16
[INSERT]
A CNN NEWS STORY: a live satellite feed from the deck of the Kelysh,
intercut with the CNN studio.
ANNOUNCER :Treasure hunter Brock Lovett is best known for finding Spanish
gold in sunken galleons in the Caribbean. Now he is using deep
submergence technology to work two and a half miles down at
another famous wreck... the Titanic. He is with us live via
satellite from a Russian research ship in the middle of the
Atlantic... hello Brock?
BROCK :Yes, hi, Tracy. You know, Titanic is not just A shipwreck, Titanic
is THE shipwreck. It's the Mount Everest of shipwrecks.
[CUT TO]
17
[INT. HOUSE / CERAMICS STUDIO]
PULL BACK from the screen, showing the CNN report playing on a TV set
in the living room of a small rustic house. It's full of ceramics,
figurines, folk art, the walls crammed with drawings and paintings...
things collected over a lifetime.
PANNING to show a glassed-in studio attached to the house. Outside is
a quiet morning in Ojai, California. In the studio, amid incredible
clutter, an ANCIENT WOMAN is throwing a pot on a potter's wheel. The
liquid red clay covers her hands... hands that are gnarled and age-spotted,
but still surprisingly strong and supple. A woman in here early forties
assists her.
BROCK (V.O.) :I've planned this expedition for three years, and we're out
here recovering some amazing things... things that will
have enormous historical and educational value.
CNN REPORTER (V.O.) :But it's no secret that education is not your main
purpose. You're a treasure hunter. So what is the
treasure you're hunting?
BROCK (V. O.) :I'd rather tell you than show you, and we think we're very
close to doing just that.
The old woman's name is ROSE CALVERT. Her face is a wrinkled mass,
her body shapeless and shrunken under a one-piece African print dress.
But her eyes are just as bright and alive as those of a young girl.
Rose gets up and walks into the living room, wiping pottery clay
from her hands with a rag. A Pomeranian dog gets up and comes in with her.
The younger woman, LIZZY CALVERT, rushes to help her.
ROSE :Turn that up please, dear.
REPORTER (V.O.) :Your expedition is at the center of a storm of controversy
over salvage rights and even ethics. Many are calling you
a grave robber.
[TIGHT ON THE SCREEN]
BROCK :Nobody called the recovery of the artifacts from King Tut's tomb
grave robbing. I have museum-trained experts here, making sure
this stuff is preserved and catalogued properly. Look at this
drawing, which was found today...
The video camera pans off Brock to the drawing, in a tray of water.
The image of the woman with the necklace FILLS FRAME.
BROCK :...a piece of paper that's been underwater for 84 years... and
my team are able to preserve it intact. Should this have remained
unseen at the bottom of the ocean for eternity, when we can see
it and enjoy it now...?
ROSE is galvanized by this image. Her mouth hangs open in amazement.
ROSE :I'll be God damned.
[CUT TO]
18
[EXT. KELDYSH DECK - NIGHT]
CUT TO KELDYSH. The Mir subs are being launched. Mir Two is already
in the water, and Lovett is getting ready to climb into Mir One when Bobby
Buell runs up to him.
BUELL :There a satellite call for you.
LOVETT :Bobby, we're launching. See these submersibles here, going in the
water? Take a message.
BUELL :No, trust me, you want to take this call.
[CUT TO]
19
[INT. LAB DECK / KELDYSH - NIGHT]
Buell hands Lovett the phone, punching down the blinking line. The
call is from Rose an we see both ends of the conversation. She is in her
kitchen with a mystified Lizzy.
BROCK :This is Brock Lovett. What can I do for you, Mrs... ?
BUELL :Rose Calvert.
BROCK :... Mrs. Calvert?
ROSE :I was just wondering if you had found the "Heart of the Ocean" yet,
Mr. Lovett.
Brock almost drops the phone. Bobby sees his shocked expression...
BUELL :I told you you wanted to take the call.
LOVETT :(to Rose)Alright. You have my attention, Rose. Can you tell me
who the woman in the picture is?
ROSE :Oh yes. The woman in the picture is me.
[CUT TO]
20
[EXT. OCEAN - DAY]
SMASH CUT TO AN ENORMOUS SEA STALLION HELICOPTER thundering across
the ocean. PAN 180 degrees as it roars past. There is no land at either
horizon. The Keldysh is visible in the distance.
CLOSE ON A WINDOW of the monster helicopter. Roses face is visible,
looking out calmly.
[CUT TO]
21
[EXT. KELDYSH - DAY]
Brock and Bodine are watching Mir Two being swung over the side to
start a dive.
