The Artist
1 TITLES 1
The letters of the titles come up on a title card typical of
the 1920s. Elegant motifs around the edge of the frame, and,
in the background, there are geometrical shapes reminiscent
of the light beams of a film premi.re. Behind is a stylized
town. The titles end in a fade to black. On black, the date
appears on the screen: 1927
2 INT. LABORATORY - DAY 2
In a "futuristic" 1920s laboratory, a man in tail coat and
bow tie is being tortured. Ultrasound is being piped into his
ears. It's incredibly painful! He's screaming.
Title card:
I’m not telling! I won’t talk!!!
His torturers, cold men of science in white coats, gradually
increase the volume. The pain seems unbearable, the volume
reaches level 10 (maximum), the man passes out!
3 INT. CELLS & CORRIDORS - DAY 3
Guards wearing long leather overcoats throw the man into a
cell!
As the man is lying there on the ground, a dog wiggles
through the bars at the window. The dog, a Jack Russell,
jumps on top of the man - visibly his master - and begins to
lick his face. The man opens one eye! When he sees his dog,
he can't help cracking a smile...
The man, now on his feet, looks in pain. Despite the pain, he
motions to his dog who begins to bark in lively fashion.
Outside the cell, the guard looks curious about the noise. He
goes to the door, opens the spy flap and finds himself face
to face with the man, eye to eye just a couple of inches
apart! The man moves his eyes in such a way that he
hypnotizes the guard! Superimposed on the screen: a spinning
black and white spiral, until the dazed guard take his keys,
opens the door and releases the man and his dog.
2.
The man (the hero, thus) imprisons the guard without harming
him, then runs over to the guard's desk. His ears are still
causing him pain, but he opens a drawer and takes out his
belongings:
a top hat which he snaps open, and a mask, whichhe puts over his head to conceal his eyes.
We catch up with the masked man walking down corridors. He
suddenly stops, copied by his dog who follows him like his
shadow. The man, on his guard, has spotted another guard
where two corridors meet.
With a look, he orders his dog to move forwards into the
guard's line of sight. The guard looks over at the animal.
Using his fingers, the hero pretends to shoot his dog. The
dog collapses, plays dead. The guard, increasingly curious,
gets to his feet. He slowly approaches the motionless dog.
When he comes close he is attacked from the side by the hero,
who quickly puts him out of action with a mere punch!
The masked man then rushes to another cell, and releases a
young female prisoner. She too is wearing evening dress. As
she is thanking him he staggers and clutches his ears in
pain. She's concerned.
Title card:
Can I help you in some way?
He refuses.
Title card:
No. I don’t get helped. I give the help around here.
He composes himself. She casts him an admiring glance. Then,
in view of the urgency of their situation, they escape at a
run.
4 EXT. HOUSE/LABORATORY - DAY 4
They come out of a house that is lost in the hills, climb
into a Bugatti sports car that the man starts by rubbing two
wires together, and speed off.
The car speeds along the road. Its occupants turn round to
check they aren't being followed.
3.
6 INT. HOUSE/LAB - DAY 6
The guard who got knocked out picks himself up, realizes what's
happened and dashes over to his office. He grabs a radio
emitter and begins sending a message.
The hero, the young woman and the dog come to a halt in the
Bugatti on the air field, by a telegraph pole whose wires
lead...to a watch tower.
In the watch tower, a radio receptor is vibrating. A soldier
approaches, listens and suddenly understands! He grabs hold of
his gun and goes out onto the air field, only to find the
fugitives! He tries to shoot at them as he draws closer, but
the hero manages to throw an airplane propeller at him, before
climbing inside where the woman and dog are waiting for him.
The soldier shoots.
The airplane is positioning itself on the runway, while the
soldier continues to fire!
The soldier is still shooting, but too late, as the heroo pulls
back the joystick, and the airplane takes to the sky...
The soldier is furious, but the hero is all smiles as he looks
back towards the ground and shouts something.
Title card:
Free Georgia forever!!!The airplane flies away into the evening sky.
A little later in the night, still at the controls, the man is
fighting not to fall asleep. Behind him, the women is sleeping,
the dog is lying in her arms. Suddenly she is awoken by
explosions happening close by! Pandemonium! The man doesn't
understand it either, he tries to pick up altitude, but quickly
notices that the explosions are in fact pretty and
inoffensive. He consults a calendar dial on the control panel
that shows it is July 14th, immediately understands, and
bursts into laughter.
Title card:
We’ve arrived, welcome to France!!!4.
As the music picks up the tune of The Marseillaise, the
airplane flies away through the exploding fireworks...
The words "The End" appear on the screen.
9 INT. WINGS MOVIE THEATER LOS ANGELES - NIGHT 9
From the moment they parked the car onwards, we become
absorbed by what's happening around the screening of end of
this film.
Behind the screen, we've seen the actor who plays the hero -
his name is George Valentin - closely studying the reactions
of the audience. He was standing close to his dog, motioning
to it not to make a noise. The dog's name is Jack.
In the same area, we've also seen the lead actress. Her name
is Constance Gray. She too looks tense and is latched onto
the arm of a pleasant-looking man who is chewing anxiously on
a cigar. The man looks rich, but a little weak. He's surely
the producer.
10 INT. MOVIE THEATER LOS ANGELES - NIGHT 10
In the house, much of the audience is open-mouthed, excited,
immobile and often wide-eyed.
In the pit, a symphony orchestra plays to accompany the film.
(9) Now that the film is ending, and the last note is
sounding, the cast anxiously awaits the audience's verdict,
which, after two or three seconds of silence, bursts into
thunderous applause, to the great joy of the actor and the
people around him, especially the actress and the producer,
who kiss each other on the lips.
Two theater hands bring down the curtain.
(10) The lights come on. George Valentin comes onto the stage
and acknowledges the audience, they are cheering for him. He
is so happy he dances a few tap steps to express his joy then
he acknowledges the orchestra before finally motioning to
someone in the wings to join him. Jack the dog trots over in
response. The crowd laughs and cheers, George waves to the
dog, Jack waves back then waves at the audience, the people
are loving it!
In the wings, Constance is fuming with rage, but on stage,
George is pretending with his fingers to pull at the dog, who
fakes death. Thunderous applause again.
Translation
Translate and read this script in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"The Artist" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 23 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_artist_555>.
Discuss this script with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In