The Fisher King Page #16

PARRY:

(smiles)

They're paying so they don't have

to look.

JACK:

Poor guy. What must he feel?

PARRY:

Grateful. His name's Sid. Great

guy. Says everyday he can sit

in the middle of Grand Central

and watch the rush hour, he's

won...I mean, you have to admit...

PARRY smiles and looks around the mobs rushing through Grand

Central.

Life at 5:
00 in Grand Central...

it's pretty breathtaking. Don't

you think?

JACK is impressed by PARRY'S interpretation...and by the VET'S

seeming good nature in the face of his situation.

JACK looks around this mad rush hour scene, as if trying to see

it as PARRY does.

WE CUT to the various sizes and shapes of people hurrying home,

stopping to buy a paper, talking with their co-workers, the

colors, the sights, the sounds...

OFF CAMERA a WOMAN begins to sing. JACK and PARRY turn to look.

PARRY smiles with great respect.

PARRY:

Margaret.

CUT TO:

MARGARET, A BLACK WOMAN in a paisley kaften, stands near a photo

lab across from JACK and PARRY. With a box in front of her for

donations, she starts singing..YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE A NATURAL

WOMAN." Some rush hour commutors stop to listen. HER VOICE

is strong and soulful, she performs uninhibitedly.

WE PAN around the faces of the business crowd listening to

MARGARET - looking grateful for the opportunity to stop their

day for a moment and listen.

JACK'S sitting on the floor of Grand Central - beside a crippled

VET and a row of beggers, listening to a woman singing for

quarters, and suddenly feels almost happy; for the first time

in a while, he's stopped to look around and finds he is not

alone - but a part of a small group of tired people like

himself; listening to a woman bare her soul in song. HE turns

to PARRY and finds him staring in the other direction. JACK

looks.

CUT TO:

LYDIA...going home from work. SHE moves with the crowd, as if

totally without her own will, looking through her handbag for

her token. SHE walks into the newspaper stand PARRY had pointed

out.

IRANIAN NEWSSTAND OWNER

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!!! EVERY

DAY, EVERY DAY YOU KNOCK OVER THE

F***IN' PAPERS...

A mortified LYDIA makes a hasty exit. PARRY watches in

adoration.

PARRY:

God. Just one night with her.

I'd die happy.

JACK hears this as if a light bulb went off above his head.

CUT TO:

INT. LYDIA'S APARTMENT - LATER THAT NIGHT

A door opens. LYDIA enters with a bag of groceries she picked

up on the way. SHE turns on the light to reveal an extremely

neat, albeit modest, one bedroom apartment. SHE carries the

grocery bag into the kitchen.

Out of the bag, SHE removes a LEAN CUISINE; a giant bottle of

Cream Soda and four giant bars of CHUNKY chocolate. SHE pops

the LEAN CUISINE into the oven and walks back into the living

room to an old stereo. SHE turns the turntable on - a record

already set upon it. She stands by her coffee table, as if

taking position:

SUDDENLY, WE HEAR ETHEL MERMAN - AS LYDIA LIP-SYNCS EVERY WORD WI

COMMITMENT - GIVING A FULL OUT PERFORMANCE.

ETHEL/LYDIA

GOT NO SUNSHINE, GOT NO RAIN

STILL I THINK I'M A LUCKY DAME

I GOT THE SUN IN THE MORNING

AND THE MOON AT NIGHT....

HER attempts at hand gestures and choreography are awkward -

bunking into the coffee table, banging her hand against a lamp,

but we see a part of LYDIA that few (actually no one) sees.

HER abandon, her joy...her smile.

From upstairs, THE NEIGHBORS bang to keep the music down.

LYDIA casually crosses to the stereo, turns off the turntable

and heads back to the kitchen - as if the neighbors interference

were all a part of her nightly ritual.

CUT TO:

INT. ANNE'S APARTMENT - SAME EVENING

ANNE sits alone at her fomica table, smoking a cigarette. Two

plates are set. SHE waits for JACK. SHE is hurt and pissed

off. TONY ORLANDO AND DAWN play on her stereo.

TONY ORLANDO:

KNOCK THREE TIMES...ON THE CEILING

IF YOU WANT ME...TWICE ON THE PIPE

The song continues as the CAMERA slowly pans up to close-up of

ANNE, Who is fighting with an imaginary JACK.

ANNE:

Ya f***in' bastard. I don't need

this...

(emphasizing)

...I Do Not Need This! A woman

my age...I am a person. This is

kid stuff. You come! You go!

And all I do is cook like a jerk!

You're a waste of good cutlets...I

don't need this...Find yourself

another dope...ya f***in'

bastard...

SHE takes a puff off her cigarette and sings along with TONY

-trying, in vain, to cheer herself up.

CUT TO:

EXT. CENTRAL PARK'S GREAT LAWN - SAME NIGHT

JACK is helping PARRY lay out nets beneath an oak tree.

PARRY:

This is a very popular tree with

the crack dealers.

JACK:

What I don't understand is - so

you catch them in a net - what

good is that? They don't go to

jail.

PARRY:

Jails are crowded. The way I

think is...if you can just...annoy

them on a regular basis...let them

know there are forces out there

that are out to stop them - forces

they can't see or even fight...

maybe, eventually, they'll give

up and the Red Knight won't be

able to use them.

JACK was following this philosophy with great interest until

the mention of the Red Knight.

JACK:

(cutting him off)

Yeah, yeah, yeah...right - but,

why...not just go after

Carmichael. I mean, call the

police, call the newspapers - put

some pressure on him to fork up

the uh...ya know...the cup.

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