Amour Page #11

She nods her head, indicating she understands. Finally she

looks at him:

EVA:

What’s going to happen now?

GEORGES:

(with a little ironic laugh)

What’s going to happen now? The

nurse comes twice a week, and every

two weeks Dr. Bertier and the

hairdresser come. That’s what you

want to know, right?

Things will go on as they have done

up until now. They'll go from bad

to worse. Things will go on, and

then one day it will all be over.

Brief PAUSE.

EVA:

You can’t go on like this, Dad.

GEORGES:

Can't I? What do you suggest?

EVA:

Can't we have a serious talk, you

and me?

GEORGES:

What do you call “a serious talk”?

What do you want to suggest? Do you

want to have Mom live with you? Do

you want to pack her off to a care

home? Do you? What do you want? Go

on, talk to me "seriously"!

Eva looks at him.

SCENE 53 - INT. BEDROOM - DAY

Georges is seated on the bed beside Anne, who is still

bedridden.

62.

ANNE:

(in a rush)... short... short

dress... only I... only I... all

long... it was... (with a small

gesture to imitate a bell): ding...

dong...

GEORGES:

(smiling)

Yes, it swung to and fro.

ANNE:

(still rushed) ... yes... to ...

fro ... you... very serious... like

that... (she imitates a serious

countenance, continues in a low

voice):
like that... serious...

GEORGES:

(unable to keep from laughing a

little) Yes. I think I was pretty

uptight.

ANNE:

(smiling) yes... up... tight...

PAUSE. Anne puts her hand on Georges’.

ANNE (CONT’D)

... it was n...nice...

SILENCE.

SCENE 54 - INT. BATHROOM - HALLWAY - BEDROOM - DAY

BATHROOM:

Georges is shaving. Suddenly we hear, coming from the

bedroom,

ANNE’S VOICE

(loud) Help... Help... Help...

Help... Help...

Georges wipes his face and, to the sound of Anne's cries,

crosses the hallway and enters the bedroom.

Anne continues to cry out in a monotone to herself.

Georges goes over to her bed.

GEORGES:

(trying to calm her like a sick

child) What is it?..

(MORE)

63.

GEORGES (CONT'D)

Are you in pain?... What’s the

matter?... Is your pad full?

He raises her blanket for an instant and sniffs, then

replaces it.

GEORGES (CONT’D)

No... So what’s hurting you?

He sits down beside her on the bed. Takes her hand.

GEORGES (CONT’D)

It’s all right... it's all right …

I’m here... everything’s fine...

we’ll... Hold on, I’ll tell you a

story... but you must be quiet, I

can’t talk too loud, it wears me

out... Here we go: when I was

little... well, I wasn’t as little

as all that... it was toward the

end of primary school, so I was

about ten, Dad and Mom sent me to a

holiday camp. They thought it would

do me good to spend the summer with

kids my own age... We were lodged

in an old castle in the midst of a

magnificent wooded landscape... I

think it was in the Auvergne... I

don’t know... in any case it was

the opposite of what I'd

expected... We had to get up at 6

and go for a morning swim. Not far

from the castle, there was a pond

fed by an icy mountain stream. We

entered it running, in a double

file. You know, I was never very

sporty. They had a program to keep

us on the go all day, probably to

nip any potential pubescent

impulses in the bud ... But the

worst thing was the food. The third

day after our arrival, there was

rice pudding for lunch. I hate rice

pudding. We sat at long tables in a

huge hall. I didn't want to eat the

stuff and the housemaster said to

me:
You won't get up until you’ve

cleared your plate. So after the

meal everybody left the room, and I

remained seated, in tears. I had

made a secret pact with Mom. I was

to send her a postcard every week.

(MORE)

64.

GEORGES (CONT’D)

If I was pleased with the place I

was to draw some flowers on it, or

if not, some stars. She kept the

card; it was covered all over in

stars. After three hours, I was

allowed to leave the table. I went

up to my room, got into bed and had

a fever of 42 degrees. It was

diphtheria. They took me to the

nearest hospital where I was put in

an isolation ward, which meant that

Mom, when she came to visit me,

could only wave at me through a

window. At some point I lost that

postcard. It’s a pity.

Anne has become ever calmer during Georges' story. He still

holds her hand.

LONG SILENCE.

Then Georges reaches across Anne's body to get hold of his

pillow and presses it over her face. STIFLED SOUNDS from

Anne. Everything that can still move in her body starts to

move. Georges presses down heavily on the pillow, lies on it

with his whole weight, for a long time, until all Anne's

movements stop. Then he sits up, exhausted, and without

removing the pillow from her face, remains seated beside her.

SILENCE.

SCENE 55 - INT. HALLWAY - KITCHEN - DAY

Hallway.

The front door of the apartment is unlocked. Georges, in city

clothes, enters with two big shopping bags full of cut

flowers. He puts down the bags, takes off his coat, hangs it

in the closet.

The TELEPHONE RINGS. Georges takes the bags and carries them

in the kitchen, puts them in the sink, fills it with water.

He starts to cut the stems and put the flowers in the water.

We watch him doing so for a while. Meanwhile, the TELEPHONE

HAS STOPPED RINGING.

SCENE 56 - INT. HALLWAY - DAY

Georges has opened one of the sections of the large wall

closet. He is looking for a specific dress. He takes some

out, puts them back inside. One of the dresses slips off its

hanger and falls to the floor. He picks it up, hangs it up

again. He ends up finding the one he was looking for. He

takes it out on its hanger. Closes the closet again.

65.

Looks at the dress. Then he lowers his arm a little and is

about to leave the bedroom. He catches his feet in the dress.

He just saves himself from tripping up by grabbing on to the

wheelchair that is parked there. Exhausted, he flops down

into it.

SCENE 57 - INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT

With wide adhesive tape, Georges seals up the door frame of

the bedroom.

SCENE 58 - INT. KITCHEN - ADJOINING BEDROOM - HALLWAY - DAY

Georges is seated at the kitchen table where he had breakfast

with Anne in Scene 8, and writes a letter. PAUSES for

reflection. GENTLE COOING OF PIGEONS, scarcely audible.

Suddenly, Georges starts.

At the far end of the long kitchen, beside the door between

the kitchen units, a pigeon is walking. Georges stares at it.

For a long time.

Then he gets up slowly and, via the door located beside the

kitchen table, he goes into the adjoining room.

On the sofa there, he has set up his new bed. He takes the

wool blanket from the bed and comes back into the kitchen,

carefully approaches the pigeon that then runs off in alarm.

Georges carefully opens up the blanket and finally throws it

over the pigeon. But it manages to escape into the hallway.

Georges follows it. This action is repeated several times.

The pigeon is more and more panicky, starts to fly up,

flutters about in all directions. Georges closes the light-

well window to cut off its escape route. This lasts an

exhausting amount of time, but he ends up capturing it. He

cuddles it against him, rolled up in the blanket, leans

against a wall, then holds it as if it were a baby.

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