Ballad of a Pilgrim (Xplayadam)

[Dale]

Ballad of a Pilgrim

Director
Xplayadam

Genre
Short/Drama

Cast
Jackie Earle Haley (The Pilgrim)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Outlaw/Ledger)
Stephen McHattie (Isles)
Christian Camargo (The Detective)
Max Records (Billy)
Ben Forester (Narrator)

Plot
A father of 500 children who lives in a small Folktown must fight off an outlaw who comes to steal a diamond ring from his wife’s grave in this short film from the director of “A Little Piece of Heaven” and “The Comic Shop”.

Release Date
November 27th, 2009

[Dale]

Axis Pictures Presents.
A Taylor Betz Short.



BLACK SCREEN.

The Outlaw
Right here on this map, point to me where The Village is.


FLASH TO
EXT. DIRT ROAD- DAY
There’s a long dirt road in the middle of a beautiful forest, the kind of forest you’d see on a post-card. A dirty looking old man leans on a tree asleep. Someone stands over him but his top half is out of shot. What we see are long legs with slick black boots, legs only made longer by the pin striped pants. The old man, Isles, wakes up and looks at a map that dangles from a gloved hand. Isles then looks upward at the man.

Isles
What?

The Outlaw
I want you to point to me where The Village is on this map here.

Isles
Been about 10 years since I’ve been to The Village.

The Outlaw
You’ve been there? Where is it?

Isles
Jeez fella, I can’t remember.

The Outlaw
Name is Isles right?

Isles
Yeah, my name is Isles. Who told you that?

The Outlaw
Doesn’t matter.

Isles
I haven’t met a folk in nearly 6 years, who could have known my name?

The Outlaw
A bluebird.

Isles
What was it’s name?

The Outlaw
I don’t know, didn’t ask it.

Isles
Well, that was awfully rude of you, talk to a Bluebird and not ask for it’s name.

The Outlaw
Just tell me where The Village is; I have no time for this.

Isles
You should say “please”.

The Outlaw
Why?

Isles
It shows good intent.

The Outlaw
Of which I have plenty. Heh.

Isles
Huh?

The Outlaw
Nothing. Please tell me where The Village is.


Isles licks his dirt-covered index finger and makes an exact point on the map.

Isles
That is where The Village is. Now I have a question for you.

The Outlaw
What is it?

Isles
Exactly why did you want to where The Village was?

The Outlaw
Someone there I have to meet.


Isles
Who?

The Outlaw
Doesn’t matter.

Isles
Huh?


The Outlaw puts his map in his pocket and he kneels down. The man has long stringy black hair, a thick moustache with a youthful face. The Outlaw pulls something out of his dark vest, a vest with large buttons that fits with the loose white sleeve shirt. The item is revealed to be a noose. Isles looks at him in confusion, then The Outlaw pounces.

CUT TO
EXT. PILGRIM’S HOUSE BACKYARD- SUNSET
The Pilgrim stands infront of the sun, leaving a tilted shadow behind him. He’s short and bald, wearing a raggedy cotton shirt over blue overalls. Pilgrim scratches his beard, wipes the sweat from his face and continues to dig. A blonde-headed child walks over to him.

Billy
Daddy Daddy!

The Pilgrim
Yes my son?

Billy
Sissy won’t let me go swimming!

The Pilgrim
It’s too late for swimming Billy.

Billy
Sissy is swimming!

The Pilgrim
Which Sister?

Billy
Alex.

The Pilgrim
Tell her what I told you.

Billy
She’ll just keep swimming, she hates me.

The Pilgrim
That’s not true son.


The Pilgrim stops digging.

Billy
Yes it is!


The Pilgrim kneels down to look Billy directly in his blue eyes.

The Pilgrim
Your sister loves you, as do all of your siblings. You love them because when I die, they’ll be the only ones left to comfort you. Understand.

Billy
Yes Daddy.

The Pilgrim
Now go and help Nancy, Mary and Lily set the table okay?

Billy
Yes Daddy.


The Pilgrim pats Billy on the back and he rushes into the house. He continues to dig.

Narrator (VO)
The Pilgrim was The Village’s hardest workingman. He grew all the crops: the corns, the carrots and the lettuce heads. He milked the cows and cut the wood for the fire. He got his name by taking an extraordinary pilgrimage to the end of the world.


FLASH TO
EXT. SEA- DAY
The Pilgrim with a full head of red hair looks out from his small wooden boat at the sea, which takes a large fall to presumably the end of the earth.

Narrator (VO)
He saw that the Earth did end at one point; he remains to this day to be the only man to venture there and not fall off.


FLASH TO
INT. BARROOM
The Pilgrim walks in with a swagger and looks at an adorable girl who sits in the corner by herself.

Narrator (VO)
In one of his journeys he meet a gorgeous woman.


FLASH TO
EXT. DIRT ROAD- NIGHT
The Pilgrim and this Girl walk down the dirt road.

Narrator (VO)
That would be his last pilgrimage.


The Pilgrim gets down on his knees and flashes a large diamond ring. The Girl looks in awe at it.

Narrator (VO)
Along many of his adventures was a venture into a mine.


FLASH TO
INT. MINE
The Pilgrim rushes through a mine, being chased by thousands of bats.

Narrator (VO)
The Pilgrim upset the bat community by not asking them for their names while getting directions to leave. On his way out he discovered something.


The Pilgrim trips, hits the ground and then looks back to see what caused his stumble. What is there is a massive diamond. The Pilgrim gets up and rips the diamond from the ground, then continues his run out.

Narrator (VO)
An amazing find, something he vowed to keep to himself until he meet someone who could trade it for something entirely worthwhile.


FLASH BACK TO
EXT. DIRTROAD
The Pilgrim looks up at her and says something; she bursts into tears and ropes onto him.

Narrator (VO)
That day he traded it for love. Thus ending his ownership of the diamond ring and his pilgrimage.


FLASH TO
INT. CHURCH
The Pilgrim in suit, holds hands with the woman, in white dress. The Preacher says his things, marrying them.


Narrator (VO)
This began a new adventure in itself.


CUT TO
EXT. PILGRIM’S HOUSE FRONTYARD- DAY
We PAN OUT to reveal a line of children that seems to never end.


Narrator (VO)
He had 500 children, and that journey was more exciting then climbing through the Russian villages, descending down the Rain Forest and greater then reaching the North Pole. But his story had yet to reach it’s climax.


FADE OUT TO BLACK.

The Ballad of The Pilgrim


CUT TO
INT. PILGRIM’S HOUSE DINNERTABLE
The Pilgrim sits at the head of the never-ending table. Everyone is linked by the way of holding hands; all of their heads are tilted down.

The Pilgrim
God bless our family, God bless your mother. She loved you all the same, a love unmatchable. God gives you this love too by bringing us together, Amen.

All
Amen.


They all begin to dig into their dinner. Billy sits by his father.

Billy
Daddy?

The Pilgrim
Yes Billy?

Billy
How did Mommy die?


The collective goes into silence. The Pilgrim just looks at his food, it will go cold.

CUT TO
EXT. DIRT ROAD- NIGHT
Isles leans against the tree as a Detective inspects him. He looks at the burn marks around his neck.

Detective
Isles was strangled, the man who harmed no one was murdered by someone. Isles surely knew nothing about anything, so why kill him? He had nothing, unless…


The Detective stands.


Detective
He knew something.


The Detective scratches his neck.

Detective
This shouldn’t be hard… but why is it?


CUT TO
EXT. PILGRIM’S HOUSE BACKYARD- NIGHT
The Pilgrim stands on the back porch, he lights up his tobacco pipe and blows smoke-rings into the sky. He starts to walk off into the nearby forest.

FLASH TO
EXT. FOREST
The Pilgrim walks through the forest. He eventually stops when he reaches a wooden cross-buried deep in the ground.

The Pilgrim
Another night I’ll babble to you. I often wonder if you ever know what I’m saying.


The Pilgrim empties out of his pipe then puts it in his back pocket.

The Pilgrim
One of the kids asked about you today, Billy it was. I told him about the horrible illness brought on to you, I’m sure he didn’t understand but I tried.


The Pilgrim doesn’t hold back, he begins to cry.

The Pilgrim
Jesus Christ, I had to tell a 5-year-old how his mother died. Why me?


The Pilgrim gets on his knees and holds himself.

The Pilgrim
It’s so goddamn cold out here.



CUT TO
POV.
We see The Pilgrim getting up after he’s thrown up from the eyes of a watcher in the bushes. The Pilgrim pulls out his pipe again and lights it up, then blows a few more smoke rings before he turns around and begins to walk off.

CUT TO
EXT. FOREST
A figure emerges from the bushes, it’s The Outlaw. He begins to make his way over to the grave, The Outlaw prays for a moment then pulls a hand-held shovel from his back pocket and begins to dig. For moments it goes well until he hits the grave and it makes a large clank noise. He jumps up in shock then looks around to see if anyone has heard it. It appears not, The Outlaw unearths the grave. He starts to unhinge it until-

The Pilgrim
What in God’s name are you doing?


The Outlaw turns around to see a flushed faced Pilgrim behind him.

The Outlaw
What?

The Pilgrim
Sir. What are you doing?


The Outlaw gets up and makes his way to The Pilgrim.

The Outlaw
I’m just-


The Outlaw pulls a blade out from his vest and runs toward The Pilgrim.

The Outlaw
AHHHHHHH!


He swings at The Pilgrim who moves swiftly to the left, dodging the stab. The Pilgrim grabs The Outlaw’s blade-wielding arm from behind and twists it, The Outlaw lets out a cry then drops his blade. The Pilgrim kicks him down to the ground and then kneels to come face to face with him.

The Pilgrim
Who are you?

The Outlaw
What?

The Pilgrim
I asked who you are. I was polite enough to ask, you should be polite enough to answer.

The Outlaw
My name is Ledger.

The Pilgrim
Alright Ledger. What were you doing?

Ledger
I was checking the grave.

The Pilgrim
Why?

Ledger
There was something in there I wanted.

The Pilgrim
What was it?

Ledger
Folks tell of the largest diamond you’ve ever seen, right there in that grave.

The Pilgrim
Folks be right. But that’s my wife’s grave, and I gave her that ring.

Ledger
Oh god, I’m so sorry.

The Pilgrim
No you aren’t. If I wouldn’t of ducked, you’d have stabbed me and killed me, then takin’ my wife’s ring and been on your way with no apologies.

Ledger
I’ll just go, I won’t bother you.

The Pilgrim
I heard what you did to Isles.

Ledger
I didn’t kill him.

The Pilgrim
Yes you did friend.

Ledger
Alright. I killed him, what do you want?

The Pilgrim
I wanna know where you came from.

Ledger
Europe.

The Pilgrim
They tell about the diamond ring in Europe?

Ledger
Yes sir.

The Pilgrim
Damn. That’s such a far way away.

Ledger
Took me nearly 8 months to get here.

The Pilgrim
There was this one place I was going to in Europe. I walked there on foot from South Africa.

Ledger
Jesus Christ.

The Pilgrim
I got there and what I was looking for wasn’t there. I know that feeling of going such a long way for nothing so I tell you what-

Ledger
-you’ll give me the ring?

The Pilgrim
-No. You’ll have to earn it.

Ledger
How?

The Pilgrim
We are going to play a game.


Ledger
What game?


CUT TO
INT. PILGRIM HOUSE UPSTAIRS
The Pilgrim and Ledger take a seat at table. The room is dusty and is lighted via gas light candle. The Pilgrim looks directly in the eyes of Ledger.

Ledger
I don’t understand.

The Pilgrim
In one hour, we go out and beat eachother to death unless you can convince me to give you the ring right now.

Ledger
I was in this war back in Europe. My mother had kissed me goodbye and I went off to kill some men. My Lieutenant, Lieutenant Sims, was a strange man. He had blood in his eyes, and one day he was all-quiet after we stormed this base and killed all the men. I asked him “What’s wrong?” and he looked at me with this look. I don’t know how to describe it, he was mad. But not like angry-like, I mean insane. He walked over to this body and started to cut it open. I watched Sims for 10 minutes cut through this dead man, the stench made me feel loose. I couldn’t breath right and my head went light. He was covered in blood and in his hands was the heart, he turned to me and I swear I nearly passed out. “This is what’s wrong” is what he said. “They have hearts and we killed them, they had mothers you know”. Then he put the heart down and made his way out. That was the last time I ever saw Lieutenant Sims, he put his gun in his mouth and killed himself. We had won the war eventually and when I got home, I kissed my mother and started to think about the men I had killed. The men I killed who had mothers, I sinned and would never be forgiven. So, I choose to redeem my mother for giving birth to a murderer by rewarding her with a diamond, the very one in your wife’s grave. I shouldn’t be forgiven and frankly don’t want to be, but my mother must have that diamond to show her that she can be rewarded, that her murdering son can be dislinked with her. I need that diamond for her, do you understand?


The Pilgrim stretches his eyes and then looks back at Ledger.

The Pilgrim
That is one heck of a story. But since you’re already a murderer, I guess you wouldn’t mind killing again for it, would you?

Ledger
If that’s what it takes.

The Pilgrim
Well, then we shouldn’t wait anymore. Let’s go.



CUT TO
EXT. PILGRIM HOUSE BACKYARD- NIGHT
The Pilgrim pulls his sleeves up and looks at Ledger who is un-strapping his vest.

The Pilgrim
You sure you want to do this?

Ledger
I came all the way out here.

The Pilgrim
Hum. Good point.


The Pilgrim and Ledger begin to slowly walk toward eachother until they are three feet apart. They both begin to breath hard. Ledger takes a swing at The Pilgrim, he catches it and twists his arm; breaking it. Ledger hits the ground screaming.

Ledger
ARRRGGHHHHHHH!


The Pilgrim then pulls Ledger up, by his broken arm, which only causes him to scream more. The Pilgrim wipes dirt from Ledger’s shirt.

The Pilgrim
Now it’s my turn.


The Pilgrim swings at Ledger, he tries to catch it but misses. The Pilgrim hits Ledger right in the nose, breaking it and causing a burst of blood to erupt from it. Again Ledger hits the ground and again The Pilgrim pulls him up by his broken arm.

The Pilgrim
Now’s your turn.


Ledger begins to cry, he tries saying something he can’t. Blood begins to drip into Ledger’s mouth; he slobbers and starts spitting like mad. Ledger throws his other arm at The Pilgrim who manages to catch it and snap it backwards, breaking it. Ledger falls over in pain and shrieks like mad at the moon, sobbing also. The Pilgrim looks down at the grown man bawling.

The Pilgrim
Had enough?

Ledger
Oh god yes! I just want to see my mother again!


The Pilgrim pulls a noose from his back pocket and grips it with his left arm, then drags Ledger by one of his broken arms with his right arm.

Ledger
OHHHH GOD!



CUT TO
EXT. FOREST- DAWN
The Pilgrim begins to set the noose up as Ledger leans against the tree crying.

Ledger
Please, please don’t kill me. I want my mother so bad, I want her.


The Pilgrim pulls on the noose that is wrapped around the limb of a tree to make sure it’s stable.

The Pilgrim
You killed Isles, an innocent man. You were going to kill me. Those are the only ones I know of, I can’t imagine who else you’ve killed. You’re a murderer Ledger and no diamond ring will help your mother, the only way to do it is to kill you.


The Pilgrim tightens the rope around Ledger’s neck; he begins to shake his body like mad.

Ledger
NO! NO! NO! NO! NONONO!


The Pilgrim gets his grip on the other end of the rope.

The Pilgrim
I’m sorry Ledger; it’s what we agreed to.

Ledger
Please, God no!


In a fast pull, The Pilgrim hangs Ledger; he struggles only for moments until his neck snaps. With dry blood all over his face, tears running down his cheeks and hair dangling, Ledger dies. The Pilgrim takes a few steps back to look at what he’s done. He folds his hands.

The Pilgrim
God, bring peace to this man and guide him to the end. And make his mother happy, in your name we pray, amen.


The Pilgrim begins to walk off as the sun breaks.

The End.