Titanic Page #3

17 INT. HOUSE / CERAMICS STUDIO

PULL BACK from the screen, showing the CNN report playing on a TV set in

the living room of a small rustic house. It is full of ceramics, figurines,

folk art, the walls crammed with drawings and paintings... things collected

over a lifetime.

PANNING to show a glassed-in studio attached to the house. Outside it is a

quiet morning in Ojai, California. In the studio, amid incredible clutter,

an ANCIENT WOMAN is throwing a pot on a potter's wheel. The liquid red clay

covers her hands... hands that are gnarled and age-spotted, but still

surprisingly strong and supple. A woman in her early forties assists her.

LOVETT (V.O.)

I've planned this expedition for three years, and we're out here recovering

some amazing things... things that will have enormous historical and

educational value.

CNN REPORTER (V.O.)

But it's no secret that education is not your main purpose. You're a

treasure hunter. So what is the treasure you're hunting?

LOVETT (V.O.)

I'd rather show you than tell you, and we think we're very close to doing

just that.

The old woman's name is ROSE CALVERT. Her face is a wrinkled mass, her body

shapeless and shrunken under a one-piece African-print dress.

But her eyes are just as bright and alive as those of a young girl.

Rose gets up and walks into the living room, wiping pottery clay from her

hands with a rag. A Pomeranian dog gets up and comes in with her.

The younger soman, LIZZY CALVERT, rushes to help her.

ROSE:

Turn that up please, dear.

REPORTER (V.O.)

Your expedition is at the center of a storm of controversy over salvage

rights and even ethics. Many are calling you a grave robber.

TIGHT ON THE SCREEN.

LOVETT:

Nobody called the recovery of the artifacts from King Tut's tomb grave

robbing. I have museum-trained experts here, making sure this stuff is

preserved and catalogued properly. Look at this drawing, which was found

today...

The video camera pans off Brock to the drawing, in a tray of water. The

image of the woman with the necklace FILLS FRAME.

LOVETT:

...a piece of paper that's been underwater for 84 years... and my team are

able to preserve it intanct. Should this have remained unseen at the bottom

of the ocean for eternity, when we can see it and enjoy it now...?

ROSE is galvanized by this image. Her mouth hangs open in amazement.

ROSE:

I'll be God damned.

CUT TO:

18 EXT. KELDYSH DECK - NIGHT

CUT TO KELDYSH. The Mir subs are being launched. Mir Two is already in the

water, and Lovett is getting ready to climb into Mir One when Bobby Buell

runs up to him.

BUELL:

There's a satellite call for you.

LOVETT:

Bobby, we're launching. See these submersibles here, going in the water?

Take a message.

BUELL:

No, trust me, you want to take this call.

CUT TO:

19 INT. LAB DECK / KELDYSH - NIGHT

Beull hands Lovett the phone, pushing down the blinking line. The call is

from Rose and we see both ends of the conversation. She is in her kitchen

with a mystified Lizzy.

LOVETT:

This is Brock Lovett. What can I do for you, Mrs... ?

BUELL:

Rose Calvert.

LOVETT:

... Mrs. Calvert?

ROSE:

I was just wondering if you had found the "Heart of the Ocean" yet, Mr.

Lovett.

Brock almost drops the phone. Bobby sees his shocked expression...

BUELL:

I told you you wanted to take this call.

LOVETT:

(to Rose)

Alright. You have my attention, Rose. Can you tell me who the woman in the

picture is?

ROSE:

Oh yes. The woman in the picture is me.

CUT TO:

20 EXT. OCEAN - DAY

SMASH CUT TO AN ENORMOUS SEA STALLION HELICOPTER thundering across the

ocean. PAN 180 degrees as it roars past. There is no land at either

horizon. The Keldysh is visible in the distance.

CLOSE ON A WINDOW of the monster helicopter. Rose's face is visible,

looking out calmly.

CUT TO:

21 EXT. KELDYSH - DAY

Brock and Bodine are watching Mir 2 being sweng over the side to start a

dive.

BODINE:

She's a goddamned liar! A nutcase. Like that... what's her name? That

Anastasia babe.

BUELL:

They're inbound.

Brock nods and the three of them head forward to meet the approaching helo.

BODINE:

She says she's Rose DeWitt Bukater, right? Rose DeWitt Bukater died on the

Titanic. At the age of 17. If she'd've lived, she'd be over a hundred now.

LOVETT:

A hundred and one next month.

BODINE:

Okay, so she's a very old goddamned liar. I traced her as far back as the

20's... she was working as an actress in L.A. An actress. Her name was Rose

Dawson. Then she married a guy named Calvert, moved to Cedar Rapids, had

two kids. Now Calvert's dead, and from what I've heard Cedar Rapids is

dead.

The Sea Stallion approaches the ship, BG, forcing Brock to yell over the

rotors.

LOVETT:

And everyobody who knows about the diamond is supposed to be dead... or on

this ship. But she knows about it. And I want to hear what she has to say.

Got it?

CUT TO:

22 EXT. KELDYSH HELIPAD

IN A THUNDERING DOWNBLAST the helicopter's wheels bounce down on the

helipad.

Lovett, Buell and Bodine watch as the HELICOPTER CREW CHIEF hands out about

ten suitcases, and then Rose is lowered to the deck in a wheelchair by

Keldysh crewmen. Lizzy, ducking unnecessarily under the rotor, follows her

out, carrying FREDDY the Pomeranian. The crew chief hands a puzzled Keldysh

crewmember a goldfish bowl with several fish in it. Rose does not travel

light.

HOLD ON the incongruous image of this little old lady, looking impossibly

fragile amongst all the high tech gear, grungy deck crew and gigantic

equipment.

BODINE:

S'cuse me, I have to go check our supply of Depends.

CUT TO:

23 INT. ROSE'S STATEROOM / KELDYSH - DAY

Lizzy is unpacking Rose's things in the small utilitarian room. Rose is

placing a number of FRAMED PHOTOS on the bureau, arranging them carefully

next to the fishbowl. Brock and Bodine are in the doorway.

Rate this script:3.6 / 34 votes