View of Delft by Johannes Vermeer
52. EXT. THE RIVER VIVONNE. COMBRAY. DAY. 1893.
Water lilies on the water.
Boys lowering glass jars to catch minnows.
MARCEL (13) and family walking along the bank.
FATHER
No, no, of course we can't get as far as the château. It's much too far.
MOTHER (to MARCEL, gently)
But you'll be able to see the Duchess on Sunday. She's coming to Combray for the wedding.
GRANDMOTHER
I think Marcel's fascinated by the name as much as anything else. Aren't you?
FATHER
The name stands for something. They're one of the oldest and noblest families in France.
GRANDMOTHER
Yes, but I meant the actual sound. It's golden. Guermantes.
53. INT. MARCEL'S ROOM. NIGHT. 1888.
Marcel (8) alone with a magic lantern.
The image of Geneviève de Brabant (ancestress of the Guermantes family) floats over the walls and ceiling.
MARCEL (V.O., murmuring)
Guermantes.
54. INT. SAINT-HILAIRE CHURCH, COMBRAY. 1893.
Chapel of Gilbert the Bad.
Camera pans down stained-glass window.
The wedding in progress. White hawthorn blossoms over the altar.
55. INT. CHURCH. CONGREGATION.
The DUCHESSE DE GUERMANTES (35) seen from MARCEL's point of view.
56. C.U. MARCEL.
Looking at her.
57. C.U. THE DUCHESSE.
She turns her head, a slight smile on her lips.
58. THE CHÂTEAU OF GUERMANTES (IDEALIZED IMAGE).
Long shot across the lake to the chateau.
In the far distance the figures of the DUCHESSE and MARCEL, walking slowly by the lake. She is holding his hand.
A woman's voice (not the DUCHESSE's) heard over:
VOICE
You are a poet. I can tell. Tell me about your poems. Tell me about the poems you intend to write.
59. EXT. GARDEN. COMBRAY. DAY. 1893. LONG SHOT.
SWANN (45) and MARCEL (13) are sitting together in the garden. Their heads are close.
SWANN is riffling through the pages of a book.
Smiling, he reads a sentence or two to MARCEL.
MARCEL's reaction is animated. He takes the book from SWANN, and studies the page.
Chimes of the church bell.
Bird sounds.
-- Harold Pinter The Proust Screenplay
Based on A La Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust
