PAINTING BEAUTY

FADE IN:

INT – JULIE’S BEDROOM - MORNING

JULIE, an eighteen-year-old ballerina at the Juilliard School with her light brown colored hair put up into a loose ball on her head, sits in a small, messy room. Her fragile body stays on the dusty ground, and her beautiful face focuses on creating a painting.

JULIE

[Whispers] Eyes should be larger. Nose… straighter. Right, wrinkles should be erased, and the lip……

Paints on the palette are taken away, and the speed of the paintbrush becomes faster, revealing the modification on a portrait of JULIE’s face. JULIE turns to the camera and appears as if it to know it’s there watching her.

JULIE

It’s all in the wrist, you know. The way you hold the brush. If you hold it just right, magic can happen.

The figure of JULIE becomes vague, and the camera focuses on a fresh rose in the glass bottle settled next to the window.

A phone rings, and JULIE goes to pick it up.

JULIE

Hello? (beat) Yes, audition? Really…… one hour from now! Ok, I am on my way.

JULIE opens her wooden closet, stares at a ballet costume, and stretches her arm to take the toe shoes.

CUT TO

INT - DANCE STUDIO – LATER THAT DAY

A DANCE DIRECTOR sits in the practice room holding a pen to a stack of papers in front of him. DANCERS sit around the room and we can hear low chatting noises.

DANCE DIRECTOR

Next. Julie.

JULIE, wearing the ballet costume, walks to the center of the room. She starts dancing as the music plays.

The DANCE DIRECTOR ruminates for a moment, then writes some notes down on his paper.

CUT TO

DANCER ONE

[Frown] That’s weird.

DANCER TWO

[Confused] What?

DANCER ONE

Don’t you think she’s prettier than usual?

The music ends, and the dancers watching the audition start applauding. DANCE DIRECTOR flips a page of his document.

DANCE DIRECTOR

Next. Mathilde.

MATHILDE passes JULIE with her prideful stride. As their eyes meet, MATHILDE smiles in a way that suggests a sort of rivalry between the two. Soon, the identical piece of music plays again.

CUT TO

A row of feet with toe shoes are moving in the same rhythm and angle. These are the feet of MATHILDE and JULIE.

DANCE DIRECTOR (V.O)

One, and two, and three, and relevé. 

The camera moves up and down the whole body of JULIE and MATHILDE, until they are both completely in the shot. Following the tempo and instructions, JULIE and MATHILDE dance the same movements.

DANCE DIRECTOR (V.O)

Five, and plié, and seven, and eight.

In the huge mirror, JULIE sees the elegant figure of MATHILDE, imagining MATHILDE’S face as hers, with enlarging envy. After the DANCE DIRECTOR stops counting the beat, MATHILDE pauses in the required ending pose but JULIE is unstable. The DANCE DIRECTOR walks in front of the two dancers, looking at them alternatively. There is uncomfortable silence in the studio as the girls wait.

DANCE DIRECTOR

It’s the end of today’s practice. Mathilde, great job. Julie, more practice. (He steps in closer to her as if to whisper) Every young woman in this room wants to be the substitute. Don’t make me regret giving it to you over them.

JULIE feels the piercing views from both the DANCE DIRECTOR and MATHILDE; the shame burns on her face like scorching fire. MATHILDE smirks at JULIE.

JULIE

[Lowering her head] I’m sorry.

Under the tutu, JULIE clenches her fist tightly.

CUT TO

INT – OLD DANCE SCHOOL - NIGHT

Flashback to an old, crowded dance room, where a young girl stands in a corner, stretching her legs against the bar to practice flexibility. A group of slender girls being led by a much younger and less mature version of JULIE enter the room with mockery hanging on their faces.

JULIE

[Sneering] Look! Our ugly duckling is practicing furtively.

GIRL ONE

How funny!

GIRL TWO

Hey, stop dreaming! An ugly duckling can never turn into a white swan.

JULIE

[Patting the girl’s face lightly] You will never get the chance to perform on stage. Oinker.

There are other girls in the room that come together as they listen to these biting words. They all laugh loudly and then leave the room together, except for JULIE.

When JULIE turns her head to the girl again, she becomes that girl being bullied, left behind with tears filling her eyes. The one standing in front of her who walks away becomes MATHILDE in the camera.

JULIE

[Closes eyes and murmurs] Julie, you can do it. Your charm will shine one day.

At the moment of eyes closed, the tear slides down over JULIE’s cheek and drops down onto her chin.

CUT TO

INT – JULIE’S BEDROOM - MIDNIGHT

The sleeping JULIE suddenly wakes up with a terrified expression. She looks at the clock on the wall. It is 3:00 AM. The scene is punctuated by the loud, incessant sound of a clock tick tock tick-tocking in her room.

The rose we saw in the beginning scene now blooms in a darker red in the shadows of her window. JULIE switches on the light and runs to her self-portrait frantically. She opens the cover of white cloth in a hasty move and scrutinizes the painting for several moments.

JULIE

[Relieved] Thank God! It’s still here!

She takes the palette out again despite how late into the night it is, and she squeezes new paints onto it manically. Holding the brush, JULIE starts to modify the shape of her face.

JULIE

Julie, you must succeed. You must shine.

CUT TO

INT – JULIE’S BEDROOM - MORNING

The sun rises and lights up the sky, with birds chanting in the fresh morning. A ringing doorbell sound wakes JULIE up, who had fallen asleep on the ground the night before. Her paint brush is beside her. As JULIE opens the door, she sees a NEWSPAPER DELIVERY BOY standing there.

NEWSPAPER DELIVERY BOY

Good morning Madame. Your newspaper.

JULIE takes the newspaper and closes the door, the camera now focusing on the content of the front page. It reads: FIGURE SKATING; Kerrigan Attacked After Practice; Assailant Flees, in conspicuous, capitalized letters.

She scans over the pages for a few moments and then throws it on the leather sofa. Just as usual, JULIE takes out a sandwich and a cup of milk from the refrigerator, sits on the sofa that has the newspaper on it, and switches on the television.

The photos of two skaters appear on the screen, with a NEWS REPORTER speaking beside it.

NEWS REPORTER

A recent scandal in the field of figure skating has rocked the nation. Nancy Kerrigan, Olympic figure skater, was intentionally attacked by two men in the lead up to her performance. The serious injury will certainly impact the result of the competition. Allegedly both men are related to Kerrigan’s rival: Tonya Harding……

JULIE grabs the newspaper next to her and holds it tightly with two hands.

JULIE

[Whispers] Injury…… Absence……

CUT TO

INT - STAGE – TWO WEEKS LATER

Members of the dance industry are sitting in the audience seats, including JULIE. The DANCE DIRECTOR stands in front of the stage, watching the rehearsal carefully.

In the current act, MATHILDE dances on the stage. JULIE knows every dance movement MATHILDE makes very well, but she feels the transparent wall between her and the stage.

The DANCE DIRECTOR smiles approvingly as the act ends, and all the dancers watching the rehearsal applaud loudly.

DANCE DIRECTOR

“Act two dancers. Get ready.”

The light pours on MATHILDE’s face at the last pose of this scene, while JULIE is completely submerged by the darkness in the audience seats.

CUT TO

EXT - JULIE’S APARTMENT – NIGHT

The top of the rose that stands on JULIE’S window has withered into a dark brown color. We see the rain pour down rapidly from the window, and the thunder roars on the gloomy sky, punctuated by flickering lighting.

JULIE paints a face, but only the lower half of the face is in the camera shot. After adding the pink color to the mouth, JULIE mixes red paint on the palette into a darker color. She dips her brush into the new color, raises it up to the cheek of the portrait. JULIE’s hesitation makes her pause for a few seconds, and then she draws an ugly scar on the face.

CUT TO

INT - MATHILDE’S CAR – NIGHT

Raindrops fall on the street becoming heavier as the car moves forward. The passing street lamps flash continuously with the rhythm of the lightning in the sky. MATHILDE talks to her friend who is sitting in the passenger seat.

MATHILDE’S FREIND

How’s the rehearsal going?

MATHILDE

It went great. And the costume they prepared for me was so beautiful!

MATHILDE’S FREIND

Seems like our Mathilde is going to become a huge ballet star.

MATHILDE puts all her attention on chatting with her friend, so that she does not notice that a truck is driving directly towards her. At the last moment, she see the truck and screams.

MATHILDE clenches the steering wheel and closes her eyes. The screen blacks out with a car crash sound.

CUT TO

EXT - JULIE’S APARTMENT – LATER THAT NIGHT

The window of JULIE’S room is opened. The wind blows in and flips over the white cloth covering the canvas that stands next to JULIE’S portrait. As the new canvas is revealed, the face of MATHILDE is presented on it, with a ferocious scar climbing from the eyebrow to the chin.

CUT TO

INT - STAGE – DAY

The DANCE DIRECTOR and the DANCERS sit in front of the same stage, but the person currently dancing has changed to JULIE. She copies every movement MATHILDE had made, dancing on the stage as a roaming butterfly. 

DANCE DIRECTOR

[Holding up his arm to pause the rehearsal] Stop. Julie, do this part again with more emotion. There are only two days left, and no mistake should be made.

CUT TO

INT - LOCKER ROOM IN DANCE STUDIO – LATER THAT DAY

Several DANCERS are changing out of their costumes and toe shoes in the locker room.

DANCER ONE

[Confused] What happened to Mathilde? Why she isn’t coming?

DANCER TWO

Don’t you know?

DANCER ONE

[Curious] What?

DANCER THREE

Mathilde had a car accident last week. She’s still in the hospital now.

DANCER ONE

[Volume raises] Car accident?

DANCE TWO

I went to visit her yesterday. The sharp glass cut into her face, and the scar is that long!

DANCER TWO uses her finger to show the length of the scar on her face, while DANCER ONE looks aghast at her. The girls are so concentrated on the story that no one notices that JULIE has stopped changing into her costume. She stands there with her hands slightly trembling.

DANCER ONE

Oh my gosh. Poor Mathilde.

DANCER THREE

[Sighs] I love her dancing.

Now fully changed into her normal practice costume, JULIE walks past the dancers without looking back. They look at each other embarrassed for a few seconds and all falls into silence.

DANCER TWO

Hey, but don’t you think Julie has also become an excellent dancer? She really impressed me during the rehearsal. I don’t remember her being so good…

CUT TO

INT - DANCE STUDIO – AFTERNOON

Classical music is ringing out in the practice room. JULIE repeatedly practices her solo. She executes the fouetté round after round, like a machine that operates perpetually. One of her legs stretches out and turns in with another leg that sticks to the ground, until the muscles cannot withstand the fatigue.

Sweat hangs on JULIE’S forehead. Looking at the hand of the clock that points to the space between eight and nine, she swipes it away and rushes into the locker room. She opens her locker where the portrait of herself lies quietly. JULIE scans the painting up and down, takes it out to the bench, and furnishes more small details on the painting. 

JULIE

I must become prettier. Make me better than her. With beauty comes skills. With beauty comes priority.

JULIE is too obsessed by the world of illusory beauty to notice that there is a pair of eyes glaring at her. The camera pulls to the eyes full of hatred, and they are the eyes of MATHILDE.

CUT TO

INT - LOCKER ROOM – MORNING

Before JULIE steps into the locker room, she sees several muddy footprints on the ground in front of the door.

JULIE

[Frowns] What happened? Wait!

She rushes to her locker to pull its handle. With her heart beating crazily, the familiar portrait appears in JULIE’S view.

The heartbeat gradually slows down into a peaceful tempo, and JULIE starts to change her clothes, humming a melodious tune.

When JULIE takes out the crown in her locker and is just about to put it on her head, her tune suddenly stops, with her movement freezing. She gazes on the painting that faces outside, and dread spreads up to her heart.

JULIE can barely breathe.

JULIE

“I…I never placed the portrait facing front.”

The only sound that encircles JULIE is her disordered heartbeat, until the summon from her DANCE DIRECTOR interrupts her panic.

DANCE DIRECTOR (V.O.)

“Anyone know where Julie is? Call her. It’s the last day of rehearsal.”

CUT TO

INT - DRESSING ROOM - PERFORMANCE DAY

Sitting in front of a mirror, JULIE carefully puts the lipstick on her lips, just like she did numerous times before on her portrait.

She places a silver crown on her head and touches her face in the mirror gently. She cannot even remember her original appearance.

Suddenly, the camera reveals the bleeding scar that JULIE drew for MATHILDE emerging on her own face. As JULIE sees the blood stream down her cheek, her pupils enlarge with a facial expression of pure terror.

JULIE

“Nooooo!”

She shakes her head frantically, and the illusion of the scar finally disappears.

CUT TO

Relevé, plié, and fouetté…… JULIE accomplishes all the movements in the performance fluently. Under the lighting, elegance flows out from her body, highlighted by the purely white costume.

AUDIENCE ONE

That girl is gorgeous!

AUDIENCE TWO

She is, though I’ve never heard about her before.

Several pieces of similar conversation occur in whispers during the performance. Everyone is obsessed with JULIE’S charm.

CUT TO

A person who wears a black baseball cap and a black mask furtively enters the locker room. The blond hair scattering on her back reveals her identity: MATHILDE. Based on the memory, MATHILDE opens JULIE’S locker and takes out the painting.

MATHILDE

Julie, you can never be me.

She grabs a small bag of white powder from her pocket, scattering all of it onto the painting. The paint on the portrait begins to fade, and the exquisite appearance of JULIE blurs into vagueness.

MATHILDE

[Sneers] Sleeping Beauty, the sweet dream ends. It’s time to wake up.

CUT TO

The music smoothing down from the tumultuous climax, JULIE knows the first act is coming to its end, yet she feels a stabbing pain that stings every part of her skin. This is indicated by her facial expressions. 

Seconds later, the curtain closes. JULIE cannot endure the pain anymore. She runs off from the stage with a sense of apprehensive premonition.

CUT TO

Back in the locker room, JULIE falls on the floor as she sees the portrait has been thrown on the bench and destroyed.

JULIE

No…no! No!

The sharp scream pierces the silence of the room. JULIE takes out the brush and paints, trying manically to repair her portrait. The magic, however, seems to have stopped altogether. Nothing is happening.

DANCER ONE (V.O.)

[Knocks on door] Julie, are you okay? Act two is just about to begin. Our director is shouting for you!

With the makeups and hairstyle messed up, JULIE stands up faintly and opens the door.

DANCER ONE

[Gasps] Julie……what happened?

Ignoring the strange look from DANCER ONE, JULIE runs towards the direction of the stage.

CUT TO

The curtain opens again with the expectant applauses from the audience. JULIE strikes her beginning pose on the stage, just as the audience looks surprised to see her disheveled costume and makeup.

The pain almost undermines JULIE’s reason and mind. Even with memory in muscles, JULIE cannot finish every movement in its accurate angle.

DANCE DIRECTOR

[Roars] JULIE! What you are doing now? You are ruining this dance!

The agile suivi becomes broken staggers. The fouetté starts to tilt away from the straight lines, and only suffering is shown in her facial expression…

DANCE DIRECTOR

Do the grand jete! This is the wrong part!

JULIE loses her reason to react to the DANCE DIRECTOR’S instruction. In fact, she really doesn’t hear him anymore at all. The dizziness gradually consumes her, and eventually she cannot withstand it anymore. The audience, believing that the weirdness of JULIE’S dance must be a part of the design, try to enjoy the novel performance with mixed amazement and shock in their eyes.

When the plot comes to the finale, JULIE’S character is designed to die on the stage. JULIE slows down her movement and falls to the ground. At the moment JULIE closes her eyes, she hears the audience applauding, curtain closing, and lighting disappearing. Suddenly, all of JULIE’S skin begins to rot at a pace so fast it’s almost illogical; her figure melts into the darkness.

CUT TO

INT - JULIE’S BEDROOM - SAME TIME

The rose that has already turned brown dies away, leaving a wilted body shell standing next to the window.