The Manchurian Candidate Page #19

There are actual tears in Ellie’s eyes. Raymond just stares

at her, coldly.

RAYMOND:

I can promise you that whatever you’ve

done, I will undo it.

8/18/03 94.

ELLIE:

I know -- I know, baby --

RAYMOND:

I never want to see you or speak to you

again --

ELLIE:

Raymond -

RAYMOND:

-- I mean it this time.

Raymond heads for the door -

ELLIE:

Sergeant Shaw --

Raymond slows -- curious to be addressed like this -- sound

of the desert wind rises --

ELLIE:

-- Sergeant Raymond Shaw --

He’s turning -- the room coming alive -- light shifting,

intensifying -- that terrible vividness -- and the wall of

the zaghareet ...

EXTREMELY CLOSE ON - ELLIE

ELLIE:

Raymond Prentiss Shaw --

(sad)

Listen:

CRASH:

155 INT. UNION STATION - WASHINGTON D.C. - DAWN 155

Marco jolts awake, as if from a bad dream, startled -cramped

on a bench, just another rumpled, weary traveler --

early morning commuters gliding past him like a fog.

156 EXT. CHESAPEAKE BAY - JORDAN’S HOUSE - DAWN 156

A lacy fog rising from the reeds on the shoreline as the

Senator drags his kayak from under the pilings of a

pristine, clapboard cottage to the edge of the water.

157 INT. JORDAN’S HOUSE - DAWN 157

The house is beautiful, everything perfect. FLOAT through

FINDING Jocie in a back bedroom, waking slowly in a huge

bed, rolling to look out the window and watch her father, in

his kayak, paddling away ...

8/18/03 95.

158 INT. UNION STATION - WASHINGTON D.C. - DAWN 158

Marco grabs a coffee from off a Starbucks counter, picks up

his bag and heads toward the New York City line platform, to

catch his train --

159 EXT. CHESAPEAKE BAY - JORDAN’S KAYAK - DAY 159

The Senator rows with confidence, his bow cuts the glassy

surface of the bay, fog ripples away from him, dreamy.

Up ahead, he can see the ghost of his house. And a figure

on the shoreline.

JORDAN:

Who’s that?

RAYMOND:

It’s me, sir.

JORDAN:

stops paddling, and lets the kayak drift in. He’s breaking

hard, sweat glistening on his face.

RAYMOND:

sloshes down into the water, wades out waist-deep --

JORDAN:

Wait. Oh, don’t do that, I can -RAYMOND

I came to apologize, sir.

JORDAN:

-- the water must be freezing. What are

you doing? Raymond. Don’t bother, I

can --

Raymond catches the bow of the kayak, turns it.

RAYMOND:

I’m sorry.

JORDAN:

I am too. But, your mother must --

With one motion, Raymond RIPS the two-blade paddle out of

Jordan’s hand, and FLIPS the boat over --

RAYMOND:

I’m sorry, sir.

-- Jordan goes under, legs trapped in the kayak --

8/18/03 96.

160 UNDER THE WATER - JORDAN 160

flailing -- trying to get out of the kayak, incapacitated by

the cold water --

161 INT. JORDAN’S HOUSE - DAWN 161

Jocie wanders, sleepy, into the main room, pulling on a

hooded sweatshirt -- and SEES, THROUGH THE BAY WINDOWS:

-- her father’s upended kayak.

-- a figure in the water, as if trying to save him --

162 EXT. JORDAN’S HOUSE - DAWN 162

Jocie sprints down toward the water, screaming --

JOCELYN:

DADDY!

-- Raymond turns and sees her running toward him. For a

moment time stands still -- Jocie trying to process Raymond

Shaw in the water with her father, and Raymond trying to

process, through the curtain of his fractured consciousness,

Jocelyn Jordan.

JOCELYN:

leaps into the water, thinking she’ll help with a rescue.

The cold hits her like a sledgehammer -- followed by the

realization Raymond’s trying to drown her father --

JOCELYN:

Raymond, what are you doing?! No! Stopit! Stop --!

She tries to shove Raymond away from the boat, but

RAYMOND:

turns, grabs her by the hood of her sweatshirt --

-- and whipsaws her out into the deeper water, shoving her

under it.

Jocelyn’s hands claw at him, but he’s stronger, and the

water has no effect on him.

She thrashes wildly ... and he looks down at her through the

water, hair flowing, utterly beautiful ... as if in a dream.

RAYMOND:

(far away)

Shhhhhhhh.

8/18/03 97.

Jocelyn weakens ... succumbs ... her body floats away.

163 NEWS COVERAGE - LATER - SAME DAY (VIDEO) 163

TVA163Cold tapestry of images behind the MAJOR MEDIA ICON: TVA163

police, paramedics, bodies pulled from the water, Jordan’s

empty house.

TV163 MEDIA ICON TV163

... the five-term Senator -- and recent

front-runner for his party’s vice

presidential nomination -- appears to

have accidentally drowned when his kayak

overturned near his Chesapeake Bay home.

Police say his daughter, Jocelyn, 35, may

have been trying to rescue Jordan when

she was, herself, overcome by the icy

water ...

164 CAMPAIGN COVERAGE 164

an impromptu stand-up with visibly-shaken presidential

candidate Arthur outside ARTHUR-SHAW campaign headquarters:

TV164 ARTHUR TV164

Horrible, horrible thing. Senator Jordan

was a statesman of the highest integrity.

(fighting emotions)

Tom Jordan was a friend. A damn fine

man. A great American.

165 INT. PENN STATION - MANHATTAN - MARCO 165

staring numbly at the news report on a little portable t.v.

in a NEWS KIOSK --

166 INT. CAMPAIGN RALLY - DAY 166

SLOWING MOTION:
the world a blur around Raymond as he walks

a gauntlet of reporters shouting questions: about policy,

about Jordan. Expressionless, he just keeps walking, but

his lips move --

-- "tragedy" -- "senseless" -- "great loss" --

167 EXT. GROUNDS OF ELLIE’S MANSION - DAY 167

Donovan walking beside Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw.

Whiting just behind them.

DONOVAN:

You trusted us to bring your son back to

you, and we deliver. We trusted you with

our technology -- and now you turn him

into a common hit man.

8/18/03 98.

ELLIE:

Oh, don’t lecture me --

DONOVAN:

You didn’t even ask us. You needed to

ask.

ELLIE:

Tom Jordan was going to destroy

everything we’ve worked toward, and every

one of us along with it, and you want me

to call a meeting?

WHITING:

David, if Jordan had gone public --

DONOVAN:

In any endeavor, there are key players

and role players, and Raymond -- or you,

or me, for that matter -- I’m sorry -- we

are role players, with fixed values and

fixed agendas, that get weighed against

other factors.

Ellie stops, looks at him.

ELLIE:

Bullshit.

(then)

You can tell yourself that as you go to

bed tonight, David, and I hope it helps

you wake up tomorrow with a clean

conscience -- but we are talking about my

son and the future of this country.

(beat)

My father, Tyler Prentiss, never asked.

He just did what needed to be done.

168 INT. ROSIE’S COUSIN’S APARTMENT - NIGHT 168

Rosie asleep. PUSH IN RAPIDLY ... then a HAND comes down

hard and efficiently against her throat --

-- she wakes up, fighting for air --

MARCO:

(a whisper)

How does the President die?

He sits on top of her, pinning her arms down. She struggles

to say something. Marco shakes his head.

8/18/03 99.

MARCO:

When. Where. How.

He releases her throat, and she gasps for air --

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