dubitanda (ever in doubt)

fields ⋮ donkeys

EXT. COUNTRY ROAD – DAY

A WOMAN drives. She is on a country road, with fields on either side. She reaches a deserted spot where three donkeys stand on the right side of the road. The woman pulls over, puts on a pair of gloves, gets out of the car, checks to see if there is anyone nearby or if she is being watched, runs towards the donkeys, shoots one of them many times over, runs back to the car and drives away.

pre-title scene, THE LOBSTER
written by Efthimis Filippou & Yorgos Lanthimos

ΕΞ. ΕΠΑΡΧΙΑΚΟΣ ΔΡΟΜΟΣ – ΜΕΡΑ

Μία ΓΥΝΑΙΚΑ οδηγεί σε έναν επαρχιακό δρόμο όπου αριστερά και δεξιά υπάρχουν χωράφια. Φτάνει σε ένα ερημικό σημείο όπου στο δεξί μέρος του δρόμου υπάρχουν τρεις γάιδαροι. Η γυναίκα σταματάει το αυτοκίνητο στην άκρη του δρόμου, φοράει στα χέρια της γάντια, κατεβαίνει από το αυτοκίνητο, κοιτάζει εάν υπάρχει κάποιος κοντά ή αν την παρακολουθούν, τρέχει προς τους γάιδαρους, πυροβολεί τον έναν από τους τρεις πολλές φορές, τρέχει ξανά προς το αμάξι και φεύγει.

A woman with short and curly blonde hair is seen in profile sat in the driver's seat of a car. From a film scene shot by Yorgos Lanthimos.

Scene number one from the screenplay for The Lobster (2015), a feature film written by Efthimis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos, translated from the Greek (between 2011 and 2013) to be shot in English (in Ireland in 2014).

 

The translated English screenplay also appeared in The Lobster Screenplay Book published by A24 Films in 2022 (pp. 10–87).

 

Three sentences, two leads (Jacqueline Abrahams with donkey), one shot. No animals were harmed. Audiences were thrust into this world hard.

 

Incidentally, Jacqueline Abrahams was the film’s production designer.

 
 

see also
fingers ⋮ dry
hearts ⋮ touched
only ⋮ outwardly
stone ⋮ lobster

 
 

arkhæio
THE LOBSTER THE LOBSTER SCREENPLAY BOOK