GINGER & ROSA

A film by
Sally Potter

"Made with the support of the UK Film Council's Development Fund"

© The British Film Institute and APB Films Ltd 2012.

 1.

1 EXT. ARCHIVE FOOTAGE - DAY 1

The low rumble of an approaching aeroplane becomes louder

and louder over the FRONT TITLES. A momentary silence is
followed by the sound of a huge explosion.

An enormous mushroom cloud of dust rises into a fiery sky,

followed by archive footage of the devastated city of
Hiroshima after the nuclear bomb has fallen.

A caption fades up over the flattened, destroyed city:

Hiroshima, 1945.

2 INT. HOSPITAL WARD - DAY 2

A young woman (NATALIE), lying in a stark, white hospital

bed, is in the last stages of painful labour, about to give
birth to her daughter, GINGER.

The caption changes to:

London, 1945.

In the bed next to Natalie, another woman (ANOUSHKA) is

also about to give birth to her daughter, ROSA. Anoushka
reaches out towards Natalie. They hold hands across the gap
between the beds.

3 INT. HOSPITAL WAITING ROOM - DAY 3

Natalie’s husband (ROLAND) sits anxiously on a bench in a

hospital waiting room. Another MAN (Anoushka’s husband)
sits nearby. It’s been a long wait.

4 EXT. COURTYARD PLAYGROUND - DAY 4

Two small girls (GINGER and ROSA), now four years old, one
red-haired and the other dark-haired, are holding hands as
they swing back and forth on rusting swings in an austere
playground, surrounded by shabby tenement buildings in East
London.
 2.

Anoushka and Natalie are standing nearby. Anoushka looks

tearful. This time it is Natalie who reaches out to comfort
her friend.

5 INT. BALCONY AND EXT. COURTYARD - DAY 5

Rosa crouches on the balcony of an upper floor in the

tenement buildings, staring through the railings at her
father as he walks determinedly across the yard below,
carrying a large kitbag.

He glances up, briefly, but continues to walk away.

6 EXT. NATALIE’S GARDEN - DAY 6

Roland throws little Ginger high into the air. She shrieks
with pleasure and alarm as her red hair flies out around
her.

7 INT. BATHROOM (NATALIE’S HOUSE) - NIGHT 7

Ginger - who is now a teenager - is wearing pyjamas and

cleaning her teeth vigorously in front of the mirror in a
large shabby bathroom.

A caption fades up:

London, 1962.

The door is open onto the landing next to the bathroom and
Ginger stops brushing her teeth to listen to a male voice
coming from a radio in Natalie’s bedroom.

RADIO ANNOUNCER (V.O.)

The Defence Department of the
United States government has
arrived at estimates of casualties
should they and the Soviet Union
adopt a counterforce strategy in
the event of nuclear war.
(MORE)
 3.

RADIO ANNOUNCER (V.O.) (CONT'D)

The estimates are as follows: one
hundred million dead in the US and
one hundred and fifteen million
dead in Europe, including twenty
three million dead in Britain.
Without any civil defence the
counterforce strategy has the
capacity to destroy all life in
Western Europe, the United States,
and the Soviet Union.

NATALIE (O.S.)
It’s depressing. Turn it off,
darling. I want to talk to you
about the girls.

ROLAND (O.S.)
Alright. What about them?

Ginger creeps across the landing and peers through a gap in

the doorway, listening intently as she watches her parents
talk.

8 INT. NATALIE’S BEDROOM - NIGHT 8

Natalie is lying in bed. Roland is sitting on the bed next

to her, some books under his arm.

NATALIE
I think Rosa is a bad influence.

ROLAND
Meaning what, exactly?

NATALIE
Anoushka worries about her. She
says she is disturbed.

Ginger suddenly steps forward into the open doorway.

 4.

GINGER
(hotly)
So would you be if you'd been told
you're a failure when you're eleven
years old.

ROLAND
- Yes, bloody eleven-plus exams -

NATALIE
(to Ginger)
- you did well, though -

ROLAND
- not that exams mean anything of
real significance. You can’t
measure intelligence.

GINGER
- Anyway, she's not disturbed.
She's interesting.

Roland grins at Ginger.

GINGER (CONT’D)
And she's my best friend.

9 EXT. PARK - DAY 9

Rosa and Ginger are sitting on a long wooden bench under a

shelter in a grim London park. Rosa is demonstrating to
Ginger how to flirt and kiss with a boy.

ROSA
Close your eyes. Turn your head.
Opposite way.

They angle their faces, awkwardly, at each other, before

Ginger collapses into laughter. Then in a change of mood,
they start a traditional girls’ clapping sequence, which
gets faster and faster, their eyes shining with effort and
excitement.
 5.

10 EXT. WASTEGROUND - EVENING 10

Rosa and Ginger are hanging out on a patch of wasteground

near a corrugated iron fence. The rusty skeleton of a gas-
works looms above them. It’s a scene of urban decay and
destruction in the post-war years.

Rosa pulls two cigarettes out of a packet and puts them

both in her mouth. Ginger strikes a match and lights them
for her. Rosa hands one of them to Ginger. Ginger takes a
puff but coughs and splutters and pulls a face of disgust.

ROSA
You’re not doing it right. Here,
try again.

Ginger takes a drag and coughs again. Rosa laughs, wildly.

11 EXT. LONDON ALLEYWAY - NIGHT 11

Ginger and Rosa are standing by a wall, necking with two

long-haired young beatniks in a dark alleyway in London,
just out of sight of a noisy pub. Ginger seems shy and
tentative but Rosa eventually lies down in the shadows on
the ground with the other boy and seems to be about to have
uncomfortable-looking sex.

Ginger is trying to see what Rosa is doing. Rosa looks up

at Ginger and their eyes meet. Rosa’s eyes are shining.

And then the two girls are on their feet, running away,
hand in hand. They turn back to wave enthusiastically at
the two beatniks who are shuffling off together in the
opposite direction.

12 INT. HALLWAY AND LIVING ROOM (NATALIE’S HOUSE) - NIGHT 12

Ginger and Rosa creep along the hallway past the open
living-room door where Natalie is sitting by the fire in
her night-clothes. Roland is working at a desk at the other
end of the room. The room is stark and barely furnished,
some books and canvases stacked against the wall.

Natalie looks up, sees the girls and stands up, angrily.
 6.

NATALIE
Where the hell have you been?

GINGER
We were just, you know, roving
about. Being free.

Ginger giggles and slides down to sit on the floor. Roland

smiles to himself as he continues to work. Natalie shoots a
worried look at him.

NATALIE
It’s two in the morning.
Roland, please. Say something.

ROLAND
Yes. Well, it is late. Indeed.

Ginger turns to Roland.

GINGER
You always stay up late.

ROLAND
True.

Ginger and Rosa glance at each other, giggling

conspiratorially. Natalie looks at Rosa.

NATALIE
Anoushka must be crazed with worry.

ROSA
Doubtful.

NATALIE
Rosa...

Roland stops working, reluctantly, and looks up at the two

girls.

ROLAND
Oh, come on. I suppose I’d better
take you home, Rosa. Jesus. I
should be working.
 7.

Ginger jumps up excitedly, and the girls skip out of the

door, smiling happily. Ginger glances back momentarily and
catches Natalie’s sad expression.

13 EXT. LONDON STREETS AND TUNNEL - NIGHT 13

The two girls sit side by side in the back seat of an old
army jeep as Roland drives, scarily fast, the tyres
screeching as they hurtle round corners.

He takes the girls on a joy-ride through a long, echoing

tunnel, revelling in their laughter in the cold night air,
as their long hair blows around their faces.

Roland grins delightedly and then accelerates as he watches

the girls’ excited reactions in the rear-view mirror. His
eyes briefly meet Rosa’s and she smiles, shyly.

Eventually the jeep squeals to a halt outside the tenement

buildings. Rosa jumps out of the jeep and starts to walk
away, jauntily.

GINGER
Tomorrow?

Rosa is caught in the jeep’s headlights as she turns back

to Ginger.

ROSA
Today, actually.

GINGER
Good point.

ROSA
Bye, Ginger’s dad.

Roland frowns and peers out at her.

ROLAND
(pointedly)
It’s Roland. Actually.

Rosa smiles, wickedly.

 8.

14 INT. BATHROOM (NATALIE’S HOUSE) - DAY 14

Ginger and Rosa lie at either end of the bathtub in the

draughty bathroom. They are wearing bras and reading girls’
comics: "Girl" and "Valentine".

ROSA
It says here that a girl's most
important possession is a bubbly
personality.

GINGER
Interesting.

Ginger pauses thoughtfully and lowers her comic to look at

Rosa.

GINGER (CONT’D)
Do you think Simone de Beauvoir has
a bubbly personality?

ROSA
Who?

Ginger covers her face with the comic.

GINGER
(casually)
Oh, that French writer. She’s an
existentialist.

ROSA
Maybe she hasn’t read “Girl”. It
says here that boys don’t like
girls who are too serious.

GINGER
Oh.

They sit quietly in the water as Ginger considers the

implications of Rosa’s comment.

GINGER (CONT’D)
Well, even so, did I tell you I've
decided to be a poet?
 9.

ROSA
I thought you were already.
Do you think they’ve shrunk enough
yet?

They grip the sides of the bath and stand up, with
difficulty, in the water, revealing sodden jeans clinging
to their legs. Rosa starts to unbutton her jeans. Blue dye
has seeped from her jeans onto her stomach. The two girls
start giggling hysterically.

The door bursts open. It’s Roland. He stares briefly at the

two girls, as Rosa looks at him, insolently.

ROLAND
Sorry!

Roland grins and then slams the door again.

15 EXT/INT. COASTAL ROAD AND CAR - DAY 15

Ginger and Rosa are standing side-by-side on a country road

wearing their identical tight jeans and dufflecoats. They
are hitchhiking. A car screeches to a halt, the car radio
blaring out ‘Apache’ by The Shadows. The young DRIVER and
his FRIEND are both wearing full teddy-boy regalia.

The girls run to the car and jump into the back seat. They
look at each other with expressions of fear and excitement
as the car screeches and veers round the bends in the
wintry costal road near a forest of electricity pylons. The
driver laughs maniacally as the girls scream and then
drives even faster. When the car nearly goes off the road,
he suddenly brakes.

