BLACK SAILS

When Theseus returned from slaying the Minotaur, he looked like a madman and he stank of manure. His eyes were wide open as if in shock, and he seemed to be mumbling something, more to himself than to anyone in particular.  His pupils darted from side to side, and his face and clothes were all splattered with blood.

Ariadne took his sword away from him and kissed him. She whispered some soothing words into his ear and took him by the hand into the sea. There, she bathed and scrubbed him clean until his gaze became calm and he stopped talking to himself.

On the beach, Theseus put on an elegant robe before climbing aboard his ship. The celebrations began soon afterwards, as the ship set sail for home. And shortly after losing sight of land, he laid his head on a sack of grain. And as the sun poured its last amber light on his face, Theseus fell asleep. His body was bruised and tired, but his mind was restless. And Ariadne saw his mouth twitch often as nightmares flickered beneath his eyelids.

Ariadne cut a piece of string and tied it to Theseus' wrist, being careful not to wake him up. She sliced another length and fastened it around her own wrist. That string brought his body back to her intact. It guided Theseus out of the labyrinth. And now that his mind was lost in a maze, she realised it was going to take all her strength to keep him sane after what he'd been through. But she was strong. Mentally she was stronger than Theseus but she didn't know it. Not yet.

During the night, a freak gust of wind ripped the sails. The Captain decided to hoist the black sails Aegeus had given him. They had to get moving as soon as possible, since, without sails, the ship would be prey to pirates.  Aegeus, Theseus’ father, had instructed the Captain to return bearing black sails only in case the Minotaur had devoured Theseus. This way, Aegeus would have known his son was dead before the ship landed. And he would not have prepared a hero’s welcome but a son’s funeral.

The crew also knew what the black sails meant. And they were superstitious. They begged the Captain not to hoist them. They said it was equivalent to taunting Death. But the Captain became furious and told them that nobody would see the black sails at night, and they’d take them down in the morning, once the ripped sails were repaired. He also told the crew that he was going to sleep and warned them that if anybody woke him up or took down the black sails, he would disembowel them on the spot, and wear their guts for garters. This was no empty threat. And the crew knew it.

The next morning, Theseus and the Captain were still asleep. But Aegeus wasn’t. He hadn’t slept all night and had sat on a stone on a cliff top, looking out at sea for his son’s return. As the sun rose, he spotted Theseus’ ship grow taller on the horizon. And at the sight of the black sails, grief pushed him over the cliff into that sea that would forever take his name – the Aegean.



Alberico Collina

Three Stories in Three Films

What these three stories have in common is their function. The scriptwriters employ these brief narratives to create short-cuts, which add meaning but avoid lengthy digressions, while lending unity and depth to the plot.

1. The Mice and the Cream Story
"Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse, wouldn't quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out. Gentlemen, as of this moment, I am that second mouse."
source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264464/quotes

In Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can, this brief story is part of a speech made by Frank Abagnale Sr. at a NY rotary club. It tells us much about the conman protagonist Frank Abagnale Jr., by showing us how his fraudster father transmitted his survivalist view of the world, and his gigantic ambition to his son.

2. The Scorpion and the Frog Story

"Scorpion wants to cross a river, but he can't swim. Goes to the frog, who can, and asks for a ride. Frog says, 'If I give you a ride on my back, you'll go and sting me.' Scorpion replies, 'It would not be in my interest to sting you since as I'll be on your back we both would drown.' Frog thinks about this logic for a while and accepts the deal. Takes the scorpion on his back. Braves the waters. Halfway over feels a burning spear in his side and realizes the scorpion has stung him after all. And as they both sink beneath the waves the frog cries out, 'Why did you sting me, Mr. Scorpion, for now we both will drown?' Scorpion replies, 'I can't help it, it's in my nature.' "
source: http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/cg.html

In Neil Jordan's The Crying Game, Aesop's fable of the Scorpion and the Frog is told by Jody, the kidnapped British soldier, to Fergus, his IRA terrorist captor. It can be viewed as Jody's attempt to convince his captor that it is not in his nature to kill him. However, this is an odd choice since it doesn't end well for the frog. It may therefore just reflect the soldier's dire realisation that he may soon follow the same fate.

3. The White Horse
"There's a little boy and on his 14th birthday he gets a horse... and everybody in the village says, 'how wonderful. The boy got a horse' And the Zen master says, 'we'll see.' Two years later, the boy falls off the horse, breaks his leg, and everyone in the village says, 'How terrible.' And the Zen master says, 'We'll see.' Then, a war breaks out and all the young men have to go off and fight... except the boy can't cause his legs are all messed up. and everybody in the village says, 'How wonderful.' Now the Zen master says, 'We'll see.' "
source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472062/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu

In Mike Nicols's Charlie Wilson's War, this tale is told by Gust Avrakotos, the shrewd intelligence officer. He uses it to explain that it may be premature to judge certain actions and events by their immediate effects, since these, in turn, set a chain of consequences in motion that are forever evolving, defying all prediction.


Alberico Collina