The Ploughman's Lunch Page #14

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ANN:

I wish you wouldn't drive so fast,

Mat, dearest.

MATHEW:

I'll get a bike. I promise. Hi!

Just off?

Matthew and James shake hands over the car doors.

ANN:

Matthew my husband. James. James

is coming to stay next weekend.

MATHEW:

Very good. Well, I'll see you

then.

He strides away with Tom.

MATHEW:

Come on, Tom. Let's see if we can

get this thing working.

James pulls away. Ann stands watching him till he is out

of sight, and a little longer after that.

EXT. A149 ROAD - DAY

Ten minutes later. James drives along the A149 near Clay.

He has the window wide open, the radio on. The great

expanse of salt marsh is to his right. The huge sky. The

mood is triumphant.

EXT. CENTRAL NORFOLK - DAY

Half an hour later. A lonely road in central Norfolk.

James brings the car to a sudden halt. He switches off

the engine. In the silence we are able to hear the car

cassette player. As it plays, James walks round the car

till he finds his flat tyre. He rummages with growing ill-

temper in the boot. Two cases of empty wine bottles, a

mildewed towel and swimming trunks, but no jack.

LECTURER (V.O.)

(from tape)

There was a real desire on the

British part to appear virtuous

while behaving aggressively, and

the pursuit of virtue led to many

lies being told, most notable the

Prime Minister's in the House of

Commons on December 20 when he

said that there was 'no

foreknowledge that Israel would

attack Egypt'. Perhaps we should

reverse the question and ask

ourselves to what extent individuals

behave like governments, who are

bound to act in the national

interest which in turn is rarely

separable from the government's

interest, or that of the class it

represents...

Furious, he goes to the front of the car and snaps off the

tape machine, and stands jiggling his keys in the vast

silence.

A minute later. James sets off. The immensity of the

landscape, the incongruousness of his clothes...

EXT. LONELY ROAD - DAY

James, walking.

EXT. ROAD THROUGH WOOD - DAY

The road passes through a wood. When BETTY speaks, it

surprises both James and us.

She stands at the head of a little grass track that leads

into a wood. She carries a plastic carrier bag. She is

almost childlike in her friendliness.

BETTY:

Are you the man from the BBC?

JAMES:

What?

BETTY:

Sorry. I didn't mean to frighten

you. I thought you must be from

the BBC.

(she advances)

We've been waiting, see. And you

don't exactly look like a farmer.

I'm Betty.

They shake hands.

JAMES:

James Penfield.

BETTY:

Come and meet the others. They've

been waiting for you.

EXT. WOODS. AIRFIELD PERIMETER - DAY

James follows Betty through the woods. A rumbling and

whining noise increases in violence and becomes deafening

once they leave the wood and cross open ground towards a

Military Air Base. The Peace Camp is near the perimeter

fence. A ramshackle collection of tents, caravans, a tepee

and a rough wooden shelter which is the communal area. A

fire burns here. Various peace signs, Women's Movement

sign and slogan. ('Fight War, Not Wars', etc.)

Three women are sitting around the fire. A little further

off a MAN is chopping wood. One of the women, CARMEN, is

over sixty. The other two are in their thirties. The

man, PETE, is a vintage hippy. A good mix of regional

accents among the campers. Betty leads James to the fire.

BETTY:

I found a man from the BBC, but

he's not the man.

CARMEN:

Never mind. We'll just have to

make do. Would you like a cup of

tea? Jill, give the young man

your cup.

JAMES:

(Dodging smoke from

the fire)

Thank you.

CARMEN:

Sit on that log, dear.

JILL:

Be careful though, it wobbles.

The others laugh.

JAMES:

Er, listen, I... I've got a

puncture. I wondered if I might

borrow a jack.

JILL AND CAROL:

Pete!

JAMES:

Sorry to be a nuisance.

Pete ambles over. Inscrutable behind much hair. He

registers no awareness of James. He smokes a roll-up.

CARMEN:

Pete, do we have a jack?

Pete inhales, considers and nods almost imperceptibly.

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