Schindler's List Page #8

SCHINDLER:

There's no way I could have known

this before, but there was always

something missing. In every business

I tried, I see now it wasn't me that

was failing, it was this thing, this

missing thing. Even if I'd known

what it was, there's nothing I could

have done about it, because you can't

create this sort of thing. And it

makes all the difference in the world

between success and failure.

He waits for her to guess what the thing is. His looks says,

It's so simple, how can you not know?

EMILIE:

Luck.

SCHINDLER:

War.

INT. NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT

"Gloomy Sunday" from a combo on a stage. Schindler and Emilie

dancing. Pressed against her -- both have had a few -- he

can feel her laugh to herself.

SCHINDLER:

What?

EMILIE:

I feel like an old-fashioned couple.

It feels good.

He smiles, even as his eyes roam the room and find and meet

the eyes of a German girl dancing with another man.

INT. SCHINDLER'S APARTMENT - LATER - NIGHT

Schindler and Emilie lounging in bed, champagne bottle on

the nightstand. Long silence before --

EMILIE:

Should I stay?

SCHINDLER:

(pause)

It's a beautiful city.

That's not the answer she's looking for and he knows it.

EMILIE:

Should I stay?

SCHINDLER:

(pause)

It's up to you.

That's not it either.

EMILIE:

No, it's up to you.

Schindler stares out at the lights of the city. They look

like jewels.

EMILIE:

Promise me no doorman or maitre 'd

will presume I am anyone other than

Mrs. Schindler... and I'll stay.

He promises her nothing.

EXT. TRAIN STATION - DAY

Emilie waves goodbye to him from a first-class compartment

window. Down on the platform, he waves goodbye to her. as

the train pulls away, he turns away, and the platform of the

next track is revealed -- soldiers and clerks supervising

the boarding of hundreds of people onto another train -- the

image turning BLACK AND WHITE.

CLERKS:

Your luggage will follow you. Make

sure it's clearly labeled. Leave

your luggage on the platform.

EXT. D.E.F. LOADING DOCK - DAY

As workers load crates of enamelware onto trucks -- back to

COLOR -- Stern and Schindler and the dock foreman confer

over an invoice.

More to Stern --

FOREMAN:

Every other time it's been all right.

This time when I weigh the truck, I

see he's heavy, he's loaded too much.

I point this out to him, I tell him

to wait, he tells me he's got a new

arrangement with Mr. Schindler --

(to Schindler)

-- that you know all about it and

it's okay with you.

SCHINDLER:

It's "okay" with me?

On the surface, Schindler remains calm; underneath, he's

livid. Clearly it's not "okay" with him.

STERN:

How heavy was he?

FOREMAN:

Not that much, just too much for it

to be a mistake -- 200 kilos.

Stern and Schindler exchange a glance. Then --

SCHINDLER:

(pause)

You're sure.

The foreman nods.

INT. GHETTO STOREFRONT - DAY

Pfefferberg and Schindler bang in through the front door,

startling a woman at a desk.

WOMAN AT DESK:

Can I help you?

They move past her without a word and into the back of the

place, into a storeroom. They stride past long racks full of

enamelware and other goods.

A man glances up, sees them coming. He's one of Schindler's

investors, the one who questioned the German's word. The

man's teenage sons rush to their father's defense, but

Pfefferberg grabs him and locks an arm tightly around his

neck.

Silence. Then, calmly --

SCHINDLER:

If you or anyone acting as an agent

for you comes to my factory again,

I'll have you arrested.

INVESTOR:

It was a mistake.

SCHINDLER:

It was a mistake? What was a mistake?

How do you know what I'm talking

about?

INVESTOR:

All right, it wasn't a mistake, but

it was one time.

SCHINDLER:

We had a deal, you broke it. One

phone call and your whole family is

dead.

He turns and walks away. Pfefferberg lets the guy go and

follows. The investor's sons help their father up off the

floor. Gasping, he yells.

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