The Burning of Coulibri

By the time we got about halfway through with Wide Sargasso Sea, I realized that it would make a great movie.  I googled it, and indeed, two different adaptions have been made (although neither one appeared to be all that great).  So, I thought it would be fun/interesting to adapt the part that I thought lent itself best to the screen for this blog.  As you will see, I followed the book fairly closely at the beginning, and took more and more liberties and we neared the climax of the scene, in order to add drama and tension.  You can also see how I've interpreted this scene, specifically for the camera.  I decided to have the whole first part be a "long shot" (a section of a film where there are no cuts, fades, wipes, whatever - it's all a long, continuous shot) where the camera would be constantly moving, to ad tension.  Later, we would break the shot so we could see how vast the crowd really is, and then so we could get into the nitty-gritty action and chaos.  So, here is the scene that ends section section three of part one, the burning of Coulibri.

[Black.  A door opens and sheds a sliver of light on Antoinette's face, she squints her eyes open, blinded by the sudden brightness.]

Annette
Antoinette

[Annette (who is wearing sloppily put on clothes, and whose hair is disheveled) walks swiftly into Antoinette's room, and places a lit candle on her dresser.  From this point on, the lighting will be very dark - everything being lit by some sort of flame, be it that of a candle or a burning house.]

Annette
Get up and dress yourself and come downstairs quickly.  [Antoinette doesn't move]  Quickly.

[Annette rushes away, leaving the door wide open.  Antoinette lies in bed for a while longer, and we hear the hushed voices of Myra and Annette from another room.]

Annette
I cannot leave him, we must carry him.

Myra
No, it would be bad for his health.

Annette
But what if they get in and hurt him, or take him?

Myra
No, you go.  I will stay with him and make sure no harm comes to him.

Annette
I have to stay with him, I can't leave him!

[We hear the sound of wood crashing against wood, causing Antoinette to get up and get dressed.  The camera follows her in one unbroken shot as she rushes downstairs into the drawing-room, which has many of her family members and their servants there.  The camera moves on from her, to Mr Mason and circles him.]

Mr Mason
There is no reason to be alarmed, it's just a handful of drunken negroes.

[The camera (still in an unbroken shot) follows him as he walks to double doors at the opposite end of the room and throws them open.  A wave of angry shouts rolls over Mr Mason as he steps to the edge of a porch and grips onto its railing.  Blazing torches dot the shadowed crowd.]

Mr Mason
[Bellowing over the din]
What is al this?  What do you want?

[Rocks rain down on the porch, and Mr Mason rushes inside and closes the doors (the camera leads him in, the shot is still unbroken).]

Mr Mason
More of them than I thought, and in a nasty mood too.  They will repent in the morning.  I foresee gifts of tamarinds in syrup and ginger sweets in the morning.

[Pan to Aunt Cora, sitting in a chair in the corner.]

Aunt Cora
Tomorrow will be too late.  Too late for ginger sweets or anything else.

[Pan to Annette, who is leaning in the doorway.  She is in a daze, wringing her hands.]

Annette
Pierre is asleep and Myra is with him, I thought it better to leave him in his own room, away from this horrible noise.  I don't know. Perhaps…

[Her wedding ring falls off and rolls to the base of the steps, the camera follows it, and pans out as Mannie, a servant, picks it up.  Mannie gasps as he sees clouds of smoke billow out from under Antoinette's door.]

Mannie
Oh, my God, they get at the back, they set fire to the back of the house.

[Annette runs past him and into Pierre's room.  The camera continues panning back and goes in between Aunt Cora and Antoinette as Aunt Cora grabs Antoinette and pulls her into a hug, trying to shield her eyes.  Antoinette is facing us, with a look of bewilderment and pure fright and Aunt Cora is looking towards the door with bated breath as smoke billows out of it.]

Aunt Cora
Don't be afraid, you are quite safe.  We are all quite safe.

 [There are a few more tense moment of silence, and then we hear Aunt Cora gasp.  Antoinette pulls away from Aunt Cora and looks towards the door.  Framed by Aunt Cora and Antoinette's bodies, we see Annette stumble out of Pierre's room, gasping for breath, and carrying Pierre's limp, pale body.]

Mr Mason
Annette, you are hurt - your hands-

Annette
[Cutting him off, staring straight at Aunt Cora, in a stunned whisper.]
His crib was on fire.  The little room is on fire and Myra was not there.  She has gone.  She was not there.

Aunt Cora
[As she helps lay Pierre on the couch, glaring at Mr Mason]  That does not surprise me at all.  [She starts to tear her petticoat into strips.]

Annette
[Still whispering.]  She left him, she ran away and she left him alone to die.  [Suddenly, jumping up and screaming at Mr Mason.]  You fool!  You cruel, stupid fool!  I told you!  I told you what would happen again and again! You would not listen to me, you sneered at me, you grinning hypocrite, you ought not to live either, you know so much, don't you?!  Why don't you go out and ask them to let you go?!  Say how innocent you are.  Say how you have always trusted them.

[Mannie, Sass, and Christophine rush past with basins of water, and throw them in Pierre and Antoinette's rooms.]

Christophine
[On her way to get more water]
They fired the other side of the house.  They must have climbed that tree.

Aunt Cora
[To the servants.]  This place is going to burn like tinder and there is nothing we can do to stop it.  [Gathering her skirts.]  The sooner we get out the better.  [To Christophine.]  Take the child and come.

[Aunt Cora grabs Antoinette's hand and leads her out onto the porch.  The camera follows them, and as they open the doors and step out, the shouts of the crowd hit them like a wall.  In their moment of hesitation, the camera (still in the unbroken shot) circles around them.  (Through the rest of the scene, we will always hear the roar of the crowd, see their burning torches and feel their threatening presence.)  Then, Aunt Cora tugs Antoinette along.]

Aunt Cora
Come quickly.

[The camera then leads them along the veranda, around the corner, and down the stairs.  When they get to the base of the stairs, they pause and look up.  The camera follows their gaze and we see Christophine struggling down the stairs with Pierre's lifeless body.  The camera continues to pan up and we see Mr Mason struggling to pull Annette along the veranda.  During this bit of dialogue, the camera will start panning back to include Aunt Cora in the shot.]

Mr Mason
It's impossible, too late now.

Annette
But I need him!  I need Coco!

Mr Mason
You will not go back for that damned parrot.  I won't allow it.

Annette
Qui est la, Coco?  Qui est la?!

Aunt Cora
Annette, they are laughing at you, do not allow them to laugh at you.

[Annette gives in and allows herself to be pulled down the steps.  The family is all huddled together and, as the camera circles around them (from facing the house to now facing the crowd) and pans up, we see how much the crowd has closed in.  Their shouts are even more deafening now, and are underlayed with Aunt Cora feverishly muttering a prayer under her breath.  Then, we hear the neigh of horses and see the carriage, driven by Mannie and Sass, come around the corner.]

Mr Mason
Come on, for God's sake, get to the carriage, get to the horses.

[The camera pulls up, so we start to see things from more of a bird’s eye view.  The carriage struggles to get through the crowd, but it is making slow progress, like molasses in January.  The family is also trying to move towards the carriage, but with the same results.  The family and the carriage are about to meet, when the crowd falls silent and everyone looks toward the camera.  The camera pans around and we see Coco standing on the windowsill of a window in the upper floor.  The dense smoke behind Coco stands in stark contrast with Coco's flaming wings and tail feathers.  Suddenly, we end the long shot and cut to a wide shot of the house, just as Coco leaps out of the window, in a pitiful attempt at flight.  We see Coco fall all the way to the ground, and the moment of stunned silence afterwards.  Then, we cut to a close shot of the family.  The crowd, now slightly afraid of them and their bad luck, give them some space.]

Mr Mason
Get to the carriage.  Get to the carriage - hurry!

[They push towards the carriage, the crowd parting for them like the Red Sea.  When they reach the carriage, Mannie is arguing with people surrounding it.  A Crowdsperson steps in front of Mr Mason as he is about to help Annette into the carriage.]

Mannie
What are you, eh?  Brute beasts?

[There is a moment where Mr Mason and the Crowdsperson glare at each other.]

Mr Mason
[To Annette, still glaring at the Crowdsperson]  Get in.  Take no notice of him, get in.

Crowdsperson
[Holding up a machete blade that blocks Annette's way.]  No.  You will go to the police and tell a lot of damn lies.

Woman
[Grabbing on to the mans arm, speaking tenderly but with urgency.]  [name], let them go.  [Seeing he's not budging.]  All this an accident and we have plenty witness.  Myra, she witness for us.

Crowdsperson
Shut your mouth.  You mash centipede, mash it, leave one little piece and it grow again.  [beat.]  What you think police believe, eh?  You, or the white nigger?  [Mannie is about to hit him with the whip (for the horses) when he sees it and grabs it out of his hands.  He turns on Mannie.]  Run away, black Englishman, like the boy run.  Hide in the bushes, it's better for you.

Aunt Cora
[Stepping forwarded and motioning to Pierre.]  The little boy is very badly hurt.  He will die if we cannot get help for him.

Crowdsperson
So, black and white, they burn the same, eh?

Aunt Cora
They do, here and hereafter, as you will find out.  Very shortly.

Crowdsperson
[Getting in her face.]  I'll throw you on the fire if you put bad luck on me, you old, white jumby.

Aunt Cora
[Not backing down, very calmly.]  If you do not let us go, you will suffer eternal fires, with never a drop of sangoree to cool your burning tongue.

Crowdsperson
[Letting them pass.]  Damn you, old jumby.

Mr Mason
Now get in.  You, Christophine, get in with the child.  [To Annette]  Now you.

[He grabs her arm to help her in the carriage.  As she steps into the carriage, she is now able to see all of the destruction that has come and is coming to Coulibri, and she screams a bloodcurdling scream of sheer agony and sadness.  The camera pans around Antoinette as the turns to face the house (so we see her silhouetted in front of the raging fire).  Then, Antoinette see Tia.  She starts running towards her old friend.]

Aunt Cora
Antoinette, no!

Antoinette
Tia!

[Everything slows down as we cut to Tia, who sees Antoinette, throws a stone at her.  We see the stone leave Tia's hand, and then we cut to Antoinette right before the stone enters the frame and hits her in the face.  We are in a close-up of Antoinette, and as the blood starts to weave its way down her face, the chaos in the background fades to black and the roar of the fire and crowd die down.]

Antoinette
[whispered, as if from far away or in a dream]  Tia.

[Cut to a close-up of Tia, who is also in front of a black background, and who has tears streaming down her face, mirroring Antoinette's blood.  Cut back to a close-up of Antoinette for a beat.  Then we cut back to Tia.  A hand is placed on Tia's shoulder and pulls her into the black.  Just before Tia's face disappears, we cut back to Antoinette, who is pulled by an unseen hand (presumably Aunt Cora's) towards the unseen carriage.  She resists, but then is overpowered and pulled into and swallowed up by the black.]