The American Page #6

48 INT. FATHER BENEDETTO’S KITCHEN- EVENING 48

JACK eats a bowl of traditional Abruzzo lentil soup in

silence.

FATHER BENEDETTO watches him, pleased to see his guest so

absorbed.

As soon as JACK has finished, FATHER BENEDETTO invites him to

help himself from the ancient tureen.

Then he bustles over to the stove, humming again.

JACK eats, studying a framed photo of FATHER BENEDETTO with

his arm around a tough, corpulent Italian man in his mid-

twenties. FABIO.

FATHER BENEDETTO returns to the table with a large covered

dish issuing steam into his face.

He notices JACK’s eye-line.

FATHER BENEDETTO

All the sheep in my flock are dear

to me, but some are dearer than

most. Especially those that have

strayed from the fold.

Off JACK's intrigued look FATHER BENEDETTO clarifies:

FATHER BENEDETTO

Fabio. He is a... [in ITALIAN] 'car

doctor'. But I suspect his practice

is not entirely sound. Ecco!

FATHER BENEDETTO whisks the lid off the covered dish

revealing a lamb stew covered in sauce.

FATHER BENEDETTO

Agnello. Lamb. With a sauce of

fresh herbs from my garden, garlic,

white wine, seasonal vegetables and

come si dice in Inglese? Brodo di

Agnello. Lamb broth.

FATHER BENEDETTO serves each of them and pours white wine

into fresh glasses.

FATHER BENEDETTO

Also:
salsify in virgin olive oil,

zucchini, fried wild mushrooms with

delicate shavings of truffles.

JACK helps himself to vegetables.

FATHER BENEDETTO watches him as he savours his first taste.

JACK licks his lips and sips some cold white wine.

"The American" June 21st, 2010 page 29. page 29.

The two men regard one another, the priest awaiting a

verdict.

JACK:

It’s good.

FATHER BENEDETTO shrugs.

FATHER BENEDETTO

The Holy Father eats better than

this.

The flash of a smile crosses the priest’s face.

JACK:

Have you ever wanted to be anything

other than a priest?

FATHER BENEDETTO

Have you ever wanted to be anything

other than a... come se dice in

Inglese...?

JACK:

Photographer?

FATHER BENEDETTO

Photographer.

JACK:

I do what I’m good at.

FATHER BENEDETTO

I’m sure you have other talents.

You have the hands of a craftsman,

not an artist. You are good with

machines. Yet you told me just the

opposite when we first met.

JACK hides his unease from the watchful priest.

FATHER BENEDETTO

Journalism cannot make you a rich

man.

FATHER BENEDETTO’s eyes flick over the OMEGA.

JACK:

No.

FATHER BENEDETTO

Perhaps you are rich already?

JACK:

I’m not a young man. I have my

savings.

"The American" June 21st, 2010 page 30. page 30.

FATHER BENEDETTO

A man can be rich if he has God in

his heart.

He looks searchingly at JACK.

JACK:

I don’t think God is interested in

me. Father.

FATHER BENEDETTO

(in ENGLISH)

I know better than to try to make a

convert over stew and Trebbiano.

JACK is silent.

The two men continue eating.

The priest is on a mission to extract the truth... and JACK

knows it.

49 EXT. OUTSKIRTS OF CASTEL DEL MONTE- DAY 49

JACK is driving.

He checks the rear view mirror.

All clear.

JACK accelerates the CAR, scraping the bumper against a small

wall, and drives on, confident he did some damage to the

bumper.

"The American" June 21st, 2010

page 31.

50

EXT. COUNTRYSIDE- DAY 50

A dirt track meanders downhill past a few small holdings and

allotments.

The CAR moves slowly.

JACK pulls up beside a high chain fence.

The DOGS on the other side start barking. This sets off other

dogs in other scrap yards.

JACK gets out of the car and approaches a makeshift hut

beside the fence. Before he’s a metre from the door it opens

and a tough, well-built, unshaven Italian man in his mid-

twenties looks him up and down.

FABIO.

JACK:

I have some damage to my car.

FABIO (ITALIAN)

Sorry, too busy.

JACK:

Sono un amico di Padre Benedetto.

Suspicion gives way suddenly to warmth:

FABIO:

L’Americano?

JACK smiles politely.

JACK:

Buon giorno.

FABIO:

Ok, Ok, I fix.

51

INT. WORKSHOP- DAY 51

The metal door slides open. FABIO leads JACK inside.

At the back of the cluttered workshop is a blue ALFA ROMEO

being resprayed white. Beside it, one half of a LANCIA is

being welded to another.

JACK knows better than to stare. He follows FABIO through

to...

52

INT. BACK OFFICE- DAY 52

Girly calendars, Italian style.

"The American" June 21st, 2010 page 31A. page 31A.

JACK:

I’m taking pictures forty minutes

north of here. Right up in the

mountains. Father Benedetto said

you might be able to help.

"The American" June 21st, 2010 page 32. page 32.

FABIO:

(in ITALIAN)

You need models. For your

photographs? Italian girls?

He winks at JACK. He’s being friendly.

JACK:

My publisher wouldn’t stretch to a

four by four and the park trails

are playing havoc with my chassis.

The technical English is slightly beyond FABIO’s grasp.

This suits JACK.

FABIO:

(in ITALIAN)

Want me to take a look?

JACK:

Non grazie! I just need something

to work on a ruptured driveshaft.

FABIO:

(in ITALIAN)

You’re a mechanic?

JACK:

Just a hobby. I tinker.

JACK looks at the TOOLS hanging on the walls and littering

the work benches.

FABIO shrugs.

FABIO:

(in ITALIAN)

Help yourself. [In ENGLISH] My

garage is your garage.

JACK:

Grazie mille.

FABIO gets on with work, sliding himself beneath the re-

sprayed Alfa Romeo.

JACK picks out various implements, laying them on the work

surface:
drill, hacksaw, lathe, vice, mallet.

Behind an oil pan with a jagged hole in it he discovers

several GEAR WHEELS with the teeth sheared off. He holds the

biggest one up.

JACK:

Bene?

FABIO is engrossed in his work.

"The American" June 21st, 2010

page 33.

FABIO:

Si! Si! Va bene!

JACK:

Quant’e?

FABIO grins and growls. A gearwheel with no bite is useless

to him.

FABIO:

Niente!

JACK wraps the gearwheel in an oily rag and puts it in the

sports bag with the tools.

At the door, he pauses.

That’s when JACK sees it on the notice board. A PHOTOGRAPH of

FATHER BENEDETTO and FABIO. FABIO is much younger in this

photo:
fourteen or fifteen years old. He’s wearing an AS Roma

football strip. Again: the priest has his arm around the boy.

On the workbench below the notice board is a MOBILE PHONE in

a cellophane bag.

JACK:

Where’d you get that?

FABIO:

(In ITALIAN)

It was a gift from above.

53

EXT. COUNTRYSIDE- DAY 53

JACK exits Fabio’s WORKSHOP and looks up...

...at the VIADUCT above him that connects the two towns.

We hear CHURCH BELLS as we cut to:

54

INT. CASTEL DEL MONTE, CHURCH- DAY 54

FATHER BENEDETTO rings the CHURCH BELLS for Mass.

55

EXT. CASTEL DEL MONTE, CHURCH BELLS- CONTINUOUS 55

Close up of church bells.

As the CLAPPERS hit the SOUNDBOWS we smash cut to:

56

INT. JACK'S ROOM, LOGGIA ABRUZZO- CONTINUOUS 56

JACK has laid out his newly acquired tools on the flag stone

floor of his room.

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