HAPPINESS
CLARA
I'm so happy,
I'm afraid I'll die
Here in your arms
What would you do
If I died
Like this -
Right now,
Here in your arms?
That we ever should have met
Is a miracle
GIORGIO
No, inevitable -
CLARA
Then inevitable, yes,
But I confess
It was the look --
GIORGIO
The look?
CLARA
The sadness in your eyes
That day
When we glanced
At each other in the park
GIORGIO
We were both unhappy
CLARA
Unhappiness can be seductive
GIORGIO
You pitied me...
BOTH
How quickly pity leads to love
CLARA
All this happiness
Merely from a glance
In the park.
So much happiness
So much love --
GIORGIO
I thought I knew what love was
CLARA
I wish we might have met so much sooner
I could have given you --
GIORGIO
I thought I knew what love was
CLARA
-- My youth
GIORGIO
I thought I knew how much I could feel
CLARA
All the time we lost...
GIORGIO
I didn't know what love was.
CLARA
I've never known what love was.
GIORGIO
But now --
CLARA
And now --
BOTH
-- I do.
It's what I feel with you.
The happiness I feel with you.
CLARA
So much happiness --
GIORGIO
You are so beautiful...
CLARA
-- Happiness by chance in a park.
GIORGIO
Not by chance,
By necessity --
CLARA
Surely, this is happiness -
GIORGIO
- by the sadness that we saw in each other.
CLARA
- no one else has ever felt before!
BOTH
Just another love story,
That's what they would claim.
Another simple love story -
Aren't all of them the same?
CLARA
No, but this is more,
we feel more!
BOTH
This is so much more!
(Smiling at each other)
Like every other love story.
Some say happiness
comes and goes.
then this happiness
is a kind of happiness
No one really knows.
GIORGIO
I thought I knew what love was.
CLARA
I'd only heard what love was.
GIORGIO
I thought it was no more than a name for yearning.
CLARA
I thought it was what kindness became.
GIORGIO
I'm learning -
CLARA
I thought where there was love there was shame.
GIORGIO
- that with you -
CLARA
But with you -
BOTH
- there's just happiness.
CLARA
Endless happiness ...
(spoken) What?
GIORGIO
(spoken) Not now ...
CLARA
(spoken) Tell me ... please.
GIORGIO
(spoken) I received my orders from headquarters.
I've been transferred to the Fourth Brigade.
CLARA
(spoken) When?
GIORGIO
(spoken) I leave in five days. Clara, don't look so sad.
CLARA
(spoken) You're the one that makes me happy.
GIORGIO
(spoken) We'll make the most of the next four days.
I'll steal as much time as I can. Then after I leave,
we'll write to each other ever day. We'll make love with our words.
You'll be with me ever day, Clara.
CLARA
(spoken) I must go. I'm expected.
GIORGIO
God, you are so beautiful.
I love to see you in the light,
Clear and beautiful, memorize
Every inch,
every part of you
to take with me.
CLARA
(spoken) Giorgio...
GIORGIO
Your feet so soft,
As if they'd never touched the ground.
CLARA
(spoken) I must go ...
GIORGIO
Your skin so white, so pure, so delicate.
Your smell so sweet, your breathe so warm.
I will summon you in my mind,
I'm painting you indelibly on my mind.
CLARA
Let me go ...
GIORGIO
We must fill every moment.
CLARA
All this happiness ended by a word in the dark.
GIORGIO
Oh my love, oh my darling ...
CLARA
So much happiness wasn't meant to last.
GIORGIO
I am here,
I am with you
I am yours.
CLARA
I never knew what love was.
GIORGIO
Your skin,
your silken hair ...
CLARA
I always thought I didn't deserve it.
GIORGIO
Your breasts, your lips ...
CLARA
I didn't know what love was.
GIORGIO
I want you every minute of my life ...
CLARA
I don't know how I'll live when you're gone!
GIORGIO
I will always be here.
CLARA
I don't know how I'll live ...
Giorgio ...
Don't leave me ...
COLONEL
spoken) Thank you Lieutenant.
DOCTOR
(spoken) How was "Rigoletto"?
TORASSO
(spoken) Terrible. These touring companies get no better.
LOMBARDI
(spoken) Nor do you.
TORASSO
(spoken) I sing to lighten the weight of your cooking.
BARRI
(spoken) (examining his plate) Sergeant, what is this?
LOMBARDI
(spoken) It's veal.
BARRI
(spoken) Again? We had veal four days ago.
