Beauty and the Beast


Catherine: Vincent… please…tell me.
Vincent: We’re below the city, below the subways.  There is a whole world of tunnels and chambers that most people don’t even know exists.  There are no maps to where we are. It’s a forgotten place. But it’s warm and it’s safe, and we have all the room we need. So we live here and we try to live as well as we can, and we try to take care of each other.  It’s our city, down here.
Catherine: What are you doing down here? Why are you here?
Vincent: I was a baby…abandoned, left to die…someone found me nad brought me here…to the man who became my father….He took me, he raised me…he taught me everything. He named me Vincent…That’s where I was found, near the hospital, St Vincent’s.
Catherine: I don’t know what to believe….
Vincent: Its all true…

 


Elliot: I’m Elliot Burch.
Catherine: Of course, you are.


Vincent: I found myself on Catherine's balcony.
Father: There can be little comfort in that, when it's empty.
Vincent: I wanted a sense of her.
Father: What did you find?
Vincent: Only her absence.
Father: What about your... your connection to her, your bond?
Vincent: I feel it…at a distance. She is so far away.
Father: But you can feel it?
Vincent: Oh, yes.
Father: Then trust in that, Vincent... It's a remarkable thing, to feel the beat of a woman's heart, on a distant shore.

 

Rainer Marie Rilke - Letters to a Young Poet

"How should we be able to forget those ancient myths that are at the beginning of all peoples,the myths about dragons that at the last moment turn into princesses; perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave.

Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that wants help from us. So you must not be frightened if a sadness rises up before you larger than any you have ever seen; if a restiveness, like light and cloudshadows, passes over your hands and over all you do.

You must think that something is happening with you, that life has not forgotten you, that it holds you in its hand; it will not let you fall.”


Vincent: Catherine, I understand why you expose yourself to danger.
Catherine: Because there are some risks worth taking.
Vincent: And there are some things worth risking everything for.


Vincent: I was born and I survived.


Catherine: Vincent…Vincent
Vincent: Catherine…Catherine
Catherine: Vincent…We loved…There is a child.
Vincent: A child?
Catherine: He’s beautiful!
Vincent: Catherine…Catherine
Catherine: Though lovers be lost…
Vincent: Love shall not…
Catherine: (loses consciousness)
Vincent: …And death shall have no dominion.

     

Vincent: Catherine, I feel the things you are feeling when you do.
Catherine: How do you mean?
Vincent: Just know it’s true and that your pain is my pain. Sometimes it is almost as if we’re one.


Hughes: You spoke the name Catherine.  Who is Catherine?
Vincent: She is everything… But she lives only in my heart.


Brigit: The night has a special magic to it, don't you think? This night especially.
Vincent: Halloween.
Brigit: In the Old Religion they call it Samhain. It's a night when the walls between the worlds grow thin, and spirits of the Underworld walk the earth. A night of masks and balefires, when anything is possible and nothing is quite as it seems. Your city has its own magic as well. The lights, towers... listen to it.

Marie to Catherine at party: Where are all the really great guys?…What happened—they all go underground?

Vincent: Catherine...
Catherine: I'm back.
Vincent: I felt your return... Oh, these four days...
Catherine: I know. I know!
Vincent: There was a moment... I thought you were in great danger... There was nothing I could do--I
               wanted so desperately to reach out to you!
Catherine: But you did, Vincent. I could feel you watching over me. I heard you call out! ... Vincent, you
               saved me...
Vincent: Catherine, this... this bond we share, this connection...
Catherine: Yes. It's that strong!

 

Vincent to Narcissa: Magic can only touch those who believe in its power.




Catherine: It’s a new journal.
Vincent: It’s very beautiful.
Catherine: It seemed appropriate.
Vincent: Yes, it is.
Inscription in Journal: “With love all things are possible. Forever, Catherine
Vincent: Forever?
Catherine: Yes, forever.

Mouse to Catherine: Catherine? Vincent’s Catherine!


Catherine: It was a year ago, tonight.
Vincent: How remarkable you are…remembering such a dark moment…with dancing lights.
Catherine: It's a time for celebration. I found hope again that night… I found you.
Vincent: I have something for you. I wanted to give you something from my world, something for you to carry with you…A keepsake. (The crystal.)
Catherine: Vincent, it's beautiful!
Vincent: It comes from our deepest chamber. It reminds me of a piece of eternity.
Catherine: I'll cherish it.... I wanted you to have a part of me to hold close. When I was little, I was terrified of the dark, and I used to have an awful time falling asleep. My mother gave me this rose, and she told me that, whenever I got frightened, to hold the rose, and to think of her, and to know that wherever she was, she was thinking of me. It helped me to go to sleep... Until you came into my life, Vincent, I'd forgotten how it felt to know that there is someone thinking of me…Someone who knows who I am…Someone that I'm connected to.
Vincent: Every moment since that night, I'm reminded of what a gift life is.

Catherine: What is it, Vincent? What are you thinking?
Vincent: How ashamed I am, that you saw me as I was.

How grateful I am that you were there. You saved my life, Catherine.


Catherine: You said, Follow your heart. It can’t wait.


Mouse: Not stealing…taking. Just stuff. Needed it, found it, took it.


Vincent: You looked so beautiful…for a moment…I let myself dream…
Catherine: So did I.
Vincent: They have a lifetime together…Our time together is always measured---minutes---seconds…
Catherine: then we must learn to measure our lifetime in another way.
Vincent: Yes…..


Catherine: I don’t like leaving. I love the city. I like being home.

 


Joe: …You're really attracted to these culture types, aren't you?
Catherine: I don't think you could call what I'm attracted to a ”'type.”
Joe: No, but you know what I mean. These smooth guys who go to concerts, and know all about wine, take you to all the right places...
Catherine: Not exactly.
Joe: Well, all I'm saying is there must be a reason you haven't hooked up with one of these guys yet.
Catherine: Any theories?
Joe: I'm only talking as a friend now.
Catherine: I'm listening.
Joe: Well, obviously you're not getting what you need. Maybe you need something else.
Catherine: Joe, I hesitate to ask, but I'm dying to know. What do you think I need?…Tell me.
 Joe: Radcliffe, you need someone who's more, ah...
Catherine: More...?
Joe: ...More solid. You know? ... More a... down-to-earth kind of guy. You know what I mean?
Catherine: I think I do


Vincent’s journal entry: “It ebbs and flows now. At times I feel as though all is well. And then I am reminded by a sound, the reflection of a flame or some distant echo inside that it is returning. Of how immense it is. That it is rising up within me and burying me in its path.”


Vincent: Catherine! It was a dream…a terrible dream…Everything was changed…I could not wake up.
Catherine: Its over now…I’m here.
Vincent: Yes.  I thought I had lost you.
Catherine: Vincent, don't you know you could never lose me? We could never lose each other as long as we remember…
Vincent: Remember?
Catherine: Remember love.


Catherine: Vincent, it’s beautiful. Remember how I told you that when I was little I was afraid of the dark. My mother gave me a candle to light at my bedside before I went to sleep. Just a tiny little thing, a birthday candle. Somehow, it made it all right. I have loved candles ever since.
Vincent: This is no ordinary candle. This is for Winterfest. It is a special time for us. We have other celebrations, all the holidays and traditions we share with your world, but Winterfest is our own. A time to remember the past, dream of the future.  Each year, we deliver these candles to our helpers in the world Above. Without their light, our world would be dark. Our lives would be cold without their warmth. The candles are our way of saying they are a part of us. Everyone—the entire community—has agreed this year that Winterfest would be incomplete unless you are there.


Vincent: You must leave.
Catherine: No.
Vincent: Leave, now.
Catherine: Why do you want me to leave?
Vincent: Because what I'm feeling... My thoughts... Shame me.
Catherine: Tell me. Tell me what you feel!
Vincent: You must not see me like this.
Catherine: Please don't send me away!
Vincent: My thoughts are poisonous!
Catherine: Tell me these thoughts.
Vincent: What you shared... I envied.
Catherine: Vincent.
Vincent: I betrayed Michael. I betrayed you. Everything I hold dear.
Catherine: How did you betray us?
Vincent: I know what it is to love you... I love Michael like a brother, like a son. But his life has been such a struggle... He needed to be healed by your tenderness. And yet, I was unwilling to share your love with anyone.
Catherine: Don't be ashamed of those feelings.
Vincent: It violates everything I believe.
Catherine: Don't you think I have those feelings too? Sometimes, I envy Father, and others in your life who receive your love and your care every day. I know those feelings. They are ugly. But... all of those feelings come from love. They are the other side of it. To turn away from them is to forget where they come from.
Vincent: Catherine... the better part of me would rejoice to see you find love with someone as fine and as good as Michael. You have so much love to give…
Catherine: Because of you!
Vincent: What we share must always be so measured, so limited..
Catherine: We don't know what the limits are!
Vincent: You deserve a life without limits!
Catherine: There is no life without limits!  …Vincent, if this is my fate, I accept it, gratefully. You must believe that. Don't be afraid to want it, even only for yourself. Don't be afraid to deserve it. You deserve everything!


  “Darkness almost engulfed us, but our unity gave us strength. Our shared light showed us the truth. As we part for another year let us remember. Darkness is only the absence of light... and all winters end."


 

Vincent: Can I lead you through the dark?
Catherine: There is no darkness, Vincent, when you're with me.

 

Catherine: It's been so long. I was afraid...
Vincent: That I might not come? ...I was away. There is a place, miles beneath the city, a nameless river that runs through the darkness. Sometimes I go there.
Catherine: I wanted you to have this.
Vincent: Tennyson. First edition.
Catherine: I always loved Idylls of the King. I even knew some parts of it by heart. Some nights I've dreamt of Camelot…and Lancelot.
Vincent: Lancelot was fatally flawed. Destined never to find the grail.
Catherine: Still... he was the greatest knight of all.
 



Vincent: (reading “The Lady of Shalott”, Tennyson)
“But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror’s magic sights,
For often thro’ the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, went to Camelot;”
Kristopher: (reciting “The Lady of Shalott”, Tennyson)
“Or when the moon was overhead,
Came two young lover lately wed:”
Catherine (to Vincent): Go, before they see you! Go!
Catherine(steps forward to meet intruder): Kristopher???
Kristopher: You didn’t have to send him away.
Catherine: What the hell do you think you are doing here?
Kristopher: God, he reads beautifully.
Catherine: I want you to stop following me.
Kristopher: Do you think he would sit for me?
Catherine: Who are you talking about?
Kristopher: What century did he walk out of, Cathy? What storybook?
Catherine: This is outrageous!
Kristopher: (quotes “The decay of Lying (excerpt)” Oscar Wilde )
“And over our heads will float the blue bird singing of beautiful and impossible things, of things that are beautiful, of things that are lovely and that never happen, of things that are not and that should be.”


Catherine: Two years ago…tonight…I thought maybe we could go inside…by the fire… It’s warm.


 

Vincent: (voice over)That night, she truly walked alone. And deep within me I felt the cold and terrible truth of all that kept us apart. Fate had left me adrift, with no wind to carry me to the safe shores of her love.


Vincent (Catherine in his arms): How do you feel now? Are you still afraid?
Catherine: No. Just very grateful.
Vincent: We have endured…much.
Catherine: Yes, we have. And I know, in the deepest part of who I am, that whatever happens now, Vincent, we will endure. We will.


Joe:  I'm not leaving. I'm gonna sleep right there…on that short-little-dinky couch.
Catherine: No, you're not.
Joe: Yes, I am.
Catherine: No, you're not.
Joe: Why not?
Catherine: I have my reasons. ...Whatever it is, Cathy, we can get you out of it.
Catherine: No, we can't.
Joe: Okay. Here’s your keys. Lock your door. Put one of your chairs in front of it. On second thought, put one of your couches in front of it….


Vincent: And my heart is with you. Wherever you are, wherever you go, you take me. You stand for me. For us. For our dream. Your carry our light. That too is your destiny.
Catherine: Do you think that someday... Will we ever be together? Truly together?
Vincent: Only if and when we understand how great the sacrifice is. How large the fee is. And are able to move through them.
Catherine: I'm not scared.
Vincent: Catherine, we are something that has never been. And our journey is one that none have ever taken. We are just now setting out. We must go with courage, and we must go with care.


  



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