The Debt

1 INT. CARGO PLANE. MILITARY AIRBASE. ISRAEL - DAY 1

A strange ROARING sound...

CLOSE ON A YOUNG WOMAN

...in darkness. Light begins to spill on her from the right

-revealing her face, lost in thought. This is RACHEL

SINGER - pretty, painfully young looking. A surgical

dressing covers half her face.

As we pull back a little we see that two YOUNG MEN sit

either side of her. They are STEPHAN GOLD (thirties) thickset,

capable, and DAVID PERETZ (late twenties), dark-haired

and pale-faced.

The three faces in the darkness, each looking straight

ahead - something from a Caravaggio painting.

The roaring, which we realise is the sound of ENGINES,

gradually runs down into silence.

The light from the bay door which is opening off-screen

begins to flood the scene with HARSH DAYLIGHT, revealing

the inside of a CARGO PLANE.

Stephan turns to look at the growing light. Then he turns

to Rachel.

STEPHAN:

Breathe.

He stands. Rachel turns to look at David but he is standing

too, his face a mask.

Rachel gathers herself, then stands and turns to follow the

other two, walking towards the light.

As the three approach the opening and descend the ramp of

the bay door, we hear a woman’s voice:

SARAH (V.O)

We should never forget how young

they were.

EXT. AIRBASE RUNWAY. ISRAEL - DAY

TRACKING THE THREE

...as they walk across the tarmac - first Stephan...

FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT WITH PINK AMENDMENTS - 26.03.09 2.

SARAH (V.O.)(CONT’D)

My father, Stephan Gold, was the

youngest Unit Commander in

Mossad.

David is next...

SARAH (V.O.)(CONT’D)

David Peretz had his twenty-ninth

birthday while on the mission.

Then Rachel.

SARAH (V.O.)(CONT’D)

My mother was even younger. Only

twenty-five.

RACHEL’S P.O.V

Silhouetted against the bright light is a group of waiting

MILITARY and MOSSAD DIGNITARIES. Their hands are raised in

applause.

SARAH (V.O.) (CONT’D)

Despite their youth they’d had

the courage to confront an

unimaginable evil....

The three walk towards their welcoming party. Rachel blinks

against the sunlight, takes out a pair of sunglasses and

slips them on.

2 OMITTED 2

3 INT. FUNCTION ROOM. HOTEL NEAR TEL AVIV - DAY 3

CLOSE ON OLDER RACHEL

...now 56. Handsome, impeccably groomed. A long crooked

SCAR runs down one side of her face.

SARAH (O.S)

...a man whose sadistic

experiments left thousands

disfigured or dead, who became

known by a name which defiles the

annals of medicine: The Surgeon

of Birkenau.

She’s wearing tinted glasses, staring at us, listening to

Sarah speak.

FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT WITH PINK AMENDMENTS - 26.03.09 3.

REVERSE:

Rachel’s daughter - SARAH - stands at a podium, reading the

Dedication to a rather large audience who have come for the

launch of her first book.

She’s 31, and clearly her mother’s daughter.

The cover image from the book is projected on a screen

behind Sarah - a black and white photograph of a young

Rachel, David and Stephan. Above their faces, the title -

In Our Hands.

SARAH:

Their mission had been to return

him to Israel to stand trial.

Instead it ended with his death

on the streets of East Berlin...

CUT TO:

4 EXT. MILITARY AIRBASE. ISRAEL - DAY - THE PAST 4

CLOSE ON YOUNG RACHEL

...as she waits behind David and Stephan, face bleached out

by the sunlight. She stares at the ground.

SARAH (V.O.)

But this was not what was

celebrated. It was their youth

itself that became a symbol. Here

were the children who had faced

Israel’s greatest nightmare, her

greatest pain...

David and Stephan have moved out of shot and Rachel reaches

the DIGNITARIES. Still looking down, she manages a smile, a

bob of her head, reaches out to shake the first hand...

5 INT. FUNCTION ROOM. HOTEL NEAR TEL AVIV. DAY 5

CLOSE ON OLDER RACHEL

...lost in the memory.

SARAH (O.S.)

...and in the simple act of

facing the Monster, had helped to

vanquish it.

Sarah, has finished reading and looks for her mother in the

audience...

FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT WITH PINK AMENDMENTS - 26.03.09 4.

SARAH (O.S.) (CONT’D)

This book is dedicated to my

inspiration. My mother, Rachel

Singer.

People around Rachel begin to applaud, the sound almost

startling her. Automatically she gives the same bob of the

head, acknowledging the applause.

Sarah, cheeks burning with a mixture of embarrassment and

emotion, hasn’t finished yet. She locks eyes with her

mother.

SARAH (CONT'D)

Mother, I’m so very proud to be

your daughter.

More applause. Rachel manages to smile.

6 INT. FUNCTION ROOM. HOTEL NEAR TEL AVIV - LATER 6

The room is now alive with the excited chatter of the

guests.

Rachel moves against the tide of the audience with a fixed

social smile, murmuring thanks to well-wishers, trying to

get out, trying not to look like she’s trying to get out...

7 EXT. TEL AVIV. HOTEL NEAR TEL AVIV. PATIO - CONTINUOUS 7

She emerges onto the empty patio, slides the glass door

shut behind her, muffling the chatter from the room beyond.

She lights a cigarette, inhales greedily, trying to calm

down. She stares at the sun blazing over the Mediterranean

ahead of her. Her glasses darken against the reflected

glare.

As if sensing something she turns to see a SMALL BOY - her

GRANDSON - watching her from behind the glass of the patio

door, something UNNERVING in his direct gaze.

Rachel stares back at him in silence.

Sarah appears behind the boy, her son, and scoops him up

into a hug. Still the boy stares at his grandmother, who

gives a tight smile and turns back to the sea.

Another guest walks up to Sarah and she nods, smiling, at

what he is saying to her but her eyes slide back to her

mother, standing on the other side of the glass.

FINAL SHOOTING SCRIPT WITH PINK AMENDMENTS - 26.03.09 5.

8 1NT/EXT. APARTMENT BLOCK. TEL AVIV SUBURB - DAY 8

A shabby, dimly-lit stairwell in a run-down section of the

city.

A YOUNG MOSSAD AGENT knocks at one of the apartment doors.

After a moment it is answered by OLDER DAVID, now 62.

YOUNG AGENT:

David Peretz?

DAVID:

Yes.

YOUNG AGENT:

You were expecting me?

David looks at this young version of himself.

DAVID:

Yes. I was expecting you.

YOUNG AGENT:

Would you come with me sir?

David stares at him, then walks back into the apartment.

The door almost swings shut and the Agent catches it,

considering walking in after him. But before he can, David

re-emerges carrying his jacket.

DAVID:

Let’s go.

TITLES BEGIN:

We TRACK with David, CLOSE on his face as the two men begin

the long walk down the staircase.

He doesn’t say anything to his companion, doesn’t look

around him, and we HOLD on that face as his mind tries to

catch up, tries to work something out, to decide...

9 EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS 9

The apartment block stands on stilts. Abandoned furniture

is piled around the columns supporting the building.

Rate this script:4.0 / 1 vote