Don Quijote and the Treasure of the Moors

I am working on a screen play and have decided to serialize it on my blog. The following is the first installment, Act I, scenes I through IV. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Act I.

Scene I. DQ’s Library.

Fade in on a man reading in an ancient library. His face is handsome, architectural, and his eyes are in deep focus on a book. They dart back and forth rapidly.

A black page outline swoops across the screen and cut to:

A medieval moonscape. The ruins of a castle grows out of a craggily cliff, looming over a lake of fire. A beautiful, raven-haired princess is trapped on the highest wall, screaming – without sound – for help.

Cut to:

The eyes of the man in the chair stagger into focus; they have become blood-shot and frantic.

A second page swoop:

From the sulphurous mist at the foot of the castle a shadow begins to manifest. Slowly, malevolently a yellow-eyed, thick-scaled dragon ten-stories high emerges.

Cut to:

The man in the chair is now flop-sweating and speaking to himself.

A third page swoop:

POV shot of the castle off in the distance. The image is jostly and it pans out we see a knight charging on a mighty steed; the knight’s face is obscured by his helmet. The music swells as he charges towards a chasm that separates him from the castle. His steed leaps – in slow motion – over to the other side and continues his gallop at full speed.

Cut to:

The man in the chair is now shaking and is truly disturbed.

A fourth, fast page swoop:

The knight charges at the dragon, who has now reared up on his hind legs.
Cut to:

The princess appears socked, but she cannot turn away.

Cut to:

The man in the chair now looks as if he will burst.

A fifth, faster page swoop:




The knight is now in feet of the dragon.

Cut to:

The princess’ beautiful face.

Cut to:

The dragon’s wretched form.

Cut to:

The man’s eyes and their bursting blood vessels

Cut to:

The steed leaps in the air, the knight thrusts his lance into the dragon’s belly, and brilliant gold light is released, all in slow motion. The dragon is sent over the cliff and tumbles to his death.

Cut to:

The weeping princess, over-joyed, rushes to her savior. Just as the knight steps down from his steed, the Princess throws herself into his arms. She pulls back.

PRINCESS
Who are you?

KNIGHT
I…

Knight slips the helmet and reveals his identity. He is the man reading in the chair.

KNIGHT (CONT’D)
Am Don Quijote…de la Mancha!

Black out.





Scene II. Back in the Library

Don Quijote stands up in a daze, clutching his head. The room is spinning and excessive sunlight pours in through the leaded glass windows. As he gains his balance, the gravity and majesty of the revelation dawns on Don Quijote.

Cut to:

Don Quijote looks to his left and seeing a cane on his desk. A changes to POV shot, however, quickly morphs the cane into a golden lance. Don Quijote grabs the lance.

Don Quijote’s arm-chair has also been transformed, now a swirling, golden mass.

DQ looks at his lance, the music swells, and he steps on to the golden mass. DQ raise his lance over his head.

DON QUIJOTE
I am Don Quijote

DQ thrusts out his lance out and cries.

DON QUIJOTE (CONT’D)
De la Mancha!

The thrust sends DQ off balance. The music screeches to a halt, the light stops swirling, the chair flips over and DQ tumbles head first into the curtains. The curtains are dragged to the ground, pulling a suit of armor down with them.

Cut to:

POV shot of the armor crashing down. A large bang is heard.

Black out.




Scene III. The Make-shift Infirmary and Barn.

Don Quijote is sleeping in a light-filled room with white walls. The helmet from the suit of armor has become lodged on his head. DQ’s matronly old housekeeper Eugenia is nearby, folding linens. Enter DQ’s angelic niece, Sobrina, with a look of worry on her face.

SOBRINA
Eugenia, where did the barber and blacksmith go?

EUGENIA
They’re preparing a fire in the courtyard.

SOBRINA
And how is he? Any change in his…his…his condition? [She becomes weepy]

EUGENIA
Senora Sobrina, I keep telling you. He’s not hurt. That suit of armor just knocked him out. He’ll be fine.

SOBRINA
Oh uncle! [She throws her arms around DQ] Trapped in a helmet..forever!

EUGENIA
Silly girl. Its just stuck on his head.

SOBRINA
You put such a brave face on things, Eugenia. I want him [choke] I want him put out of his misery.

EUGENIA
What?

SOBRINA
What kind of life can he live?!

EUGENIA
A normal one.

SOBRINA
I know a dead man when I see one!

DQ begins to stir and speak.

DON QUIJOTE
I am…Quijote…I am…la Mancha.

Eugenia and Sobrina rush to DQ’s side. Sobrina grabs his hand and Eugenia produces a towel. Sobrina grabs the towel from Sobrina’s hand and begins to pat down his helmet.

DON QUIJOTE
I am…la Mancha…Quijote…

SOBRINA
Don’t go into the light!

EUGENIA
He’s not dying!

SOBRINA
That’s right. You’re not dying, uncle! You’re not dying!

Barber and Blacksmith burst in. Barber his holding a pot full of water. Blacksmith is carrying a red-hot iron with him.

BLACKSMITH
Coming through! Hot iron!

BARBER
Is he unconscious?

BLACKSMITH
I hope he’s unconscious!

BARBER
Wouldn’t want to wake up with a face full of molten lead!

Barber and Blacksmith laugh.

SOBRINA
Barber! Blacksmith! My uncle is at death’s door.

Eugenia rolls her eyes.

BARBER
Shouldn’t be too tough of a job.

Puts the bucket water on the side of the bed.

BARBER (CONT’D)
Not too tough at all. I’ll just hold his arms and Blacksmith here will slice through that helmet like a Portugeuse farmer through a donkey sausage!

Blacksmith and Barber burst out laughing. Barber restrains DQ’s arms.

EUGENIA
But what if he wakes up?

SOBRINA
Non-sense. Get it off him quickly, Blacksmith.

Blacksmith leans over DQ and takes his time lining up the bright-red tip on the iron with DQ’s left helmet cheek.

BLACKSMITH
We have to be very careful. On the count of three. One…two…

DON QUIJOTE
Dragon!!!

DQ kicks Blacksmith square in the crotch, sending him back and the iron tumbling point down into the bed. Sobrina and Eugenia scream.

DON QUIJOTE
[Thrashing violently] The dragon is eating my arm!!!

DQ grabs the iron and bashes Barber over the head with it. DQ leaps to his feet, now standing on the bed, helmet still on, brandishing the iron as a sword.

SOBRINA
Aaah!!! He’s dying!!!

EUGENIA
He’s not dying! He’s mad!!!

DON QUIJOTE
Hold your fire breath, Dragon!

Barber struggles with his injury as a choked up Blacksmith moves towards Don Quijote.

BARBER
Senor! Put down the iron.

BLACKSMITH
And don’t kick people in the crotch!

DON QUIJOTE
You dragons are all the same with your orders and your fire breath and your crotches. [To Sobrina and Eugenia] Don’t you start!

Sobrina screams. Eugenia grabs Sobrina with a maternal embrace.

EUGENIA
Senor, tranquilate. It is me, Eugenia, your maid. And Sobrina, your niece.

Blacksmiths advance of Don Quijote as he is distracted by Eugenia.

DON QUIJOTE
Sobrina? Eugenia? [Gasp] Damsels! Kidnapped by a dragon!

EUGENIA
What dragon? What are you talking about?

DON QUIJOTE
I’m talking about that!

Don Quijote leaps off the bed and starts swinging the red-hot poker wildly around the room. Blacksmith, Barber, Sobrina, and Eugenia make a mad dash for cover as DQ breaks tables, destroys tapestries, etc. all while shouting “Cowardly beast” and “Spiteful lizard.” Don Quijote takes a few more swings and then, using the iron as a lance, hurls it through a window.

DON QUIJOTE
Escape through the window, will you? Prepare to be destroyed!

DQ takes a running start and leaps directly through the remains of the window. DQ lands in a crouch on the desiccated lawn. Before him is a rolling hill, a barn, and a plain stretching out for miles ahead.

Cut to:

DQ lifts up his visor and quickly surveys the land.

Cut to:

POV shot transforms the farmland into the medieval moonscape from the story. DQ, now seen in full armor, rushes down the hill.

Cut to:

Barber, Blacksmith, Eugenia, and Sobrina in the now ruined kitchen. They are all terrified. A brief pause is broken as the bed collapses noisily.

EUGENIA
Save him! He’s not in his right mind!

Barber and Blacksmith pull themselves up and rush out the kitchen door. They spot DQ running a few dozen yards ahead of them; he is now running around in flimsy undergarments and a helmet. They begin to chase him down the hill but DQ is running at an impressive speed.

Cut to:

DQ’s eyes light up and the shot switches to his perspective. POV of a scaly green tale flickering and disappearing behind the barn.

DON QUIJOTE
Stop! Stop I say!

Barber and Blacksmith are now running full speed, catching up to DQ.

BARBER
Señor! Stop! Stop I say!

DQ turns a corner and reaches a closed barn door. DQ quickly surveys the situation. An axe, a club, and an awl all lying within feet of the door. DQ pauses, scratches the chin of his helmet, and proceeds instead to throw his full weight against the door, breaking it open and crashing into the ram-shackled barn.

Cut to:

Interior of the barn. DQ looks around wildly, but sees nothing. Suddenly a stirring comes from the back of the barn. DQ quickly seizes a shovel.

