Munzir Mohammed Ahmed

Screenplay - Adaptation of Tayeb Salih's Season of Migration to the North Drama Page 35 The train screeches to a stop at the edge of the platform. BACK TO: EXT. KHALID’S HOUSE - COURTYARD - NIGHT Khalid and Mustafa, on the stone stoop outside Mustafa’s diwan. MUSTAFA Everything which happened before my meeting her was a premonition; everything I did after I killed her was an apology, not for killing her, but for the lie that was my life. FADE TO: FLASH BACK STARTS: INT. THE HALL IN CHELSEA - NIGHT We just see the far side as the CAMERA SHOOTS across. A door, and a long passageway leading to the entrance hall. MUSTAFA (V.O.) I was twenty-five when I met Jean Morris at a party in Chelsea. OVERSHOT comes SOUND of laughter from the hall. Slowly, the CAMERA Follows there. In the hall the faint lamp-light shows, Mustafa sits, with two girls and a glass two-thirds empty. It seems, he is telling lewd things to them as we see them laughing. Suddenly, they break off, distracted by the SOUND of the door opening. Jean Morris’s figure under the faint lamp-light, pauses on the doorway for a while. Mustafa gazes at her. She COMES IN with wide strides, placing the weight of her body on the right foot so that her buttocks incline left-wards. She pauses and gives Mustafa a look of arrogance, coldness. SMASH CUT on Mustafa’s face. He is about to say something. The CAMERA FOLLOWS as Jean Morris moves away. Mustafa looks at the two girls with him. MUSTAFA Who’s that female? FLASH BACK ENDS. BACK TO: EXT. MUSTAFA’S HOUSE - COURTYARD - NIGHT Khalid and Mustafa, on the stone stoop outside Mustafa’s diwan. MUSTAFA London was emerging from the war and the oppressive atmosphere of the Victorian era. I got to know the pubs of Chelsea, the clubs of Hampstead, and the gatherings of Bloomsbury. I would read poetry, talk of religion and philosophy, discuss paintings, and say things about the spirituality of the East. I would do everything possible to entice a woman to my bed. Then I would go after some new prey. My soul contained not a drop of sense of fun - just as Mrs. Robinson had said. The women I enticed to my bed included girls from the Salvation Army, Quaker societies and Fabian gatherings. When the Liberals, the Conservatives, Labours, or the Communists, held a meeting, I would saddle my camel and go. FADE TO: ---------------------------------------------------------------- Page 36 FLASH BACK STARTS: INT. PARTY IN CHELSEA - NIGHT A HIGH ANGLE of the hall, reveals those different colors of lights. There are at least hundreds guests, music, laughing, dancing and many tables cover with food and wine. Mustafa walks through the crowd. The CAMERA FOLLOWS him, PAUSES as he pauses beside Jean Morris and tells something we can’t hear. The CAMERA is CLOSED ON JEAN’s face now, recording her anger, her rage. JEAN MORRIS You’re ugly, I’ve never seen an uglier face than yours. SMASH CUT on Mustafa’s face. He is about to say something but the CAMERA TURNS on time to catch a brief glimpse of her walking away. MUSTAFA (V.O.) At that instant, drunk as I was, I swore I would one day make her pay for that. DISSOLVE TO: INT. MUSTAFA’S BEDROOM - IN LONDON - MORNING We just see as the CAMERA SHOOTS CLOSE ON MUSTAFA sleeping on his bed. There is a brief silence except the SOUND of a ceiling fan buzzing. MUSTAFA (V.O.) What was it that attracted Ann Hammond to me? Suddenly, Mustafa’s eyes snap open. He rubs his temples and turns on the bed. He starts, startles gazes at someone sleeping beside him. PULLING BACK slowly, we see that he is looking at Ann Hammond in her eighteen, sleeps beside him in the bed. MUSTAFA (V.O.) Her father was an officer in the Royal Engineers, her mother from a rich family in Liverpool. She proved an easy prey. PULLING BACK further, reveal that we are in a bedroom with pink curtains. The carpeting is of a warm greenness. The bed spacious, with swansdown cushions, placed in certain corners; on the walls are large mirrors. MUSTAFA (V.O.) She yearned for tropical climes, cruel suns, purple horizons. In her eyes I was a symbol of all her hankerings. I am South that yearns for the North and the ice. Ann Hammond spent her childhood at a convent school. Her aunt was the wife of a Member of Parliament. In my bed I transformed her into a harlot. DISSOLVE TO: ------------------------------------------------------------------ Page 37 INT. JEAN MORRIS’S FLAT - DAY The CAMERA is CLOSE ON the bed where Jean Morris lies. In her face erupts a hint of frozen pain. Her eyes looking out in a fixed stare. PULL BACK to reveal a medical examiner who is pause beside the bed and looking down at the body then over at a police officerbeside him. MEDICAL EXAMINER She had gassed herself. The police officer looks down at the foot of the bed. The CAMERA LOWERS to show a CLOSE VIEW of a small piece of paper lies on theground. He kneels down, picks up the paper, stands and unfolds it, and READS LOUDLY: POLICE OFFICER Mr. Sa’eed, may God damn you. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. OLD BAILEY - COURTROOM - DAY ESTABLISHING: OLD BAILEY COURTROOM’S BUILDING. CUT TO: INT. OLD BAILEY - COURTROOM - DAY CAMERA SHOOTS across. The judge’s bench stands against the rear wall. The Judicial Magistrate sits. To the left of the bench is the jury box. In the center two separate tables, one for the prosecuting attorney and the other for the defense attorney. The courtroom is packed with reporters and the type of spectators attracted to this type of spectacular trial. MUSTAFA (V.O.) The Public Prosecutor, sir Arthur Higgins, had a brilliant mind. I knew him well, for he had taught me Criminal Law at Oxford and I had seen him before, at grip on the accused as they stood in the dock. Slowly the CAMERA MOVES IN towards sir Arthur Higgins in his late forties, stands between the aisle and the judge’s bench. MUSTAFA (V.O.) Rarely Did anyone escape him. I saw men weeping and  fainting after he had finished his cross examination; but this time he was wrestling with a corpse. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Page 141 INT. PUB IN CHELSEA - NIGHT We just see the far side as the CAMERA SHOOTS across. Mustafa and Jean Morris sit on a table facing each others. A small pub with a few tables. Two tables engage by customers. The CAMERA MOVES IN towards their table. They stare at each others. HOLD for a beat. JEAN MORRIS You’re a savage bull that does not weary of the chase, The CAMERA is CLOSE on Mustafa’s face recording the bright light emerges from his eyes. JEAN MORRIS I am tired of your pursuing me and of running before you. Marry me. FADE TO: INT. REGISTRY OFFICE IN FULHAM - DAY The CAMERA SHOOTS across the office. Mustafa, Jean Morris, afemale friend of jean, a male friend of Mustafa and the Registrar.The CAMERA CLOSE On Jean Morris. JEAN MORRIS I Jean Winifred Morris accept this man Mustafa Sa’eed Othman as my ... Suddenly, Jean bursts into violent sobbing. Mustafa startles and stirs at her. The Registrar pauses, says to her kindly. REGISTRAR Come, come. I can understand how you feel. Just a few more moments and it’ll all be over. Jean continues to whimper. JEAN MORRIS I Jean Winifred Morris accept this man Mustafa Sa’eed Othman as my lawfully wedded husband, for better and for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health ... REGISTRAR Now I pronounce you both husband and wife. Jean Morris once again breaks out sobbing. The Registrar walks towards her, pauses before her pats her on the shoulder, thenshakes hands wit Mustafa. REGISTRAR Your wife is crying because she’s so happy. I have seen many women cry at their marriage, but I’ve never seen such violent weeping. It seems she loves you very much. Look after her. I’m sure you’ll both be happy. Jean Morris continues crying as the CAMERA TAKES her and Mustafa out of the registry office. CUT TO: