>>>

We see a man. Handsome, sickly, sunken cheeks, dirty blond hair. His name is Jan Bergson. His eyes are troubled. Searching. He is on his death-bed. Bloody rags are nearby, medicine bottles. His daughter Alexandra comes in from the cold. She is his oldest child. Bundled up, she begins to unwrap shawls and remove scarves and mittens. She stoops, talking quietly to little brother Emil, an old primary reader on his lap. Though it is day, it is dark in the cabin. Kerosene lamps. Sooty windowpanes. At a table, her mother stands washing rags in a basin. Her face is worried, harried, with rosy cheeks, hair falling down. She hands Alexandra clean, dry cloths for Jan. He lies nearby, his wet coughs indicative of tuberculosis. Alexandra nods to her mother and takes the cloths.

[in Swedish]

JAN: Alexandra, where are your brothers? I want to speak to them.

ALEXANDRA: They are feeding the horses. Should I…?

JAN: No. Wait until they come in

[He gazes out the window for a time. Looking out with him, we see a shallow muddy stream, a winding ravine, cottonwoods. He counts on his fingers. He is lost. He continues in Swedish…]

JAN: Bewildering country. Eleven years I have tried to make a mark on this wild land. [After a moment, he focuses on Alexandra]. You will have to do the best you can for us. Everything will come on you. Alex, the land is like a horse that no one knows how to break to harness. It runs wild and kicks things to pieces.

ALEXANDRA: I will do all I can papa.

JAN: Do not let your brothers be troubled. Our land… Remember.

ALEXANDRA: We will never lose the land.

…

Alexandra’s brothers Lou and Oscar come in from the barn and go in to speak with Jan. Alexandra remains with her mother. We cannot hear what is said, but know they are saying goodbye. They come out again and Lou hurriedly wipes away tears. Lou and Oscar motion Alexandra to come outside. Mother turns away. They exit without coats and hug themselves in the cold.

[in Swedish]

LOU: So it is on you now?

ALEXANDRA: Yes

OSCAR: He wants no quarrel among us. So long as there is one house, there is one head.

LOU: We will all work the place together.

ALEXANDRA: He wants us to break a little more land each year. Put in more hay than we need. Plant fruit trees.

OSCAR: Mostly for mother. She has always missed the Old Country.

[They fall silent. Shivering, they stand and gaze at the windmill. It is twilight, gray sky, a few hints of orange at the horizon. Wild birds fly overhead. Coyotes in the distance. A noise: the door to the cabin. Mother is there, tears on her face. We know Jan Bergson is dead].

>>>

I wrote this in 2006 while living in Nebraska. The humble beginnings of a screenplay based on Willa Cather’s novel ‘O Pioneers!’ Set near the fictional town of Hanover “anchored on a windy tableland, trying not to be blown away” the tale follows the fate of the Bergson family after father Jan dies.

Pioneer stories fascinate me. Wild land, big sky. Fighting for life and taming it. Shaping the future in a way we’ve lost. Feeling truly small. Sensing our place in the vast universe.

The ‘O Pioneers’ tale has always gripped my soul. It is a beautiful story, and deserves a beautiful movie. I’ll keep working on this in days to come.

// molly