Liquid Girl of Berlin - The Movie

THE LIQUID GIRL OF BERLIN

Cast:

Raymond Phelps – A famous American model

Liquid Girl – A Berlin research doctor

Sophia Monfis – A beautiful news presenter

Old Man working on a barge

Woman in TV Tower

Crowd outside awards ceremony

Paparazzi

INT. TOP OF BERLIN TV TOWER.

We look at the city through the lens of a tourist telescope. It is early evening and it is getting dark. The sight focuses on the old East - apartment blocks, factories - then looks around and zooms back on the modernised West - the Potsdamer Platz, the Hauptbahnhof, the Reichstag. It continues to move slowly around and then focuses in again, this time on the old scar of the wall, working its way along until it reaches the River Spree where it flows through the divide.

There is tiny dot moving down the side of the river.

The telescope goes black.

EXT. BANK OF THE SPREE. TWILIGHT.

An OLD MAN is untying the rope of his rusted barge. He is a traditional, unfashionable, East Berlin type, grumbling to himself as he alights onto the river.

His barge engine fires loudly casts off and floats through a group of swans.

Over the other side of the bank a figure is running - a silhouetted female holding books. The camera follows until she turns off into the woods.

The barge continues down the river before the trees dwindle and glittering display of lights and flashes appears.

It putters and then stops.

FADE TO

EXT. CINEMA. AWARDS CEREMONY.

Through a crowd around the red carpet presenter SOPHIA MONFIS finds Hollywood model RAYMOND PHELPS. There are flashbulbs going off and microphones being thrust in his face.

SOPHIA

Raymond, Raymond! Hey Raymond, come on. Thirty seconds for fashion news?

Raymond nods to her and smiles

SOPHIA

Raymond, tell us. You are the most famous model in the world. You appear in adverts, TV series, movies and even your own reality show. What does it feel like to be you?

RAYMOND

It feels, great yeah.

SOPHIA

And now you are to be presented with the award for Most Eligible Bachelor on the Planet.

RAYMOND

Yeah, yeah I guess I am.

He nods and gives a forced toothy grin

SOPHIA

You look fantastic tonight. Are you trying to catch anyone’s eye?

RAYMOND

No. No. I dont think so. We’ll...’

He looks away at something in the distance, to a figure walking briskly over the other side of the road.

RAYMOND

...It depends. What are you up to later Sophia?’

EXT/INT. LIQUID GIRL’S APARTMENT.

LIQUID GIRL rushes down an empty pavement and turns to enter her apartment. Its dark and we still don’t really see her features.

Inside she places the books on a cluttered pile and sits down at her desk. The computer screen lights up. We view her from behind the screen as if she is a computerised image. Words flow in front of her face. She types furiously.

An email flashes up on screen. We read it in the reflection of her glasses, her eyes still visible behind.

EMAIL

Thank you for your research paper but we are no longer interested in the particle reformation project.

US Central Intelligence.

The screen flickers and so does our view of Liquid Girl. Her fuzzy form stands up and walks out of the door.

INT. SOPHIA MONFIS’ APARTMENT

Sophia leads Raymond up the stairs to the bedroom of her apartment. She kisses him and rips off his suit and shirt. They pass a huge poster of Raymond as she pushes him towards the bedroom.

She opens the door and throws him on the bed, removing her shirt and leaping on top. The light is left on.

SOPHIA

I want to see you. I want to see your face.

She takes off his trousers and places his hands onto her legs. Raymond lies silent and expressionless.

SOPHIA

Oh God Raymond.

She removes her underwear.

SOPHIA

Raymond. Raymond.

Then begins to gyrate slowly on top of him

SOPHIA

Raymond Raymond, Raymond I just...have...to look at you

Your mouth.

Your chest.

Your hands.

Your eyes.

With eyes like that you can have anything.

Raymond lies lifeless beneath. After a few moments Sophia stops.

SOPHIA

I want you Raymond. I want to make you happy.

CU on Raymond’s face. He looks the other way, out of the window.

SOPHIA

Don’t you want me to make you happy?

EXT. BERLIN FREIDERICHSTRASSE.

Raymond is walking down an upper class shopping street. We view him from the side passing shop after shop - Gap, Burberry, Calvin Klein.

Mannequins turn and look at him, signs flash at him, pictures of his face stare from all around.

A crowd forms on the pavement and he has to dodge people as they stop and turn to look. He tries to push through, then stumbles.

A camera flash lights up the screen. Then another. Then another. The film changes to a stop-frame series of pictures of Raymond, with the sound of Paparazzi echoing in the background.

PAPARAZZI

Raymond!

Raymond covers his face

PAPARAZZI

Raymond!

Raymond lights a cigarette

PAPARAZZI

Raymond!

Raymond dives into an alley

CUT TO

EXT. ALLEYWAY.

Raymond is stood against the wall breathing heavily. Smoke rises around him and the sounds of the street begin to subside. His breathing slows and after a few seconds he looks around, one way then the other.

Cautiously he steps out and starts to walk down the alley. All seems okay. Then through the smoke he looks up and sees the TV Tower looking down at him. A camera flashes from it.

He turns the other way, but then sees the high rise buildings of the Potsdamer Platz in the other direction. Another camera flashes.

He turns back to the entrance to the alleyway. In the entrance to the alleyway there is a man with a camera. Another flash.

Raymond turns and runs back down the alley, chased by the flashes. He throws his cigarette aside and almost disappears into the smoke. But then he stops. There is a wall in front of him.

PAPARAZZI

Raymond!

Look at us.

Smile!

Let us see your face.

He looks around and then dives into the darkness.

FADE TO

EXT. A BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER SPREE. NIGHT.

The bridge is empty and silent. A residue of light shines from behind trees on the bank of the river. Only the water moves.

A swan flies down from the sky and lands with a graceful splash. It floats up on the current towards cathedrals and old museums in the distance.

Liquid Girl appears on the side of the bridge like a ghost. She stands and stares out to the river.

On the surface of the water a pale purple light. It shimmers in the light. It is vaguely human, but not at the same time.

Liquid Girl leans down to get a closer look and the camera leans with her as if to dive in the water.

A hiss from the swan interrupts. It flaps its wings violently and flies into the night.

Through Liquid Girl’s hazy form we see a figure running across the bridge. Behind him there is an explosion of light shining upwards.

He reaches the side of the bridge alongside her and stops to catch his breath. He does not seem to see her next to him.

LIQUID GIRL

It’s a nice night to be by the river

RAYMOND (panting)

Yeah. It is. Good and quiet

Raymond stares out, not acknowledging Liquid Girl’s presence.

RAYMOND

Dark an’ all. The darkest damn river that I ever saw.

The rivers ripples in a gust of wind.

LIQUID GIRL

It’s the only place where I feel alive.

It’s the only place where I can feel...real.

Out there in the world all they do is talk:

Blah blah blah

Chatter chatter chatter

Me me me.

This is it. This is the way it is.

Raymond is stood beside, touching his face as he listens to her voice.

LIQUID GIRL

I can’t be like that. I know they are wrong. But when you know this and no-one wants to listen, then what are you but words, being sucked into a deep black void?

There is a sound of the water ebbing against the bridge

LIQUID GIRL

But here, here in Berlin, on the river, there is always something, a place to ripple and flow, and go on to something new.

She takes hold of his hand

LIQUID GIRL

Come on. Come on, look. Let me show you what I mean.

Do you see?

Her reflection is seen as light shimmering on the waves.

LIQUID GIRL

There I am. Me. A million atoms dancing in the river.

The water ripples.

LIQIUD GIRL

And there is go again, into something else. A new form, with a new life and a new place in the world.

She turns to face Raymond.

LIQUID GIRL

It’s fun to be liquid. You never know what form you are going to take.

Here. Why don’t you look?

Raymond looks at the water. His reflection is opaque, with defined, chiselled features. Little pockets of light dance around it and get brighter and more dominant. The background changes into the awards ceremony from the earlier scene.

CROWD

Raymond

Raymond we love you

Come here

Look at us

Smile.

PAPARAZZI

Come on Raymond

Let’s have a smile

Just here Raymond

No here

Here

Look this way

Give us your face

Raymond

Raymond.

Cameras flash all around and then we move to an extreme CU of Raymond’s face. He is smiling in pose, as in the earlier scene and in bed with Sophia Monfis. We then fade back to the river with the reflection rippling in the water.

A swan alongside and lands on the river, washing his reflection into a blur.

Raymond staggers back and immediately convulses onto the pavement.

LIQUID GIRL

What do you see when you look down there?

Raymond looks up in pain.

LIQUID GIRL

What do you see Raymond?

RAYMOND (panicking)

I see me, I see lights, then...and then I see nothing. Nothing at all

LIQUID GIRL

Blackness?

RAYMOND

Yeah, but blackness there – ughh, ugghhh – and blackness here, and there, and inside here.

He points to his chest.

RAYMOND

Deep in here.

LIQUID GIRL

Don’t be afraid Raymond. You need to see the void and feel yourself slowly sinking into it. Then you can understand and you can know what it is to be liquid.

Raymond scowls and turns back to the water.

LIQUID GIRL

Don’t be scared Raymond

Ramyond stares and then staggers back again.

RAYMOND

What the fuck? What is that? What are you trying to do to me?

Liquid Girl sits up on the side on the bridge beside him.

LIQUID GIRL

Join me. Join me in the water. Let yourself fall and we can be free together.

Raymond back away. He is shaking and sweating

RAYMOND

What’s going on? How are you making me feel this way?

LIQUID GIRL

It’s not me Raymond. It’s you. The emptiness is in your soul, not mine.

(Pause)

RAYMOND

I ain’t empty. I’m Raymond Phelps. Look at me. People love this face.

LIQUID GIRL

Do people love YOU Raymond?

RAYMOND

Hell yeah. I’m the best looking guy in the word, ain’t I.

Liquid girl leaps down from the wall and guides Raymond’s shaking body to the edge of the bridge.

LIQUID GIRL

Don’t be scared Raymond. It isn’t so bad in there. You’re scared because you can’t see what’s at the bottom. You don’t know what will happen at the end.

RAYMOND

I do know what will happen. I’ll fall, I’ll sink and I'll drown. That’s what happens to people who leap off’a bridges.

LIQUID GIRL

Be liquid with me Raymond.

RAYMOND

I can’t!

He tries to push her away but his hands fall through a wall of light

CUT TO

INT. BERLIN TV TOWER. NIGHT.

Mirroring their pose on the bridge Liquid Girl and Raymond stare out at the city below. They look to the West where thousands of lights flicker and glow

LIQUID GIRL

What do you see when you look out there Raymond?

RAYMOND

I see lights...and walls. I see my face in the lights and on the walls.

LIQUID GIRL

That’s all a beautiful man sees?

(Pause)

RAYMOND

That’s all I can see.

She puts her arm around him.

LIQUID GIRL

Walls and lights.

The camera looks around the city and then focuses down to the waters of the River Spree.

LIQUID GIRL

There is more than that Raymond

CUT TO

EXT. BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER SPREE.

LIQUID GIRL

I won’t let you be like this Raymond. I won’t let you be trapped by walls or blinded by lights.

RAYMOND

I don’t want to be trapped

LIQUID GIRL

There is more to you that this.

RAYMOND

I want to be someone else.

LIQUID GIRL

You can always change.

RAYMOND

I want to be free.

LIQUID GIRL

You are liquid. You can flow.

She takes his hand and they step to the edge of the bridge. The sound of water rushes under their feet. Two swans fly over them towards the city.

LIQUID GIRL

You can flow anywhere.

They jump together into the water

EXT. BANK OF THE RIVER SPREE. CENTRAL BERLIN. DAWN.

An Old Man is working on his boat. It is the same man from the first scene – traditional East Berliner. He scowls as two swans prance by and he shoos them away into the water.

Behind him a railway rattles with an approaching train.

The swans splash into the water.

The rattle of the railway tracks gets louder.

Old Man continues working but then notices something in the ripples from the swans’ wake. It is the clothes and possibly the body of a woman – possibly Liquid Girl.

CUT TO

EXT. THE OPPOSITE BANK.

Raymond emerges from the water, walking up some steps to the bank. He is calm and moves as if nothing has happened. His eyes look straight ahead. He walks along the bank towards the city.

CUT TO

EXT. WOODS.

A fox runs.

CUT TO

EXT. TREES.

A bird flies to its nest, with a small branch in its beak

CUT TO

EXT. BANK OF RIVER SPREE.

A drunk is slumped against the wall of a disused factory. It is decorated with colourful graffiti.

CUT TO

EXT. OPPOSITE BANK OF RIVER SPREE

Raymond walks along the bank and under a railway bridge

CUT TO

INT. BERLIN HAUPTBAHNHOF.

Raymond walks into the station and checks his watch. The floor is bust with early-morning commuters. They turn and stare as he walks ahead.

The shot changes to the view from a security camera above

The camera looks one way, then the other, then focuses on Raymond. He is walking through the station as if he is meeting someone at a certain time. Around him hundreds of commuters stand frozen, staring. Raymond does not seem to notice.

EXT. BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ.

Raymond walks through the main square of the Alexanderplatz. As before people stand and stare. Couples in coffee houses put down their drinks. He ignores them, passes through, then turns and walks to the entrance of the TV Tower.

INT. TOP OF TV TOWER

Lift doors open and Raymond steps out through a crowd. They whisper behind him. He strides confidently around the viewing area, looking out at each window. He stops at one. We look down at the city and the old Brandenburg Gate where people, cars and trains seems to move in a harmony. There is no focus on any particular landmark – it is a living, organic city.

Raymond continues to walk around and at the last window there is a woman stood staring out. She has same physique and hair as Liquid Girl. He walks up slowly then stops.

(Pause)

He taps her on the back.

RAYMOND

Hey, how you doin...?

She spins around. It is a different woman.

RAYMOND

...Sorry. Sorry, my mistake.

Raymond walks around the viewing area again, ignoring the crowds. Then he stops and looks out of another window. The city is still in motion.

The shot focuses down onto the River Spree where a boat is moored on the bank. It is the boat from the first scene. Old Man is pointing at the water, at a body floating along slowly.

Cut back to Raymond’s POV.

He stares out emotionless.

A WOMAN walks up behind him.

WOMAN

Excuse me...are you Raymond Phelps?

Raymond turns around and thinks.

RAYMOND

Sorry...no. I...I...no. I’m someone else completely.

Woman looks sceptically then walks away.

Raymond stares back out the window, then turns and walks to the lift. He stops for a moment to think, then moves forward inside. The doors start to close.

At the same time Liquid Girl walks out of the adjacent lift. She has different hair, clothes and expression but it is unmistakeably her. She pauses as the other lift closes. Raymond does not see her. She walks to the same window Raymond has left and looks down to the city. The camera stays on her face. She smiles and touches her chin. Then she turns and walks away.

The camera stays looking at the city. Time speeds up – people move around, lights come on, buildings rise and fall. The river flows.

The End