Pawn Sacrifice
OVER BLACK:
"Chess holds its master in its bonds, shackling the mind
such that the inner freedom of the very strongest must
suffer." - ALBERT EINSTEIN
1 EXT. GRANITE COUNTRY HOUSE - ICELAND - DAWN 1
In the grey dawn, a formidable house in the Icelandic
wilderness. A single light burns in an upper window.
Caption:
Reykjavik, Iceland 4:15am. July 20th, 1972In the distance, a POLICE CAR approaches, lights flashing.
2 INT. GRANITE COUNTRY HOUSE - ICELAND 2
CLOSE on a hand gripping the padded arm of an armchair.
index finger of the hand is PICKING at a thread.
The
The HAND belongs to an intense young man with black hair
swept back. He sits motionless, peering at a chess game
which is a few moves old. The man is BOBBY FISCHER.
A SINGLE FLY begins to buzz against the window.
Bobby eyes the fly. The movement of his eyes is immense.
Murderous. The thread he has been picking at suddenly TEARS
with a THUNDEROUS RIPPING SOUND.
The fly is trying to get out the window.
3 BOBBY'S PERCEPTION 3
The BUZZING of the fly is a howling hurricane from hell.
4 BACK TO AN OBJECTIVE VIEW OF THE ROOM 4
Silence.
Bobby stalks the fly -- CRUSHING IT with a coffee cup.
He sits back down in a business-like way and stares at the
board again, his fingernail beginning to work another thread.
HEADLIGHTS sweep the room and we HEAR a car door SLAM.
Bobby's face betrays no reaction -- but his whole hand CLAWS
the arm of the chair like an animal in a trap.
At the SOUND of someone running upstairs, he glances from
the chessboard to the door, as a knock comes on the door:
Pink Revision 10-01-13 2.
5 BOBBY'S PERCEPTION 5
Someone is POUNDING on the door -- it SOUNDS like the Gestapo
in an old war movie.
The knock on the door is polite.
Bobby grips the armchair, can't stand the noise that only he
can hear -- and he gets to his feet, UPENDING a lamp.
Another knock.
Bobby pinballs around like the fly trying to escape --
breaking shutters as he tries to close them, tripping over a
table. ANOTHER KNOCK, even louder.
Then, just as suddenly, his eyes FOCUS on the chess board.
A new light comes into his eyes as he stares at it -- and
A7 ALL SOUND BEGINS TO FADE A7
As he moves toward the board -- his fingers reaching out --
in ultra slo-mo -- to make...a...single...move.
Bobby closes his eyes. Content. He has solved the puzzle.
CAPTION:
This is the true story of Bobby Fischer.The door opens. A guy stands there -- mid-40's, pugnacious.
This is MARSHALL. He stares at the debris of the room. And
at Bobby, who appears perfectly calm.
BOBBY:
There was a fly. It's dead now.
A huge agenda between the two men. Marshall composes himself.
MARSHALL:
(quoting)
"Never before in human history has
the outcome of an entire global war
of ideas rested on the shoulders of
one man."
The slightest smile begins to form on Bobby's lips.
Pink Revision 10-01-13 3.
MARSHALL (CONT'D)
I'm quoting the President of the
United States. He was talking about
you. To me. The President of the
United States talking to me. He
called three times. Three.
Marshall lifts the receiver, places a phone back on the hook.
MARSHALL (CONT'D)
He's been trying to reach you.
Bobby refuses to be intimidated. If anything, his smile
widens. Marshall rights an upturned chair.
MARSHALL (CONT'D)
In Moscow, Brezhnev opened his only
bottle of 1868 Louis Roederer. Left
over from the revolution. You know
why?
(hammering it home)
Because. He. Heard. You Quit.
Bobby walks to the window, looks out at the half-light.
MARSHALL (CONT'D)
There are boys your age in Vietnam
giving their lives right now in the
fight against Communism. And all
you have to do is win a game of chess.
(plaintively)
...Say something. Bobby, please...
Bobby?
Bobby doesn't answer. Instead, he stares out into the night,
...Bobby?
JOAN (V.O.)
7 OMIT 7
8 IN THE FISCHER APARTMENT - NIGHT - BROOKLYN 8
Bobby, age 8, stands looking out another window.
JOAN, Bobby's sister, 14, comes up beside him.
It is 1952.
JOAN:
Bobby, it's bedtime.
Yellow Revision 10-11-13 4.
BOBBY:
That man's out there.
Joan looks out. A SEDAN is parked under a streetlight. A
LIT MATCH briefly illuminates a MAN'S FACE as he lights a
cigarette. Is that a telephoto lens in his hand? She subtly
turns him away from the window.
JOAN:
Have you eaten anything? There's
actually food in the house. Go.
Bobby heads back into a party in full swing. The apartment
is packed with Boho's, Eastern European emigres, NY
intellectuals. A banner reads, "Brooklyn-Bed Sty American
Communist Party PARTY! Coltrane wails on the record player.
BOBBY IS INVISIBLE IN THIS ADULT WORLD
Adults LOOM above him, laughing. A MIXED COUPLE making out,
open-mouthed. A man smoking reefer smiles beatifically. He
pauses to scribble chess notations in his little notebook.
PARTY GUEST #1
Half the witnesses they call are
Communists, the other half are Jews!
PARTY GUEST #3
If you're both, do you testify twice?
PARTY GUEST #1
You can make jokes, Mr. Liberal --
your entire family wasn't gassed in
the camps, alava'shalom.
Regina, meanwhile, is in the middle of of an intense
conversation with a BALDING MAN. They WHISPER harshly.
REGINA:
We agreed he wouldn't know who you
are--!
BALDING MAN:
Fine. But that doesn't mean---
Yellow Revision 10-11-13 5.
REGINA:
--So I don't see the point!
BALDING MAN:
The point is--- Christ, just let me
talk to him, then I'll go...
Bobby is making a sandwich. The BALDING MAN approaches.
BALDING MAN:
Howdy doody, Bobby...
BOBBY:
Hullo.
BALDING MAN:
Remember me...?
BOBBY:
Sort of.
BALDING MAN:
I'm your Uncle Paul. From Denver.
How's school?
BOBBY:
Okay.
BALDING MAN:
Studying hard?
BOBBY:
I guess.
BALDING MAN:
Ever heard of Physics?
BOBBY:
No.
BALDING MAN:
But you're good in Math?
BOBBY:
I guess.
The man stares at him -- there's something pregnant and
unspoken in his regard -- but also somehow thwarted.
BALDING MAN:
I hear you like chess.
Yellow Revision 10-11-13 6.
BOBBY:
Yeah.
He looks around, takes a five dollar bill from his pocket.
BALDING MAN:
Here. Buy a new set. Just don't
tell your mother where it came from...
Bobby's eyes widen as he stares at the bill. The man reaches
out to HUG him, but Bobby shrinks away. Uncle Paul frowns,
settles for patting Bobby on the head and then walks away.
A heated discussion of Zionism, the Rosenbergs. Bobby wanders
past, looks out the window. The DARK SEDAN is still there.
Regina is nearby, deep in conversation -- IN RUSSIAN.
BOBBY:
Mama-REGINA
Not now, honey.
BOBBY:
I have to talk to you.
REGINA:
Honey, it's past your bedtime.
BOBBY:
That car's down there again.
Regina's antennae go up.
REGINA:
What car?
BOBBY:
You told me to tell you... A red,
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"Pawn Sacrifice" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/pawn_sacrifice_621>.
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