127 Hours Page #11

BLACK - but we can hear his breathing close as in a space

suit. LONG PAUSE.

ARON:

God, I am praying to you for

guidance. I'm trapped in Blue John

Canyon - you probably know that -

and I don't know what I am supposed

to do. I've tried everything I can

think of. I need some new ideas.

Please show me a sign.

PAUSE - Just his breath.

He switches on the head lamp and the inside of the bag

explodes with light. There's enough light for any kind of

heaven but it's just Aron in Blue John Canyon. He looks

around his bag. He stops. Silence. Only his breathing to

listen to. Heart rate... fast... too fast.

Light off.

PAUSE.

36.

ARON (CONT'D)

OK, then, God, since you're

apparently busy:
Devil, if you're

listening, I need some help here.

I'll trade you my arm, my soul,

whatever you want. Just get me out

of here. You want me never to

climb again, I can give that up.

Just show me the dotted line.

PAUSE:

ARON (CONT'D)

Ungg-gggu-ggga-gggngh!

His throat uncontrollably shudders and splutters as his teeth

rattle with cold suddenly. It does sound like a demonic fit

from the multi-coloured headless man.

ARON (CONT'D)

Yeah. Not very funny.

CUT TO:

INT. ASPEN STORE. DAY.

Aron leaves work: at no point do we see Aron. He's there,

you sense him in reflective surfaces, his arms, particularly

his right one and his feet occasionally come into shot. It's

not a strict P.O.V, more like 'over the shoulder' but without

much shoulder.

Q:

What you doin'?

ARON:

Still not sure. I'll see you

Tuesday.

Q:

Have a good one.

ARON:

Always do.

CUT TO:

BLACK.

CUT TO:

37.

C/U:
DIGITAL NUMERALS

11:
59 => 00.00 in huge, luminous figures.

CUT TO:

INT. CANYON. NIGHT.

He pulls his bag off and pulls his water bottle out of the

ground where he has half-buried it. It won't open. He can't

unscrew it. He mutters, cursing himself for tightening the

lid too much. He puts it between his teeth and levers with

his head, but nothing. Is his strength vanishing so quickly?

He looks at his puffy left hand... there's a tremble in it.

He shakes it to get rid of the tremble and jams the bottle

between his legs. He uses a bit of cloth to give his hand

better purchase on the top. We're tight on the neck of the

bottle as it releases, finally and he lifts it, slowly,

almost ceremonially. Controlling the tilt, a half-mouthful

of water slides onto his tongue. He tilts the bottle back

towards upright but not the whole way. He waits. Circulating

the splash of water around his mouth.

CUT TO:

INT. CANYON. C/U: BOTTLE NECK

The bottle neck stares at Aron.

CUT TO:

INT. CANYON. C/U: ARON

... his eyes staring at the bottle neck.

CUT TO:

INT. CANYON. NIGHT.

He still holds the water in his mouth as he rewinds the top

onto the bottle and reburies it in the sand to stop any

evaporation. He moves to pop his contact lenses into his

mouth and wash them in the moisture. First one then the other

as we...

CUT TO:

INT. ARON'S APARTMENT. DAY.

The images shift with the lens change back to his apartment,

daylight, we sense him though he's probably in the shower.

His ansaphone clicks in.

38.

ANSAPHONE (MOM)

Aron, it's Mom. Hoping to catch

you. Nothing urgent. Dad's in New

York so it'll be a quiet weekend.

Aron is clearly there but can't answer.

ANSAPHONE (MOM) (CONT'D)

Call me. Lots of love.

CUT TO:

INT. ARON'S APARTMENT. DAY.

In front of his bathroom mirror he's slipping his lenses in

for the day. It looks like The Man Who Fell To Earth.

CUT TO:

INT. C/U:
VARIOUS. ARON & MIRROR. DAY.

Huge close-ups that freak people out who've never worn

lenses. Mirror shots and lots of short soft focus.

CUT TO:

INT. ARON'S APARTMENT. DAY.

We hear a girl and a guy somewhere in the apartment. He

closes the door. GIRL SHOUTS:

GIRL:

That was your Mom! And your Dad

called. Call him. We're going.

See you next week. Oh, and Rana

called.

CUT TO:

INT. CANYON FLOOR. PRE DAWN.

He is absolutely still. Almost absent. Flies buzz around

him. Indeterminate time passes.

CUT TO:

39.

INT. CANYON FLOOR. PRE DAWN.

Massive C/U of an ant. Huge, high-definition image, more

like a JCB-digger than an insect, and then more of them, and

all moving towards the mosquitoes which hover and land near

the real giant, Aron.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes