In an October 1989 interview, Gray recalled scene by scene the metamorphosis of Collins’s script (“essentially literature”) into a film. Changes were not always made for artistic reasons. Some were necessary adaptations to restrictions of location, money, weather, time, performers. Collins preferred working with professional actors; she felt more comfortable with them. She and the actor and director Bill Gunn differed on this issue. He liked the challenge of eliciting a performance from someone who had never been before a camera. Collins, on the other hand, delighted in directing Gunn, a consummate professional, whom she could trust with her character Victor, as she did Seret Scott with Sara and Duane Jones with Duke. And it is clear, by comparing the finished film with the script, that she allowed—sometimes reluctantly—both freedom and improvisation in the dialogue and in the “stage” business.

  Collins and Gray started making Losing Ground with about $25,000 (AFI and NEA grants) and twenty-two production people—blacks, Puerto Ricans, Chinese, Polish—the core of the crew were students of Collins’s. Then they emptied their bank accounts. Post-production costs were picked up by ARD, a West German television network. They submitted the script without notes for consideration of a prescreen agreement; suddenly they were notified that ARD representatives were coming to view the work because the network was interested in the script. It was their last hope. Gray put together a rough cut of about thirty minutes in ten days; then when the ARD representatives arrived, he and Collins showed them the rough cut and the raw, unedited dailies. The money would be forthcoming upon completion of the rough cut, but the ARD people were returning to Germany in a week. Within seven days, Gray prepared a rough cut of one hour, which was approved: they got the money.

  The film cost approximately $125,000. The agreement with ARD was for exclusive TV rights in Germany and Austria for two to three years. Distribution, however, was a problem. According to Gray, art houses wouldn’t take the film because they didn’t know what audience it would attract. Even in Europe (in Amiens, France, for example), the audience—at least some—didn’t respond positively because there was no ghetto in the film, no “poor suffering black folk.”

  Characterized by Collins as a comedy drama about a young woman who takes herself too seriously, Losing Ground was the first feature film by an independent African American woman filmmaker. Her protagonist is a professor of philosophy who tries to examine “ecstasy” from a purely rational perspective, while her artist-husband finds it much more interesting to pursue ecstasy. A rare breed, Sara is immersed in the philosophy of Western civilization, but ironically the limitations of her life are illuminated by her involvement in black folk culture. She “becomes” Frankie in a student film (within the film) based on the folk song “Frankie and Johnny.”

  Music is an important part of any imaginative work by Collins—she even decided to make a musical drama out of her screenplay on Bessie Coleman, the remarkable black woman flyer. Music for Losing Ground was composed by Michael Minard to Collins’s lyrics.

  —Phyllis Rauch Klotman

  Seret Scott in a scene from the Collins/Gray production Losing Ground, directed by Kathleen Collins. Courtesy of Nina Collins and Milestone Films.

  LOSING GROUND

  1 INT. COLLEGE CLASSROOM – LATE AFTERNOON

  [1] SLIGHT HIGH-ANGLE LS, TELEPHOTO, SARA, POV behind students. We are in a large college lecture hall. Sara, a black woman in her mid- to late thirties, is delivering a lecture.

  SARA

  . . . in Sartre the question of absurdity has clear historical antecedents: for one, a violent need to explain war . . . Camus, Sartre, the whole existential movement is a consequence, or perhaps a better way to put it, a reaction to the consequences, of war . . .

  CUT:

  [1A] LOW-ANGLE MWS row of students, POV Sara. Several black male students, wearing glasses, sit listening attentively or taking notes.

  TILT DOWN and PULL BACK to row after row of black male students, all wearing glasses, all looking exceptionally scholarly, all giving strict attention to the lecturer . . .

  SARA (o.c.)

  . . . ‘the natural order’ . . . if there is such a thing . . . has been violated. Chaos exists. Not as a mental possibility—in the way that, say, Descartes might experience it—but as a physical and emotional fact. War is chaos, and war was the existentialist’s primary reality . . .

  As we tilt down to the front row, we now see there is one male student who is white and one female student who is white. As the odd couple in the group, they are seated beside each other, somewhat crouched down in their seats.

  HOLD . . .

  CUT:

  [2] SIDE-ANGLE MS Sara. She is a stunning woman. Creole features and color. Lively eyes, playful yet intense energy . . .

  SARA

  . . . how to explain it in all its terrifying horror except by acknowledging that no explanations satisfy, that human existence must be a priori without rhyme, without reason . . . in the face of sustained horror the argument for an absurd universe becomes the only rational argument.

  She pauses to reflect . . .

  CUT:

  [3] MS YOUNG MAN, listening, his dark, powerful eyes devouring the teacher . . .

  SARA (o.c.)

  There are precedents of course for this kind of thinking . . . in Nietzsche, for example, in the logical positivists’ hypothetical suspension of causal connection . . . but let’s see how you handle all that in your term papers . . . I’m talked out, you’re free to leave unless there are questions . . .

  A STUDENT (o.c.)

  Are we expected to include a discussion of the Fall in our papers, Professor Rogers . . .

  PAN to student.

  SARA (o.c.)

  Absolutely, and at least one of Sartre’s plays, either No Exit or The Flies . . .

  ANOTHER STUDENT (o.c.)

  I had a question about that, Professor . . .

  PAN to student.

  ANOTHER STUDENT

  . . . where are they supposed to be in No Exit?

  Sara laughs . . .

  CUT:

  [4] SIDE-ANGLE MWS Sara, classroom.

  SARA

  Well, they’re in a room with no windows or mirrors. The door is locked, and they must endure each other’s company without relief or privacy . . .

  ANOTHER STUDENT

  And Sartre defines this as Hell.

  SARA

  (laughing)

  It seems a plausible definition to me . . .

  The students laugh, begin to leave. Our young man moves swiftly from his seat to Sara . . .

  DOLLY FORWARD to MS Sara, young man.

  YOUNG MAN

  I got hold of the book on Genet . . .

  SARA

  (enthusiastically)

  Good! It’s the finest analysis of being an outsider I’ve ever read, and it applies as much to race as it does to homosexuality . . .

  Students pass through the frame as they exit . . .

  YOUNG MAN

  (excited)

  He talks about exclusion in such clear terms, he makes you see . . . really see and feel how a society can impose group definitions that the individual is powerless against . . .

  Sara nods in agreement.

  CUT:

  [5] MCU young man, POV Sara.

  SARA (o.c.)

  (agreeing)

  . . . it’s a wonderful book, he touches every feeling, every mental attitude connected with exclusion . . .

  The young man stares at her with deep respect.

  CUT:

  [6] MCU Sara, POV young man. She is a little embarrassed by his intensity.

  SARA

  I’m glad you found it, there are books that can make a difference in a life, I think that’s one of them . . .

  YOUNG MAN (o.c.)

  Next week is our last class . . .

  SARA

  That’s right, you’ve been a good group.

  She begins to gather her papers, looking away.

  SARA

  . . . I’ve enjoyed this class tremendously . . .

  CUT:

  [7] MCU young man, POV Sara. He leans forward . . .

  YOUNG MAN

  You’re just terrific . . . always so alive and terrific . . .

  SARA (o.c.)

  Thank you . . . and I wish you all the best with your exams . . .

  YOUNG MAN

  (desperate)

  . . . and your husband appreciates you . . .

  CUT:

  [8] MCU Sara, POV young man. She is shuffling papers, her back to the camera. She turns around.

  SARA

  . . . my husband . . .

  YOUNG MAN (o.c.)

  I bet he appreciates you tremendously, you’re so full of life . . .

  She nods her head, one step away from bursting into laughter . . .

  SARA

  (overly gracious)

  Thank you, that’s very sweet, I’ll remember to tell him . . .

  She turns to pick up her papers . . .

  CUT:

  [9] MLS young man, POV behind Sara. He stands there a moment while she continues to gather her papers.

