printable version THE ROUTINE (treatment) by Leonardo Monti 1. INT. FILM STUDIO WORKSHOP - NIGHT It's late at night. The story takes place in a film studio and a blackout has just occurred. Someone rushes to the distribution board and restarts it and when the light comes back here we have RUDY, the director of photography. He has been locked in all night long and he is completely drunk, but this doesn't seem to bother him at all. TIBERIO, his own assistant, catches him up. 2. INT. FILM STUDIO - NIGHT Rudy has to prepare the lighting and he shows Tiberio a quick drawn draft of the lighting setup related to the next film shooting (showing up two women, Alma and Rosanna). Despite his bender, Rudy introduces the lighting setup with inspiration and clear head. 3. INT. FILM STUDIO - NIGHT A few hours later, Tiberio peacefully smokes a cigarette, admiring his new-made work: the lighting has been made up on the photography director's setup. Now we have a few specific scenery parts on the stage: an old boat's hold, a few sleeping bunks and a tattoo room. Grumbling says there's thunder in the air. DISSOLVE TO: 4. INT. FILM STUDIO - NIGHT We're always in the studio. Heavy rain is falling outside. In the dimness, we briefly catch a glimpse of a small film crew about seven people that is filming a scene with ROSANNA and the actress ALMA. This ironic and mysterious scene shows Rosanna saying Alma she has to forget everything about her previous job and that she has to focus her attention on her new tasks. So, Alma - lonely and confused wandering around in the dimness - will have to wear a stage costume which is going to turn her into a new woman; then, she'll have to look outside the porthole in the old boat scenery. Sure enough, Rosanna is showing her a bonfire. It is obviously a fake fire, clearly showing that this is not a backstage scene but rather the shooting of a real film. Alma and Rosanna are two actresses, playing their own role. Everything is clear when Alma gets out of the studio. 5. EXT. COUNTRYSIDE OUTSIDE STUDIO - NIGHT It's night outside, it's not raining anymore and there's a huge and real bonfire. Alma and Rosanna are still acting: Alma, standing in front of the fire, says Rosanna she urgently needs to talk to Silvano. Behind them a little crew is shooting: in the head of it we see PAOLO, the director, a 100 kg big boy; behind him we see Rudy and his assistant Tiberio. Meanwhile, not far from the set, GERARDO and SERGIO are smoking and inventing stories of travels and distant islands. Two hangers are placed between them. This is a real backstage. Gerardo, who's about sixty years old, is the producer of the film - even if this is going to be clear much later - while Sergio, who's about eighty, is a picturesque old Spanish set designer who has reached the end of his career. Noise and shadows show the crew has finished filming and it's coming back to the studio. Lost in his memories, Sergio is telling stories about Palawan islands, where he spent his best years, secretly revealing that they have always been one of the most dangerous haunts of pirates. Gerardo does not know whether to believe him or not, even if there is an old tattoo of a skull pirate on the old man's wrist: does it mean something? Sergio, an eternal child, looks up to the sky, looking at the moon covered by the clouds. 6. INT. FILM STUDIO: DRESSING ROOM - NIGHT The scene moves to the dressing rooms of the film studio. We are getting prepared for a new shot, maybe on Alma because we can see the actress - stepping out from her character - taking off the wig and wearing a new costume. Rudy takes a couple of pictures of her, and controls the light: they have a long-term, fellow- feeling relationship. Thy hit it off with each other, make a lot of allusions and they respect each other's work. Beyond there Paolo, the director, is rummaging through a stage trunk. He's searching for pictures and finally founds them. Two days before the end of the shoot, Rosanna decides to defer her return to home and decides to stay with them. She doesn't like to stand in front of the camera and this makes us know that Rosanna actually plays another role (she is actually the production manager). Paolo explains her that it will soon be the turn of Silvano "and his cigarette" while next scene will show us the character of Alma who will expose herself to her past and will be very unhappy. Paul says this just in the moment when the actress - who is the exact opposite of her character - takes off a shoe and throws it into the air. Rudy easily grasps it in a sort of well-known ritual - Rudy has worked to the lights all night long and he will always be drunk in this story. Meanwhile, Gerardo is hardly walking trough the set. An accident has temporarily affected the use of his legs, and the producer is now forced to move on crutches. Alma holds him in a warm embrace. Rudy who has before mentioning and maybe recalling the blackout of the night - takes him away to show him the load of electricity. Tiberio is working in the carpentry to repair one of the distribution boards. He knows that electrical drops in the studio are due to old equipment of the building. Rudy shows the horizon to Gerardo, pointing his finger. But there is no horizon line, because we are in the studio. In its place there is a set with a huge number of projectors. Rudy starts to count the working headlights, listening to a sad music, his arm still straight ahead. It is just a technical count and another scene, much more involving, takes the place of this image. 7. INT. TATTOO ROOM - NIGHT The scene is taken from one of Paolo's films and shows a man, a sailor alone in front of a mirror. Silvano is playing this role, an occasional actor who's a fisherman in real life, but the scenery is a close reproduction of a drawing by illustrator André François. SILVANO, who is about thirty years, has a hard face but his expression is good and piercing. He's got a huge tattoo on his back. Above him, some lights illuminate the set. Below this light, he seems to be such a lonely and desperate man… DISSOLVE TO: 8. INT. FILM STUDIO: DRESSING-ROOM - NIGHT We are preparing for the filming of the mentioned tableau vivant. In his dressing room, Alma and Silvano are putting their makeup on, it's their turn and Rosanna is assisting them. Cheerful and somehow cynical, Alma is the one that treats herself with fun time between a shot and another: she boasts about her friendship with the rude and taciturn Silvano, consolidated during the film with drinking and dancing nights, and then she pushes Rosanna to woo this particular fisherman who is an occasional actor and has the reputation of a great dancer. Rosanna does not want to miss this opportunity and claims a date with Silvano. Anyway, the proposal is so mixed with joke and fun that everything seems to end. 9. INT. FILM SET: TATTOO ROOM - NIGHT Meanwhile Sergio, in striped coat and trousers, is waiting to shoot his scene. Paolo joins him and sits down close to him. Kind and polite as always, the director takes advantage of this moment of break to ask the old man -who's playing as an actor here- for explanations about the painting technique used by André François. In fact, Sergio had been a pupil of the famous romanian illustrator when he still lived in Bucharest and is in honor of his past that now the director wants to give him a cameo in the film: a tribute to the master 'inside' his own painting. The design they're talking about is named "Chez le tatoueur" and it depicts a dingy tattoo room and a man standing inside, wearing striped coat and trousers… like Sergio's costume. Paolo is trying to convince Sergio, who is also a storyteller, to tell him when he was a band boy in the streets of Bucharest, challenging passengers in the impossible trick of playing all instruments at the same. However, even if the story is rich in anecdotes they have to stop because of a new sudden blackout. Now the set is dark and into the dark the man begins to talk about his dream with no reason, completely changing his tone, in which the director is actually a child. Then he alludes to an obscure passage of handshakes and especially to a man on the beach. A young captain, who's alive and then dies. Has the dream something to do with the film's story? When the light comes back on the set, we see Sergio holding Paolo's hand; unfortunately he has never get used to the idea of the dark; to this admission, Paolo also explains they've had enough of this faulty system. DISSOLVE TO: 10. INT. FILM SET: TATTOO ROOM - NIGHT Finally, the picture of André François has its characters: so, they begin to shoot. Silvano plays the sailor with the tattoo. Sergio is of course the tattoo artist and the scene shows him finishing the tattoo on Silvano's back, just where the picture shows two woman's hands holding the sailor. Alma is going around the set, quietly revising her part. Meanwhile, the music seems to underline the loneliness of these two men; while Silvano begins to dress up, Sergio - as if he was still playing - calmly goes behind the scenes. We go out with him around the set to follow his path, leading us to his studio. The old set designer takes his shoes off, gently lies down on a wooden bench and he will remain there for a long time. The action turns back on Silvano again, in the tattoo room; he takes a cigarette and sits on the only ramshackle chair near the mirror. A shaded lamp produces a warm and mild glow on his face, with many shadows and a deep yellowish obscurity. Silvano lights up a cigarette, "his own cigarette"… While the crew shoots on the young fisherman, the director is sitting in a corner and does not seem to be focused on the scene. He has just noticed that one of the photos he had taken from the scene trunk portrays a young captain, easily laughing standing on a beach… … the same captain Sergio was talking about in his dream. A sudden pain in the legs has meanwhile lead Gerardo to sit down. On the set, the silence is deep. The crew in front of him carefully shots on Silvano, gravely and seriously smoking his cigarette. And then there's the whole crew, including Gerardo, watching the scene, and it seems to be a group of men watching a man smoking. DISSOLVE TO: 11. INT. OLD BOAT'S HOLD - NIGHT Now the crew is shooting on another set, the hold of an old ship, where Alma plays the role of a young woman who wants to run away with no other apparent reason than boredom of a normal life. Her character - wearing the dress Rosanna gave her at the beginning - is then putting her things in the same trunk Paolo had looked in. In short, she is hiding "her past" as if it was a troublesome presence. Among those objects we can see a sailor's uniform… At this point we can see Silvano, stopping a few steps from her, because he has noticed that the girl is staring at something behind the scenes. At the bottom we can see Sergio playing the role of a band man, wandering around the set as a ghost, all instruments playing simultaneously. Has he come back to his first job? Is it a vision of Alma? Reassured by the presence of Silvano, Alma asks for informations about Sergio, because she wants to travel the world with him. They both look again behind the scenes. This time, however, the old designer is there, still sleeping, in his usual clothes. He almost seems to be dead indeed. Alma tells Silvano that the image of her, mechanically and unhappily living, visits her like a nightmare during the night. Silvano, who listens carefully, however, doesn't answer. The face is perfectly still, and under his eyes we see that the woman's eyelids become heavy. It is evident that the Silvano is mesmerizing: he stares at her, he approaches to her and then speaks calmly until the young woman, closing her eyes, slowly falls asleep. FADE OUT. FADE IN: 12. EXT. ESTUARY - MORNING Fading on the first light of dawn. On a small boat, wrapped in an endless landscape of the misty lagoon, Paolo is rowing towards the mouth of the river, where a child is calling. As the boat moves forward, we see the crew: Rosanna walking in the bush, Alma and Silvano sitting on the edge of a canal talking to each other; Tiberio, Gerardo and Rudy walking together in a brushwood. 13. EXT. UNDERGROWTH NEAR SET - MORNING Gerardo remarks with surprise a pink dot on the horizon. This is the arrival of a crane. Rudy and Tiberio did not seem to understand why a crane is so extraordinary, even if it's very unusual in February. Gerardo again raises his arm and points to other species of birds. The sun is down, it is a light pink circle. A slight breeze rustles the leaves. DISSOLVE TO: 14. EXT. BANK OF THE CHANNEL - MORNING Paolo arrives to a small harbor, with a small path going up to the edge of the canal. Over there we can see DANILO, called Dilo by his friends: a child with a round face and bright eyes. Dilo is sure that Paolo could teach him to fly - and of course he suggests this - but, actually, the child is convinced that the real magician, among them, is the old Sergio. So Dilo tells him that Sergio has threw down the teeth to a man, who had made him angry, with the only power of thought. 15. EXT. BANK OF THE CHANNEL - MORNING Further down, Silvano and Alma are sitting on the edge of the lagoon. They're wearing their costumes. Silvano takes out a bottle and pours a drink. They have a toast. With his tongue hanging out, a dog comes up and pulls his nose between Silvano's knees. Alma wants to know his life as a sailor and Silvano tells her that two months earlier his father had sold the boat and went to gamble at the casino losing all his money in one night. Silvano stands fast and does not give up and immediately takes over the vessel of a friend, repairs it and gets back in a month back to the sea. Silvano is a disciplined and grind fisherman, and he takes up the sleeves of the jacket showing Alma his strong arms. 16. EXT. SET NEAR ESTUARY - MORNING We're beside the motor home used as a makeup and costume room. Paolo's gaze is fixed on the hand of Dilo. The director is calmly examining it and his behavior becomes more and more strange. The child, who's waiting with curiosity and fear, now wears a stained uniform of a cabin boy. Now Paolo shows the central line on the hand and with a sweet and bad together voice, tells him that from that moment on everything he will touch is going to wither. But Dilo is scared and runs away offended. 17. EXT. UNDERGROWTH NEAR SET - MORNING Immediately after that scene, we see Dilo holding a stick, hitting the trunk of a tree to bring it down completely. It's a long job and he's getting tired, but he does not want to leave. At the end Dilo throws away the stick, his weapon, makes a few steps backwards and looks at the tree he has just shot down. DISSOLVE TO: 18. EXT. TRACK ALONG THE LAGOON - MORNING We are shooting again. The character played by Silvano now holds Alma on his strong arms. She is sleeping and Silvano is moving towards the lagoon. It's a tracking shot. They are both playing their role. She wears her wig now… 19. EXT. WOODS OF THE LAGOON - MORNING We're in the lagoon wood. Silvano and Alma are on a small motor boat on the canal. They're acting. Alma is still sleeping under the thick blanket. Behind them, the crew is shooting on a camera dolly which follows the motor boat in the channel. Some kind of routine has been established on the set. 20. EXT. UNDERGROWTH NEAR ESTUARY - MORNING Silvano arrives with his boat in those areas of the river estuary that no tourist knows and where it's impossible to meet anyone. Beyond the coast there is a group of homes, then once again the pinewood. 21. EXT. OLD PORT QUAY - DAY The boat ends its journey on a small harbor and stops at Silvano's fishing boat. Dilo, playing the role of a cabin boy, is helping him. Silvano gives him his shoulder bag. Then, Dilo timidly advances towards the boat and… … stares at the beautiful Alma, still sleeping under mesmering. He seems to be actracted to her. 22. INT. SILVANO'S CABIN - DAY The film in the film still goes on: Silvano reaches its cabin, still holding Alma in his arms. He opens the door with a kick and goes in. His dog is there, wiggling its tail, writhing against him. Silvano turns it away with a single glance. DISSOLVE TO: 23. EXT. OLD PORT BAR ROOM - DAY Time has gone by and the crew - now sitting in a off- season bar in the harbour - is having a pause from work drinking the cocktails Gerardo has prepared for them. There are also Rudy, Alma, Rosanna and Tiberio. Everyone but Rosanna, who's bringing the costumes inside, is on lunch break. The producer is proud of his team and entertains them with his stories: he speaks, perhaps crying, toast to his brother and above all he never stops drinking. And even if the unexpected toast to his brother (who has apparently died) takes off for a moment the student spirit of the moment, Gerardo feels that the guys, and especially Alma, give full participation. 24. INT. OLD PORT BAR ROOM - DAY The toast will still be seen through the eyes of Rosanna inside the room (which has been used for makeup and clothing) and the silent image will be the one of a group standing around the table and holding the glasses. 25. EXT. OLD PORT BAR ROOM - DAY When they go outside, the atmosphere seems to be different. Tiberio, the electrician has just finished drinking, he is drunk and starts a monologue, mixing present experiences and feelings about his previous films, admitting all the loneliness he feels spending too much time on the set… DISSOLVE TO: 26. EXT. FISHING BOAT - DAY The afternoon begins with Paolo who is on his way to the fishing boat, where the next scene will be filmed. Dilo is fishing on the bow. The weather is bad and he's covered in his cloths. Paolo follows the power cables until it reaches Rudy, who is preparing the lighting for the cabin. Rudy doesn't look sober, but he seems to have things under control. On the dock, Tiberio is turning a fresnel light. There is no one else besides them in the harbor. Paolo and Rudy lean on the lift at the stern and start talking about this movie. It seems that the two men are trying to win a routine that the climate is making worse. "Who are we burying this time?" asks the director of photography. "We are burying the captain of this boat," replies Paolo "… and brother of Gerardo, and father of Dilo." Dilo is on the bow, is looking at something in the water, and seems to follow a fish that apparently escapes him. Rudy and Paul look back at the empty dock. Time really seems to have stopped. Suddenly Rudy grasps to Paul: his legs - too weak because of drinks - are leaving him. 27. INT. OLD PORT BAR ROOM - DAY While the crew waits for the sun to return, Gerardo has moved the bar, used as make-up room. He's alone and he's looking around. In the frame of the mirror, he sees a picture. This is a captain on the beach: the same picture that Paolo examined