Screenplay Australians in Paris By

Susanne Harford

Draft 1 Week 9:

Animation

(C) 30th October, 2011 Susanne Harford mob: 0427310523

email: susanneah@gmail.com

INT.APARTMENT – DAY

A single tin-pipe plays few bars of “Once A Jolly Swagman”.

In a tiny, stylish lounge-office-kitchenette-bedroom, two pretty Quolls sit. A smart red typewriter sits on a desk, surrounded by neat stacks of typewritten pages, and a cute 24-hour digital clock shows 7am.

In a beam of sunlight Teenager CAMILLE spreads Vegemite down a long French baguette. Perched on a long window-seat under a lovely, old-fashioned picture window she wears koala and kangaroo-patterned payjamas.

CAMILLE Mama, today, at 7am on the fifteeth

of April, 2011, may we now call ourselves Parisians?

MICHELLE, girlish, in romantic silk peignoir, matching nightie and fat rollers, uses a pretty teapot and cup.

Wearing fluffy, heeled slippers,she aligns two elegant paintings; the Sydney Opera House and Ayres Rock.

She sits daintily on window seat near CAMILLE, briefly picking up a 2011 “Australian Quoll Women’s Weekly”.

MICHELLE (thoughtfully)

Ah, Camille, my beautiful daughter. Although today is our fifth anniversary as residents of Paris, and French is now almost your native tongue, it will take more than time to really belong here… or anywhere.

Together in the sunlight the Quolls are a pretty picture. They quietly gaze out the big window at the Eiffel Tower.

CAMILLE (anxious)

So Mama, do we still celebrate?

MICHELLE But of course, my dear. In our

changed world, today is a very important celebration of our different life.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

2.

CAMILLE May I wear my lilac lace dress,

Mama? If you wear your pale green suit we will celebrate Spring, new growth, blossoms. Our new life!

MICHELLE (clapping her hands)

What a perfect idea! Remember to bring a matching cardigan. While this is Spring for Parisians, we Australians still find it cold.

EXT. CHAMPS DES ELYSEES, PARIS, FRANCE – DAY Song like Cole Porter’s “I Love Paris in the Spring Time”.

Glorious Spring morning. MICHELLE and CAMILLE laugh, skip hand-in-hand through the Arc de Triomphe. Chestnut and Lilac blossoms shower down on them. Michelle has a Document.

Near Rustic Street Sign a French Male Cat Greengrocer and two Geese Flowerwomen greet them familiarly in French.

A Male Mole Newspaper Seller arrives. He draws their attention to the wall, and a large “Voulu!” (Wanted!) POSTER featuring a huge, evil-looking cat.

MICHELLE (hand to mouth)

Oh, no!

The poster reads: “WANTED – KING QUOLL – For the serious crimes of: Robbery With Violence. International Cat Trafficing. Cat Enslavement. Terrorising The City of Paris. Anyone with clues as to his whereabouts ring Préfecture de Police Information tél, .01 58 80 80 80”.

Strolling by, an Old Lady Poodle and impressive Older GENDARME 1 with Trainee GENDARME 2, join the group.

GENDARME 2 notices CAMILLE wears two tiny pins; an Australian flag, and a koala. CAMILLE shyly gives GENDARME 2 the flag pin. Everyone smiles.

MICHELLE still inspects the photograph. CAMILLE notices.

CAMILLE What is it, Mama?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

3.

MICHELLE (quietly)

When I was just your age, we met!

CAMILLE Mama! How ever did someone lovely

like you meet someone like him?

MICHELLE (softly)

Michelle, We must discuss this, but not now, not here. This man is from my past. Oh, what is the time?

MICHELLE consults her Cartier ’Tank’ wristwatch, approaches GENDARME 1 and GENDARME 2, smiles.

MICHELLE Please, is there a bank nearby?

GENDARME 1 and GENDARME 2 confer, then point out an impressive bank in the street. MICHELLE and CAMILLE thank them. They farewell everyone else, in French.

FADE

INT. BANK – DAY

In the grand bank, MICHELLE receives BIG BANK NOTES from a smiling, HUGE, MUSCULAR Lizard Teller.

CAMILLE (whispering)

Mama!

A skinny, dodgy-looking Bat unfolds impressive wings to reveal a HUGE REVOLVER while an unfit, silly-looking Owl carrying a BIG BAG peers around. No one else notices.

MICHELLE Oh, my goodness! Quickly, Camille,

outside. CAMILLE slides along the wall and through the door.

EXT. CHAMPS DES ELYSEES, FRANCE – DAY

MICHELLE escapes, looks urgently up and down the now-deserted street.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

4.

MICHELLE Oh, No! Another disaster! The Gendarmes have left!

Noise of scuffles and shouts; BIG STARS, DUST, OWL FEATHERS explode out through the bank door. An ALARM RINGS LOUDLY.

CAMILLE (giggling)

Sounds like the robbers are getting more than money at this bank!

MICHELLE Monseiur Lizard, our Bank Teller,

could single-handed thrash those two. Camille, we must go now, for a most important appointment with Giselle my Editor.

Parisian Taxi passes. Seeing MICHELLE and CAMILLE, Dashing Cougar Driver pulls over. CAMILLE and MICHELLE get.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. TAXI INTERIOR – DAY In the back of the cab MICHELLE and CAMILLE sit close

together. CAMILLE’S

With tears glistening in her eyes, MICHELLE takes hand and turns to look into CAMILLE’S eyes.

MICHELLE Camille, on this our most wonderful

day – to see that horrible face again. Then immediately witness (shivers) no, become involved in, a daylight bank robbery! There is danger here, I can feel it. I realise it is time to tell you everything. Why we left Australia. Why we can never go back.

Still speaking earnestly to CAMILLE, MICHELLE’S voice lowers. CAMILLE listens closely, and her eyes slowly widen.

EXT. ENTRESOL 6 PL ST GERMAIN DES PRÉS, PARIS – DAY

A chic street-side cafe, sign on awning: “Les Deux Magots”. MICHELLE, CAMILLE and GISELLE, a Sweet Young cat, sip Sparkling Perrier Water with lemon slices in tall, frosty glasses.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 5.

MICHELLE and GISELLE discuss a thick, type-written document. The cover reads: “Screenplay: TEENAGE SLAVE IN GANGLAND: Her Own True Story of Abduction and Enslavement by M.J. Quoll”.

MICHELLE signs and hands several forms to GISELLE, who stands up, kisses MICHELLE and shakes her hand.

GISELLE hugs CAMILLE.

GISELLE Camille, your mother’s true story

is about to open the eyes of the world, show that today horrible slave-traders exist in every society, threaten every child.

Looking pleased, GISELLE departs, taking all documents.

CAMILLE Mama! Look!

Bat and Owl swoop by. Flying low and erratically they carry their now-bulging BIG BAG. BIG BANK NOTES drop out, drift along the road. Nobody else notices.

MICHELLE So they got away! With money!

From quite a distance GENDARME 1 and GENDARME 2 chase the robbers, then see MICHELLE and CAMILLE.

Bat and Owl clumsily crash-land, quickly open a Manhole

Cover and Cover all

descend, pull bag after them, replace Manhole near the cafe where MICHELLE and CAMILLE sit.

CAMILLE (leaping up)

Mama! we must do something!

MICHELLE Sit down, Camille.

CAMILLE Mama, after what you told me, I now

see it is too dangerous to involve ourselves. What a nightmare.(sighs). Just when our dream of a new life in Paris is coming true.

Arms linked warmly MICHELLE and CAMILLE hail a Passing Taxi. GENDARME 1 and GENDARME 2 witness their departure.

INT. TAXI INTERIOR – DAY

MICHELLE To the Eiffel Tower, please!

Michelle looks at the Manhole from the Taxi window.

MICHELLE Yes, Camille, we must do something.

But what?

In the back of the taxi, MICHELLE and CAMILLE put their heads together and talk earnestly.

EXT. STREET – NIGHT

A darkening, smart street. The Eiffel Tower glows and sparkles in the background.

MICHELLE and CAMILLE, dressed in black, emerge from an elegant doorway. In a pool of light from a stylish street lamp they test torches fixed to helmets.

MICHELLE and CAMILLE catch a passing taxi.

INT. TAXI INTERIOR – NIGHT

MICHELLE San Germain des Pres, please.

The glistening Eiffel Tower appears to escort them.

EXT. ENTRESOL 6 PL ST GERMAIN DES PRÉS, PARIS – NIGHT

The taxi arrives at the “Les Deux Magots” sign. The cafe is closed. MICHELLE and CAMILLE alight.

They watch the taxi depart, walk to the Manhole. A clock strikes midnight. MICHELLE and CAMILLE open the Manhole.

Music like opening bars of Will Shiff’s “the Rise”.

CAMILLE Descending…

GENDARME 2 peeps around a nearby corner, then is dragged out of sight by GENDARME 1.

6.

INT. CATACOMBS – NIGHT

Vocals and song like “Down, Down, Down, I Don’ Wanna Go Down There Alone” from “The Rise” by Will Shiff.

CAMILLE and MICHELLE drop down from Manhole. MICHELLE closes Manhole. Darkness. CAMILLE drops helmets.An echoing noise.

MICHELLE What was that?

CAMILLE Our torches, Mama.

MICHELLE Oh, what is this lovely, flickering

glow?

CAMILLE I know! Glowflies! We learned about

them in Biology at Ecole Secondaire. They are really beetles. They live in parts of Paris, and in Spring, they glow prettily! Hello!

GLOW FLY FEMALE 1 Stand still! Look down!

CAMILLE and MICHELLE stand still. They look down. Pulsing Soft light pulses from two GLOWFLIES on the wall. Streaming up and around them is mist from a huge, deep pit right at their feet. At the bottom of the pit lie their helmets.