Ginger grasps the door handle as the car squeals to a halt

and the girls tumble out and run off across the shingle
between the pylons.

16 EXT. BEACH - DAY 16

Ginger and Rosa are walking along a huge deserted beach,

their arms around each others’ shoulders.
 10.

GINGER
I’ve been thinking.

ROSA
Unusual.

GINGER
Very funny. Listen.

ROSA
I’m listening.

GINGER
I’d prefer the world not to end,
wouldn’t you?

ROSA
Probably. If I find true love.

The two girls sit down, side-by-side, on the end of a long

wooden board-walk.

ROSA (CONT’D)
You know. The kind that lasts
forever. If...

She pauses, with a worried expression.

GINGER AND ROSA

(simultaneously)
...if there is a forever.

They look at each other.

GINGER AND ROSA (CONT’D)

(simultaneously)
Good point.

Rosa and Ginger smile at each other, pleased at their

complicity, then both turn and sit looking gloomily out to
sea.
 11.

GINGER
But really Rosa...I think we should
do something. About the bomb. You
know, protest.

Rosa pauses before answering.

ROSA
I think we should pray.

She hesitates, briefly, then pulls out two lurid pink

plastic crucifixes. She hands one of them, shyly, to
Ginger.

GINGER
Oh...gosh...thank you...

This has come as a surprise. Ginger turns the crucifix

over, awkwardly, in her palm.

17 INT. CHURCH - DAY 17

Ginger and Rosa sit side-by-side in a pew in a huge,

echoing, gloomy church, fingering the identical pink
crucifixes which are now hanging round their necks.

Rosa is gazing at the billowing incense being swung

rhythmically back and forth by the priest.

Ginger looks puzzled.

But Rosa looks increasingly rapturous.

18 EXT. BEACH SHELTER - DUSK 18

Rosa and Ginger are sitting huddled on a bench in a double-

sided shelter by the windswept beach. A young tousle-haired
beatnik approaches and offers a cigarette to Rosa. She
glances at Ginger, then gets up and moves along the bench
to sit next to him.

After a while Rosa and the boy walk round to the other side
of the shelter and start necking, their figures just
visible through the scratched and misty glass.
 12.

Ginger reaches down and opens her duffle-bag, then sits

perched on the bench reading intently and pointedly to
herself from a battered edition of T.S. Eliot's poems.

19 EXT. ROADSIDE - EVENING 19

Ginger and Rosa stand by the edge of a road on the way back
to London, their thumbs out, hitchhiking.

After a few cars have sped by, ignoring them, a lorry

squeals to a halt.

20 INT. LORRY - NIGHT 20

Ginger and Rosa sit on the squeaky leather seat next to the
driver as the lorry trundles along the dark country roads.

Ginger falls asleep on Rosa’s shoulder. Rosa’s eyes close,

sleepily, as the lorry rumbles through the night.

21 INT. NATALIE’S KITCHEN - DAY 21

Ginger is carefully ironing Rosa’s hair on an ironing

board. The iron goes dangerously close to Rosa’s head and
she looks up at Ginger, warily. Ginger combs gently through
Rosa’s hair with her fingers.

22 INT. GINGER’S BEDROOM - DAY 22

Rosa lies on Ginger’s bed as Ginger puts a record on her

record player. It’s “Take Five” played by Dave Brubeck.
When Ginger glances around, Rosa has disappeared.

GINGER
Rosa?

After a moment Rosa reappears with one of Natalie’s

blouses. She pulls it tightly round her body, admiring
herself in the mirror.

GINGER (CONT’D)
Isn’t that mum’s?
 13.

ROSA
So?

Ginger stares at Rosa, puzzled, then flops down on the bed

as Rosa preens and poses, gazing at her reflection.
Eventually Rosa shrugs and throws off the blouse. The two
girls change into their identical sloppy sweaters once more
and stare at themselves in the mirror before smiling at
each other, happily.

23 INT. NATALIE’S KITCHEN - NIGHT 23

Ginger and Rosa appear at the door of the kitchen. They are
wearing their dufflecoats on top of their identical
sweaters.

Natalie is sitting at the kitchen table with her friend

MARK and Anoushka. They are each clasping a mug of tea, and
seem to be in the middle of a hushed, intimate
conversation, which stops abruptly as the girls appear.

ANOUSHKA
Where are you two going?

GINGER
To a meeting.

MARK
What kind of meeting?

GINGER
A meeting to ban the bomb. It’s
called the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament. YCND.

NATALIE
What’s the Y for?

GINGER AND ROSA

(simultaneously)
Young.
 14.

MARK
Well, Good for you two girls.
That’s marvellous. Don’t you think
so, Nat?

NATALIE
Roland would be pleased...

ANOUSHKA
Just don’t get home too late, Rosa.
You’ve got to help me with the
little ones -

ROSA
- I haven’t got to do anything.

ANOUSHKA
(angrily)
God, if there was a man around -

ROSA
- you’d be lucky -

ANOUSHKA
(furious)
Rosa!

Natalie glances at Anoushka.

NATALIE
Speaking of which, when was the
last time you did any washing up,
Ginger?

GINGER
But I’ve hardly been here for any
meals!

NATALIE
Well, exactly. Where have you been?
I had a letter from your school. It
was embarrassing.

GINGER
(sarcastically)
Embarrassing. How terrible.
(MORE)
 15.

GINGER (CONT'D)
Especially given that the world
might blow up, which none of you
seem to understand.

MARK
(gently)
Are you quite sure about that,
darling?

GINGER
Oh, Mark, I didn’t mean you.

Mark smiles fondly at Ginger.

24 INT. CHURCH HALL - NIGHT 24

Ginger and Rosa are sitting in the back row at the meeting,
being held in a bleak church hall. The meeting is sparsely
populated. A young, intense, bearded man, TONY, is standing
at the front, talking to the group.

TONY
The question is what to do. Or, as
Engels puts it: “What is to be
done?” Nuclear weapons do not
protect us. They threaten our very
existence. The missiles on bases
here in Britain are hundreds of
times more powerful than those used
in Hiroshima. We have to take
direct action. We must do
everything we can to stop this
madness.

Rosa glances at Ginger, who is listening intently.

YOUNG MAN
The government can’t ignore it if
there are enough people on the
streets.

TONY
So how do we get people out? How do
we get people out of their homes
and marching with us?
 16.

Tony pauses and scans the hall, then points at Ginger and
Rosa.

TONY (CONT’D)
You back there. Well, girls, I
haven’t seen you here before. What
do you say? Do you think the
politicians will listen to us?

Rosa looks down, hiding behind her hair. Ginger looks

tongue-tied and embarrassed.

25 INT. GINGER’S BEDROOM - NIGHT 25

Ginger lies in bed, writing in a small notebook. A large

‘Ban the Bomb’ sign hangs on the wall behind her.

GINGER
(murmuring to herself)
In my dream I heard the warning:
You have three minutes left, it
said...
Tell the others...tell the others
now...

Ginger stops writing and listens to Natalie and Roland who

are just audible, arguing somewhere downstairs in the
house.

NATALIE (O.S.)
How could I not suspect something?
You’re never here!

ROLAND (O.S.)
I’m here now.

Roland’s voice is low and measured and all the more

terrible for it. Ginger continues writing, attempting to
stay focussed.

GINGER
Tell the others now, this
morning...
 17.

ROLAND (O.S.)
For God’s sake, Natalie. That’s
enough.

NATALIE (O.S.)
Don’t tell me what’s enough!

ROLAND (O.S.)
(shouting)
Oh, God, Natalie!

A door slams, violently. Ginger pauses, then continues

writing, searching for the words.

GINGER
(murmuring to herself)
Or you soon...Or you soon will all
be dead.

Ginger pauses again, then suddenly closes her notebook,

puts it down next to her pillow and turns over to face the
wall.

26 INT. CAFE - DAY 26

Roland has taken Ginger out to eat in a traditional pie and

mash cafe.

They sit opposite each other at an oil-clothed table as he

tucks into a steak-and-kidney pie and Ginger picks at her
mashed potato.

Roland suddenly notices the crucifix hanging round Ginger’s

neck and puts down his fork.

ROLAND
What on earth is that crucifix
doing round your neck?

GINGER
Rosa and I went to church.

ROLAND
Church?
 18.

GINGER
Once. She wanted me to.

ROLAND
You do realise that God is an
invention?

GINGER
Sort of...

ROLAND
Every man needs to struggle for his
own authority, Ginger. For
autonomous thought. Which is why
you mustn’t listen to a word I say.

Ginger brightens.

GINGER
Well, exactly. I autonomously
decided to go to church with Rosa,
to see what it’s like.

Roland laughs affectionately and reaches over to examine

the plastic crucifix more closely.

ROLAND
It’s a bit kitsch...

GINGER
(quickly)
Rosa gave it to me.

ROLAND
Did she, now. What was it like?

GINGER
It was sort of exciting. Like going
to the theatre. Then we went to a
meeting.

Roland pauses.

ROLAND
What kind of meeting?
 19.

GINGER
(proudly)
Ban the Bomb.

Roland smiles.

ROLAND
That’s my girl. You’re an activist,
not a supplicant.

Ginger glows, looking admiringly at her father, clearly

flattered by his praise. She hesitates, then starts to
speak, tentatively.

GINGER
But don’t you think... you know...
people need something to believe
about what happens when you die...

ROLAND
The concept of life after death is
a superstition, designed to keep
people satisfied with their limited
existence in the present. The only
life is the one we have now, which
is why we must seize it and live
while we have the chance.

GINGER
Good point.

Roland smiles affectionately at Ginger and then starts

eating again, voraciously. Ginger picks up her fork and
follows his lead, munching her food with relish.

27 INT. GINGER’S BEDROOM - NIGHT 27

Ginger lies alone in bed, holding her teddy bears, the huge
“Ban The Bomb” sign on the wall above her. She is reading
her usual battered copy of poems by T.S. Eliot, but puts
the book down on her chest as she hears the sound of an
accordion playing somewhere downstairs in the house.

Ginger closes her book, with a little sigh, and gets out of
the bed.
 20.