in a previous scene. So, this is the portrait of his brother. Rosanna comes at that time. She has a message for him: Paolo wants him in his film with the role of the captain of the fishing boat. It might seem a mockery but Rosanna accuses him of thinking too much on the "accident", and she really wants Gerardo to forget the past. His crisis, caused by the tragic death of his brother, has ruined his best years and led him to neglect the crew and to seek refuge in alcohol. By the way, Gerardo has never lost his good humor: he has been knowing Rosanna for years, and if now he invites her to drink something or to have some fun together, it's because of a past love that has binded them together for many years. 28. EXT. FISHING BOAT BOW - DAY Paolo is reading the script on the bow. He is close to Dilo, and although the child pretends to be concentrated on fishing, he is still worried about the palm reading - it had told that everything the child will touch will fade. Earlier, Dilo had pulled up a fish that was already dead. Paolo says it could have been worse: last month - he explains - he had prepared a trip to the Palawan islands with Sergio - and he had to give it up because a magician had predicted that he would die on a distant sea. However Dilo, rather than listening to Paolo, begins to observe the hand in a different way. Then, unexpectedly, he runs out there as if he had a great idea, leaving his fishing rod just when a fish is swallowing the bait: Paolo grabs it just in time. We follow Dilo, who's walking along the pier with his hand in front of him; he reaches the statue of St. Apollinaris, protector of the sailors, and plunges the hand into the stoup. Meanwhile, Paolo has lost the fish, and he sees that there is a crumpled piece of paper on the hook. He takes it, opens it and sees the word "bait" written in a child's handwriting. Dilo now takes his hand off the holy water, afterwards he had put it in for a few seconds, and takes a bunch of jasmines near there. 29. INT. OLD PORT BAR ROOM - DAY A sensual music comes from the speakers in the bar, underlining the intimacy of the moment: we can see Rosanna and Gerardo, now, slow dancing. Gerardo is wearing a captain jacket. She seems to be very relaxed, letting him guiding her. The scene lasts until the man realizes he's still only wearing his underwear and bursts out laughing. On his legs, many scars are visible. Gerardo's laughter continues until the arrival of Dilo, who has arrived at that time and is going to the make-up room. His uncle - who sees him - is visibly drunk, and he would like to tell him stories about the way he and his father spent evenings together. His spirit and expressions, however, are maybe too uninhibited. Rosanna takes him away, calms him down and takes advantage of the situation to finally finish dressing him up. She goes away from him… … and throws herself on a chair right near to little Dilo. Unlike Gerardo, she talks to him in a more polite way: for example we learn that the film - perhaps a tribute to the father of the child - has been completely funded by his uncle,and that today is going to be the last day of shooting and Dilo will soon have an important part. Finally, as if by accident, Rosanna takes off a gift. It's Paolo's. It contains a new sailor's uniform. 30. INT. OLD PORT BAR ROOM - DAY It's been a long time. The music has now changed. Gerardo and Rosanna are dancing and they look serious and focused. Gerardo is now in Captain's uniform. Sitting under a table, Dilo is reading Paolo's message, saying: "When you'll hear the siren of the fish boat, come running to the pier and I will make what's possible for you." 31. EXT. PORT PIER LIGHTHOUSE - DAY Alma and Silvano, during this long break from work, have now chosen to go to the sea. Followed by his dog, Silvano climbs on the rocks of the pier and takes off all his clothes despite the bad weather, dives into the sea and swims out to sea. Alma stares at him as she walks on the beach, plunging her hands into the water and stopping to watch the big sea. Silvano, floating on his back, now watches the sky above him. Large clouds are on the lighthouse pier. When Silvano finally decides to go out from the sea, he realizes that Alma is gone and she's not on the banks anymore. DISSOLVE TO: 32. INT. OLD PORT BAR ROOM - DAY Dilo is now wearing his new cabin boy's uniform and he is observing the bar through a makeup mirror. It's just a pastime: he's using the magnifying side of the mirror, so that Gerard and Rosanna, who never stop having fun, now appear as deformed shapes. Dilo is wandering around, restless; he frames the picture of his father, here veiled like a distant memory, and Alma, who's arriving now and looks like a grasshopper through the mirror. Actually, Dilo is waiting for his date with Paolo. Alma goes to the make-up room and makes a slight nod to Gerardo. She says, "You will soon show your character's honest side." Gerardo doesn't look happy, he pushes away the glasses, grabs his crutches… The ghost of his dead brother is haunting him, and now we finally know the truth about the origin of his mood swings: his brother's death was caused by himself. So, Gerardo feels his future will be intolerable. Although Rosanna seems to be affected by this confession, looks confident and finishes dressing him up. Meanwhile Alma, just to ward off the discomfort, focuses on her job and she nervously begins to put her makeup on - young Dilo seem to be really fascinated by her (he has not heard the words of his uncle Gerardo). Alma is really more attractive with her half makeup and Dilo seems to be truly in love with her. So even if his young age prevents him from manifesting his feelings, he will propose her to go out together. Of course Alma will say yes because she loves him, but she will take it as a sort of joke. Now it's Gerardo's time; he goes to the child standing on his crutches. Uncle and nephew are face to face in their own uniform: Gerardo is talking to him with a new and sincere kindness. But the sound of the fish boat siren comes from the dock. It's Paolo's signal. Dilo would also be ready to leave, but does not want to be unfair to his uncle. The siren sounds louder: Dilo hesitates. Then he decides and he runs away too fast. Dilo's race now becomes Gerardo's point of view. Paolo's letter is on the table and, in addition to the message, it contains a drawing representing Dilo, who's flying wearing his new sailor's uniform. 33. EXT. PORT PIER - DAY A sweet music accompanies this scene: Dilo ends his run on the pier in front of Paolo, who's waiting for him. Paolo carefully asks him if he often thinks of his father. Then he holds out his hand and tells him that he will learn to fly only if his own hands will join his ones. Then Paolo waits for Dilo's agreement by offering his hands. Then, little by little, his feet begin to detach from the ground. Since the trick results to be invisible, the effect has a great visual impact. Paolo leaves his hand and again Dilo can twirl as if he wasn't making any effort. 34. INT. SILVANO'S CABIN - DAY Another scene from Paolo's film: we realize that a woman is sleeping on the bed in the cabin of a fish boat. It's Alma. In close-up we can see a bouquet of flowers in a pot. They are Dilo's Jasmines. CUT TO: 35. INT. OLD PORT BAR ROOM - DAY The music is now more lively in the bar. Gerardo drinks a last generous dose of alcohol he gulps down in a flash. He has decided to dance with Alma but now he has to rely on the tables to keep himself from falling. Then, someone opens the door. It's Silvano. He comes at the door with his wet hair and goes to Rosanna; he doesn't take his eyes off her. She realizes he's arrived when she sees him approaching. These moments are full of promises, and when he takes her by the hips, his seduction is so ironic that even Rosanna welcomes it. They begin to dance, and a potential serious invitation quickly becomes a game between two people dancing with the cheerful ease of the ones who know each other well. Gerardo is enchanted, watching them having fun, his eyes inflamed by alchol. His bottle is already empty and he now feels excluded. Alma would also like to dance now, but then something happens: the siren of the fish boat sounds again. So it seems, at least. Is the boat going to sail? Gerardo, as if he had fed up (he's actually just drunk), stops the music. Rosanna and Silvano immediately stop dancing: the silence is just broken by the roar of a propeller. Staggering to take his crutches, Gerardo goes to the window and he sees… … Paolo is unfastening the rope from the mooring on the dock and Danilo is preparing the gang-plank. Gerardo quickly gets rid of the jacket and bangs it on the floor, then he leaves the stage awkwardly leaning on his crutches. While he rushes out, Silvano and the two women look at him, confused. 36. INT. FISHING BOAT - DAY Gerardo takes the last steps of the boat, dragging down the corridor and he reaches the cockpit. He throws the crutches away standing on the helm and he claims to be captain. Behind him there is a man. It's Silvano, the real captain. Glumly staring at Gerardo, the sailor begins to press on Gerardo's chest. And since he does not give in, Silvano pushes strongly until the man, still clinging to the helm, completely turns it while he falls down, leaving us uncertain about the plan (reality-fictional) we have to place this scene in for a moment. Silvano takes the helm, he sets it up and pushes Gerardo's crutches away. Meanwhile, Rudy, supported by Tiberio, hand-held moves the camera towards Gerardo and begins to film. Also Paolo and Rosanna are on the set: so this is a movie scene. Gerardo sneaks over to the crutches and before he can grasp them, Rosanna takes them away. Again, Gerardo wants to take them and again Rosanna, who agrees with Paul, takes them away. Gerardo turnes one last unexpected glance to the crew. DISSOLVE TO: 37. INT. SILVANO'S CABIN - DAY The film in the film goes on into the fish boat: we see Silvano's cabin, partly illuminated by a glimmer of light. The Alma character, who slowly begins to wake up, looks around. The Jasmine bunch stands beside her. Alma gets up and comes to the door, looking through the porthole for a moment. 38. EXT. FISHING BOAT DECK - DAY Although the daylight is strong, it seems that Alma can see Silvano on the bridge, standing on the rudder. Around him there's the vast sea. Alma goes on the corridor, puts her hand on the nearest cabin's handle and cautiously opens the door. 39. INT. DANILO'S CABIN - DAY There are just a table lamp and a pinball in the cabin. A radio is playing a love song on a shelf in the corner. Someone, almost a shadow, is playing with the pinball. Alma quietly moves forward and sees it's Dilo. The child stops playing and looks at her. He knew that they would have sooner or later met and so he gives her the best welcome with a magic trick, in which he lets the pinball machine's ball appear and disappear from his hands. With his sailor's dress, his movements are more feminine and his voice is clearer. She smiles like a child and she takes the bouncing ball - which seemed to be animated between Dilo's fingers - and tries to repeat the movements. She turns out to be clumsy. Dilo immediately puts the pinball on the ground and turns her the back, then he slowly raises his arms and begins to lift off the ground, hovering in the air. A slow dolly puts Alma and Dilo's faces together and shows us the trick, of the hidden fake leg in the pants of the costume received from Paolo. There is something tender in his execution. Dilo comes back again on the floor, puts his hands down and lets them fall on his thighs. Dilo's magic moment ends at that time. A sudden silence falls on the cabin: Dilo's expression of happiness has gone off. Alma knows what he's thinking about and sits close to him. She promises that the next day she will bring him the old boat. She wants to show him a picture he has never seen. It's in the trunk of the hold. It's a picture of their father's standing on the beach. Was it because of him that Alma had gone? But now she has returned and the child is happy because he can have his sister again. So he says that today, while she was sleeping, Silvano has made a magic trick on him; he took his hands and asked him to put them on her. So Dilo had two strong sensation. The first was about Daddy who was protecting her, and the other about his sister's pregnancy. Dilo finally seems to be happy again, he gets up and goes to the porthole. He has thought of a wonderful thing. He has thought that there will be bonfires that night and that they could go together along the coast: "Will you come with me to see the fire?". Alma approaches the porthole and she looks out. They seem to be the same age now. DISSOLVE TO: 40. INT. FILM STUDIO - DAY In the darkness of the study there are now two fresnel lights on. The environment is very different from what we had seen last time: it is almost empty, there are no more sceneries, we don't understand where the crew or the shooting equipment are now. 41. INT. FILM STUDIO WORKSHOP - DAY The only person here is Rudy, drinking his wine in solitude. Not far away, Tiberio closes the door of a projector and joins him. Rudy realizes only now that he has never thanked him for all the bottles he had given him. He says he's not able to get through the day without a drink anymore. As a good friend, Tiberio says that the shoots have ended. We suddenly hear the explosion of a bulb in one of the two frensle lights. Rudy is drunk and doesn't react at all, he actually watches the set with the expression of those who are satisfied with their work. Now he tries to get up, but he falls to one knee in front of his assistant, who's at first surprised because the man stays on the ground. He seems to be completely rigid indeed. Then Tiberio grabs his boss to his arms and slowly, with great respect, helps him to sit down again 42. INT. FILM STUDIO - DAY The usual hustle and bustle of the crew has started again: we're shooting the final scene in the movie. At the center of the room there is a track with a dolly and we can distinguish the