Kafka Page #16

KAFKA:

... A piece of paper ...

MURNAU:

A mere slip.

(coming forward)

Your friend Mr. Raban dealt only

with claims that came in, another

department being responsible for

compensation that goes out -- this

is correct?

He places a fatherly hand on Kafka's shoulder.

MURNAU:

(not quite in the

light yet)

Through a very unfortunate -- and

I might add extremely rare --

mishap, a document intended for

the one department was sent to

the other. And for the first

time -- though your friend

wasn't aware of it -- two and

two could have been put together

to make one.

KAFKA:

(again)

... A piece of paper ...

MURNAU:

(face bending into

the light)

You see, Kafka, in all cases

relating to the factory at

Orlac -- which is what this

paper referred to -- the

authority that puts in a

request and the authority that

grants it is, to all intents

and purposes, the same authority.

And he's an impressive, imposing figure of authority

himself. You'd probably trust him. You'd certainly respect

him. But if you look into his eyes, he's frightening.

CUT:

UNDERGROUND CRYPTS

Mr. Pick runs from the crazed prisoners chasing him. Fires

his gun back at them, dropping one or two -- but then runs

out of bullets.

The prisoners slowly surround him. He backs away. One of

those chains that run throughout the Castle has its base

here. Mr. Pick keeps backing up, unavoidably, the deranged

prisoners closing in -- until he falls backwards with a cry

into the grinding wheels of the chain-system.

Caught up in the chain, he's carried aloft with it, up to the

ceiling. The chain is the lifeline of the Castle and does

not, could not, ever stop. Instead it forces Mr. Pick to go

along with it, his head CRACKING through the glass or wood

"manhole" cover through which the chain passes.

CUT:

MURNAU'S OFFICE

Kafka tries not to flinch in the presence of this deadly

figure.

MURNAU:

-- You seem amused.

KAFKA:

It only amuses me in that

it gives me an insight into

the ludicrous bungling that

in some circumstances may

decide the life of a human being.

Ekman sighs -- as if at a difficult child.

MURNAU:

It's merely a matter of

expediency. It's imperative

that my room to maneuver not

be hindered by ... bureaucratic

ramifications.

Ekman, who doesn't hear very well, directs one ear in

particular back and forth between the other two. Kafka just

keeps looking at the charismatic man pacing around him --

who's now lighting an expensive cigarette of the kind that

was in the ashtray at the lab.

MURNAU:

-- If an obscure official up

there in the distant mountains

so far away from civilizing

influences happens to meet

with an unfortunate accident

-- and should he tragically die

in spite of the District Medical

Officer's strenuous efforts to

save him -- the firm wants to

see the next of kin pacified

and the disposition of the

remains handled with the

greatest possible ... efficiency.

KAFKA:

(becoming clearer)

"Accident and Compensation" --

no one can accuse the firm of

not supplying exactly what it

promises.

MURNAU:

(to Ekman)

I believe we've exceeded his

expectations.

KAFKA:

(virtually to

himself)

I had the grandest of financial

plots in mind, the most

malevolent of personal motives,

conspiracy theories extending

to every ... authority I could

see.

(looks up)

And I find you. A body snatcher.

Murnau laughs.

MURNAU:

Life is more than a Chinese

puzzle, my friend.

CUT:

FLOOR OF CLERKS:

Uniformly, like a chorus line, the infinite row of clerks

turn their heads from their single endless desk when they

hear an awful NOISE:

Mr. Pick is breaking through from the floor below. The

inexorably rising chain has hauled him floor by floor through

the Castle, breaking open holes too small for his body,

shredding him along the way, and still carrying him upwards

...

CUT:

CASTLE CORRIDOR:

Kafka walks along with Murnau and Ekman. The Laughing Man

holds Kafka's arm.

KAFKA:

And I suppose Dr. Murnau didn't

die in a cave-in. You killed

him to free the Position of

Orlac Medical Officer for your

own ends.

MURNAU:

Yes, well -- we're looking for

a new village now. If we stay

too long at one source ... people

become suspicious.

They pass another of those grinding chains carrying memos and

inter-office directives up and down.

MURNAU:

But you're quite right that

he didn't die in that cave-in.

In fact, he didn't die at all.

He was simply recalled -- by

himself. As well as being Head

of Medical Records here and a

Director of your firm -- I'm

Dr. Murnau, of course.

The Laughing Man giggles crazily.

LIBRARY:

The Laughing Man, subdued for a moment, merely smiles a

little, opening the door to let Kafka in first, guarding him

close. Dr. Murnau then leads the way across to his

laboratory door.

MURNAU:

May I ask where your two

warders are?

KAFKA:

Lying in the gutter where

they belong.

Murnau laughs, but then has to stop as it encourages the

Laughing Man, bringing forth a mad chuckle or two from him.

MURNAU:

Pity. They're an amusing pair,

didn't you find? Absolute

innocents.

He pushes the tall door open into his lab.

LABORATORY:

Murnau spreads his hands proudly as they enter, displaying

his amazing factory.

MURNAU:

I so rarely get the chance of

showing my work to anybody --

anybody capable of appreciating

it, that is. You might say I'm

a student of human reaction.

Ekman, who's seen it all before, goes to lean somewhere,

bored.

KAFKA:

The fact that it's live bodies

you practice your trade on

doesn't seem to matter to you.

MURNAU:

On the contrary, it matters a

great deal. We're engaged in

immensely important research

here. I'm a revolutionary

too, you know -- but a much

more pragmatic one.

As if in response to that the Laughing Man convulses anew.

Ekman immediately turns to a shelf for another vial and goes

to give it to the Laughing Man.

MURNAU:

-- I can't very well administer

experimental treatments to

corpses -- and if they become

corpses, why, they have their

uses too -- that's why speed is

essential. Living tissue, even

if its owner has passed on, is

our most valuable acquisition.

The Laughing Man gulps down the potion and starts to calm

down a little.

MURNAU:

We've tried transfusions on

our ... volunteers. Unfortunately,

far from infusing superior

characteristics it's tended to

make them insane -- murderous

even -- a condition we've had

occasion to make use of.

THE HIDDEN BOMB-CASE

TICKING lightly away. The clock inside the bomb-case,

becoming visible as if by X-Ray, is SEEN to be a matter of

minutes away from blast-off.

THE LAB:

Murnau walks to where the elaborate distillation processes

are going on. The very section where Kafka hid the bomb.

Kafka wipes his brow, quickly, conscious of Ekman staring at

him. Murnau gazes obsessively at his contraptions, his

piercing eyes following the routes of the flowing chemicals.

MURNAU:

-- And the new patients they

bring me aren't usually as

dexterous as you've been in

evading us. Not perfect

specimens by any means, but

not the type of person who'll

be missed either.

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