told you,
they need to spend their money.
What the fuck. They can give it
to us.
JAKE
How much did you sell it for?
JOOST
Only five hundred. I could have
got more but you're not so well
known, so...
JAKE
Five hundred! That's madness.
Five hundred! Hey, I can pay my
rent now. I won't be living on
the streets after all.
MARINKA
Good news, eh. Soon you'll be
able to give up that crappy job
of yours.
JAKE
I don't know about that. Don't
give up the day job and all that.
JOOST
(handing him the
envelope)
Well, there you go. Do me some
more and I'll sell them for you
too. You could even start taking
commissions.
JAKE
I didn't give it a name.
JOOST
I named it for you. I called it
"Pipe Piece". It was a piece of
pipe - why beat around the brush.
JAKE
Bush.
JOOST
Whatever.
Jake opens the envelope and takes out the pile of twenties.
JAKE
Here, you take some.
JOOST
No way, man - it was all your own
work. I'm not a pimp.
Joost stands up to go. He has a brief conversation with
Marinka in Dutch (English subtitles):
JOOST (cont'd)
(in Dutch)
Okay. Enjoy yourself.
MARINKA
(in Dutch)
And you. Think about what I said.
JOOST
(in Dutch)
It takes two to decide.
MARINKA
(in Dutch)
You're one of them.
Joost gives Jake a one-shoulder hug and leaves.
MARINKA (cont'd)
Are you hungry?
JAKE
A bit.
MARINKA
I made you some special Dutch
food.
JAKE
Raw fish?
MARINKA
No. And what is wrong with raw
fish?
JAKE
Nothing. If you're another fish.
They go below decks to:
INT. MARINKA'S HOUSEBOAT - CONTINUOUS
Comfortable living quarters with paintings and books
around.
JAKE
Mmmmm, it smells great. What is
it?
MARINKA
Bruinebonensoep.
JAKE
Brown bone soup?
MARINKA
Yeah, do you like brown bones?
From a brown beer. Beer, bear?
Brown bear.
JAKE
If it tastes as good as it
smells, I don't care what it is.
CUT TO:
Jake and Marinka sitting opposite each other on bench-type
seats, eating the brown bean soup with bread.
MARINKA
So you ran away from everything
to work in a scrapyard?
JAKE
I had to stop running somewhere.
MARINKA
And you don't want to go back?
JAKE
I want to go forwards.
MARINKA
You'll be an artist. You
should've been an artist. It just
took you some time to discover
it.
JAKE
How long have you known Joost?
MARINKA
A long long time. We were at
school together.
JAKE
How did you both end up here, in
Nowhere-ville?
MARINKA
Nowhere-ville? He came to do some
work and I didn't have a studio
at the time so I came over.
JAKE
Are you going back?
MARINKA
Someday. We all go back, someday.
Go home.
JAKE
I don't have a home to go back
to.
MARINKA
You'll have to keep going
forwards then. To Barcelona!
JAKE
(hold up his glass and
clinks)
To Barcelona!
Marinka watches Jake finish his food.
JAKE (cont'd)
That was amazing. Who would have
thought that brown beans and
sausage could be so nice.
MARINKA
Do people take you the wrong way?
JAKE
Whaddya mean?
MARINKA
Your humour?
JAKE
Why, did you take me the wrong
way?
MARINKA
No. Us Dutch have a good sense of
humour too. But some people
might.
JAKE
Some people do.
MARINKA
I thought so.
JAKE
I like this place. I could live
on one of these.
MARINKA
(standing up and
clearing the plates)
Easy to keep clean - you wouldn't
need a cleaner.
JAKE
Can we forget about my cleaner?
MARINKA
She just keeps popping into my
mind, tittering on her heels
around your flat dusting the
furniture.
JAKE
Tottering.
MARINKA
She seemed very nice. You haven't
seen her again?
JAKE
No, I haven't seen her again, and
I don't suppose I will.
MARINKA
That's a shame, for her.
Marinka sits down on the double bed at the back of the
cabin. She opens a drawer and pulls out a spliff. She holds
her hair back and lights the spliff.
MARINKA (cont'd)
(exhaling)
Yowza, yowza, yowza! That is
mean. You want some?
Jake nods.
MARINKA (cont'd)
Come, sit here then, I'll feed
you.
Jake sits down next to her. She pushes him back on the bed
and sucks on the joint:
MARINKA (cont'd)
Get ready to suck.
She leans over him and plants her mouth on his and he sucks
in the smoke. She keeps her mouth there for about ten
seconds and then moves it away, still with her hair falling
on his face.
Jake opens his eyes, which are now glassy, and looks up at
her.
JAKE
Wow, what a hit!
MARINKA
You want some more?
Jake nods.
Marinka puts the joint in the ashtray and kisses him.
CUT TO:
They are laying back on the bed staring at the varnished
wood ceiling. Reflected light from the sinking sun is
bouncing up from the water, through the portholes, and is
rippling across the grain of the wood.
JAKE
What colour is that?
MARINKA
It's maroon, and blue, and
yellow, and see there, some
green.
JAKE
I thought it was just one colour.
MARINKA
There's always lots of colours.
INT. MARINKA'S HOUSEBOAT - NEXT MORNING
Jake wakes up in bed next to Marinka. He moves her hair
from her face and touches her cheek.
He gets up, dresses quietly and leaves.
EXT. MARINKA'S HOUSEBOAT - CONTINUOUS
It is a beautiful dawn. A blue sky, not long after first
light. A light breeze is rippling across the wide estuary
and flopping against the boats.
Jake walks along the quayside. As he gets closer to the
turn that takes him up the lane where Marie lives he sees a
fisherman, dressed in typical fisherman's outfit, standing
smoking a pipe, resting his weight on a wooden cask.
Jake approaches him. The fisherman is looking past Jake.
FISHERMAN
Beautiful, int she?
Jake considers the significance and prescience of this for
a moment. He opens his mouth to assent but is too surprised
to say Yes.
FISHERMAN (cont'd)
Sixty foot of best English oak,
and solid brass fittings.
Jake turns to see where the fisherman is looking. A three-
masted schooner is moored out in the lanes.
FISHERMAN (cont'd)
You could round the Horn in her.
Jake nods in a friendly manner and walks on.
He turns up the lane then realises the weirdness of what
just happened. He stops, turns and looks back.
The barrel is there but there is no fisherman. Instead a
large gull is stood on top of the barrel, looking at Jake
with a wary eye.
EXT. JAKE'S FLAT - A BIT LATER
Jake arrives at the back of his house. The garden is fresh
with greenery. Summer blooms cascade down the fire-escape.
As Jake walks up he sees that Madam Verbist's door onto the
fire-escape is open. From the open door he hears music
playing, "La Vie En Rose", by Edith Piaf.
"Quand il me prend dans ses bras,
Il me parle tous bas,
Je vois la vie en rose.
Il me dit des mots d'amour,
Des mots de tous les jours,
Et ca m'fait quelque chose..."
Floating out from the room, above the music, the sound of
Madame Verbist and her lover having sex.
LOVER (O.S.)
(punctuated by activity)
Oh, Nicole, Nicole, I waited so
long, for, a woman, like you.
MADAME VERBIST (O.S.)
Et maintenant, je viens, je
viens.
Jake listens for a moment then walks in to:
INT. JAKE'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS
Jake kicks off his boots and lays on his bed looking out
the French windows. He lays there smiling, listening to the
music and the lovers upstairs.
Jake's P.O.V. Pink roses blooming one by one all around the
French windows.
We see a montage of scenes condensing the next couple of
months of Jake's life. "La Vie en Rose" (with English
subtitles) plays over the cuts.
CUT TO:
Jake pushes an envelope of money under Madam Verbist's
door. He listens for a moment to the sounds behind the
door.
CUT TO:
The welding shed. Jake finishes a sculpture, holds it up,
and turns it around.
CUT TO:
Joost's workshop. Jake gives the sculpture to Joost.
Marinka hugs him. Joost invents a name for the sculpture
and writes it on a large piece of white card: "Enigmatic
Morning".
CUT TO:
A sledgehammer swinging down onto the top of a television.
The television explodes.
CUT TO:
The welding shed. Jake works on another sculpture, wearing
his headphones.
CUT TO:
Joost's workshop. He hands Jake an envelope full of money.
CUT TO:
Marinka's studio. Jake is lying naked on a rug, posing as
Marinka paints him.
CUT TO:
The baker's. Jake's P.O.V. Yazza waves her hands in front
of Jake's eyes to wake him, makes a dopey face and turns
her baseball cap around 90 degrees.
CUT TO:
The welding shed. A fountain of sparks erupts in the
darkness, mirrored in Jake's visor.
CUT TO:
A sledgehammer going through the screen of a television.
The screen implodes.
CUT TO:
Joost's workshop. Joost writes another title on a piece of
cardboard and holds it up: "Resurrection Shovel".
A fast sequence of shots of Joost holding up the cards like
old-fashioned cue cards:
"Positivity Number 3"
"La Vie Enragé"
"Say Yesterlove"
"A Fridge Is Not An Onion"
"Everything is in your mind, including your mind"
"Snackenburger"
"Rotterdam Girl"
"The Bread Emerges from the Toaster, Even" etc.
CUT TO:
Jake pushes an envelope under Madame Verbist's door.
CUT TO:
Inside Marinka's houseboat. Jake and Marinka naked on the
bed, staring at the ripples on the ceiling.
CUT TO:
The baker's. Jake points at one thing. Then another. Then
another. Then another. Yazza walks up and down in front of
him, really pissed off.
CUT TO:
The welding shed. Jake hammers and hammers at a length of
brass until it is round.
CUT TO:
A sledgehammer going through the screen of a television.
CUT TO:
Joost's workshop. Joost names a sculpture "Ich bin Der
Chrome Dinette". Jake snatches the card, crosses it out and
writes "Bruinebonensoep".
The shot stays on the card that says "Bruinebonensoep". The
music comes to an end. The card changes from the rough one
Jake drew to a small expensively-printed one.
The camera draws back to show us Jake's sculpture mounted
in a sophisticated setting with the card in front. The
music fades and the camera pulls back to reveal:
INT. ART GALLERY IN PRIVATE HOUSE - NIGHT
A long narrowish room with parquet floors. Pictures hung on
the walls. Some sculpture around.
The gallery is very quiet but there are sounds of a party
elsewhere in the house.
Jake is standing in front of his sculpture next to a very
attractive young woman in a black party frock. They are
both holding glasses of wine.
YOUNG ART LOVER
I think it's so cool, the names
you give to your pieces. Like,
what's that one, "brunen-bonen
soap".
JAKE
It's "bruinebonensoep". It means
"bronze bone soup".
YOUNG ART LOVER
That is so metaphysical. You
really get a feel for the bones,
a sense of mortality. The way it
springs out of nothingness
into...
JAKE
Somethingness?
YOUNG ART LOVER
Yeah, that's right. And I really
loved the one Max showed me, "Ich
bin Der Chrome Dinette". The way
you took those shiny hub caps and
turned then into people eating
themselves. You made that from
scrap metal, right?
JAKE
I make everything from scrap.
YOUNG ART LOVER
I love that. It's so ecological.
And "Resurrection Shovel", you
made the wings from shovels. That
was so clever.
JAKE
Not really. I just had two
shovels and they looked like
wings.
YOUNG ART LOVER
But your titles are something
else. They're either profound or
witty.
JAKE
One of those.
YOUNG ART LOVER
How do you think them up?
JAKE
I lay on my bed and look at the
ceiling.
YOUNG ART LOVER
Fantastic. I love your work. Do
you have any coke?
JAKE
Sorry?
YOUNG ART LOVER
I need a line. Shall we go and
find some?
JAKE
Thanks for the offer but I think
I should get back - I'm supposed
to be here meeting Max.
They start walking out the gallery.
YOUNG ART LOVER
You'll love Max. And he loves
your stuff. What was that title
again, the one with the knives
and forks sticking out at all
angles? Don't tell me: "La Vie
Enragé". Brilliant. You love
languages don't you. They add an
extra dimension to your work.
They walk down a corridor past a door which opens as they
go past. Inside, a bunch of people snorting coke from album
covers on their laps. A blonde girl with sparkling eyes
looks up at Jake and smiles.
YOUNG ART LOVER (cont'd)
I'm going in here for a while.
Are you sure you don't want to
come?
JAKE
No, I'll be fine thanks. I'll
maybe see you later.
YOUNG ART LOVER
We could fuck, if you want to.
JAKE
Er...
YOUNG ART LOVER
I mean, only if you want to. We
could find a bedroom and talk
about sculpture. My father bought
me a Giacometti when I graduated.
Do you have any grass?
JAKE
No.
YOUNG ART LOVER
Okay. I'll see you outside later,
for the fireworks.
CUT TO:
Jake walks along a corridor looking for the way back into
the party. He opens a door which leads into another, narrow
corridor at the end of which is a room.
He looks down the corridor and in the room at the end sees
a man having his head shoved into some kind of dustbin. The
man doing the shoving is Jason, one of the hoodlums who was
looking for the car in the scrapyard. Jason hasn't seen
Jake at this time.
Jake hears Jason say:
JASON
Is it orange?
The man with his head in the basket mumbles something
indecipherable.
JASON (cont'd)
Is it orange?
The man with his head in the basket mumbles.
JASON (cont'd)
Is it or isn't it? Is it orange?
Jason, sensing someone watching him, turns around while
still holding the other man down.
JASON (cont'd)
(staring at Jake, talks
to someone off-screen)
Who the fuck is that?
As he says it, Mitch walks out of the room and into the
corridor. He walks towards Jake with total aggression.
MITCH
What the fuck are you looking at?
Get out!
Jake backs out the door into the other corridor.
MITCH (cont'd)
Who are you?
JAKE
No-one.
MITCH
You'll be fucking no-one soon if
you don't fuck off.
Mitch walks right up to Jake, seemingly on the edge of
violence.
MITCH (cont'd)
What are you looking for?
JAKE
I was looking for the party?
MITCH
This is not a party? Does it look
like a party?
JAKE
No.
MITCH
No. So just walk away and forget
about it, okay!
Mitch goes back in and slams the door. Jake carries on
walking down the corridor and goes through a door which
leads to:
INT. OPEN PLAN LOUNGE - CONTINUOUS
A very large open-plan lounge in an expensive house. A
party is going on.
Jake picks up a glass of punch from a table. He sees
Marinka and Joost across the other side of the room and
walks over to them.
MARINKA
(putting her arm through
his)
You've been gone a long time.
JAKE
I've been into the gallery.
MARINKA
(sarcastically)
Did you see anything you liked?
JAKE
I saw something strange.
MARINKA
What?
JAKE
It doesn't matter. But I did see
"Bruinebonensoep".
MARINKA
What's her name?
JAKE
Who?
MARINKA
The girl with the little black
dress.
JAKE
Oh, her - I don't know. She's one
of my biggest fans, apparently.
MARINKA
Nice for you!
JOOST
Apart from Max.
MARINKA
Yeah, where is Max? He wants to
meet you.
JAKE
Where does Max get all his money
from?
JOOST
Property. Casinos. All sorts of
things.
JAKE
Why does he buy so much art?
JOOST
He likes it. And he needs
something to spend his money on,
I guess.
JAKE
He always pays in cash.
JOOST
So? It's better for you.
JAKE
That's what money-launderers do,
isn't it?
JOOST
Money laundress?
JAKE
Yeah, you know, criminals who
need to wash their earnings to
get the money back into the
system.
JOOST
I don't understand.
JAKE
They pay cash for art, then later
they sell the art and put the
money in the bank legitimately.
JOOST
Just because someone pays cash,
doesn't make him a money
laundress.
JAKE
Maybe, but, I'll tell you
something strange...
JOOST
Shhh, here he comes now.
Max walks over, an expensively-dressed, well-groomed man
with a dark tan. Accompanying him is Marie, Jake's date
from the Nagel's bar. Jake is surprised to see her.
JOOST (cont'd)
Hi, Max. Nice party you have.
This is Jake. I told you he was
real.
Max offers a handshake but Jake is looking at Marie, who
looks equally surprised.
MAX
Pleased to meet you, Jake.
JAKE
Oh, yeah, sorry, and me.
MAX
Have you been to see your works
in the gallery?
JAKE
I saw "Bruinebonesoep".
MARIE
(to Max)
Is this the Jake who does all the
sculptures?
MAX
Yes. The elusive Mister K.
MARIE
(to Jake)
I thought you worked in the
scrapyard.
MAX
Do you two already know each
other?
JAKE
We used to play pool together.
MAX
And do you work in a scrapyard?
JAKE
Well, not exactly, I work from a
scrapyard. I rent some space
there. To be close to my raw
materials.
MAX
Yes, you make everything from
scrap, don't you.
JAKE
It's a good way to get it back
into the system. It's a kind of
laundering.
Max looks bemused.
MAX
Laundering? Recycling, you mean.
JAKE
People give it a different name
in different contexts.
MAX
But in the context of art?
JAKE
I call it "foundism".
MARINKA
Jake's messing around. Jake, be
serious.
JAKE
I am - I call it foundism because
one day I just found myself doing
it.
MAX
What were you doing before?
JAKE
Making cakes.
Max looks even more bemused.
JAKE (cont'd)
(to Marie)
How's the pool team?
MARIE
Still going well.
JAKE
I'm so glad. Do you want to go
and get a drink?
MARIE
Okay.
Jake and Marie walk off.
JOOST
(to Max)
Sorry about Jake - he has a weird
sense of humour.
MAX
That's okay - he is an artist,
after all. We expect to be
offended by artists.
JOOST
Sorry, I didn't introduce you to
Marinka.
MAX
Marinka. What an interesting
name...
CUT TO:
Another part of the room. Jake passes Marie a drink.
JAKE
So what are you doing here?
MARIE
I'm with Max?
JAKE
You're with Max? I thought you
were with the pool player.
MARIE
The pool player? That's none of
your business. Anyway, Max is my
boss.
JAKE
Is he?
MARIE
I told you, remember, that I
worked for a big guy in the city?
JAKE
I forgot. I forgot a lot about
that night.
MARIE
That's nice.
Camera shows Joost, Max, and Marinka, laughing in the
distance, their heads together. Joost puts his arm around
Marinka's shoulder and pulls her head to his as they laugh.
On the other side of the room Jason and Mitch enter and
stand on either sides of the doorway, like doormen.
JAKE
Who are they?
MARIE
Jason and Mitch. They work for
Max.
JAKE
What do they do?
MARIE
Drive, run errands. Why?
JAKE
Is it part of their job to push
people head first into dustbins?
MARIE
What? You're mad!
JAKE
I just saw then doing it, out
there. Unless I imagined it.
MARIE
Well, they're supposed to deal
with gatecrashers so maybe that
is what they were doing.
JAKE
If you say so.
A beat.
MARIE
I can't believe that you're
really the Jake who makes all
those sculptures.
JAKE
But you can't believe that Max's
chauffeur would push someone into
a dustbin. Anyway, would it have
made any difference to you if I'd
told you, the night we went out?
MARIE
Maybe. I would probably have
wanted to get to know you better.
(a beat)
So, you're with her now?
JAKE
And you're with the pool player.
Isn't life wonderful.
MARIE
But you're still bitter.
JAKE
No I'm not. Those times we had
together were some of the
happiest of my life.
MARIE
No, you are still bitter. But
you're not lonely anymore, are
you?
JAKE
No, I'm not lonely. I'm laughing.
MARIE
Good.
(looking over at Max,
who is signalling to
her)
Max wants me - I've got to go.
See you later. Look out for me
in...
She's gone.
JAKE
Lonelyville.
INT. MARINKA'S HOUSEBOAT - NIGHT
Jake, Joost, and Marinka have come back from the party and
are sat around having a smoke and a coffee.
JAKE
I don't like that guy Max.
JOOST
Why?
JAKE
I don't like his friends.
MARINKA
That girl, Marie?
JAKE
No, not her. Why does a property
developer need to employ a couple
of gangsters?
JOOST
Ya, well, if you own casinos, you
have to protect yourself against
bad people.
JAKE
Well, I don't want to sell him
any more of my stuff. That's not
what I do it for, so it can sit
in some private gallery protected
by gangsters.
Joost shrugs his shoulders.
JOOST
Be the starving artist instead.
That's okay.
JAKE
I can just carry on in the
scrapyard.
MARINKA
You hate your boss.
JAKE
If I had to choose between him
and Max.
MARINKA
You'd choose the scrapyard?
JAKE
Yup. Stay where your money is
clean.
MARINKA
You won't stay there, whatever
happens.
Joost gets up to leave.
JOOST
Okay. I'm off. I'll see you
tomorrow.
JAKE
Yeah, thanks. Don't think I'm
being ungrateful. I really
appreciate what you've done for
me.
JOOST
You have to make up your own mind
- don't worry about it.
As he goes, Joost talks to Marinka (in Dutch, with English
subtitles).
JOOST (DU/S.T) (cont'd)
(to Marinka)
Is he staying?
MARINKA (DU/S.T.)
Yes.
JOOST (DU/S.T.)
We can talk about it tomorrow.
MARINKA (DU/S.T.)
You need to decide soon.
JOOST (DU/S.T.)
We still have time.
(in English, to both of
them)
Okay. Sleep well, don't snore.
Joost leaves.
JAKE
What were you talking about?
MARINKA
Nothing.
JAKE
A lot of nothing.
MARINKA
The houseboat, the workshops.
What to do. Nothing.
JAKE
(looking into the
candle)
Nothing.
INT. SCRAPYARD WELDING SHED - DAY
Jake is working BY DAY on a new sculpture. He is listening
to his Spanish tape on the Walkman.
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR (V.O.)
Belinda asks if you want to go
back to her apartment. Tell her
you would be very happy to, but
you don't have any wine.
Pause, for the student to speak.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
That's okay. I have lots of wine.
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR (V.O.)
Ask if she has brandy.
Pause, for the student to speak.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Yes. I have some brandy. It's
Spanish brandy.
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR (V.O.)
Ask if she has any condoms.
CUT TO:
EXT. SCRAPYARD - CONTINUOUS
Daniel, the multi-media artist is wandering around the
scrapyard with a hand-held camera, filming.
Twin is walking across the yard with a length of pipe in
his hand when he sees Daniel.
TWIN
(to anyone in his
vicinity)
What the fuck is that weirdo
doing in my scrapyard?
SQUEAK
He's a friend of Jake's.
TWIN
Jake?
Twin walks menacingly over to Daniel, who is filming the
falling hammer of a crane repeatedly dropping onto a pile
of household appliances.
TWIN (cont'd)
Oy, you. Who told you you could
come in here?
Daniel is still filming, oblivious. He turns his camera
around and films Twin storming towards him. We see Daniel's
camera's point of view. The sound of grinding crushing
metal. Twin is a mime, his spluttering face growing bigger.
TWIN (cont'd)
Yoooooooooooooouuuuuuuuu!
Daniel realises he's in trouble. He puts his camera down
and grins sheepishly.
DANIEL
I'm a friend of Jake's.
TWIN
Jake's! Well you can just fuck
off. How dare you film in here.
Get out!
Daniel turns to go, still amused, not intimidated. He walks
towards the gate, still filming.
TWIN (cont'd)
Where is Jake?
Squeak makes a "don't know" gesture.
Twin goes to look for Jake. Track him closely, walking
through the yard.
CUT TO:
INT. SCRAPYARD WELDING SHED - CONTINUOUS
Jake still welding.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
I like your eyes, but I prefer
your lips.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Yes, my lips are also nice.
CUT TO:
EXT. SCRAPYARD - CONTINUOUS
Twin walking faster through the yard, looking for Jake.
CUT TO:
INT. SCRAPYARD WELDING SHED - CONTINUOUS
Jake still welding.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
I like your mouth, but I prefer
your tongue.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Yes, my tongue is also nice.
CUT TO:
EXT. SCRAPYARD - CONTINUOUS
Twin walking faster through the yard.
CUT TO:
INT. SCRAPYARD WELDING SHED - CONTINUOUS
Jake still welding.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
I like your legs, but I prefer
your thighs.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Yes, my thighs are also nice.
CUT TO:
EXT. SCRAPYARD - CONTINUOUS
Twin walking faster through the yard.
CUT TO:
INT. SCRAPYARD WELDING SHED - CONTINUOUS
Jake still welding.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
I like your breasts , but I
prefer your...
Jake fast-forwards the tape. We hear the squeak of the fast
forward and the subtitles blur across the screen.
CUT TO:
EXT. SCRAPYARD - CONTINUOUS
Twin looks into one of the sheds. Doesn't find Jake and
walks on.
CUT TO:
INT. SCRAPYARD WELDING SHED - CONTINUOUS
Jake welding.
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR (V.O.)
Belinda is still in the bedroom
and someone rings the front door.
You go and answer it. It's
Belinda's boyfriend.
(whispering)
Ask him who he is.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Who are you?
SPANISH BOYFRIEND (V.O./SP/S.T.)
No, who are you?
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR (V.O.)
(whispering)
Tell him, you are a friend of
Belinda's.
CUT TO:
EXT. SCRAPYARD - CONTINUOUS
Twin reaches the door of the shed in which Jake is working.
He rips open the door and storms in.
CUT TO:
INT. SCRAPYARD WELDING SHED - CONTINUOUS
Jake is welding. He has not heard Twin enter because he is
welding and listening to the tape.
Twin is in silhouette against the open door, his face full
of rage. His mouth moves but we hear the Spanish tape:
SPANISH BOYFRIEND (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Where are your trousers?
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR (V.O.)
(whispering)
Tell him you lost them at the
swimming pool.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
I lost them at the swimming pool.
Lip-sync with Twin.
SPANISH BOYFRIEND (V.O./SP/S.T.)
That is ridiculous. How did you
get here without them?
Twin has walked up to Jake and is jabbing him on the
shoulder to get his attention. Jake turns around and sees
Twin.
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR (V.O.)
Tell him you wore a towel and
came by bike.
Jake spins around and see Twin. He turns off the tape and
removes the earphones.
JAKE
What?
TWIN
Did you tell that weirdo he could
film here?
JAKE
Why does it matter?
TWIN
You don't have any right to give
anyone permission to do anything
here. I run this scrapyard. If I
want someone to make a film in
here I'll ring Richard fucking
Attenborough, okay.
Twin suddenly notices the strange object that Jake is
working on. He steps back.
TWIN (cont'd)
What's that?
JAKE
It's something I'm making.
TWIN
I can see that. Who asked you to
do it?
JAKE
No-one. I do it for myself.
TWIN
In my time, with my materials. Is
that what I pay you for?
JAKE
Well, it looks like it, yes.
TWIN
Oh no, I don't, matey. You've
over-stepped the mark this time,
I'm afraid. That amounts to
theft.
JAKE
It's worthless scrap.
TWIN
If scrap was worthless, I
wouldn't be running a business.
JAKE
It's not stuff you'd sell.
TWIN
It doesn't matter. It's still
theft.
Twin looks at the object again. A beat.
TWIN (cont'd)
You'd better leave. You can work
your notice and go on Friday.
Jake throws his visor onto a bench and walks defiantly past
Twin.
EXT. SCRAPYARD - LATER
Jake is leaning on the top fridge, smoking a roll-up. Davey
is holding a large pair of metal cutters.
DAVEY
I can't believe he sacked you.
What a bastid. You're still
invited to my wedding you know.
JAKE
Thanks.
DAVEY
If you have a girlfriend, you can
bring her. Do you have a
girlfriend?
JAKE
Sort of.
DAVEY
Well, if you want to, bring her.
JAKE
Thanks, I'll think about it.
DAVEY
I can't wait until I leave this
shit-hole.
JAKE
That makes two of us.
DAVEY
(defiantly)
Move out the way, I'm going to
peel this fridge.
EXT. TOWN STREET - DAY
Jake is walking down the street when he see Yazza walking
towards him. She is walking very slowly, reading a book and
sucking a lollipop. She is oblivious to the other people on
the street.
Jake stops and watches her face as she walks past him.
As she is level with him she becomes aware he is watching
her. She shakes her head, a pitying gesture, and walks on.
INT. MARINKA'S HOUSEBOAT - LUNCHTIME
Jake and Marinka have finished their lunch. Jake is
smoking.
MARINKA
What will you do?
JAKE
Dunno.
MARINKA
Maybe Joost will let you share
his workshop.
JAKE
Yeah, but I'm still not selling
my stuff to Max.
MARINKA
You'll find someone else.
JAKE
I'd better go back to work.
They kiss and Jake walks back toward the scrapyard. He
takes a shortcut through a wild overgrown lane that runs
between derelict industrial lots.
EXT. SCRAPYARD - AFTERNOON
Medium shot of a man in overalls and visor with a lighted
torch, starting to cut up a fuel tank. We cannot identify
him.
Close up of torch burning into metal.
Followed by a MASSIVE EXPLOSION. The man is blown backwards
and falls into a pile of junk metal, completely aflame. He
rolls on the floor. There is oil on the ground and it
catches alight.
CUT TO:
EXT. THE LANE TO THE SCRAPYARD - CONTINUOUS
Jake sees a flash of flame rise up above the scrapyard,
hears the massive explosion, and starts running towards it.
EXT. SCRAPYARD - CONTINUOUS
Jake runs into the scrapyard. An inferno around the burning
tank.
One of the men is trying to extinguish the burning man with
a fire extinguisher but cannot get close enough because of
the flames all around.
JAKE
(to one of the group of
men stood around)
Who is it?
OTHER MAN
Davey.
Jake grabs the fire extinguisher and goes in close, through
the flames.
Jake puts out the burning Davey and drags his body away
from the flames.
Davey is obviously dead. Jake leans over his body and says:
"Davey boy."
Jake holds Davey for a while. Fire engines and ambulances
arrive at the scrapyard. The paramedics examine Davey.
Jake stands up and walks away. He sees Twin, standing on
his own, away from the men. Jake makes as if he is about to
say something to him then turns around and says to the
others:
JAKE
Who do you think did this?
A pause.
TWIN
I told him to use a sniffer.
Jake walks out the scrapyard without looking back.
INT. MARINKA'S STUDIO - DAY
Marinka is painting. Jake is sitting, smoking, watching
her.
MARINKA
I knew Joost would be okay about
it. He will enjoy teaching you
stuff.
JAKE
I'll get in his way. It won't
last long.
MARINKA
(putting down her brush
and walking over to
him)
Why do you say that?
JAKE
He's used to working alone.
MARINKA
He wouldn't say Yes if he didn't
mean it. He wouldn't let anything
interfere with his work.
JAKE
What about you?
MARINKA
It's important, but not
everything.
JAKE
No, would you say Yes if you
didn't mean it?
MARINKA
What's the question?
JAKE
Me - I'm the question.
MARINKA
I can't answer that question -
it's too vague.
INT. JOOST'S WORKSHOP - MORNING
Jake and Joost are working on separate sculptures. Jake
looks around for a spanner.
JAKE
Joost, do you have a seventy-five
mill spanner?
JOOST
Not here. Maybe on the boat. Go
down and look under the seat -
there's a toolbox there.
INT. JOOST'S YACHT - CONTINUOUS
Jake lifts up a bench seat and rummages around boxes of
tools and other stored items. He pulls out one toolbox from
underneath some other boxes, which slide down. He finds the
spanner he wants in the toolbox and starts moving the
others back into place. His eye is caught by some photos
that have fallen from a box.
The photos are of Joost and Marinka, with friends, at
parties, but obviously a couple. He picks out another photo
which seems to be a wedding photo - informally dressed,
they jointly cut a wedding cake.
Jake puts everything back and leaves the boat, holding the
spanner and the wedding photo.
INT. JOOST'S WORKSHOP - CONTINUOUS
Joost is looking along a straight edge of steel. Jake
enters and looks around at everything.
Joost looks at him.
JOOST
What's up? You look like you've
seen a goat.
Jake walks over to a bench and puts the photo down on it.
He just stares at it, then at Joost.
JAKE
(pointing at the photo)
This.
Joost walks over to it, looks, makes a dismissive grunt,
half smiles, walks back to work.
JAKE (cont'd)
So are you married to her?
JOOST
What does it matter? We don't
live together.
JAKE
But you are married?
JOOST
Yes.
A beat.
JAKE
One of you could have told me.
That would have been nice.
JOOST
I had no reason to tell you. And
as for Marinka, that's her
affair.
JAKE
Put yourself in my position.
JOOST
You like her and she likes you.
That's a good position.
JAKE
But, are you screwing her?
JOOST
Oh, fuck. What is this? Screwing!
You find out that we're married
and you worry about screwing.
JAKE
Well, I think it matters if you
are because it means that I've
been living under false
pretences.
JOOST
You discovered something real and
you lived it. Isn't that good
enough for you? Why do you need
more? Why do you need to know
everything?
JAKE
Because this is not trivial. It's
not some fact that will just pass
by and be forgotten. It affects
everything - me, her, you and me.
How can I work with you...
Joost interrupts him, banging his palm on the bench, not
angry but exasperated.
JOOST
If you want to make a big thing
out of it, go on. If you want to
mess up your life because you
know something today that you
didn't know yesterday, then go
ahead.
(turning back to his
work)
The rest of us have work to do.
JAKE
But are you screwing her?
JOOST
Jake, don't get hung up on sex.
It's the least important thing
that is happening around here. If
it bothers you that much, ask
her.
JAKE
I will.
INT. MARINKA'S STUDIO - CONTINUOUS
Marinka is finishing a portrait. As he enters, she shows it
to him.
MARINKA
Look. It's nearly done.
Jake ignores the painting.
JAKE
Why didn't you tell me about you
and Joost?
Marinka puts the painting on the floor and turns it towards
the wall. She nonchalantly starts cleaning her brushes.
MARINKA
What does it matter?
JAKE
It matters whether I trust you or
not.
MARINKA
Trust? I never told you any lies
or broke any promises. Something
happened between us and that's
that.
JAKE
How can you just say "something
happened"? We made it happen -
you as well.
MARINKA
Because it meant something to me,
that's why.
JAKE
But you knew it couldn't last.
MARINKA
Just because you know something
won't last forever doesn't mean
you shouldn't do it. We would
never do anything otherwise.
You'd stay in your little room,
working at the scrapyard.
JAKE
But at least I wouldn't be lied
to.
MARINKA
Nobody lied.
JAKE
The first time you introduced me
to Joost and didn't tell me he
was your husband - that was a
lie.
MARINKA
And if I had told you, what has
happened since would never have
happened. Is that what you want?
JAKE
But now I have to lose it.
MARINKA
But you don't have to lose it -
we can carry on the same.
JAKE
Nothing is the same. Everything
has changed.
Jake drops the photo on the floor and walks to the door.
MARINKA
Jake, wait, I wanted to tell you
something.
JAKE
Tell your husband.
Jake walks out.
EXT. RIVERBANK - DAY
Days pass by. Jake is now totally alone, with no work and
nothing to do.
He sits on the riverbank, in long grass, near some waste
land, watching the ships pass.
On the other bank, in the distance, the scrapyard crane
lifting and dropping. Behind it, the town and, to the
right, the dockyard wharves and houseboats.
Jake crosses the bridge, contemplates the flowing water,
drops his cigarette butt into it, and goes back to:
INT. JAKE'S FLAT - DAY
He walks around his flat smoking, doing nothing.
He looks at the drawings he made for sculptures and one or
two sculptures on the table.
He lies on his bed, looking out the window. While he is
lying there, Madame Verbist's legs appear on the fire
escape as she comes down, watering her plants. She's
singing "La Vie En Rose". Jake hears the singing and looks
at a self-portrait of Marinka that's standing at the end of
his bed.
Madame Verbist eventually gets down to his level and spots
him through the window.
MADAME VERBIST
(genuinely pleased to
see him)
Hello, Jake, how are you?
Madame Verbist waits for him to come out and talk to her.
Jake gets up and opens the door.
JAKE
I'm well, thanks. How are you?
MADAME VERBIST
I am very well. I am still seeing
my doctor friend. His wife knows
but she is complaisante. How do
you say that in English?
JAKE
Complacent?
MADAME VERBIST
No, obliging, I think. And what
about you? Are you still having a
love affair?
JAKE
No, it's finished.
MADAME VERBIST
Oh, no. You will be lonely again.
I don't like to see a man lonely -
it is such a waste. Especially a
young good looking man like you.
Did she drop you for somebody
else?
JAKE
No, she already had somebody else
when I met her, but I only just
found out.
MADAME VERBIST
She was married?
JAKE
Yes.
MADAME VERBIST
You know her husband?
JAKE
Yes.
MADAME VERBIST
And does he mind?
JAKE
Apparently not.
MADAME VERBIST
And you are very fond of her, I
think?
JAKE
Yes - I was.
MADAME VERBIST
Ah, but you still are - I can
tell that. Why don't you go back
to her and make up? It's never
too late if love is there.
JAKE
I'm not French.
MADAME VERBIST
You don't have to be French. You
have to be...
(a beat)
...more human.
JAKE
It hurts to be human.
MADAME VERBIST
It hurts more to be a kind of,
machine. Promise me you will try.
Make her feel that you love her.
Will you do that?
JAKE
I'll think about it.
MADAME VERBIST
Don't think too long. Life is
short.
