Slow West

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FADE IN:

2 EXT - COLORADO FOREST - NIGHT 2

Our hero, JAY CAVENDISH lies on a blanket, a colt six-shooter

gun in his hand, and looks up to a sky full of stars

He begins his nightly recital, naming each constellation

JAY:

Pegasus, The Great Bear, The

Dragon, Andromeda

JAY is sixteen, skinny, dark hair and dark eyes, handsome inan other-worldly way

He is about to sleep fully clothed, and what fine clothesthey are - an exquisitely tailored three piece suit and fineleather boots

JAY lifts his gun up and points to the night sky and pretendsto shoot

He makes a soft sound on each ‘pretend shot’ and a starappears and forms Orion

JAY (CONT’D)

Orion’s Belt

JAY lowers his gun and smiles as he remembers the love of hislife, ROSE ROSS

CUT TO:

3 EXT - SCOTLAND - DREAM FLASHBACK - WINDY BEACH - DAY 3

ROSE ROSS, beautiful, dressed in peasant clothes, sits on topof JAY, smiles

CUT TO:

2.

4 EXT - COLORADO FOREST - NIGHT 4

JAY stows away his gun, tucks his wallet into his insidepocket, rolls onto his side, shuts his eyes and falls asleep

CUT TO:

5 EXT - COLORADO FOREST - DAWN 5

Next day, first light, dawn chorus, JAY rolls up his blanketand grabs his duffle bag

TITLE - SLOW WEST

JAY sits on his horse. His horse is laden with many bags,

cases, blankets, boxes

JAY pulls out a small wooden box and lifts lid to reveal a

compass

JAY rides off in the direction - WEST

He rides awkwardly though the trees, holding the compass

aloft

6

EXT - EDGE OF FOREST / PRAIRIE - DAY 6

JAY rides out of the forest into an open grass prairie

The sun now beats down

Strange structures appear. Dotted across the prairie, bodies

wrapped in cloth lie on stilts facing the sky

A Native burial ground, a happy hunting ground

The stilts are adorned with feathers and beads

JAY weaves through the structures and past a group of native

women sitting, preparing dead bodies of men wrapped in cloth

JAY rides past. The women ignore him

7

EXT - FOREST - DAY 7

Into the forest

A line of native women and children pass JAY

The final native, carrying a baby looks at JAY as he passes

JAY rides on, bringing his compass out again and continuing

West

3.

JAY has another flashing memory of ROSE and their timetogether in Scotland

CUT TO:

8

EXT - SCOTLAND - HILLSIDE - DREAM FLASHBACK 8

A strong wind blowing, a heathery landscape and beyond arough sea

Rose stands on top of a small rock formation and lifts her

arms causing her shawl to flap in the wind

JAY sits next to her

ROSE turns and smiles at JAY, then leaps from the small rock

and runs down the hill

CUT TO:

9

EXT - FOREST - DAY 9

JAY rides into a cloud of dense smoke

The forest air becomes ‘foggy’ until JAY is but a faint

silhouette

He and his pony begin to cough

JAY covers his mouth with cloth

The air is thick with ash

Black jagged shapes- burnt stumps of trees emerge from the

grey

Now only shades of grey

SILAS SELLECK (V.O.)

I was drifting west when I picked

up his trail - deep in Colorado

Territory - A jack-rabbit in a den

of wolves, fortunate to be alive

(The voice over is an older man than JAY, with an Irishaccent - Later we will meet the man who owns this voice)

JAY, now walking his horse, has covered his mouth with ahandkerchief

JAY is covered head to toe in gray ash, and so is his horse

JAY enters a clearing

Remains of tee-pee frames and tree stumps smoulder black andsmoke

4.

This was a Native camp, freshly razed to the ground

JAY leads his horse through the remains

No bodies. The dead removed

Another forest clearing

A distant gun shot startles JAY and his horse

JAY stops

Another gun shot

Then another

JAY walks slowly from his horse

More gunshots

Branches snap under foot from yonder, the sound of someone

running towards JAY

A muscular young NATIVE MAN sprints from the brush and skidsto a halt in front of JAY

Bare chested, coated in blood

Standing proud and waiting as if preparing to die by JAY’S

hand

JAY ash-grey

The young MAN blood-red

For a moment they study each other’s strangeness

Another gunshot and the NATIVE MAN looks around then bolts

past JAY

More rustling and twig snapping as THREE MEN dressed as Unionsoldiers emerge

TWO BOYS in dirty old Yankee uniforms and an OLDER MAN in an

officer’s outfit

Guns are quickly raised to point at JAY

OFFICER:

Arms abroad boy!

JAY raises his arms up

YOUNG SOLDIER 2

Red skinned or white?

The coat of ash covering JAY the source of confusion

5.

JAY:

Sir. I am British.. Scottish

The officer barks orders to his two proteg.s

OFFICER:

Catch the savage

The two YOUNG SOLDIERS run off into the woods

JAY and the OFFICER stare at each other for a BEAT

Two muffled gunshots then silence

The OFFICER smiles, thinking the NATIVE has been killed

JAY:

I am Jay Cavendish, Son of LadyCavendish

OFFICER lowers his rifle and walks towards JAY

OFFICER:

We’re all Sons of B*tches

Seemingly from thin air, a figure appears behind the OFFICER

and c*cks his gun by the OFFICER’S ear, while taking theOFFICER’s gun in one smooth action

This is SILAS SELLECK

Mid thirties, lean, fit

SILAS is dirt ingrained, only his eyes are clean

SILAS looks WILD, yet..

His movements are skillful, economic, fast, his posture

confident, capable and in control to the point of blas.

Succinct in words and action

OFFICER (CONT’D)

A grave play, boy

JAY draws his gun and points it at SILAS

JAY:

Sir. Lower your pistol

SILAS sighs, then slowly circles round continuing to hold hisgun to the OFFICER’S head, and moves towards JAY

JAY (CONT’D)

Hey !

SILAS moves up to JAY, continuing to point the gun at theOFFICER, and snatches JAY’S gun from him

6.

SILAS points JAY’S gun at the OFFICER and pulls the trigger,

but the gun is empty and clicks

The officer smiles at this, but quick as a flash, SILASraises his own gun up and shoots the officer between the eyes

Dead before he hits the ground

Without taking his eyes off the officer, SILAS throws JAY’Sgun him

SILAS:

Clean it. Oil it

JAY fumbles the catch

SILAS walks over to the officer and crouches down

Pulls out a large knife and cuts a pouch from the officersbelt

JAY looks on

JAY:

What do you want?

SILAS checks the contents of the pouch and stuffs it into hisbelt

JAY (CONT’D)

He was an Officer

SILAS looks through the man’s pockets and finds a tin

SILAS:

Wearin’ a dress don’t make her a

lady

SILAS pockets the tin

SILAS (CONT’D)

They ain’t soldiers. Least no more.

Indian slayers

SILAS moves round and removes the OFFICER’s boots and

addresses JAY without looking up

SILAS (CONT’D)

Keep headin’ West solo you’ll be

dead by dawn. How you made it thisfar is a miracle

JAY:

I take care of myself

7.

SILAS:

Sure kid. You need chaperonin’ and

I’m a chaperone

SILAS gets up and walks towards JAY

JAY takes a step back, still holding his gun

SILAS walks past JAY and towards JAY’s horse

JAY:

Safer to travel with a killer?

SILAS:

That’s right

SILAS checks out JAY’s laden horse. Too many bags and casesfor a small pony to carry

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