Film: Nebraska
Written by: Bob Nelson
Screenplay Adapted by: Alexander Payne
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Scene 1:
EXT. BILLINGS, MONTANA - LAUREL ROAD - DAY 1
A MAN in his 70s walks along a narrow stretch of grass separating a busy road from a railroad yard. The man walks purposefully, despite the hesitant gait and clouded eyes of a longtime alcoholic.
EXT. NEAR INTERSTATE 90 - DAY 2
Now a bit dazed and slowed by fatigue, the man walks past a sign reading BILLINGS CITY LIMITS. A state patrol cruiser pulls up in front of him, and a TROOPER gets out.
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At least that's what the original script said. But what happened on screen in the first scene of Nebraska said so much more. I'm haunted by it. Woody, the MAN in his 70s, trudged down the shoulder of a semi-busy highway in Billings, Montana. Woody kept walking past the typical timeframe of an opening sequence. Woody marched forward focused and intoxicated in equal measure, as the patient audience quietly begins to fidget in their seats.
The state trooper pulls up, concerned about the nature of this seemingly lost 70 year old man. The trooper, the law, the person responsible for knowing what is going on, exits the car to get Woody's attention.
Trooper asks, "Where are you coming from?"
Woody, in a focused drunken haze, hesitates, then moves his arms back over his shoulder as if to say,"back there".
The trooper, realizing his question wasn't very effective, tried again, "Where are you going?"
Woody, in a focused drunken haze, hesitates, then moves his arms forward as if to say, "that way".
This is the beautiful messy scene that plays on repeat in my head every day. I'm still deciding whether to ban these images from my imagination or white-knuckle them even tighter.