The Red Turtle Page #2

---

Suddenly, they scuttle back to their holes. But there are only three holes for

four crabs.

The first three to arrive take possession of the three holes.

The fourth runs flat out from one occupied hole to another.

In the end, it dives into the sand, just before the man's foot lands on it.

The man exits the frame; the four crabs reappear.

The man goes back to the top of the beach.

He yells out, furious at the unknown force which stopped him leaving.

Then he disappears again into the bamboos, determined to go back to work

without delay.

He is picking up a bamboo when he hears something on the beach. Or rather

he is alerted by a sudden absence of sound. As if nature had suddenly fallen

silent.

He hurries over there, but he can't see anything disturbing the usual calm of

the place. The crabs are looking at the sea. The man goes over to the shore.

Could there be a slight movement in the water?

The man has gone back to work.

He puts a number of bamboos on the beach to build another raft.

The building work progresses well.

He soon goes back to the water, goes past the coral reef again, and heads

out to the open sea. This time, he should make it.

And yet, he hears something again.

He sticks his head under the water, on the look-out. He looks closely.

Nothing.

Time seems frozen for a moment.

Just when the danger seems to have passed, the raft is struck. The thing

seems to be coming from under the water, a sort of invisible sea monster.

The raft explodes. The man sinks.

The man emerges amid the remains of the shattered raft.

He manages to swim to the coral reef and pauses to catch his breath. He

coughs. He's not feeling great.

Birds fly past in the sky.

I.4. Fever and Despair. The animals.

The man returns to the island, spitting copiously.

His last escape attempt exhausted him. He is alone, desperate, and injured.

The wind is picking up, bending the trees and sending sand and leaves flying

on the beach.

The man lies down on the sand and curls up.

Later.

Birds fly past in the sky.

The wind has died down.

The man is lying on his back in the shade of the bamboos. He seems

incapable of movement. Exhausted and absent, he looks at the sky through

the foliage.

The sun sets above the sea, on the horizon.

Later.

An enormous centipede crawls over the dead leaves and the man's

motionless foot. He doesn't react. He seems to be in a sort of feverish coma.

For those who inhabit the island, life carries on in a strange fusion with the

sick, absent man.

Eat or be eaten, kill or be killed – that's nature's way.

At the water's edge, two crabs fight over a dead fish.

Further away, a spider waits for a fly to get caught in its web.

Ants come and go on the man's motionless arm.

He is lying on his belly in the bamboo forest.

Night falls.

Bats fly over the landscape in the already dark twilight sky.

A bat flies around in circles above the foliage. Its spread wings stand out

clearly, black shadows against the dark grey sky.

It's nighttime.

Behind the bushes and the bamboos which line the beach, eyes appear.

There's no way of knowing who they belong to.

They look closely at the man. Waiting for his death? To eat him too?

We come closer. The round, unblinking, vaguely threatening eyes are still

staring.

In the sky, clouds pass in front of the almost full moon.

Suddenly, almost heavenly music can be heard.

The man opens one eye. He hears it and starts listening to it.

He struggles to his feet and heads for the music on the beach.

Musicians are sitting there by the water's edge.

The man runs over to them. They are a string quartet wearing tuxedos.

As he reaches the quartet, they disappear.

The man turns around. No, they're elsewhere, their feet in the water.

He runs over to them. The musicians disappear.

It was only a dream, a dismal mirage.

The man goes back onto the beach.

He cries and wails, alone and abandoned.

Fade to black.

I.5. 3rd attempt with the raft. Appearance of the turtle.

Another day has dawned on the island.

The man appears on his knees, exhausted, among the bushes which line the

pond.

He plunges his head in the water to drink and clear his head.

Still convalescing, he walks through the bamboos, then remains sitting for a

long while in the water, leaning against a rock.

Later.

He has started to build another raft when he happens upon a dead seal near

the rocks.

He skins the animal, washes it with plenty of water, and dries it in the sun.

At nightfall, he makes a jacket or trousers out of it.

Another day.

A crab scuttles among the sticks of bamboo on the new raft.

The man casts off and climbs onto the boat.

The crabs are onboard, determined to leave with him.

The man drives them away. The crabs turn back to the beach and watch the

raft departing.

On the raft, the man is on the look-out.

The boat moves along slowly as there isn't much wind.

Then, again the danger appears.

And for the first time, the man sees it.

It's an enormous red turtle which seems to want his raft to sink every time.

The man readies his weapon, trying to get the upper hand in the fight, but to

no avail.

Once again, the monstrous turtle comes up from the depths and shatters the

raft.

The man falls into the water and sinks straight to the bottom.

When he is under the water, the monster swims up to him, scaring him.

After sinking the man's raft, will it try to kill him?

The man curls up and heads for the depths. But the enormous turtle keeps

coming closer.

The man hides his face. Through his fingers, he can see the turtle's enormous

head and round eyes staring at him.

Then, suddenly, for no apparent reason, the turtle swims away.

The man comes back to the surface, gasping for breath.

He's had the fright of his life.

Part II. The man and the woman-turtle.

II. 1. Murder of the turtle and bitter regrets.

The man returns to the island, beside himself with rage. Fear has given way

to anger.

He throws a rock into the water and shakes a bamboo furiously.

He is yelling his rage at the hillside when he sees it again. The turtle is on the

beach, on his territory.

The man races down. He comes out of a copse, armed with a bamboo, runs

over to the turtle, and hits it with all his strength. The stick breaks with the

force of the blow. The seagulls overhead caw at the violence of his act.

He lifts up the turtle's shell, braces himself and, with his anger giving him the

strength of ten, manages to turn it onto its back.

But that's still not enough for him. Now he jumps on its belly like a child

having a tantrum, then throws sand into its face before striding away.

He dives into the sea and bathes for a long time, as if washing his hands of

it, to forget his act or to regain his self-control.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote