Mumford Page #17
MUMFORD:
I can tell you anything else.
SKIP:
What about everything? How did this
happen?
Mumford looks at Skip, considering. He takes a long pull
from his beer, then looks at the frosty bottle.
MUMFORD:
Did you know that every species of
mammal has found some way to drug,
inebriate, or anestnetize itself?
Even if it's just banging its head
against a rock. Seems to be some
natural urge... to get away for a
while.
(one more look at
Skip)
I've had it for as long as I can
remember. The first place I wanted
out of was home...
AS MUMFORD TALKS we SEE IMAGES FROM HIS PAST, all FROM
MUMFORD'S POV. We do not see him in the scenes. Instead,
everyone else in the scene RELATES TO THE CAMERA AS MUMFORD,
even if they're just ignoring him.
EXT. MUMFORD'S CHILDHOOD HOME, BALD KNOB, WEST VIRGINIA -
MAGIC:
MOVING FAST (MUMFORD'S CHILDHOOD POV) toward the back door
of a rundown, little house in a poor mining community. We
reach the back door and bang inside --
INT. MUMFORD'S CHILDHOOD HOME - MAGIC
The cramped interior is grimy and depressing. MUMFORD'S MOTHER
worse for wear, has just put a glass of liquor on the sink
and returned her attention to the smoking stovetop. She
glances briefly at Mumford and greets him pleasantly, clearly
drunk. Suddenly, her attention shifts and we -- PAN TO THE
FRONT DOOR which is opened roughly by MUMFORD'S FATHER, a
coal miner whose face still shows the grime of his work. But
it's his scary scowl that impresses. His eyes take in his
wife (and her drink) but he says nothing. He barely gives
Mumford a glance as he drops his lunch pail on the table and
disappears into another room.
MUMFORD (V.O.)
I thought I had the best parents in
Bald Knob, West Virginia... till I
was seven years old and got a look
at some others. They weren't bad
folks...
AT THE DINNER TABLE. Across the table, MUMFORD'S OLDER SISTER
eats with her head down. On the right, Mumford's Mother is
picking at her food. Mumford's POV shifts to his Father, who
is yelling something at his wife.
MUMFORD (V.O.)
...but they were real unhappy about
being who they were...
Now, his Father looks suddenly at Mumford; his hand shoots
out to slap Mumford's face, and the IMAGE GOES BLACK, then
immediately FADES UP AGAIN on --
INT. HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM, WEST VIRGINIA - DAY
TIGHT ON A TEST PAPER being laid on an old-fashioned student
desk. Scrawled in red pencil at the top: "A -- Outstanding!"
TILT UP to the old classroom, full of kids getting their
tests back. ACROSS THE AISLE, looking at camera with disgust,
is a sixteen year old boy, MUMFORD'S CLASSMATE.
MUMFORD (V.O.)
It made no sense that school came
easy for me... I didn't do much work,
and there was a proud tradition in
my family of being really dumb. My
friends didn't like it much. It made
them distrust me...
FROM INSIDE A HELMET: the brutal chaos of crashing bodies in
a Friday night high school football game. Mumford is violently
hit. Our view is smashed so deep into the muddy turf that
again the IMAGE GOES BLACK, then quickly FADES UP AGAIN on --
INT./EXT. LOVER'S LANE, WOODS - NIGHT
TIGHT ON A CAN OF "IRON CITY" BEER in MUMFORD'S POV as he
puts it on the roof of a green Nash Rambler and ducks into
the back seat. In the shadows is a teen-age girl, MUMFORD'S
DATE. As Mumford moves toward her, she flames a Bic lighter
and gleefully lights a fat joint; her blouse is unbuttoned
and gaping.
MUMFORD (V.O.)
On the other hand, it made some of
my classmates like me better... I
don't know what it was in me, maybe
some genes from my mom, maybe some
discomfort with myself, but early on
I was drawn to any substance that
made me numb...
EXT. HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL FIELD - DAY
Graduation Ceremonies. MUMFORD'S POV moving across a platform
toward the diploma being proffered by the PRINCIPAL. PAN TO
Mumford's Parents, dressed up and proud, in the audience.
MUMFORD (V.O.)
When I got a scholarship to go out
of state to college, I was the first
one in my extended family who'd gone
beyond high school. At graduation,
my folks looked like a normal, happy
couple, which I guess they were about
10% of the time... out in public.
INT. UNIVERSITY DORMITORY HALLWAY - DAY
TIGHT ON A DORM ROOM DOOR as it is pushed open. MUMFORD'S
NEW ROOMMATE, a crazed, middle-class doper, has his stuff
spread around and is settled in the midst of the chaos. He
looks up at the arriving Mumford with a maniacal, stoned
smile.
MUMFORD (V.O.)
My roommate was from a planet I had
never heard of called Scarsdale,
where everything was the opposite of
West Virginia...
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"Mumford" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/mumford_1104>.
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