TINIAN

Romantic Drama

WRITER:  Charlie Levi
   ADAPTED FROM:  The novella "Tinian" by Charlie Smith
PRODUCER: Graham Leader

LOGLINE

The story of two brothers who run to the ends of the earth in a futile attempt to lay family demons to rest.

SYNOPSIS

Effie Voss and his brother Paul saw their childhood shattered when their father, a failed writer, killed himself. The impact of that bullet sent Effie on the run, barely in touch with anyone, while Paul was left to help their mother on the family farm in Georgia.

Twelve years later: It’s 1974 and Effie, now 29, is living on Tinian, an island he stumbled upon while following an obsession with a Japanese soldier holed up in the South Pacific and still fighting WWII. The island is an idyllic haven, despite being best known as the launching site for the Enola Gay’s bombing runs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To Effie, it’s the perfect place to finally get down to some serious writing of his own. Meanwhile, the war in nearby Vietnam is still going strong.

Helen, Effie’s childhood sweetheart, has been with him for several months when Paul, 22, shows up to surprise Effie on his birthday and be with the two people he’s been in awe of his whole life. He arrives an innocent, full of hope and dazzled by their exotic world.

It doesn’t take long before a local cockfight reveals the seamier underside of paradise, and signs of trouble with the family reunion are even quicker to appear. Paul soon realizes that Effie’s letters home had been misleadingly buoyant, his work has been fitful, and even his life with Helen is dangerously fragile – surviving on the fumes of a previous passion. Effie is as captivating as ever, but through Paul’s fresh eyes we can see the wounds his charisma helps mask.

The celebration Paul was anticipating turns into the first real challenge of his adulthood. His arrival has reminded Effie of everything he’d run away from. Paul can’t fathom Effie’s motivations or moods. The brother he’d always worshipped shows signs of weakness, even cruelty. For his part, Effie can’t help but notice that Paul is becoming the grown-up in the family and that Helen has discovered a real sense of purpose since arriving, making the island more her home than his. He reacts by going on a wildly self-destructive binge.

Paul and Helen try hard to save him, but this too has unforeseen complications. Effie sets fuses everywhere, and time begins to run down as love and murder claim victims along the way.

Amidst the quickening action, Paul must sort out his own needs and desires. Somehow he has to come to terms with the family mythology while fighting for his life. Eventually, he must choose between his brother’s future and his own.