james_holiday
07-13-2010, 01:42 PM
"1979"
Note - This story is written in script form, I just want to have some critique or feedback as to whether it can be turned into a proper short story.
FADE IN:
INT. JAIL CELL - DAY
The jail is claustrophobic and oppressive looking. There are
no windows. No doors in sight. There’s a baby crying, and an
argument couple occurring in another room. JOHN HOLIDAY,
early to mid 30s, is making his phone call. He’s got a
cigarette dangling from his lip, a coffee in his left hand,
and a plaster over his nose. An empty jail cell looms behind
him. He is talking to Matilda Hazell, his ex wife.
HOLIDAY
..Yeah remember. I’m your husband,
ex husband. (A prostitute walks
over and pinches his bum, he reacts
with a laddish grin.) Hey Alice how
ya’ doing?..Um.. Need you to come
downtown, to um, bail me out.. I
get you some money every so often
don’t I? I help you out..Matilda.
I’m freezing my ****in’ nuts off..
Hollywood is a strange place to be
at night. This place never sleeps..
Don’t leave me rotting in this
cell. Save me. Matilda.(The same
prostitute pinches his bum
again.)Hey get the **** out of here
you *****... No. Not you. I just
need like 500. Maybe more.
MATILDA (O.S.)
How about you fix the holes you put
in my roof sometime.
HOLIDAY
I need money. Not a lecture. Do
that for me please..I think I
deserve this, I deserve to be here.
But tonight I don’t want to be
here. Okay. You were right.. It was
an accident. I’m the one whose
gotta’ live with it.. Now I’m tired
of what you think about me.. I’ll
never ask for help again. Just
don’t leave..
MATILDA (O.S.)
Your on your own.
She hangs up..
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2) 2.
WEATHERED POLICE OFFICER
Papillion..You got anyone else you
can call? Sick of seeing your face.
HOLIDAY
Guess I don’t have a choice.
Holiday is reluctant to call this person.. pulls out a
napkin with a number written on it. As he does, he spills
his coffee on the floor.
CUT TO:
INT. JOSEF AND MANN’S COFFEE JOINT - DAY
The coffee joint is busy and clattered. Its a kind of shrine
for 50s culture and characters, with a jukebox and video of
"The Wild One" playing round the clock, photographs of
motorbikes and a picture of Steve McQueen, with a fresh
flower placed underneath the portrait. A Christmas tree is
present in the corner. In the middle of a line of booths is
Brad Cassidy, a man of mid 30s, lying on his back and
brooding with a cup of coffee in front of him. He gazes with
a look of crazed vacancy at a piece of harmful graffiti on
the table. It reads: "See Hollywood and die." Matilda Hazell
exits the phone booth in the corner of the room.
CASSIDY
Hello monsieur. Where’s my kiss?
He pulls her on his lap. And starts to finger and rub her
straps, their eyes never quite meet. He makes his way
through her dress and starts to fondle her breasts.
MATILDA
Control yourself.
CASSIDY
Oh I’ve never been in favour of
control. I love life. I just
****ing eat it up.
A strap falls off her shoulder, he lifts it back in place.
He takes her wrist and licks and kisses it. She gets up from
his lap to sit opposite him in the booth.
CASSIDY (cont’d)
I thought you were planning to stay
a while but perhaps my sense of
smell deceives me. Do hope you stay
though..see what trouble we can get
into tonight.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2) 3.
MATILDA
You can’t do stuff like that here.
CASSIDY
Even the purest of men are perverse
in places. I’m just being a man.. I
want people to see us. The movie
star and his whore.
She smiles a tiny wicked smile. She starts straightening and
fixing the items on the table. Putting the salt and pepper
in a symmetrical line.
MATILDA
Sorry it’s a quirk. Just makes me
mental. I’m quite spatially
sensitive y’know.. Yeah. No. I’m
sort of like, kind of I dunno, ya’
know..I think I’m in love with you.
CASSIDY
You don’t love me.. You lust after
me..But you don’t love me..Not now
anyways. You don’t interest me, not
when your desperate anyways.
Her face falls.
CASSIDY (cont’d)
This is new Hollywood baby. You
gotta look out for number one..
Her impassive face breaks into anger, almost tears. She
starts to break away as if her presence were an apologetic
afterthought.
MATILDA
Well la-dee-da. Sorry I’m not as
good as you.
CASSIDY
****ing primitive here any ways.
He sweeps the coffee in front of him off the table.
CASSIDY (cont’d)
Au revoir.. Sweetheart. Honey.
He pecks her on the lips and leaves to the bathroom.
MATILDA
Oh well. C’est La Vie’
CUT TO:
4.
EXT. OUTSIDE OF THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT - DAY
From the offices along the strip of Sunset Boulevard, it’s a
classic LA view. No palms, no lawns, no contemporary late
70s architecture. Hollywood is rich, fast, dirty and
exciting. Every crack head, sickly whore and convulsing
homeless man crowd the street. Everyone has something to do,
somewhere to go, a fortune to make or break. It’s a
tremendously cluttered place. EDDIE NELSON, a man of mid
30s, glides through the warm and scented dark, he looks up
at the police department station, tucked away on a leafy
street in downtown L.A.
CUT TO:
INT. BAR - NIGHT
The bar is a little crowded and cluttered. A Christmas tree
is present in the corner of the room. Eddie Nelson and John
Holiday are quietly sipping their drinks at the bar counter.
Both are still and quiet. Holiday decides to break the ice.
HOLIDAY
So. Since when did a con artist
like you pull 500 bucks?
A shy, lopsided grin appears on Nelson’s face.
NELSON
Since when did a successful plastic
surgeon not have money?
HOLIDAY
Still getting by through pure luck?
NELSON
Are you still grappling for your
sanity??
Holiday smiles.
HOLIDAY
Okay fine. I’ll say it.. I was
caught rimming a couple
prostitutes. I’ve ever felt more
alive man.
NELSON
Haven’t seen you in years man and
that’s all you got to tell me.
****.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2) 5.
HOLIDAY
You wanna’ know my life. I cant
seem to keep myself sensitive to
things without letting them pull me
down.. Its like just the slightest
hesitation and everythin’ goes to
naught ya know’ But yeah.. How
about you?
NELSON
I found a reason to live.
HOLIDAY (SARCASTIC)
You found a girl whose tits taste
like strawberry.
NELSON
What did happen with you and
Matilda?
HOLIDAY
It is what it is man.
NELSON
Well, you know other than you I
don’t have anything else. I don’t
have anything.
HOLIDAY
Yeah well.. Mr. Wiggly’s been on
bread and water for 5 years.. Still
obsessed with my wife.. And it’s
really starting to piss me off man.
Feel burnt out, scorched ya’ know.
Nelson dissolves the tension with an out-of-nowhere dance
move followed by a sly, childlike smile. A genuine warmth
and kindness emerges between the two. Holiday, who is so
collected right now every smile seems as though its a
revelation. A pause.
HOLIDAY (cont’d)
Eddie. What are you hiding from me?
NELSON
Here goes. I love you man, your the
only guy I trust which is why I’m
gonna tell you this..I didn’t quite
understand it myself. And I only
know what to do little at a time..
I’m a demi-God.
Holiday contorts his features into a grimace of ever
increasing impatience. He’s waiting for a punchline.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (3) 6.
NELSON (cont’d)
..Yeah a demi-god, not the God. All
my life, I’ve played by the rules
and adhered to reason, but now is
different. Forget everythin’ else,
understand that.
HOLIDAY
Your out of your ****ing mind!
NELSON
Don’t say that. Listen to me here.
HOLIDAY (INTERRUPTS)
Sometimes I think you wanna’ be
hated..
NELSON
Hey!! I’m telling the truth. I’m
changed. I’m a changed man. You
don’t understand that. I’m gonna’
change the way we live our lives.
I’m gonna say something.
Holiday is not buying it. He’s about to get up.
NELSON (cont’d)
Hey. Hey! Don’t you turn your
****ing back on me! Not now! I’ve
been kicked around all my whole
****ing life. Everyone thought I
was some big shining ****-up. But
not you man. I never had what you
had. To do this will be the only
great thing I will ever do.
HOLIDAY
You pretend to be so sincere. But
that’s not who you are. Look at
me.. I ****ing know you man..
NELSON
It’s the only way I will ever be
anythin’. Never done a good thing
in my life. But here’s that moment.
Time to shine or be ignored. Gotta’
do this fast.. I have to sacrifice
myself for the greater good.
HOLIDAY
Your a curse, been looking after
you my whole life.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (4) 7.
