Troy Page #19

BRISEIS:

Why did you choose this life?

ACHILLES:

What life?

BRISEIS:

This... to be a great warrior.

ACHILLES:

I chose nothing. I was born and

this is what I am.

BRISEIS:

But you must enjoy it.

ACHILLES:

Does the scorpion feel joy when he

stings the beetle?

(beat)

I doubt it. I doubt he feels

anything at all.

BRISEIS:

But you're not a scorpion. You're

a man.

ACHILLES:

And you're a woman in love with a

god. Where was Apollo when those

men tried to scar you?

BRISEIS:

Do you enjoy provoking me?

ACHILLES:

Yes.

(CONTINUED)

103.

110 CONTINUED:
(2) 110

They watch each other, Achilles smiling, Briseis angry.

ACHILLES:

You've dedicated your life to the

gods, yes?

Briseis, glaring at him, doesn't answer.

ACHILLES:

Zeus, God of Thunder. Athena,

Goddess of Wisdom. You serve them?

BRISEIS:

Of course.

ACHILLES:

And Aries, God of War, who blankets

his bed with the skins of men he's

killed?

Briseis pauses, caught in the trap.

BRISEIS:

All the gods are to be feared and

respected.

For a long beat they are silent, staring at each other.

The air between them is charged with more than mere

contention.

BRISEIS:

What do you want here in Troy? You

didn't come for the Spartan queen.

ACHILLES:

I want what all men want. I just

want it more.

Achilles takes an apple and unsheathes a dagger. He

tosses the apple in his hand. On the third toss he whips

his knife-hand up and across and neatly catches four apple

quarters.

He offers a quarter to Briseis. Stunned, she slowly

shakes her head. Achilles shrugs and eats the sliced

apple.

(CONTINUED)

104.

110 CONTINUED:

(3) 110

ACHILLES:

I'll tell you a secret-- something

they didn't teach you in your

temple. The gods envy us. They

envy us because we're mortal,

because every moment might be our

last. Everything is more beautiful

for the doomed.

He stares at her with such intensity she must look away.

ACHILLES:

You will never be lovelier than you

are right now. And we will never

be here again.

Briseis is quiet for a moment. She rubs the ripe purple

grapes on the platter beside her.

BRISEIS:

I thought you were a dumb brute.

She looks into Achilles' eyes.

BRISEIS:

I could have forgiven a dumb brute.

111 EXT. BEACH - NIGHT 111

It's quiet now. Only a few campfires burn under a full

moon.

112 INT. ACHILLES' TENT - LATER 112

Achilles lies on his back on a deer skin, sleeping.

Briseis kneels beside him. In the candlelight we see the

glint of a bronze blade. She holds the knife near his

throat.

Achilles open his eyes.

ACHILLES:

Go on.

Briseis holds the blade against his skin.

ACHILLES:

Nothing is easier.

BRISEIS:

Aren't you afraid?

(CONTINUED)

105.

112 CONTINUED:
112

ACHILLES:

Every mortal dies. Today or fifty

years from now, what does it matter

in the face of eternity?

BRISEIS:

You'll kill more men if I don't

kill you.

ACHILLES:

Many of them.

For several seconds she holds the knife to his throat.

Finally she puts it down.

BRISEIS:

May Apollo forgive me.

Achilles pulls her closer and they kiss.

He slowly slides the robe off her shoulders. Briseis -eyes

closed, lips parted -- trembles as Achilles unveils

her. For a moment she hesitates but soon hesitation

evaporates and she presses her body against his, kissing

his throat, his chest, his hands.

Their hunger for each other is stronger than gods and

nations.

113 EXT. BAY - DAWN 113

Rosy-fingered dawn appears. The seagulls cry above the

waves.

114 INT. ACHILLES' TENT - MORNING 114

Achilles watches Briseis sleep. She looks very young and

fragile, her face bruised, her eyelids fluttering as she

dreams. Achilles watches her with great tenderness.

Eudorus opens the tent flap. Sunlight streams in.

Achilles puts a finger over his mouth. Eudorus sees

Briseis and nods. Achilles gently pulls the blanket over

her naked shoulders. He stands and exits.

115 EXT. ACHILLES' TENT - CONTINUOUS 115

Odysseus waits for Achilles outside the tent.

(CONTINUED)

106.

115 CONTINUED:
115

ACHILLES:

(to Eudorus)

Have the men start loading the

ship. We're going home.

Eudorus, surprised, looks at Odysseus for a second before

bowing to his commander and walking away.

ODYSSEUS:

You found the girl?

ACHILLES:

I found her.

ODYSSEUS:

Is she hurt?

ACHILLES:

Not as badly as those who hurt her.

Achilles stares at the sea. Seagulls patrol the skies.

ACHILLES:

Do you miss your wife, Odysseus?

ODYSSEUS:

Always.

ACHILLES:

I've never missed anyone in my

life. I used to think it was a

weakness, needing someone else.

ODYSSEUS:

We all need someone else. Right

now, Greece needs you.

ACHILLES:

Greece got along fine before I was

born and Greece will be Greece long

after I'm dead.

ODYSSEUS:

I'm not talking about the land.

The valleys, the mountains -- they

don't care what we do. The men

need you. You should have seen the

slaughter yesterday.

ACHILLES:

I saw it. And I saw who led the

men to slaughter.

(CONTINUED)

107.

115 CONTINUED:
(2) 115

ODYSSEUS:

Agamemnon... is a proud man. But

he knows when he's made a mistake.

ACHILLES:

The man sends you to make his

apologies? He doesn't understand

honor. What are you doing in

thrall to that pig of a king?

ODYSSEUS:

The world seems simple to you, my

friend. But when you're a king,

very few choices are simple.

Ithaca cannot afford an enemy like

Agamemnon.

ACHILLES:

Am I supposed to fear him?

ODYSSEUS:

You don't fear anyone, that's your

problem. Fear is useful.

(beat)

Stay, Achilles. You were born for

this war.

ACHILLES:

My life is war. Is that what you

think?

ODYSSEUS:

Am I wrong?

Achilles stares at the sea again.

ACHILLES:

A week ago you were right. But

things are less simple today.

ODYSSEUS:

Women have a way of complicating

things.

Achilles smiles. He turns to Odysseus and clasps his

hand.

ACHILLES:

Of all the kings of Greece, I

respect you most. But in this war

you're a servant. And I refuse to

be a servant any longer.

(CONTINUED)

108.

115 CONTINUED:
(3) 115

ODYSSEUS:

Sometimes you need to serve in

order to lead. I hope you

understand that one day.

Odysseus walks away. Achilles watches him go and then

turns back toward his tent. He sees that Patroclus has

been standing by the tent throughout the previous

conversation.

PATROCLUS:

We're going home?

ACHILLES:

We leave at noon.

He tries to enter his tent but Patroclus grabs his arm and

blocks his path. Achilles stares at Patroclus' hand.

Patroclus releases him but doesn't move out of the way.

PATROCLUS:

If Poseidon curses us and our ship

goes down, what will I tell the

shades in Hades? That I died

running from this war, abandoning

our countrymen?

ACHILLES:

Our countrymen?

PATROCLUS:

Yes, our country! We're Greek,

cousin. I broke bread with these

men, I drank their wine, I listened

to their jokes. These are our

comrades. We cannot desert them.

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