…following on
from BILL CLINTON’S LOVE CHILD # 2
49 EXT. DESERT PALMS MOTEL. SUNSET
Venus drives
past the motel swimming pool; pulls up outside 'Reception'.
50 INT. DESERT PALMS MOTEL - RECEPTION. SUNSET
The owners,
MADGE and REG (they're wearing name tags) book VENUS in. REG writes “Venus
Aphrodite” into his register.
MADGE
That'll be $15
and I'll need some ID, Miss Aphrodite. Driver's license?
VENUS reaches
into 'her' black carry bag, lifts out a bottle of maple syrup.
51 INT. NOTCH’S HOUSE. SUNSET
NOTCH pours hot
water into a teapot, calls out to Josie.
NOTCH
Five thousand
kilometers by bus in 6 days! That’s a big ask, Venus!
52 EXT. SHOWER. SUNSET
JOSIE, under
the shower, her modesty protected by the sarong hanging from a branch.
NOTCH (VOICE OFF)
Couldn't this
Terrence bloke just send you the money?
JOSIE
No,
because...because...
JOSIE can't
think of a reason on the spur of the moment.
53 INT. DESERT PALMS MOTEL - RECEPTION. SUNSET
MADGE and REG
look from the bottle of maple syrup to VENUS - trying to hide her shock as she
looks inside Josie’s bag at:
Josie’s
passport, open at the photo of Josie with pink hair.
VENUS
Venus is my
stage name. My actual name is Josephine Higgenbottom.
She holds up
Josie’s passport photo alongside her own face.
VENUS
This is from
when I dyed my hair pink.
MADGE and REG
remain unconvinced.
54 INT. NOTCH’S HOUSE. AFTER SUNSET
JOSIE, a towel
wrapped around her, walks into the ‘kitchen’ Notch’s open plan home. He hands
her a cup of tea, leans close, sniffs her playfully. JOSIE laughs.
55 INT. DESERT PALMS MOTEL - RECEPTION. SUNSET
VENUS indicates
the photo of herself and the python on the open screen of her laptop computer.
She holds her face close so that Reg and Madge can compare.
VENUS
See!... And my
husband Frederick Higgenbottom will be here first thing in the morning to fix
up the bill!
56 INT. NOTCH’S HOUSE. NIGHT
NOTCH sits at a
cluttered table, a beer in his hands and with his eyes closed.
JOSIE (VOICE OFF)
OK, you can
open your eyes.
JOSIE is
standing closeby dressed in a very colourful and imaginatively designed outfit.
NOTCH
Wow! (A BEAT)
and you designed it yourself?
JOSIE smiles,
nods; excited.
JOSIE
Want to see
another one?
NOTCH laughs,
nods.
A LITTLE LATER
In a brief
montage JOSIE dresses up in four or five of her outfits - each one an inspired
piece of clothing design. One of them has lots of feathers stitched into it.
57 INT. MOTEL ROOM. NIGHT
CLOSE ON a
glossy fashion magazine double page spread of models in outlandish designer
clothes. The headline reads:
ABORIGINAL FASHION DESIGNER
TAKES PARIS BY STORM
Prominent is a
photo of a young Aboriginal man dressed in outlandish colourful clothes,
identified as Amaroo Yunipingu.
The byline
reads: “The world of haute couture now has a new name to contend with as Amaroo
Yunipingu’s releases his latest designs...”
VENUS reads a
little, shakes her head, takes a blue mobile phone out of Josie’s black carry
bag.
58 INT. NOTCH’S HOUSE. NIGHT
JOSIE sits at
the table, accepts the bottle of beer held out for her by NOTCH.
NOTCH
I’m not big on
fashion, but...
JOSIE
Would never
have guessed that...
NOTCH
...I reckon ya
clobber’s pretty bloody good - except for that feathery thing.
JOSIE
Oh, that’s my
favourite.
NOTCH
Bit over the
top, I reckon.
JOSIE
Oh.
NOTCH
Just being
honest, Venus.
59 INT. HOTEL. NIGHT
OLIVER sips a
glass of water, his eyes on a packet of cigarettes as he listens to Notch and
Josie talk.
JOSIE (VOICE OFF)
Do you think
its...I mean, that you have to tell the truth all the time.
He picks the
packet up, looks at it, puts it down, picks it up again, takes out a cigarette,
puts it in his mouth.
NOTCH (VOICE OFF)
Got no time for
lies, Venus. Or liars.
He draws on it
(unlit) then suddenly crumples it up in his hands, takes the half empty packet
and walks into the en suite bathroom.
JOSIE (VOICE OFF)
Oh. But...If
you told me....like now...
60 INT. NOTCH’S HOUSE. NIGHT
JOSIE and NOTCH
sit together at the table.
JOSIE
...that you
were not really who I think you are...I mean...
NOTCH
Yeah...?
The sound of
Mendellsohn’s Wedding March. JOSIE leaps to her feet, rushes to the ‘kitchen’
picks up the phone.
61 INT. MOTEL ROOM. NIGHT
VENUS, her
hands shaking badly, speaks into Josie’s blue mobile phone.
VENUS
I want my bag
back. Where are you?
62 INT. NOTCH’S HOUSE. NIGHT
JOSIE speaks animatedly
on the phone.
JOSIE
Mum! Hi, yes
I’m fine. Hey, can’t talk now, I’m right in the middle of something. Can I call
you back. Love you.
JOSIE hangs up,
rejoins NOTCH
JOSIE
My mum.
63 INT. HOTEL. NIGHT
OLIVER walks
from the en suite bathroom back into the main room. The sound of the toilet
flushing can be heard.
NOTCH (VOICE OFF)
So, who do ya
reckon I think I am...
OLIVER picks up
a ‘Book of Mormon’, opens it.
NOTCH (VOICE OFF)
...that might
be different...
64 INT. NOTCH’S HOUSE. NIGHT
NOTCH
...from who you
reckon I am?
JOSIE laughs,
waves the question away.
NOTCH
More to the
point, who do ya reckon you are, Venus?
JOSIE
You’re funny.
NOTCH (SMILES)
So, ya need
$5,000 so you can stay in Australia and study with this Aboriginal fashion
designer?
JOSIE
My tourist visa
expires at the end of the week and to study with Eric. I have to get a student
visa and to get a student visa I need to be able to prove that I have $5,000 -
which I don’t have. I mean, I did until yesterday, but now I don’t and...
NOTCH
What happened
to your five grand?
JOSIE laughs,
waves the question away.
NOTCH
Wish I had five
grand to lend ya...
JOSIE
You'd do that!?
NOTCH (NODS)
Course, Venus,
if I had the dough.
JOSIE
You...trust
me...!?
NOTCH
Yeah, I reckon
you’re an honest kind of person.
NOTCH looks
directly into her eyes, nods. JOSIE blushes, covers her embarrassment by
opening a photo album on the table, flicking through it.
NOTCH
Do a bit of
work as a tour guide from time to time to make ends meet…
JOSIE looks at
a photo album at a photo of:
- NOTCH -
dressed in a neatly ironed khaki uniform, his hair tied back - standing in front of a large OUTBACK
ADVENTURE TOURS bus with young backpackers.
JOSIE nods,
smiles at NOTCH, flips through the album:
Young
backpackers at water falls, standing by huge ant's nests, sitting around camp
fires, etc; mostly young women.
JOSIE
You get mostly
women on the tours?
NOTCH looks a
little embarrassed. JOSIE picks up a loose photo of a pretty young blonde in a
bikini. She turns it over. A look of panic crosses NOTCH'S face as JOSIE reads:
JOSIE
“To a bronzed
Aussie hunk from a hot German frauline, beast wishes, Helga.” Beast wishes!?
NOTCH
I reckon she
mighta meant 'best wishes'.
JOSIE laughs.
LATER
JOSIE lies in a
bed ‘inside’ Notch’s house. NOTCH lies in his swag outside, 20 or so feet away,
looking up at the stars.
JOSIE
You know that
saying ,”The truth shall set you free.”?
NOTCH
Uh huh. Yeah, I
reckon its true!
JOSIE is just
about to confess when NOTCH continues:
NOTCH
You got
something you want to get off your chest? Other than the maple syrup that is.
JOSIE laughs.
NOTCH
Would you be
offended if I asked how that came about?
JOSIE
Yes
NOTCH
How’d you
manage to get maple syrup on ya chest like that?
JOSIE
Night Notch.
NOTCH
Don’t let the
bed bugs bite, Venus.
CLOSE ON JOSIE
as she smiles to herself.
The familiar
‘Voice of God’ voice over is heard:
VOICE OVER
The true story of how Josie managed to get maple syrup
on her chest is a story that she can’t tell Notch without giving away that she
is not Venus.
65 MONTAGE. VARIOUS LOCATIONS
4 year old
Josephine explores racks of colourful theatrical costumes with her hands and
eyes. She smiles happily; ignores the admiring smiles of her mother Josephine
Snr and actors in Restoration comedy costumes looking down at her.
VOICE OVER
If she could tell him the truth without exposing
herself as a liar, this would be it:
Graphic: JOSIE’S
STORY...in a nutshell
An ageing roué,
his eyes on Josephine senior’s ample breasts, squeezed into a tight bustier:
AGEING ROUE
Beautiful, just
like her mother.
Young Josephine
pays no attention - entranced as she is by the colour and texture of the
costumes.
NOTE: (Young Josie and Venus, very similar in looks at all ages, are to be
played by the same actresses – with different haircuts etc.)
A park. Josie
Junior, 5 years old, stares at a flower garden.
JOSIE SENIOR
sits on a blanket closeby, sipping champagne with her current BEAU. JOSIES Snr.
and Jnr. Have identical haircuts.
VOICE OVER
Unlike Venus’ mother, Josephine Senior, does not think
that God has a plan but that life’s twists and turns are mapped out in the
stars.
In answer to
the BEAU’S question, looking over to Josie Jnr.
JOSIE SENIOR
Aries. Such a
happy child! (LOUDER) Aren’t you, darling? A happy child?
JOSIE JUNIOR
turns and smiles dutifully at her mother. The BEAU glances at Josie senior’s
ample uplifted breasts.
VOICE OVER
At a very early age young Josephine discovers that the
world as she imagines it is much more…
In her
imagination Josie undresses and re-dresses her mother and the BEAU in costumes
made from flowers.
VOICE OVER
…interesting than the world as it is and that…
JOSIE JUNIOR
(aged 5) pastes a cut out picture of a dress into her Scrap Book.
VOICE OVER
…bodies adorned in beautiful clothes never fail to put
a smile on her face.
JOSEPHINE JNR,
smiling, is surrounded by Fashion Magazines and photos of models in haute
couture clothes she has cut from them.
VOICE OVER
By the time she is fifteen, Josephine is…
JOSEPHINE JNR
(aged 15) now has a large collection of Scrap Books. The walls of her bedroom
bear witness to her love of fashion design.
VOICE OVER
…collecting Fashion Designers also – her favorite
being the Australian Amaroo Yunipingu, whose designs, inspired by Australian
flora and fauna, so shocked the fashion world and gave birth to his label,
‘Feral Fashion’.
Magazine photos
of Amaroo’s ‘indigenous’ designs. One, inspired by and partly made of ostrich
feathers.
A zoo. JOSIE
JUNIOR (15 still) looks at the multi-coloured birds in a large aviary. Closeby,
Josie Senior flirts with a NEW NEW BEAU.
JOSIE JUNIOR’S
attention is caught by her mother’s laugh. In her imagination she undresses and
re-dresses her mother in a costume made from multi-coloured parrot feathers.
Pleased with the effect, she dresses the NEW BEAU in Eagle feathers, his hands
(transformed into talons) poised to grasp Josie Senior’s ample breasts.
VOICE OVER
Josie’s early attempts at clothes design…
JOSIE JUNIOR
(15 still) sitting at a sewing machine, surrounded by feathers, hands an
imaginatively designed jacket, made mostly of feathers, to her bemused mother.
VOICE OVER
…reveal that her powers of imagination are far greater
than her skill with a sewing machine.
As JOSEPHINE
SENIOR tries the jacket on it falls apart.
JOSIE SENIOR
Best to stick
with what you are good at, darling.
VOICE OVER
What Josephine Junior is ‘good at’ Josephine Senior
assures her daughter, is acting…
JOSEPHINE JNR
(15 years old), a lady in a Restoration Comedy takes a bow centre stage,
smiling at the applauding audience in general and her proud mother in
particular.
VOICE OVER
…and she is indeed a skilled enough performer to
convince…
Backstage,
after the show. JOSEPHINE JNR smiles enthusiastically as her mother’s admiring
friends congratulate her. JOSEPHINE SENIOR hugs
JOSEPHINE JNR,
who smiles obligingly.
JOSIE SENIOR
She wants to be
an actress when she grows up, don’t you darling?
VOICE OVER
…her mother that she loves acting, when in fact
pretending to be someone else does not seem to Josie to be a particularly noble
pursuit, unless that someone is Richard Gere…
Tears stream
down JOSEPHINE JNR’s face as she sees on TV:
Richard Gere,
in a white officer’s uniform, picks Debra Winger up in his arms and carries her
out of the factory.
VOICE OVER
…for whom Josie develops a pre-pubescent crush.
JOSEPHINE JNR
(15 years old now, to be played for here on in by the same actress who plays
Venus) sits in the wings of a theatre, mending a costume.
VOICE OVER
In Josie’s mind acting is certainly not as much fun as
making costumes and the…
Onstage,
JOSEPHINE SENIOR, in peasant garb, plays Joan of Arc, about to be burnt at the
stake.
VOICE OVER
…free reign the world of theatre offers her fertile
imagination.
JOSEPHINE SENIOR (AS JOAN)
“I bid
you remember that I am a saint…
In her
imagination JOSEPHINE JNR re-dresses her mother as a Hooker – her breasts
spilling out of a crimson bustier, micro skirt, knee high leather boots; whip
in hand.
JOSEPHINE SENIOR
…and that
saints can work miracles.”
VOICE OVER
With her mother’s connections and her own natural talent
as an actress…
In a darkened
theatre, JOSEPHINE JNR sits beside the Director of the Acting School.
VOICE OVER
…the course of young Josie’s career seems certain…
JOSIE JUNIOR
(18 years old) strides onstage dressed as a hooker – in the same costume she
imagined her mother in - crimson bustier, micro skirt, knee high leather boots.
VOICE OVER
And so it was that she finds herself auditioning for a
place in the Royal Shakespeare Company that she is determined not to win.
JOSEPHINE
SENIOR is shocked until she sees that the Director of the School is amused.
CASTING DIRECTOR
And what is
your audition piece, Miss Higgenbottom.
JOSEPHINE JNR
Joan or Arc,
sir.
JOSEPHINE JNR
recites the last line of her audition piece. Her attempts to perform badly has
a reverse affect to the one intended on the Director.
JOSIE (AS JOAN)
“O God that
madest this beautiful earth, when will it be ready to receive thy saints? How
long, O Lord, how long?”
JOSEPHINE JNR
takes a bow and exits.
CASTING DIRECTOR
She’s
magnificent. An original talent. Like her mother. Did you know she was going to
play Saint Joan as a…whore?
JOSIE SENIOR
Of course!
We’re like that (CROSSES HER FINGERS) two peas in a pod. Josie hides nothing
from me.
VOICE OVER
This is not strictly speaking true since Josie,
recently turned 18 has secretly acquired her own passport and a tourist visa
for 3 months…
JOSEPHINE JNR
spins a Globe, measures the distance from London to Australia.
VOICE OVER
…in the furthest English-speaking country from her
mother she can find on the planet.
CLOSE ON:
Passport photo of JOSIE, with short pink hair.
PASSPORT CONTROL OFFICER
G’day
Josephine!
At Darwin
airport, the PASSPORT CONTROL OFFICER looks from the passport to JOSEPHINE JNR
– her hair short and pink now.
JOSIE
Josie!
PASSPORT CONTROL OFFICER
And you have
$5,000?
JOSIE nods,
hands the PASSPORT CONTROL OFFICER a booklet of Traveller’s Cheques. He flicks
through them quickly.
PASSPORT CONTROL OFFICER
Welcome to
Australia, Josie.
JOSIE sits on a
bus driving through the Australian desert. Open on her lap is her Amaroo
Yunipingu scrapbook.
VOICE OVER
Josie’s real reason for being in Australia, however,
is her fervent desire to meet her design hero in the hope...
JOSIE crosses
her fingers.
VOICE OVER
...that Amaroo might become her mentor.
JOSIE, dressed
in one of her eye-catching outfits, carrying her red suitcase, walks down the
street in Darwin and into an upmarket arcade.
66 INT. AMAROO’S BOUTIQUE. DAY
As she waits at
Reception, taking in the array of
imaginatively designed clothes, she catches a glimpse of AMAROO - an
extremely handsome thirtysomething Aboriginal - in a back room fitting one of
his exotic costumes onto a model. JOSIE is in 7th heaven; hopes he will notice
her.
The
RECEPTIONIST looks at JOSIE’S outfit, smiles her congratulations, looks into
the diary on her desk.
RECEPTIONIST
I am sure
Amaroo will want to see you. He’s leaving for overseas tomorrow but I can
squeeze you in first thing in the morning...
JOSIE’S face
breaks into the happiest of smiles.
A DAY LATER
JOSIE smile has
turned into a frown. Se is wearing yet another of her daring and imaginative
outfits as The immaculately dressed RECEPTIONIST (also in a different
outfit)smiles apologetically.
RECEPTIONIST
I’m terribly
sorry, but Amaroo had to catch an earlier flight and...
JOSIE tries
hard to hide her disappointment.
67 INT. PUB. NIGHT
JOSIE sips a
cocktail in a pub a little too fast. Drowning her sorrows.
Onstage a band
(THE COWBOYS) plays. The lead singer, BRANDON, (Marlboro Man good looks) beams
a huge white smile at JOSIE when she looks in his direction.
JOSIE cheers up
as BRANDON flirts with her as he sings a love song - his eyes staring directly
into her own.
BRANDON
finishes his song, walks across the Club, stands for a moment in front of
JOSIE, takes her hand, drops to one knee kisses the back of it, looks into her
eyes.
BRANDON
You have most
beautiful blue eyes that I have ever seen.
JOSIE is
smitten. She smiles joyfully, turns bright red.
BRANDON sweeps
JOSIE up into his arms in a manner reminiscent of Richard Gere in AN OFFICER
AND A GENTLEMAN.
68 EXT. PUB. NIGHT
BRANDON carries
JOSIE to his gleaming silver and black Harley Davison parked outside.
69 EXT. MOTORBIKE ON OUTBACK ROAD. NIGHT
JOSIE clings to
BRANDON as he drives on an outback road under a full moon.
JOSIE
Do you believe
in destiny?
BRANDON (NODS)
I'm destined to
be a rock and roll star. And you?
JOSIE
Famous fashion
designer. (A BEAT) My eyes are brown, by the way; not blue.
BRANDON laughs.
JOSIE smiles happily, clings to him tightly.
70 INT. BRANDON’S HOUSE. MORNING
JOSIE lies
naked, face down and half asleep, on a double bed. BRANDON, wearing a sarong,
walks in carrying a tray with two cups of coffee on it, a pile of pancakes and
a small jug. He places the tray on the bed gently and lightly massages JOSIE’S
back with the tips of his fingers. JOSIE purrs, opens her eyes, smiles and
turns over as BRANDON leans in to kiss her on the lips.
A LITTLE LATER
JOSIE, wearing
a sarong now, sitting up on the bed - a plate of pancakes in front of her. She
dips her finger in the small jug, puts it in her mouth.
JOSIE
Mmmm...
BRANDON grins
wickedly, dips his finger in the jug, holds it up to JOSIE’S mouth. She opens
her mouth, sucks on his finger, laughs happily.
71 INT. NOTCH’S HOUSE. NIGHT
CLOSE ON JOSIE
lying in bed in the dark, remembering.
JOSIE
Notch? You
asleep?
NOTCH lies
outside in his swag looking up at the stars.
NOTCH
Yep, sound...
JOSIE
Do you believe
in fate? Destiny? Like…there are no accidents. Everything happens for a reason.
NOTCH
Nah, I reckon
we come up with the reasons after the accidents happened…
JOSIE, looking
up into the rafters, freezes in fear.
JOSIE
There's
something moving in the roof.
NOTCH
That'll be
Basil.
JOSIE
Basil?
NOTCH
M'pet python.
JOSIE
PYTHON!
JOSIE, her eyes
wide in terror, stares up into the rafters.
NOTCH
If he decides
to join you in bed don't worry. You're too big to swallow whole.
As the python
falls with a heavy plop onto her bed, JOSIE leaps from it and runs screaming
out of the house.
JOSIE
Ahhhhh!
72 EXT. NOTCH'S HOUSE. NIGHT
JOSIE runs up
to where NOTCH lies in his swag under the stars.
JOSIE
Holy frigging
Moley! Move over.
JOSIE climbs
into NOTCH'S swag.
NOTCH
Thought ya
liked snakes!
JOSIE
I...I love
snakes...but I don't want to share a bed with one.
NOTCH
Reckon it'll be
less dangerous sharing a bed with me?
JOSIE
You won't…you
know…do anything, will you!?
An animal
screeches in the darkness. JOSIE screams; throws herself into NOTCH'S arms.
NOTCH
No, mate,
you're safe with me.
JOSIE
OK, I admit it,
I'm scared shitless of snakes, spiders, insects, bugs, creepy crawlies…and I
don't know what a herpe…whatever… is.
NOTCH
A sexually
transmitted disease, mate. You get it from sleeping with people you don't know.
Not to be confused with 'herpetologist', which is an expert in snakes…
JOSIE
Oh!
JOSIE, bright
red with embarrassment, eases herself away from NOTCH.
NOTCH
Sleep tight,
Venus.
JOSIE
'Night Notch.
…to be
continued…
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