Five Easy Pieces Page #13

He looks back at her not responding.

CATHERINE (CONT'D)

I'm sorry everything's been so

confusing, but I have to go,

Robert...

BOBBY:

Catherine...

CATHERINE:

Please, I'll see you later this

evening.

She pulls ahead and moves onto the ferry.

INT. DUPEA LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

FAVORING SAMIA GLAVIA

a friend of Carl's. (Somewhere under the following,

the ANGLE ALTERS to include TWO OTHER FRIENDS, as

well as Carl, Catherine, Bobby and Rayette, seated

around the living room, variously captive to her

monologue.)

SAMIA:

But the point is, man is born into

the world with a pre-existent

adversary, both real and imaginary,

so you'd have to say that

aggression was one of his primary,

psychic inheritances, which...

JOHN FINCHER, a professorial type, attempts to

interject:

FINCHER:

If I may beg to differ...

SAMIA:

Beg all you like, John, but the

fact remains that man takes

enormous delight in aggressive

acts, as well as the portrayal of

aggressive acts, and to be

triumphant over another no matter

how, seems fundamental to his

having a sense of well being, as

well as...

FINCHER:

No, I don't quarrel with your

inference, but you draw too long a

bow in your conclusions, which seem

unnecessarily harsh and...

SAMIA:

Well, I don't make poetry. As an

analyst, I...

Rayette interrupts, calling across the room to

Carl:

RAYETTE:

Is there a TV in the house?

Carl starts to answer and is pre-empted by Samia:

SAMIA:

John believes in the basic goodness

of man, and that's fine, but gaze

into the pit like I have and that

view seems a little soporific. And

not unlike television, it hardly

represents the real world...

RAYETTE:

There's some good things on it,

though.

SAMIA:

Pardon me?

RAYETTE:

The TV. There's some good things on

it, sometimes.

SAMIA:

I strongly doubt it, but I wasn't

really discussing media...

FINCHER:

If you really hold such bleak

views, how can you, in good

conscience, carry on a practice?

SAMIA:

Oh, there's always hope, I think,

for a few individuals, if they're

courageous enough to shed their

illusions and their...

CATHERINE:

(cutting her off)

And what about love?

SAMIA:

What about it? Wouldn't you agree

that a great deal of mischief has

been done in the name of love?

CATHERINE:

No, I wouldn't.

SAMIA:

Well, you're a romantic, Catherine,

as are most musicians, and what's

more, about to be married...

ON BOBBY:

and his reaction as Samia goes on:

SAMIA:

... which should exclude you from

any objective discussion. But keep

in mind, even the arts aren't free

of aggressive content, nor the

institution of marriage.

CATHERINE:

I think these cold, "objective"

discussions are aggressive,

Samia...

She gets up and starts to move away.

SAMIA:

But I'd like to say, so that I

don't dampen the spirit of your

adventure...

CATHERINE:

(cutting her off)

You haven't dampened my spirit,

Samia... Excuse me.

SAMIA:

Well, I should hope not...

She leaves the room, with Bobby's eyes following

her, and as Carl moves over to sit beside Rayette,

Samia resumes to Fincher while the other friend

moves in beside Bobby and tries to engage him in

conversation.

SAMIA (CONT'D)

Because obviously there are loftier

classes of people that do establish

a kind of relating, that's

relatively free of... (Etc.)

ON CARL AND RAYETTE

as she indicates Tita's dog, lying near the

fireplace.

RAYETTE:

What kind of doggy is that?

CARL:

It's a Borzoi.

RAYETTE:

Oh, uh huh. I had a little kittycat

once, that Bobby give me...

She calls across to Bobby, interrupting Samia.

RAYETTE (CONT'D)

Remember, Bobby?! The little

pussycat you gave me?!

Bobby, now feeling trapped by the other friend,

looks across to her ass she returns her attention

to Carl.

RAYETTE (CONT'D)

She had four little white paws, an'

oh, was I crazy over her. We hadda

go an' leave her one time at some

friends, an' she went out an' got

smashed flatter'n a tortilla right

outside their mobile home.

Samia gestures toward Rayette as if she were an

example to prove her point.

SAMIA:

There. You see what I mean?

Bobby looks over at Samia.

SAMIA (CONT'D)

The choice of words, "squashed

flat," juxtaposed against the image

of a fluffy kitten...

RAYETTE:

Well, she was.

SAMIA:

Perhaps...

She addresses Fincher gesturing toward Rayette

again.

SAMIA (CONT'D)

But you see how close that is to

what I'm trying to...

Bobby stands up, cutting her off:

BOBBY:

Don't sit there pointing at her.

SAMIA:

I beg your pardon.

BOBBY:

(advancing on her)

I said, don't point at her like

that! What gives you the right to

sit there and tell anybody about

class and who the hell's got it,

and what she typifies! You

shouldn't even be in the same room

with her, you creep!

SAMIA:

Carl, this is really too much...

BOBBY:

(to Samia)

You're totally full of sh*t!

CARL:

Robert, I think you better just...

BOBBY:

(cutting him off)

You're all full of sh*t!

He turns away and exits the room.

INT. DUPEA HOME - NIGHT

FOLLOWING WITH BOBBY

running up the stairs and down the hall to

Catherine's room. He goes inside and, not finding

her, comes quickly back into the hall. As he moves

down it, opening other doors, he begins calling her

name.

He comes back down the stairs and runs into Rayette

at the bottom landing.

RAYETTE:

Bobby...

BOBBY:

(moving past her)

I can't talk to you right now,

leave me alone...

He moves to the music room, to the den, then down

the main hall to the kitchen, which gives off to

two other doors. He opens one of them, to see:

INT. SPICER'S ROOM - NIGHT

Tita and Spicer. Though both are clothed, they are

caught in some stage of intimacy on top of Spicer's

bed. Tita sits up immediately, mortally

embarrassed, as Bobby steps into the room.

BOBBY:

Tita, what the hell are you doing?!

Spicer stands up.

SPICER:

Hey, this is my room.

BOBBY:

(moving over to the bed)

What's going on here!?

TITA:

It's none of your business!

BOBBY:

Where's Catherine?!

TITA:

I don't know where she is!

Spicer moves to Bobby, taking hold of his arm.

SPICER:

Don't you believe in knocking, pal?

Bobby roughly pushes him away and advances on Tita.

BOBBY:

I'm talking to you, Tita!

TITA:

(close to tears)

Can't I have anything to myself,

dammit?!

SPICER:

(grabbing hold of him

again)

Come on now, out!

BOBBY:

(struggling with him)

Keep your f***ing hands off my

sister, nurse!

Spicer goes into sudden rage, pushing Bobby

violently toward the door and yelling:

SPICER:

Did you hear me! Move out!!

Bobby leaps at him and as their struggle carries

them into the kitchen, Tita begins yelling:

TITA:

Stop it! Bobby, will just you stop!

I mean it!

Spicer gets Bobby into a painful headlock and is

being bulled around the kitchen by him.

SPICER:

Hold it, just hold it!!

They crash into the kitchen table, knocking chairs

over.

TITA:

Carl! Somebody get Carl!

Bobby rams Spicer into the refrigerator.

SPICER:

Take it easy, dammit!

He hurls him against the kitchen wall, still

holding him in a headlock as Tita enters the

kitchen.

TITA:

Stop it! Right now! Just stop it!!

Carl!!

And as she runs from the room, Spicer begins

violently jerking his forearm up against Bobby's

trachea, punctuating each jerk with the repeated

command:

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