‘93 Castrol
An excerpt from the full screenplay by Daniel Yen Tu
INT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT
Xiaomei looks crestfallen. Didi tears off his military patch, leaving a line of stitching in its wake.
DIDI (CONT'D)
Look, we’re lowlifes. We always were, and we always will be. So were our parents, and our grandparents, and our great grandparents. There’s no point in trying. So let’s just be good at being lowlifes!
He laughs and raises a toast. Xiaomei doesn’t react. Da Ge watches her as he absent-mindedly toasts.
DIDI (CONT'D)
And this guy right here... is the king of lowlifery.
He pats his brother on the shoulder.
DA GE
(false modesty)
Hey, hey.
DIDI
Do you still have it?
Da Ge glances over.
DA GE
Of course.
DIDI
Let’s go see it.
EXT. FAMILY HOME - GARAGE - NIGHT
The lights flick on in the cramped sheet-metal garage. Flies swarm the lights as the room is open to the night.
Da Ge, Didi, and Xiaomei step into the room. In the middle is a car underneath an old greasy canvas shroud.
Da Ge grabs the cloth and, with a flourish, pulls it away...
It’s a pristine 1985 GROUP B WORKS AUDI QUATTRO, wrapped in a perfect MONTE CARLO YELLOW LIVERY. CASTROL prominent on the front quarters. It’s a rally car—bold, brash, loud—a rocket designed for the road, more at home on a racetrack or a concours d’elegance than this dingy garage.
Didi looks at it in admiration. He carries the long thin package from earlier.
DA GE
My finest hour.
Xiaomei looks at it too. They all walk around it, impressed.
DA GE (CONT'D)
This is how I beat the curse. Did I ever tell you that?
Didi looks over and shakes his head.
KEEP READING
Learn more about this commissioned project and its special Limited-edition Artist’s Book, or order a commercial copy on Amazon.
About the Screenwriter
Daniel Yen Tu Is an independent film writer/director born in Melbourne, Australia. His parents immigrated to Australia from Taiwan, and his grandparents fled Southern China during the Cultural Revolution. Making movies since 9th grade, he is currently at work on two feature screenplays—both of which are funded—for a Sundance alum and another for an established indie director.
His 2019 student film, Stickup Kid, was nominated for five student Emmys and won three, for Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Writing. He was a co-writer on the short horror film, The Angel (2024) starring Doug Jones (Barrett Burgin and Jess Burgin, dirs., co-writers) and La luna y el colibrí (2021) (Luis Fernando Puente, dir., co-writer).