DON QUIJOTE
Out dragon! Show your scaly self!

Out from the back of the barn comes the wiriest, leatheriest horse you have ever scene; he looks as if he has not been fed in weeks. DQ’s eyes open wide.

Cut to:

POV has transformed the horse into a glowing, muscular white steed.

DON QUIJOTE
Rocinante! [Drops the shovel] The mighty steed of yore!

New, wider shot of Rocinante, who has changed back to normal and belches out a cough. Suddenly, Barber and Blacksmith burst through the door.

BLACKSMITH
Señor! Señor, step away from the…the…the dog?

BARBER
The jamon?

DON QUIJOTE
He’s a mighty steed. A dragon fighter.

BLACKSMITH
Señor, there is no dragon. You suffered a blow to the head.

DON QUIJOTE
[Incredulous] Blow to the head?

BARBER
Yes. The blow released many evil humors and you’re in hysterics. Now we need to get hundreds of leaches on your skull or you will die.

Don Quijote offers a puzzled, reluctant look.

BLACKSMITH
He is a doctor, Señor.

BARBER
Yes. Top medicine. Real 16th century stuff.

DON QUIJOTE
I…but…the dragon.

The Barber slowly and calmly approaches a now bewildered Don Quijote.

BARBER
Shhhh. Señor, there is no dragon.

DON QUIJOTE
No dragon? Preposterous. Next you’ll say there are no knights. Or chivalry is dead.

Barber takes DQ’s arm.

BARBER
There are no knights. No chivalry. Just us. In a barn.

DON QUIJOTE
But…I…

BARBER
Come with us, Señor. You’ve had enough adventure for one day…

The barn door swings open with a whack. A farm laborer appears.

LABORER
Good ‘morrow Señor…

DONQ QUIJOTE
Dragon!!!

DQ throws Barber to the ground and leaps on to Rocinante, who lets out some dirt as he weezes.

BLACKSMITH
Señor, no!!!

DQ grabs a broom from the wall, kicks Rocinante, and the horse charges, albeit lop-sidedly, at the door. DQ thrusts the broom out as a lance and heads straight for the laborer. The laborer ducks just in time and DQ takes out a chunk of the door instead as he crashes out of the barn.

Cut to:

The Barber and the Blacksmith’s now share a horrified look on their faces.

Cut to:

Exterior. DQ is riding full clip and screaming. Cut to a POV shot of a leathery green tail flitting around the tree, heading down into the sparse pasture. DQ charges on.

Cut to:

Blacksmith and Barber have run to the stable, which is an adjacent building. They grab two horses, quickly climb on top and charge off after DQ, heading at full speed down the hill towards the pasture.


Scene IV. Out on the Pasture.

The scene opens on a valiant knight, riding at a terrific clip atop his mighty steed framed against the medieval moonscape. As the rider continues, though, the knight devloves into DQ, the steed devolves into the emaciated, wobbly Rocinante, and the moonscape devolves into a craggily pasture.

Barber and Blacksmith are behind DQ by some yards, riding much healthier horses and closing in on DQ fast.

BARBER
We’re closing in!

BLACKSMITH
Of course we are! He’s riding a goat!

The shot changes such that we see DQ riding up front and Barber and Blacksmith closing in from behind. The shot narrows in on DQ’s eyes and quickly changes to his POV. The mountainscape is back and a yawning chasm opens up before him, some 100 yards ahead.

Cut to:

Back to Barber and Blacksmith. Blacksmith’s eyes light up at something ahead of him. Blacksmith’s POV reveals that the three really are riding at full speed towards a 20-foot wide canyon with a river running below it.

BLACKSMITH
The rio!

BARBER
What?

BLACKSMITH
The rio! The canyon is right ahead!

BARBER
Madre de dios!

Barber and Blacksmith whip the reigns and close in on DQ. DQ also whips his reigns.

Cut to:

A wide shot of DQ approaching the river and Barber and Blacksmith closing in to within feet of DQ.

BARBER
Señor! Stop!

BLACKSMITH
Parate hijo puta!

The three men charge closer and closer and closer to the edge of the cliff. DQ squints his eyes, lowers his head and forces Rocinante to charge off the cliff.

Cut to:

Barber and Blacksmith screeching to a halt at the rim of the canyon.

Cut to:

Rocinante leaps over the cliff in slow motion, exactly as the steed did in the story. Time speeds up back to normal as Rocinante, amazingly, lands on the other side of the small canyon, continuing his wobbly gallop at full pace. DQ laughs triumphantly as Barber and Blacksmith fade into the background, trapped on the opposite side of the river. DQ lifts his visor.

DON QUIJOTE
I am Don Quijote..de la Mancha!

DQ rides off into the distance. The Spanish sky begins to turn orange as DQ rides into the sunset.