And from the looks of it, it was this veal.
LOMBARDI
(spoken) Lieutenant Barri, if I hear -
RIZZOLLI
(spoken) Colonel, I've heard a rumor that the King is
about to sign a treaty with the French.
DOCTOR
(spoken) Really?
COLONEL
(spoken) I've heard no such rumor, Major.
DOCTOR
(spoken) Where did you come by this information?
RIZZOLLI
(spoken)In town.
COLONEL
(spoken) You can't believe everything you hear in a whorehouse.
RIZZOLLI
(spoken)That is where Garibaldi got much of his information, sir.
DOCTOR
(spoken) Ah, so that's why you go there!
COLONEL
(spoken) Ah, Captain Bachetti. Welcome.
We wondered when you were going to arrive.
May I introduce Doctor Tambourri, Major Rizzolli ...
TORASSO
(spoken) Lieutenant Torasso.
BARRI
(spoken) Lieutenant Barri.
LOMBARDI
(spoken) Sergeant LOMBARDI
BARRI
(spoken) Our cook.
COLONEL
(spoken) Come. Come and join us.
GIORGIO
(spoken) Could you post this one for me?
LOMBARDI
(spoken) You'll have to excuse our rather limited menu, Captain.
It's difficult to grow vegetables in this mountain soil.
DOCTOR
(spoken) We're a bit isolated here, Captain.
Not only from anything green and edible, but also from life and ideas.
RIZZOLLI
(spoken) I just add vinegar to everything
TORASSO
(spoken) Captain Bachetti, the COLONEL has been telling
us of your triumphs pinning down the Russian infantry.
GIORGIO
(spoken) I'm not sure that my actions worried your attention.
TORASSO
(spoken) Come, come. Didn't you rescue a wounded man
in the midst of fire and then carry him on your horse to camp?
GIORGIO
(spoken) Only to our battalion.
BARRI
(spoken) Say you brought him back to camp!
Why settle for being half a hero when full-fledged
is just a white lie away?
FIRST LETTER
CLARA
Clara ...
GIORGIO
Clara ...
I cried.
CLARA
I cried.
BOTH
Imagine that, a soldier who cries.
CLARA
I had to hide my eyes, so the others on the train
That carried me away from you would think I was asleep.
GIORGIO
(spoken) Music?
DOCTOR
(spoken) That's Signora Fosca playing.
COLONEL
(spoken) My cousin. I have no family and neither does she.
She is in such poor health, it's a continual worry.
DOCTOR
(spoken) That's her place setting, but she stays in her room most days.
Perhaps soon she'll be well enough to join us for a meal.
RIZZOLLI
(spoken) She eats like a sparrow.
TORASSO
(spoken)My apologies, sir.
The comparison has struck me as funny.
A sparrow seems to eat more than Signora Fosca. A pity it is ...
COLONEL (to Giorgio)
(spoken) My cousin loves to read - it's her only passion, really.
I can't find enough books for her.
GIORGIO
(spoken) I also love reading.
I've brought a few of my favorite books down.
Perhaps I could lend them to Signora Fosca,
though I can't promise they will appeal to her.
COLONEL
(spoken) Young man, she's been driven to reading military handbooks.
I've no doubt she will welcome anything in print.
AUGENTI
(spoken) Post arrived!
RIZZOLLI
(spoken) Hand it round Augenti.
Nothing for me again? It's been two weeks.
AUGENTI
(spoken) It smells to me as if Captain Bachetti has a letter from an admirer.
SECOND LETTER
CLARA
Giorgio ...
I, too, have cried inside.
BOTH
You must not be ashamed of your tears.
CLARA
I love you for your tears.
BOTH
Your absence only makes my love grow stronger.
And when I cannot bear it any longer -
COLONEL
(spoken) Don't be alarmed. It's my cousin.
I am so accustomed to her outbursts that I forget
how unsettling they must be to a newcomer.
My apologies for not warning you.
DOCTOR
(spoken) She's not been having a good day.
And a doctor is always expected to help hurt, even when there is
nothing one can possibly do.
TORASSO
(spoken) More lamb please.
DOCTOR (to Lombardi)
(spoken) I've noticed you finally managed to track down some tarragon.
LOMBARDI
(spoken) Yes, I'm glad you approved ...
COLONEL
(spoken) Doctor.
DOCTOR
(spoken) Excuse me.
BARRI
(spoken) Sergeant, are there any more carrots?
LOMBARDI
(spoken) Seconds for you, Lieutenant? Can I take that as a compliment?
BARRI
(spoken) No, Sergeant, they're for my horses
COLONEL
(spoken) In time, Captain Bachetti, you too will get used to life amongst us.
THIRD LETTER
CLARA
Clara, I'm in hell,
GIORGIO
This is hell,
SOLDIERS
Living hell.
CLARA
Living hell.
This godforsaken place -
SOLDIERS
This godforsaken place -
CLARA
This sterile little town, these pompous little men,
GIORGIO
This military madness ...
SOLDIERS
This military madness ...
This military ...
ALL
Uniforms, uniforms ...
GIORGIO
Military madness ...
SOLDIERS
Military madness ...
CLARA AND GIORGIO
My days are spent in maneuvers ...
SOLDIERS
Uniforms, uniforms
CLARA AND GIORGIO
My evenings in discussing the day -
SOLDIERS
This is hell --
CLARA
My nights are spent in thinking of you.
GIORGIO
Don't forget me, CLARA ...
DOCTOR
(spoken) Good afternoon, Captain.
GIORGIO
(spoken) Doctor.
DOCTOR
(spoken) Your troops seem to be responding well to your command.
GIORGIO
(spoken) Thank you, sir.
DOCTOR
(spoken) How are you enjoying your new post?
GIORGIO
(spoken)I find everyone most hospitable.
DOCTOR
(spoken) Good.
Your company at meals has certainly been a welcome change for me.
GIORGIO
(spoken) Thank you.
DOCTOR
(spoken) I trust the occasional outburst from Colonel Ricci's
cousin hasn't unsettled you today.
GIORGIO
(spoken) No. What exactly is wrong with her?
DOCTOR
(spoken) She is a kind of medical phenomenon, a walking collection of all possible illnesses. Her diseases are beyond
science ...
GIORGIO
(spoken) The screams?
DOCTOR
(spoken) Hysterical convulsions. One might say that her
nerve endings are exposed, where ours are protected by a firm
layer of skin.
GIORGIO
(spoken) Is she in danger of succumbing to this illness?
DOCTOR
(spoken) I don't believe so.
Her body is so weak, it doesn't have the strength to produce a mortal disease.
GIORGIO
(spoken) I don't understand
DOCTOR
(spoken) The weak protect themselves.
The defensive soldier often lives longer than the brave one.
GIORGIO
(spoken) Is she young?
DOCTOR
(spoken) Late twenties, I would venture.
GIORGIO
(spoken) Pretty?
DOCTOR
(spoken) That you must decide for yourself.
GIORGIO
(spoken) You don't suppose that she's the Colonel's lover, do you?
DOCTOR
(spoken) Captain Bachetti, it's good to see you enjoy an occasional bit of gossip. No need for discomfort, Captain. We're all human.
Your curiosity is understandable. No, I'm afraid Signora Fosca's physical
state prevents her from being anyone's lover. Good day.
GIORGIO
Clara, don't forget me.
Keep me close to you, CLARA ...
RIZZOLLI
(spoken) Late for breakfast, Captain.
GIORGIO
(spoken) I decided to accompany my troops at their morning drill.
Before their weekly maneuvers.
BARRI
(spoken) You're a better officer than I am. I let my sergeant oversee the morning drill.
LOMBARDI
(spoken) Well, it looks as if Signora Fosca has disappointed us once again.
RIZZOLLI
(spoken) Why keep setting her place?
BARRI
(spoken)Captain Bachetti, I'm afraid you'll have to take breakfast alone.
GIORGIO
(spoken) We still have dinner to share, gentlemen.
RIZZOLLI
(spoken) Indeed.
BARRI
(spoken) Any chance we might interest you in a game of cards tonight?
GIORGIO
(spoken) No. I'm not a gambling man.
RIZZOLLI
(spoken) The boredom of this place will make a gambler of you yet.
BARRI
(spoken) Good day, Captain.
GIORGIO
(spoken) Gentlemen ...
FOURTH LETTER
CLARA
Yesterday I walked through the park
To the place where we met.
Afterwards I sat on the bench
Where we sat all that sultry afternoon.
I thought about our room, our secret room
Where we were happy
And where we shall be happy again
Some day.
I see us in our room, our secret room,
And I don't feel so alone any more ...
I close my eyes, imagining that you are there,
Imagining your fingers touching mine,
Imagining our room,
The bed, the secrecy, the world outside,
Your mouth on mine ...
FOSCA
Captain ...
PASSION PAGE II
