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October 2022

Ma Che Quest, Fellini?

Flash Fiction by Altenir Silva

 

 

flash-TREATMENT

 

Don Vittorio Gemma is an Italian American mobster who loves cinema. When he saw Fellini's movie, "E la nave va (The Ship Sails On)", he was disturbed by the final scene where a man watches a movie inside a sinking ship.

 

Don Vittorio Gemma wants to know the meaning of this scene. But only Fellini can explain that. Then, the mafioso goes to Italy and orders his men to kidnap the filmmaker.

 

flash-SCREENPLAY

 

INT. RESTAURANT INSIDE CINECITTÀ - NIGHT

FELLINI is sitting alone at his favorite table. He's eating delicious pasta while sipping his favorite red wine.

 

Suddenly TWO MEN approach him. They sit down at Fellini's table.

 

FELLINI

So…?

 

MAN 1

You better come along with us.

 

FELLINI

Why?

 

MAN 2 shows a GUN inside his coat.

 

MAN 2

Stay easy and everything will be fine.

 

FELLINI

(Looking around.)

Is anyone filming this?

 

 

MAN 1

It's not fiction… it's real.

 

MAN 2

Get up and follow us.

 

CUT TO

 

flash-PLAY

 

Lights up on the stage. Fellini is sitting with his arms tied in the chair. Don Vittorio Gemma approaches him.

 

FELLINI

Mamma mia! What the hell is going on here?

 

GEMMA

Do you know me?

 

FELLINI

No.

 

GEMMA

My name is Vittorio Gemma. Don Vito Gemma.

 

FELLINI

Oh my God! You're the big-grand-big boss?

 

GEMMA

Yeah.

 

FELLINI

I'm gonna die?

 

GEMMA

Everybody dies.

 

FELLINI

Today? Tonight? Tomorrow?

 

GEMMA

I don't know. It'll depend on you.

 

FELLINI

What should I do?

 

GEMMA

Resolve a puzzle to me.

 

FELLINI

A puzzle?

 

GEMMA

Yeah.

 

FELLINI

You got those henchmen to kidnap me because of a fucking puzzle?

 

GEMMA

I was ordered to by my employers.

 

FELLINI

Employers? They're gangsters!

 

GEMMA

Please, can we get all that shit out of here?

 

FELLINI

Of course. You're the big-grand-big boss, by the way.

 

GEMMA

Thank you. Let's do it. Let's go to the puzzle. I wanted you to explain to me what the hell you meant in the final scene of your movie, The Ship Sails On.

 

FELLINI

E la nave va?

 

GEMMA

Exactly.

 

FELLINI

What do you want to know?

 

GEMMA

I was disturbed by the ending scene of your movie.

 

FELLINI

Really?

 

GEMMA

That man was projecting a movie while the ship sank. What does it mean?

 

FELLINI

I have no idea.

 

GEMMA

What? Are you kidding me?

 

FELLINI

Of course not. It's true. I write and make scenes without worrying about the meaning.

 

GEMMA

Madonna, Madonna, Madonna Achiropita! I get it. Finally, I get it. Because of that, nobody understands your movies, huh?

 

FELLINI

My movies are pure art and have nothing else. Art doesn't have to be understood, it just has to feel.

 

GEMMA

I feel your film.

 

FELLINI

Very good.

 

GEMMA

I did feel so foolish.

 

FELLINI

That's not cool.

 

GEMMA

A deluxe ship sails on to spread the ashes of a well-known opera singer. Then, a group of Serbian refugees blow out the ship. A man watches a movie until the ship sinks completely. What does it mean? The Death of Cinema?

 

FELLINI

Maybe the Death of Opera!

 

(Blackout.)

 

END

 

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Altenir Silva | Scene4 Magazine

Altenir Silva is a Brazilian playwright and screenwriter working in mass media and communications, including Cinema, Theater, Television and the Web. His texts and scripts - both fiction and reality-based - have been presented , produced and performed in the US, the UK, and Brazil.
For more of his writings in Scene4, check the Archives.

©2022 Altenir Silva
©2022 Publication Scene4 Magazine

 

 

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