| 1
BLACKNESS
[Screen Direction]
Then two faint 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
[Screen Direction]
PUSHING IN on one of the falling submersibles,
called MIR ONE, right up to its 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's in
his late forties, deeply tanned, and likes to wear his Nomex suit unzipped
to show the gold from famous shipwrecks covering his gray chest hair. He
is a wily, fast-talking treasure hunter, a salvage superstar who is part
historian, part adventurer and part vacuum cleaner salesman. Right now, he
is propped 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 an
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
[Screen Direction]
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 its thrusters. It hits bottom after its two hour free-fall with a loud
BONK.
CUT TO:
4 INT. MIR ONE
[Screen Direction]
Lovett and Bodine jerk awake at the landing. |
ANATOLY:
(heavy Russian accent) |
We are here. |
| EXT. / INT. MIR
ONE AND TWO
[Screen Direction]
5 MINUTES LATER: THE TWO SUBS skim over the seafloor
to the sound of sidescan sonar and the THRUM of big thrusters. 6 The featureless
gray clay of the bottom unrolls in the lights of the subs. Bodine is watching
the sidescan sonar display, where the outline of a huge pointed object is
visible. Anatoly lies prone, driving the sub, his face pressed to the center
port.
|
| BODINE: |
Come left a little. She's right in front of us, eighteen meters. Fifteen.
Thirteen... you should see it. |
| ANATOLY: |
Do you see it? I don't see it... there! |
[Screen
Direction]
Out of the darkness, like a ghostly apparition,
the bow of the ship appears. Its knife-edge prow is coming straight at us,
seeming to plow the bottom sediment like ocean waves. It towers above the
seafloor, standing just as it landed 84 years ago.
THE TITANIC. Or what is left of her. Mir One goes
up and over the bow railing, intact except for an overgrowth of "rusticles"
draping it like mutated Spanish moss.
TIGHT ON THE EYEPIECE MONITOR of a video camcorder.
Brock Lovett's face fills the BLACK AND WHITE FRAME. |
| LOVETT: |
It still gets me every time. |
[Screen
Direction]
The image pans to the front viewport, looking over
Anatoly's shoulder, to the bow railing visible in the lights beyond. Anatoly
turns. |
| ANATOLY: |
Is just your guilt because of estealing from the dead. |
[Screen
Direction]
CUT WIDER, to show that Brock is operating the
camera himself, turning it in his hand so it points at his own face. |
| LOVETT: |
Thanks, Tolya. Work with me, here. |
| Brock resumes his serious,
pensive gaze out the front port, with the camera aimed at himself at arm's
length. |
| LOVETT: |
It still gets me every time... to see the sad ruin of the great ship
sitting here, where she landed 2:30 in the morning, April 15, 1912, after
her long fall from the world above. |
| Anatoly rolls his eyes
and mutters in Russian. Bodine chuckles and watches the sonar. |
| BODINE: |
You are so full of shit, boss. |
| 7 Mir Two drives aft
down the starboard side, past the huge anchor while Mir One passes over the
seemingly endless forecastle deck, with its massive anchor chains still laid
out in two neat rows, its bronze windlass caps gleaming. The 22 foot long
subs are like white bugs next to the enormous wreck. |
| LOVETT (V.0.): |
Dive nine. Here we are again on the deck of Titanic... two and a half
miles down. The pressure is three tons per square inch, enough to crush us
like a freight train going over an ant if our hull fails. These windows are
nine inches thick and if they go, it's sayonara in two microseconds. |
| 8 Mir Two lands on the
boat deck, next to the ruins of the Officer's Quarters. Mir One lands on
the roof of the deck house nearby. |
| LOVETT: |
Right.
Let's go to work. |
| Bodine slips on a pair
of 3-D electronic goggles, and grabs the joystick controls of the ROV.
9 OUTSIDE THE SUB, the ROV, a small orange and
black robot called SNOOP DOG, lifts from its cradle and flies forward. |
| BODINE
(V.0.): |
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 VIDEO POV, moving through the cavernous
interior. The remains of the ornate handcarved woodwork which gave the ship
its elegance move through the floodlights, the lines blurred by slow dissolution
and descending rusticle 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 the ghostly images
of Titanic's opulence:
10 A grand piano in amazingly good shape, crashed
on its side against a wall. The keys gleam black and white in the
lights.
11 A chandelier, still hanging from the ceiling
by its wire... glinting as Snoop moves around it.
12 Its lights play across the floor, revealing
a champagne bottle, then some WHITE STAR LINE china... a woman's high-top
"granny shoe". Then something eerie: what looks like a child's 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 its rusted hinges. An ornate piece of
molding, a wall sconce... 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 the 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 bathroom,
the porcelain commode and bathtub took almost new, gleaming in the dark. |
| LOVETT: |
Okay,
I want to see what's under that wardrobe door. |
| SEVERAL ANGLES as the
ROV deploys its MANIPULATOR ARMS and starts moving debris aside. A lamp is
lifted, its ceramic colors as bright as they were in 1912. |
| LOVETT: |
Easy,
Lewis. Take it slow. |
| Lewis grips a wardrobe
door, lying at an angle in a corner, and pulls it with Snoop's gripper. It
moves reluctantly in a cloud of silt. Under it is a dark object. The silt
clears and Snoop's cameras show them what was under the door... |
| BODINE: |
Ooohh
daddy-oh, are you seein' what I'm seein'? |
| 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 paydays, 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 OF 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 hand-wringing 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? |
| CAMARAMAN: |
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's 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 same... 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 safe's 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 video camaraman) |
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: |
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're 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's 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:
16 INSERT
A CNN NEWS STORY: a live satellite feed from the
deck of the Keldysh, 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? |
| LOVETT: |
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 is 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 it 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 her early
forties assists her.
|
| LOVETT
(V.0.): |
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.0): |
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? |
| LOVETT
(V.0.): |
I'd
rather show you than tell 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.0): |
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. |
|
| LOVETT: |
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. |
| LOVETT: |
...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's
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, pushing down the
blinking line. The call is from Rose and we see both ends of the conversation.
She is in her kitchen with a mystified Lizzy. |
| LOVETT: |
This
is Brock Lovett. What can I do for you, Mrs... ? |
| BUELL: |
Rose
Calvert. |
| LOVETT: |
...
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 this call. |
| LOVETT:
(to Rose) |
Alright.
You have my attention, Rose. Can you tell me who the woman in the picture
is? |
| 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. Rose's
face is visible, looking out calmly.
CUT TO:
EXT. KELDYSH - DAY 21
Brock and Bodine are watching Mir 2 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 as far back 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 who 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 down 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.
|
| LOVETT: |
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. |
| LOVETT: |
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 Rose's 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. |
| LOVETT: |
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-like 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 at 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? |
| LOVETT: |
I tracked
it down through insurance records... and old claim that was settled under
terms of absolute secrecy. Do you know who the claimant was, Rose? |
| ROSE: |
Someone
named Hockley, I should imagine. |
| LOVETT: |
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. |
| LOVETT: |
If
your grandma is who she says she is, she was wearing the diamond the day
Titanic sank.
(MORE) LOVETT (CONT'D)
(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 its 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: |
You
may give me this, if anything I tell you is of value. |
| LOVETT: |
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 her
chair, can barely see over the table top. With a trembling hand she lifts
a tortoise 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 has 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. |
| LOVETT: |
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 ROVs,
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 struck 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 world's largest database on the Titanic. Okay, here... |
| LOVETT: |
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
hits 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 then the bow section detaches, heading for the bottom. The stern bobs
like a cork, floods and goes under about 2:20a.m. Two hours and forty minutes
after the collision. |
| The animation then follows
the bow section as it sinks. Rose watches thisclinical dissection of the
disaster without emotion. |
| BODINE: |
The
bow pulls out of its 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. |
| LOVETT: |
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 FLASH CUTS of screaming faces in a running
crowd. Pandemonium and terror. People crying, praying, kneeling on the deck.
Just impressions... flashes in the dark.
31 Rose Looks at another monitor. SNOOP
DOG moving down a rusted, debris-filled corridor. Rose watches the endless
row of doorways sliding past, like dark mouths.
32 IMAGE OF A CHILD, three years old, standing
ankle deep in water in the middle of an endless corridor. The child is lost
alone, crying.
33 Rose is shaken by the flood of memories
and emotions. Her eyes well up and she puts her head down, sobbing
quietly. |
| LIZZY: |
(taking the wheelchair)
I'm taking her to rest. |
| ROSE: |
No! |
| Her voice is surprisingly
strong. The sweet little old lady is gone, replaced by a woman with eyes
of steel. Lovett signals everyone to stay quiet. |
| LOVETT: |
Tell
us, Rose. |
| She looks from screen
to screen, the images of the ruined ship. |
| ROSE: |
It's
been 84 years... |
| LOVETT: |
Just
tell us what you can-- |
| ROSE: |
(holds up her hand for silence)
It's been 84 years... and
I can still smell the fresh paint. The china had never been used. The sheets
had never been slept in. |
| He switches on the
minirecorder and sets it near her. |
| ROSE: |
Titanic
was called the Ship of Dreams. And it was. It really was... |
| As the underwater camera
rises past the rusted bow rail, WE DISSOLVE /MATCH MOVE to that same railing
in 1912...
MATCH DISSOLVE: |
