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The Singing Wheel
It begins in the dark. Imprecise spots of color are turning like a circle of children playing in a courtyard. We hear sounds in a rhythm, a three beat rhythm that gently fades into a Viennese waltz…
The colors stop dancing. We realize they are colored chalk letters and numbers on a blackboard, suddenly swept away by a teacher’s hand.
Int. Classroom. Day
Mummy and Daddy enter the quiet and empty classroom. We hear the children playing outside.DADDY
What’s the matter, today?
The teacher, a gentle young and diplomatic woman doesn’t even try to hide her concern.TEACHER
Well…I asked the children what they want to be when they grow up. Most of them said firemen for boys and hairdressers for girls.MUMMY
Poor children, now I understand your worry.Teacher
Actually…that’s not the point!DADDY
So!TEACHER
So…your son said he wanted to be…(a beat) a big wheel!DADDY
What do you mean a big wheel?TEACHER
Just that…a big wheel.DADDY (trying to stay calm)
You mean the rolling kind?TEACHER
I don’t know any other kind.DADDY
You’ve got him wrong. Nobody wants to be a wheel.TEACHER
He said it twice.MUMMY
Well as long as he’s happy as a wheel, I’m happy. I don’t know if there’s any college for wheels but…DADDY (losing his temper)
My son will never be a wheel…even a big wheel. He may work for “Meals on Wheels,” or in a big wheel at a fair. He can even wheel and deal or push wheelchairs, but…NEVER BE A BIG WHEEL! End of discussion.MUMMY
Let him be a wheel! You always interfere in your children’s happiness. You never listen to them. You never listen when his brother says he wants to be a hunter.DADDY
A vampire hunter!MUMMY
Always arguing on details.TEACHER
Calm down, please. I thought you could explain it to me. When I asked him to tell to the class what he had in mind, he…well…He added it was a singing wheel and then he started dancing…a waltz.MUMMY
What waltz?TEACHER
Strauss.MUMMY
Lovely!DADDY
OK, now he wants to be some Viennese princess…TEACHER
Well, then it’s probably a “huge” Viennese princess…Daddy
What do you mean by “huge?”TEACHER
According to your son, this Viennese princess is the size of an airport!MUMMY (looking at her husband)
That’s ambitious! Don’t ever say he’s shy again.DADDY (out of his mind)
OK, where is he! YANN!TEACHER
He’s still dancing in the courtyard, but sir, you have to
consid…DADDY (threatening the teacher)
And you let him? Don’t ever get close to my son again…
YANNNN… COME ON! YANN!
Six-year-old Yann enters dancing and singing
Strauss’ ”The Blue Danube.”YANN
Hi Mum, hi Dad. Can we go back to see it again?DADDY
See what?YANN
2001.
French writer/director Yann Samuell's debut film is the fantastical love story of the lifelong affair between Sophie and Julien. Outcasts as children they invented an outrageous game of "dare" to keep their spirits alive. As their feelings for each other grow through childhood into adulthood and the exchange of dares escalates and becomes increasingly dangerous, it becomes clear that if neither Sophie nor Julien can fully trust each other they will always remain in a game. Starring Marion Cotillard and Guillaume Canet.
