Agnes of God
(Video Transcript)
Titles over black.
FADE IN:
EXT - CONVENT - DAY
Whispering of nuns at prayer.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT - CHAPEL - DAY
Nuns at prayer; MOTHER MIRIAM, the Superior closes the gate and locks it.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT - COURTYARD - DAY
The nuns walking around the courtyard in an anticlockwise direction saying the
rosary.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT - CHAPEL - DAY
A line of nuns kneeling at prayer. Closeups of various individuals.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT - CONVENT - NIGHT
A single shot of the building.
INT - TOP CORRIDOR - NIGHT
SISTER MARGUERITE is locking up for the night, shutting doors, turning off
lights, finally walks off down the corridor. Suddenly a terrified scream is
heard, the voice of a young woman.
EXT - CONVENT - NIGHT
Lights in the windows flick on.
INT - TOP CORRIDOR - NIGHT
The nuns are running up the corridor in their night dresses and caps, calling
urgently in French. They reach the door of Sister Agnes' room and try the door.
It is blocked. Pushing harder they see the blood stained figure of SISTER AGNES.
Much alarm and crying...
MOTHER SUPERIOR
Agnes!... Agnes...
EXT - CONVENT - NIGHT
An ambulance comes tearing down the road, siren blaring. It cuts the siren and
stops outside the convent gates. The nuns open the gate and the ambulance drives
inside.
INT - TOP CORRIDOR - NIGHT
Two PARAMEDICS urgently run the stretcher down the hall to the unconscious
figure of Sister Agnes. The Mother Superior desperately wipes and kisses her
face.
PARAMEDIC
I'm just going to put something here to stop the bleeding. Excuse me Sister. She'll be fine.
They lift her on to the stretcher and run back down the
hall. The Mother Superior looks around worriedly and goes into...
INT - SISTER AGNES' ROOM - NIGHT
She kneels down by a waste paper basket full of bloodied sheets and starts to
pull them out. Then she freezes, makes the sign of the cross and starts to weep.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT - MONTREAL - NIGHT
An aerial shot of the great cross of Montreal. Superimposed over this are the
words "MONTREAL, QUEBEC".
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT - SUPREME COURT - DAY
A normal busy day. A car pulls up with a woman and a man driving. The woman is
MARTHA LIVINGSTON. She kisses the man (LARRY), gets out of the car, runs across
the road dodging traffic and goes up the steps of the courthouse. There a group
of REPORTERS there and a sudden bustle of interest.
REPORTER
Here they are now.
Martha watches intently as 3 nuns, the
Mother Superior, Sister Marguerite, and Sister Agnes (dressed in a white novices
habit) and their LAWYER come out of the court escorted by police. The reporters
leap on them, taking photographs, asking questions in English and French.
Suddenly Sister Agnes looks right at Martha, then she is quickly bustled past.
Martha goes on into the courthouse.
INT - JUDGE'S CHAMBERS - DAY
Inside EVE, LYON, and JUSTICE LEVEAU are sitting. Martha is standing by the
window smoking furiously.
LEVEAU
Martha, it's you.
MARTHA
What about Roger? He's free.
EVE
They want a woman.
LYON
All you have to do is meet with her once or twice... then tell the court she's insane.
MARTHA
Are you dictating my position to me? We're getting into some sticky legal territories here.
EVE
Martha, all we're saying is, no-one wants this to come to trial, not the Church, not the Crown... least of all me.
MARTHA
Eve, she strangled a baby!
EVE
Nobody is interested in sending a nun to prison.
LEVEAU
We're not telling you what to decide Martha. We're not even telling you to take this.
LYON
Is there any reason why you feel you shouldn't take it?
Martha pauses for a long moment at the
window, then turns.
MARTHA
Today's my birthday. I always make bad decisions on my birthday.
The Judge, Eve and Lyon all chuckle. The
Judge throws the file down on his desk towards her.
LEVEAU
Happy birthday.
INT - MARTHA'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Martha unlocks the door and comes in. She plays her answerphone and moves over
to her cat.
MARTHA
Hi, Kitty.
The answerphone whirs... SECRETARY (Voice-over)
Hi, it's Helen, calling to tell youthat Mrs Davenport phoned to confirm her appointment at nine o'clock tomorrow, okay? Bye bye.
Some whirs and clicks.
ROGER (Voice-over)
Hi Martha, it's Roger. Can you callme at the hospital. I'd like your opinion on a case. Oh, bye the way, happy birthday. Bye.
SECRETARY (Voice-over)
Hi, Marty it's Helen again. I cancelled your Wednesday afternoon appointmentso you can visit with your mother. Bye bye.
MAN (in French)
???
Martha picks up a news paper with a photo of Sister Agnes
on the front.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT - CONVENT - DAY
Martha pulls up in her BMW outside the convent walls and gets out, cigarette in
hand. A sign tangled over with creeper reads "Les Petites Soeurs de Marie
Madeleine". Martha jangles a bell. After a wait she presses a buzzer. A
peephole in the door slams open and Sister Marguerite looks out.
MARTHA
Bonjour, I'm Doctor Martha Livingston, I...
The peephole slams shut, but the door does
open. Sister Marguerite glares at her.
MARTHA (Continued)
Hello... I'm Doctor Martha Living...ston... I...
Martha realizes it is the cigarette that is
causing the trouble and hastily grinds it underfoot.
MARTHA (Continued)
Excuse me... I'm...
Sister Marguerite's eyes flick down at
cigarette butt. Martha awkwardly tries to kick it away.
MARTHA (Continued)
...the court-appointed psychiatrist.
Sister Marguerite gives a frosty imitation
of a smile and motions for her to come in.
MARTHA (Continued)
Thank you. I um... I believe your Mother Superior's expecting me.
Martha and the Sister walk up the drive to
the convent.
INT - WAITING ROOM - DAY
Martha follows Sister Marguerite into a grilled waiting room. Sister moves off,
leaving Martha looking around curiously. Then MOTHER MIRIAM arrives from behind
the grilled door, sees Martha, sighs exasperatedly and enters giving Martha a
slight start.
MOTHER SUPERIOR (beaming at her own little joke)
Doctor Livingston I presume? I'm Mother Miriam Ruth. You needn't call me Mother if you don't wish.
(shaking hands)
Most people find it uncomfortable.
MARTHA
Well... I...
MOTHER MIRIAM (carrying right on)
I'm afraid the word brings up the most unpleasant connatations in this day and age...
MARTHA
Yes... I...
MOTHER MIRIAM
You can call me Sister.
MARTHA
... Thank you.
MOTHER MIRIAM
You must have tons of questions. You may smoke if you want to. Just don't tell any of the Sisters.
Martha sits; Mother Miriam gets her a box
of matches.
MOTHER MIRIAM (Continued)
They wouldn't understand, especially Sister Marguerite. She'd scare the pants off Queen Elizabeth.
(she lights Martha's cigarette)
Besides, I miss them.
MARTHA
You were a smoker?
MOTHER MIRIAM
Two packs a day.
MARTHA
I can beat that.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Unfiltered.
Martha inclines her head impressed. Mother
Miriam sits down next to her.
MOTHER MIRIAM (Continued)
Well, you have questions.
(checks her watch)
Fire away...
MARTHA
Who knew about Agnes' pregnancy?
MOTHER MIRIAM
No-one.
MARTHA
How did she hide it from the other nuns?
MOTHER MIRIAM
She undressed alone... she bathed alone.
MARTHA
Is that normal?
MOTHER MIRIAM
Yes.
MARTHA
How did she hide it during the day?
MOTHER MIRIAM (indicating her habit)
She could have hidden a machine gun in here if she had wanted to.
MARTHA
Didn't she have any physical examinations in this time?
MOTHER MIRIAM
We're examined once a year. Her pregnancy fell in between the doctor's visits.
MARTHA
Who was the father?
MOTHER MIRIAM
I haven't a clue.
MARTHA
What man had access to her?
MOTHER MIRIAM
None as far as I know.
MARTHA
Was there a priest?
MOTHER MIRIAM
Yes, but I...
MARTHA
What's his name?
MOTHER MIRIAM
Father Martineau, but I don't see him as a candidate.
MARTHA
Could there have been anyone else?
MOTHER MIRIAM (a pause)
Obviously there was.
MARTHA
And you didn't try to find out who?
MOTHER MIRIAM (standing)
Believe me, I've done everything possible short of asking Agnes.
MARTHA
Why haven't you asked her?
Mother Miriam removes a tray from under a
pot plant and brings it back to use as an ashtray.
MOTHER MIRIAM (sitting again)
She can't even remember the birth. Do you think she'd admit to the conception?
MARTHA
Look, someone gave her the baby.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Yes, but that was some ten months ago. I fail to see that the identity of that somebody has anything to do with this trial.
MARTHA
Why do you think that?
MOTHER MIRIAM
Don't ask me those questions dear, I'm not the patient.
MARTHA
Well I'm the doctor. I'm the one who's going to decide what is, or is not important here.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Look doctor, I don't know how to tell you this politely, but I don't approve of you. Not you personally...
MARTHA
The science of psychiatry.
MOTHER MIRIAM (standing)
Exactly. I want you do deal with Agnes as speedily and as easily as possible. She won't hold up under any sort of cross examination.
MARTHA (also standing)
I am not with the Inquisition.
MOTHER MIRIAM
And I am not from the Middle Ages. I know what you are! I don't want that mind cut open.
Then Mother Miriam walks out.
INT - WAITING ROOM - DAY
A little later, Martha is sitting alone smoking. SISTER ANNE enters and
indicates that Martha should follow her. They exit out of the grilled room and
head up a steep flight of wooden stairs. Faintly the voice of a single young
woman can be heard singing in Latin.
INT - TOP CORRIDOR - DAY
Martha follows Sister Anne down the hall towards the singing. They stop outside
Agnes' room. Martha looks to see...
INT - AGNES' ROOM - DAY
... Agnes an almost childlike young woman singing happily, looking out the
window. Then Agnes hears a slight sound and stops abruptly. She turns to see
Martha standing in the doorway.
MARTHA
Hello. I'm Doctor Livingston. I've been asked to talk to you. May I?
AGNES
Yes.
Martha moves further in the room. An
ELDERLY NUN hovers outside the door.
MARTHA
You have a lovely voice.
AGNES
No, I don't.
MARTHA
I just heard you.
AGNES
That wasn't me.
MARTHA
Was it Sister Marguerite?
Agnes laughs and Martha closes the door,
shutting out the old nun.
MARTHA (Continued)
You're very pretty Agnes.
AGNES
No, I'm not.
MARTHA
Hasn't anyone ever told you that before?
AGNES
Let's talk about something else.
MARTHA
What would you like to talk about.
AGNES
I don't know.
MARTHA
Anything... may I sit down?
AGNES
Yes.
They both sit.
MARTHA
First thing that comes to your mind?
AGNES
God! But there's nothing to say about God.
MARTHA
Second thing that comes to your mind.
AGNES
Love.
MARTHA
Have you ever loved anyone?
AGNES
Yes.
MARTHA
Who?
AGNES
Everyone.
MARTHA
Well, who in particular?
AGNES
Right now?
MARTHA
Uh huh.
AGNES
I love you.
MARTHA (a pause)
Agnes, have you ever loved another man... other than, Jesus Christ?
AGNES
Yes.
MARTHA
Who?
AGNES (chuckles)
Oh, there are so many.
MARTHA
Well do you love... do you love Father Martineau?
AGNES
Oh, yes!
MARTHA
Do you think he loves you?
AGNES
Oh, I know he does.
MARTHA
He's told you?
AGNES
No. But... when I look into his eyes, I can tell.
MARTHA
You've been alone together?
AGNES
Yes.
MARTHA
Often?
AGNES
At least once a week.
MARTHA
And you like that?
AGNES
Oh, yes.
MARTHA
Where do you meet?
AGNES (obviously)
In the confessional.
A slightly awkward pause.
MARTHA
Agnes, do ever see Father Martineau outside the...
Agnes suddenly looks exasperated.
AGNES
You want to talk about the baby don't you?
MARTHA
Would you like to talk about it?
AGNES
I never saw any baby... I think they made it up.
MARTHA
Why should they?
AGNES
I don't know.
MARTHA
Do you remember the night they said it came?
AGNES
No. I was sick.
MARTHA
How were you sick?
AGNES
Something I ate.
MARTHA
Did it hurt?
AGNES
Yes.
MARTHA
Where?
AGNES
Down... there.
MARTHA
And what did you do?
AGNES
I went to my room.
MARTHA
And what happened?
AGNES
I got sicker.
MARTHA
And then what?
AGNES
I fell asleep.
MARTHA
In the middle of all the pain?
AGNES
Yes.
MARTHA
Where did the baby come from?
AGNES
What baby?
MARTHA
The baby they made up.
AGNES
>From their heads...
MARTHA
Is that where they say it came from... ?
AGNES
No, they say it came from the waste paper basket!
MARTHA
Where'd it come from before that?
AGNES
>From God.
MARTHA
After God... before the waste-paper basket.
AGNES
I... I don't understand.
MARTHA
Agnes, how are babies born?
AGNES
Don't you know?
MARTHA
Yes I do, but I want you to...
AGNES (very agitated)
I don't understand what you're talking about... you want to talk about the baby... everybody wants to talk about the baby but... I never saw the baby so I can't talk about the baby because... I don't believe in the baby.
MARTHA
Then let's talk about something else...
AGNES (standing)
No... no, I'm tired of talking, I've been talking for weeks, nobody believes me when I tell them anything... nobody listens to me.
MARTHA (also standing)
Agnes...
AGNES (opens the door)
No... no, I don't want to answer any more questions.
MARTHA
Would you like to ask them?
AGNES (pausing in the doorway)
What do you mean?
MARTHA
Just that... you ask and I'll answer.
AGNES
Anything?
MARTHA (smiles)
Anything.
INT - NUN'S ROOM - DAY
The elderly nun looks out the window into the courtyard where Martha and Agnes
are walking, then pulls the curtain across.
EXT - COURTYARD - DAY
Martha and Agnes are walking together. Martha is smoking.
AGNES
What's your real name?
MARTHA
Martha Louise Livingston.
AGNES
Are you married?
MARTHA
No.
AGNES
Would you like to be?
MARTHA
Not at the moment, no.
AGNES
Do you have any children?
MARTHA
No.
AGNES
Would you like some?
MARTHA
I can't have them any more.
AGNES
Why not?
MARTHA (a pause)
I've stopped menstruating
AGNES
Why do you smoke?
MARTHA
Does it bother you?
AGNES
No questions.
MARTHA
Smoking is an obsession with me. Maybe one day I'll become obsessed with something else, then I'll stop smoking... Do you have any more questions?
AGNES
One.
MARTHA
What?
They both halt.
AGNES
Where do you think babies come from?
MARTHA
>From their mothers and fathers of course. Before that, I... I don't know.
AGNES
Well I think they come from... angel lights on their mothers chest and whispers into her ear. That makes good babies start to grow. And bad babies come from when a fallen angel squeezes in down there, and they start to grow, grow, till they come out down there. I don't know where good babies come out. And you can't tell the difference... except bad babies cry a lot... and they make their fathers go away... and their mothers get very ill... die sometimes.
Agnes sits down on a bench and Martha
follows her.
AGNES (Continued)
Mummy wasn't very happy when she died... and, I think she went to hell because every time I see her she looks like she just stepped out of a hot shower, and I... I'm never sure if it's her, or the Lady who tells me things! They fight over me all the time.
(staring into space)
The Lady... I saw when I was ten. I was lying on the grass, looking at the sun, and the sun became a cloud, and the cloud became, a Lady. And she told me she would talk to me. And then... her feet began to bleed and I saw there... there were holes in her hands and in her side. And I tried to catch the blood as it fell from the sky, but I couldn't see any more because my eyes hurt because there were big black spots in front of them. And she tells me things like, like... right now she's crying Marie! Marie!... but I don't know what that means.
Martha stands up, disturbed. Agnes is
slightly delirious with happiness.
AGNES (Continued)
... and... she uses me to sing, it's as if she's throwing a big hook through the air and it catches me under my ribs and tries to pull me up, and I... I can't move because Mommy's holding my feet and all I can do is sing in her voice... it's the Lady's voice, God loves you!
And her cry echoes all around and the doves
fly out of the bell tower.
AGNES (Continued) (to Martha)
God loves you.
MARTHA
Do you know a Marie?
AGNES
No... do you?
MARTHA
Why should I?
AGNES
I don't know.
INT - MOTHER MIRIAM'S STUDY - DAY
Mother Miriam is standing checking some papers when Martha enters. Mother Miriam
seems to have entirely regained her good humour.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Well... what do you think? Is she totally bananas or merely slightly off centre... or maybe she's perfectly sane and just a very good liar.
MARTHA
What's your opinion?
MOTHER MIRIAM
I believe Agnes is different.
MARTHA
>From other nuns...
(laughs)
Yes I... I've noticed.
MOTHER MIRIAM
>From other people!
(moving across the room)
I believe she is not crazy, nor is she lying.
MARTHA
How could she have a baby and know nothing of sex or birth?
MOTHER MIRIAM
Because she's an innocent. She's a slate that's hasn't been touched except by God.
MARTHA (lights a cigarette)
That's ridiculous...
MOTHER MIRIAM (moves to her desk, starts writing)
In her case it isn't. She's had very little schooling. Her mother kept her home almost all the time and when her mother died Agnes came here, to us. She's never been out there Doctor. She's never seen a movie or a television show. She's never even read a book.
MARTHA
If she's so innocent, how come she murdered a child?
MOTHER MIRIAM
She didn't! This is manslaughter, not murder. She didn't consciously kill that baby. She'd lost a lot of blood. She was unconscious by the time we got to her.
MARTHA
So, someone else could have done it.
MOTHER MIRIAM
No... not in the eyes of the police.
MARTHA
And in your eyes?
MOTHER MIRIAM
I've already told you what I thought.
MARTHA
That she was unconscious, yes! So someone easily could have come in the room and killed the...
MOTHER MIRIAM
You don't really believe something like that happened do you?
MARTHA
It's possible isn't it?
MOTHER MIRIAM
Who?
MARTHA
One of the other nuns found out about the baby and... and wanted to avoid a scandal.
Mother Miriam removes the tray from under a
pot plant and bangs it down in front of Martha to act as an ashtray.
MOTHER MIRIAM
That's absurd!
MARTHA
That possibility never occurred to you?
MOTHER MIRIAM
No-one knew about Agnes' pregnancy. No-one. Not even Agnes.
EXT - CONVENT - DAY
Martha's car exits out of the convent and heads up the road.
INT - CAR - DAY
The car radio is playing light band music...
ANNOUNCER (Voice-over)
You have been listening to Mostly Music from Montreal. This is CBC Radio.
(and again in French)
Martha flicks the radio off and stops the car. She thinks for a moment then...
EXT - LONELY ROAD - DAY
... she turns the car around and heads back in the direction she came.
EXT - PRESBYTERY - DAY
Martha drives in through an entrance and pulls up outside the presbytery.
INT - PRESBYTERY - DAY
>From inside the house, Martha can be seen knocking on the glass fronted
door. Presently a huge, fat HOUSEKEEPER answers.
MARTHA
Is Father Martineau in please?
HOUSEKEEPER (in French)
???
MARTHA (answers in French)
???
The housekeeper indicates she should enter
and walks back inside.
HOUSEKEEPER (halting briefly)
Wipe your feet.
They move into the next room. The
housekeeper goes further calling...
HOUSEKEEPER
Pere Martineau...
(in French)
???
Martha stands uncertainly at the doorway.
The sound of thumping is heard, and then the figure of a very old priest, FATHER
MARTINEAU appears walking with a stick.
INT - PRESBYTERY DINING ROOM - DAY
Father Martineau and Martha are having tea. He pours a slug of whisky from a
flask into her cup and an even larger slug into his own.
FATHER MARTINEAU (French accent)
They arise at five in the morning... and they're in bed by nine at night. Even if a man could get to them, he would probably find them praying. That's why I see that the real question is not only how he got in, but when.
MARTHA
And you're the only man to see them?
FATHER MARTINEAU
I promise you Doctor, even if I had the inclination, how could I possibly catch her? She would have to be a very slow and patient nun.
(they both laugh)
Ah no... they're a very special and rare people those Sisters. Only a few of them left in this modern world, consecrated to the praise of God.
INT - NURSING HOME, LOUNGE - DAY
An elderly WOMAN is sitting watching "Spiderman" on TV cackling with
laughter. She is physically alright, but quite senile. Martha enters, goes over
to her and kisses her.
MARTHA
Hello, Mama
(pulls up a chair)
... brought you something.
MAMA
Shut up, I'm trying to watch this.
MARTHA
It's your favourite...
MAMA
Who are you?
MARTHA
It's Martha, Mama.
(hands over a tub of icecream)
There you go.
MAMA
Marie brings me icecream too you know. Chocolate... my favourite.
MARTHA
I thought cherry-vanilla was your favourite.
MAMA
Not any more... now I like chocolate.
MARTHA (stroking her hair)
Did you have a good week Mama. Are they treating you all right?
MAMA
You know Martha never comes to see me. You watch it, she's going straight to hell... after all the things she said to me. Then she marries that son of a bitch of a Frenchman... has an abortion. I knew that one wouldn't work out. Not like you Marie. You got married to God.
MARTHA (lighting up)
Marie's dead Mama.
MAMA
I remember when you was a little girl Marie. You come back from the movies and you'd say - Mama that ending was so sad... and I'd tell you they had all the happy endings locked away in a vault in Hollywood.
(chuckles)
And you believed me.
MARTHA
Mama, that wasn't Marie, that was me!
MAMA (a long pause)
Who are you?
MARTHA
I... I'm Martha, Mama.
EXT - CONVENT, CHICKENYARD - DAY
It is raining... distant thunder in the background. Martha is standing under an
umbrella talking to Sister Anne who is feeding the chickens.
SISTER ANNE
The convent was built for over fifty. Not many of us left... just us and the chickens.
MARTHA
How do you survive?
SISTER ANNE
Oh, we own the land around here. But we rent it out. We keep a few acres for ourselves,
(indicating)
some wheat, corn, some vegetables.
MARTHA
Well that's a lot of land. You must have help. Do you have field hands that help you?
SISTER ANNE
No. We work the land alone. No-one but Sister Marguerite and I are permitted contact with the public.
MARTHA
Sister Anne, which was Agnes' room?
Sister Anne points up to a window on the
corner of the convent.
SISTER ANNE
Oh that one there, in the corner.
MARTHA
The one up on the third floor?
SISTER ANNE
Yes.
MARTHA
Uh huh.
INT - AGNES' OLD ROOM - DAY
Mother Miriam unlocks a padlock on the door, opens it for Martha. They both
enter the room which is totally plain, stripped of everything.
MOTHER MIRIAM
This convent is locked solid. The only one that has a key is Sister Marguerite and she wouldn't let Christ in after dark.
MARTHA
Well, it's been known to happen in the day too. Maybe Agnes went to him.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Oh come on, you've talked to her. She doesn't even know how babies are born, let alone made.
MARTHA
When did you first learn about her... innocence, the way she thinks?
MOTHER MIRIAM
Shortly after she came to us.
MARTHA
And you weren't shocked?
MOTHER MIRIAM
I was appalled, just as you are now.
MARTHA
And what happened?
MOTHER MIRIAM
She stopped eating completely...
INT - CHAPEL - DAY
In flashback: Agnes, all in white is lying face down in the sign of the cross in
front of the altar. Mother Miriam enters.
MARTHA (Voice-over)
This was before her pregnancy?
MOTHER MIRIAM (Voice-over)
About two years before.
Mother Miriam stops in front of Agnes.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Agnes, it has come to my attention that you have stopped eating. Why is this?
AGNES (not looking up)
I've been commanded by God.
MOTHER MIRIAM (sighs)
He talked to you Himself?
AGNES
No.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Through someone else?
AGNES
Yes.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Who?
AGNES
I can't say.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Why?
AGNES
She'd punish me.
MOTHER MIRIAM
One of the other Sisters?
AGNES
No.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Who?
Mother Miriam glances up at an older NUN
who has been in the chapel watching all along. She takes the hint and hobbles
out.
MOTHER MIRIAM (Continued)
Why would she tell you to do this? Agnes look at me.
AGNES (looking up)
Because I'm getting fat.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Oh, for Heaven's sake.
AGNES
I am, there's too much flesh on me.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Agnes...
AGNES
I'm a blimp.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Why does it matter whether you're fat or not...
AGNES
Because...
MOTHER MIRIAM
... You needn't worry about being attractive here.
AGNES
I do, I have to be attractive to God.
MOTHER MIRIAM
He loves you the way you are.
AGNES
No he doesn't. He hates fat people.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Who told you this?
AGNES
It's a sin to be fat.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Why?
AGNES
Look at the statues, they're thin.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Agnes...
AGNES
That's because they're suffering... suffering is beautiful, I want to be beautiful.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Who tells you these things?
AGNES
Christ said it in the Bible, he said - suffer the little children, I want to suffer like a little child.
MOTHER MIRIAM (genuinely distressed)
That's not what he meant.
AGNES
I... I am a little child but my body keeps getting bigger and soon I... I won't be able to fit in, I... I won't be able to squeeze into Heaven.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Agnes dear, Heaven is not a place where...
Agnes gets to her knees and pushes up her
breasts.
AGNES
No... I mean... I mean look at these. I've got to lose weight, I'm a blimp.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Oh my dear child.
AGNES (standing)
God blew up the Hindenburg. He'll blow me up, that's what she said...
MOTHER MIRIAM
Who?
AGNES
Mommy I'll get bigger and bigger every day and then I'll pop but... but if I stay little it won't happen.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Your mother tells you this?... Agnes your mother is dead.
AGNES
But she watches... she listens.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Nonsense, I'm your mother now and I want you to eat.
AGNES
I'm not hungry.
MOTHER MIRIAM
You've got to eat something Agnes.
