MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Written by
Woody Allen
MONTAGE - POV SHOTS OF PARIS SET TO MUSIC
We hear voices over - GIL and INEZ, a young couple of
Americans, engaged to be married as we shall learn. (Standard
locations are listed here but they will be determined later
when we location scout. Music.
EXT. MONET'S GARDENS - DAY
1 1
GIL (V.O.)
This is unbelievable - look at
this. There's no city like this in
the world. There never was.
INEZ (V.O.)
It's become so touristy.
GIL (V.O.)
Well that's just the awful era we
live in but can you just imagine
what this was like before - but
even with all the fast food joints
and the traffic - god, you just
can't imagine what it was like
years ago.
INEZ (V.O.)
Well you like cities.
GIL (V.O.)
I really do - I love cities - I
love big cities with all the crowds
and all the action.
(Having seen a panoramic view of let us say the Champs Elysee
we embark on a montage of the city. The comments offered
above and following are an approximation of what the actors
feel.)
CUT TO:
EXT. TBD - DAY
2 2
GIL (V.O.)
Look at these places - the streets -
the boulevards.
INEZ (V.O.)
You act like you've never been here
before.
2
CONTD:
2 2
GIL (V.O.)
I don't get here often enough is
the problem. Every once in a while
for a few days is nothing - my
biggest regret is that I didn't
settle here the first time I came.
I should have gone with my
instincts.
INEZ (V.O.)
I admit it's pretty but so are so
many other places I've visited.
GIL
If I'd have stayed the first time I
came by now I'd be a Parisian.
INEZ (V.O.)
Starving.
CUT TO:
EXT. TBD - DAY
3 3
(Pause here for third dialogue exchange)
GIL (V.O.)
I'm thinking of a painting by
Pisarro I've seen of Paris in the
rain. Can you picture how drop
dead gorgeous this city is in the
rain? Imagine this town in the
twenties - Paris in the twenties -
in the rain - the artists and
writers - I was born too late. Why
did God deliver me into the world
in the 1970's and in Pasadena yet.
INEZ (V.O.)
Why does every city have to be in
the rain? What's wonderful about
getting wet?
GIL (V.O.)
It's romantic.
INEZ (V.O.)
It's annoying.
3
CONTD:
3 3
GIL (V.O.)
Or Paris when it's just getting
dark - the lights go on - or at
night - it's great at night - or
no, sunset on the Champs Elysees -
GIL (V.O.)
Could you ever think of us moving
here after we're married?
CUT TO:
EXT. TBD - DAY
4 4
INEZ (V.O.)
Oh god, no. I could never live out
of the United States. And if I
could it would be someplace totally
different.
GIL (V.O.)
Like?
INEZ (V.O.)
I don't know, Hawaii.
GIL (V.O.)
Hawaii is America.
INEZ (V.O.)
Yes but it's - Hawaiian.
GIL (V.O.)
If I had stayed here and written
novels and not gotten into grinding
out movie scripts.
INEZ (V.O.)
Right, and becoming rich and
successful. Tell me the sad story.
GIL (V.O.)
But this is where all the artists
came to live, to work - the
writers, the painters.
INEZ (V.O.)
That was ninety years ago.
4
CONTD:
4 4
GIL (V.O.)
Boy, I'd drop the house in Beverly
Hills, the pool, everything - in a
heartbeat. Look - this is where
Monet lived and painted - we're
thirty minutes from town. Imagine
the two of us settling here. If my
book turns out we could do it - you
could just as easily make jewelry
here.
CUT TO:
EXT. MONET'S GARDENS - DAY
5 5
INEZ (V.O.)
You're in love with a fantasy.
Now we CUT AROUND and see Gil and Inez live.
GIL
I'm in love with you.
(kiss)
CUT TO:
INT/EXT. HOTEL LOBBY - DAY
6 6
Gil and Inez enter lobby of hotel they are all at. In the
lobby they are awaited by her parents, JOHN and HELEN BLAIR.
JOHN
There are our sight-seers.
INEZ
If I never see another charming
boulevard or bistro -
GIL
What a town.
HELEN
To visit.
GIL
I could easily see myself as a
Parisien - strolling the Left Bank -
a baguette under my arm - finishing
my novel - at a table at the Cafe
Flore. A Moveable Feast -
Hemingway called it.
5
CONTD:
6 6
HELEN
In this traffic nothing moves.
GIL
Well yes it was different then.
JOHN
Can we continue this talk of
moveable feasts at Grand Vefour
because I'm starved.
GIL
Americans eat dinner so early.
JOHN
And I'm proud of it.
CUT TO:
INT. GRAND VEFOUR RESTAURANT - NIGHT
7 7
HELEN
(lifting wine glass)
A toast to John's new business
venture here.
JOHN
Well I'll be perfectly frank - I'm
excited over this corporate merger
between our people and the French
company but otherwise I'm not a big
Francophile.
HELEN
John hates their politics.
JOHN
They've certainly been no friend to
the united States.
GIL
(amiably)
You can't say they weren't right in
not backing Bush's moronic war in
Iraq.
INEZ
Please let's not get into that
discussion yet again?
6
CONTD:
7 7
GIL
There's nothing wrong with your
father and I disagreeing. That's
what democracy is. Your father
defends the right wing of the
Republican party and I happen to
think they represent sub-mental
Neanderthals. But we respect each
other's views - am I right?
(this last directed at
John gets no enthusiasm
but a cold look from him)
HELEN
Can we discuss the wedding plans?
Your father's used his good offices
with the opera to get some of the
singers to attend and sing. I
thought Puccini would be nice.
INEZ
Isn't that great Gil?
GIL
Just no Wagner. When she walks
down the aisle not The Ride of the
Valkyries. Hey look, I just want
to say that I am politically
bipartisan in that, in my view, to
be a politician of any party one
must of necessity be a whore.
INEZ
Gil.
Just then another young couple pass the table and recognize
Inez. PAUL and CAROL BATES.
PAUL
Inez.
INEZ
Paul! Carol-
(ad-lib introductions)
Paul and Carol Bates - Mom, Dad,
you know Gil - you didn't mention
you'd be here.
CAROL
It was sudden. Paul got invited to
lecture at the Sorbonne.
7
CONTD: (2)
7 7
INEZ
Oh - how terrific. Dad's here on
business and we free-loaded along.
PAUL
It's great. We can spend some time
together.
GIL
Don't we have a lot of commitments?
INEZ
What?
CAROL
What are you doing tomorrow? We're
driving to Versailles.
INEZ
I'm dying to see Versailles.
GIL
Don't we have something tomorrow?
We were going to have lunch at the
Brasserie Lipp. My old professor
once actually saw James Joyce
there. He said Joyce was eating
sauerkraut and frankfurters.
(silent pause)
INEZ
Is that the end of the story?
GIL
It is actually -
INEZ
We'd love to go with you guys.
Versailles is beautiful - I have to
see it Gil - it's perfect for you
with your obsession with "les temps
perdus" ·
GIL
Yes - but -
PAUL
It's such a lovely treat running
into you here. A demain.
CUT TO:
8
INT. HOTEL SUITE - NIGHT
8 8
INEZ
(as they do their
nocturnal ablutions)
I hope you're not going to be as
anti-social tomorrow when we go to
Versailles.
GIL
How was I anti-social?
INEZ
It was so clear you didn't want to
go.
GIL
Well they're your friends and I
can't say I'm as taken with him as
you are.
INEZ
He's brilliant. I used to have
such a crush on him at college. And
Carol's very bright.
GIL
I find him a pseudo-intellectual.
INEZ
I hardly think the Sorbo nne would
have him lecturing if he's a pseudo-
intellectual. You should give him
your novel to read. I'm sure he'd
be able to critique your writing
and show you why you're having so
much trouble.
GIL
I'm having trouble because I'm a
Hollywood hack who never gave
actual literature a real shot.
INEZ
(said with her usual
seductiveness)
Gil, promise me if this book
doesn't come off you'll give up
beating your brains out and get
back to what you do best.
(MORE)
9
CONTD:
8 8
INEZ (cont'd)
The studios adore you - you're in
demand - I don't think you want to
trade everything just to struggle.
CUT TO:
EXT. VERSAILLES - DAY
9 9
Next day. The two couples are there and Paul waxes
pedantically as they tour the grounds or inside.
PAUL
I believe Louis moved his court
here in about 1682 - originally
this was all swamp land - in fact,
if I'm not mistaken, in old French
the word Versailles means something
like "terrain where the weeds have
been pulled". The main structure
is French classical style at its
height - the work, I believe of
Louis Le Vau, I think Mansart and
Charles LeBrun I believe ···
CUT TO:
EXT. VERSAILLES/PICTURESQUE SPOT/GARDEN - DAY
10 10
INEZ
I think I could get used to a
summer home like this.
PAUL
Me too except, remember, in those
days they only had baths and I'm
definitely a shower man.
CAROL
Where are you two planning to live
after the wedding?
INEZ
We're looking in Malibu. We love
where you live.
GIL
I keep trying to talk her into a
little attic with a skylight in
Paris -
10
CONTD:
10 10
CAROL
La Boheme.
PAUL
All that's missing is tuberculosis.
INEZ
He doesn't even know if he can
write a novel. So far your track
record's - you know - whereas,
everyone likes your movies -
GIL
Yes movie scripts are easier.
INEZ
Tell them about the lead character
in the book you're working on.
GIL
I don't like to discuss my work.
INEZ
Not the plot, just the lead
character. He works in a nostalgia
shop.
CAROL
What's a nostalgia shop?
PAUL
Not one of those stores that sells
Shirley Temple dolls and old
radios? I never know who buys that
stuff - who'd want it.
INEZ
(pointedly)
People who live in the past. Who
think their lives would have been
happier if they lived in an earlier
time.
PAUL
And just what era would you have
preferred to live in, Miniver
Cheevy?
INEZ
(teasing Gil)
Paris in the twenties - in the rain
- when the rain wasn't acid rain.
11
10 10
CONTD: (2)
PAUL
I see. And no global warming, no
TV or suicide bombing, nuclear
weapons, drug cartels.
CAROL
The usual menu of cliched horror
stories.
PAUL
Nostalgia is denial. Denial of the
painful present.
INEZ
He's a romantic. Gil would be just
fine living in a perpetual state of
denial.
PAUL
The name for this fallacy is
called, Golden Age thinking.
INEZ
Touche.
PAUL
The erroneous notion that a
different time period was better
than the one, one's living in.
It's a flaw in the romantic
imagination of those who find
coping with the present too
difficult.
CUT TO:
EXT. CHOPARD/PLACE VENDOME - DAY
11 11
HELEN
It's definitely the nicest ring
we've seen.
INEZ
I love a diamond wedding band. The
way it sparkled they'll see it in
the last row when he puts it on my
finger.
HELEN
This is going to be such an event,
Inez. I only wish -
12
CONTD:
11 11
INEZ
(cutting her off)
I don't want to keep going over it,
Mom.
HELEN
Look, he's your choice. What can I
say?
INEZ
Gil's smart and successful.
HELEN
And yet he talks of g1.v1.ng it up
and moving here. That frightens
me.
INEZ
The world is full of people who
dream of writing the great American
novel. Let me handle him.
HELEN
You're father thinks you're
comfortable with Gil because you
can control him.
INEZ
He likes to please me - is that so
terrible? Oh gosh - I have to go -
Paul arranged a private tour of the
Rodin Museum.
CUT TO:
OMITTED
12 12
EXT. RODIN MUSEUM GARDEN - DAY
13 13
Paul, Carol, Gil and Inez getting guided tour. Guide speaks
French and mostly English - as she feels.
GUIDE
This is, of course, Rodin's most
famous statue. A cast of this work
was placed next to his tomb. Rodin
wished for it to serve as his
headstone and epitaph.
13
CONTD:
13 13
PAUL
That would be in Meudon. He died
of the flu if I'm not mistaken -
1917 I believe.
GUIDE
Exactly correct. You know your art
history, monsieur. The design -
PAUL
(cutting her off)
The Thinker is so powerful because
he thinks not just with his brain -
he thinks with every limb and
muscle - you feel the
concentration.
INEZ
(to Gil)
He's so knowledgeable, isn't he?
PAUL
So much of Rodin's work was
influenced by his wife, Camille.
GUIDE
Yes, she was an influence - though
Camille was not the wife but his
mistress.
PAUL
Camille? No.
GUIDE
Yes. Rose was the wife.
PAUL
He never married Rose.
GUIDE
Yes, in the last year of their
lives.
PAUL
I think you're mistaken.
CAROL
Are you arguing with the guide?
PAUL
am.
I
14
13 CONTD: (2) 13
GUIDE
Ah, non, non, je suis certaine.
GIL
I'm afraid she's right. I just
read the recent two volume
biography of Rodin - Rose was
definitely the wife, Camille the
mistress.
PAUL
You read that? Where did you read
that?
GIL
I did - no question. Camille-
Rose.
INEZ
Don't forget, Dad invited you to
join us at a wine tasting tonight.
CAROL
It'll be so fun. Paul's an expert
on French wines.
INEZ
(walking with Gil)
When did you read the biography of
Rodin?
GIL
Me? Why would I read a biography
of Rodin?
CUT TO:
EXT. WINE TASTING - EVENING
14 14
Inez already a little high. Her parents having fun. Gil is
also feeling it by now.
INEZ
(tasting)
I can't tell the difference.
They're both delicious.
JOHN
Take it easy Inez. Those little
sips add up.
15
CONTD:
14 14
HELEN
You should talk, John - especially
for someone who once advocated the
boycott of french wines.
JOHN
I'll always take a California wine
but the Napa Valley is six thousand
miles away.
They laugh and drink.
INEZ
(to Gil)
Which do you prefer?
GIL
To me they're all great. What the
hell do I know?
INEZ
I don't think I've ever seen your
cheeks so red.
GIL
Pheromones, it's your pheromones.
Paul and Carol have ambled over, having heard Gil's last
amorous remark.
PAUL
Ah yes - sex and alcohol - It fuels
the desire but kills the
performance - according to the
Bard.
CAROL
Have you tasted the '61? It's
divine - though Paul found it -
what?
PAUL
Slightly more tannic than the '59.
I prefer a smoky feeling to a
fruity feeling, don't you agree?
GIL
You will admit she's a sexy woman.
PAUL
This I have known for many years.
You're a very lucky man.
(toast)
(MORE)
16
14 14
CONTD: (2)
PAUL (cont' d)
May you make the transition from
movies to literature and may your
book glorify all the Shirley Temple
dolls and Charlie Chaplin
wristwatches that make us nostalgic
for an allegedly once simpler, more
charming world.
GIL
(a bit high)
To the little green Heinz pickle
pin.
CUT TO:
EXT. WINE TASTING/STREET - NIGHT
15 15
PAUL
Carol and I are going to go dancing
- we heard of a great place.
Interested?
INEZ
Sure.
GIL
I don't want to be a party pooper
but I just want fresh air.
INEZ
Oh come on - although if you're
just going to sit there and obsess
over where the fire exits are.
CAROL
If Gil doesn't want to go, I'll
share Paul with you. I'm very
democratic. And he's a marvelous
dancer.
GIL
If it's okay with you, I'd really
just like a little walk and go to
bed. We can do it another night.
INEZ
Well I can go, right?
GIL
You go?
17
CaNTO:
15 15
INEZ
I'm not tired and I'm dying to
dance. I'll just meet you back at
the hotel.
PAUL
I'll take good care of her.
GIL
I - I - guess so ···
CUT TO:
INT. TAXI - NIGHT
16 16
The three are having a fine time.
INEZ
Isn't it great we're all on holiday
at the same time.
CAROL
Back home we just joined a
marvelous tennis club and Paul says
you play. Does Gil?
INEZ
I can't introduce him to tennis -
Daddy's having the damndest time
pressuring him to learn golf.
PAUL
Is he a good writer? Have you read
his prose?
INEZ
He won't let anybody -
PAUL
If he wants I'd be glad to go over
his novel and critique it for him.
INEZ
That's what he needs, to have it
read by someone who really knows
and wouldn't pull any punches. The
problem is - when it comes to his
writing he has no respect for
anyone's opinion.
CUT TO:
18
EXT. STREET - NIGHT
17 17
Gil walks street, obviously lost.
EXT. LOVELY SPOT - NIGHT
18 18
Gil wanders. Eventually he is at a lovely spot. Perhaps by
the river, the bridge - or somewhere else but he's just
wandering lost. Finally he looks at his watch.
Either by his watch or a nearby building clock, the hands
move to exactly midnight. perhaps midnight chimes somewhere.
At precisely that moment a car happens to pull up along side
him. Inside are TWO MEN and TWO WOMAN - elegant - they have
champagne and glasses and they pour from the open bottle and
drink happily.
DOUG
Come on - get in.
GIL
Huh?
DENISE
(speaking with French
accent)
Let's go, we're late.
GIL
You have the wrong person.
DENISE
Mais non, pas de tout - allez
montez -
GIL
Look, I'm a little drunk -
DOUG
C'mon - for god's sake - we can't
sit here all night.
GIL
This is a great old peugeot. I have
a friend in Beverly Hills who has
the same one - he collects -
DENISE
Let's go.
(dragging him in)
We have so many parties to go to.
19
18 CONTD: 18
GIL
What parties?
DOUG
a
Venez - la prochain gauche.
DENISE
Here - you need some champagne -
Gil gets in. They shut door and pull off.
CUT TO:
INT/EXT. CAR - NIGHT
19 19
GIL
Where are we going?
PHIL
36 rue de (tbd address) and lets
hurry.
GIL
It's not fair - my head is swimming
from wine.
DENISE
(refilling glass of
champagne)
Prenez du champagne - detendez-vous
un peu.
GIL
I do like champagne.
DENISE
The night is young - drink up,
drink up, drink up.
GIL
I'm drinking up.
He drinks, befuddled.
CUT TO:
20
EXT. LEFT BANK STREET - NIGHT
20 20
Car pulling up at some great old street. They all get out
and take him inside to a party in progress.
CUT TO:
INT. PARTY - NIGHT
21 21
There is a mixture of elegant plus bohemian types. In the
background a MAN sits at the piano singing a Cole Porter
tune. Gil looks at the revelers. A few CUTS. Music plays.
Finally A WOMAN comes over to Gil.
ZELDA
(glass in hand drinking)
You look lost.
GIL
You're American.
ZELDA
If you count Alabama as America
which I do. I miss the bathtub
gin. What do you do?
GIL
Oh I - I'm a writer.
ZELDA
What do you write?
GIL
Right now I'm working on a novel.
ZELDA
Oh yes? I'm Zelda by the way. Oh
Scott - Scott come over here.
Here's a writer from, where?
GIL
California.
SCOTT
(Scott joins)
Scott Fitzgerald, and who are you
old sport?
GIL
I'm Gil Pen - oh you two have the
same names as -
21
CONTD:
21 21
SCOTT
As what?
GIL
Scott Fitzgerald and -
SCOTT
(drinking)
Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. The
Fitzgeralds. Isn't she beautiful?
GIL
Yes - its a coincidence. I mean it
is a funny coincidence.
ZELDA
You have a glazed look in your eye.
Stunned, stupefied, anesthetized,
lobotomized -
GIL
I - I - I keep thinking that man at
the piano - believe it or not I
recognize his face from some old
sheet music - what am I talking
about here?
ZELDA
I know if I put my mind to it I
could be one of the great writers
of musical lyrics not that I can
write melodies - and I try - and
then I hear the songs he writes and
I realize I'll never write a great
lyric and that my talent really
lies in drinking.
GIL
Yes but - he didn't write that song
- did he? That's not possible -
SCOTT
What kind of books do you write?
GIL
I - I - I - I'm - I'm working on a -
exactly where am I?
SCOTT
I'm sorry - Don't you know the
host? Some friends have gotten
together a little party for Jean
Cocteau.
22
CONTD: (2)
21 21
GIL
(looks around, drinks it
in)
Hey lady, are you kidding me?
ZELDA
I know what you're thinking - this
is boring - I agree - I'm ready to
move on - let's do Bricktop's,
Scott, I'm bored, he's bored, we're
all bored.
SCOTT
Whatever you say, sweetheart. See
if Cole and Linda want to come
with. Coming?
Gil stares open mouthed.
CUT TO:
INT/EXT. CAR - NIGHT 22
22
Shot of group (Gil, Cole Porter, Fitzgeralds) piled into
period open top car tearing down a Parisian street. (Note: we
can include Denise and Doug or Phil if we want)
CUT TO:
INT. BRICKTOP'S CLUB - NIGHT
23 23
The group is watching someone like Josephine Baker. Gil is
stunned by it all. The Fitzgerald's drink a lot.
CUT TO:
EXT. CAFE #3 - NIGHT A24
A24
Group entering cafe.
INT. CAFE #3 - NIGHT
24 24
A little late night cafe, very bohemian. Scott, Zelda and
Gil enter, the group having thinned out. The Fitzgeralds
drink a lot.
ZELDA
Une bouteille de bourbon.
23
CONTD:
24 24
SCOTT
(stops at another table)
Greetings and salutations. You'll
forgive me - I've been mixing grain
and grappa ··· This is Gil - Gil?
Yes, Gil.
GIL
Gil Pender.
HEMINGWAY
Hemingway.
GIL
Hemingway? Hey, is this some kind
of a -
HEMINGWAY
You liked my book?
GIL
Liked - I loved - everything you
wrote -
HEMINGWAY
Yes it was a good book because it
was an honest book and that's what
war does to men and there's nothing
fine and noble about dying in the
mud unless you die gracefully and
then it's not only noble but brave.
GIL
Ernest Hemingway - this is - I -
HEMINGWAY
(introduces his drinking
partner)
Say hello to Pender - the bulls in
the ring don't frighten Belmonte -
he's killed many brave ones. Fine
brave bulls.
GIL
I'm sure - good bulls, true
bulls ···
HEMINGWAY
Why are you smiling?
24
CONTD: (2)
24 24
SCOTT
(drinks)
In New York you can't buy this - it
can only be made in a bathtub - and
some of the bathtub mixtures are
damn good -
(to Zelda)
Isn't that so? She prefers her
hootch from a homemade still - more
kick.
ZELDA
(to Hemingway)
Did you read my story? What did
you think?
HEMINGWAY
It began well - really well - then
it became weak.
ZELDA
I might've known you'd hate it.
SCOTT
Darling you're too sensitive.
ZELDA
You liked the story but he hates
me.
HEMINGWAY
There was some fine writing but it
was not fulfilled.
SCOTT
Please old sport - you make matters
extremely difficult.
ZELDA
I'm jumpy - suddenly I don't like
the atmosphere here anymore.
(to Belmonte)
Where are you going?
JUAN BELMONTE
Para reunirse con amigos en el St.
Germain ...
ZELDA
He's going to St. Germain. I'm
going with him.
25
CONTD: (3)
24 24
SCOTT
Zelda -
ZELDA
If you're going to stay and drink
with him I'm going with the
toreador.
SCOTT
(to a polite Belmonte)
Get her back at a reasonable time.
They go.
HEMINGWAY
She'll drive you crazy, this woman.
SCOTT
She's exciting - and she has
talent.
HEMINGWAY
This month it's writing, last month
it was something else. You're a
writer - you need time to write -
not all this playing around - she's
wasting you - because she's really
a competitor - don't you agree?
GIL
Me? I just met -
HEMINGWAY
Speak up for Christ's sake. I'm
asking you if you think my friend
is making a tragic mistake.
GIL
Actually I don't know the
Fitzgeralds that well -
HEMINGWAY
You're a writer - you make
observations - you were with them
all night.
SCOTT
Can we not discuss my personal life
in public?
26
24 24
CONTD: (4)
HEMINGWAY
She has him on yachts, at parties,
jumping into swimming pools
you're wasting your talent.
SCOTT
You don't understand her.
HEMINGWAY
(to Gil)
She's jealous of his gift and it's
a damn fine gift. It's rare. You
like his work? You can speak
freely.
SCOTT
Stop it.
HEMINGWAY
You like Mark Twain?
GIL
I do - very much.
SCOTT
I'm going to find Zelda. I don't
like the thought of her with the
Spaniard.
(stumbles out)
HEMINGWAY
He's a fine writer, Fitzgerald.
You box?
GIL
No.
HEMINGWAY
What are you writing?
GIL
A novel.
HEMINGWAY
About what?
GIL
A man who works in a nostalgia
shop.
HEMINGWAY
What the hell's a nostalgia shop?
27
CONTD: (5)
24 24
GIL
Where they sell old things -
memorabilia. Does that sound
terrible to you?
HEMINGWAY
No subject is terrible if the story
is true. If the prose is clean and
honest and if it affirms courage
and grace under pressure.
GIL
Would you do me the biggest favor
in the world - I can't even ask ···
HEMINGWAY
What?
GIL
Would you read it?
HEMINGWAY
Your novel?
GIL
It's only about four hundred pages -
if you could just give me your
opinion.
HEMINGWAY
My opinion is I hate it.
GIL
You do?
HEMINGWAY
If it's bad I'll hate it because I
hate bad writing and if it's good
I'll be envious and hate it all the
more. You don't want the opinion
of another writer.
GIL
But there's no one I really trust
to evaluate it -
HEMINGWAY
Writers are competitive.
GIL
I could never compete with you -
28
CONTD: (6)
24 24
HEMINGWAY
You're too self-effacing - it's not
manly. If you're a writer, declare
yourself the best writer - but
you're not the best as long as I'm
around. Unless you want to put the
gloves on and settle it.
GIL
No - no - that's okay -
HEMINGWAY
I won't read your novel but I'll
tell you what I'll do.
GIL
Yes?
HEMINGWAY
I'll bring it over to Gertrude
Stein. She's the only one I trust
to read my work. No one discovers
new talent like Gert - whether it's
poetry, painting, music - She'll
tell you if you have a book or not.
GIL
You could have Gertrude Stein read
my novel?
HEMINGWAY
Give it to me.
GIL
I have to get it. It's at the
hotel.
HEMINGWAY
She gets back from Spain tomorrow.
GIL
(rises)
I'm so thrilled - my heart is
beating. I'll go home and get it -
I'll give it to you - I can't tell
you what this means to me.
To have Gertrude Stein read my
novel - thank you, thank you -
He exits the place.
29
EXT. CAFE #3 - NIGHT
25 25
GIL
Calm yourself - get a grip, Gil -
deep breaths - been quite a night -
Fitzgerald - Hemingway - the
Hemingway - Papa - where do I meet
him - he never said.
Gil goes to return to the cafe - he can't find the door, nor
the club facade. It's gone.
We are in the present and he searches the wall of a facade
where he came out but he is in despair over the fact he can't
find it.
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL SUITE - DAY
26 26
Next morning. Gil and Inez probably dressing.
INEZ
Lucky you didn't go last night.
You'd have hated the music and the
crowd - but I had fun.
GIL
Uh-huh.
INEZ
What are you thinking? You seem in
a daze.
GIL
If I told you I was with Ernest
Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald last
night, what would you say?
INEZ
Is that what you were dreaming
about? Your literary idols.
GIL
But if I wasn't dreaming -
INEZ
What does that mean?
30
CaNTO:
26 26
GIL
If I told you I spent time with
Hemingway and Fitzgerald and Cole
Porter -
INEZ
I'd be thinking brain tumor.
GIL
Can I tell you Zelda Fitzgerald is
exactly as we've come to know her
from articles and books - she's
mercurial and moody and she does
not get along with Hemingway - and
Scott knows Hemingway's right about
it but you can see how conflicted
he is because he loves her -
INEZ
Right, right - er where's my cold
cream - we should knock off the
idle chatter because we're going to
be late.
GIL
Actually I wanted to stay and work
on my novel - it needs a little
polishing.
INEZ
You can work on it later. And we
can use Mom's decorator's discount.
CUT TO:
INT. ANTIQUE STORE - DAY
27 27
Helen, Inez and Gil in antique store.
HELEN
Come look at this Inez - wouldn't
this be charming for a Malibu beach
house?
OWNER
Dix-huit mille.
HELEN
(to Inez)
It's a steal at eighteen thousand
dollars.
31
CONTD:
27 27
GIL
Eighteen thousand dollars?
HELEN
Oh wait, that's Euros so it's more -
INEZ
That's over twenty thousand
dollars, Mom.
HELEN
Yes but it's very hard to find
anything like this at home.
INEZ
She's right, Gil.
GIL
Yes but we haven't even found a
house yet and I'm trying to keep
expenses down so I can turn down
jobs.
HELEN
You get what you pay for. Cheap is
cheap.
GIL
I know you love Malibu but -
INEZ
(sotto seductively)
Did you ever make love in a chaise
like this? Imagine the
possibilities.
GIL
Er - of course when you think of it
that way it does help amortize the
eighteen grand.
HELEN
And don't forget - we're taking you
to dinner tonight at (*tbd).
INEZ
Great.
GIL
(sotto to Inez)
And after I have a terrific
surprise for you.
32
CONTD: (2)
27 27
INEZ
What? I'm not big on surprises.
GIL
You will be. Believe me.
HELEN
Look at these marvelous
Blackamoors. I see them in your
living room.
CUT TO:l
EXT. LOVELY SPOT - NIGHT
28 28
Gil and Inez arriving at the spot he was picked up by car.
He waits nervously.
INEZ
Where are you taking me? You made
me rush through dinner. Dad wasn't
finished with his profiteroles.
GIL
You're going on one of the most
amazing adventures of your life.
INEZ
Where? And why are you carrying
around your manuscript.
GIL
You'll see - you'll see - and your
jaw will drop.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. LOVELY SPOT - NIGHT
29 29
They're still waiting with nothing happening. Cars pass but
no action.
INEZ
I don't know what it is you're
carrying on about but this is not
my idea of an amazing adventure.
I'm exhausted from the gym and the
massage.
GIL
Inez.
33
CaNTO:
29 29
INEZ
Look - you want to walk the streets
and "drink in Paris by night" - go
ahead. I'm in the middle of a
great book Carol lent me and if I'm
asleep when you get in, don't wake
me.
(she gets in cab)
GIL
(to himself)
What am I doing wrong? Unless
she's right and I need to see a
neurologist. Left the wine tasting
- a little high yes - right here.
The clock begins to chime midnight.
GIL (CONT'D)
I remember the river - the clock
struck midnight - I - the clock
struck midnight! Yes - On the dot
of midnight I
He looks at his watch which obviously confirms the chimes he
hears.
The period car comes - the door opens. We hear Hemingway'S
voice:
HEMINGWAY (V. o. )
Get in.
Gil gets in, car pulls off
CUT TO:
INT/EXT. CAR - NIGHT
30 30
Only Gil and Hemingway.
HEMINGWAY
The assignment was to take the
hill. There were four of us.
(MORE)
34
CONTD:
30 30
HEMINGWAY (cont'd)
Five if you counted Vincente but he
had lost his hand when a grenade
went off and he couldn't fight as
he could when I first met him and
he was young and brave and the hill
was soggy from days of rain and
sloped down toward a road and there
were many German soldiers on the
road and the idea was to aim at the
first group and if our aim was true
we could delay them.
GIL
Weren't you scared?
HEMINGWAY
Of what?
GIL
Getting killed.
HEMINGWAY
You'll never write well if you fear
dying. Do you?
GIL
It's my biggest fear.
HEMINGWAY
But it's something all men before
you have done and all men will do.
GIL
Yes but -
HEMINGWAY
Have you ever made love to a truly
great woman?
GIL
My fiance is very sexy.
HEMINGWAY
And when you make love to her you
feel true and beautiful passion and
you at least for that moment lose
your fear of death.
GIL
I don't know about that -
35
CaNTO: (2)
30 30
HEMINGWAY
I believe that love that's true and
real creates a respite from death.
All cowardice comes from not loving
or not loving well which is the
same thing and when the man who is
brave and true looks death squarely
in the face like some rhino hunters
I know or Belmonte who is truly
brave, it is because they love with
sufficient passion to push death
out of their minds till it returns
as it does to all men and then you
must make really good love again.
Think about it.
CUT TO:
EXT. GERTRUDE STEIN'S PLACE - NIGHT
A31 A31
Shot of them arriving at Gertrude Stein's.
INT. GERTRUDE STEIN'S PLACE - NIGHT
31 31
They enter.
HEMINGWAY
This is Gil Pender. He's a young
American writer. I thought you two
should know each other.
STEIN
I'm glad you're here. You can help
decide which of us is right and
which of us is wrong.
She leads them into other room, introduces Gil.
STEIN (CONT'D)
This is Gil -
GIL
Pender.
STEIN
Pablo Picasso.
They ad-lib greetings. Picasso speaks French and is with a
beautiful girl - Adriana.
36
CONTD:
31 31
STEIN
I was just telling Pablo that this
portrait doesn't capture Adriana.
It has universality but no
objectivity.
PABLO
Vous ne le comprenez pas
correctment. Vous ne connaissez
pas Adriana mais c'est tout ce qui
la represente.
STEIN
No tu n'a pas raison. Look how
he's done her - dripping with
sexual innuendo. Carnal to the
point of smoldering and yes she's
beautiful but it's a subtle beauty -
an implied sensuality.
(to Gil)
What is your first impression of
Adriana?
GIL
(very taken)
····· Exceptionally lovely.
STEIN
Belle, mais plus subtil plus
implicite, Pablo.
HEMINGWAY
You're right Gertrude - of course
you can see why he's lost his
objectivity.
(flirting with her)
STEIN
You've made a creation of Place
Pigalle, a whore with volcanic
appetites.
PABLO
Mais c'est comme elle est, si vous
la connaissez.
STEIN
Yes - avec vous en prive - because
she's your lover - but we don't
know her that way - so you make a
petit bourgeoise judgment and turn
her into an object of pleasure.
(MORE)
37
CONTD: (2)
31 31
STEIN (cont'd)
C'est plus comme une nature morte
qu'on portrait. It's more like a
still life than a portrait.
PABLO
(waves her off and goes to
get a drink)
Je ne suis pas d'accord.
STEIN
(turning to Gil)
And what about this book of yours
I've been hearing about?
(to Hemingway)
Have you read it?
HEMINGWAY
No, this I leave to you. You've
always been the best judge of my
work.
STEIN
(thumbing first page, she
reads)
"Out of the Past was the name of
the store and its products
consisted of memories. What was
prosaic and even vulgar to one
generation had been transmuted by
the mere passing of years to a
status at once magical and also
camp. "
ADRIANA
I love it. I'm already - hooked?
Hooked.
STEIN
I'll start it tonight. But first
we have something to talk about.
She collars Hemingway and they huddle to one side. Picasso
has busied himself at a distant spot with a drink, sulking.
This leaves Gil off with Adriana to chat.
GIL
Did my opening lines really get to
you that strongly?
ADRIANA
The past has always had a great
charisma for me.
38
CONTD: (3)
31 31
GIL
Me too. I was born too late.
ADRIANA
Oui, exactement. For me Belle
Epoque Paris would have been
perfect. The whole sensibility,
the street lamps, the kiosks - the
horse and carriages. And Maxims -
then.
GIL
You speak very good English.
ADRIANA
No, not really.
GIL
Yes - and how long have you been
dating Picasso? My god, did I say
that?
ADRIANA
Pardon.
GIL
Oh - I - no, I didn't mean anything
- you know - to pry ··· born in
Paris?
ADRIANA
I was born in Bordeaux - I moved
here to study fashion and - you
don't want to hear this -
GIL
No, I do.
ADRIANA
I came here - to study with Coco
Chanel - and I fell in love with
Paris and also a very dark eyed,
haunted, Jewish-Italian painter -
and I knew Amedeo had another woman
but still I couldn't resist moving
into his apartment when he asked
and it was a beautiful six months.
GIL
Not Modigliani? Was it Modigliani?
You lived with Modigliani?
39
CONTD: (4)
31 31
ADRIANA
You asked me so I'm telling you my
sad story. With Braque also there
was another woman - many - and now
with Pablo - I mean Pablo is
married but every day it's on
again, off again - I don't know how
any woman can stay with him - he's
so difficult.
GIL
My god you are a whole different
level of art groupie.
ADRIANA
Pardon.
GIL
Nothing - I'm -
ADRIANA
But tell me about yourself. Have
you come to Paris to write because
these days so many Americans feel
the need to move here. Isn't
Hemingway attractive? I love his
writing.
GIL
Actually I'm visiting.
ADRIANA
Oh you must stay here. It's a
wonderful city for artists and
writers.
GIL
Believe me, I want to but it's not
that simple.
ADRIANA
And I did fall madly in love with
the start of your book so I want to
hear the rest of it.
Hemingway and Stein return.
HEMINGWAY
Come, let's all go for a drink up
at Montmartre.
40
CONTD: (5)
31 31
STEIN
We'll discuss your book as soon as
I finish it. Where can I reach
you?
GIL
Oh that's okay - I'll drop by -
it'll be easier for you - if that's
okay.
STEIN
We run an open house.
ADRIANA
You sure you won't come?
GIL
(checks watch)
I only wish I could but I can't -
but hopefully I'll see you again -
ADRIANA
That would be nice.
Hemingway, Picasso and Adriana are going off - Hemingway
flirtatious with her.
HEMINGWAY
(teasing Picasso)
One of these days I plan to steal
you away from this genius who's
great but no Miro.
CUT TO:
EXT. HOTEL - NIGHT
32 32
Gil returning.
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL SUITE - NIGHT
33 33
Gil gets into bed with Inez. She's asleep and he lies awake
thinking. He pinches himself to make sure he's awake.
41
CONTD:
33 33
GIL
(to himself)
I'm Gil Pender - I was with
Hemingway and Picasso - Pablo
Picasso - Ernest Hemingway - I'm
Gil Pender from Pasadena - the Cub
Scouts - I failed freshman English
- I'm Gil Pender and my novel is
with Gertrude Stein - I once worked
at The House of Pies. I'm little
Gil Pender. And that girl was so
lovely.
CUT TO:
EXT. FLEA MARKET - DAY
34 34
Gil, Inez and Helen.
HELEN
It's a shame you two didn't come to
the movies last night. We saw a
wonderfully funny American film. I
forget the name.
GIL
Wonderful but forgettable. I've
seen that picture.
HELEN
I know it was moronic and infantile
and lacking any wit or
believability but John and I
laughed in spite of ourselves.
INEZ
What time did you get in? I was
dead asleep.
GIL
Not late. I find these midnight
strolls are very good for me
creatively - without the
distractions of the day - I'll
probably take another long walk
tonight.
INEZ
We'll see. Oh how about this?
42
CONTD:
34 34
HELEN
Oh look at these wonderful glass
figures.
As they're preoccupied, Gil is caught up by a woman who plays
some old 78 records on an old phonograph and she's playing
the Cole Porter tune Cole was playing the other night.
GABRIELLE
C'est jolie, no.
GIL
Yes - very beautiful.
GABRIELLE
Cole Porter. Vous aimez - you like
Cole Porter?
GIL
Love his music - we're very close -
Cole, Linda and I.
She gives him a look.
GABRIELLE
Very pretty and tres amusant.
He listens. Inez comes over.
INEZ
Gil - Gil - Gil?
GIL
(coming out if, realizing
she's been talking to
him)
Huh?
INEZ
We should go. We're meeting Paul
and Carol for a private showing at
the museum.
GIL
With the same sharp guide?
INEZ
It's a different museum and we
don't need a guide. Paul's an
expert on Monet.
(MORE)
43
34 34
CONTD: (2)
INEZ (cont'd)
We can see all those beautiful
water lilies at his home.
CUT TO:
INT. L'ORANGERIE MUSEUM - DAY
35 35
Paul, Carol, Inez and Gil in circular room with huge Monets.
PAUL
The juxtaposition of color is
amazing. This man was the real
father of abstract expressionism.
I take that back, maybe Turner.
INEZ
I prefer Monet. I mean I love
Turner but this is overwhelming.
PAUL
If I'm not mistaken it took him two
years to complete this. And he
worked out at Giverny - where he
frequently -
GIL
They say Monet used to -
INEZ
Shhh. I want to hear what Paul's
saying.
PAUL
He was frequently visited by
Caillebotte - an artist I
personally feel was underrated.
CAROL
I find Monet almost too pretty -
like Renoir - sometimes it's
cloying.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. ANOTHER FLOOR OF THE MUSEUM - DAY A36
A36
PAUL
(coming to Picasso's
portrait of Adriana)
Ah - now here's a superb Picasso.
44
CONTD: A36
A36
Gil is stunned.
PAUL (CONT'D)
If I'm not mistaken he painted this
marvelous portrait of his French
mistress Madeline Brissou in the
twenties.
GIL
Er - I have to differ with you on
this one.
PAUL
Really?
INEZ
Gil pay attention and you'll learn
something.
GIL
If I'm not mistaken this was a
failed attempt to capture a young
French girl named Adriana - from
Bordeaux - if my art history serves
me - came to Paris to study costume
design for the theatre. Believe
she had a brief affair with
Modigliani - then Braque - that's
where Pablo met her - er Picasso.
You'd never know it from this
portrait but she's quite subtly
beautiful.
INEZ
What have you been smoking?
GIL
And I'd hardly call the picture
superb. It's more of a petit
bourgeoise statement of how Pablo
er Picasso sees her, saw her - he's
distracted by the fact she was a
volcano in the sack.
CUT TO:
INT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT
36 36
John, Helen and Inez finishing fancy dinner.
JOHN
Too rich for me.
45
CONTD:
36 36
HELEN
Where did Gil run off to?
INEZ
Work - he likes to walk around
Paris - the way the city is all lit
up at night allegedly inspires him -
It's okay. Paul and I are going
dancing.
HELEN
Where's Carol?
INEZ
In bed with a bad oyster.
(rising)
See you later. Thanks for dinner
Dad.
She exits.
JOHN
Where does Gil go every night?
HELEN
You heard her. He walks and gets
ideas.
JOHN
Uh-huh.
HELEN
You sound skeptical.
JOHN
I don't know. I see what he earns
but sometimes I think he's got a
part missing. And I didn't like
his remark about tea party
Republicans. They're decent people
who want to take back the country -
they're not crypto-fascist, airhead
zombies. Did you hear him say
that?
HELEN
Nevertheless I hardly think your
idea of having him followed is
practical.
46
CONTD: (2)
36 36
JOHN
No? I'd like to know where he goes
every night.
HELEN
Well we know one thing - he doesn't
go dancing.
CUT TO:
INT. FITZGERALD'S PARTY - NIGHT
37 37
Gil dancing with a woman at Fitzgerald's party. He stops
finally and Adriana wanders over.
ADRIANA
Hello again? How nice you're here.
GIL
I was at Gertrude Stein's - she's
almost finished with my novel. And
the Fitzgeralds invited me over and
said you'd be here - you and Pablo.
ADRIANA
Pablo's home - we had a bit of a
quarrel. But you looked like you
were having fun dancing with Djuna
Barnes.
GIL
That was Djuna Barnes? No wonder
she wanted to lead.
ADRIANA
Isn't this a wonderful place to
throw a party - only the
Fitzgeralds would think of it.
Look - this is from the turn of the
century. Everything was so
beautiful then.
Hemingway coming over now. He squeezes Adriana playfully
flirtatious.
HEMINGWAY
Isn't this little Parisienne dream
a movable feast? Mark my words -
I'm going to steal you from that
fugitive from Malaga one way or the
other.
(MORE)
47
CONTD:
37 37
HEMINGWAY (cont'd)
(referring to his
companion of the moment)
Between Belmonte and myself - which
of us would you choose?
ADRIANA
Vous etes tous deux tres
impressionants.
HEMINGWAY
But he has more courage. He faces
death more directly and more often
and if you chose him I would be
disappointed but understand.
JUAN BELMONTE
Por desgracia para ambos ella ha
elegido Pablo.
HEMINGWAY
Yes, she's chosen Picasso - But
Pablo thinks women are only to
paint or sleep with.
ADRIANA
And you?
HEMINGWAY
I think women are the equal of men
in courage. Have you ever shot a
charging lion?
ADRIANA
Never.
HEMINGWAY
Have you ever hunted?
(to Gil)
Have you?
GIL
Only for bargains.
BELMONTE
(to Hemingway)
venga - tomemos otra copa.
GIL
(to Adriana)
Would you like to maybe take a
walk?
CUT TO:
48
EXT. PLACE DAUPHINE - NIGHT
38 38
Gil and Adriana walk.
GIL
I hope it was nothing serious with
you and Pablo?
ADRIANA
He's moody and possessive. Artists
are all like children.
GIL
I understand why they all want to
paint you - you're so damn
interesting to look at in a lovely
way.
ADRIANA
And you're interesting in a lost
way. Tell me more about your book.
GIL
I don't want to talk about my book.
I want to enjoy Paris by night.
ADRIANA
I keep forgetting, you're only a
tourist.
GIL
That's putting it mildly.
CUT TO:
EXT. MONTAGE/PARIS - NIGHT
39 39
Adriana is showing him around.
ADRIANA
I can never decide whether Paris is
more beautiful by day or by night.
GIL
There's no book or painting, or
symphony or sculpture that can
rival a great city. All these
streets and boulevards as a special
art form.
(MORE)
49
CONTD:
39 39
GIL (cont'd)
When you think in the cold,
violent, meaningless universe Paris
exists - these lights - I mean
nothing's happening on Jupiter or
Neptune or out beyond - but from
way out in space you can see these
lights in the whole dark void - the
cafes, people drinking and dancing -
I mean for all we know this town is
the hottest spot in the entire
universe -
ADRIANA
Vous avez l'ame d'un poete.
GIL
You're very kind. I would not call
my babbling poetic.
CUT TO:
OMITTED
40 40
EXT. PLACE PIGALLE - NIGHT
41 41
Gil and Adriana are here with the street lined with
prostitutes.
ADRIANA
See anything you like?
GIL
I'm ashamed to admit I'm attracted
to all of them. I like cheap-sexy.
I know it's shallow.
ADRIANA
When I was in Catholic school, one
weekend, my roommate and I paid one
of the girls of Pigalle to come
teach us all her tricks.
GIL
Well, that's the most interesting
thing I've ever heard in my life -
I'd like to think about that for
awhile.
CUT TO:
50
EXT. RIVER - NIGHT
42 42
Gil and Adriana walking by the river.
ADRIANA
I love that the main character in
your book sells memories.
GIL
Because he believes in his soul
that progress is not automatically
for the better.
ADRIANA
Often quite the opposite.
GIL
Say - is that who I think it is?
ADRIANA
What is she doing here? And why is
she staring into the river.
They see a distraught woman contemplating jumping into the
river. Upon running to her, it's Zelda.
ADRIANA
Oh gosh! My god - what are you
doing?
ZELDA
Please leave me alone. I don't
want to live.
ADRIANA
What is it? What's going on?
ZELDA
It all became clear to me tonight.
Scott and that beautiful Countess -
it was so obvious they were
whispering about me and the more
they drank the more he fell in love
with her.
GIL
Scott loves only you. I can tell
you with absolute certainty.
ZELDA
No, he's tired of me.
51
CONTD:
42 42
GIL
No you're wrong. I know.
ZELDA
How? How?
GIL
Trust me. I know.
ZELDA
But you just met us. How can you
know anything. My skin hurts. I
hate the way I look.
GIL
Take this.
(pill)
ZELDA
What is this?
GIL
A Valium - it'll calm you down.
ADRIANA
You carry medicine?
GIL
Only since Inez and I became
engaged. I've had these anxiety
attacks - I'm sure after the
wedding they'll subside.
ZELDA
I never heard of Valium. What is
this?
GIL
Er - it's the pill of the future.
ZELDA
But pills wear off - and then it
all comes back. No, I won't kill
myself. I'll write and I'll write
more passionately than Scott. I'll
work harder.
ADRIANA
He loves you. He's not with that
woman. She's already on her way
back to Rome.
52
CONTD: (2)
42 42
GIL
I'll try and score some more for
you. And I have some Xanax at the
hotel - it's another one you'll
like.
ADRIANA
Come on, we'll find a taxi. We'll
see you home - things will be
better in the morning.
CUT TO:
INT. BOHEMIAN CAFE - NIGHT
43 43
ADRIANA
You never said you were getting
married.
GIL
Yes - I - I mean it's in the
future.
ADRIANA
Well good luck with your book and
your wedding.
GIL
You'd like Inez - she has a sharp
sense of humor - and she's sexy -
not that we agree on everything.
ADRIANA
But the important things.
GIL
Actually the small things - the
important things we don't - she'd
like to live in Malibu and that I'd
work in Hollywood - but I will say
we both like - er - er Indian food -
not all Indian food - pita bread -
we both like pita bread -
ADRIANA
(rising)
I should go. Pablo will be missing
me.
GIL
I'll walk you home -
53
CONTD:
43 43
ADRIANA
NO, no ··· Finish your drink. I
live just around the corner.
GIL
No, I wouldn't think -
ADRIANA
I'd prefer to be by myself for
awhile. Thank you for this
evening.
And she goes. He's stressed, thinks. Presently Salvador Dali
comes to table.
DALI
We met earlier tonight. At the
party.
GIL
Yes - I remember -
DALI
Dali - si? Dali! Dali! Une
bouteille de vin rouge I
waiter scurries for one.
DALI (CONT'D)
You like the shape of the
rhinoceros?
GIL
A rhinoceros? I never thought
about it.
DALI
I paint rhinoceros. I paint you -
sad eyes - big lips - melting over
hot sand - with one tear - yes -
and in your tear - Christ's face.
And rhinoceros.
GIL
I'm sure I look sad. I'm in a very
perplexing situation.
DALI
Everyone is in perplexing situation
- to be or not to be - this is
ultimate perplexing question - you
agree? Ah - here they are -
54
CONTD: (2)
43 43
Bufiuel, Man Ray enter and the table enlarges as they sit.
Dali introduces them to Gil.
GIL
My god, I own a surrealist print -
only a print by Magritte.
DALI
Pender - Pen-der - Pen-derrr - and
I am Da-li. Pender is in
perplexing situation.
GIL
It sounds so crazy when I say it
and you'll think I'm drunk but I've
got to tell someone I'm from a
different time - a whole other era -
the future - and I pass from the
two thousandth millennium to here -
a car picks me up - I slide through
time -
MAN RAY
Exactly correct - you inhabit two
worlds - so far I see nothing
strange.
GIL
Look, you're sur-realists - but I'm
a normal guy - See, in one life I'm
engaged to marry a woman I love -
at least I think I love her.
Christ, I'm supposed to love her if
I'm marrying her.
DALI
Love - the word love - love - the
word love - same as the word
rhinoceros - the rhinoceros makes
love by mounting the female - but
is there difference in beauty
between two rhinoceroses?
MAN RAY
But there is nothing more sur-real
than the human heart.
DALI
Past is also present.
55
CONTD: (3)
43 43
GIL
In a dream - which is fine for you
because you guys dabble in dreams.
MAN RAY
There is another woman?
GIL
Adriana is her name. And I felt
drawn to her - but it wouldn't
matter - men much greater than me,
profound artists - she's drawn to
geniuses - and they to her.
DALI
I see you with Christ - he is
smiling while you are crucified on
the heavy wooden cross of self-
doubt.
GIL
Of course my biggest problem is
reality.
BuNuEL
Reality is nothing more than a
dream - we all exist in the dream
of a dog.
GIL
I was born in the wrong time.
DALI
Time is all the mind. Time melts -
the watches melt - the hands of the
clock melt ···
MAN RAY
A man in love with a woman from a
different era. I see a photograph.
BuNuEL
I see a movie.
GIL
I see an insurmountable problem.
DALI
I see - a rhinoceros.
56
INT. HOTEL SUITE - DAY
44 44
Next morning. Room service breakfast.
INEZ
Did you get much work done last
night?
GIL
Er - some - yes - I'm beginning to
think my book may be too realistic -
that I've missed some chances to
let my imagination run wild and not
be so damn logical ···
INEZ
Shouldn't we be getting dressed?
GIL
C'mere - you always look great in
the morning.
INEZ
(she does)
We'll be late.
GIL
I have to work. I'm working like a
demon but I can't resist you half
dressed like that.
INEZ
Paul says we have to see the
countryside. He's taking us for
lunch at this beautiful little inn.
I know you like making love in the
morning but I find it much sexier
late afternoon - just before we go
out to dinner. Except I always
have to explain to my parents why
your cheeks look radiant. Hey-
I'm not going to force you. I know
you're hot on your writing. I'll be
happy when you finish this book and
move on.
CUT TO:
EXT. RODIN MUSEUM GARDEN - DAY
45 45
Gil is near The Kiss. He has tracked down the guide.
57
CQNTD:
45 45
GIL
Hello - Bonjour - I'd like to ask
you a question about Rodin.
GUIDE
Yes?
GIL
He loved his wife, he also loved
his mistress - is it really
possible to be in love with two
women?
GUIDE
He loved both in different ways.
GIL
God it's so French. Er - you
remember me?
GUIDE
I do. Qui - you were with the
group, the pedantic gentleman.
GIL
Yeah, pedantic - perfect word.
You're very observant. I need some
advice. I'd like a woman's take. A
French woman - an observant French
woman. I met some woman that I
very quickly became smitten with.
Smitten?
GUIDE
Uh-huh.
GIL
I'm engaged to be married. I know
Rodin had a wife and a mistress but
I'm American - we can't handle that
- we're monogamous.
GUIDE
You're engaged and you met a new
woman -
GIL
Yes. Her name's Adriana. Right now
she's living with Picas-- with a
Spaniard - er he paints - fairly
well. ··
58
CONTD: (2)
45 45
GUIDE
Yes - and does she love him? Or
you?
GIL
Love him or me? Well I hardly
think, me. But we've just met.
See, another very gifted man flirts
with her, a writer. All these
geniuses fall in love with her.
And what am I? And then of course
there's another big problem. I
can't exactly explain.
GUIDE
Yes?
GIL
I don't know whether to call it an
age difference - or a problem of
geography - I'm so messed up. I'm
not Hemingway, I'm not Picasso, I'm
not Rodin. I'm just a guy who was
born too late.
CUT TO:
OMITTED
46 46
EXT. STREET/INT. BUILDING - DAY
47 47
John walks down a street and enters a building. As he goes
up the stairs we learn it is the office of a private
detective agency.
CUT TO:
INT. AGENCY OFFICE - DAY
48 48
John and M. DuBois, the head detective. M. Tisserant, the
second is present too.
JOHN
Here's his photo. I want to know
where he goes each night.
DUBOIS
What is your suspicion?
59
CONTD:
48 48
JOHN
He's engaged to my daughter - to
marry and I want to be certain
she's making a wise decision.
Naturally discretion is paramount.
DUBOIS
You've come to the right place,
monsieur. Monsieur Tisserant -
will personally keep track of the
gentleman and report back on his
whereabouts at night.
CUT TO:
EXT. LOVELY SPOT/INT. CAR - NIGHT
49 49
Gil getting into the car as usual at the same spot at
midnight. Another man is in there. Tisserant is observing
from his car.
TOM
Come.
GIL
(gets in)
Thanks for stopping. Gil Pender.
TOM
Tom Eliot.
GIL
Tom Eliot? Tom - Stearns - T.S.
Eliot? T.S. Eliot?
SHOT of Gil entering car.
GIL (CONT'D)
I'm stunned, stunned - Prufrock -
my mantra -
As the car pulls off, we hear Gil speaking.
GIL (CONT'D)(V.O)
May I tell you where I come from
they measure out their lives in
coke spoons.
CUT TO:
OMITTED
50 50
60
INT. GERTRUDE STEIN'S PLACE - NIGHT
51 51
Picasso present - dour.
STEIN
Oh Pender - I'll get to your book
in a moment. I finished it. We're
just in the middle of a little
personal crisis.
GIL
I didn't mean to intrude.
STEIN
No, it's no secret. Adriana has
left Pablo and has flown to Africa
with Ernest Hemingway.
GIL
What?
PABLO
Sabia que tenia una obsesi6n con
este fanforr6n. Sobre esto
discutimos.
STEIN
Estoy seguro que regresara muy
devoto.
(English to Gil)
He took her hunting kudu but she'll
be back to him - the sound of
hyenas every night when you're
trying to sleep in a tent gets on
your nerves pretty quickly. Mt.
Kilimanjaro is not Paris.
GIL
They're on Mt. Kilimanjaro?
STEIN
Now about your book. Very unusual
indeed. In a way it's almost
science fiction - fiction with all
the futuristic devices - television
sets, supersonic flight - and yet
it's not typical science fiction -
it's unique.
(MORE)
61
CONTD:
51 51
STEIN (cont'd)
Nevertheless you have to get rid of
all that technology - what's good
about your book are the characters -
the human questions - love -
mortality - nobody cares about the
technology, they care about the
human heart. We all fear death and
question our place in the universe.
Unfortunately your book lapses into
easy pessimism. I was having this
conversation with Giacometti the
other day - he's such a gloom
monger.
GIL
Still, those sculptures -
STEIN
It's the artist's job not to
succumb to despair but to find an
antidote to the emptiness of
existence. I find your voice clear
and lively - don't be such a
defeatist.
CUT TO:
OMITTED
52 52
EXT. FRONT OF HOTEL - DAY
53 53
Inez, her mother and father loading into car.
HELEN
Tell Gil to bring a suit because
tomorrow night we'll be dining
formal. Where's Gil.
INEZ
I forgot to tell you. Gil is not
going with us to Mont St. Michel.
JOHN
Why not? I don't understand it.
INEZ
He writes, he rewrites, he rewrites
his rewrites. He says Picasso
never left his studio.
(MORE)
62
CONTD:
53 53
INEZ (cont'd)
I said, Gil, you have absolutely
nothing in common with Picasso ···
He just looks at me.
HELEN
Well he's going to miss a great
weekend.
CUT TO:
OMITTED
54 54
EXT. FLEA MARKET - DAY 55
55
Gil browsing. He listens to the old phonograph recordings.
GIL
Any Cole Porter?
GABRIELLE
Oh yes - I remember - he was your
friend.
GIL
I was kidding you realize.
GABRIELLE
I did realize. You're a bit young.
GIL
I'm surprised you're so familiar
with his work.
GABRIELLE
He wrote many songs about Paris -
very beautiful.
GIL
Yes - he was in love with your
hometown. You're a Parisiene?
GABRIELLE
Oui monsieur.
GIL
How much.
GABRIELLE
Dix-huit euro.
63
CONTD:
55 55
He pays. Takes album.
CUT TO:
OMITTED
56 56
EXT. BOOK MARKET - DAY
57 57
Gil at a place that has a bin of various old books more
pretty than great - the kind people buy for the binding or
plates.
He picks up a pretty bound but totally wrecked book in the
inside. It is slim, leather, torn up.
He reads the title page in hand writing. It reads: "This
diary belongs to Adriana Dupree."
GIL
(to customer)
Can you translate this? Speak
English?
customer shrugs. Moves off.
CUT TO:
EXT. NOTRE DAME GARDEN - DAY
58 58
Gil with Museum Guide. She's translating the diary into
English.
GUIDE
(reading)
That Paris exists and anyone could
choose to live anywhere else in the
world will always be a mystery to
me.
Turns pages.
GUIDE
(continuing)
Dinner with Pablo and Henri
Matisse. Pablo is the greater
artist although Matisse is the
greater painter.
64
CONTD:
58 58
GUIDE
(continuing)
Paris in the summer - what it must
have been like to sit opposite
one's lover at Maxim's in it's
heyday.
Pages are torn and text cuts off.
GUIDE
(continuing)
I am in love with an American
writer I just met named Gil Pender.
His eyes widen.
GUIDE
(continuing)
That immediate magic one hears
about happened to me. I know that
both Picasso and Hemingway are in
love with me but for whatever
inexplicable reasons the heart has,
I am drawn to Gil. Perhaps because
he seems naive and unassuming.
GUIDE
(continuing)
As always in this sad life he is
about to marry a woman named Inez.
I had a dream where he came to me
and brought me a little gift -
earrings they were - and we made
love. perhaps it is just as well I
accept Hemingway's offer to go to
Africa. Life with Pablo is too
full of conflict and I am
suffocating under his genius. Why
I need to go from one brilliant man
to another is my weakness. Gil is
different, perhaps not a genius but
not moody and selfish like Pablo or
Amedeo was. I think a trip to
Africa with Hemingway would help
get these feelings for Gil off my
mind.
GUIDE
(finished reading)
I don't understand. What is this?
65
CONTD: (2)
58 58
GIL
It's a little complicated to
explain. Thanks for translating -
GUIDE
The writer clearly has feelings for
this man Gil. That's your name,
no?
GIL
She finds him no genius - naive and
unassuming - that's not exactly
dazzling.
GUIDE
To some women naivete is endearing.
And she's romantic. She dreams of
Belle Epoque Paris and a gift of
earrings and making love with this
man.
Gil stares, thinking.
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL SUITE - NIGHT
59 59
Gil is sprucing up. He douses himself with aftershave,
checks clock. It's eleven PM.
GIL
(to himself)
Eleven - let's see - where the hell
am I going to get earrings at this
hour?
(thinks)
I must improvise.
He goes to Inez's jewelry box and picks out art nouveau
earrings he knows Adriana would like. He grabs a box and
gift wraps it quickly.
Maybe it comes in a blue velvet box and he finds some colored
paper. Gil writes card: To Adriana with love. He crosses
it out - To Adriana avec amour.
He gives a final check to himself and opens door to leave,
running smack into Inez and both her parents, home from their
trip prematurely.
GIL
Ohmigodl What are you doing back?
66
CONTD:
59 59
INEZ
Daddy got chest pains.
GIL
Really?
JOHN
I'm sure it's indigestion.
HELEN
Well we can't take a chance.
INEZ
Daddy had an angioplasty three
years ago.
JOHN
They put a balloon in me. Big
deal.
HELEN
(phone)
Yes - I want the hotel doctor -
suite 818.
(she trails off)
INEZ
Why are you so dressed up?
GIL
Me? No - I was just writing.
INEZ
You dress and put on cologne to
write?
GIL
I took a break and showered. I
think better in the shower. All
those positive ions.
INEZ
We were halfway to Mont. St.
Michele and Daddy started to look
pale.
GIL
That's terrible.
INEZ
We turned right around.
67
CONTD: (2)
59 59
GIL
No - sure - is there anything I can
get you, John?
JOHN
I'm fine. I'm sure it's the beef
bourguignon.
INEZ
What's this.
(picking up gift)
GIL
(grabs it from her)
It's nothing - nothing -
INEZ
What is that? It's a present.
GIL
Yes - yes ··· it is. Because it's
gift wrapped ··· but er - you're not
supposed to see that - it's a
surprise.
INEZ
You got me something?
GIL
It's nothing great - from the flea
market.
INEZ
Let me open it.
GIL
No! No - not now ··· I got it for -
I mean to give it to you at a
special dinner - just leave it ···
INEZ
Now I'm dying of curiosity. If
it's jewelry I hope it's my taste -
not like the moonstone necklace.
GIL
You didn't like the moonstones?
They're understated yet elegant -
(to Helen)
Don't you always say that, ha,
ha .·.
68
CONTD: (3)
59 59
HELEN
Cheap is cheap is what I always
say.
INEZ
You never saw the necklace he got
me. I've never actually worn it.
You'll see why immediately.
Opens her jewelry box, holds up moonstones.
GIL
I thought you'd like their
simplicity.
INEZ
That's just it, they're too simple.
HELEN
I agree.
INEZ
Hey - where are my art nouveau
earrings?
GIL
You probably didn't pack them.
INEZ
I've worn them here.
GIL
I guess you lost them. They
probably dropped off.
INEZ
Both of them? My ears are pierced.
HELEN
I told you to keep everything in
the hotel safe.
INEZ
You think it was the maid?
HELEN
It's always the maid.
INEZ
I remember seeing them there this
morning.
69
CONTD: (4)
59 59
HELEN
I would report the theft right
away.
INEZ
I'll bet it was that maid. She was
so snotty yesterday about turning
out the beds.
She goes to phone.
GIL
Gee I wouldn't jump to any
conclusions. I mean an accusation
of theft.
INEZ
(phone)
I want to report a theft. I'd like
the house detective to please come
to room 818.
GIL
Oh god -
INEZ
(hangs up)
I didn't like that maid from the
first day, didn't I say that?
Door rings.
GIL
The maid was very sweet.
INEZ
(opening door, doctor is
there)
Right. Take the side of the help
as usual. That's why Dad calls you
a Communist.
DOCTOR
I'm Dr. Gerard.
HELEN
Come in - he's right there ···
JOHN
I'm fine.
HELEN
He's had an angioplasty.
70
CONTD: (5)
59 59
Amidst the ad-lib moment, Gil has managed to secure a private
spot and has swiped the box. He's torn it open and removing
earrings, runs into the room with them.
GIL
Look! Look! Are these what you're
missing?
INEZ
Where did you find them?
GIL
They were in the bathroom.
INEZ
The bathroom?
GIL
Right out on the sink.
HELEN
I was in the bathroom, I didn't see
them.
GIL
Well you're under stress ···
INEZ
Why the hell would they be in the
bathroom?
GIL
Maybe you thought you put them away
and left them out or dropped them,
and the maid found them and left
them out where you could see them
easily.
INEZ
I didn't drop them or leave them
out ...
GIL
The main thing is they're not
stolen.
DOCTOR
I'm going to send you for some
tests but I think that you are
right and this is only indigestion.
71
CONTD: (6)
59 59
JOHN
See. Incidentally, it was very
nice of you to come over so late.
HELEN
Yes - my god, is it midnight
already?
Gil is disappointed.
CUT TO:
EXT. FLEA MARKET - DAY
60 60
Gil is buying earrings.
CUT TO:
OMITTED
61 61
EXT. DETECTIVE TISSERANT'S CAR/LOVELY SPOT - NIGHT
62 62
He is behind the wheel of his car observing. Car stops -
picks up Gil, pulls off. Tisserant pulls off to follow.
CUT TO:
INT. GERTRUDE STEIN'S PLACE - NIGHT
63 63
STEIN
(to Matisse)
C'est l'un de vos meilleurs jusqu'a
present. Je parlai a Leo. Je
pense qu'il souhaite l'acheter.
Matisse is delighted, goes about his business there as she
turns to Gil.
STEIN
I was just telling Matisse we want
to buy one of his new pictures for
our personal collection. Five
hundred francs seems fair.
GIL
Five hundred francs? For a
Matisse?
(half to himself)
(MORE)
72
CONTD:
63 63
GIL (cont'd)
Gee, why don't I pick up half a
dozen? I could clean up - but
how's all this possible - I should
have paid more attention in my
physics class ···
STEIN
Well?
GIL
Oh er - I brought a rewrite of the
first few chapters of my book and
was hoping you would tell me if you
thought I was on the right track.
STEIN
Leave it with me.
GIL
Er - have you heard from Hemingway?
STEIN
Oh yes, they've been back for days.
The trip didn't work out. I knew
they wouldn't hit it off. That's
over. with Picasso too. She's at
Deyrolles - by herself.
GIL
By herself?
STEIN
On of those surrealist painters is
getting married and they did it up
there. She'll be glad to see you.
CUT TO:
INT. DEYROLLE - NIGHT
64 64
Wedding in progress. Informal, non-traditional wedding with
artist type guests.
Gil finds Adriana.
ADRIANA
Oh - what are you doing here?
GIL
I came to find you.
73
CONTD:
64 64
ADRIANA
You did?
GIL
Let's just say as a writer I see
into women's souls and I sense that
you have very complicated feelings
towards me.
ADRIANA
But you're going to be married.
GIL
I'm not so sure about anything
anymore - can we just go where it's
quiet?
They are almost out the door when they run into Luis Bufiuel.
GIL (CONT'D)
Oh, Mr. Bufiuel, I had a nice idea
for a movie for you.
BuNuEL
Yes?
GIL
A group of people are at a formal
dinner party and after dinner when
they try to leave the room, they
can't.
BuNuEL
Why not?
GIL
They just can't seem to exit the
door.
BuNuEL
But why?
GIL
And because they're all forced to
stay together the veneer of
civilization quickly comes off them
and they behave as who they really
are - animals.
BuNuEL
But I don't get it - why don't they
just walk out of the room?
74
CONTD: (2)
64 64
GIL
Just think about it - that's all
I'm saying - maybe one day you'll
be shaving and it'll tickle your
fancy.
They go off as Bufiuel gets in last line.
BuNuEL
I don't understand - what's holding
them in the room?
CUT TO:
EXT. PRETTY LOCATION - NIGHT
65 65
Gil and Adriana at romantic locale. He kisses her.
ADRIANA
What are you doing?
GIL
I don't know but I do know that for
a brief moment, when I was doing
it, I felt - immortal.
ADRIANA
But - you look so sad.
GIL
Because life is too mysterious for
me.
ADRIANA
It's the time we live in.
Everything moves so fast - life is
noisy and complicated - not like
the Belle Epoque. In those years
Paris lived only for beauty.
GIL
I've always been a logical person.
I never took chances - did anything
crazy - like move here when I first
came or take a shot at being a real
writer, not a Hollywood hired hand -
but I feel like letting everything
go.
Gil gives her earrings.
75
CaNTO:
65 65
GIL
Here.
ADRIANA
How remarkable - they're beautiful.
A horse and carriage pulls up.
DIDIER
Monsieur, mademoiselle - on y vas.
ADRIANA
What? Who are you?
CHLOE
Montez. On y vas. Nous allons
etre en retard.
GIL
What's going on?
They get in.
ADRIANA
Where are we going?
DIDIER
To drink champagne.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. MAXIMS - NIGHT
66 66
They pull up at Maxims. People from the Belle Epoque enter
and exit.
ADRIANA
This is so beautiful.
ADRIANA (CONT'D)
All those pictures I've seen of
Belle Epoque Paris. We're herel -
GIL
I don't know what it is about this
city but I must write a thank you
note to the chamber of commerce.
76
INT. MAXIMS - NIGHT
67 67
Inside.
MARIE
Welcome - and oh what marvelous
outfits. So avant garde - please
have some champagne.
ADRIANA
I can't believe this is happening
to me.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. MAXIMS - NIGHT
68 68
Gil and Adriana are dancing romantically.
ADRIANA
I never want to go back to the
present. Never.
GIL
The present - Yes, the present
always seems worse than the past
but it can't be - to always think
this generation is stupider and
coarser than the last - and yet -
here we are at Maxims tonight and
yes, it's fabulous.
ADRIANA
And I know just where I want to go
after.
CUT TO:
INT. MOULIN ROUGE/STAGE - NIGHT
69 69
The girls dance.
CUT TO:
INT. MOULIN ROUGE/AUDIENCE - NIGHT
70 70
Gil and Adriana sit and hold hands. Dance ends and girls run
off.
77
CONTD:
70 70
ADRIANA
(to waiter)
Encore du vin. Le meme chose.
(to Gil)
Isn't this something. Lookl Look I
She points out Lautrec sketching.
ADRIANA
Pablo worships him. I have to say
hello. Come with me, I'm nervous.
GIL
We shouldn't bother him.
ADRIANA
But we know he's a lonely man ··· he
longs for company.
They go over. She speaks to Lautrec.
ADRIANA
We're both great admirers of your
work. Nous sommes tout les deux de
grands admirateurs de votre
travail.
LAUTREC
Merci madame.
ADRIANA
Pouvons nous vous offrir un verre?
LAUTREC
J'en serai enchante mademoiselle.
Prenez un siege je vous en prie.
ADRIANA
He's asking us to sit down with
him.
GIL
This much French I know.
LAUTREC
Etes vous Americain?
GIL
I'm American. Oui -
LAUTREC
Je l'ai devine a votre accent.
78
CONTD: (2)
70 70
ADRIANA
Nous aimons, tous les vos dessins
et peintures, en realite tout ce
que vous faites.
GIL
Yes, I love your pictures too.
LAUTREC
(welcomes two new men to
table)
Oh - puis-je vous presenter mes
amis ··· Monsieur Degas and Monsieur
Gauguin.
ADRIANA
Ohmigoodness - hello - enchante -
(ad-lib hellos best they
can)
(to Gil)
Isn't this thrilling? You see the
sketch he's made? Nobody can draw
like that today - not Pablo, not
Matisse -
We see fine drawing, Lautrec style.
GIL
Parlez Anglais?
DEGAS
No monsieur.
LAUTREC
(referring to Gauguin)
11 parle un petit peut.
GAUGUIN
I speak well - je parle tres bien.
DEGAS
(scornfully over Gauguin's
boasting)
Ah-
GAUGUIN
Degas and I were just talking about
how - cette generation est
depourvue de sens et mangue
d'imagination.
79
CONTD: (3)
70 70
ADRIANA
He says they find this generation
sterile and empty -
GAUGUIN
La Renaissance est beaucoup mieux -
better to have lived during the
Renaissance.
ADRIANA
No - this is the Golden Age - L'Age
D'or.
DEGAS
Pas do tout - la Renaissance -
c'etait mieux - leur vetements sont
tres, tres modernes, tres
originaux.
ADRIANA
He says your clothes are very
modern and original.
GIL
Er - yes - Monsieur Lauren - Ralph.
(to Gauguin)
Shouldn't you be in Tahiti?
GAUGUIN
I? What? Yes - I live on the
island - a much better life than
here - better there - but then I
miss Paris - up and back - Qu'est
que vous faites dans la vie?
ADRIANA
What do I do? Je suis etudiante.
En haute couture - fashion designer
but studying -
DEGAS
Ah ga compte pour les vetements
outrageux.
LAUTREC
Vous devriez la presenter a
Richard.
GAUGUIN
He wants Degas to have you meet his
friend Richard.
(MORE)
80
CONTD: (4)
70 70
GAUGUIN ( cont ' d)
He's looking for someone to do
costumes for the ballet.
ADRIANA
Ballet costumes - my god - I don't
live here. I mean I do but I
don't. Je n'habite pas ici.
GIL
I wouldn't get into too many
details with them. Let's just
leave it that we're temporarily
passing through.
ADRIANA
(to Gil)
Can I speak with you a minute?
(to table)
Permettez-moi de m'absenter un
instant.
(she gets him off)
Let's never go back to the
twenties.
GIL
What are you talking about?
ADRIANA
I think we should stay here - it's
the start of the Belle Epoque -
this is the greatest, most
beautiful era Paris has ever known.
GIL
But I love the Jazz Age.
ADRIANA
The twenties are full of strife and
uncertainty. But think of it, Gil -
the two of us - in a lovely art
nouveau home - I'll work in the
fashion world - I love the styles -
you can write ··· it's the age of
Debussy and Guimard. Maybe you can
meet Balzac.
GIL
But what happened to the twenties
and the Charleston and Cole Porter?
ADRIANA
That's the present, it's dull.
81
70 70
CONTD: (5)
GIL
It's not the present for me - I'm
from 2010.
ADRIANA
What do you mean?
GIL
I dropped in on you just the way we
dropped in on the 1890's.
ADRIANA
You did?
GIL
I wanted to escape my present just
like you wanted to escape yours.
To a golden age.
ADRIANA
Surely you don't think the twenties
are a golden age?
GIL
To me they are.
ADRIANA
But I'm from the twenties and I'm
tellin~ you the golden age is the
Belle Epoque.
GIL
Yes but don't you see - to these
guys the golden age was the
Renaissance. They'd all trade the
Belle Epoque to paint alongside
Michelangelo or Titian. And those
guys probably imagine life was
better when Kubla Khan was around.
I'm having an insight. A minor one
but that accounts for the anxiety
of my dream.
ADRIANA
What dream?
GIL
Last night I dreamed I ran out of
zithromax - and then I went to the
dentist and there was no novacaine -
these people have no antibiotics -
82
70 70
CONTD: (6)
ADRIANA
What are you talking about?
GIL
And even in the twenties - no
dishwashers - no 911 if your
appendix bursts - no "movies on
demand" ·
ADRIANA
But if we love each other what does
it matter when we live?
GIL
Because if you stay here and this
becomes your present, sooner or
later you'll imagine another time
was really the golden time. And so
will I - I'm beginning to see why
it can't work, Adriana. The
present has a hold on you because
it's your present and while there's
never any progress in the most
important things, you get to
appreciate - what little progress
is made - the internet - Pepto-
Bismol. The present is always
going to seem unsatisfying because
life itself is unsatisfying -
that's why Gauguin goes back and
forth between Paris and Tahiti,
searching - it's my job as a writer
to try and come up with reasons why
despite life being tragic and
unsatisfying, it's still worth it.
ADRIANA
That's the problem with writers -
you're all so full of words - but
I'm more emotional. I'm going to
stay and live in Paris' most
glorious time. You made a choice
to leave Paris once and you
regretted it.
GIL
Yes, that one I regretted but it
was a real choice and I made the
wrong one. This is a choice
between accepting reality or
surreal insanity.
83
CONTD: (7)
70 70
ADRIANA
So finally you do love Inez more
than me.
GIL
No - I love you - but this way lies
madness - and if I'm ever going to
write anything worthwhile I've got
to get rid of my illusions and that
I'd be happier in the past is one
of them.
ADRIANA
Goodbye, Gil.
GIL
Goodbye Adriana. Good luck.
They kiss, she turns and goes to the table of artists.
CUT TO:
INT. GERTRUDE STEIN'S PLACE - NIGHT
71 71
Gil being admitted to the Stein home. He is full of energy.
STEIN
Ah - Pender - I read your rewrite.
Yes ··· you're nicely on the right
track. You've understood me
clearly. If the rest of the book
reads as well when you're done
you'll have something of value.
GIL
(taking it back)
Thank you. I can't tell you how
much this means to me.
STEIN
Hemingway who read your chapters
and agrees it's going to be a fine
book did have one plot suggestion.
GIL
Hemingway read it? What was his
suggestion?
84
CaNTO:
71 71
STEIN
He finds it hard to believe the
protagonist doesn't see his fiancee
is having an affair that's going on
right before his eyes.
GIL
with -
STEIN
The other character - the pedantic
one -
GIL
It's called denial. Thanks again.
(to passing poet)
You're Ezra Pound right? T.S.
Eliot says you owe him forty
francs.
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL SUITE - DAY
72 72
Gil back in present in mid-argument with Inez.
INEZ
You're crazy - Paul and me? Where
did you get such an insane notion?
GIL
From Ernest Hemingway. He thought
it out and it makes perfect sense.
INEZ
Gil, your brain tumor's acting up
again.
GIL
There's nothing crazy about Ernest
Hemingway or Gertrude Stein or
Fitzgerald or Salvador Dali -
INEZ
Nothing except they've all been
dead for years.
GIL
It was William Faulkner who said,
the past is not dead.
(MORE)
85
72 CONTD: 72
GIL (cont'd)
In fact, it's not even past.
Actually I ran into Bill Faulkner
at a party.
INEZ
You're a raving lunatic.
GIL
I guess I'm too trusting. I'm
jealous and also trusting -
cognitive dissonance, Scott
Fitzgerald speaks of it.
INEZ
Gil -
GIL
I know it Inez - you can fool me
but not Hemingway.
INEZ
Jesus Christ I'm dealing with a
madman - okay - Paul and I had a
few nights alone. We danced, we
drank - you were always working -
he's very attractive, he spoke to
me in French - the whole mystique
of this corny city got to me - it's
over. We can put this all in
perspective at home.
GIL
I'm not going back.
INEZ
What?
GIL
I'm staying here. It's not the
romantic fling. Paris is Paris.
It's that I'm not in love with you.
INEZ
What?
GIL
A lot has happened to me since we
got here. I won't begin to bore
you - but - I know what that
feeling of love is and it's not us.
86
CONTD: (2)
72 72
INEZ
Have you met someone else? All
those late night walks.
GIL
I was attracted to another woman
but it was the whole deal - meeting
Gertrude Stein and Hemingway and
Dali and Scott and Zelda -
INEZ
Honey, you better listen to
yourself. You're a psycho. You
don't know what you're doing. You
see everything here through magical
colored glasses. You're a
California film writer with a house
in Beverly Hills with two
Mercedes'. You're not some kind of
twenties expatriate novelist.
Her parents enter from the adjoining suite.
HELEN
What's going on? We can hear every
word.
GIL
If I'm not happy I'll move back.
But right now I'm going to stay.
INEZ
With who? All your crazy
hallucinatory friends? Mother was
right about you - there's a part
missing.
JOHN
said that first.
~
INEZ
Anyone who's protagonist makes a
living selling old cap pistols and
Joan Crawford cut out books.
GIL
You're better off without me.
INEZ
Go ahead. Walk the streets - gush
over the Parisian light and the
rooftops.
87
CONTD: (3)
72 72
GIL
Goodbye Inez.
He goes.
JOHN
I had a private detective follow
him - I knew he was up to no good.
INEZ
Daddy you didn't.
JOHN
I did. He saw him get into a car
at midnight each night and he
followed close behind.
HELEN
What happened?
JOHN
I don't know. The detective agency
says the detective is missing.
CUT TO:
INT. VERSAILLES - DAY
73 73
Detective Tisserant is in a period room with two stunned
period occupants. They all speak French.
COUNT
A qui ai-je l'honneur?
TISSERANT
Je me suis perdu - J'ai pas du
tourner au bon endroit
COUNTESS
Guardes! Guardes!
COUNT
Qu'on lui coupe la tete!
CUT TO:
OMITTED
74 74
88
EXT. PONT ALEXANDRE III - NIGHT
75 75
Gil walking at night. He sees someone approaching and
realizes it is the girl from the Flea Market, Gabrielle.
GIL
Hey, I know you - the girl at the
flea market.
GABRIELLE
Oh yes - yes - the Cole Porter one.
GIL
What are you doing here?
GABRIELLE
I'm returning from dinner with my
girlfriends. I live near here.
GIL
What's your name?
GABRIELLE
Gabrielle.
GIL
Gabrielle, - I'm Gil - I just moved
to Paris this week.
GABRIELLE
Oh I'm sure you'll love it.
GIL
Can I walk along with you or can I
buy you a coffee? Oh god, it's
starting to rain.
GABRIELLE
That's okay. I don't mind getting
wet. Paris is the most beautiful
in the rain.
GIL
Oh what a thing to say. I couldn't
agree more.
GABRIELLE
I just thought about you the other
day because my boss got in a whole
album of Cole Porter songs.
GIL
Hey what are those bells?
89
CONTD:
75 75
GABRIELLE
It's midnight.
GIL
Midnight - right - right - pretty
name.
FADE OUT as they walk off together in the rain.
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