The Big Blue Page #21

JOHANA:

Can I come watch you dive tomorrow?

JACQUES:

(lost)

Uh... Yes, of course!

The concierge comes out and opens the iron gate for her.

JOHANA disappears into the parc. ENZO turns to JACQUES.

ENZO:

You really do have a few things to

learn about women!

EXT. SEA - DAY

The sun is rising on a rough sea. The Committee Boat is

anchored in the open sea, 600 feet above the sea bed.

EXT. COMMITTEE BOAT - BAY OF TAORMINA - DAY

JACQUES who is on the foredeck of a boat at sea has just

laid a towel down before him. He's suited up, sitting in

THE LOTUS POSITION, STARING STRAIGHT AHEAD, CLEARLY SELF-

HYPNOTIZED.

JOHANA, NOVELLI, and other officials are in the stern of

the boat watching last minute preparations.

The scuba divers in brightly colored wetsuits and aqualungs,

flop out onto the diving platform, plunge into the water,

disappear.

JOHANA:

What are they for?

NOVELLI:

They're paramedics. They wait at

180 feet.

JOHANA:

(just checking)

If there was a problem, they could

do something right?

NOVELLI:

Of course, that's what they're

for.

JOHANA sees scuba divers with weird air tanks.

JOHANA:

(pointing)

... And those?

NOVELLI:

Those are the divers who go down

300 to 330 feet. They dive with a

Helium-oxygen mixture. At that

depth, compressed air is too

dangerous because it contains carbon

dioxide.

JOHANA:

What's that little air bottle on

the machine?

NOVELLI:

That isn't for the divers actually.

It's for the balloon. It blows up

and pulls the diver up like an

elevator. Without it, with the

pressure at the bottom, the diver

would just stay pinned to the sea

bed.

JOHANA:

(shocked)

But doesn't Jacques dive without

anything?

NOVELLI:

(smiling)

Yes... It's magic.

INT. BOAT - DAY - LATER

On the boat, NOVELLI checks his watch. JACQUES comes out

of his room. He's dressed to dive. He ignores everyone

as he goes down the ladder to the diving platform. He

seems to be in another world. All sounds coming to him

are drowned out.

EXT. DIVING PLATFORM - DAY

JACQUES sits in the diver's slot. Opens his eyes slowly

and looks around. He puts his flippers on, an assistant

stands at his side.

HIS POV:

The figures on the platform are vague, the VOICES are

GARBLED and incomprehensible. Moving almost in slow motion

he raises three fingers.

TECHNICIAN:

Tre minuti!

BACK TO SCENE:

Ten other divers have waited for this signal to dive.

They disappear one by one into the blue.

JACQUES uses contact lenses instead of a mask. He puts

them in, and now, his view of the world is as distorted as

his hearing... bodies deform... sounds fade...

Already euphoric from the vast amount of oxygen in his

system, he moves into another reality altogether... seems

to empty himself out.

TECHNICIAN:

Due minuti!

JACQUES fills a small tube with water. Pours it into his

nostrils... tilts his head... then lets it run out... He

puts on his gloves... all his movements are slow, he seems

to be operating in a different time zone... He seems unable

to take his eyes off the water.

EXT. END OF DIVING PLATFORM - DAY

TECHNICIAN:

Uno minuto!

JACQUES puts his nose clip on. He puts his hand on the

gueuse. Closes his eyes and inhales slowly. Then he takes

a sudden last breath, nods, the technician releases the

gueuse and in one flashing movement, he disappears.

UNDERWATER:

The gueuse slides down the cable.

JACQUES hangs on like a ribbon in

the wind, past a marker, 90 feet

down.

Above him, the boat disappears from sight.

He moves faster and faster... through a sea that looks

like a cloudy sky. The light fades rapidly around him.

Below, white spotlights pierce an ocean dark as night.

JACQUES reaches them in a matter of seconds. Turns the

brakes, brings his machine to a halt, 180 feet down.

The medics are waiting for him there. They take his pulse.

Check his eyes... 15 seconds... normal... the bubbles from

there scuba tanks churn the water around them...

JACQUES closes his eyes... a tap on the shoulder, he

releases the brake on the gueuse. Plunges further, this

time into pitch black.

Below him a faint spotlight glows on the bottom. He reaches

it and the dark diver moves to him. JACQUES brakes his

machine. Moving very slowly, turns his body right side

up. Like a sleep walker, JACQUES starts to take the plaque

off the plumbline... pauses in the middle of the gesture.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes