Julieta Page #5

23. TRAIN. DINING CAR. NIGHT.

1985. WINTER.

XOAN:

(Holding out his hand) I’m Xoan.

Julieta takes his hand.

JULIETA:

Julieta.

Julieta still has her book in her hand.

XOAN:

Would you like to have a drink?

JULIETA:

All right.

A waiter comes up, Julieta asks for tea.

The dining car has the colors and atmosphere of Edward

Hopper’s cafes/diners.

Xoan is a strong man, his face weathered by the wind

and the sun. He has more wrinkles than he should have

at his age. A solid, attractive man, with a disarming

smile, who gives off an air of confidence and natural

authority. He is ten years older than Julieta, that is,

thirty five. Xoan is the opposite of the man she has

just left in her compartment. He doesn’t hide his

interest in Julieta.

24. MADRID. 19, FERNANDO VI, 2ND FLOOR. HOUSE 3. THE

PRESENT.

2016. SPRING

Julieta is still writing to her daughter Ant.a.

JULIETA (OFF)

Xoan told me that he was called

Xoan and I told him I was Julieta.

He told me he was married and that

Ana, his wife, had been in a coma

for five years.

25. TRAIN. DINING CAR. SEEN FROM THE EXTERIOR.

1985. WINTER.

Julieta and Xoan are drinking something while they

talk. The white lunar landscape is reflected in the

glass. They are alone in the dining car. We don’t hear

what they’re saying. Mature Julieta recounts it in

voiceover.

JULIETA (OFF)

I told him I was teaching

Classical Philology, standing in

for a teacher who was ill. Xoan

told me that he was a fisherman

and he had three gamelas. He was

going to Madrid to buy an engine

for one of them. He had lived all

his life by the sea, in the house

his grandfather had bought when he

came from Cuba.

26. TRAIN ENTERING THE STATION. EXT. NIGHT.

1985. WINTER.

The train slows down until it stops in the station of a

town. The station is at one side of the train. There is

snow everywhere, except on the platforms, protected by

shelters.

Three or four passengers, all wrapped up, get on the

train. It is pitch black. Only the station chief and

the switchman are left on the platform.

27. TRAIN STATION. INT. DINING CAR. NIGHT

1985. WINTER

We hear off screen:

TRAIN CONDUCTOR (OFF)

Ten minute stop!

Xoan stands up.

XOAN:

Do you feel like stretching your

legs a bit?

Julieta would love to accompany him, but she left her

coat on her seat, across from the sad man and she

doesn’t feel like going back there for it.

JULIETA:

I’m not really dressed for the

weather. Thank you.

XOAN:

See you later.

And he leaves the carriage. Julieta watches him

disappear.

A blast of cold air sneaks through the door when Xoan

opens it.

Julieta would like to get her coat but she doesn’t want

to meet the man with the pitted skin again. Consciously

or not, she stays in the dining car waiting for Xoan to

come back. She tries to concentrate on her book while

she drinks her tea. The title of the book, “Greek

Tragedy” by Albin Lesky, appears at the bottom of the

frame, as if giving the name to what is very shortly

going to happen.

Cut.

28. STATION. EXTERIOR TRAIN. NIGHT.

1985. WINTER.

The train slowly sets off again.

29. TRAIN. ENGINE DRIVER’S CAB. INT. NIGHT.

1985. WINTER.

We see the same action from inside the cab of the

train. The driver starts the engine.

30. TRAIN. DINING CAR. INT. NIGHT.

1985. WINTER.

Julieta, sitting at the same table, is still reading.

In the background there are two more people. We see

through the dining car windows that the train has

started to move. Julieta looks over at the carriage

door, waiting for Xoan to appear.

BACK TO 29. TRAIN. ENGINE DRIVER’S CAB. INT. NIGHT.

1985. WINTER.

The engine driver sees something unexpected on the

tracks and rapidly hits the red brake button. He looks

shaken.

31. TRAIN. EXT. NIGHT.

1985. WINTER. SIMULTANEOUSLY.

We see in close-up the train wheels suddenly braking,

screeching and sending up sparks.

32. TRAIN. SLEEPING CAR 2. INT. NIGHT.

1985. WINTER. SIMULTANEOUSLY.

Inside the compartment next to Julieta’s, two bags fall

on top of the two women sitting in there. One woman is

hit on the head.

33. TRAIN. DINING CAR. INT.

1985. WINTER. SIMULTANEOUSLY.

In the dining car, the inertia of braking causes

Julieta to fall across the table. The cup of tea slides

along the surface and falls to the floor.

The braking catches the waiter unawares with his tray

in one hand as he’s serving some customers. With his

legs widespread, he tries to keep his balance, but the

cups and glasses fall to floor and break. The bottles

and glasses in the bar accompany the general commotion,

jumping around on their shelves.

34. TRAIN. DINING CAR. INT./EXT.

1985. WINTER.

The train finally stops brusquely. Julieta leaves the

dining car and heads for her coach and compartment.

35. TRAIN. CORRIDOR. INT. NIGHT.

1985. WINTER.

The two women from the compartment next to hers come

out into the corridor, complaining.

WOMAN 1

What happened?

Woman 2 is holding her hands up to her head.

A young man also comes out into the corridor.

YOUNG MAN:

The train has stopped.

WOMAN 2

Why? And so suddenly?!

The train conductor appears at the far end of the

corridor and walks quickly up to the women and the

young man (hiding his fear, so as not to alarm them).

Behind him, a drunken, disheveled passenger (Man A)

sticks his head out the door of his compartment. The

drunk looks at the little group.

TRAIN CONDUCTOR:

Don’t worry, it’s nothing. We’ve

just stopped.

WOMAN 1

Well, a bag fell on my head and

nearly killed me…

Julieta appears at the other end of the corridor and

walks uneasily up to the group.

Simultaneously Man A (drunk and disheveled) comes out

of his compartment, followed by his wife, a woman with

large shoulder pads and an uncouth voice. They join the

group formed by the young man, the train conductor, the

two women and Julieta.

MAN A:

Did we hit something? I saw a stag

running beside the train.

TRAIN CONDUCTOR:

(Rejecting this) No, what an idea!

WOMAN 1

I saw it too…

Julieta remembers the magnificent animal and her heart

sinks to think that it may have been run over by the

train.

TRAIN CONDUCTOR:

(Firmly) Please go back to your

seats and don’t block the

corridor!

The young man obeys.

Julieta, beside the women from the compartment next to

hers.

JULIETA:

What happened?

WOMAN 2

The train braked so hard a bag

fell on top of me!

TRAIN CONDUCTOR:

(To Julieta) The train will be

starting up again right away.

Please, go back to your seats.

At the other end of the corridor, the drunk man’s wife

is trying to persuade him to go back into their

Rate this script:3.8 / 5 votes