(she strokes his hair)
Don't be a lonely guy.
Madame Verbist leaves. Jake obviously decides to take her
advice and go back to Marinka. He puts his jacket on and
leaves.
EXT. DOCKYARD WHARVES - DAY
Jake is outside Marinka's studio. The door is closed. He is
about to open it when he remembers to knock. He knocks. No
reponse. He knocks again, and again.
He opens the door. The studio is completely empty. All the
paintings are gone. Just a few rags and splatters of paint
all over the floor.
Jake walks out and next door to Joost's workshop. The door
is open. The same thing, it's empty, apart from a bin full
of scrap.
Jake walks out and sees that Joost's boat has gone. He runs
to:
INT. DANIEL'S STUDIO - CONTINUOUS
Daniel is sat at his console.
JAKE
Daniel, where's Marinka?
DANIEL
She left, with Joost. They've
gone back to Holland - I thought
you knew.
JAKE
No, I didn't. Why now?
DANIEL
They want to start a family.
Marinka wants to have the child
in Holland so I suppose they
thought it best to go now.
JAKE
Is she already expecting?
DANIEL
No, I don't think so. I don't
know.
(tenderly)
Sorry.
JAKE
That's okay.
DANIEL
We all have to move out of here
anyway. It's all being knocked
down for redevelopment.
JAKE
When are you going?
DANIEL
I'm just finishing something off
and then I'll be on my way. I'm
going to do some work in the film
industry and get paid for a
change. It's the end of an era.
JAKE
Well, good luck.
DANIEL
And you.
INT. NAGEL'S BAR - NIGHT
Jake drinks alone. The mobile spins above the bar. Jake
leaves and walks to:
EXT. SCRAPYARD - NIGHT
It is raining. Jake is walking past the scrapyard. Jason
and Mitch's car is parked in the road outside. Jake hears
voices from the scrapyard. He stops and looks through the
gate.
Half in the shadows, near one of the sheds, he sees Jason
and Mitch beating up Twin, kicking him around. They then
drag him into one of the big sheds.
Jake starts walking off, leaving Twin to his fate, then he
relents and runs round the side of the yard to the same
place he used to sneak in to do his sculptures. He climbs
in to the yard.
CUT TO:
INT. SCRAPYARD SHED - NIGHT
Jake hid behind racks of equipment and tools.
Jake's P.O.V. Twin's body is wrapped in thin chains. Mitch
and Jason are walking around him with lengths of chain,
binding his whole body.
Every so often, they pull on opposite ends of the chains,
to tighten the pressure.
They then pull him back using the chains and tie the ends
of the chains to some machinery to stop him moving. Jason
walks back to the end of the shed where Jake is hiding.
He sits back to front on a chair next to a metal box full
of nuts and bolts and starts collecting them, weighing them
in his hands.
MITCH
It seems that you weren't telling
us the truth, Twin. It appears
that you do sell cars.
TWIN
Fuck off.
MITCH
No, not fuck off. That's not
polite. It hurts me when you talk
like that. You know what hurt is?
Jason throws a bolt, which hits Twin on the head. Twin
grunts. A cut opens.
MITCH (cont'd)
That's right. That's what it
feels like. And every time you
lie, you're going to feel that
pain, just to remind you how much
it hurts me.
Mitch picks up a pair of long-handled bolt cutters.
MITCH (cont'd)
And every time you tell the
truth, I'm going to cut one of
these chains so that you can walk
out of here and we can get this
whole thing sorted. Now, tell me
honestly, do you receive stolen
cars.
Twin doesn't answer.
MITCH (cont'd)
Not answering when you're asked a
question is a kind of lie, isn't
it Jason.
Jason laughs and throws another bolt at Twin's head. Twin
winces and Mitch winces with him.
MITCH (cont'd)
Ouch. That really hurt. People
say the truth hurts, but here
it's the opposite. Now, Twin,
tell me the truth, do you receive
stolen cars.
TWIN
Yes.
MITCH
Ve-ery good. You see, Jason, he
can speak the truth when he wants
to. So, we cut one of his chains.
Mitch uses the bolt cutters to cut one of Twin's chains.
MITCH (cont'd)
Now, think back to early June:
did you receive a Black Mercedes,
the one I already asked you
about?
TWIN
I can't remember.
MITCH
(motioning to Jason)
I think that's a lie.
Jason throws a bolt that hits Twin's mouth and cuts it.
Twin's head falls forwards.
MITCH (cont'd)
Did you receive a black Mercedes
with cream leather seats?
TWIN
Yes, but I didn't know whose it
was.
MITCH
(cutting another chain)
That's okay. How could you
possibly know who a stolen car
belonged to. Unless, of course,
you found some private belongings
in the car. Did you find any
private belongings in that car,
Twin?
TWIN
No.
Mitch motions to Jason to throw another bolt. Jason picks
out a large one which hits Twin on the chest.
MITCH
Think again. Think what was in
the boot. Was there a laptop?
Twin stops and thinks. He shakes his head. Mitch nods to
Jason. Jason finds another, bigger, bolt. Twin stares at
him, thinking hard.
TWIN
Yes!
Mitch makes some practice cuts.
MITCH
(cutting another loop of
the chain)
Very good!
Several of the chains have now fallen around Twin's feet.
MITCH (cont'd)
Where is the laptop now?
TWIN
I don't know.
Jason immediately throws another bolt. He then picks up a
handful.
MITCH
We think you do, and it's
important that we know. I'll tell
you what I'll do - just to give
you some encouragement, I'll cut
one of these chains free of
charge - how would you like that?
Twin ignores him. Mitch takes the bolt cutters and chooses
a chain that is near Twin's groin. He cuts through the
chain and into Twin's jeans.
MITCH (cont'd)
Whoops, I almost cut your balls
off. I wouldn't want to do that.
You might pass out on us and then
you couldn't tell us what
happened to the laptop. Now tell
the truth - have you still got
it?
TWIN
No.
MITCH
I think I believe that.
(he cuts another chain)
You see how easy it is - you're
almost free. Now, where is it?
TWIN
I don't know.
MITCH
You'd better think about it! Let
me give you some more incentive
to tell the truth.
Mitch cuts into Twin jeans, as if about to castrate him.
CUT TO:
Jake standing right behind Jason's chair with a lighted
blow torch, holding it close to Jason's afro hair.
JAKE
He doesn't know.
Jason tries to jump up but Jake pushes him down in the
chair.
JAKE (cont'd)
Don't provoke me. I'm a mean
angry mother-fucker and I hate
your hair!
Mitch smiles. He drops the cutters and pulls a gun from
inside his jacket.
MITCH
Don't be stupid. Don't get
involved. This is nothing to do
with you. We're just trying to
find a laptop that has gone
missing from a stolen car. As
soon as we find it, everyone can
go home.
JAKE
Twin doesn't know where it is. He
gave it to me.
MITCH
(to Twin)
Is that true?
TWIN
Yes.
MITCH
(to Jake)
So what did you do with it?
JAKE
I gave it away, but I can get it
back. Just let him go.
MITCH
We'll let him go when we get it
back.
JAKE
Let him go now.
MITCH
No way. You get it and bring it
here.
Jake moves the torch closer to Jason's hair.
JAKE
Your friend won't look so nice
with his head on fire.
MITCH
Neither will Twin with a bullet
in his head.
JAKE
Let him go.
Mitch moves the gun to Twin's temple.
Jake starts singeing the ends of Jason's hair.
JASON
If you burn my hair, you're a
dead man.
JAKE
If I burn your hair, you're a
dead man. Mmmmm, that smells
nice...
JASON
Mitch, my hair's on fire!