CAMILLE AND MICHELLE (clinging together)

Oooh!

GLOW FLY FEMALE 2 issues a shrill, piercing whistle. Larger GLOW FLY MALE 1 and GLOW FLY MALE 2 fly in, pulsing with a much stronger light, brightening everything.

CAMILLE Ah, these with stronger light are

male glowflies, Mama. The females are wingless. They cannot fly.

MICHELLE and CAMILLE see they are surrounded by stacked, cobwebbed skulls. They stand on a narrow structure across a chasm filled with countless bones.

(CONTINUED)

7.

CONTINUED:

8.

CAMILLE Mama, where are we?

MICHELLE In the fascinating Catacombs under

Paris, which began as ancient quarries. Then people, including the rich, and thieves, kept rooms, homes down here! Finally they became repositories for bones.

GLOW FLY MALE 1 Two lovely cats descend to the

Catacombs. At midnight. Why? MICHELLE

To locate

A Bat and

I dropped our way.

a Bat and an Owl.

GLOW FLY FEMALE 1 Owl are nearby.

CAMILLE our torches. Please light

MICHELLE squeezes CAMILLE’S hand.

GLOW FLY MALE 2 We will guide you. Look. There.

Ahead, a dim light glows around a half-open doorway.

GLOW FLY MALE 1 Bat and Owl are clumsy, often

thoughtless. They kill many glowflies. Get rid of them.

CAMILLE We cannot, but maybe we know

someone who can take them away.

CAMILLE looks at MICHELLE, who nods. GLOWFLIES, MICHELLE and CAMILLE arrive at door, peep around door.

INT. CATACOMBS ROOM – NIGHT

Whispering thanks to the GLOWFLIES, MICHELLE and CAMILLE slip into a dim, dusty, cobwebbed room. Light seeps in from a half-closed manhole. Money covers the floor.

Sleeping Bat snores and talks. Owl has a nightmare, emits little screams, sucks thumb.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 9.

CAMILLE holds up a BIG ROLL OF DUCT TAPE she finds inside the robber’s BIG BAG.

Completely trussed up calmer, sleep sweetly

DISSOLVE TO:

with duck tape, Bat and Owl are now. All money is packed in BIG BAG.

In the gloom MICHELLE their faces. Total darkness.

and CAMILLE each brush something off

KING QUOLL (deep, smooth voice)

Ah, Michelle Jane Quoll, even more beautiful now than at sixteen. When I stole you in Sydney and then sold you in the Timor Slave Market.

A match strikes. HUGE KING QUOLL sits in the gloom, lights an elegant thin cigarillo, again tickles CAMILLE’S face with his long whiskers. MICHELLE and CAMILLE look fierce.

KING QUOLL An equally beautiful daughter. Purrrfect. fortune in the Paris

young A double Slave Market.

MICHELLE snarls. KING QUOLL stands, flexes his enormous, razor-sharp claws, dwarfing MICHELLE and CAMILLE.

Two Masked Cats drop down from the manhole, wind KING QUOLL.

STARS, SPANGLES, DUST. THE SOUNDS OF CATS FIGHTING, KING QUOLL handcuffed, dust clears. Bat and Owl awake.

GENDARME 1 and GENDARME 2 remove their masks.

MICHELLE Oh, it’s You! How wonderful!

KING QUOLL, and confused Bat and Owl are arrested.

CAMILLE The Glowflies will be pleased!

EXT. ENTRESOL 6 PL ST GERMAIN DES PRÉS, PARIS – DAY

In a cafe, CAMILLE, MICHELLE, GENDARME 1 and GENDARME 2 eat croissants, drink chocolate, watch the 7am TV Breakfast News Broadcast of the capture of KING QUOLL.

GENDARME 1 (sternly)

Michelle. Why did you go to the Catacombs?

MICHELLE We decided our best chance of

proving our innocence was to find evidence, then locate you. As they were asleep, we thought we could secure them, and the banks’ money.

Sitting near the window, a shaft of sunlight CAMILLE. She squeezes MICHELLE’S hand.

CAMILLE Why did you follow us last night?

GENDARME 1 You distracted us while the bank

was robbed and later you seemed to help Bat and Owl get away.

GENDARME 2 Certain you were in Bat and Owl’s

gang we followed you.

MICHELLE (horrified)

Mama!

GENDARME 1 Yes, We never expected to find KING

QUOLL. Then because he focussed all his attention on the two of you we could defeat him.

MICHELLE We had a good outcome. Together.

MICHELLE sees a newspaper ad through the window, reads aloud: “Les QUOLL-DOLLS KO KING QUOLL”. All laugh.

CAMILLE Mama: at 7am on the 16th. April,

2011: Are we now Parisians?

plays upon

10.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

11.

EVERYONE

YES!

Single tin-pipe plays the opening bars of the “French National Anthem”.

FADE