TITANIC
A Screenplay By James Cameron
May 7, 1996
1
[BLACKNESS]
Then two fait lights appear, close together... growing brighter.
They resolve into two DEEP SUBMERSIBLES, free-falling toward us like
express elevators.
One is ahead of the other, and passes close enough to FILL FRAME
, looking like a spacecraft blazing with lights, bristling with
insectile manipulators.
TILTING DOWN to follow it as it descends away into the limitless
blackness below. Soon they are fireflies, then stars, then gone.
[CUT TO]
2
[EXT./ INT. MIR ONE / NORTH ATLANTIC DEEP]
PUSHING IN on one of the falling submersibles, called MIR ONE,
right up to it circular viewport to see the occupants.
INSIDE, it is a cramped seven foot sphere, crammed with
equipment.
ANATOLY MIKAILAVICH, the sub's pilot, sits hunched over his
controls... singing softly in Russian.
Next to him on one side is BROCK LOVETT. He in his late forties,
deeply tanned, and likes to wear his Nomex suit unzipped to show the
gold from famous shipwrecks covering his gray chesthair. He is a
wiley, fast-talking treasure hunter, a salvage superstar who is part
historian, part adventurer and part vacuum cleaner salesman. Right
now, he is propped up against the Co2 scrubber fast asleep and snoring.
On the other side, crammed into the remaining space is a bearded
wide-body named LEWIS BODINE, who is also asleep. Lewis is am R.O.V.
(REMOTELY OPERATED VEHICLE) pilot and is the resident Titanic expert.
Anatoly glances at the bottom sonar and makes a ballast adjustment.
[CUT TO]
3
[EXT. THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA]
A pale, dead-flat lunar landscape. It gets brighter, lit from
above, as MIR ONE enters FRAME and drops to the seafloor in a downblast
from it thrusters. It hits bottom after its two hour free-fall with a
loud BONK.
[CUT TO]
4
[INT. MIR ONE]
Lovett and Bodine jerk awake at the landing.
ANATOLY :(heavy Russian accent)We are here.
4
[EXT. / INT. MIR ONE AND TWO]
5
MINUTES LATER: THE TWO SUBS skim over the sea floor to the sound
of sidescan sonar and the THRUM of big thrusters, goggles, and grabs
the joystick of the ROV.
9
OUTSIDE THE SUB, the ROV, a small orange and black robot called
SNOOP DOG, lifts from it's cradle and flies forward.
BODINE (V.O.) :Walkin' the dog.
SNOOP DOG drives itself away from the sub, paying out its
umbilical behind it like a robot yo-yo. Its twin stereo-video cameras
swivel like insect eyes. The ROV descends through an open shaft that
once was the beautiful First Class Grand Staircase.
Snoop Dog goes down several decks, then moves laterally into the
First Class Reception room.
SNOOP'S POV, moving through the cavernous interior. The remains of
the ornate handcarved woodwork which gave the ship it's elegance move
through the floodlights, the lines blurred by slow dissolution and
descending rustical formations. Stalactites of rust hang down so that
at times it looks like a natural grotto, then the scene shifts and
the lines of a ghostly undersea mansion can be seen again.
MONTAGE STYLE, as Snoop passes ghostly images of Titanic's opulence:
10
A grand piano in amazingly good shape, crashes on it's side against
a wall. The keys gleam black and white in the lights.
11
A chandelier, still hanging from the ceiling by it's wire...
glinting as Snoop moves around it.
12
It's lights play across the floor, revealing a champagne bottle,
them some WHITE STAR LINE china... a woman high top "granny shoe".
Then something eerie: what looks like a child skull resolves into the
porcelain head of a doll.
Snoop enters a corridor which is much better preserved. Here and
there a door still hangs on it's rusted hinges. An ornate piece of
molding, a wall sonce... hint at the grandeur of the past.
13
THE ROV turns and goes through a black doorway, entering room B-52,
the sitting room of a "promenade suite", one of the most luxurious
staterooms on Titanic.
BODINE :I'm in the sitting room. Heading for bedroom B-54.
LOVETT :Stay off the floor. Don't stir it up like you did yesterday.
BODINE :I'm tryin' boss.
Glinting in the lights are brass fixtures of the near-perfectly
preserved fireplace. An albino Galathea crab crawls over it. Nearby
are the remains of a divan and a writing desk. The Dog crosses the
ruins of the once elegant room toward another DOOR. It squeezes
through the doorframe, scraping rust and wood chunks loose on both
sides. It moves out of a cloud of rust and keeps on going.
BODINE :I'm crossing the bedroom.
The remains of a pillared canopy bed. Broken chairs, a dresser.
Through the collapsed wall of the bedroom, the porcelain commode and
bathtub look almost new, gleaming in the dark.
LOVETT :Okay, I want to see what under that wardrobe door.
SEVERAL ANGLES as the ROV deploys it's MANIPULATOR ARMS and starts
moving debris aside. A lamp is lifted, it's ceramic colors as bright
as they were in 1912.
LOVETT :Easy, Lewis. Take it slow.
CLOSE ON LOVETT, watching his monitors. By his expression it is
like he is seeing the Holy Grail.
LOVETT :Oh baby, baby baby.(grabs the mike)It's payday, boys.
ON THE SCREEN, in the glare of the lights, is the object of their
quest: a small STEEL COMBINATION SAFE.
[CUT TO]
14
[EXT. STERN DECK OF KELDYSH - DAY]
THE SAFE, dripping wet in the afternoon sun, is lowered onto the
deck of a ship by a winch cable.
We are on the Russian research vessel AKADEMIK MISTISLAV KELDYSH.
A crowd has gathered, including most of the crew of KELDYSH, the sub
crews, and a handwringing money guy named BOBBY BUELL who represents
the limited partners. There is also a documentary video crew, hired
by Lovett to cover his moment of glory.
Everyone crowds around the safe. In the background Mir Two is being
lowered into its cradle on deck by a massive hydraulic arm. Mir One is
already recovered with Lewis Bodine following Brock Lovett as he bounds
over to the safe like a kid on Christmas morning.
BODINE :Who's the best? Say it.
LOVETT :You are, Lewis.(to the video crew)You rolling?
CAMERAMAN :Rolling.
Brock nods to his technicians, and they set about drilling the
safe's hinges. During this operation, Brock amps the suspense, working
the lens to fill the time.
LOVETT :Well, here it is, the moment of truth. Here where we find out if
the time, the sweat, the money spent to charter this ship and
these subs, to come out here to the middle of the North Atlantic...
were worth it. If what we think is in that safe... is in that
safe... it will be.
Lovett grins wolfishly in anticipation of his greatest find yet. The
door is pried loose. It clangs onto the deck. Lovett moves closer, peering
into the safes wet interior. A long moment, then... his face says it all.
LOVETT :Shit.
BODINE :You know, boss, this happened to Geraldo and his career never
recovered.
LOVETT :(to the video cameraman)Get that outta my face.
[CUT TO]
15
[INT. LAB DECK, PRESERVATION ROOM - DAY]
Technicians are carefully removing some papers from the safe and
placing them in a tray of water to separate them safely. Nearby, other
artifacts from the stateroom are being washed and preserved.
Buell is on the satellite phone with the INVESTORS. Lovett is yelling
at the video crew.
LOVETT :You send out what I tell you when I tell you. I'm signing your
paychecks, not 60 minutes. Now get set up for the uplink.
Buell covers the phone and turns to Lovett.
BUELL :The partners want to know how it's going?
LOVETT :How it's going? It's going like a first date in prison,
Whattaya think?!
Lovett grabs the phone from Buell and goes instantly smooth.
LOVETT :Hi, Dave? Barry? Look, it wasn't in the safe... no, look, don't
worry about it, there still plenty of places it could be... in
the floor debris in the suite, in the mother's room, in the
purser's safe on C deck...(seeing something) Hang on a second.
A tech coaxes some letters in the water tray to one side with a tong...
revealing a pencil (conte crayon) drawing of a woman.
Brock looks closely at the drawing, which is in excellent shape, though
its edges have partially disintegrated. The woman is beautiful, and
beautifully rendered. In her late teens or early twenties, she is nude,
though posed with a kind of casual modesty. She is on an Empire divan, in
a pool of light that seems to radiate outward from her eyes. Scrawled in
the lower right corner is the date: April 14. 1912. And the initials JD.
The girl is not entirely nude. At her throat is a diamond necklace with
one large stone hanging in the center.
Lovett grabs a reference photo from the clutter on the lab table. It
is a period black-and- white photo of a diamond necklace on a black velvet
jeweler display stand. He holds it next to the drawing. It is clearly the
same piece... a complex setting with a massive central stone which is
almost heart-shaped.
LOVETT :I'll be God damned.
[CUT TO]
--
『他鄉是一面負向的鏡子。
旅人認出那微小的部份是屬於他的，
卻發現那龐大的部份是他未曾擁有的，
也永遠不會擁有的。』
～『看不見的城市』；伊塔羅‧卡爾維諾
--
★ Origin:
︿︱︿ 小魚的紫色花園
﹀ fpg.m4.ntu.edu.tw (140.112.214.200)