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Preface: THE HAIKU and SENECA

This film is inspired to SENECAs 'De PROVIDENTIA'.More precisely, to the following passage:

The Suicide of the Wise Man from Senecas "On Providence"

At the end of DE PROVIDENTIA Seneca takes on an antithetical position tothat of Christianity on the delicate issue of suicide.

"When misfortune becomes unbearable, the wise man may legitimately seekdeath:God willed it for there to be only one way to come to the world (from thematernal womb), but has left us many ways to take our lives away.Suicide is the ultimate trial for the Wise Man: a liberating event, though stilla sacrifice."

Seneca - DE PROVIDENTIA

CHAPTER I: ABEL IN THE SKY and GIVEN CIRCUMSTANCES

It all begins with a man alone, sitting in a helicopter watching the clouds going past beforehim. This is Abel: an elderly man who has decided to put an end to his days by committing

suicide, as an extreme form of sacrifice. Abel lives through his decision with extreme calmand peacefulness, for he has come to it conscientiously, through his own free will (...mancannot decide how to come to the world it has to be through the maternal womb buthe can decide how to die. Seneca De Providentia).

Abel has had plenty of time to prepare his last day on Earth and wants it to be beautiful,mystical and in harmony with natures Creation. He feels fulfilled and has already reachedthe peace of the Wise Man, who decides to put an end to himself when misfortunebecomes unbearable. (Seneca De Providentia).For the occasion he has previously written a letter to his only daughter, who he hasntseen or heard from for 15 years. She has always lived with her mother, after herseparation from Abel.This is what he writes in his letter to his daughter: My love, I have loved you as I have never loved anybody else. Ive decided to put an end to my days by shooting myself on top of a mountain. Im in peace with myself. Id like you to


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be with me, so we can share together the path that will take me to separation.It will be our gift. I need you. Lets meet on the plateau, at the landing strip. This is the girls reply to her father: Father, I have missed you every day. I dont even know you. I shall be there . So, she waits for her father at the landing strip inthe middle of the plateau.

Long sequences of clouds in the sky, of the mountains, of the man looking out of thewindow. This is Abel. An elderly, serious, man. Dressed New York-style, with a jacket andtrousers. Very long sequence for the opening credits too.

CHAPTER II: THE HELICOPTER REACHES THE PLATEAU

The mans daughter, an eighteen-year-old girl, is there and ready, waiting motionless forher father next to the landing strip in the middle of the mountain plateau.She has replied to Abels letter, but she is dazed and a little confused. She is not quiteconscious of what shes experiencing and what she is being asked to do. Her green agedoes not allow her to live through the present with the necessary focus. Her motherprobably knows nothing about all this.

This is clearly a situation we would find in Jarmusch, Kaurismki or Korine, composed of estrangement, of misalignment.

The girls is dressed in the Japan-style (a peculiar and eccentric style): she is stooping overher tights shoulders, bending her head slightly. She is wearing a hoodie. She smokes a


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whole cigarette, walking around, looking at the sky from time to time and looking down.We film her the whole time. After she has finished her whole cigarette we see a helicopterlanding. Once its reached the ground, Abel comes out and walks towards the girl. Theystare at each other in silence for a long time, with a mind-blowing wind caused by thehelicopter. Then they embrace and hold each other tight in the wind without saying aword. The helicopter takes off . We keep filming father and daughter as they embrace.They are happy to see each other, but they dont know what to say, because they neverreally knew each other. We foresee a relationship made of silences rather than words.

BLACKNESS

CHAPTER 3: THE WALK OF THE ROSARY

We now find ourselves on a paved road that cuts the plateau. Abel and his daughter walk

at a distance from each other. Abel is ahead, while the girl lags behind. Abel walks on, ashe prays to God, repeating a HAIL MARY unceasingly. This is The Walk of the Rosary, thepilgrims progress towards the holy land. Abel has always been fond of prayer, it relaxeshim and helps him concentrate. The day of extreme sacrifice HAS TO BE baptized with anendless repetition of the Rosary. Senecas suicide is an offering, a sacrifice, a ritualrequiring specific passages. You dont just kill yourself... you have to offer yourself as asacrifice, following a ritual. Abel prays for himself as well as for his daughter.The girl is following him from a distance of a few yards. She is relaxed and confused: sheis not conscious. She is not required to be conscious. All her father has asked her is to bethere, as he feels guilty for not having brought her up and educated her... for not having

loved her adequately. The girl, in the company of her unknown father, finally feels happyand peaceful. And shes back to being the young, shy, dazed girl she once was.


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CHAPTER 4: A SWIM IN THE LAKE

Abel and his daughter are motionless in the nothingness of nature. Theyre not looking ateach other, but elsewhere, immersed in their own thoughts. Their relationship, made of silences, begins to take shape. They know theyre both rather strange, theyre aware of being two very peculiar individuals, and theyre experimenting with a space in which tomove and get to know each other inside silence.

After a while.

The girl:

Well?

Pause.

Abel:

Zero.

The girl:

Apart from that, how do you feel?

Abel:

Im not complaining.The girl:

You feel normal?

Abel:

I told you, Im not complaining.

A LONG PAUSE.

The girl: (shouting at the top of her voice)

ABEL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Abel: (peacefully)

Yes?

Girl: (very serious and sullen, with the tone of a star performer)

ILL GIVE YOU NOTHING MORE TO EAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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Abel: (very relaxed, but amused).

Then well die.

BLACKNESS.

They resume their walk in the nothingness. We follow them. They reach a tiny mountainlake, practically a pond, and they stop and stare at the water for what seems like eternity.

She feels the impulse inside of her to do something in front of her father, to do somethingwith her father, to do something for her father. She wants to break the ice in a strongincisive way, an outburst only someone very young can have. Her idea is to bathe nakedbefore her father! A simple but determined idea. A young womans idea.

She starts undressing very slowly, throwing her clothes on the ground and once she isnude, she goes into the water and bathes. She has a long very calm swim. She tries to be

calm, but the water is extremely cold. Abel first looks at her in fascination, then stopslooking at her, turning his back towards her. The girl is enjoying being in the water andswimming. Abel starts singing a song, in English, very softly. He sings the whole longsong. His daughter comes out of the lake. She is cold and trembling. Abel embraces herfor a long time, trying to keep her warm. The cold is making her cry, its making her bodyshake, its giving her quivers.

They embrace for a long time, as the girl is trembling.

BLACKNESS


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CHAPTER 5: DAY FOR NIGHT

Were doing a fake night with the camera diaphragm. A day for night, known in Italy as Notte americana, American Night, a night of the mind. Were in a wood, with a fire in

front of them. Abel has decided to do the one thing that he really likes and really makes him happy:

Strumming on the guitar and singing.

He does this for as long as he likes, because it makes him feel so good. The girl listens tohim for a while, curious about the habits of a father she doesnt know. She suddenly feelsfree and sure she can improvise in a new space of freedom.

She walks away from the frame for some time (were with Abel now), then she walks back into the frame, and after a while Abel stops singing. They remain in silence for a longtime, just looking at the fire. Then the girl draws closer to him and kisses him in themouth. She has just discovered this father of hers is a nice guy and she likes him as he is.Shes made a crucial discovery. Her father is a great guy!

BLACKNESS.

Girl:

What do you want to know?


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Abel:

Please dont start again.

The girl walks off, bothered.

BLACKNESS.

Fade-in fade-out images of the girl walking in the wood, playing among the trees, like anelf. As if the wood were full of mysterious creatures, but ones she knows very well, onesshe knows how to converse with.

CHAPTER 6: THE WALK OF THE ROSARY HERS.

Same scene as CHAPTER 3, but the other way round. She is walking in front, reciting herHAIL MARY with the Rosary, in the manner of an adolescent, while Abel walks behind her,

relaxed and amused.

She is finally discovering the space of play, of lay with her father... it has never happenedto her before in her life. The Kaurismki-like low-profile girl knew not what it could meanto play at impersonating her father. She is impersonating him, as children would do.

Abel is authentically gratified and happy to see her daughter enjoying his company somuch. Hes touched inside.


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CHAPTER 7: THE CONVERTIBLE

Abel and the girl are on the side of the road cutting the plateau: theyre in silence, bothlost in their thoughts. After a while a vintage convertible reaches them. Its driven by anelderly cowboy in a typical hat. A David Lynch cowboy. The car slows down and stops near

Abel and the girl. The cowboy looks at them in silence. They let themselves be looked atin silence. After a long while, the cowboy gets out of the car and gives Abel the keys.

BLACKNESS

Abel and the girl are now in the car, taking a fine panoramic tour, enjoying the views andenjoying the fresh wind on their faces. Classical music is coming out of the car radio. Abelpaints curved trajectories, straight or round, which make no real sense, for some longminutes. Theyre both enjoying the speed and the vast panoramic views. Theyreimmersed in the space of free breathing, of oxygen.


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CHAPTER 8: THE CHURCH BENCH

Were in front of a small mountain church. Abel and the girl are sitting on a benchopposite this church. Theyre silent, absorbed in their thoughts for some interminablemoments. Then, when it seems nothing else can happen, an infinite flock of bleatingsheep enter the frame, along with their shepherd. They parade in front of them for a longwhile. The sheep parade finished, we stay for a while on Abel and the girl sitting on theirbench. She is smoking a cigarette. Were in the space of the witness.


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CHAPTER 9: THE CLIMB BEGINS

Were in front of a friable rock climb. The girl is already on top, and she rolls down causinga small landslide of earth and rocks. Abel is watching her from below. Once shes comedown, with difficulty, he tries to climb up too, with great effort. Half way up, he rolls downtoo. Now shes watching her from below. Once theyre both down, they take an uphill paththat was only about 10 meters away from them, leaving the friable rock alone. We followthem as they walk. She shouts to the sky from time to time, listening to its echo.

She listens to her shouts with concentration: shes finding some independence and someloneliness too, even in the company of her father. Shes already grown up somewhat, inthis condensation of her life in a single day.

BLACKNESS


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10 CHAPTER: A HAIKU NIGHT

Night. Were on top of a mountain, more precisely on the terrace of a high mountainrefuge. Above the door theres a bright neon sign reads HAIKU. The terrace is lit upwith lots of light bulbs.

A local man in his nineties is sitting on the terrace, leaning his chin on his walking stick and with a drink in front of him. His look is happy and dulled by wrinkles. A youngJapanese DJ with a small mixer is standing next to him, right under the fluorescent

HAIKU sign.

The Japanese DJ and the old man represent the guards to the next world:


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After HAIKU theres no turning back. Metaphorically its like being at the gates of Heavenor Hell. To go beyond HAIKU you need permission from the two guards... who couldnt bestranger or more different from one another!

The DJ, wearing headphones, is playing a Japanese tune, a litany with the voice of a girl,a child, singing. Abel and the girl sit next to the old man and all three sit in silencelistening to the Japanese litany to the very end. The litany over, the DJ plays some verydark hard-core electro. The girl is the only one to stand up and start dancing, before thethree men who watch her in silence. She dances the full length of the tune.

While his daughter is dancing to the Japanese minimal piece of music, Abel indulges in along monologue, addressed more to himself than to the old man:

ABEL:

[Watching in enchantment her daughter dancing to the minimal Japanese electro track]

Look at her: shes a flower. Shes got everything: corolla, stalk, stem, legs. A

real flower. But [he turns to the old man, addressing only him] all flowers are

withered: sooner or later. You know what flowers do sooner or later, dont you?

Ah! You dont know enough about all that [he pats the old man on the shoulders] ,

youre withering too, and anyone would say you know everything! [Enchanted

again, to himself] Saying you know everything is too much: no one ever knows

enough. Take his mother, for instance [he points to his daughter] . She was a Great

Mother. We really got along together, in a universal way, her mother and I did!

[To the old man] How do you think she was born? Under a cabbage? But

cabbages wither too and only kids believe in such stories! [Enchanted again,

looking at his daughter hinting at a dance] Only children believe in stories. From the

beginning of the universe. They, who come from the moon. Before coming into

this world, they were on the moon. Theres always been a mother, a mother

always pops out, whether great or small. And how did her mother end up? And

why should she have ended up somehow? In a good or bad state? But why


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cant they free themselves from this habit of believing mothers have to end up

in a bad state in stories, these people? [Disgusted tone] These people: theyve

turned life into something terrible, drying up the land, burning their cupules,

the fronds, softening the crags... They cant free themselves from this thing,

even if you try really hard. Mothers turn white? Who gives a damn? These are

the kinds of stories children dont feel like listening to. While this music

[transfigured while listening to the Japanese minimal sounds] This music they do

listen to, children do This music is a story in itself [He suddenly turns

towards the old man, as if he were about to shout out E ureka! ] And you pick

flowers, if you want them to wither! Youre too old, you are! [AD LIB: he spits at

the old man, but we dont see any reaction on his part, not even him drying himself]

BLACKNESS


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CHAPTER 11 FIREWORKS

The girl and Abel are standing in the middle of nothing, setting off fireworks.

The girl is screaming and wailing. She then picks up a lit firework tied to a rope and startsswinging it around like a lasso.

Its as if the HAIKU ritual father and daughter have to go through, linked by amindissoluble thread, were reaching a higher level of consciousness after their sleeplessnight, spent dancing and drinking in solitude. A new space of growth and maturity. Theyrefinding that space of strength, of violence and folly that is needed to reach the top, andultimately the extreme act.


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CHAPTER 12: SHE MAKES LOVE TO HIM SHE BECOMES A WOMAN.

After the sleepless night spent at the HAIKU refuge a lot has changed:

The lack of inhibition, the dances, the music, the exhaustion... creates the conditions forthe day to start under a new light. This morning the girl is no longer the same . She feelsdifferent, emotionally heavier, more present and focused on whats really going on.Seeing the highest peak of the mountain getting closer and closer, she has a revelation:

HER BELOVED FATHER IS ABOUT TO LEAVE HER AGAIN. FOREVER THIS TIME.She is moved and enraged at once. Right now she thoroughly hates her father, who shewas starting to love and know. Shes so full of rage and resentment that she would like toconvince him not to do it, or shed rather kill him herself than let him do it.

This is what happens:

Were in the middle of a high mountain meadow, in the first light of day, still in semi-

darkness. It looks as if were still in the same place, not far from the HAIKU refuge. Abelis a few meters further ahead of her, walking slowly along a path.

The girl is walking swiftly behind him. She suddenly starts running, comes up to him andblocks him grabbing him by the arm. He stops and lets her do it... he knows full well howangry she is, and he knows full well HE HAS TO let her do whatever she wants. Its adelicate moment: she is considering her entire life in a single instant.

She starts shouting things at him, and beating him on his chest, punching him. She reallygiving him a beating, as strong as she can, to release the tension inside her. Her emotionsand frustrations are too strong to bear. He lets her do it, sad and touched. The girl,powerless, beats him harder and harder, shouting DONT DO IT! I NEED YOU!, thenshe bursts into loud tears, so loud that shes vibrating, shes jolting with spasms... shes ahurricane at its climax.

Shes beating him and crying and screaming.

Then... something happens...: collapsing on his face for an instant, she involuntarilybrushes against his lips... and she kisses him. She kisses him softly and he stands still...then she kisses him more and more vehemently, and he kisses her too. He does whatevershe asks and wants.

Not incest: a primary need of hers, to hold back the father shes losing!

They kiss with incredible passion and vehemence: theyre both experiencing somethingnew. Theyre discovering themselves in new roles. Theyre traveling in another age.

And shes the one who does everything: she undresses, she undresses him and thenmakes love to him. He follows her.

In this new turn of growth, shes the woman and she leads.


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CHAPTER 13: THE GUN

Day. Were in the middle of a high mountain nothingness: calmly and silently, with a smilehidden by wrinkles, the old man we met in the previous scene gives Abel a gun. Abeltakes it and thanks him, his daughter by his side.

Abel sticks the gun in the back of his trousers.

They say goodbye and start walking up a small mountain road. We follow them. The girllooks happy, abstracted and absorbed in herself, but happy. Shes skipping around like ahappy child with her daddy and shes singing:

Girl: (singing)

Ring-a-round a rosie, A pocket full of posies, Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down.

PAUSE

Ring-a-round a rosie, Fishes in the water, Fishes in the sea.

We all jump up With a one-two-three!

PAUSE

Ring-a-round a rosie, why am I in the world?

I slave away without a word!

When Ive had enough, I leave town and throw myself down.

BLACKNESS

Abel and the girl are now walking on the mountain (or a mountain road) with a frightening

slope. Abel is finding it more than difficult to keep walking. He stops from time to time toget his breath back.


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CHAPTER 14: POLAROID AND SUICIDE at THE PANORAMIC SITE

Abel and the girl reach the mountain peak, where they find a sign that reads PANORAMICSITE. Its a breath-taking view. They stop and look at the sight in silence for a long while.

They look for an incredibly long time.

BLACKNESS.


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Same place. Same scene.

Abel and the girl are exactly where we left them: staring at the view.

After a while two tourists walk by and stop next to them to enjoy the view too. Thewoman asks the girl if she could take a picture of them with their Polaroid.

The girl accepts and is set to take the snapshot. Abel is left alone and watches. After thephoto, the tourists ask Abel to join them for a second snapshot portraying the three of them. At first Abel refuses, but after a while he accepts. The girl takes another snapshot of the tourists and her father. The tourists hand them the group Polaroid and walk away.

BLACKNESS.

Same place. Same scene. Only one minute has gone by.

Abel and the girl are both very serious as they look at the mountains in front of them.They know the time has come

Abel makes only a few movements. But clear-cut, determined ones.

He turns towards her.

He looks at her.

He hugs her.

He says to her: Ive loved you like Ive loved no one before.

He loosens his embrace.

He takes the gun out from the back of his trousers and takes a few steps.

Once hes about ten meters away from her he stops, puts the gun to his head and says:

Abel:

Ring-a-round a rosie, why am I in the world? I slave away without a word!

When Ive had enough, I leave town and throw myself down..

GOODBYE MY LOVE!.

And he shoots himself.

The girl is motionless, staring at the panoramic site.


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CHAPTER 15: RETURN TO THE PLATEAU

We see the girl walking down mountain roads and paths, with several cuts, at every cutshe sings a different version of RING-A-ROUND A ROSIE (8 versions in all). Eight scenes,eight clear cuts.

First Version

Ring-a-round a rosie, A pocket full of posies, Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down.

Second Version

Ring-a-round a rosie, Fishes in the water, Fishes in the sea.

We all jump up With a one-two-three!

Third Version

Ring-a-round a rosie, why am I in the world?

I slave away without a word!

When Ive had enough, I leave town and throw myself down.

Fourth Version

Ring, a ring o' roses, A pocket full o' posies;

Up-stairs and down-stairs, In my lady's chamber--

Husher! Husher! Cuckoo!


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Fifth version

Duzzy, duzzy gander, Sugar, milk, and candy;

Hatch-u, hatch-u, all fall down together..

At this point the girl is walking down the road we saw at the beginning of the film, the oneleading to the helicopter landing strip.

Sixth Version

Windy, windy weather, Cold and frosty weather,

When the wind blows, We all blow together.

I saw Peter! When did you meet him?

Merrily, cheerily, All fall down..

Seventh Version

Here we go round by ring, by ring, As ladies do in Yorkshire;

A curtsey here, a curtsey there, A curtsey to the ground, sir!

The girl has reached the precise spot where Abel was waiting at the beginning of the film.Shes stopped, shes not walking anymore.


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Eight Version:

Ring, a ring a row-o, See the children go-o,

Sit below the goose-berry bush; Hark! they all cry Hush! hush! hush!

Sitty down, sit down. Duzzy, duzzy gander, Sugar, milk, and candy;

Hatch-u, hatch-u, all fall down together.

The girls throws herself down on the ground, exhausted.

BLACKNESS.

CHAPTER 16: THE GIRL IN THE SKY

The helicopter is in the sky ready to land. The girl waits for it.

The helicopter lands and she gets in. The helicopter takes off.

BLACKNESS.

The girl is in the helicopter looking at the mountains from the window.

End credits over this image.


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END OF FILM. 2012 SHOOTING HOPE PRODUCTIONS SRL

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