AGNES
No, I don't... the host is enough.
MOTHER MIRIAM
My dear, I don't think a communion wafer has the recommended daily allowance of anything.
AGNES
Of God.
MOTHER MIRIAM (smiles)
Yes, of God.
Then Mother Miriam looks down and is
shocked to see Agnes' white habit is spotted with blood, and more blood is
dripping onto the floor. She pulls out Agnes' hand from her habit and gasps with
shock; there is a bleeding hole in the middle of her palm.
AGNES
I'm being punished.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Why?
AGNES
I don't know.
MOTHER MIRIAM
Dear Jesus...
She quickly leads Agnes out of the chapel.
AGNES
It started this morning and I can't get it to stop.
INT - AGNES' OLD ROOM - DAY
Back in the present, as before...
MARTHA
Why didn't you take her to a doctor?
MOTHER MIRIAM
It was healed by the following morning and she started eating again...
MARTHA
She had a... a hole in the palm of her hand! She could have bled to death.
MOTHER MIRIAM
But she didn't... did she. If anyone had seen what I'd seen she'd be public property... newspapermen, psychiatrists, ridicule. She doesn't deserve that.
MARTHA
She has it now.
MOTHER MIRIAM
I know what you're thinking, she's a hysteric pure and simple.
MARTHA
Not simple, no.
MOTHER MIRIAM
I saw it. Clean through the palm of her hand. Do you think hysteria could do that?
MARTHA
It's being doing it for centuries. She's not unique, she's just another victim.
MOTHER MIRIAM
God's victim. That's her innocence. She belongs to God.
MARTHA
And I intend to take her away from Him. That's what you're afraid of isn't it?
Martha walks out. Mother Miriam yanks the
padlock out of the door.
MOTHER MIRIAM
You bet I am.
INT - CHAPEL - DAY
All the Sisters are present. Mother Miriam leads the chant in Latin and the rest
of the nuns respond at intervals. Agnes is very happy. Their singing continues
over the next few scenes.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT - POLICE PRECINCT - DAY
Martha and Larry are at the top of steps. He hands her an envelope.
LARRY
Here you are. Don't let anyone know where you got them.
MARTHA (kissing him)
Thanks...
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT - CONVENT - DAY
Agnes is happily swinging on a long swing attached to a tree.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT - CRYPT - DAY
The Sisters go about their tasks. Then all together they move to a corner of the
room which is laid out with burning candles and make their devotions.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT - CONFESSIONAL - DAY
Agnes is confessing to a rather disinterested Father Martineau.
AGNES
Last Tuesday, I didn't eat all of my lima beans... hid them under my spoon.
FATHER MARTINEAU
Yes...
AGNES (very quietly)
I thought... thoughts... about...
FATHER MARTINEAU
Speak up, I can hardly hear you.
AGNES (very loudly)
I thought ugly thoughts about Sister Marguerite.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT - MARTHA'S APARTMENT - NIGHT
Martha is leafing through a sheaf of police photographs of the sheets and the
waste-paper basket. She puts the photos aside and puffs thoughtfully on a
cigarette.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT - CONVENT FARM - DAY
Agnes is milking the cow. She pours the milk into a large churn. (The singing
finishes at this point)
INT - JUDGE'S OFFICE - DAY
The same four are in a meeting. This time they are all sitting except for Lyon
who is standing by the window.
LEVEAU
Would you tell me why the hell this is taking so long.
MARTHA
Look, there are a lot of unanswered questions here.
LYON
Martha, your job is to diagnose, not to heal and play detective. Who do you think you are?
MARTHA
I know my job. Don't tell me my job Lyon. My duty as a doctor is to...
EVE
Martha, you have to make a decision on her sanity as quickly as possible and not interfere with due process of law.
MARTHA
No... no, excuse me Eve. As quickly as I see fit.
EVE
The longer you take to make a decision, the more difficult it will be for us.
MARTHA
Why?
EVE
The bishop is breathing down our necks.
MARTHA
And the sooner she goes to prison, the better off she'll be?
LEVEAU (in French)
???
MARTHA
I don't believe this. I don't bloody believe this.
LYON
Well, the bishop will be very upset about this.
MARTHA
I'm fighting for this woman's life, not some bloody bishop.
EXT - CONVENT GRAVEYARD - DAY
It is a strange place; all the crosses are identical and very simple. Martha is
standing. Agnes is kneeling in front of a cross marked with the name "Soeur
Marie Paul" and the dates she was born, consecrated and died. Agnes places
some winter flowers on the grave.
