The Kingdom of Heaven Page #7

EXT. THE PORT. LATER

Brutal wind. The HOSPITALER walking towards the docks, with

Balian.

HOSPITALER:

I leave now with my order. You will

go tomorrow by the Genoan ships. If

it is God’s will that I die at sea,

go to Godfrey’s house. You will be

expected. You will be known.

BALIAN nods. The HOSPITALER embraces him.

HOSPITALER (CONT’D)

Each day do right. And no wrong.

(a beat)

God bless you.

THE HOSPITALER walks aboard the galley. BALIAN watches. The

ENGLISH SERGEANT joins him.

ENGLISH SERGEANT

For those who go upon the sea in

ships, Mary Mother of God pray for

them...

As the sound of the WIND rises on sound:

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. THE COAST OF THE KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM. MORNING

OPEN ON a beach with wreckage tumbling in the tide race. THE

ENGLISH SERGEANT lies drowned, eyes glazed, his mouth full of

sand. The wreckage of a shattered galley lies broken on the

sand. Birds are screaming overhead, and pecking at the bodies

of the drowned.

(CONTINUED)

32.

CONTINUED:

There are knights, priests, great ladies and their

servants...and (a RAVEN pecking at his head) Balian, who

wakes, coughing. GODFREY’s SWORD is strapped to his back. The

RAVEN hops away, cawing.

BALIAN wears a simple tunic, hose. He has lost his boots,

mail. He gets to his feet and surveys the destruction as the

sun rises. He approaches one corpse--another--he drives the

birds away from several --but they are all dead. Staring out

to sea he sees:

A HORSE tangled in line, maddened with fear. Balian wades

out, then swims to the horse. He pulls his knife and cuts it

free, takes the halter, and leads it out of the water.

Holding, calming, the horse, he hobbles it deftly with a

piece of line. BALIAN is exhausted, thirsty. He rummages

among the wreckage and corpses. (The horse is fighting its

hobble throughout). He crouches near a DEAD LADY. He closes

her eyes, or tries to, and then snaps loose her purse. He

finds a knife on a corpse and sticks it through loops on the

back of his belt. He finds a lead box containing sodden

bread. He stuffs it into his mouth, then spits it out: it’s

impregnated with salt water. He cuts a strap on a case and

pulls out... useless women’s clothes, a breviary, rosary

beads...In the wavewash he finds...a CORKED BOTTLE. As he

does, the horse, skittish throughout, snaps its hobble and

gallops off down the beach.

BALIAN chases after it a little way, then gives up. The horse

disappears. Balian swigs wine: it’s not going to do. He needs

water. He looks inland.

BALIAN’S POV:

A scrap of green in a chasm in the desert rock. The mirage

has begun to waver.

BALIAN walks into the interior.

EXT. THE DESERT. DAY

BALIAN is walking, sunburnt, desperate to find water. He

takes a drink of wine. He comes to the top of a hill and

sees:

BALIAN’S POV:

A WADI.

He stumbles, runs, towards the water, and throws himself down

on the bank, using a cupped hand to shovel water into his

mouth. He lies with his cheek in the mud, looking up at the

palms rustling overhead.

(CONTINUED)

33.

CONTINUED:

As he lies there he hears, off, a snort, and a slow clopping.

He lies without moving. The horse he lost on the beach

skittishly drinks at the pool, eyeing Balian warily. BALIAN

moves slightly. The horse edges away.

Warily Balian tries to move again. The horse watches his

every move. Finally, though, the horse comes back to drink,

and makes his mistake. In two seconds BALIAN has gotten his

fingers into the mane and is on the horse’s back. The horse

tries to throw him. BALIAN hangs on like a madman, whips off

his belt, puts it through the halter...and finally, he is

riding! He turns the horse and sees: TWO MOUNTED ARABS,

staring at him. One (IMAD) is a finely dressed, handsome

young man who looks like a scholar. The other is a

fantastical Saracen knight with a lance. His helmet drips

with chain mail. He wears silk.

SARACEN KNIGHT:

(in arabic)

That is my horse.

IMAD:

He says, That is his horse.

BALIAN:

Why would it be his horse?

IMAD:

Because it is on his land.

BALIAN:

I took this horse from the sea.

IMAD translates. The Saracen knights says something back.

IMAD:

He says you are a great liar, and

that though he will not fight you

for the horse, because it is his

horse, he will fight you because

you are a liar. Further, he will

fight you because that is simply

what he does.

BALIAN:

I have no desire to fight.

IMAD:

Then you must give him the horse

and become his slave. He is old-

fashioned.

(CONTINUED)

34.

CONTINUED:
(2)

BALIAN:

No.

The SARACEN KNIGHT immediately charges. BALIAN is thrown from

his rearing horse. The SARACEN KNIGHT drives again with his

lance, misses. The lance strikes into the ground and snaps.

he now takes out his bow, and feels for an arorw. BALIAN runs

wildly towards him. The SARACEN KNIGHT keeps his distance,

trying to nock an arrow. BALIAN slips in the sand.

BALIAN (CONT’D)

Fight me fairly.

IMAD:

Why should he?

BALIAN:

(just remembering it)

I am the Baron of Ibelin.

IMAD:

(translating)

He says that the Baron of Ibelin is

old. He knew him at Damascus.

BALIAN:

I am the new one.

This is translated. SARACEN KNIGHT considers. He dismounts,

and draws his sword. BALIAN takes “the high guard” as shown

him by godfrey. In the fight, Godfrey’s good sword snaps the

heavy scimitar. The SARACEN KNIGHT scrambles for the business

end of his broken lance. BALIAN, sword raised over his head,

runs him down and kills him. IMAD is thrown from his rearing

horse (BLOOD from the final blow having flown into his

horse’s eyes) and lies stunned on the ground. Staggering with

exhaustion, BALIAN approaches IMAD. IMAD, sitting up, holds

out his arms in a gesture of surrender. BALIAN digs

ravenously in a saddlebag, finds DATES, crams into his mouth.

BALIAN (CONT’D)

You have taken it very well that I

have killed your master.

IMAD:

(philosophically)

It was the end of his time. Taking

it poorly bakes no bread.

IMAD is scholarly, awfully well-dressed for a servant, but

Balian has no way to measure this.

(CONTINUED)

35.

CONTINUED:
(3)

BALIAN:

Take me to Jerusalem.

EXT. THE DAVID GATE OF JERUSALEM. DAY

The massive “DAVID TOWER” stands above the track. Above it

the domes and spires of Jerusalem. It is an impressive sight:

the “center of the world”, completely walled. BALIAN and IMAD

ride towards the gate, covered with dust.

IMAD:

I will be cloaked in the town if it

pleases my lord.

BALIAN:

Why?

IMAD:

(lying poorly)

I owe money.

BALIAN couldn’t care less. BALIAN and the cloaked IMAD enter,

past TOWN GUARDS. We follow through into:

EXT. JERUSALEM. CONTINUOUS

A BOOMING MARKETPLACE. Jerusalem is the crossroads of the

world, open to all. Arabs, Jews, Syrians, Byzantine

Christians, Europeans, Pilgrims walking barefoot with ash on

their heads, vast numbers of the mad, naked saints covered

with filth. Many, many children. It’s almost a city of

children. BALIAN and IMAD walk on, leading their horses. The

master of a Muslim caravan recognizes Imad: begins, shocked,

to speak, to bow; Imad raises a palm and quiets him.

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