profiles of Paolo and Rosanna in the dark. Sergio, the old designer, is still sleeping on the bench. Little Dilo is now walking around and it seems he's observing him. He immediately stops in front of his feet because he has seen something at the end of Sergio's striped trousers, just on his ankle: a faded tattoo. Dilo gently lowers the edge of the sock and he sees that it's the drawing of a matador, facing a bull. DISSOLVE TO: 43. INT. FILM PRODUCTION OFFICE - DAY Silvano is in the production office with Gerardo. The shoots are going to end. Gerardo has just booked a flight for Alma. Silvano, here with his travel bag, pulls out a bottle and he begins to pour; now it's time to say goodbye. The two friends toast and drink together for the last time. Gerardo just hopes that the crew "will stop thinking about job for a moment and seriously think about what they've just done." He says this as he pulls out his checkbook, signs one and gives it to Silvano. The young fisherman returns the favor by pulling out from his bag a couple of cigars that he had kept for the occasion and he offers one of them to Gerardo. They both light the cigar and they smoke smiling at each other with a pleased light in their eyes. 44. PICTURE BY ANDRÉ FRANÇOIS. A new design by André François, titled "Couple, lune, Araignée" appears on the entire screen. 45. INT. FILM STUDIO - DAY The lamp which had exploded has now burst into flames and it smokes in the set, which is completely dark now. This could also remember the fire we have seen at the beginning of the story. This smoke is actually fake and the crew is filming it. 46. INT. SERGIO'S WORKSHOP - DAY Dilo is playing behind the crew: he is binding something to the hook of his fishing rod. It's a fake spider holding a paper moon with the legs. Then the child lies down near Sergio. Perhaps he's preparing a spell, who knows. We know that now, with the moon on their heads, the scene is identical to André François's painting: "Couple, lune, araignée". 47. INT. FILM PRODUCTION OFFICE - DAY Gerardo is now alone in the office. Silvano has gone away and he's looking in the mirror. He observes himself in all and for all, then he suddenly throws the crutches on the floor, and he stands firm and happy, straight on his feet, smoking his cigar. 48. INT. SERGIO'S WORKSHOP - DAY Sergio and Dilo are lying down. The moon is hanging over them. We realize with surprise that the old man and the child are now flying. They are now suspended in midair, as if they have been hypnotized, a few inches from the paper moon. DISSOLVE TO: 49. EXT. CLEARING BEHIND THE STUDIO - DAY At this point the story moves forward outside of the film studio, on a wide cobblestone clearing. A car is moving. Leftovers from a previous takeaway lunch are visible on top of the dashboard. Paolo, at the helm, pulls over next to the truck (where all the film's equipment has been stored) and starts looking around. The whole crew seems to have left. Tiberio is the only one still there and he's loading the last stands on the truck. Shortly after, Alma appears - walking quickly - with a suitcase on her hand. She reaches Paolo at once. He turns around and looks impassibly at her. As soon as the two get closer and face one another, their expressions become unequivocal: each of them appears to be 'playing' a role. Paolo is the one waving from under his jacket a bunch of banknotes (Gerardo's money), while Alma is the one who confidently takes the money, without even counting it, and puts it straight inside the suitcase. When Paolo asks her: "What would you like to keep as a memory of our work together?", Alma bluntly responds whether she really needs to want something. Her reply is straight, yet clearly ironic and affectionate; and because her flight is leaving in two hours, she urges Paolo to start the car immediately. Therefore, still in character, Paolo heads towards the car, as an actor out of a ganster's movie. The title "THE ROUTINE" appears on screen. Paolo makes himself comfortable on the driver's seat and starts the car. He does this with mastersly slowness, also due to his size. Alma takes her place next to him and sits down lazily on the seat. They don't show it, yet both of them are glad to be leaving the set together. 50. EXT. EQUIPMENT TRUCK - DAY The car steers past the equipment truck and rapidly moves away towards the main road. On screen the ending credits start rolling. We now see Tiberio, leaning on the hood of the equipment truck, placidly rolling a cigarette. He then starts to smoke it. At that moment a ray of sunlight - out of a previously overcast sky - falls right on him. Tiberio then stays there, inside the ray, facing up, with the cigarette between his fingers. THE END