Brooklyn Page #3

Wouldn’t you like the pleasure of

telling him it’s too late?

They laugh.

8 INT. DANCE HALL. NIGHT 8

Nancy and Eilis are leaning against the wall sipping

lemonades. There aren’t many men this early in the evening,

and the dance-floor is almost deserted. Suddenly there is a

buzz from the girls scattered around the place. Eilis’s eyes

are drawn to the same place as everyone else’s: to the door.

A group of young men, dressed almost identically, and just as

Eilis described - blazers and hair-oil - are coming in. One

of them is JIM, who we will meet much later.

These young men exude a confidence bordering on arrogance -

they’re hard to like en masse - and consequently the uniform

looks slightly sinister. They ignore everyone in the room and

make their way to the soft drinks bar. Eilis rolls her eyes.

Nancy is blushing.

Later. Nancy and Eilis are still waiting. Eilis is watching

the rugby club boys, Nancy is looking anywhere but. The

camera picks out George, who is tall, confident, as oily as

his friends - and no Gary Cooper.

EILIS:

He’s looked over here twice

already.

NANCY:

He hasn’t!

EILIS:

He’s walking over here now.

NANCY:

(still looking the other

way)

He’s not!

He is. We see him. Nancy, however, still has her back to him.

EILIS:

(impatient)

Why would I keep lying to you about

what George Sheridan’s doing?

(CONTINUED)

'Brooklyn' YELLOW Script Dated 24th April 2014 7.

8 CONTINUED:
8

George arrives. He nods at Nancy.

GEORGE:

Would you like to dance?

Nancy is almost too nervous to nod her head.

Moments later. George and Nancy on the dance floor. Over

their shoulders the camera picks up Eilis, making her way

towards the door, holding her coat. A couple of the rugby

clubbers whisper and snigger as they watch her leave.

9 INT. DINING ROOM, EILIS’S HOUSE. EVENING 9

It’s Eilis’s last night at home. Eilis, her mother MARY and

her sister Rose, are eating, initially in silence. The sound

of cutlery hitting crockery only serves to emphasise the

tension and the sadness of the evening. Eilis keeps sneaking

glances at the rest of her family, trying to gauge how

unhappy they are.

There’s no outward trace. Rose and her mother are both

concentrating on their food, determined to give nothing away.

Eventually Eilis has to say what is on her mind.

EILIS:

(quietly)

I wish I had written to Father

Flood about you, Rose.

ROSE:

Me? I have a job. You had a couple

of hours on a Sunday working for

Nettles Kelly.

MARY:

(mildly disapproving)

You shouldn’t call her that.

ROSE:

I think it’s quite a kind name.

Considering she’s actually a

terrible old witch.

Mary makes a scandalised face.

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