Frankenstein Page #3

WALTON:

Lives are ephemeral. The knowledge we gain, the

achievements we leave behind ... those live on.

Victor reaches out with his blackened claw of a hand, pulls

him closer. Impassioned, intense:

VICTOR:

Do you share my madness?

WALTON:

Madness?

(CONTINUED)

10

CAMERA PUSHES SLOWLY on Victor's face ...

VICTOR:

We are kindred, you and I. Men of ambition. Let

me tell you all that I have lost in such pursuits.

I pray my story will come to mean for you all that

is capricious and evil in man.

WALTON:

(angry, frightened)

Who are you?

VICTOR:

(beat)

My name is Frankenstein

... and CAMERA proceeds into the bottomless depths of

Victor's staring eye, plunging us into:

TOTAL DARKNESS. Tick-tock. Tick-tock. A METRONOME fades up

before us.

WOMAN'S VOICE (O.S.)

Failure has no pride, Victor. You must try again.

LITTLE BOY (O.S.

Yes, Ma'am.

INT - GRAND BALLROOM - FRANKENSTEIN MMSION - DAY

We hear a HARPSICHORD begin playing as a WIDER ANGLE reveals

a huge, Magnificent room with vaulted ceilings thirty feet

high. Floor-to-ceiling windows. Hanging tapestries.

VICTOR sits at the harpsichord, a very serious 7 year-old in

his little gentleman's suit and stiff starched collar.

MRS. MORITZ, head of the housekeeping staff, conducts the

lesson. Her daughter JUSTINE, age 4, sits with her doll in a

huge wingback chair, making it dance to the music as she

listens ... but her eyes are on Victor. She adores him.

An enormous door swings open. Victor stops playing. His

PARENTS enter, ushering a somber and beautiful ELIZABETH,

age 6, across the vast expanse of floor. Victor slides off

the bench and faces them.

FATHER:

Mrs. Moritz, would you and your daughter excuse

us?

(CONTINUED)

11

MRS. MORITZ

Of course, Doctor. Madam. Come along, Justine.

Bring your dolly.

Mrs. Moritz takes Justine's hand. Justine gazes back at

Victor and Elizabeth as her mother whisks her off.

MOTHER:

Victor. This is Elizabeth. She's coming to live

with us.

FATHER:

She has lost her parents to scarlet fever. She is

an orphan.

MOTHER:

You must think of her as your own sister. You

must look after her. And be kind to her.

Victor stares at Elizabeth. She returns the gaze evenly,

self-possessed and dignified even at this young age.

ARCTIC VICTOR (V.O.)

I loved her from the moment that I first saw her.

EXT - FRANKENSTEIN ESTATE - NIGHT

A MASSIVE BOLT OF LIGHTNING hammers from the sky, reducing a

centuries-old oak tree to smoldering ruin ...

INT - DOWNSTAIRS PARL0R - NIGHT

... while '(slaps them on the bed) ' gazes at the storm,

face pressed against a window, astonished at the sight.

Lightning throws seething shadows of the rain on his face.

his '... and Grigori breaks the surface again, rising slowly

And impossibly from the water. arms and legs windmill

against the air, propelled from below with nearly aulic

strength. He gazes down in shock at the massive fist

clutching his chest ... and the arm ' appears.

MOTHER:

Victor. Elizabeth is frightened by the storm. Go

comfort her.

INT - UPPER LANDING - NIGHT

We hear a CHILD SOBBING. Victor comes racing up the grand

staircase from below as LIGHTNING sends wild banister

shadows Littering. He caroms down the hall toward:

INT - ELIZABETH'S ROOM - NIGHT

Victor enters. Elizabeth is a tiny figure huddled in an

adult-size bed, gazing up with tear-streaked face at the

huge skylights in the vaulted ceiling, dreading the next

scary boom and flash. Victor approaches and whispers:

(CONTINUED)

12

VICTOR:

Don't cry, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH:

(frightened)

Aren't you?

KA-BOOM! A LIGHTNING BOLT rips overhead, rattling the panes

of glass. Victor does find it scary ... but exhilarating.

VICTOR:

We'll build a fort. So the lightning can't get

us.

He races about the room, grabbing every pillow he can find

and hurling them to her. Big decorative pillows from the

chaise, bed pillows from the armoire ... they all come

flying. She giggles as a big one knocks her flat. Victor

scampers onto the bed with her. They pile the pillows around

and above, concealing themselves in a bulging heap of

cushions.

INSIDE THE PILLOW-FORT

Victor pokes his hand up, widening a space so they can still

see. Lightning glistens in their upturned eyes.

ELIZABETH:

Are you sure it can't hurt us?

VICTOR:

Nothing can. Not ever.

She seeks his hand. Fingers clasp. Comfort and strength.

TILT UP to the skylight. Rain drumming the glass ...

INT - MANSION - GRAND BALLROOM - DAY

Victor and Elizabeth are learning to waltz, their movements

stiff and awkward, childlike. MRS. MORITZ is at the

harpsichord. Justine sits with her dolly, watching.

MRS. MORITZ

You must lead, Victor. The lady will always look

to you for guidance, so your steps must be sure

and strong ...

VICTOR:

Mrs. Moritz.

MRS. MORITZ

... aaand, one-two-three, one-two- three, twirl-

two-three ...

JUSTINE:

Mama, can I dance with Victor?

(CONTINUED)

13

MRS. MORITZ

Nonsense, Justine. Hush. And now a sweeping arc

about the room! one- two-three, twirl-two-three

Victor and Elizabeth gamely work their way across the vast

room, tripping on each other's toes. They pass within inches

of CAMERA, bodies WIPING FRAME ...

INT - GRAND BALLROOM - DAY (TEN YEARS LATER)

... and they sweep from before our eyes, waltzing away from

camera to reveal Victor now 17, intense and handsome as he

approaches manhood. Elizabeth is a blossoming and graceful

beauty at 16. Mrs. Moritz is still conducting the lessons,

but the person at t

MRS. MORITZ

... one-two-three, twirl-two-three.. Excellent!

You'll be the envy of all the young ladies and

gentlemen!

They're certainly the envy of Justine, who gazes at Victor

as he sweeps Elizabeth around the room in his arms. She

isn't concentrating and fumbles on the keyboard. Her mother

throws her a look of reproval:

MRS. MORITZ

Justine. Surely you can maintain better time than

that.

JUSTINE:

Yes, Mama.

Flustered, she puts her attention back on the keyboard as

Victor and Elizabeth keep dancing, swirling fluidly about

the room, their attention only on each other.

INT - UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - NIGHT

A skylight above us. A storm is raging, rain drumming the

glass. We hear SCREAMING in the house. TILT DOWN to Victor

perched at the edge of a settee, seething with tension.

Waiting. Elizabeth is with him. She squeezes his arm, trying

to reassure him.

ELIZABETH:

She'll be all right.

Another SCREAM rips down the hallway. Justine comes

scurrying up the stairs, about to enter his parent's room

with a fresh load of sheets. Victor lunges to his feet and

intercepts, trying to push past her, but finds the doorway

implacably blocked by Mrs. Moritz.

(CONTINUED)

14

MRS. MORITZ

You can do nothing here. Wait downstairs.

He can see his mother in the dim kerosene light, writhing

and screaming on the bed, belly swollen and distended. His

father, sleeves rolled up, works feverishly to save her.

VICTOR:

Mother?

FATHER:

Victor, do as you're told!

Justine glances at Victor, longing to comfort him. She

squeezes past into the room. The door slams in his face. He

turns to Elizabeth, eyes brimming with terror ...

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