28 INT. STAIRS AND LIVING ROOM - NIGHT 28

Ginger creeps down the stairs in the darkness and then sits
down on one of the steps. She watches Natalie, who is
sitting by the dying embers of a fire in the living room,
playing her accordion and singing “The Man I Love”, quietly
and mournfully to herself.

NATALIE
“Maybe I’ll meet him Sunday,
Maybe Monday, maybe not.
Still I’m sure I’ll meet him one
day,
Maybe Tuesday will be my good news
day.
We’ll build a little home,
Just meant for two,
From which I’ll never roam,
Who would? Would you?”

Ginger moves slightly and the stair creaks. Natalie stops

playing and looks up.

GINGER
(gently)
Where’s Roland?

NATALIE
I don’t know. I never seem to know
where he is anymore.

Ginger stares at her, sadly.

GINGER
Want a cup of tea, Mum?

NATALIE
Thank you, darling.

29 INT. NATALIE’S KITCHEN - NIGHT 29

Ginger bangs the kettle onto the stove, noisily, wearily,

in the basement kitchen.
 21.

She lights the gas with a match then turns the knob and
watches the small circle of flames rise and fall.

Then she sits on a stool by the stove and listens to the

mournful sound of the accordion in the distance.

This looks like it’s happened before.

30 EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - DAY 30

Ginger and Rosa, dressed identically, are walking side by

side in the “Young CND” contingent of a very long column of
marching protesters.

Young mothers push small children in prams. Older men with

grizzled beards, wearing knitted socks with their leather
sandals, march determinedly, carrying “Ban the Bomb”
placards. Young students march and talk, animatedly. It's
all very friendly, a mix of ages and types united in their
beliefs.

TONY (the bearded youth from the meeting) suddenly appears

behind Ginger and playfully gives her a squeeze. She
blushes as he smiles at her, warmly, before joining his
friends at the head of their contingent.

The air fills with the distant sound of soaring jazz riffs,
coming nearer. An open jeep approaches, some young male
jazz musicians perched on the back, playing their hearts
out.

Roland is driving the jeep, a YOUNG WOMAN with long blonde

hair by his side.

Ginger turns and waves at her father enthusiastically. She

manages to catch his eye and he grins and waves happily
back at her, but drives on without slowing down.

ROSA
Who’s that with Roland?

GINGER
The jazz band?
 22.

ROSA
No, the girl. The blonde one
sitting next to him.

GINGER
Oh, a student, or something.

Ginger pauses.

GINGER (CONT’D)
Mum’s not too happy about it at the
moment.

Rosa turns and stares after Roland, admiringly, fingering

her crucifix.

31 INT. MARK’S KITCHEN - DAY 31

Ginger sits unhappily at a scrubbed table in a very tidy,

beautifully-decorated kitchen, furnished with an oak
dresser, a motley collection of antique chairs, a polished
stove and small framed prints on the wall. A boiled egg in
an egg cup and some toasted ‘soldiers’ have been placed on
the table in front of her, but Ginger sits, motionless,
staring down at the plate.

Mark stands watching Ginger with a kindly expression.

MARK
You could consider eating it,
Ginger.

Mark pauses, then sits down next to her at the table.

MARK (CONT’D)
How is school by the way? Or are
you still not bothering with that
very much at the moment?

GINGER
Is that why you asked me round? Did
Mum ask you to talk to me?
 23.

MARK
Don’t be silly. We always love
seeing you. And besides, I thought
you might like to meet Bella.

Mark’s partner, who is also called Mark, and is known to

their friends as ‘MARK TWO’ lurches into the kitchen
clutching his sides and laughing silently. He speaks with
an American accent.

MARK TWO
(whispering hysterically)
She asked for dish soap!

GINGER
What’s dish soap?

MARK
That’s American for washing up
liquid, Ginger.

MARK TWO
Bella washes her hair with dish
soap!

MARK
(in a stage whisper)
That’s because she’s from New York,
you see.

MARK TWO
Don’t listen to him. That’s got
nothing to do with it.

MARK
I’m teasing, I’m teasing.

Mark Two kisses Mark lightly on the cheek, before hurrying

back out of the kitchen, still chuckling.

MARK TWO
Coming!

Ginger smiles and starts to dip the ‘soldiers’ into the egg
yolk. Mark smiles, approvingly.
 24.

MARK
There you are. Good girl.

32 EXT. HAMPSTEAD HEATH - DAY 32

The two Marks, Ginger and BELLA, are walking amongst trees
on Hampstead Heath. Bella is clutching a bulging, heavy-
looking briefcase close to her body.

BELLA
So much nature. Right in the city.
So civilised.

MARK TWO
The English need their parks so
that they can get away from each
other. It must be the pressure of
being so nice. Even the Ban The
Bomb march was polite, Bella.

Ginger stops in her tracks.

GINGER
Were you there too?

MARK
Of course we were!

GINGER
I didn’t see you.

MARK
There were so many people, darling.

MARK TWO
We were up at the front. It was led
by a vicar, Ginger. A vicar!

MARK
A canon, actually.

BELLA
Oh, a vicar with a cannon?
 25.

They all laugh.

MARK
Yes, Canon Collins. A worthy
Christian. A good man, actually,
despite his beliefs.

Ginger suddenly runs ahead and does a cartwheel.

MARK (CONT’D)
Oh, bravo.

Ginger walks jauntily amongst this little group, looking

suddenly more child-like as she revels in the presence of
their easygoing friendship.

Bella drops back and strolls next to Ginger.

BELLA
So I gather from your two god-
fathers here that you might be a
militant, like me. Good for you,
Ginger.

Ginger smiles shyly but happily and skips along by her

side.

33 INT. NATALIE’S KITCHEN - NIGHT 33

Ginger and Roland are sitting at the kitchen table. It

looks as though an effort has been made. Natalie is wearing
a dress and a frilly apron. There is an embroidered table-
cloth on the table and the room is candlelit.

Natalie turns her back and bends over to reach into the
oven.

Roland lifts a candlestick and attempts to read a journal,

peering exaggeratedly at the page. He glances
conspiratorially at Ginger, who smiles back at him.

Natalie puts a pie-dish carefully down onto a mat on the

table. Roland serves himself and Ginger and starts eating,
abstractly.
 26.

Natalie stands watching him, the tension mounting.

NATALIE
Can't you thank me? Even one word?
I made you a pie! Your favourite.

Roland slowly puts down his fork, and sighs. He looks down
at his plate before replying, quietly.

ROLAND
Yup. I noticed.

NATALIE
And?

ROLAND
Thanks.

There is an icy pause. Ginger looks down at her plate.

NATALIE
Is that it? Is that all you can say
to me?

ROLAND
Thank you very much indeed. Is that
what you want?

NATALIE
What’s wrong with wanting my
cooking to be noticed?

ROLAND
Nothing. But I don’t believe
this... performance...

He gestures at the kitchen, at the candle, and the frilly

apron she is wearing over her dress.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
It’s just not you, Nat. So why
don’t you come out with it?
 27.

NATALIE
Come out with what?

ROLAND
If you want to shame me, again,
with this display-

NATALIE
- but I didn’t say anything!

ROLAND
But you meant it. And as I tell my
students, just say what you mean.

Natalie turns away and pulls off her apron, furiously.

NATALIE
I’m not your student. I’m your
wife. Or have you forgotten?

ROLAND
The martyred wife finally comes out
with it.

NATALIE
With what?

ROLAND
The accusation.

NATALIE
Roland. I...Why do you?...

Natalie gives up and stares at him, speechless. Roland

looks up and sees her anguished, tearful expression. His
face softens and he gets up and wraps his arms round her,
tenderly.

Ginger’s head is lowered but she is watching them.

ROLAND
(tenderly)
Why do I what? Oh Nat.

For a moment Natalie melts into Roland’s embrace.

 28.

NATALIE
Why do you twist my words? You make
everything seem as if it’s my
fault... Why can’t you just be
normal -

Roland pulls away from her, abruptly.

ROLAND
Normal? What the hell is normal?

He crosses the kitchen, flicks a switch, and the room is

suddenly flooded with a harsh white light.

NATALIE
You know bloody well what I mean.

ROLAND
Natalie. Please. How can I enjoy
eating in this atmosphere of
resentment?

He sits down, heavily.

NATALIE
And how can I enjoy cooking when
you just gobble it up -

ROLAND
- Oh for God’s sake. I’ve been
working all day -

NATALIE
But I made it for you.

ROLAND
Emotional blackmail, again.

Natalie reaches for a handkerchief and blows her nose.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
If the transitory nature of cooking
and eating offends you so much then
why don’t you take up your painting
again and make something for
posterity?
 29.

NATALIE
(shouting)
With what? I'm scraping to pay the
bills, with the money -

ROLAND
- yes - the money I earn -

NATALIE
- well it’s not enough for paint -

ROLAND
(shouting)
- then get a job!

Roland stands up abruptly and starts to walk out of the

room.

NATALIE
While you sod off to your bloody
yacht -

ROLAND
(quietly)
- boat. It's a small boat -

NATALIE
- your bloody boat with some blonde
student again, for all I know...

Roland marches off angrily up the stairs, slamming the door

behind him. There is a long silence.

NATALIE (CONT’D)
(quietly)
Anyway, what kind of job could I
get?

Natalie sits down at the table. Ginger stares unseeing at

her untouched plate of food. They slowly turn to look at
each other.
 30.

34 EXT. PLAYGROUND - DAY 34

Ginger and Rosa sit side-by-side in their school uniforms

on the swings in the familiar tenement courtyard where Rosa
lives with her mother. A wooden roundabout is the only
other piece of equipment on the tarmac. A few young
children dash about in the background. Ginger looks sad.

GINGER
Roland’s moving out. They’re
separating...

GINGER/ROSA
(simultaneously)
...again.

GINGER
Not that it’ll make any difference.
He's hardly ever at home anyway.

They swing back and forth, slowly.

ROSA
Well, at least you have a dad. Who
takes you out and stuff.

Ginger turns and looks at Rosa.

GINGER
(gently)
I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you
came with me this weekend.

ROSA
You don’t want me tagging along
with your beloved Dad.

GINGER
Don’t be silly.

Rosa brightens, visibly.

