Sing Street Page #16

EAMON:

Sh*t. I scraped a pass.

CONOR:

Well done!

CONOR:

My ma is going to kill me. What are

you going to say to yours?

CONOR:

I haven’t thought about it yet...

They walk out. In the background, Barry tears his report card

in half and throws it away without even reading it. He then

boxes another kid in the face and approaches Conor, Eamon and

Darren.

He reaches in his school bag and takes out a homemade knife.

A metal bar with a plastic scalpel welded it to it.

BARRY:

I made this in metal work class.

What do you think? And you said I

couldn’t create anything?

Conor is silent. It looks gnarly, and lethal. Barry smiles.

BARRY:

And I’m going to mark you with it.

One of these days. And you won’t be

so handsome then. In your little

band.

Conor looks at it, then at Barry.

CONOR:

Why are you targeting me, Barry?

What did I do to you?

BARRY:

I don’t like you.

(CONTINUED)

88.

CONOR:

Is it because your brother beats

you up? And you’re taking it out on

someone else. Like that day down

the laneway?

BARRY:

(laughs)

That’s not me brother. That’s me

da. What are you saying about me

da?

He leans in, laughing menacingly, raising the knife to

Conor’s face. A millimeter from his mouth.

Just then, Brother Baxter appears out of a doorway behind

them.

Barry quickly pockets the knife, before Brother Baxter sees

it.

BROTHER BAXTER:

What’s going on here? Is there a

problem, Lawlor?

CONOR:

No, Brother.

Brother Baxter just turns and re-enters his office, closing

the door. Barry is as surprised as the rest of them. He looks

around, then skulks off.

BARRY:

See you around.

We hold on Conor.

INT. SYNGE STREET ART CLASSROOM - DAY

About ten local teenage girls sit on desks. Ten boys stand

around the classroom. They’ve turned up to be extras.

A number of tables have been turned upsidedown to make a

small stage. On this, the band’s gear has been set up. Garry

checks his drum kit on stage. Miss Dunne is hanging

decorations up, including a disco ball. Darren is moving

about with the camera, looking for shots.

Across the room, Miss Dunne checks her watch.

MISS DUNNE:

So you’d better film something. I

have to lock up in an hour.

DARREN:

Yeah. She’s not coming. Let’s do it

without her.

(CONTINUED)

89.

Conor reluctantly agrees. He gets up on stage.

DARREN:

So, all of you come and stand here.

You have to pretend it’s a live

gig. And you’re the audience.

CONOR:

Okay, so everyone. This is like a

school video. But not like an Irish

school. More like an American

school. And it’s the prom night.

We’ll rehearse it.

He presses playback, and the band mime. Conor sings into a

microphone. But his eyes are on the door. We hear the first

verse. The band are really coming along. Conor is really

developing some stage presence.

Again, he looks towards the door. But this time... it opens.

Raphina is coming through. But she’s dressed up in an

amazing, 1950’s style prom dress. As she enters, we start to

notice that we are not in the classroom anymore. We are in a

huge school hall. It’s prom night in a big, American school.

Conor’s band are transformed on stage. All wearing cool, 50’s

clothes.

In this video, Conor’s parents will arrive, all dressed up

and happy together to see their son on stage. Brendan shows

up, like Jimmy Dean in Rebel Without A Cause, and makes a

fool of the bungling Brother Baxter. And Conor will defeat

the evil Barry, who is dressed like the lead Scorpion in

Grease.

Then the ENTIRE audience start a choreographed DANCE

sequence, which brings us out.

We pull out from the view finder, and find ourselves back in

the mean little classroom in Dublin. The group is huddled

around the view finder. There’s no sign of Raphina. It’s all

been in Conor’s head.

DISSOLVE TO:

( SCENE 107 INTENTIONALLY DELETED )

( SCENE 108 INTENTIONALLY DELETED )

( SCENE 109 INTENTIONALLY DELETED )

( SCENE 110 INTENTIONALLY DELETED )

90.

EXT. CONOR’S HOUSE - AFTERNOON

Conor returns home. He pauses at the door, looking at his

report card. He enters.

INT.CONOR’S HOUSE - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS

As Conor enters the hallway, he is met by his mother coming

down the stairs.

CONOR:

So before you get angry...

PENNY:

Oh good, there you are.

(calling)

He’s back. You get Bren.

ROBERT:

(off)

Okay.

PENNY:

We want to chat to you both.

Kitchen. Two minutes.

She passes.

INT. CONOR’S LIVING ROOM - DAY

Conor, Penny and Robert sit around the table in the kitchen,

as they did a few months ago. Waiting. In a moment, we hear

Brendan running down the stairs. He enters, carrying all his

smoking and drinking sh*t.

BRENDAN:

Pray begin.

He sits down.

ROBERT:

Well. So, firstly, we don’t want to

make a big deal about this. Lot’s

of married couples-

PENNY:

Your father and I are splitting up.

BRENDAN:

(getting up)

Thank you! Knew it was just a

question of time. Let me know when

we’re moving. I’ll be packed.

(CONTINUED)

91.

ROBERT:

Why don’t you sit down Brendan, for

a second, and we’ll tell you what

we’re thinking. See if you agree.

BRENDAN:

Oh. A consensus? Well that’s novel.

Go ahead.

He sits down. We push in on Conor for the following.

ROBERT:

So your mother’s fallen in love

with Tony. And they’re going to

move into his apartment for a

while. We got an offer on this

house- it’s half what it’s worth,

but we’re going to take it. I can’t

afford to stay here on my own.

CONOR:

So are you, like, getting a

divorce?

PENNY:

No, you can’t get divorced in

Ireland. We’ll be legally

separated. It’s better for

everyone.

ROBERT:

I’ll get an apartment, and you guys

will live between there and...

there.

BRENDAN:

I won’t be staying in Tony’s. Let’s

get that very straight. I’d rather

sleep on the street.

Brendan seems unusually angry. Even twitchy.

ROBERT:

We’ll talk about all the details.

Tony’s a very nice man. I can vouch

for that.

This is very hard for him to say. Penny is surprised.

PENNY:

(almost silently)

Thank you.

BRENDAN:

Wow. Look at you two. This is the

first time I’ve seen you being nice

to each other in ten years!

(CONTINUED)

92.

He lights up a cigarette, raising his eyes to heaven.

CONOR:

Maybe he’s right. Maybe this is

what you needed to do, you know, to

get back. Closer than before.

Everyone looks at Conor. Suddenly seeing how young he is. And

how vulnerable.

CONOR:

You don’t love Tony. You hardly

know him. You got that job a few

months ago. It’s just an excuse. A

way of ending this relationship

because you don’t know how to keep

it together.

ROBERT:

Now Conor. You don’t know what

you’re talking about.

He gets up and exits, slamming the door. After a moment,

Brendan gathers his stuff and exits, shaking his head,

leaving the parents sitting there on their own.

INT. BRENDAN’S ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Brendan enters his room to find Conor sitting on the hammock.

Brendan sets his stuff down.

Rate this script:3.8 / 4 votes