Gattaca Page #6

JEROME (VO)

My genetic scarlet letter continued to follow

me from school to school. When you're told

you're prone to learning disabilities, it's

sometimes easier not to disappoint anybody.

EXT. STREET. NIGHT.

13-YEAR-OLD VINCENT stands at a cul-de-sac at the end of a long,

straight deserted street. He places a basketball in the middle

of the street to represent the SUN and begins to unwind the huge

reel of string attached to the ball. 11-YEAR-OLD ANTON walks a

pace behind him. Several yards along the trail a bead is

threaded through the string to represent the planet MERCURY.

ANTON:

How many astronauts are there, anyway?

Vincent ignores him and continues to reel out the string.

ANTON:

I bet I could be one.

Vincent stops and regards his younger brother with contempt.

VINCENT:

You're standing on Venus.

Anton lifts his foot. There is a bead beneath it.

INT/EXT. CAR / SATELLITE DISH. DUSK.

VINCENT has developed into a handsome 17-YEAR-OLD. His

spectacles hidden, he and a YOUNG WOMAN are necking in the front

seat of a beat-up car, parked overlooking a huge satellite dish.

JEROME (VO)

I was popular enough until it got around

that I wasn't a long-term proposition.

The love-making intensifies. The YOUNG WOMAN moves down

Vincent's chest and unzips his fly.

JEROME (VO)

Those who didn't know already could easily

find out for themselves. It was certainly

no problem coaxing the information out of me.

We remain on Vincent's face as he climaxes. The YOUNG WOMAN

turns her head away from the spent Jerome and, out of his

view, trickles semen from her mouth into a clear specimen vial.

JEROME (VO)

I didn't blame them. You need to know if a

prospective husband can qualify for a mortgage

or life insurance or can hold down a decent job.

INT. HOME. DAY.

In the living room of their modest home, the dark-haired, 17-

year-old, bespectacled VINCENT sits opposite his PARENTS. The

crestfallen Vincent has a book on his lap entitled "CAREERS IN

SPACE".

MOTHER:

(trying to break it gently)

Vincent, you have to be realistic. A

heart condition like yours--

VINCENT:

--I don't care. I'll take the risk.

MOTHER:

It's not just you they have to be concerned

about. Perhaps we could get you one of

those new pacemakers. They're not perfect

but--

FATHER:

(letting his frustration show)

For God's sake, Vincent, don't you understand.

The only way you'll see the inside of a space

ship is if you're cleaning it!

Vincent looks at his father in disbelief.

On a dinner table on the other side of the living room, 15-YEAR-

OLD ANTON looks up from the biological specimen he is studying

with a magnifying glass.

INT. PERSONNEL OFFICE - WAITING ROOM. DAY.

17-YEAR-OLD VINCENT hides his glasses in his pocket as he enters

a WAITING ROOM. He gazes around at other APPLICANTS.

JEROME (VO)

My father was right. It didn't matter how

much I lied on my resumÈ, my real C.V. was

in my cells. Why should anybody invest all

that money to train me, when there are a

thousand other applicants with a far cleaner

profile? Of course, it's illegal to discriminate -

"genoism" it's called - but no one takes the

laws seriously.

As Jerome enters the office, we focus on the doorhandle he has

just touched.

JEROME (VO)

If you refuse to disclose, they can always

take a sample from a doorhandle...

Vincent hesitates before shaking the PERSONNEL OFFICER's

outstretched hand.

JEROME (VO)

...or a handshake...

We focus on Jerome's envelope attached to his application form

sitting on the Manager's desk.

JEROME (VO)

...even the saliva off your application form.

Sitting opposite the manager, Jerome's face falls. The manager

puts a clear, plastic cup in front of Jerome.

JEROME (VO)

But for the most part we know who we are.

And if all else fails, a legal drug test

can just as easily become an illegal peek

at your future in the company.

Vincent saves the Manager the trouble and exits the office,

leaving the cup where it sits.

EXT. BEACH. DAY.

17-YEAR-OLD JEROME walks up the beach to find 15-YEAR-OLD ANTON

sitting with the YOUNG WOMAN Vincent had previously dated.

JEROME (VO)

I didn't blame Anton for his free ride. You

can't blame someone for winning the lottery.

The Young Woman hastily departs.

LATER the two brothers face each other on the sand. Anton is

the more statuesque of the two.

ANTON:

(cocky)

You sure you want to do this?

Vincent's answer is to walk towards the water. Anton smiles

mockingly at his brother's grim "game face" and

follows.

From an aerial view we watch VINCENT and his younger brother, ANTON,

swim beyond the breakers.

JEROME (VO)

It was the last time we swam together.

Out into the open sea, like always,

knowing each stroke towards the horizon

was one we had to make back to the

shore. Like always, the unspoken contest.

We watch the two young men swimming stroke for stroke. They

swim far out, beyond the point. Suddenly ANTON starts to slow,

his strokes becoming labored until he becomes motionless in the

water. He begins to sink like a stone. VINCENT, realizing

Anton is no longer beside him, turns back to lend support.

Vincent takes him in a lifeguard hold and begins to nurse him

back to shore. Finally the two boys are coughed up onto the

shallows. They collapse, just beyond the waterline, exhausted,

gasping for air. ANTONIO and MARIA arrive on the scene. ANTON

is the first to recover while VINCENT clutches his side, his

face screwed up in pain. Maria kneels down and starts to

administer to Vincent but his father, Antonio, is unable to

conceal his anger and contempt for Vincent.

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