MITCH
Okay, okay. We'll all go. Where
is this place?
JAKE
It's not far. But no guns. You
have to leave your guns here.
Throw it in that hopper - you can
get it out afterwards.
Mitch throws his gun into a hopper.
JAKE
(to Jason)
And you.
Jason takes out a gun and gives it to Jake. Jake throws it
into the same hopper.
JAKE (cont'd)
Now let him go.
Mitch cuts off Twin's chains.
Jake turns off his blow torch. Jason jumps up and feels his
hair.
JASON
You are so fucking close to being
a dead man.
JAKE
At least you don't wear hair
spray - it could have been
interesting.
They all walk into the middle of the shed, Twin nursing his
wounds.
JAKE (cont'd)
Do we all trust each other now?
MITCH
Just show us the way to go, smart
boy.
JAKE
Just to be on the safe side...
Jake crosses to the hopper and flicks a lever. A grinder
comes down and grinds up everything, including the guns.
There are several explosions.
JAKE (cont'd)
There you are - that's what we
like to do with those.
EXT. DOCKYARD WHARVES - NIGHT
Twin, Jake, Mitch and Jason get out the car.
Jake pushes open the door to Daniel's workshop. It is dark
inside. He calls out for Daniel but no-one answers. They
walk in to:
INT. DANIEL'S STUDIO - NIGHT
There is a weird humming sound - white noise - like blood
flowing through the body.
MITCH
What is this place?
JAKE
It's a studio. We need to find
the lights.
Jason fumbles in the dark and locates a switch.
JASON
I've found it.
He flicks the switch but instead of the lights coming on, a
large projector screen at the end of the workshop lights
up. A film starts playing on the screen, with electronic
sound effects and sampled backgrounds.
By the light of the screen, they see that the place has
been laid out like a Santa's Grotto maze that they have to
walk through.
As they walk through, TV screens are exposed on which they
see themselves real time, their faces distorted by lights
that flash off and on from strange angles. Jason and Mitch
are alarmed and confused but it is too loud to express
dissent.
As they walk, they look up to the large screen and see
images taken from the scrapyard:
- The movement of the crane is repeated over and over,
rotating, lifting and crushing. Sound of wounded metal
screams.
- A television showing images of the war - smart bombs
exploding and tanks firing on houses. A large sledge hammer
comes down and smashes the TV screen: the screen implodes
and explodes repeatedly.
- Cadavers of domestic appliances being fed into hoppers
that grind them down and crush them to the size of
cigarette packs.
- Twin's face, on the screen, getting closer to the camera
in a rage. Advancing towards the camera, then starting
again and advancing. Jason, Mitch and Jake all laugh.
- Reversed film of crushed cars, expanding and ballooning
back to normal, being lifted by a crane onto the back of a
lorry.
- The film is then spliced with real-time images of the
four men, their faces overlying the mountains of scrap and
being bent and distorted.
- Out of the scrap, sculptures start appearing. Joost and
Jake's sculptures emerging from the tangled steel.
"Resurrection Shovel" rises up like and angel with folded
arms and takes off from the scrapyard.
A looped soundtrack keeps repeating: "It leaves a metal
taste in your mouth."
The four men are led through the maze by lights going in
and off in the darkness and the rhythm of the film. Finally
they arrive at a door which opens into another shed.
Coloured lights go on and off, revealing through flashes in
the darkness, the laptop, on a table in the middle of the
shed.
Mitch walks towards the laptop but it's a hologram. As he
gets close, it disappears and appears elsewhere. This
happens three times. Then a large fish tank lights up at
the end of the shed. The laptop is sat with its screen up,
functioning, apparently at the bottom of the tank of water.
Multi-coloured metallic fish swim past it. On the screen,
the same images as on the main screen in the other room.
All four men walk over to the tank. As they get closer, the
laptop screen stops and writing appears on it: "Is this
really what you wanted?" The writing pulses in size, like a
beating heart.
MITCH
(to Jake)
Is that it?
JAKE
Yup. Take it out.
Mitch steps forward towards the tank. As he does so, the
message on the laptop says: "Life is a controlled
explosion." Then the laptop explodes and fizzles inside the
tank.
The lights go out. Silence.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Oh, Javier - one thing comes to
an end and another thing starts.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
And it ends again.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
And another things starts.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
And it ends again.
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
There must be something that
doesn't end.
INT. BOOKSHOP - DAY
Jake is looking at the Spanish travel books. He is holding
one of his small sculptures, one of the designs based on
his drawings of the Sagrada Familia. He clumsily reads a
book, alternately putting the sculpture beneath his arm and
resting it on the end of the bookshelf.
Yazza is also looking at books. She watches him out the
side of her eye for a while, looking at the sculpture.
Interested, she moves closer to him.
YAZZA
Hey, it's the stroppy guy with
the earphones.
JAKE
(mimicking her)
Hey, it's the stroppy girl from
the baker's.
YAZZA
(pointing at the
sculpture)
What's that?
JAKE
It's a sculpture, made from scrap
metal.
YAZZA
It looks like the Sagrada
Familia, in a weird kind of way.
JAKE
Yeah, it's the Sagrada
Unfamiliar.
YAZZA
Did you make it?
JAKE
Yes.
YAZZA
That's cool. And I thought you
were just a tosser with no life.
JAKE
Maybe I was.
YAZZA
What changed?
JAKE
Everything.
YAZZA
You stopped coming in to the
shop.
JAKE
Well, I gave up eating.
YAZZA
You're looking well on it.
Anyway, I'm not working there
anymore - it was only a temporary
thing, after university.
JAKE
What are you going to do now?
YAZZA
I'm going abroad to finish my
architecture studies.
JAKE
Oh, that's nice. Where are you
going?
YAZZA
Barcelona.
JAKE
Really!
They both notice that Jake is looking at a book on
Barcelona.
YAZZA
Are you going there too?
JAKE
I'd like to - I've never been
there.
YAZZA
You should go. It's fantastic.
You could do your sculptures
there - they would love them,
believe me.
JAKE
Well, I can dream about it.
YAZZA
(exuberantly, in
Spanish)
"You dream, you become, you look
back on a dream." Do you speak
Spanish?
JAKE
No, er, well, I'm trying to
learn.
(touching his ears)
I listen to the tapes, you know.
YAZZA
Oh, that's what you were
listening to. Well, it's a
Spanish proverb and it means,
"You dream, you become, you look
back on a dream."
They both stand around, wondering how to end the
conversation.
JAKE
Well, I hope things go well for
you in Barcelona.
YAZZA
Yeah, thanks. It should be great.
(a beat)
Listen, there's a Spanish film
festival on at the moment and
tonight they're showing
Alcaldero's "Life is a Dream".
Would you like to come with me?
JAKE
Well, yeah, of course. But will I
understand it?
YAZZA
It has subtitles, but I can
explain the plot to you anyway -
I've seen it about six times
before, it's my favourite film.
Meet me on the high street, near
the baker's at six-thirty. Hasta
luego!
JAKE
See you.
INT. CINEMA - NIGHT
A Spanish film with subtitles. A man in bed, beneath the
sheets, a naked woman, distressed, sits on the bed next to
him.
SPANISH ACTRESS (SP/S.T.)
(tearfully)
My father wants me to marry
Astolfo, but I will never marry
anyone but you. Besides, it's all
about money, filthy money.
SPANISH ACTOR (SP/S.T.)
Nothing can keep us apart. I will
tear Astolfo from limb to limb.
CUT TO:
Jake and Yazza watching the film.
JAKE
I don't understand what's going
on.
