The Moon Is A Splendoured Thing

1. FADE IN

2. 
   

3. Act 1

4. 
   

5. EXT. GOLDEN BAY - 18:30

6. 
   

7. The sky is a canvas of deep purples and fiery oranges, melting into the ink of the coming night. A bright moon, hangs low. PETER is floating on his back in the calm water. His eyes fix on the moon.

8. 
   

9. PETER (V.O.): Splendoured thing...truly.

10. 
    

11. He lets the water hold him, the world reduced to the rhythm of his own breathing, and the vast silent sky.

12. 
    

13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A perfect moment.

14. 
    

15. The beach is dotted with more warm lights.

16. 
    

17. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But I can't see the spot where I put my swim bag.

18. 
    

19. He scans the beach, his head turning left and right.

20. 
    

21. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Not sure if it's there...I feel the unease in my stomach...my phone, my keys ...are inside.

22. 
    

23. He stops floating, standing in the shadows. He walks towards a dark shape of his bag.

24. 
    

25. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Staying in the water in the dark is risky. It's my first time.

26. 
    

27. Act 2

28. 
    

29. FLASHBACK

30. 
    

31. INT. BEDROOM - 08:00 (Today)

32. 
    

33. Peter gets up as his WIFE leaves.

34. 
    

35. PETER (V.O.): My wife is on a day-trip to Shenzhen with her friend. She rarely wakes up so early.

36. 
    

37. He grabs his phone.

38. 
    

39. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yesterday I followed the sheet music and played "Love Is a Many-Splendoured Thing", I found two notes and a few chords clunky.

40. 
    

41. He types into the search bar: Love Is a Many-Splendoured Thing - the composer.

42. 
    

43. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Songwriters: Sammy Fain (music), Paul Francis Webster (lyrics); Awards: Won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

44. 
    

45. Peter clicks some other links and reads the content.

46. 
    

47. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):Query: Is there any striking similarity between the Song and the Italian aria Un Bel Di Vedremo. Let me listen to the aria myself.

48. 
    

49. He types into the search bar: Un Bel Di Vedremo, clicks the result's linked recording and listens to it.

50. 
    

51. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'd like to sing along....I've been learning Italian via Duolingo.

52. 
    

53. He pauses the music, rewinds it. Soon, the tragic melody of "Un Bel Di Vedremo" and Peter's whispering of the Italian lyrics fill the room.

55. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I think only the first notes of the two musical works are strikingly similar...they've the same DNA though.

56. 
    

57. INT. LIVING ROOM - 09:00

58. 
    

59. Peter sits before an upright piano, staring at the sheet music of Un Bel Di Vedremo.

60. 
    

61. PETER (V.O.): I can see six flats in its key signature. It's in Key Gb major. Why can't it be in a simpler Key G major?

62. 
    

63. He researches further.

64. 
    

65. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Key Gb major is traditionally associated with deeplonging, vulnerability and dreaming... Key G major often sounds bright, rustic and grounded...

66. 
    

67. He tries to play the soprano line, but his fingers stumble over the black keys.

68. 
    

69. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's not melodic to play.

70. 
    

71. He stops, staring into space.

72. 
    

73. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I remember a sweet, melodic Japanese tune (with adapted Chinese lyrics) that my Mum taught me in the early 1960s...Cio-Cio San of Nagasaki.

74. 
    

75. He mines an MV on YouTube. It plays. He listens, and scans the lyrics in Japanese.

76. 
    

77. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I've been learning Japanese via Duolingo too.

78. 
    

79. The song is pretty and simple. Then, the chorus hits.

80. 
    

81. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The verse is in the Key of Eb major, while the chorus is in the Key of C major.

82. 
    

83. He sits back, a broad grin spreading across his face.

84. 
    

85. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That's the trick. That's why it's so catchy. It's a gear shift.

86. 
    

87. He rewinds and focuses on to the bridge again.

88. 
    

89. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I can feel its connection with Un Bel Di Vedremo. And it has the same emotional arc as the aria.

90. 
    

91. He immediately starts practising Cio-Cio San of Nagasaki on the piano.

92. 
    

93. MONTAGE OF PETER'S AFTERNOON AND EVENING

94. 
    

95. A. Peter has dimsum in a restaurant before rushing back to his NT home to move his stored cars.

96. 
    

97. B. Having just cleaned the cars' wheels, he drives towards Golden Bay, but there are traffic jams along the way.

98. 
    

99. RETURN TO PRESENT

100. 
     

101. Act 3

102. 
     

103. INT. BEDROOM -22:15

104. 
     

105. Peter uploads a photo to a draft on his laptop. It shows the bright moon that shines on what we have and what we lose with the same generous light.

106. 
     

107.  PETER (V.O.): My Mum taught me a song. The moon taught me why I remembered it.

108. 
     

109. Thinking.

110. 
     

111. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The moon is a splendoured thing because it makes solitude feel spacious rather than empty.

112. 
     

113. We hear his wife's voice: I'm back!

115. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): At 72, I discover that the first times don't belong to the young. They belong to the willing.

116. 
     

117. The END

118. 
     

119. FADE OUT