THE DANSE MACABRE

By
SAMUEL INGLIS










Copyright 2014 samuel.inglis89@gmail.com
LOGLINE:
Richard Fontaine has lost so much to get his empire. Tonight he will make all
the pain worth it.

SYNOPSIS:
Richard Fontaine orchestrates a series of assassinations across Sydney, all
scheduled to occur at 8:20pm. The assassinations give him a foothold over
Penelope Winsfields network of assassins. Richard and Penelope dance
together as the former delivers the bad news to the latter.

EXEGESIS:
This is a scene from a potential television show. The rough premise of the
show is that a timid university student called Richard Fontaine is transformed
into a deadly assassin: first to save his boyfriends life, then to cover up his first
murders, and then for money and an array of less than honourable
motivations. This scene takes place in what would be the penultimate episode
of the third season of the show. The character of Penelope Winsfield was
originally his employer, but eventually things turned sour between the two
when Richards boyfriend was killed after Winsfield declared him a liability.
Fontaine then declared himself a rival and tried to take over her business.
Season Three essentially consists of the two vying for control over a network of
assassins that operate in Sydney all the while maintaining an odd friendship
This scene features him scoring a major victory, as he coordinates with a
selection of individuals deeply disillusioned with certain figures Fontaine wants
dead.




1. INT. BALLROOM, EVENING
A grand expanse of dancers waltzes to the tune of The Waves of the Danube.
A man at a table watches them, a glass of champagne in his hand. He is looking
for someone on the dance floor. He sees them and, placing the champagne
glass on a nearby table, walks onto the floor, carefully navigating his way
through the couples. The waltz ends, and the observers clap for the dancers.
The man has now found who he is looking for: a voluptuous woman in a
beautiful red dress, mid 40s. It is PENELOPE WINSFIELD. She looks at the man:
a young, slightly effeminate fellow wearing a tuxedo and a pair of glasses fit for
a librarian. This is RICHARD FONTAINE. The two give each other cordial, yet
intense, looks. The orchestra begins a new piece: The Danse Macabre.
FONTAINE extends his hand. WINSFIELD takes it, amused. They begin the waltz
together.
2. EXT. CITY PLAZA, EVENING
A Toyota pulls up at a street adjacent to a city plaza. The driver, a dishevelled
middle-aged man, sniffs cocaine from the dashboard. The Danse Macabre
plays over this scene (and every scene to follow).
3. EXT. SUBURBAN STREET, EVENING
A pizza delivery boy (early 20s) walks to the front door of a nice looking
property. He rings the doorbell.
4. INT. BALLROOM, EVENING
FONTAINE and WINSFIELD make an elegant partnership on the dance floor.
WINSFIELD is leading.
WINSFIELD
You do realise killing me isnt going to bring your boyfriend back, right?
WINSFIELD looks at FONTAINE with condescending pity. His face ever so
slightly twitches.
5. EXT. CITY STREET, EVENING
A pregnant woman (early 20s) walks down a street. She is clutching her
handbag tightly. Her eyes are dead cold.
6. INT. SHOPPING CENTRE, EVENING
A man with red hair (early 40s) stands silently on the top floor of a multi-story
shopping complex. A suitcase sits beside him. He is looking down at the floors
beneath him, watching the various shopkeepers close their stores for the day.
On the ground floor, a beautiful fountain in the shape of a sphere is turned off.
7. INT. BALLROOM, EVENING
The waltz is becoming more intense.
WINSFIELD
All of your employees are either dead or in custody, you somehow escaped the
shit storm that followed, and yet youre still in Sydney. You could go and live a
peaceful life anywhere in the world.
FONTAINE
Peace is for the dead.
8. INT. SUBURBAN HOME, EVENING
There is a living room, its walls adorned with family photos and Christian
iconography. On a sofa, two individuals sit and have coffee. One is an older
man (60s), while the other is a young Jehovahs Witness. The two men are
having a passionate debate. The older man excuses himself when he hears the
sound of a doorbell.
9. INT. RESTAURANT, EVENING
A woman (mid 40s) pays for her dinner at a cash register. Through the
windows of the restaurant we can see the city plaza.
10. INT. BALLROOM, EVENING
The air between FONTAINE and WINSFIELD has become quite intense.
WINSFIELD
I have the four most senior law enforcement figures in my pocket, and they all
know your name. If anything happens to me, they will destroy you.
FONTAINE
I dont want your life. I want your empire.
11. INT. SHOPPING CENTRE, EVENING
A flirtatious couple emerge from a shop on one of the lower levels. The woman
is in her late 30s, whilst the man is in his early 50s. The red-haired man
watches them from above, seething.
12. INT. GYMNASIUM CHANGING ROOM, EVENING
A young, athletic man packs away his gym clothes.
13. EXT. CITY STREET, CONTINUED
The athletic man exits the gymnasium and walks down the street, passing the
pregnant woman, who is sitting menacingly on a bench, still clutching her
handbag. She is clearly waiting for this man.
14. INT. BALLROOM, EVENING
WINSFIELD and FONTAINE are still waltzing, but it appears as though
FONTAINE is beginning to lead.
WINSFIELD
I applaud your ambition. Maybe not your sanity.
FONTAINE
Ive never been saner. Its simply a matter of give-and-take. You give me your
empire, and I wont take your freedom.
WINSFIELD
(Dumbfounded)
What?
FONTAINE
When you so elegantly dismantled my organisation, you made a pretty terrible
mistake. You left me alive. And alone. And when Im alone, my mind thrives. It
sees connections and opportunities that otherwise would have eluded me.
Like, say, certain men and women connected to your police friends... by a
mutual hatred, and the opportunities they now have to act on that hatred.
WINSFIELDs eyes suddenly widen.
15. EXT. CITY PLAZA, EVENING
The dishevelled driver sees the woman who has just had dinner leaving the
restaurant. His face full of hate, he slams down on the accelerator and charges
his car across the plaza. People barely manage to dive out of its path. The
woman sees the car and tries to run back into the restaurant, but it catches up
with her just before she can make it to the door. The car slams into her, and
then smashes through the front of the restaurant. It is a horrifying spectacle of
blood, glass, and metal.
16. INT. SUBURBAN HOUSE, EVENING
The man in his 60s opens his door to the pizza boy. Suddenly the Jehovahs
Witness comes up from behind the old man and begins to strangle him. The
pizza boy calmly enters the house closing the door behind him and brings
the pizza box into the kitchen. Opening it, there is inside a disconcerting
gallimaufry of surgical instruments.
17. EXT. CITY STREET, EVENING
The pregnant woman extracts a kitchen knife from her handbag and lunges
toward the athletic man with an almost primal howl. She stabs him in the
testicles. The man screams in agony as the woman ferociously stabs him
indiscriminately across his body.
18. INT. SHOPPING CENTRE, EVENING
The red-headed man is descending toward the flirtatious couple on an
escalator. The couple see the man, and the woman appears to recognise him.
She looks incredibly guilty. The man takes a machine gun from his briefcase.
The couple are not given enough time to run as the man fires his entire clip
into them. His face is a bizarre mixture of jubilation and heartbreak. The
woman lays on the floor, dead, an expanding bed of crimson beneath her. The
man she was with still lives. The red-headed man hoists him up by his collar
and, as the other man feebly resists, throws him over the railing of the floor
they are on. The other man plummets to the ground floor, colliding with the
spherical fountain. The sphere practically explodes with water and blood.
19. INT. BALLROOM, EVENING
The Danse Macabre finishes. WINSFIELD looks at FONTAINE with scepticism.
However, she is clearly wary of him as she has backed a few feet away.
FONTAINE looks at his watch: the time is 8:20. FONTAINE looks at WINSFIELD
intently.
FONTAINE (CONTD)
Tomorrow the police, the media, everybody is going to be looking for
whomevers responsible for all this carnage. At least one of the perpetrators
would undoubtedly have been caught, and they will lead the police to any of
five people who Ive made sure will then lead them to you. However, I will
give you these five names, providing you surrender half of your business assets
and all of your contacts to me. You can then sell what is left and live a
peaceful life.
WINSFIELD
Youre bluffing.
FONTAINE
Quite possibly which is why Im going to give you 12 hours to agree to my
terms. Plenty of time to channel surf the evening news. (smiling mischievously)
You were a magnificent partner.
FONTAINE walks away from WINSFIELD, who stands in the middle of the dance
floor, defeated yet dignified. FONTAINEs face is supremely smug as he
straightens his bowtie.

THE END