20. The Latin Quarter - Leslie

Recommended listening/viewing for this script - St. Vincent's "Marry Me John" and Anna Ternheim's "Subtle Men"

• FADE IN:
  



• EXT. BALCONY IN PARIS’ LATIN QUARTER - DAY


• ROSIE sits in a rocking chair watching the flow of traffic under her feet. Her cowboy boots are propped up on the balcony’s railing and a cowboy hat sits at an angle that dares the casual onlooker to mess with her.


• She strums a a guitar and sings softly, whispering music to herself.


• ROSIE
• I knew a girl named Charlie, a dreamer a hippie...I said “Come in, have some peppermint tea.”


• She hums, strumming a gentle, melancholy melody.


• A strand of dark hair slips in front of her face and she tries to shake it away, then gives up, but the melody never stops.


• ROSIE
• Just come inside, come away, leave your troubles...


• Someone pounds at her door but she does not move.


• ROSIE
• Leave your troubles...your troubles.


• Someone is yelling from outside her apartment.


• She closes her eyes and keeps strumming.


• The sound of a key clicking in the lock echoes off the walls.


• A TALL GALLIC MAN walks into the room reluctantly followed by two POLICE MEN and a THICK MAN with a crew cut and an army uniform.


• The soldier lays a thick hand on her shoulder.


• Rosie keeps playing.


• He grabs her shoulder, forcing her to stand, and she turns around, placing her guitar down against the railing.


• They stare each other down, Rosie looking at him coolly.


• SGT. IVANEVIC
• It’s time to report for duty. Thought you could get away? It’s a new world sweetheart, Uncle Sam gets what he wants, and he wants you.


• He chuckles, surveying the room, his eyes stopping at a large picture framed above a bookshelf. In it, Rosie stands with a group of people burning their draft cards.


• He shakes his head in disgust.


• The gallic man wrings his hands, a large key dangling from his forefinger.


• ERICH
• Pardon, Rosie, pardon.


• She smiles at him, and he relaxes a bit, his eyes still darting nervously.


• SGT. IVANEVIC
• Come on.


• He pushes Rosie towards the door.


• She takes one more glance at her guitar, and then is pushed outside.


• The door slams.


• The GUITAR sits outside as time washes past it; the remainder of summer; through Autumn rains and leaves, the weather warping the wood. Winter snows pile around it, and still the apartment sits quiet.



• FADE TO BLACK.