BODINE :She's a goddamned liar! A nutcase. Like that...what's her name?
That Anastasia babe.
BUELL :They're inbound.
Brock nods and the three of them head forward to meet the
approaching helo.
BODINE :She says she's Rose DeWitt Bukater, right? Rose DeWitt Bukater
died on the Titanic. At the age of 17. If she'd've lived,
she'd be over a hundred now.
LOVETT :A hundred and one next month.
BODINE :Okay, so she's a very old goddamned liar. I traced her back as
far as the 20's... she was working as an actress in L.A. An
actress. Her name was Rose Dawson. Then she married a guy named
Calvert, moved to Cedar Rapids, had two kids. Now Calvert's dead,
and from what I've heard Cedar Rapids is dead.
The Sea Stallion approaches the ship, BG, forcing Brock to yell over
the rotors.
LOVETT :And everybody knows about the diamond is supposed to be dead...
or on this ship. But she knows about it. And I want to hear what
she has to say. Got it?
[CUT TO]
22
[EXT. KELDYSH HELIPAD]
IN A THUNDERING DOWNBLAST the helicopter's wheels bounce on the
helipad.
Lovett, Buell and Bodine watch as the HELICOPTER CREW CHIEF hands
out about ten suitcases, and then Rose is lowered to the deck in a
wheelchair by Keldysh crewmen. Lizzy, ducking unnecessarily under the
rotor, follows her out, carrying FREDDY the Pomeranian. The crew chief
hands a puzzled Keldysh crewmember a goldfish bowl with several fish
in it. Rose does not travel light.
HOLD ON the incongruous image of this little old lady, looking
impossibly fragile amongst all the high tech gear, grungy deck crew
and gigantic equipment.
BODINE :S'cuse me, I have to go check our supply of Depends.
[CUT TO]
23
[INT. ROSE'S STATEROOM / KELDYSH - DAY]
Lizzy is unpacking Rose's things in the small utilitarian room.
Rose is placing a number of FRAMED PHOTOS on the bureau, arranging
them carefully next to the fishbowl. Brock and Bodine are in the
doorway.
BROCK :Is your stateroom alright?
ROSE :Yes, very nice. Have you met my granddaughter, Lizzy? She takes
care of me.
LIZZY :Yes. We met just a few minutes ago, grandma. Remember? Up on
deck?
ROSE :Oh, yes.
Brock glances at Bodine... oh oh. Bodine rolls his eyes. Rose
finishes arranging her photographs. We get a general glimpse of them:
the usual snapshots... children and grandchildren, her late husband.
ROSE :There, that's nice. I have to have my pictures when I Travel.
And Freddy of course.(to the Pomeranian) Isn't that right,
sweetie.
BROCK :Would you like anything?
ROSE :I should like to see my drawing.
[CUT TO]
24
[INT. LAB DECK, PRESERVATION AREA]
Rose looks at the drawing in its tray of water, confronting herself
across a span of 84 years. Until they can figure out the best way to
preserve it, they have to keep it immersed. It sways and ripples, almost
as if alive.
TIGHT ON Roses ancient eyes, gazing at the drawing.
25
FLASHCUT of a man's hand, holding a conte crayon, deftly creating a
shoulder and the shape of her hair with two efficient lines.
26
THE WOMAN'S FACE IN THE DRAWING, dancing under the water.
27
A FLASHCUT of a man's eyes, just visible over the top of a sketching
pad. They look up suddenly, right into the LENS. Soft eyes, but
fearlessly direct.
28
Rose smiles, remembering. Brock has the reference photo of the
necklace in his hand.
BROCK :Louis the Sixteenth wore a fabulous stone, called the Blue
Diamond of the Crown, which disappeared in 1792, about the
time Louis lost everything from the neck up. The theory goes
that the crown diamond was chopped too... recut into a heart
shape... and it became Le Coeur de la Mer. The Heart of the
Ocean. Today it would be worth more than the Hope Diamond.
ROSE :It was a dreadful, heavy thing. (she points to the drawing) I
only wore it this once.
LIZZY :You actually believe this is you, grandma?
ROSE :It is me, dear. Wasn't I a hot number?
BROCK :I tracked it down through insurance records... an old claim was
settled under terms of absolute secrecy. Do you know who the
claimant was, Rose?
ROSE :Someone named Hockley, I should imagine.
BROCK :Nathan Hockley, right. Pittsburgh steel tycoon. For a diamond
necklace his son Caledon Hockley bought in France for his
fiancee... you... a week before he sailed on Titanic. And the
claim was filed right after the sinking. So the diamond had
to've gone down with the ship. (to Lizzy) See the date?
LIZZY :April 14, 1912.
BROCK :If your grandma is who she says she is, she was wearing the
diamond the day the Titanic sank. (to Rose) And that makes
you my new best friend. I will happily compensate you for
anything you can tell us that will lead to the recovery.
ROSE :I don't want your money, Mr. Lovett. I know how hard it is
for people who care greatly for money to give some away.
BODINE :(skeptical)You don't want anything?
ROSE :(indicating the drawing) You may give me this, if anything
I tell you is of value.
BROCK :Deal.(crossing the room) Over here are a few things we've
recovered from your staterooms.
Laid out on a worktable are fifty or so objects, from mundane to
valuable. Rose, shrunken in here chair, can barely see over the table
top. With a trembling hand she lifts a totoise shell hand mirror,
inlaid with mother of pearl. She caresses it wonderingly.
ROSE :This was mine. How extraordinary! It looks the same as the last
time I saw it.
She turns the mirror over and looks at her ancient face in the
cracked glass.
ROSE :The reflection had changed a bit.
She spies something else, a silver and moonstone art-nouveau brooch.
ROSE :My mother's brooch. She wanted to go back for it. Caused quite
a fuss.
Rose picks up an ornate art-nouveau HAIR COMB. A jade butterfly
takes flight on the ebony handle of the comb. She turns it slowly,
remembering. We can see that Rose is experiencing a rush of images
and emotions that have lain dormant for eight decades as she handles
the butterfly comb.
BROCK :Are you ready to go back to Titanic?
[CUT TO]
29
[INT. IMAGING SHACK / KELDYSH]
It is a darkened room lined with TV monitors. IMAGES OF THE WRECK
fill the screens, fed from Mir One and Two, and the two ROV's, snoop
Dog and DUNCAN.
BODINE :Live from 12,000 feet.
ROSE stares raptly at the screens. She is enthralled by one in
particular, an image of the bow railing. It obviously means something
to her. Brock is studying her reactions carefully.
BODINE :The bow's stuck in the bottom like an axe, from the impact.
Here... I can run a simulation we worked up on this monitor
over here.
Lizzy turns the chair so Rose can see the screen of Bodine's
computer. As he is calling up the file, he keeps talking.
BODINE :We've put together the worlds largest database on the
Titanic. Okay here...
BROCK :Rose might not want to see this, Lewis.
ROSE :No, no. It's fine. I'm curious.
Bodine starts a COMPUTER ANIMATED GRAPHIC on the screen, which
parallels his rapid-fire narration.
BODINE :She hit's the berg on the starboard side and it sort of
bumps along... punching holes like a morse code... dit dit dit,
down the side. Now she's flooding in the forward compartments...
and the water spills over the tops of the bulkheads, going aft.
As her bow is going down, her stern is coming up... slow at
first... and then faster and faster until it's lifting all that
weight, maybe 20 or 30 thousand tons... out of the water and the
hull can't deal... so SKRTTT!! (making a sound in time with the
animation) ... it splits! Right down to the keel, which acts
like a big hinge. Now the bow swings down and the stern falls
back level... but the weight of the bow pulls the stern up
vertical, and the bow section detaches, heading for the bottom.
The stern bobs like a cork, floods and goes under about 2:20 a.m.
Two hours and forty minutes after the collision.
The animation then follows the bow section as it sinks. Rose watches
this clinical dissection of the disaster without emotion.
BODINE :The bow pulls out of it's dive and planes away, almost a half a
mile, before it hits the bottom going maybe 12 miles an hour.
KABOOM!
The bow impacts, digging deeply into the bottom. The animation now
follows the stern.
BODINE :The stern implodes as it sinks, from the pressure, and rips apart
from the force of the current as it falls, landing like a big pile
of junk. (indicating the simulation) Cool huh?
ROSE :Thank you for that fine forensic analysis, Mr. Bodine. Of course the
experience of it was somewhat less clinical.
BROCK :Will you share it with us?
Her eyes go back to the screens, showing the sad ruins far below them.
A VIEW from one of the subs TRACKING SLOWLY over the boat deck. Rose
recognizes one of the Wellin davits, still in place. She hears ghostly
waltz music. The faint and echoing sound of an officer's voice, English
accented, calling "Women and children only".
30
FLASHCUTS of screaming faces in a running crowd. Pandemonium and terror.
People crying, praying, kneeling on the deck. Just impressions... flashes
in the dark.
--
『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)