GINGER (CONT’D)
But anyway I have a Roland,
actually. He won't let me call him
Dad.
 31.

ROSA
I know. You told me. Lots of times.

GINGER
(guiltily)
Did I?

Ginger is silenced, momentarily. She glances at Rosa’s

profile.

GINGER (CONT’D)
Did I also tell you he says the
word ‘dad’ makes him think of
slippers by the fire and other
bourgeois death-traps? He has a
point, of course.

They both swing back and forth, rhythmically.

ROSA
What’s Natalie’s view of death-
traps?

GINGER
Oh she just bursts into tears, as
usual, when he says stuff like
that. Which he then says is -

GINGER/ROSA
(simultaneously)
- emotional blackmail.

ANOUSHKA (V.O.)
Rosa!

They both look up at Anoushka, who is leaning over the

balcony, several floors up.

ANOUSHKA
Rosa! Can you bring the girls up
now?

The two girls sit and swing, silently. Rosa stubbornly

ignores her mother. Anoushka gives up and disappears. Rosa
suddenly gets up and walks over towards the roundabout.
Ginger follows her.
 32.

ROSA
(decisively)
Our mothers are pathetic. They
don’t believe in anything -

GINGER
- or do anything, more to the
point.

They sit down on the roundabout. Ginger starts pushing it

and it begins to rotate.

ROSA
Except moan about stuff.

GINGER
At least your mum has a job.

They are turning, faster and faster.

ROSA
Cleaning? You call that a job?
She hates it. She moans on and
on...

GINGER
Roland really hates the moaning
thing.

ROSA
It’s no wonder -

GINGER
- no wonder what?

ROSA
It’s no wonder they can't keep
their men.

Ginger looks questioningly at Rosa as the roundabout spins

and the background behind them becomes a blur.

35 EXT. ROWING DINGHY - DUSK 35

Ginger and Rosa are sitting perched next to each other on a

narrow wooden seat in a small rowing dinghy, gripping the
sides of the boat.
 33.

Ginger's father is rowing, pulling the dinghy against the

strong current.

Rosa stares at him admiringly. He catches her eye, briefly,

and smiles.

The dinghy moves slowly across the darkening expanse of

water towards a small sailing boat bobbing in the distance
in the evening mist.

36 INT. MAIN BOAT CABIN - DUSK 36

Ginger and Rosa lower themselves down a steep ladder into a

small cabin and sit side-by-side on a bunk as Ginger's
father strikes a match and lights a lamp. It flares into
life.

He hangs the light on a hook, and stares at it for a

moment, before sprawling luxuriantly on the other bunk.

The girls sit wide-eyed in the flickering shadows; Rosa

with admiration, Ginger with a nameless anxiety.

Roland looks lovingly around the cabin.

ROLAND
What could be better than this?
Isn’t she marvellous? Am I right,
girls?

Ginger nods mutely.

ROSA
(softly)
It’s lovely. It’s so romantic.

ROLAND
Indeed. There is poetry in small
spaces, isn’t there, Rosa?

He lies there, lost in thought, as the waves lap against

the hull of the boat.
 34.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
Confinement can be utterly
beautiful, but only when it's a
matter of choice.

ROSA
(quietly)
What do you mean?

ROLAND
What I mean is that a prison cell,
on the contrary, is the ugliest
expression of minimalism.

Rosa stares at him. He looks up and meets her gaze.

ROSA
It must have been really terrible.
Ginger told me about it...

Roland glances questioningly at Ginger, who looks down at

her hands.

ROLAND
Did she?

ROSA
We tell each other everything.

ROLAND
(lightly)
I’ve nothing to hide.

The girls sit silently as Roland gazes up at the roof of

the cabin.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
Prison was pretty brutal. First
they strip you of your clothes.
Then, if you dare to protest, they
strip you of all human contact.

Roland turns his head, slowly, and looks at Rosa, as if he

is looking through her. She returns his gaze, intently.
 35.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
But the worst thing about solitary
confinement, Rosa, is not that they
make you feel like an abandoned
child, but that you start to doubt
your beliefs.

Rosa's eyes fill with tears.

ROSA
I understand.

Roland suddenly focuses on Rosa, gazing at her thoughtfully

and tenderly.

Ginger sits rigidly still, glancing anxiously from one to

the other.

37 INT. SMALL BOAT CABIN - NIGHT 37

Ginger and Rosa lie silently in two narrow bunks in the

tiny cramped secondary cabin in the prow of the boat. Rosa
is gazing into the darkness while Ginger listens to Roland
fiddling with the controls of a short-wave radio in the
main cabin.

RADIO ANNOUNCER (V.O.)

The Soviet Defence Minister said
today that their missiles could,
with one blow, wipe off the face of
the earth the industrial centres of
the Unites States. The British
government has announced that
nuclear missiles located on Royal
Airforce bases in the United
Kingdom are capable of the ultimate
retaliation against any Soviet
attack.

GINGER
(whispering)
Did you hear that?

ROSA
What?
 36.

GINGER
About the missiles.

Ginger watches Rosa's profile in the dark, etched by the

moonlight streaking in through a porthole. Rosa's eyes are
gleaming.

Then Roland re-tunes the radio to a classical music

programme. Schubert’s’ ‘Fantasie’ (a piano duet) is
playing. After a while the music is joined by the sound of
Roland softly weeping.

Rosa turns her head towards Ginger, questioningly.

GINGER (CONT’D)
Oh, he always does that. Especially
with Schubert.

Rosa sits up quietly, and presses her eye to a crack in the

door to the main cabin.

She stares at Roland, mesmerised, as he sits with his head

in his hands, softly weeping.

38 INT. CLASSROOM - DAY 38

Ginger is standing by a table in a chemistry lab.

She adds a few drops of water through a pipette into a

flask, which creates a sudden small but dramatic explosion.

Ginger gazes at the flames, then something catches her eye.

She stands up straight, suddenly, as she catches sight of
Natalie approaching the school gates and walking
determinedly through them.

She peers out of the window as Natalie walks across the

tarmac and disappears into the school building.

39 INT. COFFEE BAR - DAY 39

Rosa and Ginger sit opposite each other at a formica table

in a coffee-bar in Soho; a cup of coffee in front of each
of them.
 37.

Rosa is chewing a pencil as she tries to compose a letter

on a small pad of pale-blue notepaper.

ROSA
What do you think I should say?

GINGER
Who to?

ROSA
Roland.

Ginger looks startled.

GINGER
Why are you writing to Roland?

ROSA
Well, I want to tell him that I
understand him. You know, like
sometimes in your soul you feel...
well... someone else's pain.

Rosa stares down at the blank paper, oblivious of Ginger’s

facial expression.

ROSA (CONT'D)
But I can't decide whether to start
with 'Dear Roland' or 'Dearest
Roland'. What do you think?

Ginger's mouth moves but she can't speak.

She gets up abruptly, and turns away to put a coin in the

jukebox. She chooses Little Richard singing “Tutti Frutti”.
She leans against the jukebox and feels its rhythmic,
pulsating vibrations with her fingertips.

A young MAN comes and stands nearby, watching her.

MAN
Fancy a drink?
 38.

40 INT. GINGER’S BEDROOM - NIGHT 40

Ginger leans over the edge of the bed and vomits onto the
floor. Natalie suddenly appears in the doorway.

NATALIE
Oh, Ginger. You and Rosa...

Ginger screams at her, between retching.

GINGER
Go away! You don't understand!

Ginger moans. Natalie approaches the bed.

NATALIE
Ginger...

GINGER
You came to my school! I saw you!
My teacher told me you said there
should be more so-called domestic
science lessons.

NATALIE
Is that what this is all about?

GINGER
How could you? You want me to learn
housework. At school.

Natalie sits down on the bed next to Ginger.

NATALIE
(heatedly)
Listen, Ginger. When I had you I
was just a teenager. A teenager. I
didn't know how to boil a bloody
egg. Roland never lifted a finger
to help with anything.

GINGER
That’s not my fault!

NATALIE
Listen to me.
 39.

Natalie puts her hand gently on Ginger’s shoulder.

NATALIE (CONT’D)
(softly)
I just don’t want you to struggle
like I did.

GINGER
(screaming at her)
But I’m never going to have any
babies! Never! I don’t want to be
like you! So bugger off!

Natalie stares down at Ginger’s contorted face, as her own

face drains of colour.

NATALIE
You and Rosa are turning into
little sluts.

Natalie gets up and turns to leave the room.

GINGER
Anyway, I'm going to go and live
with Roland!

Natalie stops in her tracks in the doorway.

NATALIE
(quietly)
What are you talking about?

41 EXT. HOUSE - DAY 41

Ginger walks up to the entrance of a dark, deserted-looking

building. She rings the bell.

After a long wait the door is opened by a tall, elegant

man, ROGER.

ROGER
Hello.

GINGER
Is Roland in at all?
 40.

ROGER
Follow me.

42 INT. HOUSE - ROLAND’S ROOM - DAY 42

Ginger follows Roger up the stairs towards the sound of a

“roneo” machine which is rhythmically churning out
duplicated pages.

Roger ushers Ginger into Roland’s room - a sparsely

furnished attic space containing a mattress on the floor, a
desk, some piles of books and the Roneo machine, which
Roland is operating.

ROGER
Visitor, Roland!

Roland turns around, with an expression of surprise.

He switches off the machine as Ginger approaches and

embraces her, warmly. Roger disappears back down the
stairs.

ROLAND
What a surprise!
Is everything alright?

GINGER
Oh yes, absolutely.

She fidgets. Roland looks slightly tense, lost for words.

ROLAND
Is Nat doing alright?
Not too many scenes, or anything?

GINGER
Not too many.

ROLAND
Good. I’ll put the kettle on.

He disappears for a moment and Ginger stands, gazing round

the room. Roland comes back and pulls out the chair next to
his desk.
 41.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
Here, have a seat.

She sits down. Roland perches on the edge of his desk and
looks down at Ginger. There is an awkward silence.

GINGER
The thing is, I was wondering...

ROLAND
Yes?

GINGER
If, for example, there was any
room, I mean - I don’t know, it may
not be feasible at all - but...

She trails off, looking at Roland, hopefully.

ROLAND
Room?

GINGER
Here.

Roland looks momentarily shocked.

ROLAND
Well. Jesus, Ginger. It’s a bit
...you, here?

Roland’s face softens. He looks touched.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
I supposed I could ask Roger...but
look. You do realise, of course,
I’m working more-or-less non-stop?

Ginger nods, mutely.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
And that this is a completely
unsuitable environment for you in
every possible respect?

GINGER
Absolutely.
 42.

Ginger beams, delightedly. Roland looks at her

affectionately, ruffles her hair and laughs. A flicker of
sadness, or perhaps guilt, flashes across Ginger’s face.

43 INT. MARK’S KITCHEN - DAY 43

Ginger looks tearful as she pulls off her coat and sits
down at the kitchen table with the two Marks.

MARK
Are you quite sure this move is a
wise idea, Ginger?

Ginger turns to Mark Two.

GINGER
How old were you when you left
home, Mark Two?

MARK TWO
I was about your age. I had to go,
my mother was an absolute monster.

Ginger turns tearfully and triumphantly to Mark One.

GINGER
You see?

MARK
Nat is not a monster.

GINGER
Not to you.

MARK
Anyway Mark, your mother was in
fact, as I understand, not a
monster but a gangster.

Mark Two laughs.

MARK TWO
Yes, yes!
 43.

GINGER
(quietly)
Was she a happy gangster?

Both Marks fall silent. Bella quietly appears in the

doorway behind Ginger, clutching her bulging briefcase.
Bella is about to greet Ginger but Mark silences her with a
small gesture. They all turn to study Ginger, kindly.

MARK
Nat is unhappy, darling. But it’s
not because of you.

Ginger is silent for a moment.

GINGER
(softly)
But was she always unhappy? You
know, when she was my age? You knew
her then.

MARK
I did. Yes.

GINGER
Did she cry all the time before she
had me?

MARK
She was troubled darling. But then,
we were all troubled. It was
wartime.

MARK TWO
It must have been an absolute
nightmare. Bombs falling all the
time everywhere. Nothing was
secure. Nothing.

GINGER
But what’s the difference? We could
all die tomorrow.

Bella nods.
 44.

BELLA
We could, Ginger. For sure. We
could.

Mark Two glares at Bella.

MARK TWO
Bella!

BELLA
She’s right. It is getting serious.

Ginger turns to face Bella.

GINGER
But I don’t want to die! I want to
grow up and do things!

The two Marks gaze at Ginger, lovingly.

MARK TWO
And you will honey, you will.

MARK
My darling Ginger...can't you be a
girl for a moment or two longer?
You'll be a woman soon enough.

44 EXT. WASTEGROUND - DAY 44

Rosa and Ginger are hanging out near a smouldering fire

amongst the bricks and rubble in the wasteground. Rosa sits
on a rickety chair, smoking a cigarette and gazing into the
fire while Ginger hovers nearby.

Small children are running about, playing and shouting as

they throw stones and set fire to broken furniture.

ROSA
(dreamily)
Roland replied to my letter.

GINGER
(quietly)
Did he? What did he say?
 45.

ROSA
He said he was very touched. He has
such deep feelings. Such fierce
feelings.

GINGER
I know.

ROSA
And he’s a pacifist.

GINGER
I know.

Ginger looks irritated. Rosa looks defensive.

ROSA
Well, I think it’s really noble.
It’s evil to kill.

GINGER
Well exactly.

ROSA
It’s one of the ten commandments.

GINGER
Though shalt not, etcetera,
etcetera.

ROSA
You sound a bit cynical.

GINGER
Absolutely not. But I don’t need a
commandment to work that one out. I
think there are times for action,
to stop total death.

Ginger walks away angrily through the billowing smoke. It

looks like a war-zone. Rosa gets up slowly and follows her.
Ginger turns back to Rosa and speaks heatedly.
 46.

GINGER (CONT’D)
Look, Rosa, I totally admire my
father in every way, but I’m just
not sure, is it really so noble to
decide not to fight someone like
Hitler? Mark says -

ROSA
- you're always quoting Mark -

GINGER
- and you're always quoting Roland
these days. Mark told me he chose
not to fight in the war, because he
didn’t want to kill anybody. He was
an ambulance driver instead.

ROSA
But Roland was in prison. For being
a conscientious objector.

Ginger suddenly looks very angry.

GINGER
I know. He’s my father. And I’m
going to go and live with him
starting this week.

ROSA
And I’m going sailing with him next
weekend. Do you want to come?
Actually, he thought you should,
probably.

GINGER
What do you mean, should?

Ginger stares at Rosa, coldly, trembling slightly.

45 INT. HOUSE - DAY 45

Ginger is following Roland up the stairs into a small room

across the landing from his attic space.

The room is extremely small and is piled high with boxes

and a clutter of old furniture.
 47.

It has been furnished austerely with a narrow bed. A bare

light-bulb dangles from the ceiling.

Ginger stands holding a small record-player in one hand and

a basket with a few possessions in the other.

ROLAND
(grinning)
One of the best rooms in the house.
Small, but perfectly formed. Happy?

Ginger smiles brightly - perhaps too brightly - and nods

her head vigorously.

Roland leaves the room. Ginger puts her teddy-bears down on

the bed, plugs her record-player into a socket dangling
from the wall, and takes a record out of her basket. She
lowers the needle carefully onto the record.

It’s Sidney Bechet playing ‘Petite Fleur’.

She sits down on the bed pulling her dufflecoat tightly

around her, and looks around the room as the music soars
heartbreakingly.

46 EXT. BOAT - DAY 46

Ginger, Rosa and Roland are sitting in the cockpit of his

boat, sailing on the open sea.

Rosa glances at Ginger and then moves closer to Roland, who

guides her hand onto the tiller. They whisper to each
other, intimately.

Ginger stares out at the sea, then leans out and dangles
her head in the rushing water. Then she gets up and starts
to edge along the deck. She eventually reaches the prow of
the boat as it plunges up and down through the waves.

She sits there, trembling, as wind lashes her face and

body.

Behind her, Roland and Rosa are oblivious of everything

except each other; high, delirious with the danger of their
flirtation.
 48.

47 INT. SMALL BOAT CABIN - NIGHT 47

Ginger lies in her sleeping bag in the tiny cabin in the

prow of the boat, clutching her paperback copy of T.S.
Eliot. The other bunk is empty.

She reads the same phrase over and over to herself:

GINGER
(muttering)
“This is how the world ends, this
is how the world ends... not with a
bang... not with a bang...”

There is a low murmur of voices in the main cabin.

Then silence.

Some giggling.

Then a low masculine moan.

Ginger grabs the pillow and desperately covers her ears

with it as the moans are joined by high, female yelping
noises.

FADE TO BLACK.

48 INT. MARK’S DINING ROOM - NIGHT 48

Ginger sits silently at the table at a small dinner party

held by the two Marks. Natalie sits opposite her and has
clearly made an effort to dress up for the occasion. Bella
sits clutching her bulging briefcase on her lap, which is
making it awkward to reach forward to sip her soup.

Another MALE GUEST notices and gestures questioningly at

Mark.

MARK
Bella will not be parted from her
work in progress. Under any
circumstances.

Bella nods, affirmatively.

 49.

BELLA
Well, there are certain things that
one must hold on to.

MARK TWO
Don't you think there's
occasionally an argument for
letting go dear?

Bella turns towards Ginger.

BELLA
Don't be fooled by such phoney
modernity, Ginger. “Letting-go”.
Please.

Ginger tries to smile.

MARK TWO
(gently)
Surely even a poetess should be
able to enjoy her soup, especially
when it’s been made by Mark.

BELLA
But one is not a poet-ess, Mark
Two, just as one is not a doctor-
ess, or a physicist-ess.

Ginger looks up at Bella, intrigued.

DINNER GUEST
Here we go.

BELLA
No, this is not a matter of
principle, but one of precise
language. Names are word-objects
and must be given due respect.

MARK TWO
That’s an interesting concept,
Bella.

Bella turns to Ginger.

 50.

BELLA
By the way, I'm curious. I
understand why you have this
adorable nickname, Ginger, but
what's the name on your birth
certificate?

Ginger glances anxiously at Natalie, who looks down at her

plate.

There is a long silence as Ginger hesitates, awkwardly. She

turns to Mark for help. He smiles at her, encouragingly.

GINGER
(shyly)
My father named me... Africa...

BELLA
Africa! Any particular reason?

GINGER
(quietly)
He said it was in honour of Freud's
theory of the dark continent of
woman.

The other dinner guest lets out a guffaw, but is silenced

by Mark, who makes a protective gesture.

BELLA
(muttering)
Oh dear, Freud.

DINNER GUEST
Is this the famous Roland who holds
us all in his theoretical spell?

Mark Two kicks him, vigorously, under the table. Natalie

gets up quietly from the table and disappears out of the
room. There is an awkward pause in the conversation.

BELLA
Well let’s just stick with Ginger
then, shall we?
(MORE)
 51.

BELLA (CONT'D)
Although you could always move on
to Scarlet, in due time. As in
flame, not O’Hara. That’s a good
name for an activist. How’s all
that going, by the way?

Ginger brightens, for the first time in the conversation.

GINGER
I’m thinking of joining the
Committee of 100, actually. I agree
with Bertrand Russell.

BELLA
And what do you agree with?

GINGER
About direct action. He says “the
danger of nuclear war is too great
for lawful protest”.

Mark gets up quietly from the table. He gestures to Mark

Two, indicating that he is going off to check on Natalie.

BELLA
So you think marching is not
enough?

GINGER
It may not be enough to save us.
You know, from total extinction.

Bella looks at Ginger with interest. The others no longer

know where to look.

49 INT. ROLAND’S KITCHEN - NIGHT 49

Ginger and Rosa are standing side by side in front of the

sink in Roland’s untidy kitchen. They look stiff and ill at
ease in each others’ presence in sharp contrast to the easy
familiarity they once had.

Ginger pins a ban-the-bomb badge on her sweater and glances

at Rosa’s outfit. The two girls are no longer wearing
identical clothes.
 52.

Rosa is in a skirt and tight sweater, while Ginger is

wearing jeans with her sloppy sweater, as usual. Rosa
expertly applies dark make-up round her eyes.

