Tag: Drama

‘Misaki’s Death Café’ Screenplay

By Thomas Caterer
This film is available to watch at the Yanagi Studios YouTube Channel –
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtQoNe4Caf12D62lP_s0gww

INT. MISAKI’S DEATH CAFE – NIGHT

Misaki is working behind the bar, cleaning pint glasses. A man and a woman are stooped in a corner, talking in hushed voices. There is a woman reading at a table.

The door opens. Nathan enters. He walks briskly to the bar, his eyes meet Misaki’s. She pauses her work, dishcloth in one hand, pint glass in the other. She half-smiles.

NATHAN
This is a death cafe?

MISAKI
That’s right.

NATHAN
What happens here?

MISAKI
We serve coffee in the day, alcohol at night. A limited range of snacks. And you can talk to people about death.
Tuesday is quiz night.

NATHAN
A death quiz?

MISAKI
Sure, like how did Marie Curie die? What’s the most common cause of death in children? What’s the mortality rate for Ethiopia last year?

NATHAN
(pauses for thought)
I’ll have a beer please.

MISAKI
Sure.

Nathan pulls up a stool at the bar and sits. Misaki serves his beer. The man and woman are playing Operation. After a buzz and a sigh of frustration from the man, they turn their attention to Nathan.

JOHN
What brings you here?

NATHAN
I’m just tired of it.

INGRID
Sick and tired. Yeah me too. What’s brought you here though? Something made you crack?

NATHAN
A friend of mine died. I’m trying to understand why, and what it means.

MISAKI
Well this is a place for exchanging ideas about death.

NATHAN
Well, I don’t have any ideas of my own really.

INGRID
Maybe you can find some here…

NATHAN
I don’t know where to begin with that. I don’t know why I was born, I don’t even know why I have the body of a carbon-based great ape! Why am I trapped in this shell that always needs something? From one moment to the next it needs something different; food, drink, sleep, medicine, just to keep it running. And then whether its my body or soul or something else I don’t know, but there’s all these things I want constantly; love and sex, and a god, but then I worry ‘what if he’s evil or just doesn’t care about a small thing like me?’. What does any of it mean?

JOHN
Nothing means anything. Your brain processes the information of the outside world, and once it decomposes and is eaten by worms, that’s it. No more brain, no more you.

INGRID
(gesturing with the Operation scalpel)
That’s according to one school of thought. If you believe there is only material and nothing else.

NATHAN
What else could there be?

INGRID
Who knows? But it was very kind of chance to allow for all the things a conscious being needs to live and make the things they want to, to be within their reach. Especially considering over 95% of the universe is dark matter and dark energy. Its useful that we’ve got water, and rocks, and animals all here.

JOHN
We find all the conditions necessary for life, because we are alive. So those conditions must have been met. That’s all it is.

NATHAN
You’re an atheist?

JOHN
Well I’m agnostic, and a realist. I like to come here so we can discuss other matters related to death than simply the problem of what happens to consciousness.
Did you see the DeathLab exhibit at the 21st Century Museum?

NATHAN
Sadly not.

JOHN
Well, it addresses the issue of how in a secular society, in which declining birthrates are coupled with aging populations, and cremations release carbon emissions, how do we in an ethical and responsible way, dispose of our dead?

NATHAN
I have no idea, I’ve never thought about it.

JOHN
In New York, there was a proposal for memorial vessels to be built underneath Manhattan Bridge. They would house microbial colonies. They emit light, and as the bodies inside decompose the light wanes, and at the end of the year, new bodies power new lights. The decomposition of one body lends itself to create beautiful lights to inspire and warm the consciousness of living people found inside living bodies. Its a wonderful idea!

NATHAN
It sounds like a nice way to pay your respects.

During John’s explanation of Constellation Park, the woman at the table reading, places a bookmark, puts her book down, and moves over to the bar, she orders a black coffee from Misaki, and sits next to Nathan, one empty stool between them.

JUNKO
You didn’t come here because you’re worried about your friend’s corpse though, did you?

Nathan turns on his stool to face Junko. He drains his beer.

NATHAN
(turning to Misaki)
One more please.

MISAKI
Of course!

NATHAN
(turning back to Junko)
No, I’m not worried about the body, but rather the consciousness.

JUNKO
Yeah, consciousness. In modern semantics, its what folks like Ingrid (she nods in Ingrid’s direction) call the soul.

Misaki serves Nathan his beer.

NATHAN
And you’re a what?

JUNKO
Something close to a Buddhist. I believe we’ve always existed. Your body you have now is just the manifestation of the here and now. When the soul moves on, it learns something new from the experience of a new body. Would being beautiful make you vain and cold? Would being disfigured make you angry and resentful? How would you cope with a disability? Would being born into wealth make you corrupt? There are infinite lessons to learn about your own soul.

INGRID
From a biocentric viewpoint we can recognise death as an illusion, as it is merely an extension of the stubborn illusion of time. The conscious observer can control time; change the direction taken by a particle in the past, turn a particle into a wave…

NATHAN
Look, I’m sorry, but this is all just fucking noise to me! An exercise in intellectual masturbation, meaning no disrespect. But it’s all rather abstract. Is there anything solid that can support a materialist viewpoint or a biocentric one? Any stones or mud or earth? Or is it all just fucking fairy dust, and we can’t know or prove anything until we’re just bloody rotting.

MISAKI
You’re right, it isn’t solid. It’s not a tangible topic to begin with. That’s why it’s horrific, and also why it’s beautiful, and hopeful.

NATHAN
(hesitatingly)
Look… I’m not sure if this is the place I was looking for…

As Nathan’s sentence trails off, the door opens with aplomb. Death dressed in the archetypal garb, scythe in hand, strides confidently to the bar.

Nathan turns around, his mouth ajar. His jaw is on the floor, his face flushed, his eyes wide with excitement.

DEATH
Whiskey. Neat.

MISAKI
Starting early, Death?

DEATH
It’s never too early for whiskey, Misaki, you know that!

Misaki smiles and pours Death a whiskey. Nathan’s eyes are glued to Death, who has occupied the stool between him and Junko.

NATHAN
(slowly approaching Death to face him)
Shit… it’s you!

DEATH
Huh? You’re not on my list are you?

Nathan shakes his head. Death takes a sip of whisky.

DEATH (CONT’D)
Well, all right then.

NATHAN
Listen, I have questions for you! I need to know what you are, where you take us all?

DEATH
Look pal, I’ve just clocked off, and I’m trying to relax after work. People see me, and they think I’m a trained monkey. I’m not signing anything, I’m not posing for a photo, and I’m not answering any work questions. Sorry, if that makes me a diva, but fuck it!

NATHAN
No, come on, you have to tell me!

DEATH
All right then, what’s your job?

NATHAN
I’m a copywriter.

DEATH
Oh fabulous! I need some sparkling new copy written for my press releases and online ads! Why don’t you just put your beer down and start writing me some copy in your own damn free time!

NATHAN
It’s easy enough just to say it! I want to know where my friend is now, you can just tell me!

Death sighs, drains his whisky and turns to Nathan to hold his gaze.

DEATH
If I knew I would tell you. I’m just a facilitator, a hired hand. I extract souls from bodies and then fuck knows what happens to them. I don’t really ask questions. It’s just a job, my real passion is music, this just pays the bills. I don’t actually know anything.

Nathan is crestfallen. The cafe is silent, and he stares into his glass.

DEATH (CONT’D)
You’d be better offer asking, Junko, she’s in transport, she should know where they go…

NATHAN
(excitedly turning to Junko)
You mean you actually know? Buddhism is true?!

JUNKO
Umm no, Buddhism is just what I believe is true. I just drive the truck from point A to point B. I have no idea what actually happens to anyone.
Ingrid is in the logistics department for death, I always figured she might know something she’s not letting on…

INGRID
Oh no, goodness, I don’t know anything. John is in planning though!

JOHN
Don’t look at me! I’m as clueless as anyone!

MISAKI
It’s just a bunch of people doing things without any idea what they’re doing or why…

Nathan looks from face to face, the realisation dawning on him. His look of frustration turns to one of resignation.

NATHAN
I can’t stand not knowing anymore.

DEATH
(speaking softly)
Nathan, your name has just appeared on my list… I can feel it. I guess I’m working overtime tonight…

MISAKI
The Sai River is just around the corner from here, take a left when you leave here, then left again at the first corner, and there it is.

NATHAN
Yes. Let’s go.

Death rises, and puts an arm around Nathan’s shoulder. They leave the cafe together.

‘Princess of Death’ Screenplay

By Thomas Caterer
This film is available to watch at the Yanagi Studios YouTube channel –
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtQoNe4Caf12D62lP_s0gww

EXT. FOREST – CLEARING – DAY

The leaves of the trees are green and gold. There is a wide clearing in the forest. The Princess is dressed in an elegant white dress, and white shoes. She wears a white tiara upon her head. She looks at peace.

The Princess walks into the forest, and moves gracefully among the trees.

Two large skeletal claws tread upon the leaves, turning them dry and grey, as the feet move across the clearing all life and colour are drained, like blood drained from one’s face.

Death is tall, winged, and skeletal, horns are risen from his head, and he is shrouded all in black, a hooded cloak, and scythe in hand. He is the classic image of the grim reaper. Eyeless.

Death follows the Princess.

The Princess turns around, her face turns to terror, and she begins to flee, with Death following at full flight behind her.

EXT. FOREST – AMIDST THE TREES – DAY

The Princess runs from the pursuing Death. Her dress tears on the branches and, in panic, she throws the shorn pieces away.

EXT. FOREST – LAKE – DAY

The Princess comes out of the trees, and finding a lake, approaches it. She turns back to face Death on the other side from her. She moves to the edge of the lake and then tentatively removes her shoes and places her feet into the lake.

Death approaches the lake.

EXT. FOREST – CLEANING – DAY

The Princess is on the floor of the same clearing as before. She is soaked and shivering. Her hair sticks to her face, she is panting.

EXT. FOREST – LAKE – DAY

Death is at the edge of the lake. He looks at his reflection. Lifting a skeletal hand to his face, he caresses his cheek. It crumbles into dust and falls into the lake. He holds his hand out in front of him and studies the scene before him with curiosity but not terror.

EXT. FOREST – CLEARING – DAY

The Princess rises from the ground. She is drenched from head to toe. She approaches an old, gnarled tree and sits beneath it. Death is staring at her from the opposite side of the clearing.

The Princess adopts a meditation stance, her hands resting atop her knees, which she rests herself upon. Her eyes are closed. She meditates and then slowly opens her eyes, her expression is peaceful.

She sees Death standing on the opposite side of the clearing, a piece of his face missing. He approaches and with a determined look, she moves towards him too. They both pause when they meet in the middle.

The Princess lifts a hand to Death’s face. She caresses him, he lets out a wail, and moves his face into her hand.

The Princess kneels down and then Death lowers himself to rest his head in her lap, as she gently caresses him and a gentle yet joyful and rising piano begins to play.

THE END

Misaki’s Death Café

Here at Yanagi Studios, we are delighted to announce the release of our latest short film on YouTube.

Misaki’s Death Café is written and directed by Thomas Caterer. The original soundtrack can also be found on our channel; written by Gareth Godliman and Joe Fowler.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtQoNe4Caf12D62lP_s0gww

In Misaki’s Death Café, Nathan searches for answers after the loss of a close friend. He discovers a death café, and after hearing the various viewpoints of the barflies, he meets an indiviual who is uniquely qualified to speak on the topic of death. However he would rather drink in peace than allay the fears of mortals.