  YOUNG MAN

  (almost violently)

  I’ll see you next semester in Critical Approaches . . .

  He stalks out before she can answer him.

  CUT:

  [10] MCU Sara, looking after him with a bemused smile . . .

  DISSOLVE:

  2 INT. LOFT APARTMENT – EARLY EVENING

  [11] HIGH-ANGLE MLS Sara, POV Victor. She comes in the door carrying a briefcase.

  SARA

  Victor . . .

  VICTOR (o.c.)

  I’m in here . . .

  She comes slowly forward to the edge of the doorway . . .

  SARA

  (wary)

  What’s the insane moment for today . . .

  VICTOR laughs.

  CUT:

  [12] LOW-ANGLE MLS Victor, POV Sara. He is standing on a ladder in the middle of the floor painting the upper half of a huge canvas. He is surrounded by paints, canvases, stretchers. Finished paintings and sketches hang on the walls. Drawings clutter a huge drafting table. He is a handsome man in his midforties with Sara’s same Creole looks. He smiles at her with boyish glee.

  VICTOR

  Would you go look in the refrigerator . . .

  SARA

  (wary)

  All right . . .

  We hear her go toward the kitchen, open the refrigerator . . .

  SARA

  (wary)

  Now what . . .

  VICTOR

  . . . just bring the whole tray . . .

  She crosses into frame, back to camera, carrying something. She stops at the bottom of the ladder.

  VICTOR

  Come on, bring it up . . .

  SARA

  (back to camera)

  You mean you want me to climb up . . .

  VICTOR

  (excited)

  This is a ceremony . . .

  SARA

  (starting up)

  Can’t we have it on land . . .

  CUT:

  [13] HIGH-ANGLE MS Sara, POV over Victor’s shoulder. She climbs cautiously up the ladder carrying a tray on which there is a bottle of champagne and two champagne glasses. It’s a wobbly climb.

  SARA

  What are we celebrating . . .

  She almost falls backward. He reaches out to steady her . . .

  SARA

  Victor, I’m gonna land on my . . .

  VICTOR

  Ass . . . say it . . . give me the tray, ‘ass’ is the perfect word, that’s exactly what you’d land on . . .

  He takes the tray. Sara is relieved—

  SARA

  What are we celebrating?

  He leans forward, kisses her.

  VICTOR

  Ten years of living with me, and she still can’t say the word ‘ass’ . . .

  Sara’s face softens.

  CUT:

  [14] MS Victor, POV behind Sara. He is opening the champagne, grows suddenly genuinely excited like a little boy . . .

  VICTOR

  They’re buying Landscapes in Blue, Sara, for their permanent collection . . .

  SARA

  (back to camera)

  The museum . . . oh, Victor . . .

  He is beside himself, pops the cork violently, splattering Sara.

  VICTOR

  I’m a genuine success . . .

  He pours champagne here, there, everywhere . . .

  VICTOR

  . . . your husband is a genuine Negro success . . .

  He comes down a step to hand her a glass of champagne. The ladder teeters precariously. They stand stock-still to steady it. Victor grins silently . . .

  DISSOLVE:

  3 INT. BEDROOM OF LOFT APARTMENT – LATE AT NIGHT

  [15] MWS Sara in her nightgown, sitting cross-legged on the bed correcting term papers. The bed is strewn with papers. At the same time she is talking with Victor, who is in his studio.

  VICTOR (o.c.)

  Two more weeks . . .

  SARA

  (nodding, reading)

  Huh-uh . . .

  VICTOR (o.c.)

  What if we looked for a summer house . . .

  SARA

  Where?

  VICTOR (o.c.)

  You remember that place upstate with all the Puerto Rican ladies living in old Victorian houses . . .

  He comes into frame.

  VICTOR

  (back to camera)

  I dream about that place . . .

  SARA

  (looking up)

  You would, it’s like a painting . . .

  VICTOR

  (back to camera)

  . . . maybe rent a house for a month . . .

  SARA

  I need to be near a library.

  VICTOR

  (back to camera)

  They’ve got libraries . . . those ladies read all the time . . .

  She smiles, shakes her head . . .

  CUT:

  [16] MWS Victor, POV Sara. He is standing near the doorway wearing a painter’s cap, looking boyish and funny.

  VICTOR

  I think I’ll pass myself off as a house painter, go from door to door, offering my services . . .

  He switches into rapid Spanish, acts out the whole scene, laughing outrageously, dancing to some internal Latin beat that carries him out of the room . . .

  CUT:

  [17] LS Victor as he dances forward into his studio, picks up a paintbrush, begins to make bold, flamboyant strokes on a piece of sketch paper hung against the wall.

  HOLD . . .

  CUT:

  [18] LS Sara, correcting papers with aggravated concentration.

  HOLD . . .

  FADE-OUT:

  4 INT. SARA’S OFFICE AT THE COLLEGE – LATE AFTERNOON

  [19] MWS Sara, a student. It’s a medieval-looking room: high ceilings, stained-glass windows. Sara is reviewing the exam paper of a young black woman.

  SARA

  But on what basis did you come to this conclusion?

  YOUNG WOMAN

  All the data seemed to point in that direction . . .

  SARA

  But that’s the trap . . . it’s a purely speculative conclusion . . . argumentum ad hominem they call it. Any logician would stand you on your head . . .

  The young woman laughs.

  YOUNG WOMAN

  Does that mean I fail?

  SARA

  Logically?

  They both laugh.

  SARA

  No, your term paper takes you out of danger . . .

  YOUNG WOMAN

  (relieved)

  I like philosophy, but I don’t like logic . . .

  SARA

  A lot of students don’t; unfortunately it’s one of the required courses . . .

  YOUNG WOMAN

  Are you teaching Critical Approaches?

  SARA

  (nodding yes)

  . . . and an advanced course in logical positivism, which I suggest you avoid.

  They both laugh. The young woman gets up, shaking Sara’s hand.

  YOUNG WOMAN

  I still enjoyed the course. It’s mostly you, I guess . . .

  CUT:

  [20] MCU young woman, POV Sara.

  YOUNG WOMAN

  (shyly)

  . . . you’re so bright, and lively, a real inspiration . . .

  CUT:

  [21] MCU Sara, POV young woman.

  SARA

  (nodding too much)

  Thank you . . .

  YOUNG WOMAN (o.c.)

  And lucky . . . with a husband and all . . .

  SARA

  (surprised again)

  . . . a husband . . . what . . .

  She is about to ask her something but the young woman leaves quickly . . .

  CUT:

  [22] MWS Sara, looking after her.

  SARA

  What’s this thing they’ve got about my having a husband . . .

  She starts to record grades when a young black man enters the room whistling, wearing a monocle. He is dressed with the slight flair of a would-be movie director. He tips his monocle at her.

  YOUNG MAN

  Got you in close-up, Professor . . .

  CUT:

  [23] MCU young man, POV Sara. He is looking through his monocle . . .

  YOUNG MAN

  You look just like Pearl McCormack in Scar of Shame, Philadelphia Colored Players, 1927 . . .

  CUT:

  [24] MCU Sara, POV young man. She is laughing.

  SARA

  I’ve always wanted to know why, as a film major, you take so many of my classes . . .

  YOUNG MAN (o.c.)

  You could be a movie star, Professor . . .

  CUT:

  [25] MS young man, POV Sara. He is looking through the monocle walking backward into LS.

  YOUNG MAN

  . . . this would be a great long shot from here . . .

  He peeks out at her.

  YOUNG MAN

  Any chance you would act in my senior project, Professor . . .

  Sara bursts out laughing, he slips back behind the monocle . . .

  CUT:

  [26] MLS Sara, POV through monocle. She has the slight medieval air of a Negro nun in a cloister . . .

  HOLD . . .

  CUT: