Obscura
Screenplay by: Jennifer Brigitte
Genre: Rites of Passage
Theme Stated: The Making of a Hollywood Oscar Bait Feature Film is firmly stated as the theme. We are quickly introduced to the main plays of Caldwell’s world. At the Cinema Paradiso, an old Edwardian Vaudeville theater, the whiskey soaked men and women smoke up the joint. They anxiously wait for the siren to cast her spell. On the stage, a cascade of lush blue velvet curtains hang on the floor. Then, a mysterious hum blitzes through the room. It’s beautiful and feminine. Gorgeous olive skinned hands with freshly painted red nails grip the curtains. Gemma Valentine, wearing a sexy suit and fedora hat, sings her opening number in full A Capella.
Set Up: After a brief moment of doubt in between takes, Gemma returns to the stage at the Cinema Paradiso. She tries to get her husband’s reassurance through a kiss but he denies her that one kiss she desperately wants. That neglect ushers a wave of power within her. On the stage, she climbs on top of a chandelier and swings on by, singing the now all-encompassing aphrodisiac power tune. The scene culminates with the world premiere of Born Again at the Dolby Theater. The audience in attendance give the picture an arousing standing ovation. This leaves Gemma clamoring for the applause while her speechless husband silently fumes inside. And with that, the trail of emerald green light that only beams at the sight of the incandescent Easton disappears as he vanishes out of the theater. Alpi stands there watching the people clap for the Quinns. They have truly arrived at the pinnacle of their distinguished careers. The live orchestra performs an instrumental of Gemma’s song as the scene fades away. We return to the expansive blue film set. The Conductor and his orchestra ensemble reach the climax of the piece, filling images inside Easton’s head. When it’s all set and done and he’s left alone to think of all the things he’s done, he ponders to himself. “Was it worth the risk?”
Now comes the kicker, the real catalyst. Lovitz, the head of the family’s rival studio, bursts the gang’s bubble. In his eyes, Born Again is indeed an incredible film but it’s also formulaic and safe. Easton has yet to step out of the box and produce the greatest and most explosive film of his tenure as the head of Caldwell Studios. To Lovitz, young Caldwell is just following the leads of his family members without thinking outside the box. He is not half the man they are and uses his cult-like personality and charm to get ahead. Lovitz accuses him of buying his Oscars and other awards which torment the really hardworking Easton. This forces him out of his element— a peak into his deeply suppressed psychopathy is revealed in a quick glimpse. He leaves the party that night and locks himself inside his studio’s vault. There he finds the lost Billy Wilder manuscript, The Descent to Madness. The supposed 65 year old manuscript that claimed the lives many of of tragic stars is boxed in his studio’s vault. And then it hit him like lightning. This will take him to the next level. He will be in the history books. This will set him a part from the rest of the world. And who knows? The shapeshifter can likely tie this with his pact with Patrick. Kill two birds with one stone. It’s Easton’s to lose and he begins his long gamble to greatness.
B Story: The B story of the film is set up in twos. The Quinns and Caldwell reveal their penchant for drug inducing fun parties. They are striped out of their pressure cooker and into Easton’s idea of fun which is a drug bending alternative diabolical sex party. As they consume LSD and Mollies they are leaving behind the superficiality that is the world they live in and the enter the Wonderland that will then drive them mad and into the reflection they really are. Right here is where they are taken to their real identities.
Fun and Games: Gemma in Wonderland; they take a darkly hallucinatory bad drug trip that resembles a mad Disney feverish fairy tale.
Midpoint: Edging out of the fairy tale, they are held captive in the desert where Paloma is left deranged and utterly confused by her reactions. She exposes her hatred for Gemma and deep love for Easton. When he humiliates her, she turns the gun on herself. We hit the point of no return as her death ushers them to a triggering post traumatic event. The horror of her death is a new low and defeat to their ego and all of its monstrosity. they split, disassociate, and intellectualize their madness. Their interjections of their idealizations of their Hollywood Americana is so far removed they can smell their madness brewing.
Gemma can’t do it anymore. She wants a divorce. That sends Patrick over the edge. He cannot lose her. She is his and his alone. He shows her his power and control over her as he rapes her. She needs to be submissive to her husband, Madness tells him.
Break into Three: Patrick forces the producer, the agent, and his wife to watch the spiraling visceral film. Easton cannot take it anymore. He realizes the only way to stop Patrick from fully committing murder is by killing him while also honoring his pact he made with him earlier in the film.
Obscura 