There is an uncharacteristic silence between the two girls.

The air is heavy with tension.

GINGER
(quietly)
Where are you going?

ROSA
To a restaurant. Where are you
going?

GINGER
To a meeting.

ROSA
See you later, then.

GINGER¨
(anxiously)
So you’re coming back here?

ROSA
Maybe.

They glance at each other, uneasily.

ROSA (CONT’D)
Do you want to try?

She hands Ginger her eye make-up, awkwardly, before turning

and walking out of the room. Ginger holds the eye make-up
and stares at herself in the mirror.

50 INT. CHURCH HALL - NIGHT 50

Ginger edges her way through a large crowd in the church

hall. Tony is addressing the meeting.

TONY
This crisis is taking the world to
the brink of catastrophe.
(MORE)
 53.

TONY (CONT'D)
The Russians have put their
missiles on Cuba, as we know, as
part of the deadly battle with the
United States for world supremacy
that could end with no world at
all. And what is our government
doing about it?

Ginger pushes her way into a space where she can see Tony.
She looks breathless, intense, and is wearing dark eye make-
up for the first time.

TONY (CONT’D)
They tell people to put sandbags
over their windows and stay
indoors. Meanwhile, the government
has built top secret bomb shelters
underground. But only enough space
for themselves.

Ginger suddenly raises her hand. Tony stops speaking and

gestures towards her.

GINGER
Then who will be left for them to
govern? Everyone else will be dead.
Burnt to cinders.
I think it's immoral. You know, to
use precise language.

Tony, nods at Ginger, affirmatively, as people in the crowd

turn around to look at her, intrigued.

51 INT. PUB - NIGHT 51

Tony and Ginger are standing at the bar in a noisy,

crowded, smoke-filled pub amongst a lively, voluble group
who have moved on after the meeting.

TONY
Let me guess. You shouldn’t really
be in here. You’re still at school,
aren’t you?
 54.

Ginger shrugs, nonchalantly.

GINGER
Some of the time.

TONY
Don’t worry, I’ll buy you a drink.

Tony gets the attention of the barman.

TONY (CONT’D)
A pint and... and a half, please.

GINGER
Thanks. Anyway, I learn more at
these meetings than I ever do at
school.

TONY
That goes without saying, I think.

The barman hands Tony the drinks. He gives the half-pint

glass to Ginger.

GINGER
Thanks.

They edge their way through the crowd and sit down next to
each other, pressed close in the crush.

GINGER (CONT’D)
Are you...Are you a student?

Tony smiles at Ginger.

TONY
I’m at art school. Do you draw?

GINGER
(hurriedly)
Oh yes, definitely. Sometimes.

She blushes, confused.

GINGER (CONT’D)
But I think I’m more of a poet,
actually.
 55.

TONY
Are you?

GINGER
My mum used to be a painter,
though.

TONY
What’s her name?

GINGER
Oh, you wouldn’t know it. She gave
it up, you know, to...to have me. I
live with my father now, anyway.

Tony looks a little surprised at this sudden rush of

private information.

GINGER (CONT’D)
He’s a pacifist. He writes articles
and stuff.

TONY
Anything I might have read?

GINGER
‘The Idea of Freedom’...

Tony looks impressed.

TONY
He’s your father?

Ginger nods and looks down, shyly, tongue-tied, and gulps

at her beer. She grimaces at the bitter, unfamiliar taste.

52 INT. ROLAND’S HOUSE - NIGHT 52

Ginger walks quietly up the stairs towards her attic room.

She can hear music and the sound of typing coming from
Roland’s room. She tiptoes towards the door and peers
through a crack.
 56.

Roland is sitting at his desk, concentrating on his

writing. Rosa appears behind him, wraps her arms around
him, sensuously, and kisses the top of his head. Roland
looks up and smiles at Rosa.

Ginger creeps away into her room and shuts the door. She
lies down on her bed, clutching her teddy-bears, and stares
into the darkness.

FADE TO BLACK.

53 INT. ROLAND’S KITCHEN - NIGHT 53

Roland is sitting drinking wine at the table in his

kitchen. The bottle is nearly empty and Roland seems
distinctly tipsy. The table is laid for supper, but it
looks as if Roland has been waiting for a while.

Roger is standing nearby, clutching a wineglass.

Ginger and Rosa are hovering by the stove over a huge

saucepan of spaghetti.

ROSA
Ginger. Try it. I think it might be
done.

Ginger tests a strand of spaghetti, then drains the pan

into a colander and carries it towards the table. Rosa
follows with another pan and starts ladling sauce onto the
spaghetti on the plates. She turns towards Roger.

ROSA (CONT’D)
Are you sure you don’t want any?

Roger smiles.

ROGER
I’m fine thank you. I’ve already
eaten.

Roland eats a mouthful.

 57.

ROLAND
Not bad. Not bad.

Roger chortles as Roland leans back and catches his eye,

smiling.

ROGER
Who’s the chef?

ROSA
We made it together. Me and Ginger.

ROLAND
Mutual aid. This is good.

ROGER
Communist cooks. How marvellous.

ROLAND
Anarchists, I think.

ROSA
It’s Italian actually. Bolognese.

Roger laughs.

ROGER
Oh, there’s lots of anarchists in
Bologna.

Rosa suddenly looks confused. Is he making fun of her?

Roland takes another swig of red wine, stops eating, and

looks Rosa up and down. He studies her legs, the fish-net
stockings, the short skirt.

ROLAND
(quietly)
You are a thing of beauty, Rosa.

Ginger looks down at her plate.

Roland stands up, and walks over towards Rosa. Rosa falls
into his arms and rests her head on his chest, blissfully.

Roger stares, fascinated, at Rosa’s ecstatic expression and

then at Ginger’s lowered head.
 58.

When he sees that tears are rolling down Ginger’s face,

Roger’s expression changes and he starts to walk away,
quietly. He leaves the room.

Roland sits down again at the table opposite Ginger. He

looks up at her face, which is etched with misery. Rosa
stares at Ginger, guiltily. Roland’s face softens as he
studies Ginger’s face.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
Oh, Ginger...

54 INT. NATALIE’S FRONT DOOR AND HALLWAY - DAY 54

Ginger runs up the steps towards Natalie’s front door and

knocks, rapidly. Natalie opens the door and seems surprised
to see Ginger standing there.

NATALIE
Ginger!

Ginger walks through the hallway into the living room,

followed by Natalie. They stand, facing each other. There
is an awkward silence. Then they both start talking at
once.

GINGER
(hesitantly)
Look Mum...

NATALIE
(simultaneously)
How is everything?

They fall silent again. Then Ginger tries again.

GINGER
Can I stay the night tonight?

Natalie looks closely at Ginger, who avoids her gaze and

wanders away across the room.
 59.

GINGER (CONT’D)
I'm not moving back or anything...

Ginger stares at an easel placed where Roland’s desk once

stood. She looks at the painting on the easel, the brushes
and the tubes of paint.

GINGER (CONT’D)
You’re painting again.

NATALIE
Yes, I am. And a bit of studying,
now that...

Natalie hesitates and gestures around the empty house, then

looks down at her hands.

Ginger pauses, before answering in a small voice.

GINGER
Well, that’s good.

NATALIE
But I could make up your bed...

She trails off, and glances at Ginger, noticing her hurt

expression. Ginger turns away and looks out of the window
to hide her face.

NATALIE (CONT’D)
Aren't you happy at Roland's? After
going on and on about wanting to
live with him instead of boring old
me?

Ginger turns back to look at Natalie.

GINGER
I never said that. About being
boring. But, of course I’m happy
over there. It’s really
interesting.
 60.

Ginger starts moving back towards the hallway. She puts on

a bright expression.

GINGER (CONT’D)
It was just a thought, anyway.
Don't bother with the bed or
anything. I was just passing.

55 EXT. WASTEGROUND - DUSK. 55

Ginger sits alone, leaning against the corrugated iron

fence which surrounds the wasteground. She doesn’t move.
It’s an image of desolation.

56 INT. HOUSE - GINGER’S ROOM - NIGHT 56

Ginger is startled awake.

It is Roland, who has switched the light-bulb on in her

room and is carrying a steaming bowl of stew towards her
bed.

He holds it out, stiffly, defensively. Ginger blinks in the

light.

ROLAND
I've made you some supper.

GINGER
(blearily)
What time is it?

ROLAND
About two. Or so. Somewhat late.
But I cooked it. You said you were
hungry.

GINGER
Well I was...

Roland looks hurt.

ROLAND
You’re not going to eat it?
 61.

Ginger sits up, hurriedly.

GINGER
Oh yes, yes, it looks delicious. I
didn’t know you could cook.

ROLAND
Nor did I.

Roland sits down on the bed next to Ginger. He watches as

she forces down the hot chunks of meat and potatoes.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
Look, I know it’s all got a bit
complicated.

Ginger eats, avoiding his eyes.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
Perhaps I can never be the kind of
father you really want. I’m not
sure that I’m father material
really.

Ginger looks up at him, wide-eyed, anxious.

GINGER
Oh, but you are. I never said I
wanted anything different did I?

ROLAND
You’ve never really complained
about anything. You're not a
moaner, as a rule, thank God. But
look...

Roland gets up and crosses the tiny room. He leans back

against the wall.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
Things have been difficult for me
with Nat for a long time.

Ginger pauses between mouthfuls and glances at Roland's

expression. Intense, preoccupied, preparing to say more.
 62.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
One day you will understand that
real love, when it comes, is like a
siren-call. One simply has no
choice. One must surrender.

Roland makes a gesture of submission.

Ginger isn’t eating anymore.

Roland comes back and sits down next to Ginger again. He

suddenly seems lost, uncharacteristically, for words.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
But listen... I am aware... that
perhaps, you might not be entirely
happy with the situation?

He looks at Ginger, his eyes brimming with anxiety. Ginger

gazes at him, fighting down her nameless feelings. Then she
seems to make a decision and speaks in a strong, reassuring
voice.

GINGER
How can anyone be happy? When you
know about the Bomb? Happiness is
not really an option, when you know
the world could be blown to pieces
any minute.

Roland visibly relaxes.

Ginger studies his face. Yes, she has pleased him.

ROLAND
You are a good girl, Ginger. A born
radical, unsurprisingly.

Ginger attempts a smile. Roland looks at Ginger, fondly,

gets up and walks over to the door. But he hesitates.
 63.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
Listen. It’s probably best not to
say anything to Nat about the times
with Rosa on the boat and so on.
I’m sure we agree on this.

Their eyes meet and each hurriedly looks away again.

57 INT. ROLAND’S KITCHEN - DAY 57

Ginger tiptoes across the kitchen towards the sink in the

early morning light. She looks exhausted. She starts
washing her face at the sink, scrubbing her skin violently
with a face-cloth. Roland coughs in the adjacent room and
switches on the radio. It’s a broadcast of President
Kennedy in the middle of making a speech.

Ginger freezes as she listens to his voice.

PRESIDENT KENNEDY (V.O.)

We will not prematurely or
unnecessarily risk the costs of
worldwide nuclear war in which even
the fruits of victory would be
ashes in our mouth. But neither
will we shrink from that risk at
any time it must be faced.

58 EXT. PARK GARDENS - DAY 58

Ginger sits on the long wooden bench she had once sat on
with Rosa to play clapping games. She looks dazed, frozen.
The ground is covered with snow.

PRESIDENT KENNEDY (V.O.) (CONT’D)

The cost of freedom is always high,
but Americans have always paid it.
And one path we shall never choose:
the path of surrender or
submission.
 64.

Ginger lies down on her back on the snowy ground, then

reaches out and grasps a handful of ice and mud as if she
is holding onto the earth itself.

59 INT. COFFEE BAR - EVENING 59

Ginger sits at a table at the usual coffee bar, still

wearing her snow-soaked school uniform. She is
concentrating intently as she writes in her notebook.

GINGER (V.O.)
(quietly)
I dreamed there was
A wall of flame.
I screamed because
I was to blame.
I looked around:
No night, no day,
No sky, no ground,
Nothing to say...

She suddenly looks up as the door opens and Rosa walks in.
Ginger closes her notebook.

ROSA
(distractedly)
Sorry I’m late. We were talking and
talking, I didn’t notice the time.
It was so...

GINGER (CONT’D)
(sarcastically)
- intense. Right.

Rosa avoids her gaze.

ROSA
Well it was. And I think... I think
Roland is wounded.

Ginger looks startled.

GINGER
What do you mean? What’s happened?
 65.

ROSA
Wounded emotionally, I mean. And
spiritually. I think I can help
him.

GINGER
(hotly)
Help him? How can you help him?

ROSA
We have a lot in common, you know.

GINGER
Such as?

ROSA
(defensively)
Such as the fact that his mother
left him when he was little. You
know, like my father left me.

GINGER
(sarcastically)
Oh. What a way to bond.

ROSA
(defiantly)
Well, yes, actually. We understand
each other. He confides in me.

Ginger stares at Rosa, who looks away, uncomfortably. The

two girls sit, silently, for a moment.

Then Rosa looks down at Ginger’s notebook.

ROSA (CONT’D)
Anyway, what are you writing?

GINGER
A poem. About the end of the world.
Haven’t you heard?

ROSA
Heard what?
 66.

GINGER
About the crisis. Remember those
missiles in Cuba?

ROSA
What missiles?

GINGER
Where have you been? Don’t you care
about the future any more?

ROSA
Not everyone can save the whole
world like you, Ginger. Some of us
have to concentrate on just one
person.

Ginger’s face is burning.

GINGER
You can’t save my dad!

ROSA
Why not?

GINGER
Who do you think you are?

ROSA
Who do you think you are? You can’t
stop a war if there’s going to be
one. It’s in the hands of God.

GINGER
That’s convenient.
Whose hands are you in then?

Rosa looks away, avoiding Ginger’s angry gaze.

GINGER (CONT’D)
Just wait, he’ll dump you too when
you’re older.

ROSA
No he won’t.
 67.

GINGER
He will, he will.

There is another awkward silence. Then Rosa looks at

Ginger, calmly.

ROSA
We didn’t want to tell you.

GINGER
Didn’t want to tell me what?

Ginger stares at Rosa, the colour draining from her face.

GINGER (CONT’D)
What? What didn’t you want to tell
me?

ROSA
I think...I’m pregnant.

60 INT. HOUSE - GINGER’S ROOM - NIGHT 60

Ginger is lying fully dressed and rigidly still on her bed

in her tiny room.

Wild, frantic jazz is playing extremely loud on her record

player (”Bird Gets the Worm - Charlie Parker and Miles
Davis).

Ginger stares, unseeing, towards the ceiling.

61 EXT. STREETS - DUSK 61

Ginger runs and runs, breathing hard, oblivious of her

surroundings, which become a blur behind her desperate
figure.

62 EXT. ROAD-SIDE - DUSK 62

Ginger stands restlessly by the side of the road,

hitchhiking. A car draws up and she gets in, hurriedly. The
car radio is playing.
 68.

Ginger stares out of the window, appearing more and more

agitated as she listens to the broadcast.

RADIO ANNOUNCER
There are persistent reports that
the American government is about to
make a sensational move in the Cuba
Crisis. Lord Bertrand Russell in a
statement released today said:
‘While life remains to us we will
not cease to do what lies in our
power to avert the greatest
calamity that has ever threatened
mankind’.

63 EXT. AIRFORCE BASE - NIGHT 63

Ginger runs through the middle of a chaotic crowd of

demonstrators at an airforce base outside London. There are
angry shouts and waves of chanting as the crowd surges up
to the barbed wire enclosure.

CROWD
(chanting)
Block the gates! Block the gates!

This is a demonstration that looks as if it could become

violent. The ominous sound of marching feet in the distance
indicates the heavy presence of police. The headlights of
military trucks shine blindingly onto the crowd as the
vehicles attempt to push through towards the gates. Ginger
looks frightened.

CROWD (CONT’D)
Ban the bomb! Ban the bomb!

VOICE IN LOUD-HAILER
Sit down. Everybody sit down.

Some people start sitting on the ground in front of the

gates. Others trip over them as they run away. Ginger looks
around, suddenly panicking, until she catches sight of a
familiar face in the distance. It's Bella.
 69.

Ginger pushes her way through the crowd and sits down on
the ground next to Bella.

BELLA
Ginger!

GINGER
Yes, it’s me.

Ginger looks wide-eyed with fear.

Bella looks round at the sound of shouts and scuffling in

the distance. A long line of police is getting closer and
closer, lifting up demonstrators and throwing them
violently out of the path of the advancing trucks. Bella
looks closely at Ginger.

BELLA
Are you alright? My God, you're
shivering. Here, lean on me. This
could get rough, okay? Hold tight.

Bella puts her arms protectively around Ginger.

The line of police gets closer and closer and the noise and
confusion increases. Ginger is dragged away roughly by two
policemen.

GINGER
(screams)
Bella! Bella!

BELLA
Ginger!

Ginger is thrown into the back of a police van where she

sits, shivering.

64 INT. POLICE CELL - NIGHT 64

Ginger lies on a bench in a tiny police cell, immobile,

during a long, dark night.
 70.

65 INT. POLICE CELL - DAY 65

Ginger now sits leaning against the wall, in the cell in

the morning light. A POLICE DOCTOR is in the cell with her.

POLICE DOCTOR
I am a doctor. You can speak freely
to me.

Ginger doesn’t respond. She looks catatonic. The police

doctor sighs.

POLICE DOCTOR (CONT’D)

I can’t help you if you won’t talk.
Do you understand? You seem
depressed. Are you depressed?

Ginger shakes her head, but does not turn to look at him.

POLICE DOCTOR (CONT’D)

Then speak.

But Ginger remains silent.

66 INT. POLICE STATION - DAY 66

Ginger is led out of her cell by a policewoman, along a

long corridor towards a waiting area.

Mark and Mark Two, accompanied by a shaken-looking Bella,

have come to bail out Ginger and take her home. They stand
in the long neon-lit corridor with the police doctor. He
looks from one to the other, puzzled.

POLICE DOCTOR
Are you the girl’s mother?

BELLA
No. No, I’m not.

POLICE DOCTOR
Where is the mother?
 71.

MARK
She doesn’t know her daughter is
here.

POLICE DOCTOR
Then is one of you the girl’s
father?

MARK
(firmly)
We are family friends. We’ve come
to take her home.

Ginger sits on a bench, the policewoman standing beside

her. Ginger is apparently oblivious of the small group
standing talking together in the corridor.

POLICE DOCTOR
(softly)
She needs help. All this protesting
is a front, you know. The girl may
be seriously mentally ill.

BELLA
(muttering)
Oh for Christ’s sake.

MARK TWO
(angrily)
Maybe she is justifiably worried
about a possible nuclear holocaust.
Have you considered this?

Ginger sits motionless, unresponsive, staring into the

distance.

67 INT. NATALIE’S LIVING ROOM - DAY 67

The two Marks and Bella are hovering near Ginger who is now
sitting on a chair in Natalie’s living room. The room looks
emptier and more bleak than ever.
 72.

Natalie is sitting on a chair opposite Ginger, watching her

anxiously. Roland is sitting on the stairs in the hallway,
making it clear that he is a reluctant participant in this
group meeting.

NATALIE
(pleadingly)
Just talk to us darling. Come on.

Ginger sits, immobile, silent.

MARK
Did they hurt you? Ginger, you must
tell us.

Natalie turns around and gestures at Roland to join them in

the room. He stays put. She sighs and turns back towards
Ginger.

NATALIE
(softly)
Please. Say something.

There is no response from Ginger.

NATALIE (CONT’D)
Okay, listen. I’ve asked Anoushka
to bring Rosa over. I thought maybe
you’d talk to her if you don’t want
to talk to us?

Ginger’s face starts to move for the first time, in an

expression of fear and disgust.

NATALIE (CONT’D)
Don’t make that face at me -

MARK
Nat, don’t -

NATALIE
- but I care about her...

Ginger suddenly breaks her silence and bursts out.

 73.

GINGER
You don’t care!

BELLA
Actually I think she does,
sweetheart.

GINGER
She doesn’t care that the world
might end!

NATALIE
Of course I do! I’m on your side,
Ginger.

Ginger looks up at Natalie, her face agonised, contorted.

GINGER
You don’t know anything.

BELLA
What else doesn’t she know?

There is a long silence as Ginger struggles. Bella gazes at

her, calmly.

BELLA (CONT’D)
Ginger?

Ginger looks up and meets the tenderness in Bella’s eyes.

GINGER
I can’t say it! I’ll explode if I
say it.

BELLA
No you won’t, sugar. It’s alright.
Speak it out.

GINGER
(screaming)
I can’t! I can’t!
We’re all going to die! You said
it!
 74.

BELLA
No. I said we could. A nuclear war
would probably obliterate us all if
it happened. But that’s not what
you mean is it?

Ginger shakes her head.

BELLA (CONT’D)
(firmly)
Then what is it that you can’t say?
Ginger? What can’t you say?

Ginger glances quickly at Roland, who is staring darkly at

the floor in the hallway, almost out of earshot.

There is a moment, that seems forever, where all the adults

- except Roland - stare at Ginger. Then the dam bursts and
the tears stream down Ginger’s face.

GINGER
(sobbing, quietly)
That Roland is... is
sleeping...with Rosa.

Natalie freezes. She stares at Ginger.

NATALIE
(quietly)
What? Rosa?

Natalie suddenly stumbles to her feet and rushes out

towards Roland.

NATALIE (CONT’D)
Is it true?

Roland avoids her gaze and remains silent.

NATALIE (CONT’D)
I knew it. I knew something was
going on - and you...

Bella has put her arms round Ginger and is comforting her.
 75.

GINGER
(sobbing quietly)
It’s not my fault!

BELLA
No, of course not.

Natalie suddenly loses control and lashes out at Roland.

NATALIE
(shouting)
How long has this been going on?

She hits him wildly, but he turns and holds her at arm’s
length, gripping her wrists.

ROLAND
For God’s sake, Natalie...

NATALIE
Let go of me. Let go of me. I have
to get hold of Anoushka! I don’t
want to see Rosa! I don’t want to
see that little bitch!

Natalie wrenches herself free and runs upstairs.

Ginger struggles to her feet, her face contorted.

GINGER
I’ve got to get out onto the
streets - leaflets, got to give out
leaflets -

MARK
- Not right now, darling -

GINGER
- Yes, now. Don’t you understand?
The world may be about to end.

Ginger looks wildly around the room with an agonised

expression. Bella puts her arms around her again and helps
her to sit down. Mark turns to Roland.
 76.

MARK
(furiously)
Do you see what you’ve done?

Roland turns, slowly, to confront the group of angry faces

glaring at him. He turns ashen, and looks as if he is
facing a firing squad.

ROLAND
(quietly)
What right have you to judge me?
I’ve spent my whole life fighting
against tyranny.

BELLA
(sarcastically)
Congratulations.

ROLAND
Not only the tyranny of government,
but also the tyranny of the shoulds
and oughts of so-called ‘normal’
family life -

BELLA
- Oh how fucking convenient.

Roland suddenly moves further into the room, staring coldly

at Bella, who is standing protectively next to Ginger.

ROLAND
And who the fuck are you to lecture
me? We’ve only just met. Not that
it’s any of your business, but
Natalie and I are separated, you
know.

BELLA
You have a child together.

She indicates Ginger, whose tear-stained face is contorted

with anxiety.
 77.

ROLAND
She’s no longer a child.

Ginger looks up slowly at Roland. He quickly looks away.

Mark takes a step towards Roland.

MARK
(angrily)
Ginger may be grown up enough to
try to save us all from nuclear
catastrophe, Roland, but she is
also young enough to need some
looking after.

Roland turns towards Mark.

ROLAND
Listen. Autonomous thought,
personal truth; freedom of
action...

Roland puts a hand on Mark’s arm.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
You believe in those don’t you,
Mark?

MARK
Yes, of course I do but this is -

ROLAND
- well, these have been my guiding
principles.

Roland stares at the Marks and at Bella, scanning their

hostile faces.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
I deeply believe in them. And I was
jailed for them.

Ginger looks up, slowly, and stares at Roland, with an

agonised expression; a mix of fear, guilt and empathy.
 78.

There is a silence as Roland edges crosses the room and

sits down opposite Ginger.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
(gently)
Don’t you see, Ginger, there would
not even be the possibility of
nuclear war - or any war - if
millions of men had been prepared
to stand up against authority, as I
did, and refuse to join the army.

The doorbell rings. Nobody moves.

Roland moves closer to Ginger. She listens intently as he

speaks to her, in his quiet, passionate, voice.

ROLAND (CONT'D)
Refuse to take orders.

The doorbell rings again, insistently.

The two Marks look at each other, questioningly.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
(urgently)
It’s mindless obedience that is the
killer, Ginger. I’ve broken the
rules - all the rules - because
someone has to say no. Do you see?
Ginger?

The doorbell rings a third time and Mark starts to walk out
of the room towards the front door.

Natalie runs down the stairs and blocks his path.

NATALIE
No! Please, Mark. No.

Mark grips Natalie firmly by the arm.

MARK
Come on, ducky. We’ve got to get
this sorted out, once and for all.
Come on.
 79.

Natalie seems to crumple at his reasonable, affectionate

tone of voice, and they disappear into the hallway to
answer the front door.

Roland reaches out and cautiously takes Ginger’s hand. His

expression changes, as if he is really seeing her for the
first time.

ROLAND
(whispering)
Oh Ginger...

Roland’s eyes start to brim with tears.

Natalie and Anoushka start talking in low, angry voices in

the hallway as Rosa appears in the doorway to the living
room. She stands nervously, looking at Roland’s back-view
as he sits holding Ginger’s hand. Ginger looks up at Rosa.
Their eyes meet.

NATALIE (V.O.)
She’s sleeping with Roland.

ANOUSHKA (V.O.)
Who?

NATALIE (V.O.)
Rosa.

ANOUSHKA (V.O.)
What? Rosa? With Roland?

Roland turns around and looks at Rosa standing just inside

the room, then gets up and walks over to stand beside her.
Anoushka marches into the room, white-faced. She stops,
glances around, taking in the scene, then takes a step
towards Rosa.

ANOUSHKA
Is it true? Rosa?

Rosa remains silent and looks away.

Natalie appears in the doorway and stares at Rosa. Rosa

instinctively places a hand on her gently swelling belly.
 80.

Natalie sees the gesture and turns slowly to look at

Ginger. Ginger nods, mutely. Natalie freezes, horrified,
and then runs up the stairs, noisily. A door bangs and then
everything goes silent.

ANOUSHKA (CONT’D)
Answer me, Rosa.

ROSA
(quietly)
Why should I?

ANOUSHKA
Because I’m your mother.

ROSA
I didn’t notice.

Anoushka slaps Rosa, violently, across the face.

Roland wearily lifts up a hand to protect Rosa, but is too

late.

Ginger rises slowly to her feet and walks over to Mark. He

looks at her, tenderly.

GINGER
(whispering anxiously)
Do you think Mum‘s alright?

MARK
Come, come.

Mark and Ginger leave the room together.

68 INT. LANDING OUTSIDE NATALIE’S BEDROOM - DAY 68

Ginger and Mark are standing outside the door to Natalie’s

bedroom.

MARK
Nat, Nat darling. Can we come in?

There’s no response.
 81.

MARK (CONT’D)
Right We’re coming in.

He turns the handle and pushes the door. It’s locked. He

starts to pummel at the door.

MARK (CONT’D)
Nat, open the door. Nat, open this
door. Nat, open up!

Ginger shouts down the stairs, frantically.

GINGER
Roland! Come quick!

69 INT. OUTSIDE NATALIE’S BEDROOM - DAY 69

Roland is throwing himself against Natalie’s door, again

and again.

The door eventually crashes open.

Natalie is crouched on the floor, cramming pills from a

small bottle into her mouth. Empty bottles lie strewn on
the floor around her.

GINGER
(screaming)
Mum! Mum!

Roland looks aghast. He runs over to Natalie, kneels down

and cradles her head in his arms.

ROLAND
Oh Nat, darling, oh Nat...

Mark hovers in the doorway. Rosa appears silently behind

him, staring into the room, shocked.

ROLAND (CONT’D)
(quietly)
Call an ambulance.

Ginger runs out of the room. Rosa reaches out and clutches
at her as she passes.
 82.

ROSA
Ginger... Forgive me. Please.

Their eyes lock, briefly, before Ginger pulls herself free

and clatters down the stairs.

70 INT. HOSPITAL WAITING AREA - NIGHT/DAY 70

Ginger and Roland sit silently, side by side, on an

uncomfortable-looking bench in the stark, depressing
waiting area of the Emergency Department. They look
exhausted, beyond words.

It’s a long and agonising wait.

As the morning light creeps through the windows Roland

closes his eyes and leans his head back against the wall.
Ginger takes her notebook out of her coat pocket, turns
away from Roland, and slowly starts to write. She pauses
from time to time as she searches for the right words.

GINGER (V.O.)
We had a dream that we would always
be best friends.
When we were born, for some it was
the end;
Now it seems there may not be
tomorrow.
But despite the horror and the
sorrow,
I love our world. I want us all to
live.
Now Rosa, you’ve asked me to
forgive...
One day, if Mum survives this
bitter night,
Then we shall meet again and I will
say...

Ginger pauses, gazing into space.

GINGER (V.O.) (CONT’D)

I loved you Rosa. Don’t you see?
But we are different.
(MORE)
 83.

GINGER (V.O.) (CONT’D)

You dream of everlasting love. Not
me.

Roland opens his eyes and sits very still. He turns his
head and watches Ginger writing.

GINGER (V.O.) (CONT’D)

Because what really matters is to
live...
And then there will be nothing to
forgive.

ROLAND
What are you writing?

GINGER
A poem. About the future.

Roland stares sadly at Ginger’s back-view.

ROLAND
I’m sorry, Ginger. I’m so sorry.

Ginger turns, slowly, and looks at him. They gaze at each

other, silently. The Ginger turns back and continues to
write in her little notebook.

GINGER (V.O.)
But I’ll forgive you anyway.

She slowly and quietly closes her notebook.

THE END