Eyes Wide Shut Page #3

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BILL:

Always a bit dangerous with pot.

ALICE:

Isn't that the fun?

BILL:

I'm putty in your hands.

ALICE:

Okay, let's start with who were those

those two gorgeous women at the

party last night?

BILL:

Don't really know. One of them just

started talking to me.

ALICE:

I thought they might be patients?

BILL:

No such luck. They're models. One of

them said I once removed something

from her eyes on windy day in

Rockefeller Plaza.

ALICE:

Always on the job.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

BILL:

That's me.

ALICE:

And what did they want from you this

time?

BILL:

My body - what else?

ALICE doesn't find the remark particularly amusing.

BILL:

Hey, come on - all I did was talk to

them... Anyway, who was the guy _you_

were dancing with?

BILL is not that interested and just wants to change the subject.

ALICE:

Sandor?

BILL:

Sandor... Who is he?

ALICE:

A friend of the Zieglers.

BILL:

And what does he do?

ALICE:

I never actually found out?

BILL:

Rich?

ALICE:

Talked like he was.

BILL:

And what did he want?

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ALICE:

Sex. Upstairs. Then and there.

The pot makes ALICE think this is hilarious.

BILL:

Well, I guess that's understandable.

ALICE:

Understandable?

BILL:

Well, you're a beautiful woman.

ALICE:

Oh, I see. So does exhaustive

research show that every man I meet

wants to screw me?

BILL:

There might be some exceptions.

ALICE:

Does that mean that all men, with

_possibly_ _some_ _exceptions_, want to

screw all beautiful women, married or

otherwise?

BILL:

I suppose, basically, yes.

ALICE:

So does that mean you wanted to

screw the two models?

BILL:

I did say with some exceptions.

ALICE:

And of course you're an exception?

BILL:

Yes.

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ALICE:

How come?

BILL:

Because I love you.

ALICE:

Any other reasons?

BILL:

Because we're married.

ALICE:

Any others?

BILL:

And because I wouldn't lie to you or

hurt you.

ALICE:

So basically what it comes down to is

that you wouldn't screw the two

models out of _consideration_ for me,

but otherwise you would.

BILL:

Hey, is this thing on Court TV?

BILL feigns looking around for cameras.

ALICE:

Why don't you just give me a

straight answer?

BILL:

Hey, come on, honey. The pot's

making you aggressive.

He takes her cigarette and puts it out.

ALICE:

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I'm not being aggressive at all - and

how about you not putting out my

BILL:

Okay. Okay. Okay.

ALICE:

Now try to be honest. When some

really great-looking woman comes in to

your office to have her tits checked out,

don't you ever think about screwing

her?

BILL:

Come on, give me a break. I'm a

doctor. It's all very impersonal. And

anyway my insurance requires that a

nurse is always present.

ALICE:

You're being evasive. When you're

feeling her tits, is it never any more

than sheer professionalism?

BILL:

Basically, that's all it is.

ALICE:

Just basically?

BILL:

Oh, come on. There are no absolutes

in anything.

ALICE:

No absolutes... Okay. Fine... And does

the same thing go for women? While

they're having their tits squeezed, do

you suppose your lady patients ever

wonder what your dick might be like?

BILL:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Definitely not.

ALICE:

And why is that?

BILL (laughs)

Because they're too worried about

what I might find.

ALICE:

You know what I mean.

BILL:

No, again. Not most of them.

ALICE:

Why?

BILL:

Well, I suppose that most women are

programmed differently from men

ALICE:

Oh, yes, I forgot. Millions of years of

evolution - right? Men have to put

their sperm into as many women as

they can, but women stay at home

with pretty pink things and take care of

the children?

BILL:

A bit oversimplified but something like

that.

A dispirited smile passes over her face.

ALICE:

Oh, if you men only knew.

The look in her eyes changes, becoming cool and impenetrable,

and BILL allows her hands to slip from his.

BILL:

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If we knew -? What do you mean

by that?

ALICE (in a strangely harsh voice)

About what you imagine, my dear.

BILL:

Hey, Alice, hey, look at me... The truth.

Is there something you've kept from

me?

ALICE looks down with a strange smile.

BILL (laughs)

You're just trying to wind me up.

ALICE:

If you say so.

BILL:

If I say so? Wait a minute. I'm not

going to let you get away with that...

Seriously... Is there's something you

haven't told me?

ALICE stops short of saying something.

BILL:

Say it.

ALICE nods.

ALICE:

Well, last summer at Cape Cod - I

don't suppose you remember one night

in the dining room, there was a young

Naval officer sitting near us. He was

with two other officers.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

BILL:

As a matter of fact, I don't. But what

about him?

ALICE:

The waiter brought him a message

during dinner, at which point he left

the table?

Bill waits for her to continue.

ALICE:

Well...I first saw him that morning in

the lobby. He was checking in and he

was following the bellboy with his

luggage to the elevator.

He glanced at me as he walked past

but didn't stop until he had gone a few

more steps. Then he turned and

looked at me.

He didn't say anything. He didn't smile.

In fact, it seemed to me that he

scowled. Maybe I did the same thing.

ALICE stops for a moment.

ALICE:

I was very stirred by him. That whole

day I lay on the beach, lost in dreams.

She stops.

BILL:

Go on.

ALICE thinks about how to continue.

BILL stares at her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALICE:

That afternoon you and I made love

and talked about our future, and our

child.

Later we were sitting on the balcony

and he passed below us without

looking up.

Just the sight of him stirred me deeply

and I thought if he wanted me, I could

not have resisted. I thought I was

ready to give up you,

the child, my whole future.

And yet at the same time - if you can

understand it - you were dearer to me

than ever, and I stroked your forehead

and kissed your hair, and at that

moment my love for you was both

tender and sad.

At dinner I wore a white rose and you

said I was very beautiful. It might not

have been just an accident that he and

his friends sat near us.

He didn't look up but I actually

considered getting up, walking over to

him and like someone in a movie,

saying, 'Here I am, my love, for whom

I have waited - take me.'

Well, it was about then that the waiter

brought him the envelope. He read it,

turned pale, said goodbye to his friends

- and glancing at me mysteriously, he

left the room.

ALICE stops for a moment.

ALICE:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I barely slept that night and woke up

the next morning very agitated. I didn't

know whether I was afraid that he had

left or that he might still be there... But

by dinner I realised he was gone and I

breathed a sigh of relief.

Long silence

BILL:

And if he hadn't left?

Alice doesn't reply.

ALICE:

I don't know.

BILL doesn't say anything but there is a scornful expression around his

mouth.

The phone rings.

BILL:

Hello?...Oh... When did they call?...

No, I have the address...If they call

again say I'm on my way.

He hangs up the phone and starts to put on his shoes.

BILL:

Lou Nathanson just died.

ALICE:

Oh, that's too bad. But you were

expecting that, weren't you?

BILL:

Yes..

Bill starts to get dressed.

BILL:

I have to go over there for a while.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALICE:

Now?

BILL:

I have to show my face.

BILL silently getting dressed.

ALICE:

Obviously, it was a mistake to have told

you.

BILL (coldly)

Not at all.. We must always tell each

other everything.

ALICE:

It was the pot.

BILL (coldly)

It doesn't really matter. Nothing

happened. Just a passing fancy.

EXT MARION'S APARTMENT HOUSE - NIGHT

BILL's taxi pulls up to the stylish, lower 5th avenue apartment.

Doorman opens the door.

INT MARION'S LOBBY

Bill walks to the elevator

INT MARION's PRIVATE ELEVATOR LOBBY

Bill exits elevator and find's her door ajar.

He knocks softly and enters without waiting for a reply.

BILL (softly)

Marion?

He walks through the quiet apartment.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

MASTER BEDROOM:

The body of LOU NATHANSON lies on a large bed with an oxygen

cylinder and other medical paraphernalia on tables on each side of

the bed.

MARION, the dead man's daughter, a pretty girl in her late twenties,

sits at the foot of the bed, exhausted, her arms hanging limply at her

side.

She starts to get up but BILL stops her with a movement from his

hand, and she merely greets him with a nod, her eyes large and sad.

BILL moves to the head of the bed and mechanically places his hands

on the forehead of the dead man and on his arms.

He shakes his head a couple of times and his shoulders drop with a

slight expression of regret.

BILL:

I hope his last moments were peaceful.

Marion gives him a despairing look.

He puts his hands in his pockets and his eyes wander about the room

until they finally rest again on Marion.

BILL:

Well, Marion, at least you weren't

entirely unprepared for this.

She holds out her hand to him. He takes it sympathetically.

Marion sighs, woefully.

MARION:

Dad seemed pretty good today. Around

nine o'clock he said he felt like taking a

nap. So I went into the living room to

watch television. I don't think I was out

of his room for more than half-an-hour.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marion starts to weep.

MARION:

When I went back, at first I though he

was still asleep... The I realized he

wasn't breathing... I did everything you

had told me but.. he was....

She can't bring herself to say _dead_ and she shakes her head,

despairingly.

MARION:

I called the emergency people... But

when they got here they just said he

was...dead and asked whether I

wanted them to take him away?

She breaks down sobbing.

BILL draws up a chair and sits down opposite her.

BILL:

Marion, from what you've said, it

sounds like your father died in his

sleep. He wouldn't have suffered.

MARION:

Oh, God...I hope not... I've been so

afraid of the actual... dying business...

But he made it _so_ _easy_, just as he tried to

make everything else in my life easy.

BILL takes her hands.

BILL:

Have you notified any of your

relatives?

MARION:

I phoned Carl - my fiancee.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

She does not look BILL straight in the eye when she says, fiancee/

MARION:

He's going to make some calls for me

and then he's coming over.

BILL:

Oh, that's good.

MARION:

I think you've met Carl here a few

times? We're planning to get married

in April.

BILL:

Oh, that's wonderful. I'm very happy

for you.

They sit for a few moments without speaking.

V.O.

I certainly do remember Carl. So she's

going to marry him, Bill thought to

himself. I wonder why? She surely

can't be in love with him. He's nothing

to look at, and he hasn't got any

money... He's just an assistant in

professor of something or other... But

then it's none of my business. Still... if

she were my mistress, her hair would be

less dry and her lips would be fuller and

redder.

Marion suddenly starts to talk.

MARION:

Dad had so many worries and

disappointments. My mother was never

well... And my _brother_...he was such a

disappointment... I don't even know

where he is. The last we heard from

him was from some small town in

Mexico. I can't even remember where.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[POSSIBLE MISSING PAGE]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In spite of himself, BILL places his hand on her head, caressing it. He

feels her body begin to tremble and her sobs become louder and

finally quite unrestrained.

All at once, she slips down from her chair and kneels in front of him,

clasping his legs with her arms and pressing her face into them.

She looks up at him with large eyes, wild with grief, and whispers

ardently:

MARION:

I don't want to leave here... Even if

you never return... Even if I am never to

see you again... I want, at least, to live

near you.

BILL looks touched rather than surprised.

BILL:

Please - get up, Marion.

He says this softly, and bending down he gently raises her up.

He glances at the dead man on the bed and only puts his arms

around her in a very hesitant embrace and kisses her on the

forehead.

At the same time, without knowing why, a sense of anger wells up

against ALICE.

_Jealous fantasy image of Alice and the Naval officer._

The door bell rings.

He hastily kisses Marion's cheek, as if in gratitude, and goes to the

door.

It's CARL standing there - a very ordinary looking man with an

umbrella in his hand and a serious face appropriate to the situation.

The two men greet each other much more cordially than is called for

by their actual state of acquaintance.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

They walk to the bedroom and CARL has an embarrassed look at the

deceased.

CARL:

Oh, my poor, dear Marion. I am so

sorry.

He puts his arms around her.

BILL goes into the next room to write out the death certificate.

When he finishes, he returns to the bedroom where the engaged

couple sit, hand in hand, by the bed of the dead man.

The door-bell rings.

CARL:

I'll get it.

While he is out of the room, Marion, with her eyes on the floor, says,

almost inaudibly:

MARION:

I love you.

BILL merely pronounces her name tenderly.

BILL:

Marion.

CARL returns with Marion's UNCLE and AUNT, whose

presence gives BILL the opportunity to make his goodbyes and leave.

At the door.

CARL:

I hope we'll see you soon.

EXT MARION'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Bill walks outside. It has become even milder. A gentle breeze carries

[illegible] from the nearby park to the street. BILL inhales the fresh air.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

DOORMAN:

Taxi?

BILL:

No thanks. I think I'll walk for a bit.

EXT STREET TO PARK - NIGHT

Bill walking.

EXT PARK - NIGHT

Walking through the park, BILL notices on some of the benches in the

shadows, that couples are kissing, just as if Spring had actually

arrived and no danger lurked in the deceptive warm air.

A tramp lies full length on a bench wrapped in newspapers with his

hat over his face.

V.O.

The image of the tramp made him think

of the dead man he had just left,

and he shuddered and felt slightly

nauseated at the thought that decay

and decomposition had already begun

their work in the body he just left.

He was glad he was still alive and in all

probability that these ugly things were

still far removed from him, and that he

was, in fact, still in the prime of life,

had a beautiful wife and could have

several women in addition, if he wanted

to, although doing so would require

more free time than he had.

BILL notices a group of rowdy college boys coming towards him, six

of them taking up the whole walkway.

He moves aside to keep out of their way.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

But as they pass, one of them, a tall boy with an open overcoat,

deliberately bumps into him with his raised elbow.

BILL involuntarily stops.

The tall student takes two more steps and turns.

They glare at each other for a moment with only a short distance

separating them.

Suddenly, BILL turns around again and walks.

He hears a short laugh behind him.

He wants to turn around and fight but he feels his heart beating

strangely.

V.O.

Had he become a coward, he asked

himself, and noticed his knees were

shaking a little bit. Ridiculous! Why

should he get involved in a street fight

with some drunken college student who

had five friends with him.

BILL keeps walking without looking back.

He, a man of thirty-five, a practising

physician, a married man and father of

a child. He might wind up in the

hospital or worse and tomorrow be in

the same position as the man he just

left.. Then he thought about his

profession? There were dangers lurking

there, too, everywhere and at all times -

except that one usually forgets about

them.

EXT STREET - ON WAY DOMINO - NIGHT

BILL walking.

V.O.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Surely, it had been nothing but

common sense to avoid a ridiculous

fight with the student... but if he ever

meet the Naval officer with whom

Alice...

JEALOUS FANTASY IMAGE - ALICE AND NAVAL OFFICER

V.O.

But what insanity! After all, nothing

happened... What was he thinking

about?... But then, wasn't it really just

as bad as if she had actually f***ed him

- she might just as well have. Wasn't it

even worse, in a way. What a joy it

would be to teach _him_ a lesson.

EXT STREET - DOMINO'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Bill passes a young girl, DOMINO, who falls into step beside him.

DOMINO:

Hi.

BILL slows down and looks at her. She is very pretty with dark red

lips.

BILL:

Hi.

DOMINO:

How're you doing?

BILL:

Fine. How are you doing?

DOMINO:

I'm doing great...Listen, how would you

like to have a little fun?

BILL:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm sorry?

DOMINO:

Have a little fun. Come inside with me?

I just live over there.

She points to a nearby doorway.

BILL a little off balance.

BILL:

Come inside with you?

DOMINO:

Yes. It's a lot nicer than it is out here.

BILL:

Do you live there?

DOMINO:

Yes.

BILL:

By yourself?

DOMINO:

I have a roommate but she's not

home.

She gently takes his arm.

DOMINO:

It's okay - no one will bother us.

BILL smiles, uncertainly.

DOMINO:

Really, it's okay. Come on.

BILL allows himself to be led to the door.

DOMINO (gently)

Come on.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

INT DOMINO APARTMENT LOBBY - NIGHT

She leads BILL through the small, dingy entrance lobby lit by a

flickering fluorescent tube to a ground-floor rear apartment.

BILL:

Should we talk about the money?

DOMINO:

How does sixty sound?

BILL nods, a little uncomfortably.

BILL:

Sixty. Sounds good.

DOMINO laughs.

DOMINO (laughs)

I don't keep track of the time.

She unlocks the door and they go inside.

It's a clean, reasonably tidy, ex cold-water railway flat.

The girl smiles sweetly, and walks ahead of BILL into the narrow

bedroom where there is a neatly made king-size bed without a

bedspread..

BILL:

By the way, what's your name?

DOMINO:

Domino.

BILL:

Domino. That's an unusual name.

DOMINO:

Well, it's my, uh...professional name.

BILL:

Right.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

DOMINO:

And what's your name?

Bill hesitates.

BILL:

Bill.

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