SUSAN SONTAG
Martin's face takes on a soft, vague expression. Lena sinks to the
floor before the fireplace - the camera drops with her - and beck–
ons to him. For a second, only Martin's legs are visible. Then the
upper part of his body comes into the shot, as he kneels down beside
her. Lena pulls Martin's head toward her with one hand - he moves
as she wants - while taking a comb out of her pocket with the
other.
Full shot of Karen, standing in the same place by the door,
looking out of the frame. She is watching them. The audience should
be surprised that she's there again.
High angle two-shot, from Karen's point of view, of Martin
and Lena. Martin lies stretched out on the floor, his head in Lena's
lap. Lena passes the comb through his hair, then caresses it. Martin
is looking up at Karen.
MARTIN:
Are we making you uncomfortable?
KAREN (off):
No.
MARTIN:
Embarrassed?
KAREN (off):
No.
MARTIN:
Perhaps you're moved.
(pause)
Do we seem pathetic?
Long shot, low angle, which includes all three. Martin and
Lena are in the foreground: Martin is shown full-face, Lena in
profile. Karen, behind them and slightly out of focus, is looking down
at them. Karen shakes her head. Her expression is still impassive.
Lena continues to caress Martin's hair. The movements of Lena's
hands should recall those of Karen as she caressed Peter's hair
in
Sequence 6. (To suggest this to the audience, perhaps this shot should
try to come as close as possible to the angle and framing of the final
shot
of
6.)
Medium close-up of Karen. She has noticed the resemblance of
Lena's gestures with Martin's hair to hers with Peter's, and her ex–
pression is no longer neutral.
KAREN:
I'm a little sad, that's all. I'm sad there are so few ways to
show tenderness.
Medium shot (high angle?) of Lena and Martin. She glances
up for a second in Karen's direction. Then, as if she disliked this turn
