Julieta Page #11

JULIETA:

I never thought you’d retire, much

less retire early.

SAMUEL:

It’s better for us like this. Your

mother and I always dreamed of

living in the country.

Julieta looks at San.a.

JULIETA:

Do you speak Spanish, San.a?

SAN.A

(Intimidated) A little…

Julieta looks at San.a as if she were examining her.

SAMUEL:

(Explaining) She speaks it

beautifully, it’s just that she’s

a bit shy. We met her eight years

ago, at the Festival of Ancient

Music in Fez. She and your mother

became good friends and we kept in

touch with her. It’s lucky that

she’s living with us now.

68 AND 69. HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY. EXT. AND INT. DUSK.

1988. SPRING.

A house in the country, simpler and smaller than the

traditional Andalusian cortijo. The house has an annex

for storing tools and farming implements. There may

also be a little hen house. It’s a self-sufficient

place. From the house we can see the greenhouse, a

structure whose roof is covered by a plastic grid. Next

to the house there is a small piece of land with

trellises and seedbeds. The entrance to the house is

protected by a vine that filters the sunlight. The

place has an impressionist beauty.

Julieta, Ant.a (being carried), San.a (with the

pushchair) and Samuel, with Julieta’s case, come into

the plot and walk towards the porch.

SAMUEL:

The house has no luxuries but

we’ve gained in quality of life.

Julieta is carrying Ant.a. The little girl is tired but

for the moment she doesn’t protest and looks all

around, interested.

JULIETA:

Which is mom’s room?

Her father points to a little window, crossed by the

trunk of the vine.

SAMUEL:

That window that looks out on the

vine.

They go into the house. Inside there is a cool,

welcoming darkness.

SAMUEL:

I’ll show you the house later.

JULIETA:

I want to see mom.

SAMUEL:

Maybe you’ll be lucky and she’s

awake.

They walk along a hall, all the walls are whitewashed.

70. HOUSE IN COUNTRY. HALL, DOOR AND SARA’S ROOM. INT.

DUSK.

1988. SPRING.

They go up to the door. Samuel takes out a key and

unlocks the bedroom door. He conceals his actions with

his body but he knows that Julieta can hear the

unmistakable sound of the lock turning.

Samuel goes inside, Julieta remains in the hall with

the child in her arms. From there she hears her father

murmuring:

SAMUEL (OFF)

Sara, Julieta is here.

As if it were the first time she’s heard that name.

SARA (OFF)

Julieta?

SAMUEL (OFF)

Yes, Julieta, our daughter.

Sara repeats the last thing Samuel says in a neutral

tone.

SARA (OFF)

Our daughter.

Julieta is listening to the brief conversation

(petrified) in the hall. When she comes into the

bedroom, with the child in her arms, she erases all

worry from her face, she pretends that she’s heard

nothing.

JULIETA:

(Brightly) Hi, mom. We’re here.

She bends over to kiss Sara (the woman is in bed, lying

back on a pillow), still holding the child.

Sara looks at them from a vacuum. She doesn’t recognize

them. This breaks Julieta’s heart but she pretends to

be delighted.

JULIETA:

Aren’t you glad to see us? Look,

this is Ant.a. You don’t recognize

her because she’s got so big.

Samuel is watching the scene.

SAMUEL:

I’ve prepared the room across the

hall for you. That way you’re

closer.

JULIETA:

No. I prefer to stay here. I’ll

sleep with mom and Ant.a can sleep

on that little bed.

In one corner there’s a little folding bed.

SAMUEL:

I’ll tell San.a to change the

sheets on the little bed. That’s

where she sleeps.

71. HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY. SARA’S BEDROOM. NIGHT.

1988. SPRING.

Julieta is sleeping in the bed with her mother. They

are lying facing each other with their eyes closed. The

folding bed has been placed on Julieta’s side. The

three generations are sleeping very close to each other

in parallel beds.

Sara opens her eyes, wakes and discovers Julieta in

front of her, inches away. She isn’t scared or

startled. She touches her face. The encounter in the

same bed is a pleasant surprise. She murmurs:

SARA:

Julieta!

Julieta opens her eyes slowly. Despite the darkness she

can see that her mother recognizes her. There is life

in Sara’s eyes, the opposite to the opacity when they

arrived.

JULIETA:

Mom.

SARA:

What are you doing here?

JULIETA:

I’ve come to see you. I’ve brought

Ant.a.

SARA:

Who?

JULIETA:

Ant.a, my daughter.

Julieta sits up and so does her mother. They both lean

over and look down at Ant.a’s little bed. The child is

fast asleep. The two women look at her, delighted.

JULIETA:

Look at her.

SARA:

She’s beautiful!

JULIETA:

She’s two years old now.

SARA:

Two years!

She says it with the amazement of someone who is

unaware of the measurement of time.

72. HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY. SARA’S ROOM. ANOTHER DAY.

1988. SPRING.

Julieta is looking out the window.

73. HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY. EXT. DAY.

1988. SPRING.

She sees Samuel and San.a working on the plot of land

next to the house. They seem to complement each other,

they look at ease and happy. Samuel says something and

San.a laughs. The man can’t contain himself and he

gives her a quick passionate kiss. San.a pushes him

away gently and scolds him without losing her smile.

They don’t suspect that Julieta is looking at them.

74. HOUSE IN THE COUNTRY. EXT. DAY. CONT.

1988. SPRING.

The vine is projecting patches of light on the white

fa.ade of the house. To complete the impressionist

scene Julieta, Ant.a and Sara, the latter a little

hesitant, appear at the door. Julieta wants her mother

to get fresh air and some sun filtered by the vine.

Julieta has put Sara in a dress from the ‘70s which

looks impeccable on her. She is also wearing sunglasses

from that time (twelve years earlier, when Sara was a

coquettish woman and dressed as such). Julieta has put

some make-up on her and styled her hair a little. Sara

looks wonderful. The three generations sit at a table,

under the vine.

Samuel and San.a are still working the land. When

Samuel realizes that Julieta has brought Sara outside

he turns to them. Everything in the scene is beautiful

and breathes life: the countryside, the house, the sun,

little Ant.a, Samuel’s arousal and sweat, the beauty

and youth of Julieta and San.a. Even Sara, in her

vegetative way, is radiant in her distance.

Samuel had forgotten how pretty his wife was. San.a

looks at the family group as if she’s been caught out.

Samuel breaks the impasse, speaking to the child.

SAMUEL:

Come here, Ant.a, I’ll give you

some delicious strawberries!

JULIETA:

Not now, dad. I’ve just dressed

her. Aren’t you going to say

anything to mom?

With true admiration and surprise:

SAMUEL:

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