International soap opera

Bobby C., former stand-up comedian, now a lawyer to the stars (Michael Douglas, Burt Reynolds, Dustin Hoffman) immediately saw the potential in Maria, P.’s jilted wife. In fact, he was the one who contacted her. Now, everyone wants her! Larry King, People magazine…

‘I got her onto the market for paid interviews to guarantee her a living. You have to understand: I’m trying to create a product with Maria because we could hit the jackpot. It’s almost Christmas and she has an amazing story to tell!’

‘A’ side

The camera sweeps round the small living room in the house in the suburbs of Hollywood, Florida. There are no toys strewn on the floor, yellow plastic flowers are prominent in a purple glass vase, there is an embroidered red and black table mat under the empty ashtray. The interviewer, a man of around thirty, clearly separates his words when he addresses Maria P., a young blonde woman with a harassed look who is sitting on the edge of a grimy armchair, four children aged between two and five surrounding her or on her lap. Every now and then she smooths down her hair with one hand, and checks the buttons on her blouse with the other. She replies without hesitation in a monotone. No, she had no more news from her husband after 2 November, when he left to go and visit his sick mother in Romania. ‘OK, Maria. And you saw him again, you learned about everything… from the TV! When you saw your husband as the star guest on a talk show! Incredible! And he was with… Nadia, the famous gymnast from your country!’

‘My husband, the man who helped Nadia escape… I was so proud at first, before I, before…’ The interviewer leans towards Maria and takes her hand, a moment of communion. ‘I immediately prepared the guest bedroom for… her. We can go and see the room if you like. On television, he said he is her… manager as well.’ Close-up on Maria’s ravaged fingernails, the chapped hands she raises to her eyes as she bursts into tears and the interviewer exclaims, ‘Oh my God, my God.’ He turns to the camera: ‘Mrs P. is crying [her sniffles are heard] because during the press conference, Nadia was wearing… be brave, Maria, tell us, every woman in the country is with you!’

Maria P., her baby clinging round her neck, moans in a very strong Romanian accent: ‘…she was wearing my husband’s chain and his ring!’ In close-up, she sobs rhythmically: ‘Come home, come home, come home!’ The end credits start to roll over a silent image of an ecstatic Nadia C., head thrown back, saluting. Cut.

‘B’ side

Early in December 1989, a Los Angeles Times reporter meets Maria P. His sceptical article appears in the back-page People section, cut to a few lines: ‘Maria vacuums an old Buick parked in front of her house, smoking as she hums Personal Jesus. She appears relieved to have found a good source of income with this scandal. According to her neighbours, her husband would not let her smoke or go out, instead keeping her pregnant all the time.’