A little-known Hollywood legend tells of the chaotic making of the blockbuster hit Eat Pray, Love… how the star, Julia Roberts, insisted the script be worked from the novel during the actual shooting, to capture the essence and atmosphere of the exotic locations. Writers would gather material from Rome, or Bangalore, write dialogue, and present them to the actress and director for approval each day.
In a backstreet in Ubud, Bali, we found a rare piece of memorabilia… a first draft of the first scene from Act Three of the movie from that location. The manuscript was in bad shape- dirty, mouldy, and only a few pages survived. But indeed, it shows how the writers captured the essence of Ubud, a community well documented in the travel industry as an artistic and spiritual destination.
Here, then, presented for the first time, is a transcript of one of Hollywood’s great might-have-beens… the lost first scene of Act Three… Love in Ubud.
ESTABLISHING SHOT: Street in Ubud, LIZ is exiting from van.
CLOSEUP: Liz looking off down the street
SHOT: Liz starts walking down the street
Liz walks a few more steps.
An extra cut from the deleted scene.
Liz stops suddenly. She looks down. Before her, the sidewalk is a gaping hole. The sewer is running just a few feet below her. CU of her face, in fear and shock.
She steps over the hole. She turns as she hears a whistle from across the street.
Liz resumes walking down the street. Suddenly, she jars her back when the sidewalk drops beneath her six inches. Recovering her poise, she spies a man waving at her from across the street.
Liz follows across the street.
WIDE SHOT/MONTAGE Liz tries to walk down the street, is handed several more massage pamphlets and receives more offers for taxis. Finally she breaks out of the crowd. SHOT of beautiful park, greenery, walkways. Obviously a peaceful place.
Liz purchases small bunch of bananas, enters forest.
CU LIZ Look of disgust crosses her face.
A monkey jumps up on Liz. She smiles and offers it a banana.
Another jumps on her other shoulder.
She offers another banana. Then a third, then a fourth, then they all start scrambling up on her. She drops her bananas in a panic.
Liz is seemingly overwhemed by the apes. One even begins pissing on her. Then, the animals all stop at once. They look in one direction, and all take off, suddenly.
Liz, scraped and her hair in a shambles, is momentarily stunned. Then she looks up. A man is next to her. Tall, clean-cut, handsome. His hair is framed golden in the backlit sun. He reaches out to her.
John Boivin is new to the blogosphere but not to writing. He worked as a print, radio and web journalist for more than 25 years until his retirement in 2010. He is now indulging in an old passion, landscape painting, as well as a new one, travel. He lives in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada with his family.
