Woman in Gold Page #4

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RANDY:

These are three names of the top

restitution lawyers in America.

(MORE)

RANDY (CONT'D)

They’ll cost you but without them,

it’s a non-starter.

MARIA:

All I have is my bungalow, my shop,

and a little money I’ve been saving

for a trip to Hawaii. I don’t want

to start throwing cash at some

fancy lawyers.

He hands her the photocopies across the table, starts to put

on his jacket.

RANDY:

I need to go.

MARIA:

Randy, I don’t want to rock your

boat.

RANDY:

Well, thank you, how considerate.

MARIA:

But maybe you can help me on the

side. Like a hobby.

He makes a sign at the waitress for the check.

RANDY:

You can’t do this ‘on the side’

Maria, this is a full time job,

this is not a hobby.

MARIA:

You are quite rude, a little

uncouth, and completely

disinterested in the past.

RANDY:

And you have a talent for making me

feel good about myself.

MARIA:

But you have the connection.

RANDY:

The connection?

MARIA:

Your family, Randy. Your

grandparents. They were from

Vienna. We have the same history.

And to this he has no answer.

INT. RANDY’S OFFICE. DAY.

Back on his computer that afternoon, Randy closes a work page

and starts looking for info on the actual painting, finds a

piece about it, and his eyes fall on a sentence about its

estimated value.

With him we read the words : “estimated value is over a

hundred million dollars”. We watch his reaction at this piece

of information.

EXT. LOS ANGELES PARK. DAY.

Randy and Pam are having an evening stroll in a local park.

Randy has DORA, their baby daughter, strapped to him. As

Randy talks to her about this change of heart, he tries to

appear casual, nonchalant - a performance to keep her on his

side.

RANDY:

I can help her find the will, get

the ball rolling, then hand the

whole thing over to someone else.

PAM:

You mean you’re going to go all the

way to Austria?

RANDY:

So all I need to do is get the firm

interested.

PAM:

You sure that’s a good idea? You’ve

only just started the job, how do

you think they’ll react if you run

off?

RANDY:

I’m not going to run off, honey, I

just want to persuade them to let

me go. It’s not a big deal.

PAM:

Besides, you think the Austrians

will make it that easy for you?

‘Here’s the files and a pastry’?

RANDY:

Nothing to lose.

PAM:

Isn’t there?

And her question hovers in the air.

INT. SHERMAN’S OFFICE. DAY.

Randy sits in Sherman’s impressive office. He’s handed

Sherman a folder which Sherman is scanning his eyes over.

SHERMAN:

I can’t have you in Austria chasing

paintings, Randy.

RANDY:

Not just any paintings sir.

SHERMAN:

I know them well. Our daughter went

to Vienna and all we got was the

lousy fridge-magnets.

RANDY:

I see it as a possible investment

for the firm.

SHERMAN:

Go on.

RANDY:

It’s all in there, sir. There seems

to be a move in Austria towards

making reparations for the past.

And these paintings are priceless.

I’d be..we’d be representing Mrs.

Altmann.

SHERMAN:

You really think a painting that

ends up as a fridge-magnet will

ever leave Austria?

RANDY:

I think it would be a mistake not

to take a look.

For a second Sherman could go either way.

SHERMAN:

One week max, I want you back on

the 3rd.

RANDY:

Thank you, sir!

INT. MARIA’S BOUTIQUE. DAY

Early evening and Maria has just received a new shipment of

sweaters at her small boutique. She is taking them out of the

containers, placing them carefully onto the shelves. Randy

bursts in from the street. She works throughout the scene.

RANDY:

Still working.

MARIA:

I’ll close the shop only when I

croak.

RANDY:

I’ve got the green light - I’ll go

over, try and find the will. Then

we take it from there.

She is thrilled.

MARIA:

You are chomping at the bite all

of a sudden!

RANDY:

The bit, yes. And I’ve got another

idea...

He puts a copy of an Austrian newspaper, the Wiener Zeitung,

on the counter where she’s folding the sweaters. Points to an

article. The sight of the Austrian paper unnerves her.

RANDY (CONT’D)

My mother sent me this. There’s an

art restitution conference planned

later this month. They’re looking

for speakers. I think you should be

one of them.

MARIA:

What are you talking about?

RANDY:

Elegant descendant of one of the

great Viennese families- the press

would love you. It would speed

things up, apply pressure.

MARIA:

I love your enthusiasm. After all,

I’m not a spring chicken, we need

to get moving. But in your haste,

there’s been a misunderstanding.

RANDY:

There has?

And suddenly her tone changes, a raw nerve has been touched.

She stops her work, folds up the newspaper and puts it in his

hands.

MARIA:

I’m not going back to that place.

Not now, not ever.

RANDY:

I don’t understand.

MARIA:

They destroyed my family. They

killed my friends and forced me to

abandon the people and places that

I loved.

RANDY:

Over half a century ago.

MARIA:

You think that’s a long time?

RANDY:

We’d only go back for a few days.

And now she snaps, shows that steel.

MARIA:

Randy, you’re not listening! I

would rather die than go back

there. Not for all the paintings in

the world.

She suddenly feels she may have over-reacted, pulls back, and

smiles at him. But she knows she’s made her point.

MARIA (CONT’D)

Anyway, a few days ago you weren’t

even interested in the case, now

you are all over me like a rash.

What happened?

RANDY:

Against my better judgement, I

think I like you.

And she gives him a shrewd look. He can’t quite fool her. But

despite his shortcomings, she can’t help liking him back.

INT. MARIA’S LIVING ROOM. NIGHT.

At home Maria is alone in her living room, sitting in an armchair

in her dressing-gown, surrounded by all her things. And

in her face we see that Randy’s suggestion that she should

return has unleashed a tumult of conflicting emotions.

INT. THE SCHOENBERGS’ KITCHEN. NIGHT.

Randy is feeding Dora, who is in a high-chair. Pam, who is a

part-time photographer, has some of her most recent photos

spread out on the kitchen table and is going through them.

It’s obvious that she’s not happy about his decision to go.

RANDY:

I’ll be back before you know it.

Four days, a week at most. Depends

on the reception I get.

PAM:

So what’s your plan?

RANDY:

It’s just a hunch, no real plan.

She stops what she’s doing.

PAM:

Are you sure about this?

We’ve waited so long for this. You,

me, Dora. It’s everything we’ve

dreamed of. I don’t think we should

jeopardise that.

RANDY:

I’m not emigrating to the Congo,

I’m going to Austria for a few

days, with the firm’s blessing.

What do you think?

She stands up, walks over to him, gives him a kiss on the

forehead.

PAM:

OK.

And she leaves the room. But her words take the wind out of

his sails and plant some doubt in his mind.

INT. MARIA’S LIVING ROOM. NIGHT.

Still in her nightie and dressing-gown, Maria walks up to the

old record-player, picks up a record to play. The record is

Schubert’s Du Bist Die Ruh, sung by her husband, Fritz. His

name and picture are on the record cover. Near the record-

player, there is a photo of them both on their wedding day.

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