THE MENACE OF THE INVERSELY TOUTED UNIVERSAL DEPRIVATION
(continued from previous)
The black shirted butch kneels against the tree trunk, eye against the lens, taking pictures.
ZOOM IN
Ants marching in a line past the black shirted butch’s shoes.
Abruptly, the butch slaps her thigh and leaps backwards, rubbing the spot. She bumps against a VOLUPTUOUS, SUGGESTIVELY DRESSED WOMAN.
BLACK SHIRTED BUTCH
I’m sorry!
VOLUPTUOUS WOMAN
You’re alright, honey.
The voluptuous woman runs her fingers along the black shirted butch’s face, then her shirt and jeans – over her breasts and between her legs. She begins to kiss the black shirted butch’s neck. The black shirted butch is at first relaxed and appears to enjoy the kiss and the caresses. Abruptly, she tenses, then darts away.
50. STATIC BARS drop from the top to the bottom of the SCREEN
51. INSERT - STOCK FOOTAGE - NEWPAPERS BEING ROLLED OUT OF THE PRINTING PRESS
52. INT. STUDY – NIGHT (film, animation, SFX)
The girl in plaits is sitting at her computer, reading blogs. She gets more and more agitated.
The laptop begins to sprout fleshy, glabrous leaves and is gradually covered by them. Out of the green leaves, tiny people step out, looking disoriented.
TINY PEOPLE
(to each other)
Dah-di-dit Dit
TINY PEOPLE
(to each other)
Dah-di-dit Di-dit Di-di-dit
53. Decapitated elephant part snakes across the FRAME (special effect)
54. The SCREEN sprouts leaves (special effects)
We HEAR sounds of people moaning and making passionate love.
The SCREEN steadily gets enshrouded by leaves.
Through a chink, we SEE small movements behind the leaf veneer.
We HEAR sounds of lovemaking gradually change to screams of anger, shrieks of fear, howls of pain, and glass shattering.
MONTAGE (film)
- EXTREME CLOSE-UP – EYES CLOSED
- Sky with a full moon
- Man on a bicycle
- Pigeons, eating grain
- Teeming marine life
- Gymnasts
We HEAR the sounds escalate to a martian note.
55. Decapitated elephant parts zigzag across the FRAME more crazily than ever (special effect)
56. EXT. BALCONY – WHITE DAY (film)
The long haired girl croons.
LONG HAIRED GIRL
Unsurmount.
Pheromones.
Kiteness.
Dizziness.
Hmmmmmmm
Askew.
Fake tableau.
Another person.
Daydreaming.
Hmmmmmmm
57. EXT. MEADOW – DAY (film)
The check shirted butch lies on the grass, her head on the long haired girl’s lap.
Twelve idyllic seconds later:
LONG HAIRED GIRL
I have little in common with you.
CHECK SHIRTED BUTCH I speak every other language but blather.
LONG HAIRED GIRL
Tell me I am right.
CHECK SHIRTED BUTCH When in doubt, do a calibration.
LONG HAIRED GIRL
It is “I love you”, “I love you not”, “I love you”, “I love you not” this morning.
CHECK SHIRTED BUTCH
We are believers. Then how did this happen?
LONG HAIRED GIRL
(silent)
CHECK SHIRTED BUTCH
I can’t live without you.
58. INT. STUDY – EVENING (film)
The girl in plaits sits on her desk with her head resting on fisted knuckles.
59. EXT. MEADOW – DAY (film, animation)
The check shirted butch and the long haired girl kiss deeply.
We HEAR strains of Kajri.
CUTAWAY TO
Tiny people squatting on a fern.
TINY PEOPLE
(to each other)
Di-dit Di-dah-dit
TINY PEOPLE
(to each other)
Di-dit Di-dah-di-dit
60. EXT. POSH RESIDENTIAL LANE – AFTERNOON (film, animation)
The check shirted butch and the black shirted butch walk past each other.
CHECK SHIRTED BUTCH
Hey!
BLACK SHIRTED BUTCH
Hiiii. How are you?
A MAN ON A BICYCLE cycles into the FRAME and comes to a stop outside the bungalow, leans it against a LAMPPOST and wipes his sweat with a handkerchief. A little girl runs out of the house and pulls him by the hand into the house.
The guide struts into the FRAME, followed by disgruntled tourists.
GUIDE
And now you are looking at the house of a quizzical non-resident.
A car whizzes into the FRAME and SCREECHES to a stop, missing him by inches. The voluptuous woman puts her head out of the window and yells:
VOLUPTUOUS WOMAN
You yokel!
The long haired girl ambles into the FRAME, wearing a fedora. She stops by the lamppost and studies it.
The girl in plaits, also wearing a fedora, walks into the FRAME.
INSERT – SUBTITLES - My identical twin? (text)
The guards and the watchmen snigger.
The cyclist comes out of the bungalow, picks up his bicycle and cycles away, whistling.
“Hai apna dil toh awara”
“This heart is just a drifter”
The girl in plaits wanders off.
The long haired girl squats under the lamppost and begins peeling a bottle gourd.
PAN TO:
The darkening sky.
CUTAWAY TO
Boundary walls, which tiny people are climbing with great effort.
TINY PEOPLE
(in a chorus)
Di-dit Dah-dit
TINY PEOPLE
(in a chorus)
Di-dah
TINY PEOPLE
(in a chorus)
Dah-dit Dah-dah-dah Dah-dit
PAN DOWN:
An alcove in the wall, where a tiny television plays images of feet marching down a corridor.
CUTAWAY
A kid comes out of the bungalow with a huge bowl of ice cream. He sits down in front of the television and eats.
BLACK OUT.
poem/filmtext by monica mody