PIERRE and the AMBIGUITIES – A Filmscript - 7. Part 7 – I: Toby and Redburn's Reunion

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[Part 7 – Mortal Bonds – I: Toby and Redburn’s Reunion]

INT. “ASTOR HOTEL”, GENTLEMEN’S RESTAURANT – DAY

REDBURN waits anxiously in a semi-private booth with open draw-curtains at the front. He has the neat and scrubbed appearance of a schoolboy on the first day of classes. His hair is freshly cut and slicked back. He is clean-shaven. TOBY suddenly appears standing at the end of the booth. He sports a youthful mustache, but otherwise his dark wavy hair and intensely blue eyes are exactly the same as the other young man remembers. Redburn tries to rise, but bangs his thigh on the table. Toby sits, then reaches over, and the two hug across the table. Redburn starts crying, and Toby wipes his tears with his thumbs, he then scootches over and draws the curtain.

 

REDBURN

Don’t. Don’t tell me any banality – that I look fine – or any of that.

 

TOBY

You are going to make me cry too.

 

REDBURN

My God, Toby, what happened?

 

TOBY

All right. Wait a second.

 

Toby sticks his head out of the curtain.

 

TOBY (CONT’D)

Waiter, two pints, and two shots.

 

He settles back, and the men hold hands on the tabletop.

 

 

BEGIN ‘TOBY’S KIDNAPPING’ FLASHBACK:

 

The scene fades to Taipivai, and Toby begins his voiceover, which quickly melts into the unfolding action.

 

TOBY (V.O.)

As soon as I left you at the shrine, I made my way to the beach….

 

EXT. CENTRAL AVENUE OF TAIPIVAI – NOON

There is commotion as PEOPLE run up the valley to gather supplies to barter with the boat. TOBY, leaning on FAAUA, heads down to the beach. Several young MEN stop and begin to try and delay them. Some run ahead and disappear off the road in the overgrowth. KNOCK; KNOCK; KNOCK – a tree off the road is hit. The young men HOOT and cry towards Toby: ”Happar!” They speak in POLYNESIAN, with subtitles.

 

FAAUA

Don’t listen – they are playing with you….

 

YOUNG MAN

Toby! Happar bastards! They are close.

 

He points into the overgrowth.

 

TOBY

Happar? Here?

 

Toby winks at Faaua, then reaches for the spear of the young man.

 

TOBY (CONT’D)

Lend it over. I’ll take care of the Happar!

 

YOUNG MAN

No. No – no need. A short-temper like yours, it’s best you use your fists!

 

He puts up his dukes, and Toby play-swings at him. Toby and Faaua hurry down to the beach. The young men follow.

 

EXT. HEAD OF THE BEACH

The surf crashes; seagulls cry and circle in the air. One hundred yards ahead, whitecaps roll onto white sand. TOBY and FAAUA pause, not knowing where to go. PEOPLE rush past them laden with fruit. These folks are running to where a longboat is pulled on the beach. Four SAILORS stand by and barter with the locals. JACK, the leader is conversing with MOW-MOW. Toby and Faaua head that way, but now the crowd’s attention begins to shift to Toby’s presence.

 

EXT. BEACH

TOBY, supported by FAAUA, calls to JACK.

 

TOBY

Ahoy, there!

 

MOW-MOW glares at them; angry at Faaua’s presence. He commands the CROWD.

 

MOW-MOW

(in POLYNESIAN, with subtitles)

Take him to the shrine!

 

Mow-Mow gestures to a structure at the tree line. The crowd closes in and forces Faaua and Toby to go there.

 

EXT. BEACH SHRINE

As they near it, FAAUA is forced to let TOBY go; the shrine is Taboo for women. She hangs back as close as she dare, nervously pacing. Young MEN force Toby to sit on the steps of the stone platform, and then crowd about him. Toby bobs and weaves, trying to see around their legs.

 

TOBY

Sir! Oh – sir!

 

JACK appears, and Toby leaps up to greet him.

 

JACK

So – The tales are true!

 

TOBY

What tales?

 

JACK

Of a pair of tars in Typee. Your companion...?

 

TOBY

He’s – he needs a doctor. His ankle is bad.

 

Jack inspects Toby’s bandage by knocking Toby’s brim back.

 

JACK

You need a doctor, son. You better come with me.

 

TOBY

No. Not unless you can fetch Redburn.

 

JACK

They’ll be no fetching. I’ll be lucky to pry

you away.

 

TOBY

I’m not leaving – send help back.

 

JACK

(lies)

Ah – but, well here’s the rub. These here natives are telling me you’re not allowed to be on the beach. Seems they take these matters much too seriously – If you read me? Now, it seems they won’t let you go back into the valley either.

 

Confused, Toby looks for Faaua.

 

TOBY

That can’t be. Faaua!

 

JACK

(lies)

I will come back tomorrow for your Redburn – this Tommo they tell me of. Trust me.

 

TOBY

Faaua!

 

He can see her being held back by the crowd. His temper flashes at Jack.

 

TOBY (CONT’D)

Hell no! I cannot leave this island unless my partner goes with me. Go get him, now!

 

JACK

Man – does it look like I brought an army! Use your head.

 

TOBY

I only left him in the vale because they wouldn’t let him come down with me.

 

Toby falters. His hand goes to his bad temple.

 

JACK

Reason, boy. Take reason – you need medical care.

 

Confused and in pain, Toby scans the crowd.

 

TOBY

Faaua…. Fayaway!

 

Toby bolts for it.

 

JACK

(in POLYNESIAN, with subtitles)

Seize him!

 

Faaua screams as young men grab violently onto Toby, who is trying to get to her. He is out of the shrine compound, so she runs to him. The young men force Toby to sit on the sand.

 

FAAUA

(in POLYNESIAN, with subtitles)

Toby! Don’t be fooled by them.

 

Faaua drops to her knees by Toby. She holds onto his trembling hands, barely able to see. TINOR pushes her way through the crowd and supports her daughter. They both help Toby stand.

 

FAAUA (CONT’D)

(in POLYNESIAN, with subtitles)

Don’t let them take you….

 

MOW-MOW strides cockily up behind Toby to stand with Jack.

 

JACK

Come on, Pillgarlic! It’s getting late – We must shove off!

 

TOBY

(in POLYNESIAN, with subtitles)

I want to go home….

 

Tinor interrupts him, choking up.

 

TINOR

(in POLYNESIAN, with subtitles)

Toby, don’t you like Taipi?

 

TOBY

(sobbing - in POLYNESIAN, with subtitles)

Home to Tommo; home with you! Taipi is the best—

 

Rough hands shove Toby towards the boat. Again Faaua screams, this time in anger.

 

TINOR

(in POLYNESIAN, with subtitles)

Wait!

 

Faaua runs up to him. Toby takes his shaking palm and smears it across his eyes so he can see her.

 

TOBY

(in POLYNESIAN, with subtitles)

Tell him. Tell Tommo, I will be back for him before three days have passed. Tell him! Please—

 

Toby is shoved again.

 

FAAUA

(in POLYNESIAN, with subtitles)

I will tell him! You will be back….

 

She reaches out for him, and just as their fingers meet, the young men pick Toby up and carry him to the boat.

 

INT. LONGBOAT

TOBY is tossed in, and tumbles to the boat floor. FAAUA and TINOR run up. Faaua desperately grabs onto the side of the boat, and Tinor hangs onto her. JACK tosses strings of beads at Tinor, who lets them fall repulsively into the water. The SAILORS begin to shove off, and Faaua is pushed aside. As the boat starts to float, Toby rises in the stern and looks back at Tinor and Faaua. Behind them, MOW-MOW stands with folded arms and a ‘good riddance’ smirk. The scene fades as Toby’s voiceover concludes, and the shot returns to the restaurant.

 

TOBY (V.O.)

…So you see, I never wanted to willingly leave you behind.

 

END ‘TOBY’S KIDNAPPING’ FLASHBACK.

 

They are still holding hands, but now several empty beer and shot glasses litter the table.

 

REDBURN

I never even knew your name,

Tobias R. Browne.

 

TOBY

(smirks)

Nor I yours, Guy Winthrop.

 

REDBURN

I was convinced you were dead.

 

TOBY

I too – I had a vision of your ghost coming to me on ship once. I fell out of my bunk.

 

REDBURN

I had the same vision – you kept repeating that you were sorry.

 

TOBY

Yes. I am so sorry, Redburn – so, so, so….

 

REDBURN

It’s all right. We are here, now. Home again.

 

TOBY

I left you in the Pacific, came back and tried to forget. It was only recently someone told me about a book called Typee. Imagine my surprise – but I knew you’d be famous one day.

(laughs)

Do you still have our picture?

 

REDBURN

(sad)

No. It’s on the bottom of the sea; She took it from me.

(sly smile)

Why don’t we re-adjourn this reunion upstairs, in one of the private rooms.

 

Toby goes ashen; he extracts his hand and sits back in his seat.

 

TOBY

I’m married. My wife is expecting our

first child.

 

To Redburn’s devastation, he adds almost in tears:

 

TOBY (CONT’D)

I thought you were dead.

 

[Part 7 – II: Pierre at Work Montage]

INT. PIERRE’S APARTMENT – CONTINUOUS – DAY/NIGHT

 

BEGIN ‘PIERRE WASTES AWAY’ MONTAGE:

■ From sunup, Pierre sits at his desk. His manuscript grows.

■ Isabelle sits in her room, proofreading; she shows some obvious dubiousness with what she is seeing.

■ At twilight, Isabella enters with a lit lamp. They sit on the camp bed side by side; there are gradual shots of Isabella sometimes playing her guitar, and Pierre looking out across the yard to the flute player in the tower.

■ Pierre grows wan and feeble with the passage of the days. He can barely get out of bed, but with the first light, he wanders over to his desk.

■ Plontinus Plinlimmon watches Pierre with cold disdain.

■ Charlie Millthorpe comes and slaps Pierre on the back; he tries to get his friend to go for a walk with him. Pierre demurs.

■ Isabelle and Charlie exchange worried looks about the young author.

■ At dusk, Pierre at his desk glares scornfully out his window at Plontinus.

 

PIERRE

Look your fill, Uncle Socrates – I am no hothouse flower.

 

■ The sound of the FLUTE rises to prominence. Isabelle comes with a lamp, and Pierre stands. He drapes his arms on her and cries. She tries to comfort him.

END ‘PIERRE WASTES AWAY’ MONTAGE.

 

[Part 7 – III: Release of ”Moby-Dick”]

BEGIN ‘RELEASE OF “MOBY-DICK”’ SERIES OF SHOTS:

A) A running shot shows a book’s title page going through the press. The sheets stack up; we come in for a close view of the page.

 

INSERT – NEW TITLE PAGE:

 

M O B Y – D I C K;

 

OR,

 

T H E W H A L E.

 

 

 

 

 

BY

 

GUY WINTHROP.

 

AUTHOR OF

"TYPEE," "OMOO," "REDBURN," "MARDI," "WHITE-JACKET."

 

 

 

 

^^^^^^^^

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK:

W O N D E R & W E N, P U B L I S H E R.

1851

 

 

FADE FROM INSERT – NEW TITLE PAGE.

  

B ) A running shot of advertisements for the book – first print ads, then BOYS pasting up a poster with the name of the book and illustration of a whale breeching a starry ocean at night.

C) A running shot of booksellers with stacks of ”Moby-Dick.” The sales are brisk, and people wait in line to purchase their own copy.

END ‘RELEASE OF “MOBY-DICK”’ SERIES OF SHOTS.

 

INT. AKKER’S LIBRARY – AFTERNOON

REDBURN sits at his desk writing “Pierre.” He appears sad and starved for fresh air and pleasant company. He barely hears the KNOCK on the open door from the hallway.

 

LEPINE (O.S.)

May I come in?

 

Redburn stands. He sees RENSLOW LEPINE enter with a book in his hands. Lepine comes close to Redburn, and looks like he wants to kiss him. Instead, he blinks, and opens the book at the front.

 

LEPINE

(RECITES by heart)

”In token of my admiration for his genius, this book is inscribed to Renslow Lepine.”

(amazed)

Why didn’t you tell me?

 

REDBURN

Must I be obvious with all my secrets?

 

LEPINE

I had hoped there were none between us.

 

REDBURN

Well, in that case, rest assured, now there are none.

 

He sits on the sofa, and Lepine follows suit. Redburn’s hand inches over and removes the book so he can grasp Lepine’s fingers and hold them.

 

REDBURN (CONT’D)

When all this work, that took hundreds of hours to write can be read in a few of them – or, more frequently, skipped over in a second – it takes a piece of the soul of the man who wrote it, and leaves behind paper and ink as intemporal as bone and blood to feed the worms.

 

Lepine lifts off his seat to sit right next to Redburn.

 

LEPINE

But Love?

 

REDBURN

Love. Why do we always seem to write ourselves into a corner? Why do we, of all people, marginalize our love as if it were a secret to anyone but the willfully blind?

 

LEPINE

Don’t you think they write themselves into corners too – into loveless, passionless corners of men and women forced together by fate and circumstances?

 

They play openly with their hands. Redburn raises and kisses Lepine’s palm, then his wrist – which makes Lepine sigh.

 

REDBURN

Maybe, but if it’s not the right corner for them, then it’s not the right corner for us either.

 

During the following dialogue, Redburn jostles himself to kneel on the soda facing Lepine. The other man does the same. They slowly extend palms and link fingers. Lepine kisses Redburn’s hands, wrists, and arms first. Then they gradually draw one another into an embrace and kiss.

 

REDBURN (CONT’D)

In cold courts of justice, a dull head demands oaths; a closed mind insists on proof – but, in the halls of the heart, a single un-testified spark of memory shall kindle a blaze. This flame of belief can rise so every corner of conviction lights up like a midnight city by a building on fire.

 

Almost instantly their kissing grows passionate. Hands explore bodies, pulling and tugging at clothes; voices sigh in moans of pleasure and release. The shot widens to show AKKER standing in the doorframe. Rage builds on his face. The angle slips down to show he too has a copy of ”Moby-Dick” in his hand. He exits without a word and unseen by the boys on the sofa. The angle narrows back to the lovers, but as Redburn begins to take off Lepine’s jacket, Lepine stops him. He pushes back and looks unfathomably sad.

 

LEPINE

I can’t.

 

He stands.

 

REDBURN

Don’t go….

 

LEPINE

But, how can I stay? I am not cold, Guy – I want to – I, I…want to say…it. But – it’s me. I am too used to being pitiful; there’s nothing to match your bravery in me, Guy. I am too used to being wretched. Nothing so allures a coward as sadness. For us, we become sad by being dead inside, and soon treat our sorrow like a sofa we cannot rise from. I am sorry.

 

Lepine grabs his book and exits. Redburn, alone, sits and listens to Lepine’s FOOTFALLS go down the hall. The front door OPENS. He dashes to the window, and watches Lepine tread down the stoop and head off into the crowd, where he becomes slowly lost to view.

 

BEGIN ‘OUR LOVE’ FLASHBACK:

 

■ Toby has just told Redburn that he is married at the Astor House. Redburn has reacted emotionally.

 

TOBY

I am surprised that you are not. There is no escape for men like us. Accept your fate, as I have mine; the sooner the better. Live on your love – our love – as a feast of memory.

 

REDBURN

But, Toby, it does work – men can do it, if they fight for it for themselves. Men will always love, and I will always write about, for sometimes, despite the hostile skepticism of the world, men like Zeke and Shorty can make it work.

 

TOBY

I’m very sorry. I didn’t mean to break your heart a second time. If only, if only….

 

END ‘OUR LOVE’ FLASHBACK.

 

Redburn is crying as he stands at the window. He runs his lower arm across his eyes and goes to his desk. He shoves the manuscript for ‘Pierre’ aside, pulls out a piece of letter stationary, and writes.

 

REDBURN (V.O.)

Dear Emily, Someone in this world should have a shot at happiness, and if it’s not destined to be me, then it should be you and Sara.

 

[Part 7 – IV: Miserable Wedding 2]

INT. CHURCH – DAY

REVEREND GORANSON presides, and appears rather dubious, at REDBURN and SARA’S wedding. EMILY stands at Sara’s side; Redburn’s MOTHER at his. The minister recites the ceremony as the following song “Mortal Bonds” is performed. Redburn looks ill, but then he catches the glowing happiness of the two young ladies, and is somewhat buoyed.

 

”In the Enthusiast to Duty,

the heaven-begot Christ is born,

but will not own a mortal parent,

and spurns and rends all mortal bonds.

 

Impregnations of our spirit

From high enthusiasms

Let us receive, and the now

Incipient offspring

Stir within our souls

To hold our hearts’ dearest thought

For naught but a living deed.”

 

(recap: ”In the Enthusiast…” etc.)

 

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