Unbroken Page #16
Louie feels his leg. He realizes what has happened. Knowing
he will never run the same again. HIS DREAMS ARE OVER. He
bows his head and weeps.
213
EXT. NAOETSU POW CAMP - DUSK 213
As the men return from work, ghosts covered in black coal,
The Bird watches Louie limp.
214
INT. NAOETSU BARRACKS - NIGHT 214
The men are quiet tonight. Louie most of all. He lay on his
bed with his ankle elevated on an old blanket.
TINKER:
Louie?
Louie doesn’t answer.
TINKER (CONT’D)
Louie? You alright?
Still nothing. Louie is dead inside.
215
EXT. NAOETSU POW CAMP - DAY 215
The sun beats down as the men work. The Bird watches Louie.
He watches him struggle and sweat. Finally, he watches him
sit and rest his leg. He rushes over.
THE BIRD:
Stand up! Stand up!
216 EXT. NAOETSU POW CAMP - DAY 216
The Bird leads Louie, out into the open compound, with Kono
in the rear. Tinker, Miller, Clift, Fitzgerald and the POWs
watch. Worried for Louie.
The Bird suddenly stops when he sees: A SIX FOOT LONG CHERRY
WOOD PLANK laying on the ground. He orders Louie.
THE BIRD:
Pick up! Lift high. Over your head.
You stand! You stand with this!
Lift high!
Louie leans down to the plank. Before he picks it up he
LOWERS HIS HEAD, FACE TOWARD THE GROUND AND BREATHES DEEPLY.
Just like he did before every race. He centers himself.
Barely able to keep himself up, Louie’s arms quiver as he
lifts the beam above his head.
THE BIRD (CONT’D)
(to Kono in Japanese)
If the prisoner lowers his arms,
shoot him.
The Bird walks to a nearby shack, climbs up on top of it’s
roof and sits to watch Louie. He is enjoying himself.
The sun blazes. Louie blisters in the heat, holding the
wooden beam above his head.
Tinker, Miller and the POWs watch from a distance. Helpless.
Louie is shaking. The plank is heavy.
Only hatred gives him strength.
Fitzgerald looks across at the camp clock. 3:15.
ON LOUIE - Sweating. His once athletic body now emaciated and
wounded; barely up to the task. UP TO THE BEAM - Wavering,
but not dropping.
ON THE BIRD - Smoking, smiling, watching.
POW’s are being prodded to keep working.
217
Minutes pass. FINALLY, SLOWLY, LOUIE LOOKS UP. 217
He looks at The Bird.
Fitzgerald reacts.
Close on Louie
After years under the cruel punishment of this man-- Louie
finally look directly at him. He sees him as if for the first
time. His eyes locked on the Bird’s face. The Bird meets his
stare. Defiant, Louie keeps the plank above him.
One by one the POW’s and Guards stop and stare.
218 MINUTES PASS-218
Louie feels the sun come across his face. He feels not the
heat but the warmth. THE LIGHT. He feels his own spirit rise.
He transcends.
Louie’s face changes before our eyes. Still looking at The
Bird, he can see through the monster. The Bird can feel it.
He is taken aback. Furious. He feels exposed. Human.
We remain close on Louie and The Bird through this deep
exchange.
All the men in the camp are watching.
Close on their faces. Louie’s fight is their own. They see
his strength and their spirits rise. Even Blackie begins to
smile.
WIDE - A space round where Louie stands in the sun, the beam
above his head.
The camp clock. 3:40.
The Bird is no longer smiling. His black eyes riveted on
Louie.
LOUIE HAS BROKEN THE BIRD.
219
Minutes later- on Louie - Eyelids drooping. Shuddering. 219
Still, he holds up the plank.
Louie’s eyes go in and out of focus. He sees:
The Bird can’t take it anymore.
Angry, he jumps down off the roof and charges towards him in
a fury. The Bird reaches Louie, who is still holding up the
beam. The Bird feels beaten.
114
He rams his fist into Louie’s stomach, causing Louie to fall,
dropping the beam on top of him.
The POWs are dumbfounded. No noise.
Long quiet.
The Bird smashes Louie with the kendo stick.
Many blows.
No sound except for the sound of the blows, and effort from
The Bird.
Louie is on the ground. The blows continue.
Quickly intercut: sun tracked through leaves.
Falling blows.
Longer intercuts of sun, a traveling shot, beginning now to
tip down to become a push along the road in Hawaii.
The Bird, spittle flying out, beating Louie. He begins to
kick.
Louie, kicked.
Running in Hawaii. Heavy breathing.
More beating. Heavy breathing continues—same sound, but now
it is The Bird, gasping as the beating continues.
Heavy breathing—a runner’s. We are pushing forward again in
Hawaii.
We push through a break in the foliage: we’ve reached the
ocean.
Warm sun. Pounding surf.
Panting.
The yard. Panting. From The Bird. A last kick.
High shot:
The Bird standing over Louie’s body, panting.After a beat looking down at the body, The Bird seems to come
to a stop. He looks up from Louie to the crowd of Soldiers
and Guards, realizing where he is.
THE BIRD (CONT’D)
Prisoners to barracks. Now.
The Guards move the men.
220 OMITTED 220
115
221
EXT. YARD 221
High looking down.
Louie’s body in the mud.
223
OMITTED 223
116
224 EXT. NAOETSU BARRACKS - DAY 224
Close up-
KONO:
Keirei!
Something is noticeably different about Kono and the Guards.
They seem shaken. Less arrogant. Anxious.
Louie, Tinker, Fitzgerald and the hundreds of POWs have been
lined up as Kono makes an announcement.
KONO (CONT’D)
Prisoners of Naoetsu. The war has
come to a point of cessation.
They POWs remain silent, suspecting a trick. A suspicious
silence hangs in the air.
KONO (CONT’D)
Today, in the spirit of a new
future for our great nations, we
invite all Prisoners to bathe in
the Hokura River.
Louie and his group see: The Armed Guards open the gates and
wait to escort the POWs to the river. The Guards use their
rifles with bayonets to usher the men along.
TINKER:
(under his breath)
This is it. We’re dead.
Louie and the others believe Tinker is right. Most of the
POWs start to exit. The Guards usher Louie and his gang, who
have no choice. They are led towards the tunnel.
A225 EXT./INT. - TUNNEL - DAY A225
The men are being lead through the dark tunnel. Louie looks
at the faces of the other men.
225
EXT. HILL/RIVERBANK/HOKURA RIVER - DAY 225
A few POWs hiking down to the river, break from their lines,
begin taking off their clothes and running into the water.
Louie slowly peels off his clothing, as he watches:
The Guards standing with their guns. They look menacing at
the POWs in the river. Their hands gripping their rifles.
Louie wades into the river near Tinker and Fitzgerald.
POWs scattered throughout the river are bathing as the Guards
stand on the riverbank with their rifles. But little by
little, the POWs throughout the river start to question this
“gift of the river bath”. One by one, they stop scrubbing or
bathing...touching the arm of the POW next to them, to take
notice of the Guards standing with their rifles, staring at
them in the river.
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"Unbroken" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/unbroken_576>.
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