YAZZA
It's simple: her uncle, the King,
wants her to marry Astolfo but
she loves Segismund.
JAKE
Why did his father keep him in
prison?
YAZZA
Because he didn't want him to
bring dishonor on the kingdom.
JAKE
Is he dreaming now?
YAZZA
Now this is real. He's woken up
but he doesn't remember anything
because they drugged him. So
she's explaining what's happened
to him.
JAKE
Right.
EXT. STREET OUTSIDE CINEMA - NIGHT
Jake and Yazza leave the cinema and walk down the road
together.
JAKE
So the bit where he marries
Estrella, that wasn't a dream?
YAZZA
No, that was real. Did you like
it?
JAKE
Yeah, it was fantastic. A bit
confusing.
YAZZA
That's because you're reading the
subtitles, so you miss what's
really happening on the screen.
If you could speak Spanish, it
would all be clear to you.
They walk silently for a bit.
JAKE
Do you want to come back for a
coffee?
YAZZA
Of course.
They walk a bit more, then Yazza stops, and stops him.
YAZZA (cont'd)
Listen, I'm going to kiss you,
right, but I don't want you to
get the wrong impression. It's
only because I like you.
She gives him a BIG kiss.
JAKE
Wow!
She grabs him by the arm and walks him quickly up the road,
chattering and laughing.
INT. JAKE'S FLAT - NIGHT
Jake carries two coffees to the sofa. Yazza is walking
around the flat looking at things. She picks up the case
for the Spanish language course and looks at it.
YAZZA
Oh, the Barquillo Brothers,
they're my favourite Spanish
comics.
JAKE
Are they comedians?
YAZZA
Are you joking? They're like the
Spanish Monty Python - totally
nuts, I love it.
JAKE
(sheepishly)
I thought it was a real language
tape.
YAZZA
Is this what you've been learning
from?
JAKE
Yes.
YAZZA
(laughing)
No, I don't believe it. You've
been learning Spanish from here?
That's really funny.
(she reads from the back
of the case)
"A fridge is not an onion."
She throws her arms around him.
YAZZA (cont'd)
That is so funny. You poor thing.
Well, it is Spanish, I suppose.
She starts drinking her coffee but keeps laughing and
looking at him sideways.
She puts her coffee cup down.
YAZZA (cont'd)
Listen, I'm going to sleep with
you, but don't get the wrong
impression.
JAKE
It's because you like me.
YAZZA
That's right!
INT. JAKE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Jake and Yazza are lying in bed talking.
YAZZA
So, this guy Twin stole a car
that belonged to some big crook
who was the same guy that was
buying your sculptures and was
also the boss of that girl you
met in the pub?
JAKE
Yeah, weird isn't it.
YAZZA
That is totally fucking freaky. I
find that hard to believe.
JAKE
It's a small world.
FADE TO BLACK.
INT. JAKE'S BEDROOM - MORNING
View of the bottom of the bed, and the French window, as in
the opening scene.
YAZZA (O.S./SP/S.T.)
I'm going to Barcelona.
JAKE (O.S./SP/S.T.)
I want to go to Barcelona, too.
YAZZA (O.S./SP/S.T.)
We both want to go to Barcelona.
Why don't we go together.
JAKE (O.S./SP/S.T.)
Do you mean that?
YAZZA (O.S./SP/S.T.)
Of course.
JAKE (O.S./SP/S.T.)
How will we get there?
YAZZA (O.S./SP/S.T.)
We can drive.
JAKE (O.S./SP/S.T.)
It's cheaper to fly.
YAZZA (O.S./SP/S.T.)
We'll have more fun driving. We
can stop along the way and see
everything.
JAKE (O.S./SP/S.T.)
We haven't got a car.
YAZZA (O.S./SP/S.T.)
Ask that bloke Twin for one - he
owes you a favour.
JAKE (O.S./SP/S.T.)
You're clever. I like you.
YAZZA (O.S./SP/S.T.)
I like you too.
JAKE (O.S./SP/S.T.)
That's good.
SPANISH INSTRUCTOR
(in English)
Tell Twin you need a car that
will get you to Barcelona.
INT. SCRAPYARD - DAY
Twin and Jake are standing next to a red, 1966, Fiat
Spider. Twin still has scars on his face.
JAKE
I'm sorry about your face, Twin.
TWIN
Just forget about it. That never
happened, okay. I'm giving you
this car and it's a deal, you
never mention that to anyone
again.
JAKE
Right. But this car is not
stolen, is it?
TWIN
No, I'm out of the used car
business now. Believe it or not,
this was dumped. Squeak has been
fixing it up for me, but you can
have it.
Jake jumps in the car and starts it up. Twin leans in the
driver's window.
JAKE
It sounds great!
TWIN
Sweet as a baby. Keep your eye on
the temperature and take it easy -
she'll get you there.
JAKE
(shakes his hand)
Okay. Do the right thing and
watch out for Mister Big. See you
around.
Jake drives out of the scrapyard.
EXT. YAZZA'S FLAT - DAY
Jake pulls up in the car, already loaded with his minimal
possessions.
They load up her stuff and drive away.
EXT. ROAD LEAVING LONELYVILLE - MORNING
Bright sunshine. Jake and Yazza drive up a long road that
leaves Lonelyville behind them. Over their shoulders we
see, at the bottom of the road, the disappearing town, the
industrial area, the scrapyard and the docks.
They drive past a sign which says: "You are leaving
Lonelyville (population 3)".
They drive down a beautiful empty road that winds next to
the river. They drive past the following scenes:
- Madame Verbist and her paramour are picnicking, dejeuner
sur l'herbe, on a rug next to a svelte green tennis court.
She is leaning back, balancing a champagne glass, laughing
to the heavens as he nibbles her neck.
- Not far away, near the edge of the woods, Jenny is posed
naked on a blanket.
- Through the window of a diner Marie and the pool player
are seen playing pool. As the car goes past they both stand
at the window and look out. Marie is dressed sexily. They
wave. Then kiss intensely.
- A yacht tacks up the broad river. Joost and Marinka are
on deck. The sails seem to be made of steel and glint in
the sun. Marinka waves from the bow. As they sail, the
yacht is transformed into the heron and shoal of fish
sculpture.
- A field containing a large pile of televisions. Davey boy
is standing on top of them, busting the screens with a
large sledgehammer. As the car goes past, he stops and
grins, and waves with one hand. About five metres away from
the televisions, his fiancee is sitting on the grass
laughing at him.
Yazza puts the Spanish language tape into the cassette
player.
SPANISH JAVIER (V.O./SP/S.T.)
The time we've spent together has
been the happiest of my life, but
now I have to leave you and
return to Taganro...
SPANISH BELINDA (V.O./SP/S.T.)
Wow, watch that car coming round
the bend.
The tape fouls up in the spindles. Yazza ejects the
cassette and pulls metres of tape out. She rips it free and
throws the whole thing out of the car. The tape is caught
in the wind and rolls away down the road.
They drive around a sharp bend and Jake almost loses
control of the car. Just around the bend, there has been an
accident. A wrecked car by the side of the road. Mitch and
Jason are outside the car, arguing and pushing each other.
Twin jumps out the cab of a pick-up truck and walks to the
back to hook up the busted car. He scowls at Jake and makes
a 'getaway' gesture with his hand. Then a smile crosses his
face as he bends down to hook the car up.
They drive off into the sun. A road sign says, "Barcelona,
900 miles".
The film fast forwards so quickly that no sound or image is
detectable. It stops on a view of the Sagrada Familia.
FADE OUT.
THE END
"La Vie En Rose" plays over the credits.
No domestic appliances were hurt during the making of this
film.