Holiday gets up, puts his jacket on, and whilst he does this
spills his whiskey on the rocks on the floor. He storms off
out the bar. He never cleans up his mess. Nelson notices
Matilda Hazell sitting next to the piano situated in the
corner of the room. Not sure of what music to play.
CUT TO BLACK:
TITLECARD: " 2 hours till January 1st. 1980. "
CUT TO:
INT. JOSEF AND MANN’S COFFEE JOINT - NIGHT
TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN, a news anchor on Channel six news,
talks monotonously..
NEWS ANCHOR ON TV (O.S.)
..Channel six news asks you Where
will you be in the day of tomorrow?
Well let me tell you..
The coffee joint is virtually empty apart from Josef, the
weathered man behind the counter. Brad Cassidy runs in
urgently, moving purposefully through the tables and around
the booths to sit down by Josef. He’s got no shoes. Cassidy
is frantic, twitchy, pacing around desperately, he’s aged a
couple of years in a few hours. He’s trapped in an emotional
state of fear, anxiety, and edginess.
JOSEF
You okay pal?
CASSIDY
My life is-in-serious, serious
danger.. And I CAN’T get home. I am
having a terrible terrible night..
And I can’t seem to just find
anyone who can just.. for just..
without hitting me or shouting at
me..Whenever I try. Whatever I
touch.. Nothing gets better. Do you
understand?? I mean I lost someone
tonight.. Some gal that I didn’t
really care about. I blew her off.
But well she was was pregnant, did
ya’ know that??..And now she’s dead
cause I didn’t help her.(He starts
to breaks into tears) Don’t tell
anyone I cried. No.. I don’t care.
Tell anyone! No! Don’t tell anyone
I cried.
8.
CUT TO:
EXT. TRAFFIC LIGHT CROSSING - NIGHT
John Holiday is now an unhinged, fractured looking man. He
limps away from what looks like a bloodbath that occurred
minutes earlier in a weapon store behind him. He’s got a
shotgun in one hand, a bandage wrapped tightly around the
other. He looks purposeful, sneering in a slick menacing
way, every movement looks like a threat, he tastes his own
blood from a split lip. It interests him. He walks past a
drunk looking clown beating up and kicking in a law officer.
HOLIDAY (TO HIMSELF)
This is the streets of Hollywood at
night.. You could see anything.
An ambulance stops for a red light, he lifts his shot gun up
in the air and cocks it. He points it at the driver.
HOLIDAY
Give me the ****ing ambulance!
CUT TO:
INT - LOS ANGELES STREETS -- NIGHT
Speeding around in the stolen ambulance, by which a blurred,
uncertain, frightening and oppressive world flies. Tires
squealing, lights flashing, siren whooping, he scans the
cityscape for danger. An angry mob loiters and fills the
streets.
HOLIDAY (TO HIMSELF)
I can’t sit around when the city’s
burning..
He drives through another red light. John is talking to
himself, narrating his every move to an imaginary audience.
He’s drinking whiskey from the bottle, and pill popping, all
whilst he’s driving. He’s a mighty spectacle, a scared and
ferocious man.
HOLIDAY (TO HIMSELF)
In the Great War it was called
shell shock.. After ’Nam it was
called post-traumatic Stress
Disorder. I have both.
He starts to both laugh hysterically and then cry gut
wrenchingly. He comes to another traffic light. He stops.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2) 9.
His face a battlefield of memories and regrets, hiding an
interior of deep disappoint and sadness. He suddenly closes
his eyes. The following happens very quickly: he drives the
ambulance fast into a wall.. his body flinches.. Gouts of
blood spurt from ruptured flesh... every window
shatters. The ambulance is wrecked and steaming from it’s
bonnet. Holiday is still alive. He is more surprised than
anyone else. Street hookers come running over.
HOLIDAY (HYSTERICAL)
I’m still alive for some ****ing
reason!
HOOKER #1
We can get you help sweet cheeks.
HOLIDAY (INTERRUPTS)
I don’t need help!
He pulls himself out the wreckage and limps off through the
middle of the road. Cars swerve past and try to dodge
Holiday. The traffic lights turn green.
CUT TO:
INT. JOSEF AND MANN’S COFFEE JOINT - RESTROOM - NIGHT
He wrecks the bathroom. Then looks at himself in the mirror
to notice that he’s burst into tears, overwhelmed by the
sense of his complete isolation. He punches the mirror. Then
looks up to see - - MATILDA HAZELL. Standing in front of
him, she’s a silent ghostly presence. It could all be in his
mind. They gaze into each other’s eyes. She gives him a
gentle smile.
HOLIDAY
I ****ed up. I ****ed up..I lost
our kid. It was me.. And now your
gone too. I’m going to hell for the
stuff I’ve done. I love you so
much. I deserve everything that’s
coming to me.. And I dunno what to
do.
The mirror he punched suddenly slides down the wall and
breaks, tiny shards gather around him as he’s perched in the
corner. John buries himself into the floor, his hands grazed
and cut on the glass. Matilda Hazell has vanished. A
withdrawn, isolated look is cast onto his stony expression.
He’s slightly pitched forward, and there’s a certain mental
heaviness that presses on his eyelids. He’s lost the ability
to weep, and he knows it. Brad Cassidy runs urgently into
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2) 10.
the bathroom to throw up in the sink. It’s divine
intervention. Holiday cocks his gun. Brad Cassidy notices
him. He starts to back up.
CUT TO:
INT. JOSEF AND MANN’S COFFEE JOINT
Through the glass wall, there is a huge crowd of people
gather outside the diner. They exhibit more menace and
destruction than Godzilla. Holiday emerges through the
restroom door. Cassidy is running full out. Brad, transfixed
by terror, is trapped. Holiday, expressionlessly strides
forward.
HOLIDAY
Brad Cassidy! Brad Cassidy.. I’m
here to save you...
Nelson strolls in through the crowd outside, the crowd part
like the sea in Noah’s Ark. His face is smashed up, eyes
glazed and bloody, one eye is swollen shut, his body radiant
with purple fist sized bruises all his body. His manner is
regal and pious. Cassidy and Holiday both look fearful.
HOLIDAY (cont’d)
Eddie.. What did you do?
NELSON
I tried to make things better..I am
responsible for all of it..And I
accept that. I wish there was
another way and I’m sorry there
isn’t. Forgive me for all of it..
But you don’t have a choice and
neither do I... This has to happen.
QUICK CUT TO BLACK:
Flash title card: "1979"
Note - This story is written in script form, I just want to have some critique or feedback as to whether it can be turned into a proper short story.
FADE IN:
INT. JAIL CELL - DAY
The jail is claustrophobic and oppressive looking. There are
no windows. No doors in sight. There’s a baby crying, and an
argument couple occurring in another room. JOHN HOLIDAY,
early to mid 30s, is making his phone call. He’s got a
cigarette dangling from his lip, a coffee in his left hand,
and a plaster over his nose. An empty jail cell looms behind
him. He is talking to Matilda Hazell, his ex wife.
HOLIDAY
..Yeah remember. I’m your husband,
ex husband. (A prostitute walks
over and pinches his bum, he reacts
with a laddish grin.) Hey Alice how
ya’ doing?..Um.. Need you to come
downtown, to um, bail me out.. I
get you some money every so often
don’t I? I help you out..Matilda.
I’m freezing my ****in’ nuts off..
Hollywood is a strange place to be
at night. This place never sleeps..
Don’t leave me rotting in this
cell. Save me. Matilda.(The same
prostitute pinches his bum
again.)Hey get the **** out of here
you *****... No. Not you. I just
need like 500. Maybe more.
MATILDA (O.S.)
How about you fix the holes you put
in my roof sometime.
HOLIDAY
I need money. Not a lecture. Do
that for me please..I think I
deserve this, I deserve to be here.
But tonight I don’t want to be
here. Okay. You were right.. It was
an accident. I’m the one whose
gotta’ live with it.. Now I’m tired
of what you think about me.. I’ll
never ask for help again. Just
don’t leave..
MATILDA (O.S.)
Your on your own.
She hangs up..
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2) 2.
WEATHERED POLICE OFFICER
Papillion..You got anyone else you
can call? Sick of seeing your face.
HOLIDAY
Guess I don’t have a choice.
Holiday is reluctant to call this person.. pulls out a
napkin with a number written on it. As he does, he spills
his coffee on the floor.
CUT TO:
INT. JOSEF AND MANN’S COFFEE JOINT - DAY
The coffee joint is busy and clattered. Its a kind of shrine
for 50s culture and characters, with a jukebox and video of
"The Wild One" playing round the clock, photographs of
motorbikes and a picture of Steve McQueen, with a fresh
flower placed underneath the portrait. A Christmas tree is
present in the corner. In the middle of a line of booths is
Brad Cassidy, a man of mid 30s, lying on his back and
brooding with a cup of coffee in front of him. He gazes with
a look of crazed vacancy at a piece of harmful graffiti on
the table. It reads: "See Hollywood and die." Matilda Hazell
exits the phone booth in the corner of the room.
CASSIDY
Hello monsieur. Where’s my kiss?
He pulls her on his lap. And starts to finger and rub her
straps, their eyes never quite meet. He makes his way
through her dress and starts to fondle her breasts.
MATILDA
Control yourself.
CASSIDY
Oh I’ve never been in favour of
control. I love life. I just
****ing eat it up.
A strap falls off her shoulder, he lifts it back in place.
He takes her wrist and licks and kisses it. She gets up from
his lap to sit opposite him in the booth.
CASSIDY (cont’d)
I thought you were planning to stay
a while but perhaps my sense of
smell deceives me. Do hope you stay
though..see what trouble we can get
into tonight.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2) 3.
MATILDA
You can’t do stuff like that here.
CASSIDY
Even the purest of men are perverse
in places. I’m just being a man.. I
want people to see us. The movie
star and his whore.
She smiles a tiny wicked smile. She starts straightening and
fixing the items on the table. Putting the salt and pepper
in a symmetrical line.
MATILDA
Sorry it’s a quirk. Just makes me
mental. I’m quite spatially
sensitive y’know.. Yeah. No. I’m
sort of like, kind of I dunno, ya’
know..I think I’m in love with you.
CASSIDY
You don’t love me.. You lust after
me..But you don’t love me..Not now
anyways. You don’t interest me, not
when your desperate anyways.
Her face falls.
CASSIDY (cont’d)
This is new Hollywood baby. You
gotta look out for number one..
Her impassive face breaks into anger, almost tears. She
starts to break away as if her presence were an apologetic
afterthought.
MATILDA
Well la-dee-da. Sorry I’m not as
good as you.
CASSIDY
****ing primitive here any ways.
He sweeps the coffee in front of him off the table.
CASSIDY (cont’d)
Au revoir.. Sweetheart. Honey.
He pecks her on the lips and leaves to the bathroom.
MATILDA
Oh well. C’est La Vie’
CUT TO:
4.
EXT. OUTSIDE OF THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT - DAY
From the offices along the strip of Sunset Boulevard, it’s a
classic LA view. No palms, no lawns, no contemporary late
70s architecture. Hollywood is rich, fast, dirty and
exciting. Every crack head, sickly whore and convulsing
homeless man crowd the street. Everyone has something to do,
somewhere to go, a fortune to make or break. It’s a
tremendously cluttered place. EDDIE NELSON, a man of mid
30s, glides through the warm and scented dark, he looks up
at the police department station, tucked away on a leafy
street in downtown L.A.
CUT TO:
INT. BAR - NIGHT
The bar is a little crowded and cluttered. A Christmas tree
is present in the corner of the room. Eddie Nelson and John
Holiday are quietly sipping their drinks at the bar counter.
Both are still and quiet. Holiday decides to break the ice.
HOLIDAY
So. Since when did a con artist
like you pull 500 bucks?
A shy, lopsided grin appears on Nelson’s face.
NELSON
Since when did a successful plastic
surgeon not have money?
HOLIDAY
Still getting by through pure luck?
NELSON
Are you still grappling for your
sanity??
Holiday smiles.
HOLIDAY
Okay fine. I’ll say it.. I was
caught rimming a couple
prostitutes. I’ve ever felt more
alive man.
NELSON
Haven’t seen you in years man and
that’s all you got to tell me.
****.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2) 5.
HOLIDAY
You wanna’ know my life. I cant
seem to keep myself sensitive to
things without letting them pull me
down.. Its like just the slightest
hesitation and everythin’ goes to
naught ya know’ But yeah.. How
about you?
NELSON
I found a reason to live.
HOLIDAY (SARCASTIC)
You found a girl whose tits taste
like strawberry.
NELSON
What did happen with you and
Matilda?
HOLIDAY
It is what it is man.
NELSON
Well, you know other than you I
don’t have anything else. I don’t
have anything.
HOLIDAY
Yeah well.. Mr. Wiggly’s been on
bread and water for 5 years.. Still
obsessed with my wife.. And it’s
really starting to piss me off man.
Feel burnt out, scorched ya’ know.
Nelson dissolves the tension with an out-of-nowhere dance
move followed by a sly, childlike smile. A genuine warmth
and kindness emerges between the two. Holiday, who is so
collected right now every smile seems as though its a
revelation. A pause.
HOLIDAY (cont’d)
Eddie. What are you hiding from me?
NELSON
Here goes. I love you man, your the
only guy I trust which is why I’m
gonna tell you this..I didn’t quite
understand it myself. And I only
know what to do little at a time..
I’m a demi-God.
Holiday contorts his features into a grimace of ever
increasing impatience. He’s waiting for a punchline.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (3) 6.
NELSON (cont’d)
..Yeah a demi-god, not the God. All
my life, I’ve played by the rules
and adhered to reason, but now is
different. Forget everythin’ else,
understand that.
HOLIDAY
Your out of your ****ing mind!
NELSON
Don’t say that. Listen to me here.
HOLIDAY (INTERRUPTS)
Sometimes I think you wanna’ be
hated..
NELSON
Hey!! I’m telling the truth. I’m
changed. I’m a changed man. You
don’t understand that. I’m gonna’
change the way we live our lives.
I’m gonna say something.
Holiday is not buying it. He’s about to get up.
NELSON (cont’d)
Hey. Hey! Don’t you turn your
****ing back on me! Not now! I’ve
been kicked around all my whole
****ing life. Everyone thought I
was some big shining ****-up. But
not you man. I never had what you
had. To do this will be the only
great thing I will ever do.
HOLIDAY
You pretend to be so sincere. But
that’s not who you are. Look at
me.. I ****ing know you man..
NELSON
It’s the only way I will ever be
anythin’. Never done a good thing
in my life. But here’s that moment.
Time to shine or be ignored. Gotta’
do this fast.. I have to sacrifice
myself for the greater good.
HOLIDAY
Your a curse, been looking after
you my whole life.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (4) 7.
Holiday gets up, puts his jacket on, and whilst he does this
spills his whiskey on the rocks on the floor. He storms off
out the bar. He never cleans up his mess. Nelson notices
Matilda Hazell sitting next to the piano situated in the
corner of the room. Not sure of what music to play.
CUT TO BLACK:
TITLECARD: " 2 hours till January 1st. 1980. "
CUT TO:
INT. JOSEF AND MANN’S COFFEE JOINT - NIGHT
TIGHT ON VIDEO SCREEN, a news anchor on Channel six news,
talks monotonously..
NEWS ANCHOR ON TV (O.S.)
..Channel six news asks you Where
will you be in the day of tomorrow?
Well let me tell you..
The coffee joint is virtually empty apart from Josef, the
weathered man behind the counter. Brad Cassidy runs in
urgently, moving purposefully through the tables and around
the booths to sit down by Josef. He’s got no shoes. Cassidy
is frantic, twitchy, pacing around desperately, he’s aged a
couple of years in a few hours. He’s trapped in an emotional
state of fear, anxiety, and edginess.
JOSEF
You okay pal?
CASSIDY
My life is-in-serious, serious
danger.. And I CAN’T get home. I am
having a terrible terrible night..
And I can’t seem to just find
anyone who can just.. for just..
without hitting me or shouting at
me..Whenever I try. Whatever I
touch.. Nothing gets better. Do you
understand?? I mean I lost someone
tonight.. Some gal that I didn’t
really care about. I blew her off.
But well she was was pregnant, did
ya’ know that??..And now she’s dead
cause I didn’t help her.(He starts
to breaks into tears) Don’t tell
anyone I cried. No.. I don’t care.
Tell anyone! No! Don’t tell anyone
I cried.
8.
CUT TO:
EXT. TRAFFIC LIGHT CROSSING - NIGHT
John Holiday is now an unhinged, fractured looking man. He
limps away from what looks like a bloodbath that occurred
minutes earlier in a weapon store behind him. He’s got a
shotgun in one hand, a bandage wrapped tightly around the
other. He looks purposeful, sneering in a slick menacing
way, every movement looks like a threat, he tastes his own
blood from a split lip. It interests him. He walks past a
drunk looking clown beating up and kicking in a law officer.
HOLIDAY (TO HIMSELF)
This is the streets of Hollywood at
night.. You could see anything.
An ambulance stops for a red light, he lifts his shot gun up
in the air and cocks it. He points it at the driver.
HOLIDAY
Give me the ****ing ambulance!
CUT TO:
INT - LOS ANGELES STREETS -- NIGHT
Speeding around in the stolen ambulance, by which a blurred,
uncertain, frightening and oppressive world flies. Tires
squealing, lights flashing, siren whooping, he scans the
cityscape for danger. An angry mob loiters and fills the
streets.
HOLIDAY (TO HIMSELF)
I can’t sit around when the city’s
burning..
He drives through another red light. John is talking to
himself, narrating his every move to an imaginary audience.
He’s drinking whiskey from the bottle, and pill popping, all
whilst he’s driving. He’s a mighty spectacle, a scared and
ferocious man.
HOLIDAY (TO HIMSELF)
In the Great War it was called
shell shock.. After ’Nam it was
called post-traumatic Stress
Disorder. I have both.
He starts to both laugh hysterically and then cry gut
wrenchingly. He comes to another traffic light. He stops.
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2) 9.
His face a battlefield of memories and regrets, hiding an
interior of deep disappoint and sadness. He suddenly closes
his eyes. The following happens very quickly: he drives the
ambulance fast into a wall.. his body flinches.. Gouts of
blood spurt from ruptured flesh... every window
shatters. The ambulance is wrecked and steaming from it’s
bonnet. Holiday is still alive. He is more surprised than
anyone else. Street hookers come running over.
HOLIDAY (HYSTERICAL)
I’m still alive for some ****ing
reason!
HOOKER #1
We can get you help sweet cheeks.
HOLIDAY (INTERRUPTS)
I don’t need help!
He pulls himself out the wreckage and limps off through the
middle of the road. Cars swerve past and try to dodge
Holiday. The traffic lights turn green.
CUT TO:
INT. JOSEF AND MANN’S COFFEE JOINT - RESTROOM - NIGHT
He wrecks the bathroom. Then looks at himself in the mirror
to notice that he’s burst into tears, overwhelmed by the
sense of his complete isolation. He punches the mirror. Then
looks up to see - - MATILDA HAZELL. Standing in front of
him, she’s a silent ghostly presence. It could all be in his
mind. They gaze into each other’s eyes. She gives him a
gentle smile.
HOLIDAY
I ****ed up. I ****ed up..I lost
our kid. It was me.. And now your
gone too. I’m going to hell for the
stuff I’ve done. I love you so
much. I deserve everything that’s
coming to me.. And I dunno what to
do.
The mirror he punched suddenly slides down the wall and
breaks, tiny shards gather around him as he’s perched in the
corner. John buries himself into the floor, his hands grazed
and cut on the glass. Matilda Hazell has vanished. A
withdrawn, isolated look is cast onto his stony expression.
He’s slightly pitched forward, and there’s a certain mental
heaviness that presses on his eyelids. He’s lost the ability
to weep, and he knows it. Brad Cassidy runs urgently into
(CONTINUED)
CONTINUED: (2) 10.
the bathroom to throw up in the sink. It’s divine
intervention. Holiday cocks his gun. Brad Cassidy notices
him. He starts to back up.
CUT TO:
INT. JOSEF AND MANN’S COFFEE JOINT
Through the glass wall, there is a huge crowd of people
gather outside the diner. They exhibit more menace and
destruction than Godzilla. Holiday emerges through the
restroom door. Cassidy is running full out. Brad, transfixed
by terror, is trapped. Holiday, expressionlessly strides
forward.
HOLIDAY
Brad Cassidy! Brad Cassidy.. I’m
here to save you...
Nelson strolls in through the crowd outside, the crowd part
like the sea in Noah’s Ark. His face is smashed up, eyes
glazed and bloody, one eye is swollen shut, his body radiant
with purple fist sized bruises all his body. His manner is
regal and pious. Cassidy and Holiday both look fearful.
HOLIDAY (cont’d)
Eddie.. What did you do?
NELSON
I tried to make things better..I am
responsible for all of it..And I
accept that. I wish there was
another way and I’m sorry there
isn’t. Forgive me for all of it..
But you don’t have a choice and
neither do I... This has to happen.
QUICK CUT TO BLACK:
Flash title card: "1979"