Brazil Page #24

The CHOIR begins singing again. SAM reaches the lift and

looks at the small panel of letters set into the wall.

CLOSE UP of SAM's face concentrating. He hears, we hear, a

reprise of MR HELPMANN talking to SAM in MOTHER's

bathroom.

HELPMANN (V/O)

Of course, Jeremiah was senior to me,

but we were close friends, and I keep

his name alive at the office every

day. It's as though he's there

speaking to me. "'ere I am, J.H."

SAM is already typing the letters EREIAMJH into the

keyboard. The lift judders and star s to ascend.

126 INT. MR HELPMANN'S OFFICENIGHT126

SAM steps out of lift into an ante-room. No-one is there.

Tentatively he knocks on the connecting door into the

office. No reply. He slowly opens door.

SAM:

Mr Helpmann? Are you there? Hello?

The office is empty. SAM looks around - not sure what he

wants to do. He notices his MOTHER's picture on HELPMANN's

desk. He is just about to leave when his eye is caught by

an elaborate computer console in a side room. It

occasionally chatters away. Paper print-outs fill a large

bin. Hesitantly SAM approaches it. Looking around to make

sure the room is still empty he punches the On key and the

machine lights up.

He cautiously pushes a couple more keys. The teleprinter

machines have paused but one starts chattering now. He

looks at the one which is busy. A CLOSE UP shows us the

message coming through: TOTAL - TOTAL -TOTAL - CAR 15

REQUEST FEEDBACK STATUS ON SUBJECT BENJAMIN GEORGE

TROLLOPE - VAGRANT - DETAINED TERRORIST/SUSPECT/ASSOCIATE.

This is followed by a code number. The teleprinter falls

silent.

SAM returns to the keyboard and switches it off. He turns

to leave.

The teleprinter starts chattering again. SAM stops and

goes back to it and looks at the page again. A CLOSE UP

shows us:
UPDATE - SUBJECT TROLLOPE DECEASED - CAUSE OF

DEATH GUNSHOT RESISTING ARREST. PLEASE DELETE FROM SPECIAL

CATEGORY. The computer spool revolves back and forth for

two or three seconds and then stops. SAM ponders this for

a moment and then heads back to the keyboard and swtiches

on the machine. He has he answer.

127 INT. MOTHER'S FLAT NIGHT127

SAM enters the flat. JILL is nowhere to be seen. The

lights are out but, from the partially opened bedroom door

beams a shaft of bright light. Music pours forth ... it is

"BRAZIL".

SAM:

(cautiously)

Jill?

Getting no answer he goes to the door and peers through.

There is JILL but, transformed. She is wearing one of

SAM's MOTHER's wigs which billows in the air blown by a

fan. She is also wearing a diaphanous nightdress borrowed

from the extensive wardrobe and is dancing slowly. She

looks like the DREAM GIRL. SAM stands open-mouthed. JILL

notices him and smiles.

JILL:

What do you think? ... is it me?

SAM:

(still stunned)

You don't exist any more. I've killed

you. Jill Layton is dead.

He holds out a print-out. She reads it and slowly looks

up.

JILL:

Care for a bit of necrophilia?

They rush together.

128 INT. STONE SHIPANTI-DAY 128

The screen is filled with brilliant white clouds rushing

about a beautiful blue sky. They course this way and that.

Pulling back we reveal that this patch of sky is inside a

mammoth glass-like cube held aloft by four stone columns.

The absolutely amazing scale of this cube is revealed as

SAM sweeps up into shot - his wings gleaming in the light.

He is a tiny speck but, overjoyed -he has found the day.

far below him the GREY PRISONERS gather beaming with

happiness. Diving back to the ground - SAM unsheaths his

sword and holding it aloft rushes to the base of one of

the great columns. The FORCES OF DARKNESS who have been

lurking in the shadows slink back. SAM, with one mighty

swing, strikes the column - the noise reverberates as

cracks begin to race up and through the column. It is

disintegrating. As it crumbles the mammoth cube begins to

topple. Everyone steps back. Down it plummets. And smashes

into a million pieces. The bright blue sky escapes in all

directions. The GREY PRISONERS' iron collars and chains

fall from their necks as they stand, surrounded by a

beautiful blue sky. They look up to the sun. SAM is

exultant.

129 INT. MOTHER'S BEDROOM DAWN129

Pull back from the sun through a window. The light falls

on SAM's smiling sleeping face. Showly he wakes. He little

by little remembers where he is and reaches over for JILL.

She isn't there. Sam panics.

JILL:

Merry Xmas.

She is sitting at the foot of the bed grinning at him. She

crawls over to him - they start to embrace.

SAM:

Everything is going to be all right.

But crash !!! it's a raid! Like a giant drill a whirling

cylinder has plunged through the ornate moulded ceiling of

Mother's bedroom, and we now see what made the neat hole

in the BUTTLE ceiling ... CUTS show doors being burst open

by SECURITY TROOPS. JILL and SAM are frozen in panic.

SECURITY TROOPS are sliding down a fireman's pole" from

the hole in the ceiling.

SAM:

(shouts)

She's dead. Check the list!

But it is SAM they have come for. He is being dragged out

of the bed.

GUARDS:

(as they struggle with him)

You Turncoat Bastard! JUDAS!!

TRAITOR!!

A canvas bag is plunged over his head. All goes black.

SAM:

(muffled)

JILL!!!

A shot rings out. JILL screams. It echoes through the

blackness.

130 INT. PROCESSING AREA 130

In absolute inky darkness, SAM and the CAMERA move through

space and time marked only by voices and sounds

encountered on the way. This sound-sequence fades in and

out a few times, indicating that the journey is longer

than the real-time period of the blacked-out sequence. We

hear:

Footsteps of SAM and GUARDS.

Distant howl of pain.

Muzak.

Iron gate.

Footsteps again.

Lift doors opening and closing.

Muzak.

Typing pool.

FEMALE VOICE:

a wonderful gift, I changed it at the

chemist for some antibiotics and

bathroom scales and there's enough

left on the voucher for a

tonsilectomy if I want to treat

myself ...

Office door opens and closes.

GUARD'S VOICE

Christmas Parcel for you, sir ...

sign here please ...

What looks like a rectangular hatch in the blackness

opens. It is the eyeslit on the front of SAM's bag being

opened by a SECURITY GUARD.

The SECURITY GUARD peers in for a moment and then steps

back to reveal two SMART OFFICIALS sitting at a desk. They

are looking up at SAM/us.

OFFICIAL A:

93/HKS/608, you are charged with the

following:

Passing confidential documents to

unauthorized personnel - viz IR

dossier/Gillian Layton. Destroying

Government property - viz an

indeterminate number of personnel

carriers. Taking possession under

false pretences of said personnel

carriers. Forging the signature of

the Head of Records, Third

Department. Attempting to misdirect

Ministry funds, in the form of a

cheque to A. Buttle, through

unauthorized channels. Tampering with

Central Services supply ducts.

Employing unqualified suspected

persons for this purpose. Attempting

to conceal a fugitive from justice.

Obstructing the forces of law and

order in the exercise of their duty.

Giving aid and comfort to the enemies

of society.

Bringing into disrepute the good name

of the Government, and the standing

within the community of the

Department of Information Retrieval.

Attempting to disrupt the Ministry of

Information Retrieval's internal

communicating systems. Wasting

Ministry time and paper.

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