Page 38 of Cinematic Destinies
“Beauty. Pure beauty.”
The men stood silently for a moment, watching Georgia. She rose with a small bouquet of flowers in her hand, turned toward them, smiled brightly, and waved them over. Both men smiled and, without looking at one another, began walking to her.
“Cut!” Jean hollered.
The actors turned to Jean, soft smiles on their faces as if they already knew it had been something special. He smirked and said, “Don’t get too full of yourselves. Mother Nature did the heavy lifting. Let’s do it again to capture it from different angles. Places, everyone.”
AFTER A LONG DAY OF FILMING, JEAN ANDthe actors drove to the small local inn. Georgia and Roo unpacked in their room and then headed downstairs to meet Jean and Michael for dinner. They found Michael alone, sipping a cocktail.
“Where’s Jean?” Georgia asked as she sat down.
“There’s some kind of problem and he’s outside speaking with a couple of the crew,” Michael replied.
“What kind of problem?” Roo asked as he took the seat beside Georgia.
Michael shrugged.
“Today was magical. I hope he’s pleased,” Georgia said.
“You know by now he’s not one to show his softer side, but I saw his face today. That was as close as he gets to being fucking ecstatic.”
Georgia giggled.
Just then, Jean trudged into the room, grunting with frustration.
“What’s wrong?” Michael asked as he helped Jean sit down.
“Some bloody weather event is coming. It’s going to be pouring rain for the next two days. We won’t be able to film the landscape shots until after the weather passes.”
“Oh, no. That’s a shame,” Roo said.
“That’s what I get for shooting a picture in this damn country. The weather can change on a whim, and she is unforgiving. They tell me when it rains here, it’s relentless. There is no hope of filming on schedule.”
“What are you going to do?” Michael asked.
“We can’t go back and forth, it’s too far, so we’ll extend the location time here. I’ll stay here and wait out the weather for the next two days, then we’ll shoot the following day, and then return the day after that. So, looks like you’ll all be off for the next four days. Actors are so bloody lucky. Directors get all the aggravation,” he grumbled.
“I’m sorry, Jean,” Georgia said. “If it’s any consolation, you were right. This place is stunning. We all felt like we were a part of something magical today.”
Jean huffed. “For the beautiful light we basked in today, the price is two days of rain. There is always an underside. Like those midges you so detested. The protectors of this land.”
“The midges weren’t so bad. Well, once the shock wore off,” she said.
Two staff members came in to serve their dinner: local fish bathed in a langoustine sauce, with vegetables, potatoes, and homemade bread. They enjoyed their meal while talking about travel, art, and the glory days of location shoots. The actors praised Jean for making “real art” the “authentic way,” to which he shrugged and snorted his responses. Jean began telling them a story about his first film but was interrupted when a crew member came into the room. “Mr. Mercier, we need to speak with you again, regarding some overtime issues with the locals we hired.”
Jean sighed, leaned on the table for support, and labored to his feet. “I’ll be back in a moment, I hope. Order me another bourbon.”
Once he was out of earshot, Georgia said, “Gee, today was such an achievement for him. You could feel how cinematic and timeless those scenes will be. It’s too bad he’s not able to enjoy the incredible artistry he created.”
“Honestly, I think he prefers to have something cosmic to gripe about. You know his shtick: there’s always a dark side.” Michael stopped to chuckle before adding, “Sometimes I think the universe does him favors by continually proving out his dystopian views.”
Georgia and Roo laughed.
“On the plus side, we’ve all ended up with four days off,” Michael noted.
“That’s right,” Roo said. He turned to Georgia and asked, “What do you think about a little adventure? Luckily, we have my car. We could take a trip somewhere.”
“I’m always up for an adventure,” she replied.
