sample screenplay

7/30/2019 Sample screenplay

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INT, - ST. PETERSBURG CONSERVATORY REHEARSAL ROOM - 1982 – DAY

SLAVA SLONIN, an ordinary eleven year old Russian boy, is playing the Vivaldi impeccably

(though unenthusiastically) on his cello.

His teacher, LUDMILLA NIKOLAEVNA MEYER, a stern, middle-aged woman, listens,

displeased. She claps her pudgy, ringed hands, interrupting his performance.

LUDMILLA

Slava, Slava, music comes from here.

(slaps her round stomach)

From here. And then it rises to the heart –

Slava averts his eyes as...

Ludmilla Nikolaevna’s hands rise from her stomach and pass over her abundant bosom.

LUDMILLA (CONT’D)

-- and finally it reaches the mind. Vivaldi isn’t notes,

it’s feeling.

Slava shifts in his seat, examining his jagged fingernails.

LUDMILLA (CONT’D)



Feeling before understanding, Slava. You must

remember that tomorrow when you are on stage.

Slava picks up his bow and begins the phrase where he left off. He again plays impeccably, butwithout feeling, to the end.

LUDMILLA

(sighing)

Well, let’s leave it for now. But you must promise me

you’ll play it from beginning to end once more tonight.

With feeling.

SLAVA

I promise, Ludmilla Nikolaevna.

Slava gathers his sheet music, begins to pack away his cello.

Ludmilla Nikolaevna buttons her shabby overcoat and picks up a colorful silk scarf.

LUDMILLA

Will your mother be coming to the concert?

SLAVA

Actually, her conference ends at the end of the week.



Slava looks over at the kids and then at a red-faced ICE CREAM VENDOR, who hops in the

cold, clapping and blowing on his mittened hands. He waves to Slava.

Slava walks over.

VENDOR

So, maestro, you ready for tomorrow?

SLAVA

Sort of.

VENDOR

I don’t see any enthusiasm.

(beat)

What did your teacher say?

SLAVA

She says I need more feeling.

VENDOR

See? What did I tell you? Listen. Learn.

Slava examines the price list for the ice cream, then looks at the vendor.



SLAVA

I’ll take a vanilla cream on a sugar cone.

VENDOR

(suspiciously)

I thought your mother said categorically no ice cream.

SLAVA

She never said such a thing.

VENDOR

(considering)

Alright.

The vendor fixes a sugar cone and hands it to Slava, who hands him 20 kopeks in return.

VENDOR

Be good.

Slava shoulders his cello, licks his ice cream, and trudges over to the hockey rink, where there’sa game in full swing.

EXT. HOCKEY RINK - MOMENTS LATER



Still licking his ice cream, Slava stands with his face against a chain link fence, watching...

His friends play hockey.

Vova, the leader of the group, notices him and skates over.

VOVA

Hey, Slavka. Dump that coffin. Where are your skates?

SLAVA

(looks longingly at the rink)

No, I definitely can’t play today.

VOVA

We need a goalie.

Slava shakes his head.

VOVA (CONT’D)

Come on. You can play forward, too.

SLAVA

No, seriously. Tomorrow is my concert.



Vova shrugs and skates off. The boys resume their play.

Slava watches for awhile and then turns for home.

INT. APARTMENT – LATER

Slava enters the foyer of a tasteful, orderly apartment. He deposits his cello and sits down on a

foyer bench. For a long time he stares down at...

His brown dress shoes. Finally, he unlaces his shoes, and wrestles them off, putting on his house

slippers.

INT. KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER

Slava walks to the kitchen table, where he finds a small spiral notebook. He picks up the

notebook.

MOTHER’S VOICE (V.O.)

Slava: heat up soup for you and papa; iron your shirt; polish your shoes;

wash the dishes; CATEGORICALLY NO HOCKEY; and above all,

practice, practice, practice.

Slava sighs, puts the list down.

SERIES OF SHOTS:



A) Slava heats up Borsch.

B) Slava polishes his shoes.

C) Slava eats his Borsch.

D) Slava does dishes.

E) Slava irons his shirt.

F) Close up on Slava’s hands as he practices cello.

PULL OUT to reveal...

Slava sitting in the middle of his bedroom, practicing his cello in hockey gear and skates.

Slava rolls his eyes back in his head, trying to imitate a feeling that he doesn’t have. A picture of

his mother smiles down at him.

SLAVA

(as he plays)

Alright, Mama. Feeling before understanding.



Slava is interrupted by the SOUNDS of his apartment door flying open, and the ROAR of a

small crowd of people, laughing.

Slava puts the cello aside and kicks off his skates. With the bow in his hand he walks into thefoyer.

A party of six people, each in a different stage of inebriation, cluster in the foyer. Among them

(not yet drunk) is Slava’s PAPA, a going-to-seed athletic man of forty.

Slava takes stock of the crowd, who seems to be settling in for the night. He sees...

A FAT MAN in a too-small leather jacket, carrying two bags of groceries;

A THIN MAN with a hook nose carrying eight bottles of vodka (one between each finger) and a

guitar under his arm;

Two heavily lipstick-ed women wearing furs. Each stops on her way to the living room to pat

Sieva’s cheeks, exhaling lipstick and port fumes into his face.

Slava frees himself from the women, grabs his Papa by the sleeve, and drags him away from thecrowd.

SLAVA

Papa, Mama’s coming tomorrow. Remember?

PAPA



Of course I remember. She comes in at 8:25 on the Red Arrow.

SLAVA

Did you forget my concert tomorrow?

PAPA

No, I didn’t forget.

SLAVA

Then why are all these people here?

PAPA

They’re on their way to Alec’s birthday party.

They just wanted to warm up.

SLAVA

But Papa, I have to practice.

PAPA

Well, then practice. We won’t bother you.

He turns to the crowd.



PAPA (CONT’D)

Everyone -- SSSHHHHH! My son has a concert

tomorrow. He has to practice.

Suddenly the volume falls. The crowd speaks in slurred whispers.

Slava looks around cautiously. He sees...

The women still have their furs on.

SLAVA

OK, then. I’ll be in my room.

INT. SLAVA’S BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Slava sits with his cello in position and raises his bow. He begins the piece. He’s not even a few

measures into it when he HEARS competing GUITAR MUSIC and the SLAPPING SOUND of Russian folk dancing.

Again, Slava puts the cello aside and, with the bow in his hand, walks to the living room.

INT. LIVING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER



Slava grabs his father by the sleeve and drags him away from the brewing party. He leans close

to his father, sniffs, and looks searchingly in his father’s eyes.

SLAVA

Papa, are you drinking again?

PAPA

Me? No! Of course not. You know your mother

doesn’t let me drink.

SLAVA

But Papa, I can’t practice with all this noise.

Slava looks at...

VERY QUICK SERIES OF SHOTS:

A) Shots of vodka are poured.

B) Cans of herring are pried open.

C) A man and woman make out in a corner.

D) A fat man plays spoons on one of Mama’s treasured plates.



SLAVA (CONT’D)

You have to ask them to leave.

PAPA

In an hour, Slavochka. Let them warm up. It’s awfully cold outside.

SLAVA

But Papa, what about my concert? I have to practice.

PAPA

Slava, you know that piece backwards by now. Whatyou need is a break. Why don’t you go and play

some hockey?

SLAVA

But Papa, Mama said CATEGORICALLY NO HOCKEY.

PAPA

What does Mama know about hockey? She’s just

afraid you’ll hurt your hands. I’ll give you my hockey gloves.

Slava looks at him doubtfully.



SLAVA

If I go, you won’t drink, will you?

PAPA

What? No, of course I won’t drink.

SLAVA

Do you promise?

PAPA

Sure, I promise. I’ll pick you up in an hour.

SLAVA

For sure? Not like last time? You’re not going to forget?

PAPA

(looking at his sport watch)

I’m clocking you right now. You have an hour.

EXT. HOCKEY RINK - LATER

The game is in full swing. Slava arrives, stumbling through the gate on his skates. He is

carrying his recently shined brown dress shoes.



VOVA

Hey Slavka! Hurry up! Vitka just left and we need somebody.

Slava skates behind the goal net and dumps his shoes with a pile of others. Then he skates over to Vova.

SLAVA

I’m in.

VOVA

Good. Get in the net.

SLAVA

(shaking his head)

Can’t. I have a concert tomorrow. I have to watch my hands.

Vova shrugs and turns to TOLSTYAK, a chubby kid in large glasses.

VOVA

OK, Tolstyak. It’s you in the net.

TOLSTYAK

(whining)

Me? Why me?



Vova gives him an impatient look.

Tolstyak skates reluctantly to the net and plops himself in the goalie position, pushing his glassesup his nose.

The puck is dropped onto ice. Slava’s team takes it. The puck is passed almost immediately to...

Slava, who skates hard, only to be checked by...

A much BIGGER KID.

Slava recovers and skates after Bigger Kid, who maneuvers past defenders and...

SLAMS the puck past Tolstyak into the net.

Slava’s team is deflated. Vova gestures for them to gather round.

VOVA

Guys! Guys! Pull it together. Slava, watch me.

I’m gonna get open.

Vova skates off and the game resumes.



SERIES OF SHOTS as the teams struggle back and forth across the ice, until...

Slava gets the puck and passes to...

Vova, who SCORES!!! -- punctuating his shot with a Gretsky celebration.

Slava raises his stick over his head, victoriously, and skates to Vova. They CLACK their sticks

together, smiling.

SERIES OF DISSOLVES:

A) The same hockey rink, but fewer boys are playing.

B) Four boys (Slava among them) are still passionately involved in the game.

C) Slava plays one-on-one with Tolstyak, who is still stuck in the net.

D) Slava plays alone, bouncing the puck off the wall and shooting it, with some flair, into thenet.

E) An irritated Slava looks at the sky, and then down the street in the direction of his apartment.

Skating to the bench behind the goal net, Slava sits down and leans over to pick up his shoes, to

discover...



His shoes have been replaced by an inferior pair of boots, with a broken zipper.

SLAVA

Oh no! Now Mama is definitely going to kill me!

Slava leans down to untie his skates only to find...

The laces are tangled in a frozen knot. He can’t undo them.

Dejected, Slava’s face falls into his hands, when CHKUNG! the rink lights go off, leaving Slava

alone in the darkness.

EXT. STREET - NIGHT

Slava struggles home in snow-packed skates, shivering, carrying his “new” boots under his arm.

INT. SLAVA’S APARTMENT BUILDING - LATER

Still wearing his skates, Slava limps down the hall, struggling to reach the elevator.

Slava pushes the elevator button.

He waits. The elevator doesn’t come.



Slava pushes the button again. And again. And again. Waits. Nothing.

Slava leans close to the door, listening for the SOUND of the MOTOR. He HEARS a repetitive

T-KUNG, T-KUNG, T-KUNG. The elevator is stuck on another floor.

Slava kicks the elevator door.

INT. APARTMENT STAIRWELL

One hand clinging to the handrail, the other cradling his hockey stick and inferior boots, Slava

struggles up the stairs.

SERIES OF SHOTS:

A) FROM ABOVE, Slava trudges up the stairs.

B) TIGHT SHOT of Slava’s skates, banging step by step.

C) Slava, halfway up, stumbles and falls to his knees.

D) Slava, on all fours, crawls from the stairwell and sees...

INT. APARTMENT HALLWAY



Two legs protruding from the elevator.

T-KUNG T-KUNG T-KUNG.

Incredulous, Slava stands and creeps to the elevator to see...

His father, unconscious on the floor, half in the elevator and half out, the elevator door banging

against his ribs.

T-KUNG T-KUNG T-KUNG.

Slava, furious, jabs his father hard with his hockey stick.

SLAVA

Get up!

But Papa is unconscious. Slava, fighting with the elevator doors, puts his father’s feet under his

armpits and begins to drag his father away (the inferior boots balanced precariously on hisfather’s stomach).

LOW ANGLE

Two feet in skates, followed by the body and then the unconscious head of Papa, pass throughthe frame.



INT. SLAVA’S APARTMENT FOYER - CONTINUOUS

The door flies open. Slava comes in, burdened with his papa, hockey stick, inferior boots. Slava

sees...

An empty, trashed apartment. No trace of the previous order can be seen.

SLAVA

(stretching his words in horror)

Mama’s not going to like this.

INT. PARENTS’ BEDROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Slava pulls papa into the bedroom, and there, on Mama’s wrinkled sheets, he sees...

A DRUNKEN RED-HEAD, forty-ish, asleep under a fur coat. Slava drops his father’s feet, runs

to the bed.

SLAVA

Lady, why are you laying here?

Slava grabs the sleeve of her fur coat.

SLAVA (CONT’D)



This is my mother’s bed! Get up!

The Red-Head doesn’t react.

SLAVA

Come on! Get up! She’ll find you here, and it won’t be pretty.

The Red-Head wakes up, looks around, registers Slava and then his papa, lying on the floor.

She sits up in bed, looks down at herself, then stands and starts tucking in her blouse.

Slava, having difficulty, tries unsuccessfully to haul his papa onto the bed.

RED-HEAD

Let me help you.

Before he can object, the Red-Head helps Slava to heave Papa onto the bed.

SLAVA

(not looking at her)

Please go.

The Red-Head leans over and picks up her fur, which had fallen to the floor. She turns and

leaves, dragging her coat behind her.



Slava stands by the bed, breathing hard. He picks up a bottle of vodka that’s standing on the

night stand.

SLAVA

I’m so sick of you.

INT.KITCHEN - LATER

Slava scowls as he pours a bottle of vodka into a clean sink.

WE PULL BACK TO REVEAL...

Slava standing in a clean kitchen, the empty bottle in his hand. He tosses the bottle into a nearly

full can of trash.

SLAVA

There!

Slava leaves the kitchen, shutting off the light.

INT. PAPA’S BEDROOM

Slava turns on a light and stands, looking at...



His father’s face, which looks innocent in sleep.

Slava pulls a blanket up under Papa’s chin and kisses his bald head.

SLAVA

Goodnight, Papochka.

Slava turns out the light.

INT. SLAVA’S BEDROOM

Slava enters his room and sits down on his bed. He looks at...

His cello,

His bedside clock (it’s midnight),

And, finally, a picture of his mother, smiling in Red Square.

Sighing, Slava picks up the cello.

Slava plays a few measures into the piece. He strains to see...



Notes blurring and bouncing on the page.

Slava makes a mistake. He sighs and puts the cello aside.

Slava strips down to his skivvies, sets his alarm clock, and turns the picture of his Mama towardthe wall.

His head hits the pillow, his eyelids flutter shut, and he falls immediately to sleep.

INT. SLAVA’S BEDROOM - LATER

KABAM! Slava’s bedroom door flies open, tossing a jagged light on a disoriented Slava.

Slava’s Papa bursts in and looms over him, menacingly.

PAPA

Where’s the vodka?

SLAVA

Papa, what vodka?. I’m sleeping.

Slava’s Papa grabs him by the pajama collar.

PAPA



Don’t lie to me! You’re just like your mother.

His father pushes him hard back onto the bed and stumbles out of the room.

Slava sits in the long slash of light pouring in from the hall, terrified.

He hears the SOUNDS of GLASS, CRASHING, and his father, SWEARING.

Slava jumps out of bed and runs to the kitchen and sees...

INT. KITCHEN

Papa tears the cabinets apart, looking for vodka.

Bloody footprints mark the kitchen tile.

On the floor lies a broken glass.

SLAVA

Papa! You’re bleeding!

Papa, on his knees, digs in a bottom drawer. He pulls out a unmarked bottle, filled with greenliquid.

With his teeth he pulls the cork out, sniffs the bottle, and grimaces. He reaches for a glass.



Slava goes to his knees, next to Papa.

SLAVA

Stop! Papa! We clean windows with that!

Papa fills the glass to the top.

Slava tries to catch Papa’s hand, but Papa shakes him off and begins to gulp.

Slava watches the bobbing of his papa’s Adam’s apple. His eyes well with tears.

SLAVA

Papouliya, why do you drink? Why?

Papa finishes off the glass and drops his arm. He doesn’t bother to wipe the drool from his chin.

He levels Slava with a heavy, contemptuous stare.

PAPA

(rasping)

Because of mama!

Slava tried to understand as his father pushes past him on his way back to bed.

INT. SLAVA’S BEDROOM - LATER



Slava sits on the side of his bed, exhausted. He stares into space in deep despair. Then his eyes

wander to...

The cello.

SLAVA

(imitating his father)

Because of mama.

Slava picks up the cello and begins to play his piece. He plays beautifully, with some of theemotion that Ludmilla had asked for.

His face seems to say that maybe, just maybe, everything will be OK, when O.S he hears:

AAAHHHHGGGGGAAAALLLLLAAAAAA. It’s Papa, screaming in his sleep.

The rage that has been filling Slava all day suddenly spills over.

PAPA (O.S.)

GAAALLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAHHHHGG.

SLAVA

That’s it!

Slava throws down his bow and rushes out of the room.



INT. PAPA’S BEDROOM

Slava stands over his father, wild-eyed, his chest heaving.

SLAVA

Papa! Stop it! I have to practice!

PAPA

GALLLIANYET....

Slava grabs his father by the shirt and shakes him with all of his might.

SLAVA

Papa! Stop it now! PAPA!

Slava lets go of his father and stands. He pulls the pillow out from under his father’s head and

begins to smother him with it.

SLAVA (CONT)

Now will you stop? Huh? I told you to stop!

For a moment, Slava seems satisfied. But then he panics, tearing the pillow from his father’s

head and shaking him violently.



SLAVA (CONT)

Papa! Wake up! I didn’t mean it! I didn’t want to...

For a while, nothing comes from Papa. Then his eyes fly open and he glances around wildly, asif he doesn’t know where he is. Finally, he focuses on Slava.

PAPA

Where’s Mama?

Relieved, Slava starts to cry.

SLAVA

Papa, Mama’s in Moscow. She’s coming tomorrow.

PAPA

In Moscow? What the hell is she doing in Moscow?

SLAVA

She is at the conference,remember?

PAPA

Screwing around again,that BITCH!



SLAVA

No, Papa, you mustn’t say that. Mama loves you.

Mama LOVES you...

Suddenly, Papa’s demeanor changes. He seems to see Slava, soberly, and to realize where he isand what he’s done.

He puts his hand on Slava’s face, brushing back first his tears, and then his hair.

PAPA

Loves me? And I love her. And you too, Slavochka.

More than anything...

He settles back into his pillow and continues to mutter, dreamily now.

PAPA (CONT’D)

...more than anything. Now, go to sleep. Did you

forget you have a concert in the morning?

Slava looks down at his sleeping father. He wipes his nose with his pajama sleeve.

INT. CONCERT HALL, BACKSTAGE - NEXT DAY

A sleeping Slava is awakened by someone calling his name. Slava jerks awake to see...



Ludmilla Nikolaevna, standing over him. He HEARS distant, polite APPLAUSE.

Slava sees...

A pale, trembling, shell-shocked boy, carrying a tuba, exiting the stage.

LUDMILLA

Slava, you’re on.

INT. CONCERT HALL STAGE

Carrying his cello, Slava walks to a lonely seat in the center of a stage.

As he sits, he scans the faces of the crowd. In the middle, just a few rows back, he spots...

His father, and a beautiful, beaming woman, who shines at Slava, and waves. MAMA.

Slava smiles at her, uneasily, and sits down. He positions himself, and looks down at...

His shoes. The cheap ones that were left to him at the hockey rink the night before. He winces

and looks up at...

The crowd. No one seems to notice. Everyone is hushed, waiting.

Mama most of all.



Slava’s bow strikes the first notes of the Vivaldi piece. He is but a few notes in when the

unthinkable happens: he makes a mistake. He freezes, looks up to see...

Mama’s frozen smile, and his father’s guilty look of despair.

Slava looks as if he’s ready to cry, or flee. He turns to...

Ludmilla Nikolaevna. She slaps her stomach and rases her hands up over her bosoms.

Slava starts again.

This time, a WHOLLY DIFFERENT SOUND emerges from his cello: a deep sound, full of feeling. As Slava plays on, we see...

A MONTAGE OF SHOTS, INTERWOVEN WITH SHOTS OF SLAVA PLAYING CELLO:

A) Vova’s goal and Gretsky celebration;.

B) Papa gulping vodka;

C) The strain of dragging his passed-out father down the hall;

D) Papa gulping vodka;

E) The struggle on the stair case, in skates;



F) The pillow on papa’s face.

As Slava remembers, his playing grows sweeter and more melancholy, until --MMMMMMMMMMMMMM -- the last note is drawn.

Silence.

Slava doesn’t dare to lift his head. Was it bad? Was it good? At last he lifts his head to see...

Everyone looking at him with awe. And then...

A BURST OF APPLAUSE.

Slava looks at...

Mama, who is beaming at him.

Slava smiles and stands, shyly, to take his bow.

CUT TO:

CLOSE SHOT of Mama and Papa, smiling and applauding. Mama leans over to Papa. He tilts

his head toward hers.



MAMA

(from the corner of her smile)

Sasha! You couldn’t find better shoes for the boy to wear?

Papa squirms, and Mama leans away, continuing to applaud and smile.

I

NT. TRAM - LATER

Slava and Papa sit together exhausted. In front of them sit Mama and Ludmilla, chatting

animatedly.

PAPA

Slava, Mama was right. Absolutely no hockey.

Only cello from now on.

SLAVA

Are you drunk?

PAPA

(not listening)

It was incredible. I never imagined you had that kind of talent...

SLAVA



Give me a break. I want to go home and sleep.

PAPA

I understand. Forgive me.

MAMA

(leaning in close to Ludmilla)

I think his elbow is weak.

LUDMILLA

Yes, I noticed it, too...

MAMA

Maybe he needs to practice an extra hour

a day...

EXT. TRAM

Slava and Papa exit the tram. Slava turns to help his mother and Ludmilla step down. Papalights a cigarette as the tram rolls away.

PAPA

(lighting his cigarette)

Listen, Slava. Where did you dig up those ugly shoes?



SLAVA

Papa! My cello!

INT TRAM

The forgotten cello leans against the back window of the tram. Through the window we seeSlava and Papa run after the tram, frantically waving their arms.

Cut to black.

Roll credits.

sample screenplay

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