Brazil Page #27

140 INT. MOTHER'S FLAT NIGHT140

The drawing room door burst open as SAM dashes in. SAM

goes straight through and into the bedroom. The room is

empty of all terrestrial human life forms. A hollow wind

blows the curtains.

141 INT. MOTHER'S BEDROOM NIGHT141

The room is in chaos (and there is a hole in the ceiling).

SAM turns and sees a silhouette in the doorway. He rushes

forwards.

142 INT. MOTHER'S FRONT DOOR NIGHT 142

But it's MATTHEWS the porter who is at the door watching

SAM running towards him.

MATTHEWS:

(piously)

A sad loss. Your mother was with her

at the end. The doctor said there was

no pain.

SAM grabs MATTHEWS round the neck and shakes him.

SAM:

Where is she?

143 EXTA CORNER NIGHT143

SAM comes running around corner. He is suddenly bathed in

a strange blue light. He halts and looks up. There

opposite him is a large blue neon cross above the entrance

to a chapel of dully modernistic design. Holy music from

an electric organ can be heard. SAM rushes up the stops

and through the door.

144 INT. CHAPEL OF OUR LADY OF THE CHECK-OUT COUNTER NIGHT 144

CUT to SAM slipping into the chapel (in tight spot) and

suddenly being confronted by SPIRO the Maitre D.

SPIRO:

Ah, yes, Mr Lowry. It's so good you

could make it. Right this way.

SAM, dumbfounded, follows.

CUT to SAM being lead into the middle of the cold, modern

chapel which, possibly for the occasion, has been tarted

up with some red velvet curtains that help make it a bit

theatrical. A large flower-smothered coffin rests on some

sort of raised stand in front of the altar, a VICAR stands

in the pulpit, and a fair sprinkling of PEOPLE sit in

stepped seats on three sides of the room.

The coffin is closed, but a length of bandage has escaped

the lid. Standing amidst the floral tributes is a large,

rather idealized, colour portrait of MRS TERRAIN looking

not so much young as beautiful. Among the MOURNERS are DRS

JAFFE and CHAPMAN and others in their operating gowns.

To enlarge on the scene, we see SHIRLEY T snuffling in her

hanky and a few others chatting amongst themselves, the

VICAR standing in his pulpit waiting to get on with it,

etc. CUT to SAM trying to take all this in, stopping in

the middle of the room. Don't forget DR CHAPMAN sobbing.

SPIRO:

(stopping and looking back

at Sam)

Mrs Lowry? Mrs Lowry is ...

In the background the VICAR begins speaking, and we hear

his voice throughout the following action. CUT TO SAM'S

POV ....

VICAR (in background)

At these times of giving and

receiving let's remember the greatest

gift of all:
not a gift to be

spurned, not a gift to be opened and

carelessly set on one side, not a

gift to be taken back and changed,

but the gift of eternal life. Mrs

Terrain has just received that most

wonderful of all gifts. She came to

us physically new, she goes hence

from us not so physically new. But

the spirit never grows old. And in

the domain of the Eternal Giver, Mrs

Terrain shall dwell in bountiful joy

forever.

..... (CUT to SAM's POV) ... past SPIRO to a section in

the bleachers directly across from the coffin and the

VICAR where a WOMAN (her back to SAM) is surrounded by a

buzzing flock of very handsome and well-dressed YOUNG MEN.

SAM:

(trying to take in scene)

what? ... Oh ...

(starts to follow Spiro)

SPIRO:

(coming up to back of

woman)

Madam ...

CUT to WOMAN turning, half in flirtatious conversation. It

is SAM's MOTHER, but miraculously another twenty years

younger and ... a parody of SAM's Dream Girl.

MOTHER:

Sam!!!

(uncertainty in her

expression)

SAM:

(staring dumbly, not

knowing what to say)

Mother? ... What ... what's ...

you've got to help me ...

MOTHER:

(embarrassed, unsure)

Not now ... please

YOUNG GALLANT:

(belligerently)

Ida, is this fellow bothering you?

(getting up)

I'll -

But before we can find out what he'll:

SFX:

TERRIFIC CRASH.

CUT to entrance to Chapel as a squad of TROOPS come

crashing in. PEOPLE begin to scatter, screaming. The

TROOPS spot SAM who dashes away from his MOTHER and heads

for a door behind the altar. In his panic he crashes

against the coffin which topples over spilling its

contents ... a hundredweight of offal. SAM covers his

mouth and dashes through the door.

145 EXT. MAZE-LIKE DARK PASSAGES NIGHT145

CUT to SAM, really dashing madly, tripping over things,

hurting himself, getting up running.

He is in a maze of machinery. Every way he turns his path

seems blocked by either TROOPS or FIGURES from his dreams.

The walls of the maze become more simplified as he goes

deeper into it. More rectangular, higher. We see a top

shot of the maze with SAM separate from the pursuing

FORCES but they are closing in on him from all sides. The

maze extends as far as we can see. SAM turns left and

right through it, always there is a chance of turnings.

Until ... he rounds a corner and for the first time there

is nowhere to go. The maze leads straight ahead to a dead

end.

At the end of the maze is a great pile of detritus from

the consumer society. Televisions, washing machines, hair

dryers, junk. SAM can do nothing but try to dig through

this pile.

Maybe he can defend himself with something here. He

scrabbles away. Looking back he sees the massed AGENTS,

TROOPS, FORCES OF DARKNESS heading toward him. No escape.

He digs, harder, faster. Junk flies everywhere. He

actually reaches the end wall. Back to it, he turns to

face the foe. But as he moves against the wall his hand

touches something. A door knob. He turns. It's a door. The

knob turns easily. The door swings open. SAM dives through

it.

146 INT. HABITATION UNITNIGHT146

SAM finds himself in a strange little house empty of

furniture except a few fitted cupboards and a fitted bed

frame. He tries to lock the door behind him but there is

no key. He puts his weight against the door to keep it

shut. From outside there is the general noise of pursuit

but this fades and resolves itself into a fairly quiet

uniform engine-sound. SAM lets go of the door carefully.

He looks around but there is only one window and it is

shuttered. He carefully opens the door a crack and he sees-

SAM'S POV:
A rapidly receding street.

147 EXT. CITYNIGHT147

JILL's truck, with the house on its back, is driving

dangerously through he streets. It lurches round the

corner.

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