Big Eyes
FADE IN:
TITLE SEQUENCE:
TIGHT on TWO PAINTED EYES. The pupils are impossibly wide.
Imploring. The watery rims spill a single tear.
We PULL OUT... revealing the eyes belong to a child. A young
girl, fingers clasped pitifully. She's forlorn, alone in a
dirty gray alley. We feel shame. Compassion. Sorrow...
Then -- an IDENTICAL girl SLAPS in front of the first one.
Then another! It's a PRINTING PRESS, the creation of a BLUR
of sad children.
A KINETIC montage! HORDES of gazing WAIFS get lithographed,
bundled:
Huddling in worry. Floating in space. POSTERS.POSTCARDS. BOOKS.
We ZOOM into a MAGAZINE AD: A 1960's era come-on -- "IT'S
KEANE! MUSEUM-QUALITY ART, MAILED DIRECTLY TO YOUR HOME!"
A blizzard of NEWSPAPER ARTICLES: "Meet America's Million-
Dollar Painter!" "Keane Masterpiece at World's Fair"
Painted EYES float by. Haunting... questioning...
Old POLAROIDS:
A family Christmas, a Keane print over themantel. Kids play bumper pool, a Keane print in the b.g.
A blurry black-and-white TV: A talk show HOST holds up a Keane
PAINTING --
MUSIC BUILDS. FASTER. Keane brochures. Catalogs. A flyer:
"Now Open! Keane Gallery"
MORE orphan's faces. Hungry, unblinking, beseeching.
A CRESCENDO -- then -- SILENCE.
"I think what Keane has done is just
terrific. It has to be good. If it
were bad, so many people wouldn't like
it."
-- ANDY WARHOL
CUT TO:
EXT. SUBURBIA - 1958
A nice, orderly tract of post-World War II housing. Identical
rows of little yards. Young MOMS. Scampering KIDS.
Then, a SUBTITLE: "TEN YEARS EARLIER"
2.
INT. HOUSE - DAY
CU on two concerned eyes. The same eyes as the paintings. We
REVEAL they belong to a real girl: JANE, 8. She sits in her
small house -- a typical young family's, spare and
underfurnished.
Suddenly -- Jane's mother MARGARET ULBRICH, 28, rushes through
frame. Margaret is blonde, yearning, fragile. Terribly
upset, she is hurriedly packing.
Margaret throws her clothes in a suitcase.
She shoves Jane's clothes and toys into another.
Margaret barrels through the breakfast nook, which is a mini
art studio -- easel, canvases, paints. She scoops up her
supplies.
Margaret runs to the door -- then turns. The hallway is lined
with her PAINTINGS. Oils and inks of wide-eyed Jane, who
grows from baby to toddler to child. Hastily, Margaret takes
them down, each frame leaving an empty mark on the flowered
wallpaper. Finally she reaches the last spot -- a WEDDING
PHOTO:
Margaret and her HUSBAND, smiling, happy.Margaret peers -- then leaves it hanging. The door SLAMS.
CUT TO:
EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY
Cars roar down an interstate.
Margaret grips the wheel, uncertain. Jane stares. The car is
all loaded up. REFLECTIONS of passing BILLBOARDS drift across
the windshield. Images of perky, happy-fake Americans.
Margaret bites her lip. Has she made the right decision...?
CUT TO:
EST. SAN FRANCISCO - DAY
San Francisco, 1958! A mix of SKYLINES and STOCK FOOTAGE.
EXT. FURNITURE FACTORY - DAY
A weathered building: "G & B FURNITURE SUPPLY." Margaret sits
in the Packard, fixing her lipstick. Jane holds the "WANT
ADS," a few circled. Margaret gets out and straightens her
skirt. Jane smiles.
JANE:
Good luck.
3.
INT. FURNITURE FACTORY - DAY
A beaten industrial office. Margaret sits anxiously, watching
the BOSS, a tired guy in a cheap suit. He glowers unsurely at
her JOB APPLICATION. Scratching his face. Hmmmm...
BOSS:
We don't get many ladies in here. So
your husband approves of you working?
MARGARET:
(quiet; a soft Southern lilt)
My husband and I are separated.
BOSS:
(SHOCKED)
"Separated"?
A deadly silence. He squirms uncomfortably.
She presses on.
MARGARET:
Sir, I realize I have no employment
experience... but I sure need this
job. I have a daughter to support.
(PAUSE)
I'm not very good at tooting my own
horn... but I love to paint, and if I
could just show you my portfolio...
He is baffled. Margaret pulls out a large ARTIST'S PORTFOLIO.
She opens it, riffling through the pictures...
MARGARET:
I studied at the Watkins Art Institute
in Nashville, then took Illustration
classes in New York. Here's a pastel
I did... here's some fashion design...
a portrait in charcoal... though I
enjoy mixing mediums, preferably oil
and ink...
She's alive, enthused.
The guy shakes his head.
BOSS:
You do understand this is a furniture
company?
CLOSEUP - MARGARET
A strained smile.
4.
INT. FACTORY FLOOR - LATER
Margaret works on an enamel baby crib. Under stenciled
"Humpty Dumpty," she quickly paints on a cartoonish egg man.
We WIDEN, revealing ten identical, completed cribs behind her.
We WIDEN again -- revealing a DOZEN PAINTERS. All surrounded
by identical cribs. All painting identical Humpty Dumpty's.
CUT TO:
EXT. SAN FRANCISCO NORTH BEACH - 1958 - DAY
NORTH BEACH! An exotica of Beatniks, palm readers,
interracial couples and coffeehouses. Ground zero for the
Avant Garde. Margaret waits on a busy corner, a bit dazed,
peering at the parade of fun-loving Hipsters. Primly, she
fixes herself.
Margaret turns -- and suddenly grins. Running up is DEE-ANN,
30, a Beat girl in a black leotard and sandals. Dee-Ann
excitedly grabs her, and they laugh and hug girlishly.
DEE-ANN
Sugar, you made it! You're in North
Beach!
Translation
Translate and read this script in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Big Eyes" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/big_eyes_1071>.
Discuss this script with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In