Julieta Page #4

Cut.

18. MADRID. 19, FERNANDO VI, 2ND FLOOR. HOUSE 3. INT.

NIGHT.

2016. SPRING.

The windows are still bare. The bareness is general.

The absence of furniture makes her solitude even more

obvious. We can still see some unopened boxes of books.

She now has a table where she can write. And a good

chair that supports her back. And a table lamp. In the

background, on a sideboard, we see four small framed

photos. With her parents, with Xoan, with Ava and with

Lorenzo. There are two pictures on the wall.

Set out on the table are two jars with pencils and

markers and the hard-backed Italian notebook. We also

see the photo which had been torn into a thousand

pieces and is now stuck back together like a jigsaw

puzzle. It’s the first time it appears. In the photo

Julieta is posing with the adolescent Ant.a. A photo

crisscrossed with scars.

The shelves are full of books. There is more than

enough space for a woman on her own.

Julieta looks at the torn, reconstructed photo. She

touches it with her fingertips. And she starts to

write:

JULIETA (OFF)

Dear Ant.a,

She stops. How to continue? She takes a deep breath.

She looks at her daughter in the patched-up photo.

JULIETA (OFF)

I’m going to tell you everything I

didn’t have a chance to tell you,

because you were a child, because

it was too painful for me or

simply out of shame.

She stops. She looks around with tear-filled eyes,

searching for the words. She continues.

JULIETA (OFF)

But you’re not a child anymore.

Beatriz told me that you have

children of your own, three, no

less. You’re a grown woman, and a

mother!

Where do I begin?... (She decides)

I’ll tell you about your father.

When you asked me how I met him, I

told you it was on a train, but I

didn’t tell you everything.

19. THIRTY YEARS BEFORE. EXT. NIGHT.

1985. WINTER.

(Somewhere between Galicia and Madrid) Before it

appears, we hear the sound of the train over the last

written words (we hear these in the voice of mature-

Julieta, that is, played by the actress with whom the

story begins in 2016. The voiceover is always by the

mature actress).

The train goes through a wooded area.

20. TRAIN. SLEEPING CAR APARTMENT. INT. NIGHT.

1985. WINTER.

(Actress Young Juliet)

The voiceover is heard over a close-up of Julieta,

sitting next to the train window, with a book in her

hands. She looks at the window as if her own voice, 30

years later, were coming to her through the glass.

JULIETA (OFF)

I was 25. It was a very unpleasant

night and there was a lot of

wind.”

Suddenly, a tree branch, carried along by the wind,

comes hurtling out of the darkness and slams violently

against the outside of the window, as if trying to

break through it; the branch clings to the window for a

moment and then disappears, torn away by the same wind,

like a warning from nature.

Julieta looks up from her book, startled by the sudden

appearance of the phantom branch. Through the window we

can see a wooded countryside and, reflected on the

inside of the glass, the legs of a man who comes into

the compartment at that moment and stands in front of

her.

SAD MAN:

Is this seat free?

It’s obvious that the seat is free. There is no one

else in the compartment, nor are there any cases to be

seen. Julieta nods, still startled by the branch

hitting the window. The man places a leather bag on the

luggage net, takes off his overcoat and folds it

meticulously. He places the coat beside him and sits

down across from Julieta.

He’s wearing a sad suit that is too big for him, as if

he had lost weight in the last months. He’s wearing a

black polo neck sweater and glasses. He isn’t a very

attractive man in general, his skin is pitted, as if

marked by smallpox, his expression is as sad as his

appearance.

Julieta feels instantly repelled by him, apprehensive,

she doesn’t want to be infected by his sadness. She

looks back at her book, an essay titled “Greek

Tragedy”. The sad man tries to hide his sadness by

appearing sweet and friendly, even beseeching. He tries

to strike up a conversation.

SAD MAN:

That branch was really amazing.

Julieta nods slightly.

SAD MAN:

Did it scare you?

JULIETA:

Yes, it did.

And she looks down at her book again, in a polite

gesture of rejection. Best to discourage him from the

start. But the amiable intruder doesn’t give up.

SAD MAN:

Are you traveling alone?

JULIETA:

Yes.

SAD MAN:

When I saw you on your own I

thought… That’s good, we can keep

each other company.

Julieta isn’t interested in the offer. All she wants is

to carry on reading and the man facing her is

preventing her from concentrating. She’s uncomfortable,

she looks sternly at him. The man senses the rejection

and blinks, confused and sad.

SAD MAN:

You don’t want to talk… What a

pity!

He says the last words to himself. He suddenly seems

depressed. Julieta puts an end to the conversation by

standing up.

JULIETA:

Excuse me, I have to go out.

The man looks at her sadly. Or perhaps he doesn’t dare

look at her, sunk in his own sadness.

21. TRAIN. TRAIN CORRIDOR, NIGHT.

1985. WINTER.

Julieta comes out of the compartment. Before walking

along the corridor she takes a last look at him. The

man watches her leave the compartment.

In the corridor, she sees two women sitting in the next

compartment. The two women look at her too. Julieta

heads for the dining car as if fleeing from those

glances.

22. TRAIN. DINING CAR. NIGHT.

1985. WINTER.

It’s cold. In her hurry, Julieta forgot to take her

coat. For the moment, she doesn’t miss it. The windows

here are much bigger than in the compartment. There is

just one customer, Xoan, with his back to her, looking

out, absorbed, at the views through the large windows.

A snow-covered landscape.

At that moment, a stag crosses the surface of the

frozen countryside. It is running diagonally, towards

the train, with no fear of being run over. He’s a

magnificent specimen, with a brown and silver coat. Set

against the white surface of the countryside, he looks

like the illustration of a child’s horror story. A

hypnotic vision. Julieta comes up and looks in

astonishment through the window at the stag running

through the snow. Aware that Julieta is standing behind

him, Xoan speaks without looking at her.

XOAN:

I hope he doesn’t get too close to

the train.

He’s talking about the stag.

JULIETA:

He isn’t afraid of the train. He’s

looking for a female. He smells

her in the air.

Xoan finally notices her. While they look out at the

running stag, Julieta and the stranger Xoan feel

mysteriously connected. The couple have become part of

the harmony of the landscape: the frozen countryside, a

stag with a silvery coat running to meet his beloved,

and in the foreground a man and woman watching him,

entranced.

Rate this script:3.8 / 5 votes