MARTHA
You liked Sister Paul?
AGNES
She was kind to me. She told me I was beautiful.
MARTHA (crouching down)
What else did she tell you?
AGNES
She said all of God's angels would want to sleep beside me if they could. I liked that.
Agnes makes the sign of the cross, they
both stand and start to move off.
AGNES (Continued)
She lived here for almost seventy years. Every day she'd ring the bell, wake us up, call us to God. She took me to my secret place.
MARTHA
Where's that?... I promise I won't tell, would you take me?
So Agnes takes her.
INT - BELL TOWER - DAY
Martha and Agnes enter the bell-tower. Agnes leads the way up the steep wooden
steps. Martha becomes breathless almost immediately.
MARTHA
Sister Paul was in her eighties? Did she climb up here often?
AGNES
No, only when she felt like it. She brought me up here last winter and the next day she died.
MARTHA (halting, out of breath)
No wonder... wait... Agnes... Agnes how do you feel about babies?
AGNES
Oh, they frighten me, I'm afraid I'll drop them. They have a soft spot on their heads and if you drop them so they land on their heads they become stupid. I was dropped on my head, that's why I don't understand things.
MARTHA
Like what?
AGNES (climbing again)
Numbers... you can spend your whole life counting and never reach the end.
MARTHA (following her)
I don't understand them either. Do you suppose I was dropped on my head?
AGNES
I hope not. It's a terrible thing to be dropped on your head.
MARTHA
Oh, I've got to give up smoking. Agnes... wait a minute... Agnes slow down.
EXT - TOP OF BELLTOWER - DAY
Agnes climbs up through the trapdoor to the bell platform.
AGNES
She said you could see the whole world from up here. But it looks much better far away than it looks close up.
Martha arrives exhausted.
MARTHA
Beautiful...
Agnes lies down under the bell.
AGNES
And sometimes I get under here... it makes a wonderful sound.
She starts to sing in a beautiful voice and
the sound rings in the bell.
MARTHA
What happens if the bell rings and you're under there?
AGNES
Oh, it's even more wonderful then.
Agnes sings a little more.
MARTHA
It's like hiding from my mother when I was a little girl.
AGNES
Where did you go?
MARTHA
Oh, no place as wonderful as this. Agnes... have you ever thought of leaving the convent for something else?
AGNES
No. There is nothing else. Just being here at night helps me sleep.
MARTHA
You have trouble sleeping?
AGNES
I get headaches. Mommy did too... oh, but she wasn't stupid. She knew things that nobody else knew.
MARTHA
What things?
AGNES
She knew what was going to happen to me. That's why she hid me away.
MARTHA
How did she know that?
AGNES
Somebody told her.
MARTHA
Who?
AGNES
I don't know.
MARTHA
Agnes...
AGNES
You'll laugh.
MARTHA
I promise I won't laugh. Who told her?
AGNES
An angel, when she was having one of her headaches.
MARTHA
Did your mother see angels often?
AGNES
No.
MARTHA
Do you?
AGNES
No.
MARTHA
Do you believe she really saw them?
AGNES (sitting up)
No, but I can never tell her that.
MARTHA
Why not?
(no answer)
Mmm?
AGNES
She'd get angry.
Martha moves round close to Agnes.
MARTHA
Agnes, did you love your mother?
AGNES
Yes.
MARTHA
Did you ever want to be a mother yourself?
AGNES
I could never be a mother.
MARTHA
Why not?
AGNES
Well I don't think I'm old enough and besides I don't want to have a baby.
MARTHA
Why not?
AGNES
Because I don't want one.
MARTHA
If you did want one, how'd you go about getting one?
AGNES
>From someone who didn't want to have a baby.
MARTHA
Like you?
AGNES (suddenly frustrated)
No, not like me!
MARTHA
How would that person get one if they didn't want one?
AGNES (jumping to her feet)
A mistake...
MARTHA
Agnes, how did your mother get you?
AGNES
A mistake... it was a mistake...
MARTHA
Is that what she said?
AGNES (very upset)
If you're trying to get me to say that she was a bad woman and hated me and didn't want me but that's not true, she was a good woman, a saint... (distorted).
MARTHA
Agnes, I don't believe you know nothing about sex...
AGNES
I can't help it if I'm stupid.
MARTHA
... that you don't remember getting pregnant...
AGNES
Not my fault.
MARTHA
... and that you don't believe you carried a child.
AGNES
I was a mistake.
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