REMORSE – short script

REMORSE is a family DRAMA, that takes place in the present days, in a Coast village, in a house where GRANDPA, a ninety-year-old father, surrounded by friends and many family members, is slowly dying.
We first encounter his seventy-year-old daughter along with her family, two sons and a daughter. Despite the anxiety caused by the long waiting, there is also tension between them. KATERINA, devastated by her cheating husband, hopes to sell GRANDPA’s house after his death, to recover economically. In fact, she loves him very much, but the circumstances have forced her to transform. That causes her moral clash with her brother, JANI, who smashes everything in her face. Then, they gradually calm down when their humble mother, ROZA, beg them to stop, recalling her father’s agony in the next room.

Meanwhile, in the hallway, GRANDPA’s sons, THOMA and FANI, meet MIMI, a local mediator that has pledged to sell GRANDPA’s house after his death. After a tense conversation, the brothers change their minds and decide not to sell when they realize that corruption filth is hidden behind the offer. They are separated with threats from MIMI, and then joined by ROZA and others in GRANDPA’s half-lit room, where all family members are gathered, sad and tired around his bed.

Attendees rise with humble respect when THE DOCTOR, with a briefcase in hand, enters the room, greets, then approaches by the bed. He visits GRANDPA with a stethoscope and then speaks head to head with THOMA about his father’s condition. He thinks something’s wrong with GRANDPA, something doesn’t let him go in peace. THOMA approaches his father, asking and then, approaching the ear to his mouth, withdraws in tears and slowly leaving the room, accompanied by the curious look of those present. He returns after a few moments with a woman in her eighties, completely bent over and with a black head-kerchief. When she looks at GRANDPA, her legs are taken, and she holds on to the door. The others look at her in astonishment. Even so, they do not make a sound. GRANDPA barely opens his eyes, glimpses at the older woman on the doorstep, then hangs his head in his chest, giving up his last breath. THOMA sits next to him, puts his hand on his chest, and tearfully takes his head between his hands. Then, a howl, a cry out of grief, some older women sit beside the deathbed crying bitterly, as the tradition is used to. The relatives are slowly gathering next to the deceased, turning their backs on us, thus covering the view with their black suits.

Director Statement

REMORSE is a story about an unfulfilled love that leads to pain, guilt, and a “what if” situation. It’s the projected alternative life for a man on his deathbed, but also the feeling of such an intense love that keeps a person alive. At its core, it deals with the deeply human nature of love and compassion in a grim context of grief. The contradiction between an end cycle and a utopian wish for a new beginning becomes the topic of this narrative. In a world plunged into darkness and fear, with its misconnections, isolation, and intolerance, this humble story appears as a romantic tale.

In terms of technical approach, we will maintain an attitude as simple as possible, with a static camera, with a few setups as possible, aiming at minimalism dictated by the story and the location itself, as the event takes place only in two rooms and a hallway. The lighting will be natural, coming as a ray of light from the outside, mixed with some lampshades over the room. We will dress the characters and extras in dark clothes, rendering an image referring to the classic works of painting, under a dark brown veil. An essential point of film development will be casting the main actors. Regardless of the narrative itself, which gives the opportunity to include non-actors, it would be an extraordinary value to ensure the participation of prominent Albanian actors such as Tinka Kurti or Reshat Arbana. This would add to the film another layer of symbolism, of pairing artistic life with a personal one. Given its very specific, we will not use music throughout the film. Instead, we only plan to hear the old womens’ lamentations, cries, and whispers at the end titles.

REMORSE is a human drama, its message resonating in an international audience and is best conveyed by the words of Maya Angelou:
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.”