Brooklyn Page #17

JIM:

(sincerely)

It was a terrible thing. We all

went to the funeral Mass. My mother

and father and myself.

EILIS:

I, I didn’t know that.

JIM:

My mother played golf with her, you

know. She was very fond of her. It

was... It was the saddest thing to

happen in the town that I can

remember.

Jim is so pained and so genuine that Eilis can only look at

him with gratitude. She can’t speak, and she’s close to

tears.

EILIS:

Thank you.

'Brooklyn' YELLOW Script Dated 24th April 2014 83.

115 INT. CONNAUGHT HOTEL BAR. EVENING 115

Eilis, Nancy and George watch as Jim pays for the round of

drinks at the bar: pints for the men, gin and bitter lemons

for the girls.

JIM:

We can stand at the bar, George,

can’t we? And the ladies can have

their gossip over there.

He gestures towards a quiet table in the corner of the room.

After the conversation she had with Jim on the way in, Eilis

feels awkward.

EILIS:

Oh, we’re not going to talk about

anything terribly exciting.

NANCY:

(disappointed)

Oh, really? You’ve got nothing to

tell me?

JIM:

I’d love to hear something about

New York. If I promise not to say

anything, can I listen?

Later. Jim, George and Nancy are listening to Eilis talking

about her new life.

EILIS:

Ah, but that’s Manhattan. I live in

Brooklyn, and I work in Brooklyn,

and if I go out, I go out in

Brooklyn, and the skyscrapers are

across the river. I don’t even

think about them, very often.

NANCY:

But you’ve made friends?

EILIS:

Oh, the girls in the house aren’t

so bad, once you get used to them.

NANCY:

You don’t make it sound very

glamorous.

EILIS:

It’s not, really.

NANCY:

Not even..what do you call it? The

department store where you work?

(CONTINUED)

'Brooklyn' YELLOW Script Dated 24th April 2014 84.

115 CONTINUED:
115

EILIS:

Bartocci’s? It sells lovely things.

But I can’t afford many of them,

and I don’t like the work.

JIM:

What would you like to do?

EILIS:

I want to do what Rose did. I want

to work in an office, and deal with

numbers. That’s why I’ve been

studying so hard.

JIM:

You should call in at Davis’s. They

haven’t managed to replace Rose,

you know. We do business with them,

and they’ve been looking, but they

can’t find anyone who’s reliable

and qualified.

EILIS:

I’ll be going back to New York

straight after the wedding.

JIM:

But you might want to earn a little

money in the meantime. I’m sure

they’d be glad to have you.

GEORGE:

(teasing)

Oh, you just want her to stay.

JIM:

I’m only thinking of Eilis.

He says this ambiguously, and with a smile. He doesn’t mind

being teased, and he certainly doesn’t mind being teased on

this particular subject.

GEORGE:

D’you hear that, Eilis? He’s only

thinking of you.

Eilis blushes. She makes eye contact with Jim, and she looks

away first.

116 EXT. EILIS’ HOUSE. NIGHT 116

Eilis emerges from George’s car, amid laughter. The evening

has clearly gone well. She walks towards her house and

notices that the light in the front room is still on.

'Brooklyn' YELLOW Script Dated 24th April 2014 85.

117 INT. DINING ROOM, EILIS’S HOUSE. NIGHT. 117

Eilis comes in to the front room. Mary is reading the

newspaper in an armchair.

MARY:

How was your evening?

EILIS:

It was very nice, thank you.

MARY:

Was that Jim Farrell I saw in the

car with them?

EILIS:

It was.

Mary raises her eyebrows quizzically. Eilis isn’t biting.

MARY:

His parents are moving, you know.

They’re retiring to the country.

He’ll be in that big house on his

own.

EILIS:

Is that right?

MARY:

He’s a catch for someone. (Beat)

Did you see the air-mail letter

that came for you?

EILIS:

No. Thank you.

She’s embarrassed by something. Mary studies her.

MARY:

One of your new friends in America,

I suppose.

EILIS:

I expect so. Goodnight, Mummy.

118 INT. BEDROOM. NIGHT 118

Eilis rushes into the bedroom, sits on the bed, tears open

her letter and reads it voraciously. We have seen something

like this before - when she was in Brooklyn, devouring

letters from Ireland.

'Brooklyn' YELLOW Script Dated 24th April 2014 86.

119 EXT. TOWN. DAY 119

Eilis walking through the streets of Enniscorthy, carrying

grocery shopping. She smiles and says hello to a couple of

people.

120 INT. HOUSE. DAY 120

Eilis comes in through the front door with the shopping. Mary

bustles out of the front room into the hall.

MARY:

Oh, thank goodness you’re back.

EILIS:

(alarmed)

What’s the matter?

MARY:

A lad from Davis’s came round. They

have a problem in their accounts

department and they need you up

there straight away.

EILIS:

(relieved)

Is that all? I’ll just put the

shopping away.

MARY:

No, no, leave it. Straight away,

the young fella said.

EILIS:

It doesn’t matter what he said,

Mother. I’m not an employee. I’d be

doing them a favour.

MARY:

Please, let me do the shopping.

She blocks Eilis’s way, takes the bags off her impatiently.

Eilis sighs, turns around, goes out of the door.

121 INT. OFFICE. DAY 121

MARIA, a woman in her mid-thirties, ushers Eilis through a

large outer office where several people are working into a

smaller office. On the desk there is a framed photograph of

Eilis. She sees it immediately, but doesn’t say anything.

MARIA:

The problem is that it’s our busy

season, so all the drivers and mill-

workers did overtime last week.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

'Brooklyn' YELLOW Script Dated 24th April 2014 87.

121 CONTINUED:
121

MARIA (CONT'D)

Well, they’ve all filled out their

overtime slips, which are here...

She picks a pile of slips up off the desk.

MARIA:

But there’s been nobody to work it

all out and add it to their wage

slips, and some of the men have

started to complain. And I can’t

blame them. As you can see, it’s

all a terrible mess.

EILIS:

If you leave me for a couple of

hours, I can work out a system so

that whoever comes in after me

won’t have any trouble. I’ll come

and find you if I have any

questions.

MARIA:

You’re sure you don’t need me in

here?

EILIS:

I’m sure.

Later. Eilis is completely absorbed in her work - this, after

all, is what she has always wanted to do.

At the end of the day, the office is in impeccable shape -

Eilis has tidied up all the overtime slips, and has wage

packets lined up in alphabetical order in a box. Just as she

is standing up to go, there is a perfunctory knock on the

door and MR BROWN, owner of Davis’s, walks in.

MR BROWN:

Hello, Eilis. Maria has been

telling me that you’ve done the

most marvellous job here. We should

have known you would, of course.

You’re Rose’s sister, after all.

EILIS:

Thank you.

MR BROWN:

I’m told you have a certificate in

book-keeping. Is it American bookkeeping?

EILIS:

I got the certificate in America,

but the two systems are very

similar.

(CONTINUED)

'Brooklyn' YELLOW Script Dated 24th April 2014 88.

121 CONTINUED:
121

MR BROWN:

Well, we’ll certainly need someone

to deal with wages and so on during

the busy season, so I’d like you to

continue on a part-time basis.

Let’s see how that goes, and then

we’ll speak again.

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