Requiem for a Dream

Ada leads Sara away from the mirror.

                                                 CUT TO:

INT. MARION'S APARTMENT - DAY

(Post-sex) + (pre-sleep) = (intimate talk)

                            HARRY
              You know something?  I've always
              thought you are the most beautiful
              woman I've ever seen.

                            MARION
              Really?

                            HARRY
              Since the first time I met you.

                            MARION
              That's nice, Harry.  That really
              makes me feel good.

                            HARRY
              Good for your ego, eh?

                            MARION
              Well, I can't say that it does it
              any harm, but that's not what I
              mean.  It makes me feel good all
              over, like...well, you know lots of
              people tell me that and it's
              meaningless, completely meaningless.

                            HARRY
              You mean because you think they're
              putting you on?

                                                               21.

                            MARION
              No, no, nothing like that.  I don't
              know or care if they are.  I guess
              maybe they really mean it, but from
              them it just doesn't mean anything
              to me.  When you say it, I hear it.
              You know what I mean?  I really
              hear it.

                            HARRY
              Someone like you could really make
              it alright for me.

                            MARION
              You think?

                            HARRY
              Yeah.  I've been thinking...

Harry drifts off.  Marion's interest is sparked.

                            MARION
              What?

Harry looks at Marion.  A beat.  Then he gets the courage.
He jumps out of bed.

                            HARRY
              Here.

He pulls Marion.  She laughs:

                            MARION
              What?

                                                 CUT TO:

INT. MARION'S KITCHEN

Harry in a shirt stands over Marion who's wrapped in a sheet.
They lean over a folder on the kitchen table.

                            MARION
              What is it?

                            HARRY
              You remember when I told you about
              the store.  Well, I've been thinking
              about it.  I put together some
              numbers and it's not impossible.  I
              think you can do it.  We should do
              it.  We can do it together.

                                                               22.

                            MARION
              How long have you been thinking
              about this?

                            HARRY
              Not so long.  Since we started
              hanging out.

A pause.  Marion thinks.

                            MARION
              It's a great idea.

                            HARRY
              Yeah?

                            MARION
              It is.  Let's do it.  Let's open it
              in the city.  How do we start?

                            HARRY
              Well, first me and Ty gotta get
              money for the piece and then --

                            MARION
              I'll get it.

                            HARRY
              Nah.

                            MARION
              No, I can.

                            HARRY
              Really?  How?

                            MARION
              How do you think?  My fucking
              parents.

A laugh.  And then they hug and kiss gently.

Harry pulls his face back a few inches from Marion's.

                            HARRY
              I think I'm falling in love with you.

                            MARION
              Think?

TIGHT SHOTS and QUICK CUTS as Harry kisses the tip of
Marion's nose, then her eyelids, then her cheeks and her
soft lips, her chin, her neck and lastly her ear lobes.

                                                               23.

Then he whispers in her ear:

                            HARRY
              Marion, Marion, I love you.

                            FADE TO BLINDING WHITE -- THEN:

INT. SARA'S MAILBOX - DAY

We pull out of the white and into Sara's mailbox.  She peeks
in -- empty.

                                                 CUT TO:

INT. SARA'S KITCHEN - DAY

TIGHT ON kitchen clock ticking normally.

ON Sara's breakfast -- one hard-boiled egg, half a grapefruit
and a mug of black coffee.

ON the directions in Sara's diet book.

ON Sara -- blinking at her 'meal', a sigh.

We watch as she tries to enjoy her breakfast.

After the food is gone she fills a glass of water.  As she
sips it, she notices her hand reaching for something --
something more to eat.

TIGHT ON the kitchen clock ticking real slow.  Her Timex the
same.

We see her eyes, her lips, her twitching fingers.

A quick glimpse at the fridge.  She grabs her stomach and
says to it:

                            SARA
              Stop already.
                     (then to herself)
              You'll feel better in the red dress
              than a cheese danish.

                                                 CUT TO:

INT. MARION'S BATHROOM

Marion throws some cold water on her face.  She looks at her
naked body in the mirror.  She feels lifeless, drab and dead.

QUICK CUTS: Tinfoil crinkles, powder sprinkles, lighter
flicks, smoke drifts, straw sucks, a pleasure sigh...

                                                               24.

Once again, Marion looks in the mirror.

Now she looks alive and glorious.  Rays of golden light
encase her body in a gentle glow.

She cups her hands under her breasts and smiles as she turns
and poses, admiring their size and firmness.

'Not bad,' she thinks.

                                                 CUT TO:

INT. SARA'S MAILBOX - DAY

Nothing.

                                                 CUT TO:

INT. SARA'S APARTMENT

Sara tries to watch TV but the fridge beckons her.

TIGHT ON the kitchen clock, slowly, slowly ticking.

The fridge shudders.  Frustrated, Sara grabs her folding
chair and heads out.

                                                 CUT TO:

EXT. SARA'S BUILDING - DAY

The outside of the building is lined with the old Yentas
sitting in beach chairs catching the sun.  A few have
reflectors and stare up at the sun.

Sara exits her building and lets the sun hit her hair.  Her
friend Rae says something first.

                            RAE
              Ada told us.  It's gorgeous.

                            SARA
              Thank you.  We're making it a
              little darker tomorrow.

                            RAE
              So why darker?

                            SARA
              To match my red dress.

                            RAE
              But now it's looking like Lucille
              Ball.

                                                               25.

                            SARA
              But I'm not.  But soon...I'm on a
              diet.

                            ADA
              Yes, she is.

                            YENTA #1
              Cottage cheese and lettuce?

                            ADA
              No.

                            RAE
              What diet you on?

                            SARA
              Eggs and grapefruit.

                            RAE
              Oi vay.  I was on that once.  Lots
              of luck, Dolly.

                            SARA
              It's not so bad.

                            RAE
              How long you been on already?

                            SARA
              All day.

                            RAE
              All day?  It's one o'clock.

                            SARA
              So, I'm thinking thin.

Now, old Mrs. Scarlini pipes up.

                            MRS SCARLINI
              My Rosie lost fifty pounds like
              that almost.

                            YENTA #1
              Like that?

                            SARA
              Like what?

                            MRS SCARLINI
              Poof.

                                                               26.

                            RAE
              You put her in a sweat box?

                            MRS SCARLINI
              A doctor.  He gave her pills.  It
              makes you not want to eat.

                            YENTA #1
              So what's so good about that?  You
              mean I'm sitting here not thinking
              about chopped liver and pastrami on
              rye?

                            MRS SCARLINI
              With a slice of onion and mustard.

                            YENTA #2
              Herring.

                            YENTA #1
              Herring?

                            YENTA #2
              Yeah, herring.  In sour cream.
              When the sun goes behind the
              building I'm having a nosh.

                            ADA
              You shouldn't talk like that when
              someone's on a diet.

                            SARA
              Eh, big deal.  I'll sneak an extra
              piece of lettuce.  I'm thinking thin.

                            RAE
              The mailman...

Just then, the Mailman arrives.  Sara picks up her chair and
follows him into the building.  Ada, Rae and the other
Yentas follow Sara.