The Danish Girl Page #3

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ULLA (cont’d)

Oh, don’t worry my darling...

She hands the flowers to him, kisses him:

ULLA (cont’d)

We’re going to call you Lili...

(CONTINUED)

26/11/15

12.

CONTINUED:

Einar manages to laugh now as the dog runs BARKING in

circles, Ulla’s delight banishing the day’s frustrations.

EXT. HARBOUR, NIGHT

There are lights on in the Widow House.

INT. WIDOW HOUSE, STUDIO, NIGHT

Gerda closes the book she’s been reading, looks up to see

Einar, working, engrossed. An almost trance-like state. She

watches him a while, then approaches, rests her head against

his back. He’s comfortable with this, but works on.

GERDA:

Such concentration. Sometimes when you’re

working, I think you’re going to slip

through the surface of the painting and

vanish.

He smiles a little.

GERDA (cont’d)

Sink into the bog. Like your friend’s kite

when you were a boy.

EINAR:

Hans. It was Hans’ kite I crashed.

Einar enjoys the memory for a moment.

EINAR (cont’d)

Poor Hans. He was so proud of it...

I couldn’t believe he even let me

have a turn...

GERDA:

He’s probably still sitting on a

rock, sobbing his heart out.

Einar sets down his brush, turns toward her, away from his

work, smiles.

EINAR:

He’s a dealer in Paris, peddling

Old Masters to rich Americans.

GERDA:

Oh. So we don’t need to worry

about Hans.

EINAR:

No we don’t.

He takes her in.

(CONTINUED)

26/11/15

13.

CONTINUED:

GERDA:

I didn’t mean to disturb you.

EINAR:

That’s okay. I’ve finished.

He kisses her.

EINAR (cont’d)

And don’t worry, I won’t disappear into the

bog.

He widens his eyes, surprised at his own realisation:

EINAR (cont’d)

The bog is in me, silly.

She pushes him off, LAUGHING.

INT. WIDOW HOUSE, BEDROOM, LATER THAT NIGHT

Einar’s in bed. Gerda pulls off her dress, looks round to

see him watching her as she lays her stockings over the chair

beside her dressing table.

GERDA:

What?

EINAR:

Can’t a man watch his wife get undressed?

She goes to take off her lace-edged slip, self-conscious now.

EINAR (cont’d)

That slip is new...

GERDA:

You’re very observant.

EINAR:

Leave it on...

She hesitates, but Einar pulls back the sheet... Gerda keeps

the slip on, climbs in beside him. He strokes her body

through the silk...

EINAR (cont’d)

It’s very pretty...

GERDA:

I might let you borrow it.

Einar shrugs, rising flirtatiously to the challenge.

EINAR:

I might enjoy that.

(CONTINUED)

26/11/15

14.

CONTINUED:

Gerda LAUGHS, and Einar kisses her. She teases:

GERDA:

Oh really...? Is there something you’d like

to tell me?

EINAR:

Why...? Is there something you’d like to

know...?

His fingers trace, quivering, over her...

GERDA:

No... I’m your wife. I know everything.

Einar thrills, pulls her on top of him, a fresh passion,

fresh risk about their union.

INT. COSTUME SHOP, LATER THAT NIGHT

A champagne cork POPS. Ulla’s triumphant first night. She’s

on magnificent form, working the room. Gerda’s portrait hangs

in pride of place. Gerda and Einar chat with a group that

includes their friends NIELS and ELSA. Ulla swoops in,

WHISPERS something in Gerda’s ear. Gerda’s eyes register

delight as she looks across at two young men on the other

side of the room.

GERDA:

Both of them...?

ULLA:

And at the same time!

Einar laughs. Gerda shakes her head.

ULLA (cont’d)

Married people are so delightfully easy to

shock.

EINAR:

We just pretend to be shocked because it

encourages you.

ULLA:

I know. That’s why you’re the only

couple in my party for the Artists

Ball...

EINAR:

Out of the question.

ULLA:

Oh, I know Einar hates it, but he’ll have

to bear with us.

(CONTINUED)

26/11/15

15.

CONTINUED:

EINAR:

She can go without me.

ULLA:

Gerda without an escort? It would be a

scandal.

EINAR:

Gerda loves a scandal.

GERDA:

You’ve had too much champagne.

Niels and Elsa hear this, tune in...

EINAR:

Look at the way she dresses, flaunting her

ankles. An invitation to corruption.

GERDA:

I don’t think anyone is likely to be

corrupted by seeing my ankles.

EINAR:

I was.

The group laughs delighted by Einar’s buoyant mood.

EINAR (CONT’D) (cont’d)

The first time we met, I was leaving the

Academy, and she was on the steps,

flaunting said ankles... And she

propositioned me!

ELSA:

Is that true?!

GERDA:

It was a dare. But when I said hello to

him, he actually blushed! He was so shy! So

I asked him out.

ULLA:

And you said yes -

Einar scrutinises Gerda.

EINAR:

She made me. She seemed so sure.

GERDA:

I was sure. I still am.

NIELS:

Oh please - enough!

Elsa elbows him, turns to Gerda.

(CONTINUED)

26/11/15

16.

CONTINUED:

ELSA:

No - what was it about him?

Gerda looks at Einar.

GERDA:

I don’t know...

She remembers, drawing Einar into the recollection.

GERDA (cont’d)

But we went for coffee, and after, I kissed

him... and it was the strangest thing... it

was like kissing myself.

A look between Einar and Gerda, a connection crackling.

ULLA:

Well these two won’t be staying much

longer...

EINAR:

Unmarried people are so delightfully easy

to shock.

She and Einar smile, make their way towards the door.

INT. BEDROOM, NIGHT

Einar comes in, Gerda’s already in bed. He starts to

undress, turns out the light.

GERDA:

Turn it back on.

He looks at her. She shrugs, smiles - it’s her turn, after

all... He turns it back on, a little awkward now, undressing

in front of her. She sees this, toughs it out, watching him

anyway.

GERDA (cont’d)

Were you really corrupted by my ankles?

Einar wears just his shirt now, begins to unbutton.

EINAR:

You were shameless.

GERDA:

I still am.

Einar peels off his shirt. Underneath, he wears Gerda’s lace-

edged slip. Gerda GASPS slightly... Einar has outdone her

with this imaginative twist. But she rises to the occasion.

Feels the fabric against his body.

(CONTINUED)

26/11/15

17.

CONTINUED:

EINAR:

Beautiful shameless Gerda...

She traces her fingers across his chest, challenged, aroused.

INT. WIDOW HOUSE, BEDROOM, MORNING

Einar asleep, a SCRATCHING sound in the background. We see

quick charcoal strokes on paper, Gerda wrapped in Einar’s

dressing gown, at the side of the bed. She’s fascinated,

suddenly able to see the femininity of his features, plays

with it, creating a revised Einar... His eyes open...

GERDA:

Did I wake you?

He raises his eyebrows, entertained. What does she think?

She smiles, carries on working.

GERDA (cont’d)

Sorry... I couldn’t sleep.

EINAR:

Why?

GERDA:

Wondering about things.

EINAR:

What things?

GERDA:

Wondering if we made a baby last night.

Einar smiles, surprised.

EINAR:

What d’you think?

Gerda shrugs, keeps sketching.

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