Scene

Speakers and Quotes

(1)   INT. TAXI - DAY

NARRATOR (V.O.)

Vicky was completing her master’s in Catalan identity, which she had become interested in through her great affection for the architecture of Gaudí. Cristina, who spent the last six months writing, directing and acting in a twelve-minute film, which she then hated, had just broken up with yet another boyfriend, and longed for a change of scenery. Everything fell into place (逐漸被理解) when a distant relative of Vicky’s family, who lived in Barcelona, offered to put both girls up (供給...住宿) for July and August.

The two best friends had been close since college and shared the same tastes and opinions on most matters. Yet, when it came to the subject of love, it would be hard to find two more dissimilar viewpoints. Vicky had no tolerance for pain and no lust for combat. She was grounded and realistic. Her requirements in a man were seriousness and stability. Cristina, on the other hand, expected something very different out of love. She had reluctantly accepted suffering as an inevitable component of deep passion, and was resigned to (服從) putting her feelings at risk. If you asked her what it was she was gambling her emotions on to win, she would not have been able to say. And that was exactly what Vicky valued above all else.

(1.2) At Mark’s House

MARK (cont’d) So what do you do, Cristina?

(Cristina leans back in her seat and looks at Mark.)

CRISTINA I am currently at liberty.

JUDY Hm.

VICKY Oh, come on. She, she made a film.

MARK Mm.

JUDY (gasps) How exciting.

VICKY Yeah.

CRISTINA It was twelve minutes.

MARK What was it about?  (Vicky looks hesitantly at Mark.)

CRISTINA About? It was, uh, it was about why love is so hard to define. (Mark smiles at Cristina.)

MARK (chuckles) Wow, that’s a mighty big subject to handle in twelve minutes.

JUDY Vicky...you’re, you’re getting your master’s in something within-¬

VICKY Yeah, my master’s in, uh, Catalan identity.

JUDY Ah, well.

MARK What do you plan on doing with that?

VICKY Oh... (Vicky shrugs at Mark.)

VICKY (cont’d) ..God, I don’t know, uh, maybe teaching, maybe curating (策展).

JUDY Well...you don’t have to do something, you know. (Judy glances at Mark.)

JUDY (cont’d) But she’s marrying this wonderful man in the fall and all of her conflicts will be resolved when he makes her pregnant. (Judy, Cristina and Mark laugh.)

VICKY (chuckling) Oh, well...

MARK Well, now that Judy’s decided your future... (a prediction) (Judy holds up her glass of wine.)

JUDY To, uh, your summer in Barcelona. Welcome.

MARK Salud.

(Vicky and Cristina reach across the table and toast with (祝酒;敬酒)Judy her and Mark.)

CRISTINA Cheers.

(2)   EXT. ART GALLERY - NIGHT

A CROWD OF PEOPLE who stand around the gallery and look at the exhibition. Vicky, Cristina and Judy stand by a wall of paintings.

NARRATOR (V.O.) One evening, Mark and Judy took them to the opening of a friend’s art gallery. Many local artists and a number of collectors attended.

JUDY Do you like them?

VICKY I do. Thank you so much for taking us.

JUDY Well, you know, we buy from this gallery. Mark has commissioned this, this artist to do this series of pictures...

VICKY Mm-hm.

Cristina looks at someone O.S. (某某)

JUDY ...for his office walls. Um...Yeah, I think they’ll be beautiful.

CRISTINA Is that the artist over there?

Judy turns and looks O.S.

JUDY Where?

CRISTINA In the red?

JUDY Uh, no. No-no-no-no. That’s not.... No.

CRISTINA Mm.

JUDY Uh, Alfred is, um.... Oh, no, he’s the gentleman in that, the linen coat right there.

Vicky looks at the man O.S.

CRISTINA Oh.

JUDY That’s him. Um...I, I don’t know who that is.

(Judy turns to Mark, who stands behind them looking at a painting.)

JUDY (cont’d) Ah, Mark?

(Mark turns toward Judy. )

MARK Yeah.

JUDY Who is that gentleman in the red shirt right over there? Who is that?

MARK Who?

Mark looks at the O.S. man.

JUDY The, the gentleman in the red shirt. Who is it?

MARK Oh.

JUDY Right there, who is it?

MARK He’s a painter. Remember? Diego told us about him? He had that fiery relationship with that beautiful woman who was nuts?

JUDY Oh, my God.

MARK With the violent fighting and... (Cristina glances at Mark and Judy.)

JUDY Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.

MARK Yeah, he had the, the messy divorce.

JUDY Oh, my God, oh, my God. (Cristina looks at O.S. Juan Antonio.)

MARK It was in all the newspapers. (whispering) Yeah, that’s him.

JUDY Oh, it is.

(Judy returns to Vicky and Cristina and Mark turns to talk to some PEOPLE.)

JUDY (cont’d) Oh, my God. Um, his name is, uh, Juan Antonio Gonzalo and he, uh, he had this hot divorce and she tried to kill him. Or he tried to kill her.

(Cristina looks at Judy with amazement.)

CRISTINA What?

JUDY I, it was this, like really big thing in the art world. I can’t remember the details... Cristina looks at O.S. Juan Antonio.

JUDY (cont’d) ...but he, you know, it, eh, well, you know, we don’t move in those bohemian.( 放蕩不羈(的文化人)的)..circles, so I don’t know.

(MFS - JUAN ANTONIO GONZALO, a handsome painter in a red shirt, stands amidst the crowd and drinks from a glass of champagne.)

(3)   INT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT

VICKY (cont’d) What are you-- who-- who are you looking at?

CRISTINA Isn’t that the, uh...isn’t that the painter that we just saw at the gallery?

MS - Juan Antonio sits at a table with some PEOPLE.

VICKY Oh, yeah, right. He’s the uh, the painter with the bad divorce. Mark told us. It was, I was half listening. (Cristina, drinking from a glass of wine, looks at Vicky.)

CRISTINA He keeps looking over here.

VICKY Well, that’s because you keep provoking contact. (Cristina shakes her head.)

CRISTINA I’m not provoking contact.

VICKY You are, you’ve been throwing little looks at him all night.

CRISTINA I’m just drinking my wine. (Vicky nods at Cristina.)

VICKY Mm-hm. Yeah, of course you are. (Vicky glances at O.S. Juan Antonio.)

VICKY (cont’d) Well, you, you must be doing something because uh, he’s... (Juan Antonio stands up and walks across the restaurant.)

VICKY (O.S.) (cont’d) ...coming over.

(Juan Antonio stops at Vicky and Cristina’s table and looks at the women.)

JUAN ANTONIO American?

CRISTINA I’m Cristina and this is my friend, Vicky. (Juan Antonio looks at Cristina.)

JUAN ANTONIO What color are your eyes?

(Cristina smiles at him. Vicky looks across the table at her with disbelief.)

CRISTINA Uh...they’re blue.

JUAN ANTONIO I would like to invite you both to come with me to Oviedo.

VICKY To come where?

JUAN ANTONIO To Oviedo. For the weekend. We leave in one hour.

CRISTINA What, where is Oviedo?

JUAN ANTONIO A very short flight.

VICKY By plane?

JUAN ANTONIO Mm-hm.

CRISTINA What’s in Oviedo?

JUAN ANTONIO I go to see a sculpture that is very inspiring to me. A very beautiful sculpture. (Antonio nods at Vicky.)

JUAN ANTONIO (cont’d) You’ll love it. (Vicky gestures with disbelief.)

CRISTINA Oh.

VICKY Oh, right, y-y-y-you’re asking us to fly to Oviedo and back?

JUAN ANTONIO Mm...no, we’ll spend the weekend. I mean, I’ll show you around the city and...we’ll eat well, we’ll drink good wine, we’ll make love.

JUAN ANTONIO Mm-hm? Why not? Life is short. Life is dull. Life is full of pain. And this is a chance for something special.

VICKY Right, well, who-who exactly are you?

JUAN ANTONIO I am Juan Antonio. And you are...(to Vicky) ...Vicky...(to Cristina)...and you are Cristina. Right? Or is it the other way around?

CRISTINA Yeah, that’s right.

VICKY Yeah, I mean, eh, you know, it could be the other way around because, frankly, it doesn’t matter because either of us will do to keep the bed warm. You know, I, I get it.

JUAN ANTONIO Well, you are both so lovely and beautiful.

VICKY Yeah, thank you, but we do not fly off to make love with whoever invites us to charming little Spanish towns.

JUAN ANTONIO (to Cristina) Does she always analyze every inspiration until each grain of charm is...uh...como se dice (how to say it), eh, squeezed out of it.

CRISTINA I guess I have to say that, um...My eyes are green, actually.

VICKY  Oh, God, look, I wouldn’t call our reluctance to leap at (向...撲去) your sexual offer being over-analytical. If you would care to join us for some recognized form of social interaction, like a drink, then we’d be fine, but otherwise, I think you should try, you know, offering to some other table.

JUAN ANTONIO Mm-hm. What offended you about the offer? Surely not that I find you both beautiful and desirable.

VICKY Offended me, no. It’s very amusing, galling, (難堪的) to be honest, but, uh, the-

(Vicky looks at Cristina, then checks her wristwatch.)

VICKY (cont’d) (to Cristina) Is it my imagination or is it getting a little late? Shall we go?

Cristina smiles at Juan Antonio.

CRISTINA I would love to go to Oviedo. (Vicky looks at Cristina with disbelief.)

VICKY What? Are you kidding? Can we discuss this? (Cristina shakes her head at Vicky.)

CRISTINA I think it would be so much fun. I think we should go.(to Juan Antonio) I would love to go.

(4)   EXT. FATHER’S HOUSE - DAY

JUAN ANTONIO

This was my favorite place to come and read when I was young. And, yes, uh...I wanted to be a writer, not a painter. Painting came later. And I wanted to play music, too. I mean, all I knew is that I was full of -- I don’t know -- real emotion and I had to find a way to express it.

VICKY Oh, Cristina says the same thing.

ANTONIO Cristina’s a very interesting girl. (Juan Antonio gestures at a low wall around a tree.)

ANTONIO (cont’d) Wanna sit?

VICKY Yeah. (Juan Antonio and Vicky sit down on the wall.)

VICKY (cont’d) So, uh, tell me, why won’t your father publish his poems?

ANTONIO Well, because he hates the world, and that’s his way of getting back at (take revenge) them -- to create beautiful works and then...to deny them to the public, which I think, it’s...

VICKY My God. Well, what makes him so...angry toward the human race?

JUAN ANTONIO Mm, because after thousands of years of civilization...they still haven’t learned to love.

(4.2)

INT. JUAN ANTONIO’S HOUSE/BEDROOM - LATER

Juan Antonio picks up a cup of coffee, then turns to Cristina.

JUAN ANTONIO (cont’d) Things, things didn't work out for her in Madrid and, and...she came bas-, she came back on the bus tonight, alone. Her whole world looked black and all her plans had come to nothing and...she overdosed in the bus terminal.

CRISTINA Oh, my God, that's terrible.

ANTONIO Yeah. She has to stay with us. (Cristina looks at Juan Antonio.)

CRISTINA What? She's gonna stay with us?

ANTONIO Yeah. She has to stay with us. I mean, she has no money.

(Juan Antonio pulls out a chair from the table and sits down. Cristina sits down on the table and looks at him.)

ANTONIO (cont’d) She has no one capable of caring for her and...and I, I always...I was always her connection to the real life and...

CRISTINA Uh-huh, I understand, but I mean, how can she stay here? (Antonio shakes his head at her.)

ANTONIO Uh, you know, I think... (Juan Antonio stands up.)

ANTONIO (cont’d) ...I think that she can't be trusted to stay alone. That's the problem, because, I mean, even if...let me think, even if I...if a place could be worked out...

CRISTINA Well, maybe she needs psychiatric (精神病學的) help.

ANTONIO No. (Juan Antonio sits back down.)

ANTONIO (cont’d) She's always had bad experiences with doctors. That's-¬

CRISTINA I kn-- I understand, but, but where is she gonna stay? (Juan Antonio gestures toward the guest room.)

ANTONIO In there.

CRISTINA Well, how long is she gonna stay here? (Juan Antonio leans toward Cristina and clasps (緊抱) her shoulder.)

ANTONIO Cristina, I know...this is not what you had in mind, but she has to stay with us.

CRISTINA No, I, I understand, I understand.

ANTONIO She has, she has no one else.

CRISTINA Like, I understand, it's only for a short time.

JUAN ANTONIO Yes, a few months at most. (Cristina looks at him with surprise.)

CRISTINA She's staying for a few months?

ANTONIO Listen, I've been through this with her before. So..I mean, if... Shit. (Juan Antonio stands up and paces across the kitchen.)

ANTONIO (cont’d) If you had only known her when, when I first met her, I mean, her beauty... (Juan Antonio sits back down.)

ANTONIO (cont’d) ...her beauty took your breath away.

CRISTINA Yes, I know.

ANTONIO And she was so talented, she was so brilliant...she was so sensual, and, I mean...she chose me...from a hundred men ready to, ready, ready to kill for her.

CRISTINA Uh-huh.

ANTONIO We were both sure that...our relation was perfect, but there was something missing. You know? Like, love requires such a perfect balance. It's...like the human body.

ANTONIO(cont'd) It may turn that you have all the vitamins and minerals, but if...there is minus a single, tiny ingredient...missing, like, like, like, like, ooh, like salt, for example...one dies.

(5) EXT. BARCELONA STREETS - DAY

(Cristina and Maria Elena walk past some fountains. Cristina holds her digital camera as Maria Elena gestures around her and points a film camera.)

NARRATOR (V.O.)

The next day, Maria Elena went out photographing with Cristina. She had a superb eye and knew a lot about the art of photography and taught Cristina much about the aesthetics and subtleties of picture taking. She advised her to get rid of her digital camera and use an old one for more interesting results. She said it was important to have a darkroom and that she would set one up in the basement for Cristina and teach her various techniques of developing her own pictures.

Cristina and Maria Elena point their cameras at a TOURIST.

A MAN holds a dog on a leash (皮帶,鏈條). Cristina, standing beside Maria Elena, points her digital camera at his dog.

(5.2)

EXT. FATHER’S HOUSE - LATER

CRISTINA It's so apparent to me that you and Juan Antonio are still in love when I see you together.

ELENA Mm. Our love...

CRISTINA You know?

ELENA Our love will last forever. It's forever, but it just doesn't work. That's why it will always be romantic. Because it cannot be complete.

CRISTINA Well, maybe it can't be complete because, you know, I'm getting in the way or, I don't know. I feel like... (Maria Elena shakes her head.)

ELENA No. Before you...

CRISTINA ...if I--

ELENA ...before you, we used to cause each other so much pain, so much suffering. Without you, all this would not be possible. You know why? Because you are the missing ingredient. You are like the tint that, added to a palette, makes the color beautiful. (Cristina and Maria Elena stop and sit down on a bench. Maria Elena lights a cigarette.)

CRISTINA You know, aren't you and Juan Antonio tempted to make love? I feel like, I don't know.

ELENA No-no. A-At the end of our marriage, we didn't. But I have to say, those feelings are coming back now...thanks to you...in a new and deeper way.

CRISTINA Well, I wouldn't be upset about it. You know, I'd never want to get in the way. It wouldn't, it wouldn't upset me at all.

ELENA I know you wouldn't be upset. The same way I get this warm feeling when I hear you both locked in passion every night. I listen and I'm happy.

(5.3)

EXT. JUAN ANTONIO’S HOUSE - DAY

(Cristina, holding a glass of wine, wanders between the trees in the backyard.)

NARRATOR (V.O.)

Was Cristina okay with it when Maria Elena and Juan Antonio made love one afternoon? Beforehand, she gave them both her blessing, but then had mixed feelings. She was not quite as open-minded as she had always imagined herself, and the thought of the two of them in bed, and inevitably full of intensity, caused her some conflict.

(Cristina sits down on a chair.)

NARRATOR (V.O.) (cont’d)

In the end, she gradually relaxed and let herself go with the flow of things, a tolerance she was proud of.

(6)   EXT. SIDEWALK CAFE - DAY

Cristina smiles at Vicky.

CRISTINA And it happened very naturally for both of us.

Vicky and Doug stare at Cristina.

VICKY You weren’t nervous?

CRISTINA No, no, it was very loving and gentle.

VICKY Did you enjoy it? (Cristina nods her head.)

CRISTINA Mm-hm. I did.

(A WAITRESS enters and puts down glasses and silverware on the table.)

VICKY And...eh, is, it was just the one time?

CRISTINA Yeah, yeah. (The waitress leaves.)

CRISTINA (cont’d) I mean, it just happened, you know? I'm not planning on making a habit out of it, necessarily. (Doug gestures hesitantly at Cristina.)

DOUG But if you...enjoyed it, come on (別這樣或者是別鬧了)....

CRISTINA I did, I did...at the time.

VICKY Well, did you tell Juan Antonio?

CRISTINA Yeah, of course. There's nothing to hide.

DOUG Would you say, then, you are a bisexual?

CRISTINA No...I see no reason to label everything. I'm me! You know? And I've slept with Juan Antonio since and enjoyed that experience very much. (Vicky shakes her head.)

VICKY Wow. It's a great story. (Vicky chuckles 暗自發笑 softly.)

(Doug nervously moves around the silverware on the table.)

DOUG Yep. That's a...great story. (Doug opens his napkin and puts it down on his lap.)

DOUG (cont’d) Hey, look, I d-- I don't set myself up as a judge, so....

(6.2)

NT. NASH HOUSE/LIVING ROOM - DAY

Doug and Vicky are seen through the windows walking across the terrace (大陽臺).

DOUG ...I still don’t understand what your language teacher was doing with a gun.

VICKY ...he, he collects these antique firearms and he was showing me his favorite one and it, it just went off (發射走火). (Doug slaps his hands together angrily.)

DOUG Oh, my God! We should sue him! That is so damn irresponsible! (Vicky and Doug stop on the terrace. Vicky turns toward him.)

VICKY No, no, it's not, it's not that bad, honestly.

DOUG Jesus.

VICKY Once the bandages come off, it'll be, it'll be a scratch.

DOUG What would happen if something happened to you?

VICKY What? What are you saying? (Doug steps toward Vicky and clasps her face.)

DOUG Hey...I love you so much. (He kisses her.)

NARRATOR (V.O.) Doug never found out the real story. (Doug embraces Vicky.)

VICKY Oh. Okay.

(6.3)

EXT. SIDEWALK RESTAURANT - DAY

NARRATOR (V.O.)

When Cristina returned from Antibes, Vicky told her the whole tale, and Cristina thought it was sad how much Vicky had wanted Juan Antonio and was unable to say or do anything about it.

CRISTINA ...But I would have stepped aside.( 讓到一旁,)

VICKY No, no, look...I, I knew you had feelings for Juan Antonio from the moment you saw him.

CRISTINA But if I knew what had happened, I never would have gone ahead with it.

VICKY Well, look, it was...it was a...a passing thing. Now it's over. (Cristina looks thoughtfully at Vicky. Vicky looks uncertainly at Cristina.)