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Pitch
Storm clouds drift past an attic window as elderly Douglas plays with his model railway. Locked away from his wife, he loses himself in memories – memories of another storm, a real railway and the tragedy of his mother’s death.
This is the story of a man haunted by a childhood image. The violent scene that upsets him happened on an August Summers Day, in the 1950s.
The Past. The tail of a red box kite dances in the air. Eight year old Douglas picnics with his mother. Their idyllic afternoon is interrupted by the arrival of her new lover. The jealously which Douglas harbours for him and the remorse for her death trigger a web of neuroses which plague him into adult life.
The Present. Unable to come to terms with her loss, Douglas cocoons himself in the world of his railway, developing a bizarre re-enactment ritual. This is the only catharsis he knows; pain and punishment to exorcise his guilt. Trapped in an endless cycle as a model train circles a track, constantly trying to relive that last day, to change time and walk away from the hillside clutching his mother’s hand, yet always unable to save her.
Synopsis
Hidden away from his wife, Douglas, late 50s, puts the finishing touches to an elaborate model railway in his attic. Thunderclouds drift past the window as he loses himself in childhood memories - memories of another storm, a real railway, and the tragic circumstances of his mother’s death.
The story is told in flashbacks - moving backwards and forwards between Douglas as a child in the 1950’s and the elderly Douglas of the present.
A picturesque railway embankment in the 1950’s. Douglas, aged eight, picnics with his mother Celia. Their idyllic summer afternoon is interrupted by the arrival of Celia’s new lover Richard. Douglas begrudgingly takes the gift of a new kite from Richard and breaks from the couple to watch the trains thunder by.
From a hilltop he sees Richard cuddle his mother. Richard has stolen her affection and ruined the afternoon. Jealousy consumes Douglas. The approaching storm clouds mirror his growing anger as he plots revenge.
The tail of a red box kite dances in the air. A flash of lightning, then rain. Douglas ignores his mother’s shouts to come down the hill. As Celia marches towards him, he deliberately flies the kite into some tree branches.
In the present, as in the 1950’s, the storm has broken. Memorabilia from Douglas’ childhood litters the attic. The elderly man is building something strange - odd sections of modified track and metal clips. He wires the structure into the mains. The house electrics arc. His wife, Annabelle, calls to find out what’s happening. Receiving no reply, she climbs the stairs…
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In the 1950’s Celia reaches the boy Douglas, scolding him for his disobedience. As she does so, the ribboned tail of the kite entwines around her. Douglas struggles from her grip and runs, anxious to escape a hiding. Celia calls after him that she’s sorry. Douglas stops and turns, seeing his mother alive for what will be the last time. Then the sky erupts in blinding lightning.
Past and present collide. Annabelle opens the attic door to see her husband, elderly Douglas, attached to a makeshift, treelike network of track, electrodes and wires. Electric sparks fly through the lattice and into Douglas as the model train circles the track. Annabelle derails the model train and Douglas falls to the ground smouldering.
On the 1950’s hillside a young Douglas watches in horror as Celia’s lifeless body falls to the ground, struck by lightning. Annabelle holds elderly Douglas on the attic floor, as a young Douglas cries out to his mother on the hillside. The boy moves towards her to take her lifeless hand in his, but is pulled back by Richard.
In the attic, present day, a crying Annabelle pulls Douglas close. Douglas reaches out with his hand towards the model train set. There on the model hillside we see a red box kite stuck in a burning tree, and the plastic figures of a woman and a boy in shorts holding hands as they walk away back home.
Director's Statement
The film cuts between 1950’s and present.
-Shoot 1950’s sequences with action flowing right to left, present day with action flowing left to right. Subconsciously reinforcing idea of two narratives on collision course, like two trains on the same track.
-Shorter shots as the film progresses, reinforcing events climaxing.
-1950’s - lots of movement, mirroring young Douglas’ lust for life. Eg. film beginning, camera alongside Douglas and mother, close up, constantly moving as they run up the hill, lens flares galore as sunlight beats down. In contrast, present day - smooth, slow tracking shots reflecting elderly detached Douglas.
-The weather compliments the story’s tone. The 1950’s sequences will begin heavily saturated, a summer’s day so beautiful it only exists in the Technicolor days of Powell and Pressburger. To contrast, the present day sequences will be moody, colour drained out, cold/blue. The 1950’s sequences will become colder, darker and bluer as the storm progresses – so that from a colour viewpoint the 1950’s and the present day become indistinguishable.
-Audio underscoring the emotional drama. Train/storm fx increase, mirroring the story’s tone from light at the beginning to dark at the end. Music similar to Daybreak from Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé.
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Writer
Alan Seiglow
Director & Producer
Sean Crotty
Genre
Drama
Logline
"Past and present collide as an elderly man relives the tragic events of his childhood in the world of his model railway"
MMF says
Dark and brooding,
reminiscent of Darren Aronofsky’s “Pi”
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About the filmmakers
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Sean Crotty - DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
A director with 12 years experience spanning drama, stage, current affairs and documentaries. |
Sean began his TV career at Granada Television where Sean spent five years producing and directing for “Tonight” with Trevor McDonald. He has directed episodes of Coronation Street and Emmerdale. Film work includes assistant to the director of the feature film “The 51st State”.
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Alan Seiglow - WRITER
Alan Seiglow worked in radio as a sound editor before taking up a career as a publicist in film distribution at the ICA, BFI, BVI and agency Corbett and Keene. |
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Alan has worked on a number of short films, before directing and writing “Blinding Lights” for Screen East/UK Film Council in 2006. He currently has several shorts and feature-length screenplays in development.
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