Gladiator Page #11

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GAIUS:

No.

MARCELLUS:

That can't be true...

LUCILLA:

He's selling Rome's reserves of

grain. The people will be starving

in two years. I hope they are

enjoying the spectacles because soon

enough they will be dead because of

them.

MARCELLUS:

Rome must know this.

LUCILLA:

And who will tell them?! You,

Marcellus? You, Senator Gaius?

Will you make a speech on the Senate

floor denouncing my brother? And

then see your family in the

Colosseum? What town-crier would

dare?

A long beat.

LUCILLA:

He must die.

A beat as her words sink in.

GAIUS:

The Praetorians would only seize

control themselves.

LUCILLA:

No -- cut off the head and the snake

cannot strike.

GRACCHUS:

Lucilla, Gaius is right. Until the

City Guard can neutralize the

Praetorians we can accomplish

nothing.

MARCELLUS:

And I haven't enough men.

LUCILLA:

What about the army?

GAIUS:

No Roman army has entered the

capital in a hundred years.

LUCILLA:

So we do nothing?!

A door opens, a voice...

LUCIUS' VOICE

Mother...

An eight-year-old boy stands in a doorway, sleepy. He is

LUCIUS, Lucilla's son.

LUCIUS:

I heard voices...

LUCILLA:

(going to him)

It's all right, darling, you --

Lucius suddenly notices Senator Gracchus:

LUCIUS:

(running to Gracchus)

Senator! What did you bring me?!

He leaps onto Gracchus -- Gracchus laughs and pulls

something from his robe.

GRACCHUS:

For you prince Lucius... a sea

monster!

Gracchus gives Lucius a beautifully painted toy of a sea

serpent.

GRACCHUS:

Off the coast of Achaea they grow

twenty times this size, with

snapping teeth to devour any nasty

Praetorians they come across... now,

where is Achaea?

LUCIUS:

Below Macedonia!

GRACCHUS:

Show me on the map.

Lucius runs to a map and stabs his finger at Achaea. We

sense this is an old game between them.

LUCILLA:

Lucius, you go in now, I'll be in

shortly.

LUCIUS:

(to Gracchus)

Thank you, Senator Mountain!

GRACCHUS:

You're welcome, Prince Anthill!

Lucius goes. Lucilla shuts the door after him. A moment.

She turns to the others, a deep anguish in her eyes.

LUCILLA:

What are you going to do?

Gracchus goes to her, holds her.

GRACCHUS:

Peace child... One dark night the

Gods will light our path. They will

give us the voice we need. Have

faith in that. Have faith.

INT./ EXT. ROMAN STREETS - SLAVE WAGON - NIGHT

Maximus cranes for a sight of the Eternal City through a

hole in the wooden slats that cover the slave cart.

He can see only glimpses of Rome as they pass. But the

images are not what he expected. Alongside the undeniable

glory of the city, the madness and disease Marcus Aurelius

spoke of are readily apparent.

Maximus sees flashes of plague victims being tossed on

carts heaped with bodies -- he sees getting and spending

and commerce everywhere -- he sees fascist Praetorian

Guard units trooping past -- he sees the magnificent

architecture of the city -- he sees starving children

begging from filthy gutters -- he sees rich citizens out

for a stroll -- he sees a swirling combination of

sophistication and depravity, of civilization and

corruption.

He sits back in the cart, deep in thought. Vibius looks

at him.

VIBIUS:

Not what you expected?

MAXIMUS:

No.

VIBIUS:

Rome is nothing but a slaughter

house. And we are the meat.

EXT. PROXIMO'S COMPOUND - NIGHT

The slave wagon pulls up to Proximo's rather grand Roman

compound. Guards unlock imposing gates and the wagon

drives in...

EXT. PROXIMO'S COMPOUND - COURTYARD - NIGHT

Inside the gates is a large courtyard, much like Proximo's

Moroccan school but much more impressive. A fountain with

an enormous statue of the war god Mars is central in the

courtyard.

The gladiators climb from the wagon, stretching after the

long journey. Vibius leads Maximus and Juba to the

statue. He wades through the fountain and kisses the toe

of Mars.

VIBIUS:

Tradition. He watches over us.

Juba steps up and kisses the toe.

VIBIUS:

(to Maximus)

Oh go on, it won't kill you.

Maximus kisses the toe as well.

PROXIMO:

(calling to them)

Stop that! You'll get some

monstrous disease and then you'll be

worth nothing to me!

Guards come and lead them to their cells, which line one

side of the courtyard.

INT. PROXIMO'S COMPOUND - CELL - NIGHT

Later. Maximus and Juba again share a cell. It is more

comfortable than their cell in Morocco, befitting Maximus'

new status as one of the "stars." A high, barred window

on one wall opens to the city. Another barred window is

directly over them, twenty feet above.

Maximus pulls himself up to the side window, he looks out.

And sees at last... The Colosseum.

It is a breathtaking sight. Monolithic Albert Speer-like

columns of light shine up from the Colosseum. It seems to

illuminate the whole city and the heavens above.

Maximus drops back to the floor.

JUBA:

Do you think it will be much

different? Here in Rome?

MAXIMUS:

Bigger arena. Same killing.

A beat.

JUBA:

Are you scared for tomorrow?

MAXIMUS:

No.

A beat.

JUBA:

Me too.

A beat.

JUBA:

I never though it would be so easy

to kill.

A beat.

JUBA:

So you're finally home.

MAXIMUS:

This isn't my home.

JUBA:

For all Romans... this is home.

A beat.

JUBA:

(quietly)

Among my people we honor the soil of

our home. Our ancestors are in that

soil. All their dreams live there.

I will never see my home again. The

soil is dead and no one honors them,

so the dreams die.

A beat.

MAXIMUS:

Perhaps one day you'll return.

Juba looks at him.

JUBA:

How can I go back? I am not what I

was. When a man kills for no

reason, he has lost himself.

A long beat.

Juba leans his head back and quietly begins to sing. A

haunting lament in his native tongue.

EXT. COLOSSEUM - DAY

A flurry of images from around the Colosseum, the energy

mounting. At this point we see practically nothing of the

inside of the Colosseum:

Slaves are balancing high above the empty arena. They are

on ropes unrolling huge rolls of muslin; sun tarps that

provide shade below...

Merchants open stalls in the curved arcade around outside

of the Colosseum. They sell everything from food to magic

elixirs, from toys to aphrodisiacs. They immediately

start declaiming and demonstrating the virtues of their

products...

Gangs of whores of both sexes trawl the streets. They

have bizarrely-colored hair and elaborate makeup...

Citizens begin arriving, pushing past the vendors and the

pickpockets. We see whole families with picnic lunches...

Ferocious animals are brought into the Colosseum in barred

cages...

In the busy arcade, barbers and blood-letters practice

their craft alongside exotic alchemists, fire eaters and

contortionists...

Richer citizens arrive in sedan chairs and chariots, they

feign indifference to the hooting mob...

Mounted City Guard police units try to retain some

order...

Gamblers crowd betting booths and haggle mercilessly...

Finally, we see Maximus and the other gladiators in a

slave cart. Maximus watches everything as the slave cart

disappears into the Colosseum...

INT. COLOSSEUM - ROUTE TO HOLDING CELLS - DAY

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