Fireworks

FIREWORKS' is a film for TV, 25 minutes in length. This is a story of childhood, and a boy's relationship with his difficult, fragile mother. Set in the year 1962 in Glasgow, Scotland, a city on the verge of change, with the emergence of youth culture and rock n' roll, but also a time of repressed feelings, unspoken fears, and the threat of world nuclear conflict. As November 5th approaches, young ALEX looks forward to a night of magic with his pals - fireworks, bonfires and burning Guy Fawkes, a long historical tradition. Unfortunately, his troubled mother, ELLA, has other ideas. Her manner is causing an undercurrent of anxiety within the family, but this is not discussed openly. Her husband, NORRIE, a gentle, kind man, is concerned but doesn’t have the understanding to deal with the situation, and Alex’s teenage brother EDDIE is too busy learning to be a rock n’ roll guitarist to pay much attention. Ella’s behaviour becomes more erratic and difficult to fathom; her attitude towards Alex is cold and diffident - even when he sets alight a firework in the kitchen she seems unconcerned. She confiscates his firework box, strangely serene. Ella watches President Kennedy on her small monochrome TV discussing the dramatic Cuban missile crisis, shaking with fear – she then tells Alex that he will be going to hospital to have his tonsils removed. Alex is devastated - he will miss Guy Fawkes bonfire night. While recovering from his operation, so desperate is he to participate in the fireworks displays, Alex escapes the hospital and runs home, but by this time Ella has lost all sense of reality, and a dramatic, explosive conclusion beckons.