Julieta Page #8

Even though it isn’t raining, Julieta incorporates the

fisherman’s epistolary desire. There she is, in front

of his house, opening the gate. There’s a reddish-brown

dog at the gate, jumping around and barking. He goes

straight up to Julieta when she approaches the front

door. He’s a sturdy pup who could easily knock her to

the ground, but he just wants to play. She rings the

bell.

A woman comes out of the house. She shouts at the

animal.

MARIAN:

Cinnamon!

Julieta strokes the dog which reacts with delight.

Mariana is 50 year old Galician woman, weather-beaten,

broad and reserved.

MARIAN:

Cinnamon! Don’t be a nuisance!

JULIETA:

Hello!

Marian looks her up and down. She is one of those women

who are proud of themselves and don’t hide the fact

that they’re judging you. She doesn’t like the look of

Julieta.

MARIAN:

I think you’re late. The funeral

was yesterday.

Julieta doesn’t understand what she means. She looks at

her, bewildered.

MARIAN:

But come in, if you want, and have

some coffee. I’m Marian, I take

care of the house.

Julieta accepts the invitation, upset by the news that

someone has died and has already been buried.

They walk through a large entrance hall which

communicates with the rest of the house by a door.

Seascapes and the oil portrait of a woman from another

era hang on the walls.

Marian is a hard woman, in every sense, and quite ugly.

Her eyes are of different colors, her hair has a small,

casual curl, she makes no effort to be pleasant, just

the opposite. She behaves as if she owns the house. She

prejudges Julieta with contempt, she thinks she is some

easy conquest of Xoan’s. And it shows. She has invited

her in to be able to confirm it.

51. REDES. XOAN’S HOUSE. KITCHEN. INT. DAY.

1985. SPRING.

Julieta follow hers into the house. On a sideboard near

the entrance is the figure of a boat painted indigo

blue. It catches her attention. She looks at the piece

with an expert eye.

The two women walk from the front door to the kitchen,

crossing the entrance and a hallway.

MARIAN:

When did you meet Ana?

Julieta breathes more easily. It’s Ana who is dead.

Xoan is fine.

JULIETA:

Ana? I didn’t know her.

MARIAN:

That’s what I thought, because Ana

hadn’t been out of here in the

last six years.

They go into the kitchen. The kitchen looks out on the

sea through three enormous windows. The sea fills the

kitchen and Julieta’s eyes.

JULIETA:

(Dazzled) Oh! The sea!

MARIAN:

It’s very striking the first time,

isn’t it? Sit down.

Julieta obeys and sits at the table in the middle of

the kitchen. Marian, with her back to her, serves her

coffee on the kitchen worktop. There are lots of

Sargadelos cups and plates.

MARIAN:

So, you’ve come to see Xoan.

Julieta nods and makes a vague sound. She had thought

of making some excuse, that she was passing through,

that she was going to visit a friend who lives in the

area, but at the last minute she decides not to. It

would be like admitting Marian’s superiority.

MARIAN:

I don’t think he’ll be back

tonight, he’s with Ava.

Marian looks at her to see how she reacts. She offers

her some cakes which Julieta refuses even though she’s

hungry. She only accepts the coffee.

MARIAN:

Do you know Ava?

Julieta shakes her head.

MARIAN:

She does ceramics and sculptures.

Julieta supposes that the sculpture at the entrance,

the blue boat, must be by her.

Maria sits across the table from Julieta. As if

guessing what Julieta is thinking.

MARIAN:

Ava and Ana were good friends,

when Ana was still able to talk or

she could listen. The poor woman

was like a vegetable, and a man

needs a woman, (She looks at her

blatantly) but it’s not for me to

criticize Xoan.

Julieta is listening to Marian with her empty coffee

cup in her hands.

MARIAN:

More coffee?

JULIETA:

No.

MARIAN:

Then give me the cup and I’ll wash

it.

She takes the cup, stands up and goes over to the work

top. She runs the water while she asks:

MARIAN:

Well, what are you going to do?

You can still catch the eight

o’clock bus. It passes near here,

in the square.

Julieta doesn’t react, she just looks at her watch.

There are almost three hours to go.

MARIAN:

You can come home with me and then

my husband will take you to the

bus.

She goes to get her jacket which is hanging on a hook.

JULIETA:

I’m tired. I’d rather wait here,

if you don’t mind.

MARIAN:

(Scandalized) Where?

JULIETA:

Right there, in the entrance hall.

Marian thinks it’s forward of her, and rash.

MARIAN:

On your own?

She considers in silence what Julieta’s relationship

with Xoan might be if she speaks like that. She thinks

that perhaps it would be presumptuous of her to throw

out a real friend of her boss.

From the first moment, the meeting between Marian and

Julieta is a confrontation, a struggle for domestic

power, although it’s senseless and is too soon.

Marian gives way, although she doesn’t hide her

disapproval and how little she trusts Julieta. She

picks up her jacket and purse. She changes tactic, she

speaks in a friendly tone.

MARIAN:

I’d stay with you, but I can’t.

I’ve neglected my husband these

last days.

JULIETA:

Thank you very much.

Marian hates her at that moment. She recognizes that

Juliet has been the winner in that first duel. In the

entrance hall:

MARIAN:

(Annoyed) Well, anyway, Cinnamon

will stay with you.

Julieta sits in one of the ugly armchairs in the

entrance hall.

JULIETA:

Thank you.

MARIAN:

Be careful not to fall asleep and

miss the bus, eh? I’ll call you on

the phone, just in case.

JULIETA:

You needn’t bother.

At the door:

MARIAN:

I’ll call you.

And she leaves the house. Julieta relaxes. The dog

comes up to her, ready to play, and she welcomes it,

delighted. She is alone, in Xoan’s house.

Cut.

52. REDES. FA.ADE XOAN’S HOUSE. EXT. DARKEST NIGHT.

1985. SPRING.

All we can hear is the murmur of the sea and the

barking of a distant dog. Xoan gets out of a van. He

opens the front door and goes into the entrance hall.

Silence reigns in the house. The lights in the entrance

hall, the kitchen and the hallway are out.

53. REDES. XOAN’S HOUSE. HALLWAY/XOAN’S ROOM. INT. EARLY

MORNING. CONT.

1985. SPRING.

He looks towards the far end of the house. Silence.

Everything is neat and tidy. Xoan walks along the

hallway to the door of his bedroom. He opens it very

slowly and stands in the doorway, enjoying what he

sees.

Julieta is lying sleeping in the leather armchair.

There is a little lamp lit on a low side table. The

light bounces off the wall and softly illuminates

Julieta’s seated figure. The dog is sleeping beside her

on the floor. Xoan doesn’t want to disturb that image

and he doesn’t turn on the overhead light. Everything

that isn’t the sleeping Julieta remains in semi-

darkness.

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