The Coffee Trader: Synopsis and scripts
Here are the film's synopsis and scripts. The synopsis was used to promote the project in the hopes of attracting sufficient funding across Europe. Alas, financing never quite came together.
“A TRADE INCREDIBLE, A LOVE IMPOSSIBLE - THE COFFEE TRADER”
Miguel Lienzo has fallen on hard times. The impulsive and careless young trader’s luck has run out, his schemes have turned sour. When we meet him, he’s reduced to hiding away from his creditors in the cellar of his elder brother Daniel’s house. Miguel is lost in self-pity… only a miracle trade can save him from rotting away down there.
Miguel’s world revolves around Miguel - he has not even noticed Hannah, the new wife of his brother. The shy young woman, ordered into obedience and kept away from books and knowledge, senses a kindred spirit in Miguel, who seems so different from her severe, cold and stingy husband. But Miguel appears to have no regard for her.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Miguel is sucked into a highly improbable scheme that has great potential. A seductive Dutch widow appears and entices him into a secret trade involving the barely known coffee fruit. The odds are stacked against Miguel in a myriad of ways and yet he agrees to an adventurous scheme that will either make him wealthy or destroy him forever.
As the plan is put in motion, coffee enters the lives of Miguel and Hannah. As the deal progresses and tricksters, thieves, friends and foes alike begin to swarm Miguel, the scene of coffee begins to stir everybody’s senses. As an impossible love begins to blossom between Miguel and Hannah, keeping all the strings of the elaborate scheme in hand becomes increasingly difficult for the young trader.
With Hannah’s help, Miguel gets closer and closer to success. But nothing is as it seems in this scheme and soo intrigues, lies and double-crosses threaten to destroy everything. Who can they trust? Who will betray them? Who is spying on them? Who will leak their secrets? When their love is discovered, everything seems to collapse, all hope of success disappears… but in the great city of Amsterdam, anything may happen.
When you read the novel’s plot summary on Wikipedia, you’ll likely note more than a few differences. My adaptation took several twists and turns - as is entirely normal during development as other collaborators weigh in. Quite often, collaborators have, rightly so, strong opinions and so fruitful arguments always form part of the gig. I specifically recall one such argument that was simply about whether the protagonist should be the elder brother (as in the novel) or rather the younger brother? I advocated for having him be the big brother as it made his dependency on his little brother all the harder. My collaborators argued the other side and that is what we’ve eventually gone with. It’s the more classic approach of the younger never being taken seriously, having to prove himself and grow to accept responsibility, etc. That version absolutely does work - and beautifully so. Still, were it up to me, it would probably shift that back to Miguel Lienzo being the older brother.
Without further ado, here the 4th and 1st drafts of The Coffee Trader. The 4th is the crisp and final version loved by every reader, ready to go. I’m also adding the 1st draft because this was a lavish version where I was allowed myself to explore with abandon - it thus is epic in scope and comes in at a whopping 170 pages. The 1st draft has all it takes for a great Netflix miniseries, the 4th draft is classic cinema. Take your pick!
