The Stunt Man Page #28

ANGLE ON CAMERON

Moving upward through river slime, in a world that grows lighter, in

a desperate race to reach air.

Daylight! Gasping, half unconscious, barely able to move his arms

to stay afloat. Adrift in the current, he touches land, clawing at

the rocks and pulling himself onto the shore. His muscles, still

moving by motor reflex, driven by survival instinct, take him

crawling from the river bank through the tall grass -- still the

fugitive, the "man on the run." Then, he lifts his head and stops

at what he sees before him:

POV:

Fanned out across the field is a row of men, guns held ready.

Policemen from the truck in their German uniforms moving forward

slowly -- carefully searching the terrain in an arch which, as it

closes, must irrevocably reach Cameron.

ANOTHER ANGLE:

It's over. Without strength or will, he lies waiting for them as

though his eyes were made of glass. They see him now, but their

pace doesn't change. As they take the last few steps toward him, he

sees their shoulders, waists, knees and then only a circle of feet

around him.

Their hands roughly grab him, pulling him to his feet, shoving him

brutally about. Angry cop faced growling: "Kill the son-of-a

- 151

b*tch," "Shoot 'im," "Cut it," "Hang 'im," and then loudly, "Cut

it!" He feels a blow on the back, then another. They seem too

gentle. Why is that cop smiling? Some of them are walking away.

Where are the handcuffs? Why is he shaking my hand instead? Then

the jumble of voices is becoming clearer..."No matter what they pay

you, make 'em give you a raise!"..."Fantastic, my wife thinks being

a cop is dangerous -- you guys are terrific!" It finally sinks in,

the insane, absurd, devastating, humiliating realization that it was

all just another scene in a movie that came off as planned.

He is alive and free. Is that gurgle we hear in Cameron's throat

the water that he swallowed or an unseemly giggle? Then it chokes

into laughter.

202

POV:

Here comes Chuck, running across the field with his silly stunt bag

filled with elastic bandages. How funny. Here's the helicopter

hovering with Gabe descending the rope ladder bearing film for Eli,

who runs to meet him. How hilarious. There's the pink

pinafore...Nina holding the skirt up to her waist as she wades

through the tall grass towards him. How sweetly absurd.

A.D.

All right, come on...let's get the

stuff in the trucks, we're losing

sun!

203

ANGLE ON CAMERON

Chuck has reached Cameron, throwing a blanket over him. He pulls a

pint from his back pocket.

CHUCK:

Take a belt. Don't be stingy.

As Cameron tilts his head back, the bottle to his mouth, he sees

skin divers setting down their rescue equipment and stripping out of

their dripping wet-suits.

CAMERON:

Those guys down there the whole

time?

Chuck, who is rubbing Cameron violently through the blanket to

restore his circulation, replies with the highest compliment he can

pay?

CHUCK:

I can't hear ya...they're clangin'

too loud.

- 152

204 ANOTHER ANGLE

Nina has reached an impasse twenty yards away in her journey of love

toward Cameron -- a muddy section of swamp.

NINA:

(shouts across the

distance to Cameron)

I can't come any further. What

should I do? I'll get the dress all

muddy and I need it for the next

scene.

CAMERON:

(grinning with good

nature)

Tunafish salad...I know.

NINA:

(shouts)

They found me five minutes after you

left. I felt ridiculous.

CAMERON:

(waves back)

Just as well!

NINA:

(shouts)

When Eli told me you'd changed your

mind and decided to do the stunt, at

first I didn't believe him, but I

guess you really did. I tried to

find you.

Eli is standing nearby listening to this macabre exchange between

lovers.

NINA (CONT'D)

(to include Eli)

I'm sure glad you two made up! Boy,

Lucky, were you wonderful...I guess

I have to go now. See you after.

She awkwardly turns, her dress still held high and yells back over

her shoulder...

NINA (CONT'D)

- 153

I'm sorry I was so nutty last night.

I always get crazy at the end of a

film.

Nina continues picking her way toward the road. And then...

205

CLOSE ON NINA:

Suddenly she turns, running headlong, pell-mell across the swamp and

through the mud holes, drenching her pink pinafore into a muddy rag,

losing a shoe, ripping her hose --and then wildly into the arms of

Cameron, smearing him with love and mud! And then, just as quickly,

she is gone, racing back across the field, hopping like a rabbit

without her shoe, toward the road.

206 ANOTHER ANGLE

Cameron is brimming with pleasure. Chuck, totally ignored, picks up

his stunt bag.

CHUCK:

(dryly)

Lover, I think your circulation's

back to normal. And please, next

time will ya listen for the cue -

the word is "action."

He walks off, leaving Cameron draped in the blanket like an Indian.

Eli steps up to him looking very serious, lifts his hand in the

Indian sign of greeting and says:

ELI:

"How!" I have always had a great

compassion for your people. Long

before it was popular, I felt a

repugnance for General Custer.

Cameron stares at him, incredulous.

ELI (CONT'D)

My God, I think he's breathing.

There're days I can't do anything

right. I hope this doesn't screw up

our relationship, your being alive

and all.

- 154

CAMERON:

(shaking his head)

...You sure took a hell of a chance,

Eli...why didn't you just let me go

last night?

ELI:

What, with Nina in the trunk? I've

got scenes to shoot with her...

CAMERON:

...All right. This morning then.

Chuck could have done the stunt.

ELI:

(thoughtfully)

I knew a guy who made an anti-war

film. When they previewed it in his

hometown, army enlistment went up

six hundred percent. I'm making

this film trying to convince the

whole world that maybe there's a

better way to get home for

Thanksgiving...and I can't even

convince one dumb kid with a

tattoo...I couldn't have you run

around paranoid the rest of your

life thinking I was trying to kill

you.

CAMERON:

Paranoid?

Sam has run up, out of breath, followed by crew members.

ELI:

Hey Sam, the kid just licked your

screenplay. He named the disease.

SAM:

Yeah, what?

ELI:

...a social disease, very common.

SAM:

...like gonorrhea...

- 155

ELI:

You're close. It's spread the same

way...by screwing your fellow man.

CAMERON:

I hope you find an easier cure.

That was the hardest thousand bucks

I ever made.

A horn honks. It is Jake who, in his enthusiasm, has driven the

police car bumping over the marshes to Eli and Cameron.

JAKE:

You guys want a ride back?

ELI:

(moving toward the

helicopter)

No, we're goin' in the chopper.

CAMERON:

(considers it)

Thanks, Eli, but that looks too

dangerous. I think I'll ride with

Jake. Good luck with the picture.

He moves toward police car.

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