Shine Page #6

SUZIE flips through the scrapbook. Margaret fingers the

same note on the piano. All stop as the knocking echoes

again through the solemn quiet, like a knell. Silence.

Margaret

This house is like a concentration camp.

She lets the piano lid drop shut. In the hallway Rosen's

shadow waits at the door.

Rosen - (V.O.)

Peter? I know you can hear me. Don't do this to David.

You mustn't.

Peter's eyes glow with anger in the darkness.

Silence.

EXT. HELFGOTT HOUSE - NIGHT

Rosen

Peter!

Rosen give up, turns to go, but then as an afterthought:

Rosen

Whatever you do, don't inflict bloddy Rachmaninov on him.

He's not ready!

INT. HELFGOTT HOUSE - NIGHT

In the hallway - Rosen's shadow disappears. The gate is

heard scraping open as he leaves.

Peter just stands there. The sound ofRosen's car is heard

driving away, the headlights flicker across Peter's face.

INT. HELFGOTT HOUSE - NIGHT

Peter stands over the bed where David lies, facing away.

Peter

David.

(No reply.)

David. My boy? Still you don't speak to me?

Pause.

Peter

It's a terrible thing to hate, to hate your fatehr.

Silence. He sits on the bed.

Peter

Life is cruel, but music, it will always be your friend.

Everything else will let you down in the end. Everything.

Believe me.

(Pause.)

Please don't hate me David.

He begins to cry. He sobs.

David looks at his father crying, full of confusion. Their

eyes meet and Peter pulls David up and hugs him. David

throws his arms around his neck.

Peter

(in Yiddish)

Don't hate me.

Peter kisses David repeatedly on the side of the face, all

the while stuttering:

Peter

It's tough, life can be tough but you have to survive, say

it. You have to.

David

Survive, Daddy.

Peter

That's right, David. No one will love you like me. You

can't trust anyone but I will always be there - always be

with you, forever. Do you understand?

David

Yes, Daddy, forever.

They hug as we begin to pull back' looking down on them.

Peter

Forever and ever.

Peter AND David

Forever and ever.

INT. David'S ROOM. EDEN LODGE - NIGHT

ADULT David sits on the floor in the middle of the room,

scrounging for a match amidst the mess of paper and music

spread around him. He picks up something.

It's a crumpled old letter with distinctive letterhead:

Royal College of Music. David peers myopically at it - we

only glimpse a few words: 'Dear Mr. Helfgott, we are pleased

to inform you.'

Fade up - music, from the past - 'Sospiro' by Liszt. It

continues over:

INT. TRAIN TUNNEL. DAY. THE PAST.

The train exits a tunnel into bright strobing light.

EXT. OVERGROWN DRIVEWAY OF KATHERINE'S HOUSE - AFTERNOON

Bright light pours through a jungle of trees and exotic

plants. David makes his way down the long overgrown drive.

Finally, a small weatherboard cottage comes into view, its

verandah wreathed in wisteria, jasmine and honeysuckle.

EXT. KATHERINE'S HOUSE. VERANDAH - NIGHT

A photograph of David is removed from a paper bag. It's

David at his best, supremely confident.

KATHERINE:

Perfect; I'll treasure it until the day I die.

David has finished eating dinner.

KATHERINE:

Are you full?

David

Full as a goog, Katherine; full as a goog.

INT. KATHERINE'S HOUSE - NIGHT

David plays the final bars of the Appassionata. When he

finishes, he looks to KATHERINE in front of several photos

on the mantel, lost in the past, moved by his palying.

KATHERINE:

Each time you play 'Sospiro' it expresses so completely' the

inexpressible.

David

Is that good?

KATHERINE:

(sits next to him)

It's divine.

David

Inexpressibly divine.

Katherine

Quite!

He starts playing again.

David

Tell me a story, Katherine. What story is it today?

David watches her - eyes closed, head swaying.

KATHERINE:

A new story - drops of water.

David

Raindrops?

KaTHERINE

Yes, raindrops.

David's head sways as he plays the passage.

KATHERINE:

Listen. It's the wind.

Cut to the verandah. Moonlight filters through.

David - (V.O.)

The wind!

Leaves flutter across the ground' Branches sway'

David - (V.0.)

The stream.

Katherine - (V.O.)

The river.

David - (V.O.)

The ocean, Katherine!

INT. KATHERINE'S HOUSE - DAY

The photograph of David, now framed, is on the mantel.

KATHERINE's VOICE

' You are Krishna, Christ and Dionysus. In your beauty,

tenderness and strength '

The camera moves towards the piano, where David is stooped

over. We just see the top of his head until he lokos up

and, we realize, years have passed.

David is now a young adult. He scribbles the words of the

poem onto a score, awed by their beauty as she continues to

read.

KATHERINE:

To you, all these wild weeds and wind flowers of my life.

I bring my lord and lay them at your feet.'

EXT. KATHERINE'S HOUSE - NIGHT

Wide shot. Lights burn warmly in the windows of the old

home.

CUT TO:

the front door opens and KATHERINE sees David out.

David

Good night, Katherine.

She kisses him warmly. He ambles off, awkward as a puppy,

into the night.

Katherine

Good luck, David.

INT. CONCERT HALL - NIGHT

Stagehands carefully position the grand piano onstage.

Lights and curtains are being set for a performance. Cut to

backstage, hands soak in a steaming bowl of water, next to

it is a score of Rachmaninov's Third. David warms his hands

in the water, the poise and confidence of his younger years

gone, replaced by a shambling insecurity. He throws a

nervous look around at the other contestants:

A CELLIST warms up, a VIOLINIST paces, a CONTESTANT goes

over her score while another pianist, ROGER, 25, warms up on

an old upright piano in the corner.

Cut to the foyer. The audience assembles, waiting to go in.

A poster tells us the occasion is the 'ABC - NATIONAL

CONCERTO COMPETITION'.

Arriving amidst the furs and jewellery, Peter is just

another face in the crowd. Something draws his attention:

BEN Rosen on the stair. He catches Peter looking. Neither

hids their contempt. Rosen comments to his companion:

Rosen

Poor man's Leopold Mozart.

CUT TO:

Onstage. A piano cover is removed revealing gold letters :

'BOSENDORFER'. David is drawn towards the grand piano,

mesmerized by its magnificence. He circles it, oblivious to

everything else. The sound of applause fades up'

ANNOUNCER - (V.O.)

That was out final contestant -

INT. KATHERINE'S HOUSE - NIGHT

ANNOUNCER - (radio v.0., continued)

David Helfgott, who gave a stirring performof Rachmaninov's

Third Concerto for Piano in D Minor'

KATHERINE looks at the framed photo of adolescent David

KATHERINE:

Bravo, David.

ANNOUNCER - (radio v.o.)

The judges will now confer.

INT. CONCERT HALL - NIGHT

In the audience, Peter is anxious as the jury confers.

Rosen observes him. Backstage, THE CONTESTANTS assemble in

readiness, wishing each other luck.

An evnelope is handed to the ANNOUNCER who adjusts his

bow-tie then steps onto the stage. David shuffles nervously

on the spot, standing next to ROGER, whose focus is on the

stage.

David

It's a tough game isn't it, Roger?

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