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X - LOVES, the movie "Behind every great fortune is a crime waiting to happen." - Zola Lawrence X-Loves is an international chase film in which Gina, an older woman teacher working in Indonesia runs into a former lover, Gerald, in one of the many small, remote islands of the country. Gerald is a business man, escorting two other business men in the island paradise. Gina and Gerald rendezvous. The next day Gina’s plane, with her group of fellow teachers, is blown out of the sky. Gina returns to Jakarta, but a house bomb blows up her home. Confused and afraid, she travels to Thailand to learn self-defense skills and is befriended by an American monk. Again she is almost killed. The monk gives her some advice and money to help her return to the USA to discover who is trying to kill her. She relies on her cop-cousin in Chicago for some information, as well as a hired gun, who asks if she wants the person she’s looking for killed. Realizing it would be safer to flush her opponent out in a third world country, she goes to the Middle East where she confronts her former lover and the dreadful secret for which he was trying to kill by killing her. SCREENPLAY EXT. DIRT PATH ON REMOTE ISLAND OF INDONESIA NIGHT INDONESIAN GAMELAN MUSIC plays. GINA, 50+ and BETH, 25+ dressed in long skirts, walk down a dirt path. GINA carries an overly large purse, with a sketch book in it, and a small, Indonesian basket. BETH opens a wooden gate along the path. EXT. EXTENDED FAMILY COMPOUND NIGHT Near-naked children run about the compound, kicking a ball and playing happily. By an open fire, some women and teenagers sit and eat. An Indonesian boy gets up from the group and greets the two women, bowing. They bow in return. GINA gives the boy the basket, with $10 US dollars in it. He opens his hand, pointing towards a set of stairs. Both women go to walk up the stairs, but the boy guides BETH to the fire. EXT. OPEN AIR ROOM, WITH ONE, BACK, BRICK WALL AND TWO SIDES OF WOVEN PALM. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM OPENS TOWARDS THE COMPOUND. NIGHT An OLD MAN sits crosslegged on the ground and bows to GINA. She bows, joins him. Gradually the GAMELAN MUSIC lowers and blends into the sounds of the insects. The MUSIC fades away while the insects become louder as GINA draws a portrait of the old man when he was young. EXT. EXTENDED FMAILY COMPOUND NIGHT BETH is trying to talk with the family, but they feed her sticky rice from a banana leaf. Everyone smiles, and occasionally look at the raised platform where the OLD MAN and GINA sit. GINA turns her paper rapidly, quickly sketching. The camera reveals that she is drawing with her eyes clothes. The camera shows the sketches: three men seated at a dinner table, an explosion in the sky, a gun, a woman kick-boxing a tall opponent, a desert with camels walking away from an old, crumbling town…. EXT. DIRT PATH OF REMOTE ISLAND OF INDONESIA NIGHT The two women are walking away from the gate. BETH Guess you didn’t need a translator? GINA Vulcan mind-melt…..I mean, mind to mind. BETH But I heard him call out to you as we left. He said something about “Beware the one-eyed snake”? GINA Don’t you know old vulgar English? It’s an old expression, for a man’s… BETH Got it! I got it! He doesn’t speak English, So how’d he yell out English? GINA He picked up the sounds From me. BETH Oh. Well, tomorrow, it’s Bali. End of the road, then Back to work. (more) An oddly placed street kerosene lamp lights a crossroads. They stop. BETH takes GINA’s sketchbook and looks at the drawings. GINA sees them for the first time too. BETH (CONT’D) Who’s that? GINA That’s the guru when he was a young man…. (beat) It’s something I’ve been practicing, kinda like time travel. BETH All this magic is kinda spooky, don’t you think? No, you wouldn’t. I still Can’t believe you just ESP EVERYBODY! It’s been getting stronger, right? Your gift? GINA Shhh. We agreed not to talk About our little side trips, remember? You know what the others think…. BETH covers her lips with a finger. GINA closes the sketchbook, and they continue walking, the sound of the night insects increasing. EXT. REMOTE ISLAND’S HOTEL VERANDAH NIGHT A former Dutch Plantation Estate has been changed into a tourist hotel which has seen better days. Even the overhead fans seem dead tired as they turn above the wide, open-air verandah-restaurant. Blue, electronic bug killers ZAP mosquitoes every few seconds. Five people sit around a large circular table. GINA looks younger than a woman in her 50s, except for her increasing middle-age bulk. She is drawing a local village in her sketchbook, while her oversized bag rests next to her plastic chair. BETH, is talking with her. They watch the drawing develop before their eyes. A young, slovenly and horny UNCOUTH YOUTH in his mid-20s is watching the waitresses while another SERIOUS YOUTH in his late 20s, with glasses, is reading the Indonesian menu aloud, translating for the others. Another woman, ANNE, GINA’S age but slightly larger and older, is listening to the menu reader. Another ZAP. Another dead insect. UNCOUTH YOUTH Thank God mosquitoes don’t transmit AIDS, or we’d all be done for. BETH Speak for yourself. UNCOUTH YOUTH I’d like one of those waitresses here…. He looks towards the group of 10 waitresses. As he does so, five of them descend upon the table, fussing with the cloth napkins, filling water glasses. GINA (as she draws) No ice, please. SERIOUS YOUTH So it’s going to be four gado gados and my nasi goreng as usual? BETH Sorry peanut sauce can kill you. You don’t know what you’re missing! SERIOUS YOUTH It doesn’t kill…. Actually…. Just like Montezuma’s Revenge GINA (looking up from her drawing) Hey, be nice, Beth. I’ve shared my sulfur pills with all of you! Remember when you were filming those kids and YOU had to run to the gutter! BETH pats the camera fondly. Everyone laughs, the food is brought. EXT. EARTHERN PATHWAY TO HOTEL’S VERANDAH NIGHT The camera pans into the darkening vegetation, looking like a Gauguin painting. Three obviously Western men seem to emerge from the darkness, walking up the earthen path towards the hotel. In the lead is GERALD, a Frenchman with a strong accent, 6’3”, in his early 50s, handsome, healthy and fit, wearing a local sarong and t-shirt. He is large, but graceful. His handsomeness is almost feminine. He carries silence within him, an assertive silence that shows he’s the leader of the group, despite the petty annoyance of GREG, nearly as tall, in his mid-40s, also fit, wearing khaki shorts, a shirt, and sandals. GREG is used to being the leader of any group and TOM, 5’8”, in his mid-40s, overweight and sweating profusely in the night’s humidity, from wearing jeans and a jean shirt. GREG and TOM are complaining about the heat, the humidity, the weather, the airplane ride. GERALD looks at the group of fellow Westerners and steers his two guys to the table furthest from them, and deftly says something to one of the five waitresses who descend upon them. The women leave. Within seconds, five male waiters descend on the group, one discreetly extinguishes an overhanging kerosene hurricane lamp as he places a green, spiral mosquito-smoke repellant onto the railing of the porch behind the group. GERALD has situated his back against the balcony, facing the group of TEACHERS while TOM and GREG face him. GINA laughs. GREG and TOM turn around to glance at the table of Westerners and become quiet. GERALD quickly orders drinks for the men, and tells a joke in a low voice to distract them. The teachers are eating their food when GINA’S eyes casually falls into GERALD’S. Both shudder. GINA stops her fork right before her mouth. BETH Looks like you’ve seen a ghost. GINA fusses with her gado gado. SERIOUS GUY (looks at the men, at GINA) Maybe she has. (more) SERIOUS GUY adjusts his glasses and thinks. SERIOUS GUY Maybe we should take a break. We’ve been at this for weeks. Let’s go to Boroburder for a few days. UNCOUTH YOUTH What’s there? SERIOUS GUY Ninth Century Buddhist ruins. I could use some peaceful air. UNCOUTH YOUTH Saw that shit in Cambodia! Pretty stupid to think Buddhists don’t kill. Didn’t you see “The Killing Fields”? GINA I can’t bring myself to ‘visit’ Viet Nam! I can’t believe some of you are going there. And WANT to crawl around in the Viet Cong tunnels. I’d just cry throughout the whole trip. BETH But tomorrow is Bali, right, Anne? ANNE Yes, our last stop. Bali. We only have About two days of work, ‘though. UNCOUTH YOUTH is feeling up a waitress who is giggling and nodding her head “Yes”. He gets up to leave the table, having quickly finished his meal. UNCOUTH YOUTH I’m ready to go! ANNE You can’t. We have to finish discussing tomorrow’s filming in Bali. NO BIKNI BEACH shots (eyeing uncouth youth) And you have to clean up your notes so they’re legible. Don’t complain that your laptop batteries (more) have run out. I saw you using it earlier. UNCOUTH YOUTH Who put you in charge? We’re not in school any more. This is the WILD country, lady, and I’ll do as I please – BE WILD! GINA (as peacemaker) There’ll be time in Bali for R & R. (turns to SERIOUS GUY) They can stay in Bali and we can get in at least a day in Yogyakarta. GINA turns from SERIOUS GUY and catches GERALD’s beckoning eye. She rises from her chair as if in a trance. GERALD too has risen from his. They meet in the middle and suddenly the gracefulness loses its trance and they are as awkward as teenagers. UNCOUTH YOUTH Well, maybe she isn’t gay after all!! BETH Just because someone doesn’t sleep around like you doesn’t mean they’re gay! UNCOUGH YOUTH You need to get laid, Beth. And here I was, thinking you two were at it every night! UNCOUTH YOUTH angrily throws his napkin onto the table and leaves. The WAITRESS joins him as he merges into the depths of the hotel lobby and up the stairs. At the same time, GINA and GERALD have walked to the front of the verandah’s stairs, away from both tables. GINA I’m surprised. GERALD (with French accent) Happy or sad surprise? GINA Confused surprised. Fancy meeting you here, of all places. GERALD Yes, I fancy meeting you here. GERALD takes her hands into his. GINA Why do I feel this way, after all these years, Gerald? There have been others….. GERALD We were the first for each other. Come to my room, Gina. After 10. I have to lose these two peasants. GINA Can’t you join me now? GERALD Business. My employers. You know, office politics. GINA Never my forte, but always yours. OK, 10. They hug and return to their tables. INT. HOTEL BEDROOM, DARK & GLOOMY NIGHT The room has heavy old Dutch furniture (the gloom is from the use of 20-30 watt bulbs in the lamps). GERALD opens the door to GINA who is wearing a youthful dress, with a V-cut neckline, outlining her generous breasts but loose enough to hide her non-lithe figure. GERALD wears a silk dressing gown, naked underneath and hugs her immediately as she enters the room. He is ready to dash his gown away and throw her onto the bed, but, as they kiss, she moves towards a set of chairs sitting before an unused fireplace. The setting is quaint, and amazes GINA as she breaks from GERALD’S embrace. She sits into one of the high back chairs, looking at the room, the Dutch furniture, oversized four-poster bed, and then GERALD. He kneels by her side. She takes his head into her hands, looks into his eyes until he looks away. GINA Oh dear! You’re hiding Something. Something serious and dangerous! That’s why you wanted to entangle me into your legs and heavy breathing and…… His right hand is sliding up her thigh and she can barely breathe. She sighs, then looks at him. GINA Maybe we should talk first, rather than afterwards? (more) His hand finds what he was looking for, kissing her neck and ready to lift her from the chair and carry her to the bed. She slaps his hand away. GINA I’ve got to know. You can’t just come inside and stir up all that love and then leave me again. GERALD (lifting her) I am widowed. She was crazier than you, mais, unlike you, gave me three childrens I love. GINA And I teach kids I adore. (more) GERALD falters after she says this, then straightens, bringing her up with him. GINA What are you doing here, of all places? GERALD Trying to seduce you. GINA wiggles from his grasp and quickly returns to the chair, and sits prim and proper. GINA Seriously? I mean, we can’t just meet 25 years later and start off where we left off. GERALD Why not? Time is an illusion. Let us time travel. Now that we are together, everything is now. GINA The last time you were married. GERALD (Sitting in the chair opposite her) I told you, I am now widowed. GINA But what are you doing here? I mean, this is the middle of nowhere’sville! GERALD Noticed I have not asked you. GINA Because you know I’ll tell, as always. Ok, I wrote a grant, got money from the U.S. and permission from Jakarta to film a series on the ‘hinterlands’ of the remote islands here. For our students – bring them knowledge of the places their parents and grandparents left before joining Jakarta’s slums. GERALD A teacher? I thought you would be today’s Andy Warhol in New York, with a following and millions for your silly paintings. GINA Thanks…. I’ve been traveling, teaching, English as a Foreign Language. I’m doing exactly what I want. Drawing and saving 1001 images for when I can afford to settle somewhere and paint them. After France, (beat) I didn’t have the heart to use oils again. And you? What’s your business? GERALD (Unable to stop himself) I am “a man of leisure” now. Three childrens from the first marriage and one on the way, and millions of dollars at my disposal. (beat) Figuratively, I mean. Millions of other people’s l’argent. Consultation. Oil companies. GINA What happened to your own millions – all that Moroccan hash pay off? GERALD Lebanese hash, Thai sticks…. All that just…. gone with the wind. I met some oil company mens. I take care of them. They take care of me. Everything is legal – finally. You did not think I could go that, right? GINA I liked you before you went into drug trafficking. I got scared you might have gotten into the white slave trade you talked about. GERALD You remember that? GINA Yep. Remember most everything. GERALD (quickly) Here, have some whisky. GINA No, I don’t drink anymore. Binge drinking with you got pretty dangerous. I gave it up. (more) SILENCE GINA Widowed? Do you mind telling me about it? GERALD One of those things everyone expected. Suicide, but not messy and bloody, just pills. I was overseas. She accused me of doing a Sylvia Plath-Ted Hughes on her. Refused to see a psychiatrist. Said it would ruin her creativity. GINA You always seem to go For artists? What was her art? GERALD Just painters, like you. You set the mold. She got successful and Could not deal with it. GINA I’m sorry. About not being able to give you children. How are they? GERALD Three. The oldest is in college now. SILENCE GINA Another on the way? GERALD (drinks from his glass – while the camera lingers on her untouched glass.) You know her. C’est vrais. You know her well. GINA (Her eyes widen) Not Cecilia! Did you marry HER? GERALD (Downing another shot glass) Oui. The one and only! And yes, I’m honorable with my women! GINA She doesn’t even have breasts! And no, you weren’t honorable with me! (more) GINA rises from her chair and goes to slap GERALD but stops herself. GINA (CONT’D) How many betrayals do I have to accept from BOTH of you? GERALD (Glaring) So elemental, Gina, so elemental. GINA You said you could never love a woman without breasts! GERALD When people are young, they say many foolish things. GINA Why didn’t you ever look for me? You had my parents’ phone and address? GERALD Things happen, when you live in one place like I did, and don’t go country to country like you did. GINA You could have found me if you tried! GERALD (Pouring a third drink, ignoring hers) Maybe you loved me more than I loved you? He doesn’t look at her. She falls to her knees beside him. She cries quietly. He raises his hand as if to brush her away, then pats her gently. GERALD Youth, old age, old love, Tempus fugit. GINA No, you fled from the truth, giving it to me, locked into my heart. (beat) You chose a real liar to marry. She’s big on self-denial. (beat) You know, she lies to herself and everyone around her. She’s pathological. Something from her childhood, I think. (more) She stands. GINA (CONT’D) Do you know how she betrayed me? GERALD She is my wife and the mother-to-be of my second son. I do not want to know YOUR secrets, and I do not want you to remember mine. GINA reaches for the drink he has left for her. With her other hand, her palm finds his naked skin above his heart. She looks into his eyes, then about the room, then back to his clear, powerful eyes. GINA Cecilia. How could you? She puts the drink down, and, fixing her messed hair, rushes from the hotel room. EXT. SMALL AIRPLANE LANDING DAWN A distance from the airplane, hidden in the jungle growth, a MAN with a SHOULDER-TO-AIR-HEAT-MISSLE watches the teachers’ group enter the plane. The counting is difficult because the group is in a clump, but a woman wearing the same dress as Gina enters the plane. He shoots the small plane from the sky. EXT. BOAT LANDING DAWN GINA and BETH are boarding a fishing small boat. GINA is tearful and lost in a trance. BETH has to help her onto the boat. The two women, best friends, sit among the fishing debris as the boat takes off. EXT. A LOCAL BALINESE HOTEL NOON GINA and BETH are outside a hut, sitting on plastic chairs. Another green coil of mosquito repellant sends its smoke about them. BETH I don’t know why they’re not here yet. GINA Maybe the plane had engine trouble. Things break down here a lot. BETH But Anne would have called. She’s a bit of a pain, but she keeps everyone on track, including me. GINA Wait until morning. Then we’ll see if we can find a phone…… A WAITER from the hotel comes with a mobile phone for GINA. Her face turns white. |