Belle Page #16

---

INT. BLOOMSBURY SQ. MARBLE ROOM. DAY.24110110*

A canvas stands hidden under hemp fabric. ZOFFANY stands

beside it. LORD MANSFIELD before him...

EXT. BLOOMSBURY SQUARE. GARDENS. CONTINUOUS. DAY.24111111*

DIDO surrounded by Summer blooms. She reads a poetry book.

INT. BLOOMSBURY SQUARE. MARBLE ROOM. CONTINUOUS. DAY.24112112*

As ZOFFANY carefully removes the hemp - a series of actions

slowly uncovering his painting. We do not see it revealed.

INT. BLOOMSBURY SQUARE. GARDENS. CONTINUOUS. DAY.24113113*

As DIDO repeats a sentence from the book to herself.

DIDOWhy did I, slave, beyond my lot

aspire..

The line repeats itself in her head.

INT. BLOOMSBURY SQUARE. MARBLE ROOM. CONTINUOUS. DAY.24114114*

LORD MANSFIELD before the painting, shielding it from us.

ON ZOFFANY as his eyes fall on the window. LORD MANSFIELD

follows his gaze, to DIDO alone in the gardens, reading.

POV:
THROUGH THE WINDOW, as DIDO feels their gaze. She

falters. Her eyes dart through the glass, beyond LORD

MANSFIELD, to the canvas....The sight causes her to stand -

drawn to the window to see more clearly.

The camera, too, draws in on the portrait, now. And as it

is revealed to DIDO, so too, is it finally revealed to us.

It is a serenely sensitive representation of two delicate

English ladies - one part black, as they stand as equals,

against Kenwood’s iconic gardens.

CLOSE on DIDO, shaken, taking in the extraordinary image.

Off both men, each as moved as she is.

INT. BLOOMSBURY SQUARE. MARBLE ROOM. DAY.24115115*

The camera hovers on the painting - The image of

ELIZABETH’S delicate hand laying gently on DIDO’S arm.

90.

LORD MANSFIELD (OOV)

It will hang at Kenwood.

DIDOWill it?

LORD MANSFIELDWhy should that surprise you?

DIDOWhy should it not?

LORD MANSFIELD says nothing, observes her, curious.

LORD MANSFIELDWhat are you reading?

DIDOPoetry. A gentleman named Thomas

Day. He speaks of a slave whoagreed to marry a free woman.

A voice to people...people likemy mother - who do not have one.

People like the drowned slaves. He takes her point.

LORD MANSFIELDYou find yourself in such writing?

The camera tracks, capturing them taking in the canvas.

DIDOI don’t know that I find myself

anywhere. I have no place that I

may claim.

LORD MANSFIELDWhat is it that you want, Dido?

What precisely are you searchingfor? I enabled every rule ofheritage so that you could know

exactly where you belong. Yetlittle appears enough for you!

DIDOPapaa, you enabled every rule,

but you had to overlook just as

many to raise me within good

society. And what if there were

not a rule Papaa? What if thatrule that allowed you to take medid not exist? Would you have

returned me to the slums?

The air is poignant with the question.

91.

DIDO (CONT’D)

You are courageous. When it

comes to the matters you believe

in, society is inconsequential.

You break EVERY rule when it

matters enough. Papaa, I am the

evidence.

(OFF the painting)

This painting...is the evidence.

Her words are stark. LORD MANSFIELD follows her gaze to the

painting, swallowing hard. Something in him is shifting.

INT. LLOYD’S OF LONDON. COFFEE HO. ROYAL EXCHANGE. DAY.25116116*

The hub of the mercantile profession. This is LORD

MANSFIELD’S world. It is pillared, and elegant, teaming

with Lloyd’s members - Insurance men, brokers, lawyers -

all engaged in commerce and politics.

ON LORD MANSFIELD with the LORD MAYOR. They weave past to

sit with others, equally wigged - power houses of England,

watched by all in the room. In every corner, heated debate

rages - the imminent Zong decision on everyone’s lips.

LORD MAYORLook at them - For and against at

each other’s throats! How on earth

did the damn quakers find their way

into here!..(beat)..You are a brave

man, negotiating these quarters on

the eve of your judgement.

LORD MANSFIELDYou did not become Lord Mayor

through being a coward.

LORD MAYORFinally you are to speak, then.

If England is destroyed we shall

blame you!

He slaps LORD MANSFIELD’s back, playfully, but is deadly

serious. LORD MANSFIELD is distracted...through the bustle

in the room, the SOUND of YOUNG MEN debating at a table,

insurance underwriters before them.

JOHN (OOV)

...But religion cannot be the

only guardian of our morality.

YOUNG MAN 1Of course not - there is self-

responsibility?

LORD MANSFIELD’S POV: we make out JOHN debating intensely.

92.

JOHNAnd failing that does the law not

have a duty?

ON LORD MANSFIELD - his own group continue in conversation,

but all his attention is on JOHN.

JOHN (CONT’D)

Do the bench and parliament not

have a duty to uphold and createthe laws, to set the precedentsthat progress our morality, notretard it! If not to protect usfrom others, then to protect usfrom ourselves! Laws that allowus to diminish the humanity ofanybody, are not laws - they are

frameworks for crime.

ON LORD MANSFIELD - something going on behind the eyes. The

rest of the room fades - making JOHN clear and crisp.

JOHN (CONT’D)

A constitution can never be finite

- surely as humanity evolves so

too must its laws. And frankly I

really do not care if you as an

individual are without character

or conscience - But a land whoselaws contain neither - whose lawssanction not control the barbarousamong its citizens - that is a

country whose hope is lost.

LORD MANSFIELD’s gaze falls away, as he swallows hard.

INT. ROYAL EXCHANGE. ENTRANCE HALL. DAY.25117117*

JOHN exits Lloyd’s, into the open halls of the Exchange.

LORD MANSFIELD fits his tricorn (hat), preparing to leave.

The two men lay eyes on each other - both rooted. LORD

MANSFIELD’S examines JOHN.

LORD MANSFIELDWhy does it matter to you so?

JOHN stares at him bewildered, at a loss for words.

EXT. ROYAL EXCHANGE. COURTYARD/STREETS DAY.25118118*

LORD MANSFIELD walks to his carriage. JOHN races after him.

JOHNM’lord..! It..it is a misuse of the

clause. It is not for human lives.

It is for goods.. Chattel...

93.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote