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James Cameron's Titanic
Initial Shooting Script
May 7, 1996
Part Six of Six
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Want to hear the Titanic's distress
call?
Cast and Crew
Jack spins from the rail, running for the nearest way down
to A-Deck.
Hockley too has seen her jump. She is willing to die for
this man, this gutter scum. He is overwhelmed by a rage so all consuming it eclipses all
thought.
CUT TO:
223 INT. GRAND STAIRCASE
TRACKING WITH JACK as he bangs through the doors to the
foyer and sprints down the stairs. He sees her coming into A-deck foyer, running toward
him, Cal's long coat flying out behind her as she runs.
They meet at the bottom of the stairs, and collide in an
embrace.
JACK
Rose, Rose, you're so stupid, you're such an idiot--
And all the while he's kissing her and holding her as
tight as he can.
ROSE
You jump, I jump, right?
JACK
Right.
Hockley comes in and runs to the railing. Looking down he
sees them locked in their embrace. Lovejoy comes up behind Cal and puts a restraining HAND
on him, but Cal whips around, grabbing the pistol from Lovejoy's waistband in one
cobra-fast move.
He RUNS along the rail and down the stairs. As he reaches
the landing above them he raises the gun. SCREAMING in rage, he FIRES.
The carved cherub at the foot of the center railing
EXPLODES. Jack pulls Rose toward the stairs going down to the next deck. Cal fires again,
running down the steps toward them. A bullet blows a divet out of the oak panelling behind
Jack's head as he pulls Rose down the next flight of stairs.
Hockley steps on the skittering head of the cherub statue
and goes sprawling. The gun clatters across the marble floor. He gets up, and reeling
drunkenly goes over to retrieve it.
CUT TO:
224 INT. D-DECK RECEPTION ROOM
The bottom of the grand staircase is flooded several feet
deep. Jack and Rose come down the stairs two at a time and run straight into the water,
fording across the room to where the floor slopes up, until they reach dry footing at the
entrance to the dining saloon.
STEADICAM WITH HOCKLEY as he reels down the stairs in time
to see Jack and Rose splashing through the water toward the dining saloon. He FIRES twice.
Big gouts of spray near them, but he's not a great shot.
The water boils up around his feet and he retreats up the
stairs a couple of steps. Around him the woodward groans and creaks.
CAL
(calling to them)
Enjoy your time together!!
Lovejoy arrives next to him. Cal suddenly remembers
something and starts to laugh.
LOVEJOY
What could possible be funny?
CAL
I put the diamond in my coat pocket. And I put my coat... on
her.
He turns to Lovejoy with a sickly expression, his eyes
glittering.
CAL
I give it to you... if you can get it.
He hands Lovejoy the pistol and goes back up the stairs.
Lovejoy thinks about it... then slogs into the water. The icewater is up to his waist as
he crosses the pool into the dining saloon.
CUT TO:
225 INT. DINING SALOON
Lovejoy moves among the tables and ornate columns,
searching... listening... his eyes tracking rapidly. It is a sea of tables, and they could
be anywhere. A silver serving trolley rolls downhill, bumping into tables and pillars.
He glances behind him. The water is following him into the
room, advancing in a hundred foot wide tide. The reception room is now a roiling lake, and
the grand staircase is submerged past the first landing. Monstrous groans echo through the
ship.
ON JACK AND ROSE, crouched behind a table, somewhere in
the middle. They see the water advancing toward them, swirling over the floor. They crawl
ahead of it to the next row of tables.
JACK
(whispering)
Stay here.
He moves off as--
Lovejoy moves over one row and looks along the tables.
Nothing.
The ship GROANS and CREAKS. He moves another row.
ANGLE ON A METAL CART... five feet tall and full of stacks
of china dishes. It starts to roll down the aisle between tables.
ON ROSE as the cart rolls toward her. It hits a table and
the stacks of dishes topple out, EXPLODING across the floor and showering her.
She scrambles out of the way and--
Lovejoy spins, seeing her. He moves rapidly toward her,
keeping the gun aimed--
That's when Jack tackles him from the side. They slam
together into a table, crashing over it, and toppling to the floor. They land in the water
which is flowing rapidly between the tables.
Jack and Lovejoy grapple in the icy water. Jack jams his
knee down on Lovejoy's hand, breaking his grip on the pistol, and kicks it away. Lovejoy
scrambles up and lunges at him, but Jack GUTPUCHES him right in the solar plexus, doubling
him over.
JACK
Compliments of the Chippewa Falls Dawsons.
He grabs Lovejoy and slams him into an ornate column.
Lovejoy drops to the floor with a splash, stunned.
JACK
Let's go.
Jack and Rose run aft... uphill... entering the galley.
Behind them the tables have become islands in a lake... and the far end of the room is
flooded up to the ceiling.
Lovejoy gets up and looks around for his gun. He pulls it
up out of the water and wades after them.
CUT TO:
226 INT. GALLEY / STAIRWELL
They run through the galley and Rose spots the stairs. She
starts up and Jack grabs her hand. He leads her DOWN.
They crouch together on the landing as Lovejoy runs to the
stairs. Assuming they have gone up (who wouldn't?) he climbs up them two at a time.
They wait for the footstep to recede. A long CREAKING
GROAN. Then they hear it... a CRYING CHILD. Below them. They go down a few steps to
looks along the next deck.
CUT TO:
227 INT. E-DECK CORRIDORS
The corridor is awash, about a foot deep. Standing against
the wall, about 50 feet away, is a little BOY, about 3. The water swirls around his legs
and he is wailing.
ROSE
We can't leave him.
Jack nods and they leave the promise of escape up the
stairwell to run to the child. Jack scoops up the kid and they run back to the stairs
but--
A torrent of water comes pouring down the stairs like
rapids. In seconds it is too powerful for them to go against.
JACK
Come on.
Charging the other way down the flooding corridor, they
blast up spray with each footstep. At the end of the hall are heavy double doors. As Jack
approaches them he sees water spraying through the gap between the doors right up to the
ceiling. The doors groan and start to crack under the tons of pressure.
JACK
Back! Go back!!
Rose pivots and runs back the way they came, taking a turn
into a cross-corridor. A MAN is coming the other way. He sees the boy in Jack's arms and
cries out, grabbing him away from Jack. Starts cursing him in Russian. He runs on with the
boy--
ROSE
No! Not that way! Come back!
228 DOUBLE DOORS BLAST OPEN. A wall of water
thunders into the corridor. The father and child DISAPPEAR instantly.
Jack and Rose run as a wave blasts around the corner,
foaming from floor to ceiling. It gains on them like a locomotive. They make it to a
stairway going up.
CUT TO:
229 INT. STAIRWELL
Jack and Rose pound up the steps as white water swirls up
behind them. PULL BACK to reveal that a steel gate blocks the top of the stairs. Jack
SLAMS against the fate, gripping the bars.
A terrified steward standing guard on the landing above
turns to run at the sight of the water thundering up the stairs.
JACK
Wait! Wait! Help us! Unlock the gate.
The steward runs on. The water wells up around Jack and
Rose, pouring through the gate and slamming them against it. In seconds it is up to their
waist.
ROSE
Help us! Please!
The steward stops and looks back. He sees Jack and Rose at
the gate, their arms reaching through... sees the water POURING through the gate onto the
landing.
STEWARD
Fucking 'ell!
He runs back, slogging against the current. He pulls a key
ring from his belt and struggles to unlock the padlock as the water fountains up around
them.
The lights short out and the landing is plunged into
darkness.
The water rises over the lock and he's doing it by feel.
JACK
Come on! Come on!
Jack and Rose are right up against the ceiling...
Suddenly the gate gives and SWINGS OPEN. They are pushing
through by the force of the water. They make it to stairs on the other side of the landing
and follow the steward up to the next deck.
CUT TO:
230 EXT. BOAT DECK, STARBOARD SIDE
Cal comes reeling out of the first class entrance, looking
wild-eyed. The lurches down the deck toward the bridge. Waltz music wafts over the ship.
Somewhere the band is still playing.
CAL'S POV: A little girl, maybe two years old, is crying
along in the alcove. She looks up at Cal beseechingly. Cal moves on without a glance
back... reaching a large crowd clustered around COLLAPSIBLE A just aft of the bridge. He
sees Murdoch and a number of crewmen struggling to drag the boat to the davits, with no
luck.
Cal pushes forward, trying to signal Murdoch, but the
officer ignores him. Nearby Tommy and Fabrizio are being pushed forward by the crowd
behind. PURSER MCELROY pushes them back, getting a couple of seamen to help him. He
brandishes his gun, waving it in the air, yelling for the crowd to stay back.
CUT TO:
231 EXT. BOAT DECK, PORT SIDE / ROOF OF OFFICERS'
QUARTERS
Lightoller, with a group of crew and passengers, is trying
to get Collapsible B down from the roof. They slide it down a pair of oars leaned against
the deck house.
LIGHTOLLER
Hold it! Hold it!
The weight of the boat snaps the oars and it crashes to
the deck, upside down. The two Swedish cousins, OLAUS and BJORN GUNERSEN, jump back as the
boat nearly hits them.
CUT TO:
232 OMITTED
233 INT. STAIRWELL
Jack and Rose run up seemingly endless stairs as the ship
groans and torques around them.
CUT TO:
234 EXT. BOAT DECK, STARBOARD SIDE
Murdoch, at Collapsible A, is no longer in control. The
crowd is threatening to rush the boat. They push and jostle, yelling and shouting at the
officers. The pressure from behind pushes them forward, and one guy falls off the edge of
the deck into the water less than ten feet below.
TOMMY
Give us a chance to live, you limey bastards!
Murdoch fires his Webley twice in the air, then point it
at the crowd.
MURDOCH
I'll shoot any man who tries to get past me.
Cal steps up to him.
CAL
We had a deal, damn you.
Murdoch pushes him back, pointing the pistol at Cal.
MURDOCH
Get back!
A man next to Tommy rushes forward, and Tommy is shoved
from behind. Murdoch SHOOTS the first man, and seeing Tommy coming forward, puts a bullet
into his chest.
Tommy collapses, and Fabrizio grabs him, holding him in
his arms as his life flows out over the deck.
Murdoch turns to his men and salutes smartly. Then he puts
the pistol to his temple and... BLAM! He drops like a puppet with the strings cut
and topples over the edge of the boat deck into the water only a few feet below.
Cal stares in horror at Murdoch's body bobbing in the
black water. The MONEY FLOATS out of the pocket of his greatcoat, the bills spreading
across the surface.
The crew rush to get the last few women aboard the boat.
PURSER MCELROY
(calling above the confusion)
Any more women or children?!
THE CHILD crying in the alcove. Cal scoops her up and runs
forward, cradling her in his arms.
CAL
(forcing his way through the crowd)
Here's a child! I've got a child! Please... I'm all she
has in the world.
McElroy nods curtly and pushes him into the boat. He spins
with his gun, brandishing it in the air to keep the other men back. Cal gets into the
boat, holding the little girl. He takes a seat with the women.
CAL
There, there.
CUT TO:
235 INT. FIRST CLASS SMOKE ROOM
Thomas Andrews stands in front of the fireplace, staring
at the large painting above the mantle. The fire is still going in the fireplace.
The room is empty except for Andrews. An ashtray falls off
the table. Behind him Jack and Rose run into the room, out of breath and soaked. They run
through, toward the aft revolving door... then Rose recognizes him. She sees that his
lifebelt is off, lying on a table.
ROSE
Won't you even make a try for it, Mr. Andrews?
ANDREWS
(a tear rolls down his cheek)
I'm sorry that I didn't build you a stronger ship,
young Rose.
JACK
(to her)
It's going fast... we've got to keep moving.
Andrews picks up his lifebelt and hands it to her.
ANDREWS
Good luck to you, Rose.
ROSE
(hugging him)
And to you, Mr. Andrews.
Jack pulls her away and they run through the revolving
door.
CUT TO:
236 EXT. BOAT DECK AND VARIOUS LOCATIONS
The band finishes the waltz. Wallace Hartley looks at the
orchestra members.
HARTLEY
Right, that's it then.
They leave him, walking forward along the deck. Hartley
puts his violin to his chin and bows the first notes of "Nearer My God to Thee".
One by one the band members turn, hearing the lonely melody.
Without a word they walk back and take their places. They
join in with Hartley, filling out the sound so that it reaches all over the ship on this
still night. The vocalist begins: "If in my dreams I be, nearer my God to
thee..."
THE HYMN PLAYS OVER THE FOLLOWING SEQUENCE:
237 A seaman pulls off his lifebelt and catches up
to Captain Smith as he walks to the bridge. He proffers it, but Smith seems to stare
through him. Without a word he turns and goes onto the bridge. He enters the enclosed
WHEELHOUSE and closes the door. He is alone, surrounded by the gleaming brass instruments.
He seems to inwardly collapse.
238 IN THE FIRST CLASS SMOKING ROOM Andrews stands
like a statue. He pulls out his pocketwatch and checks the time. Then he opens the face of
the mantle clock and adjusts it to the correct time: 2:12 a.m. Everything must be correct.
239 IN CAL'S PARLOUR SUITE water swirls in from the
private promenade deck. Rose's paintings are submerged. The Picasso transforms under the
water's surface. Degas' colors run. Monet's water lilies come to life.
240 DOWNANGLE on the two figures lying side by
side, fully clothed, on a bed in a FIRST CLASS CABIN. Elderly Ida and Isador Strauss stare
at the ceiling, holding hands like young lovers. Water pours into the room through a
doorway. It swirls around the bed, two feet deep rising fast.
241 IN A STEERAGE CABIN somewhere in the bowels of
the ship, the young IRISH MOTHER, seen earlier stoically waiting at the stairs, is tucking
her two young children into bed. She pulls up the covers, making sure they are all warm
and cozy. She lies down with them on the bed, speaking soothingly and holding them.
CUT TO:
EXT. BOAT DECK / BRIDGE
242 IN A WIDE SHOT we see a wave travel up the boat
deck as the bridge house sinks into the water.
243 ON THE PORT SIDE Collapsible B is picked up by
water. Working frantically, the men try to detach it from the falls so the ship won't drag
it under. Colonel Gracie hands Lightoller a pocket knife and he saws furiously at the
ropes as the water swirls around his legs. The boat, still upside down, is swept off the
ship. Men start diving in, swimming to stay with it.
244 IN COLLAPSIBLE A Cal sits next to the wailing
child, whom he has completely forgotten. He watches the water rising around the men as
they work, scrambling to get the ropes cut so the ship won't drag the collapsible under.
Fabrizio removes the lifebelt from Tommy's body and
struggles to put it on as the water rises around him.
245 CAPTAIN SMITH, standing near the wheel, watches
the black water climbing the windows of the enclosed wheelhouse. He has the stricken
expression of a damned soul on Judgment Day. The windows burst suddenly and a wall of
water edged with shards of glass slams into Smith. He disappears in a vortex of foam.
246 Collapsible A is hit by a wave as the bow
plunges suddenly. It partially swamps the boat, washing it along the deck. Over a hundred
passengers are plunged into the freezing water and the area around the boat becomes a
frenzy of splashing, screaming people.
As men are trying to climb into the collapsible, Cal grabs
an oar and pushes them back into the water.
CAL
Get back! You'll swamp us!
Fabrizio, swimming for his life, gets swirled under a
davit. The ropes and pulleys tangle around him as the davit goes under the water, and he
is dragged down. Underwater he struggles to free himself, and then kicks back to the
surface. He surfaces, gasping for air in the freezing water.
247 WALLACE HARTLEY sees the water rolling rapidly
up the deck toward them. He holds the last note of the hymn in a sustain, and then lowers
his violin.
HARTLEY
Gentlemen, it has been a privilege playing with you
tonight.
CUT TO:
248 EXT. A-DECK AFT, PORT SIDE
Jack and Rose run out of the PALM COURT into a dense
crowd. Jack pushes his way to the rail and looks at the state of the ship. The bridge is
under water and there is chaos on deck. Jack helps her put her lifebelt on. People stream
around them, shouting and pushing.
JACK
Okay... we keep moving aft. We have to stay on the ship as
long as possible.
They push their way aft through the panicking crowd.
CUT TO:
249 EXT. FORWARD FUNNEL
Collapsible A is whirled like a leaf in the currents
around the sinking ship. It slams against the side of the forward funnel.
CAL
(to the crew in the boat)
Row! Row you bastards!!
250 NEARBY: Fabrizio is drawn up against the
grating of a STOKEHOLD VENT as water pours through it. The force of tons of water roaring
down the ship traps him against it, and he is dragged down under the surface as the ship
sinks. He struggles to free himself but cannot.
Suddenly there is a concussion deep in the bowels of the
ship as a furnace explodes and a blast of hot air belches out of the ventilator, ejecting
Fabrizio. He surfaces in a roar of foam and keeps swimming.
CUT TO:
251 EXT. A-DECK / B-DECK / WELL DECK, AFT
Jack and Rose clamber over the A-Deck aft rail. Then,
using all his strength, he lowers her toward the deck below, holding on with one hand. She
dangles, then falls. Jack jumps down behind her.
They join a crush of people literally clawing and
scrambling over each other to get down the narrow stairs to the well deck... the only way
aft.
Seeing that the stairs are impossible, Jack climbs over
the B-Deck railing and helps Rose over. He lowers her again, and she falls in a heap.
Baker Joughin, now three sheets to the wind, happens to be next to her. He hauls Rose to
her feet. Jack drops down and the three of them push through the crowd across the well
deck. Near them, at the rail, people are jumping into the water.
The ship GROANS and SHUDDERS. The man ahead of Jack is
walking like a zombie.
MAN
Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death--
JACK
You wanna walk a little faster through that valley, fella?
CUT TO:
252 EXT. FORWARD FUNNEL
The stay cables along the top of the funnel snap, and they
lash like steel whips down into the water. Cal watches as the funnel topples from its
mounts. Falling like a temple pillar twenty eight feet across it whomps into the water
with a tremendous splash. People swimming underneath it disappear in an instant.
Fabrizio, a few feet away, is hurled back by a huge wave.
He comes up, gasping... still swimming. The water pouring into the open end of the funnel
draws in several swimmers. The funnel sinks, disappearing, but--
Hundreds of tons of water pour down through the 30 foot
hole where the funnel stood, thundering down into the belly of the ship. A whirlpool
forms, a hole in the ocean, like at enormous toiler-flush. T. W. McCauley, the gym
instructor swims in a frenzy as the vortex draws him in. He is sucked down like a spider
going down a drain.
Fabrizio, nearby, swims like Hell as more people are
sucked down behind him. He manages to get clear. He's going to live no matter what it
takes.
CUT TO:
253 INT. BOAT DECK FOYER / GRAND STAIRCASE
Water roars through the doors and windows, cascading down
the stairs like a rapids. John Jacob Astor is swept down the marble steps to A-Deck, which
is already flooded... a roiling vortex. He grabs the headless cherub at the bottom of the
staircase and wraps his arms around it.
Astor looks up in time to see the 30 foot glass dome
overhead EXPLODE INWARD with the wave of water washing over it. A Niagara of sea water
thunders down into the room, blasting through the first class opulence. IT is the
Armageddon of elegance.
CUT TO:
254 OMITTED
255 INT. BELOWDECKS
The flooding is horrific. Walls and doors are splintered
like kindling. Water roars down corridors with pile-driver force.
The CARTMELL FAMILY is at the top of a stairwell, jammed
against a locked gate like Jack and Rose were. Water boils up the stairwell behind them.
Bert Cartmell shakes the gate futilely, shouting for help. Little Cora wails as the water
boils up around them all.
CUT TO:
256 EXT. STERN
Rose and Jack struggle to climb the well deck stairs as
the ship tilts. Drunk Baker Joughin puts a hand squarely on Rose's butt and shoves her up
onto the deck.
JOUGHIN
Sorry, miss!
Hundreds of people are already on the poop deck, and more
are pouring up every second. Jack and Rose cling together as they struggle across the
tilting deck.
257 As the bow goes down, the STERN RISES. IN BOAT
2, which is just off the stern, passengers gape as the giant bronze propellers rise out of
the water like gods of the deep, FILLING FRAME behind them.
People are JUMPING from the well deck, the poop deck, the
gangway doors. Some hit debris in the water and are hurt or killed.
258 OMITTED
259 OMITTED
260 EXT. STERN
ON THE POOP DECK Jack and Rose struggle aft as the angle
increases. Hundreds of passengers, clinging to every fixed object on deck, huddle on their
knees around FATHER BYLES, who has his voice raised in prayer. They are praying, sobbing,
or just staring at nothing, their minds blank with dread.
Pulling himself from handhold to handhold, Jack tugs Rose
aft along the deck.
JACK
Come on, Rose. We can't expect God to do all the work for
us.
They struggle on, pushing through the praying people. A
MAN loses his footing ahead and slides toward them. Jack helps him.
261 THE PROPELLERS are twenty feet above the water
and rising faster.
262 JACK AND ROSE make it to the stern rail, right
at the base of the flagpole. They grip the rail, jammed in between other people. It is the
spot where Jack pulled her back onto the ship, just two night... and a lifetime... ago.
Above the wailing and sobbing, Father Byles' voice
carries, cracking with emotion.
FATHER BYLES
...and I saw new heavens and a new earth. The former
heavens and the former earth had passed away and the sea was no longer.
The lights flicker, threatening to go out. Rose grips Jack
as the stern rises into a night sky ablaze with stars.
FATHER BYLES
I also saw a new Jerusalem, the holy city coming down out
of heaven from God, beautiful as a bride prepared to meet her husband. I heard a loud
voice from the throne ring out this is God's dwelling among men. He shall dwell with them
and they shall be his people and He shall be their God who is alway with them.
Rose stares about her at the faces of the doomed. Near
them are the DAHL FAMILY, clinging together stoically. Helga looks at her briefly, and her
eyes are infinitely sad.
Rose sees a young mother next to her, clutching her five
year old son, who is crying in terror.
MOTHER
Shhh. Don't cry. It'll be over soon, darling. It'll all be
over soon.
FATHER BYLES
He shall wipe every tear from their eyes. And there shall
be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the former world has passed away.
CUT TO:
INT. SHIP-- VARIOUS
As the ship tilts further everything not bolted down
inside shifts.
263 CUPBOARDS burst open in the pantry showering
the floor with tons of china. A PIANO slides across the floor, crashing into a wall.
FURNITURE tumbles across the Smoking Room floor.
264 ON THE A-DECK PROMENADE passengers lose their
grip and slide down the wooden deck like a bobsled run, hundreds of feet before they hit
the water. TRUDY BOLT, Rose's maid, slips as she struggles along the railing and slides
away screaming.
265 AT THE STERN the propellers are 100 feet out of
the water and rising. Panicking people leap from the poop deck rail, fall screaming and
hit the water like mortar rounds. A man falls from the poop deck, hitting the bronze hub
of the starboard propeller with a sickening smack.
266 SWIMMERS LOOK UP and see the stern towering
over them like a monolith, the propellers rising against the stars. 110 feet. 120.
267 AT THE STERN RAIL a man jumps. IN HIS POV we
fall seemingly forever, right past one of the giant screws. The water rushes up--
CUT TO:
EXT. TITANIC / BOAT 6
268 TRACKING SLOWLY IN on Ruth as the sounds of the
dying ship and the screaming people come across the water.
269 REVERSE / HER POV: IN A WIDE SHOT we see the
spectacle of the Titanic, her lights blazing, reflecting in the still water. Its
stern is high in the air, angles up over forty five degrees. The propellers are 150 feet
out of the water. Over a thousand passengers cling to the decks, looking from a distance
like a swarm of bees.
The image is shocking, unbelievable, unthinkable. Ruth
stares at the spectacle, unable to frame it or put it into any proportion.
MOLLY BROWN
God Almighty.
The great liner's lights flicker.
CUT TO:
270 INT. ENGINE ROOM
In darkness Chief Engineer Bell hangs onto a pipe at the
master braker panel. Around him men climb through tilted cyclopean machines with electric
hand-torches. It is a black hell of breaking pipes, spraying water, and groaning machinery
threatening to tear right out of its bedplates.
Water sprays down, hitting the breaker panel, but Bell
will not leave his post. CLUNK. The breakers kick. He slams them in again and--
WHOOM! a
blast of light! Something melts and arcing fills the engine room with nightmarish light--
CUT TO:
271 EXT. TITANIC
WIDE SHOT. The lights go out all over the ship. Titanic
becomes a vast black silhouette against the stars.
IN COLLAPSIBLE C: BRUCE ISMAY has his back to the ship,
unable to watch the great steamer die. He is catatonic with remorse, his mind overloaded.
He can avert his eyes, but he can't block out the sounds of dying people and machinery.
A loud CRACKING REPORT comes across the water.
CUT TO:
272 EXT. BOAT DECK
Near the third funnel a man clutches the ship's rail. He
stares down as the DECK SPLITS right between his feet. A yawning chasm opens with a
THUNDER of breaking steel
LOVEJOY is clutching the railing on the roof of the
Officers' Mess. He watches in horror as the ship's structure RIPS APART right in front of
him. He gapes down into a widening maw, seeing straight down into the bowels of the ship,
amid a BOOMING CONCUSSION like the sound of artillery. People falling into the widening
crevasse look like dolls.
The stay cables on the funnel part and snap across the
decks like whips, ripping off davits and ventilators. A man is hit by a whipping cable and
snatched OUT OF FRAME. Another cable smashes the rail next to Lovejoy and it rips free. He
falls backward into the pit of jagged metal.
Fires, explosions and sparks light the yawning chasm as
the hull splits down through nine decks to the keel. The sea pours into the gaping wound--
CUT TO:
273 INT. ENGINE ROOM
It is a thundering black hell. Men scream as monstrous
machinery comes apart around them, steel frames twisting like taffy. Their torches
illuminate the roaring, foaming demon of water as it races at them through the machines.
Trying to climb they are overtaken in seconds.
CUT TO:
274 EXT. TITANIC - NIGHT
The STERN half of the ship, almost four hundred feet long,
falls back toward the water. On the poop deck everyone screams as they feel themselves
plummeting. The sound goes up like the roar of fans at a baseball stadium when a run is
scored.
Swimming in the water directly under the stern a few
unfortunates shriek as they see the keel coming down on them like God's bootheel. The
massive stern section falls back almost level, thundering down into the sea and pushing
out a mighty wave of displaced water.
Jack and Rose struggle to hole onto the stern rail. They
feel the ship seemingly RIGHT ITSELF. Some of those praying think it is salvation.
SEVERAL PEOPLE
We're saved!
Jack looks at Rose and shakes his head, grimly.
Now the horrible mechanics play out. Pulled down by the
awesome weight of the flooded bow, the buoyant stern tilts up rapidly. They feel the RUSH
OF ASCENT as the fantail angles up again. Everyone is clinging to benches, railings,
ventilators... anything to keep from sliding as the stern lifts.
The stern goes up and up, past 45 degrees, then past
sixty.
People start to fall, sliding and tumbling. They skid down
the deck, screaming and flailing to grab onto something. They wrench other people loose
and pull them down as well. There is a pile-up of bodies at the forward rail. The DAHL
FAMILY falls one by one.
JACK
We have to move!
He climbs over the stern rail and reaches back for Rose.
She is terrified to move. He grabs her hand.
JACK
Come on! I've got you!
Jack pulls her over the rail. It is the same place he
pulled her over the rail two nights earlier, going the other direction. She gets over
just as the railing is going HORIZONTAL, and the deck VERTICAL. Jack grips her fiercely.
The stern is now straight up in the air... a rumbling
black monolith standing against the stars. It hangs there like that for a long grace note,
its buoyancy stable.
Rose lies on the railing, looking down fifteen stories to
the boiling sea at the base of the stern section. People near them, who didn't climb over,
hang from the railing, their legs dangling over the long drop. They fall one by one,
plummeting down the vertical face of the poop deck. Some of them bounce horribly off deck
benches and ventilators.
Jack and Rose lie side by side on what was the vertical
face of the hull, gripping the railing, which is now horizontal. Just beneath their feet
are the gold letters TITANIC emblazoned across the stern.
Rose stares down terrified at the black ocean waiting
below to claim them. Jack looks to his left and sees Baker Joughin, crouching on the hull,
holding onto the railing. It is a surreal moment.
JOUGHIN
(nodding a greeting)
Helluva night.
The final relentless plunge begins as the stern section
floods. Looking down a hundred feet to the water, we drop like an elevator with Jack and
Rose.
JACK
(talking fast)
Take a deep breath and hold it right before we go into
the water. The ship will suck us down. Kick for the surface and keep kicking. Don't let go
of my hand. We're gonna make it Rose. Trust me.
She stares at the water coming up at them, and grips his
hand harder.
ROSE
I trust you.
Below them the poop deck is disappearing. The plunge
gathers speed... the boiling surface engulfs the docking bridge and then rushes up the
last thirty feet.
278 IN A HIGH SHOT, we see the stern descend into
the boiling sea. The name TITANIC disappears, and the tiny figures of
Jack and Rose vanish under the water.
Where the ship stood, now there is nothing. Only the black
ocean.
CUT TO:
279 EXT. OCEAN / UNDERWATER AND SURFACE
Bodies are whirled and spun, some limp as dolls, others
struggling spasmodically, as the vortex sucks them down and tumbles them.
280 Jack rises INTO FRAME F.G. kicking hard for the
surface... holding tightly to Rose, pulling her up.
281 AT THE SURFACE: a roiling chaos of screaming,
thrashing people. Over a thousand people are now floating where the ship went down. Some
are stunned, gasping for breath. Others are crying, praying, moaning, shouting...
screaming.
Jack and Rose surface among them. They barely have time to
gasp for air before people are clawing at them. People driven insane by the water, 4
degrees below freezing, a cold so intense it is indistinguishable form death by fire.
A man pushes Rose under, trying to climb on top of her...
senselessly trying to get out of the water, to climb onto anything. Jack PUNCHES him
repeatedly, pulling her free.
JACK
Swim, Rose! SWIM!
She tries, but her strokes are not as effective as his
because of her lifejacket. They break out of the clot of people. He has to find some kind
of flotation, anything to get her out of the freezing water.
JACK
Keep swimming. Keep moving. Come one, you can do it.
All about them there is a tremendous wailing, screaming
and moaning... a chorus of tormented souls. And beyond that... nothing but black water
stretching to the horizon. The sense of isolation and hopelessness is overwhelming.
CUT TO:
282 OMITTED
283 EXT. OCEAN
Jack strokes rhythmically, the effort keeping him from
freezing.
JACK
Look for something floating. Some debris... wood...
anything.
ROSE
It's so cold.
JACK
I know. I know. Help me, here. Look around.
His words keep her focused, taking her mind off the
wailing around them. Rose scans the water, panting, barely able to draw a breath. She
turns and... SCREAMS.
A DEVIL is right in from of her face. It is the black
FRENCH BULLDOG, swimming right at her like a sea monster in the darkness, its coal eyes
bugging. It motors past her, like it is headed for Newfoundland.
Beyond it Rose sees something in the water.
ROSE
What's that?
Jack sees what she is pointing to, and they make for it
together. It is a piece of wooden debris, intricately carved. He pushes her up and she
slithers onto it belly down.
But when Jack tries to get up onto the thing, it tilts and
submerges, almost dumping Rose off. It is clearly only big enough to support her. He
clings to it, close to her, keeping his upper body out of the water as best he can.
Their breath floats around them in a cloud as they pant
from exertion. A MAN swims toward them, homing in on the piece of debris. Jack warns him
back.
JACK
It's just enough for this lady... you'll push it under.
MAN
Let me try at least, or I'll die soon.
JACK
You'll die quicker if you come any closer.
MAN
Yes, I see. Good luck to you then.
(swimming off)
God bless.
CUT TO:
284 EXT. COLLAPSIBLE A / OCEAN
The boat is overloaded and half-flooded. Men cling to the
sides in the water. Others, swimming, are drawn to it as their only hope. Cal, standing in
the boat, slaps his oar in the water as a warning.
CAL
Stay back! Keep off!
Fabrizio, exhausted and near the limit, makes it almost to
the boat. Cal CLUBS HIM with the oar, cutting open his scalp.
FABRIZIO
You don't... understand... I have... to get... to America.
CAL
(pointing with the oar)
It's that way!
CLOSE ON FABRIZIO as he floats, panting each breath agony.
You see the spirit leave him.
FABRIZIO'S POV: Cal in SLOW MOTION, yelling and wielding
the oar. A demon in a tuxedo. The image fades to black.
CUT TO:
285 EXT. OCEAN
JACK AND ROSE still float amid a chorus of the damned.
Jack sees the ship's officer nearby, CHIEF OFFICER WILDE. He is blowing his whistle
furiously, knowing the sound will carry over the water for miles.
JACK
The boats will come back for us, Rose. Hold on just a
little longer. They had to row away for the suction and now they'll be coming back.
She nods, his words helping her. She is shivering
uncontrollably, her lips blue and her teeth chattering.
ROSE
Thank God for you Jack.
People are still screaming, calling to the lifeboats.
WOMAN
Come back! Please! We know you can hear us. For God's
sake!
MAN
Please... help us. Save one life! SAVE ONE LIFE!
CUT TO:
286 EXT. LIFEBOATS / OCEAN
IN BOAT 6: Ruth has her ears covered against the wailing
in the darkness. The first class women in the boat sit, stunned, listening to the sounds
of hundreds screaming.
HITCHINS
They'll pull us right down I tell ya!
MOLLY
Aw knock it off, yer scarin' me. Come on girls, grab your
oars. Let's go.
(nobody moves)
Well, come on!
The women won't meet her eyes. They huddle into their
ermine wraps.
MOLLY
I don't understand a one of you. What's the matter with
you? It's your men back there! We got plenty a' room for more.
HITCHINS
If you don't shut that hole in yer face, there'll be one less
in this boat!
Ruth keeps her ears covered and her eyes closed, shutting
it all out.
287 IN BOAT ONE: Sir Cosmo and Lucile Duff-Gordon sit
with ten other people in a boat that is two thirds empty. They are two hundred yards from
the screaming in the darkness.
FIREMAN HENDRICKSON
We should do something.
Lucile squeezes Cosmo's hand and pleads him with her eyes.
She is terrified.
SIR COSMO
It's out of the question.
The crewmembers, intimidated by a nobleman, acquiesce.
They hunch guiltily, hoping the sound will stop soon.
TWENTY BOATS, most half full, float in the darkness. None
of them make a move.
CUT TO:
288 EXT. OCEAN
Jack and Rose drift under the blazing stars. The water is
glassy, with only the faintest undulating swell. Rose can actually see the stars
reflecting on the black mirror of the sea.
Jack squeezes the water out of her long coat, tucking it
in tightly around her legs. He rubs her arms. His face is chalk with in the darkness. A
low MOANING in the darkness around them.
ROSE
It's getting quiet.
JACK
Just a few more minutes. It'll take them a while to get
the boats organized...
Rose is unmoving, just staring into space. She knows the
truth. There won't be any boats. Behind Jack she sees that Officer Wilde has stopped
moving. He is slumped in his lifejacket, looking almost asleep. He has died of exposure
already.
JACK
I don't know about you, but I intend to write a strongly
worded letter to the White Star Line about all this.
She laughs weakly, but it sounds like a gasp of fear. Rose
finds his eyes in the dim light.
ROSE
I love you Jack.
He takes her hand.
JACK
No... don't say your good-byes, Rose. Don't you give up.
Don't do it.
ROSE
I'm so cold.
JACK
You're going to get out of this... you're going to go on
and you're going to make babies and watch them grow and you're going to die an old lady,
warm in your bed. Not here. Not this night. Do you understand me?
ROSE
I can't feel my body.
JACK
Rose, listen to me. Listen. Winning that ticket was the
best thing that ever happened to me.
Jack is having trouble getting the breath to speak.
JACK
It brought me to you. And I'm thankful, Rose. I'm
thankful.
His voice is trembling with the cold which is working its
way to his heart. But his eyes are unwavering.
JACK
You must do me this honor... promise me you will
survive... that you will never give up... no matter what happens... no matter how
hopeless... promise me now, and never let go of that promise.
ROSE
I promise.
JACK
Never let go.
ROSE
I promise. I will never let go, Jack. I'll never let go.
She grips his hand and they lie with their heads together.
It is quiet now, except for the lapping of the water.
CUT TO:
289 EXT. LIFEBOATS / OCEAN - NIGHT
Fifth Officer Lowe, the impetuous young Welshman, has
gotten Boats 10, 12 and Collapsible D together with his own Boat 14. A demon of energy,
he's had everyone hold the boats together and is transferring passengers from 14 into the
others, to empty his boat for a rescue attempt.
As the women step gingerly across the other boats, Lowe
sees a shawled figure in too much of a hurry. He rips the shawl off, and finds himself
staring into the face of a man. He angrily shoves the stowaway into another boat and turns
to his crew of three.
LOWE
Right, man the oars.
CUT TO:
290 EXT. OCEAN / BOAT 14
The beam of an electric torch plays across the water like
a searchlight as boat 14 comes toward us.
ANGLE FROM THE BOAT as the torch illuminates floating
debris, a poignant trail of flotsam: a violin, a child's wooden soldier, a framed photo of
a steerage family. Daniel Marvin's wooden Biograph camera.
Then, their white lifebelts bobbing in the darkness like
signposts, the first bodies come into the torch's beam. The people are dead but not
drowned, killed by the freezing water. Some look like they could be sleeping. Others stare
with frozen eyes at the stars.
Soon bodies are so thick the seamen cannot row. They hit
the oars on the heads of floating men and women... a wooden thunk. One seaman throws up.
Lowe sees a mother floating with her arms frozen around her lifeless baby.
LOWE
(the worst moment of his life)
We waited too long.
CUT TO:
291 EXT. OCEAN
IN A HOVERING DOWNANGLE we see Jack and Rose floating in
the black water. The stars reflect in the mill pond surface, and the two of them seem to
be floating in interstellar space. They are absolutely still. Their hands are locked
together. Rose is staring upwards at the canopy of stars wheeling above her. The music is
transparent, floating... as the long sleep steals over Rose, and she feels peace.
CLOSE ON Rose's face. Pale, like the faces of the dead.
She seems to be floating in a void. Rose is in a semi-hallucinatory state. She knows she
is dying. Her lips barely move as she sings a scrap of Jack's song:
ROSE
"Come Josephine in my flying machine..."
ROSE'S POV: The stars. Like you've never seen them. The
Milky Way a glorious band from horizon to horizon.
A SHOOTING STAR flares... a line of light across the
heavens.
TIGHT ON ROSE again. We see that her hair is dusted with
frost crystals. Her breathing is so shallow, she is almost motionless. Her eyes track down
from the stars to the water.
ROSE'S POV... SLOW MOTION: The silhouetter of a boat
crossing the stars. She sees men in it, rowing so slowly the oars lift out of the syrupy
water, leaving weightless pearls floating in the air. The VOICES of the men sound slow and
DISTORTED.
Then the lookout flashes his torch toward her and the
light flares across the water, silouetting the bobbing corpses in between. It flicks past
her motionless form and moves on. The boat is 50 feet away, and moving past her. The men
look away.
Rose lifts her head to turn to Jack. We see that her hair
has frozen to the wood under her.
ROSE
(barely audible)
Jack.
She touches his shoulder with her free hand. He doesn't
respond. Rose gently turns his face toward her. It is rimed with frost.
He seems to be sleeping peacefully.
But he is not asleep.
Rose can only stare at his still face as the realization
goes through her.
ROSE
Oh, Jack.
All hope, will and spirit leave her. She looks at the
boat. It is further away now, the voices fainter. Rose watches them go.
She closes her eyes. She is so weak, and there just seems
to be no reason to even try.
And then... her eyes snap open.
She raises her head suddenly, cracking the ice as she rips
her hair off the wood. She calls out, but her voice is so weak they don't hear her. The
boat is invisible now, the torch light a star impossibly far away. She struggles to draw
breath, calling again.
292 IN THE BOAT Lowe hears nothing behind him. He
points to something ahead, turning the tiller.
293 ROSE struggles to move. Her hand, she realizes,
is actually frozen to Jack's. She breaths on it, melting the ice a little, and gently
unclasps their hands, breaking away a thin tinkling film.
ROSE
I won't let go. I promise.
She releases him and he sinks into the black water. He
seems to fade out like a spirit returning to some immaterial plane.
Rose rolls off the floating staircase and plunges into the
icy water. She swims to Chief Officer Wilde's body and grabs his whistle. She starts to
BLOW THE WHISTLE with all the strength in her body. Its sound slaps across the still
water.
294 IN BOAT 14 Lowe whips around at the sound of
the whistle.
LOWE
(turning the tiller)
Row back! That way! Pull!
Rose keeps blowing as the boat comes to her. She is still
blowing when Lowe takes the whistle from her mouth as they haul her into the boat. She
slips into unconsciousness and they scramble to cover her with blankets...
DISSOLVE TO:
295 INT. IMAGING SHACK / KELDYSH
EXTREME CLOSEUP of Rose's ancient, wrinkled face. Present
day.
OLD ROSE
Fifteen hundred people went into the sea when Titanic
sank from under us. There were twenty boats floating nearby and only one came back. One.
Six were saved from the water, myself included. Six out of fifteen hundred.
As she speaks THE CAMERA TRACKS slowly across the faces of
Lizzy and the salvage crew on KELDYSH. Lovett, Bodine, Buell, the others... the
reality of what happened here 84 years before has hit them like never before. With her
story Rose has put them on Titanic in its final hours, and or the first time, they
do feel like graverobbers.
Lovett, for the first time, has even forgotten to ask
about the diamond.
OLD ROSE
Afterward, the seven hundred people in the boats had
nothing to do but wait... wait to die, wait to live, wait for an absolution which would
never come.
DISSOLVE TO:
296 EXT. LIFEBOATS / OPEN SEA - PRE-DAWN
MATCHING MOVE as the camera tracks along the faces of the
saved.
297 DISSOLVE TO: ANOTHER BOAT, and then ANOTHER,
seeing faces we know among the survivors: Ismay in a trance, just staring and trembling...
Cal, sipping from a hip flask offered to him by a black-faced stoker... Ruth hugging
herself, rocking gently.
IN BOAT 14: CLOSE ON ROSE, lying swaddled. Only her face
is visable, white as the moon. The man next to her jumps up, pointing and yelling. Soon
everyone is looking and shouting excitedly. In Rose's POV it is all silent, SLOW MOTION.
IN SLOW-MOTION SILENCE we see Lowe light a green flare and
wave it as everyone shouts and cheers. Rose doesn't react. She floats beyond all human
emotion.
DISSOLVE TO:
298 EXT. LIFEBOATS / OPEN SEA - DAWN
Golden light washes across the white boats, which gloat in
a calm sea reflecting the rosy sky. All around them, like a flotilla of sailing ships, are
icebergs. The CARPATHIA sits nearby, as boats row toward her.
DISSOLVE TO:
299 EXT. LIFEBOATS / OCEAN / CARPATHIA MONTAGE
- DAY
IMAGES DISSOLVE into one another: a ship's hull looming,
with the letters CARPATHIA visible on the bow... Rose watching, rocked by the sea, her
face blank... seamen helping survivors up the rope ladder to the Carpathia's gangway
doors... two women crying and hugging each other inside the ship... ALL SILENT, ALL IN
SLOW-MOTION. There is just music, so gentle and sad, part elegy, part hymn, part aching
song of love lost forever.
THE IMAGES CONTINUE to music... Rose, outside of time,
outside of herself, coming into Carpathia, barely able to stand... Rose being draped with
warm blankets and given hot tea... BRUCE ISMAY climbing aboard. He has the face and eyes
of a damned soul.
As Ismay walks along the hall, guided by a crewman toward
the doctor's cabin, he passes rows of seated and standing widows. He must run the gauntlet
of their accusing gazes.
CUT TO:
300 EXT. DECK / CARPATHIA - DAY
It is the afternoon of the 15th. Cal is searching the
faces of the widows lining the deck, looking for Rose. The deck of Carpathia is crammed
with huddled people, and even the recovered lifeboats of Titanic. On a hatch cover
sits an enormous pile of lifebelts.
He keeps walking toward the stern. Seeing Cal's tuxedo, a
steward approaches him.
CARPATHIA STEWARD
You won't find any of your people back here, sir. It's all
steerage.
Cal ignores him and goes amongst this wrecked group,
looking under shawls and blankets at one bleak face after another.
Rose is sipping hot tea. Her eyes focus on him as he
approaches her. He barely recognizes her. She looks like a refugee, her matted hair
hanging in her eyes.
ROSE
Yes, I lived. How awkward for you.
CAL
Rose... your mother and I have been looking for you--
She holds up her hand, stopping him.
ROSE
Please don't. Don't talk. Just listen. We will make a
deal, since that is something you understand. From this moment you do not exist for me,
nor I for you. You shall not see me again. And you will not attempt to find me. In return
I will keep my silence. Your actions last night need never come to light, and you will get
to keep the honor you have carefully purchased.
She fixes him with a glare as cold and hard as the ice
which changed their lives.
ROSE
Is this in any way unclear?
CAL
(after a long beat)
What do I tell your mother?
ROSE
Tell her that her daughter died with the Titanic.
She stands, turning to the rail. Dismissing him. We see
Cal stricken with emotion.
CAL
You're precious to me, Rose.
ROSE
Jewels are precious. Goodbye, Mr. Hockley.
We see that in his way, the only way he knows, he does
truly love her.
After a moment, he turns and walks away.
OLD ROSE (V.O.)
That was the last time I ever saw him. He married, of
course, and inherited his millions. The crash of 28 hit his interests hard, and he put a
pistol in his mouth that year. His children fought over the scraps of his estate like
hyenas, or so I read.
301 ANGLE ON ROSE, at the railing of the Carpathia,
9pm April 18th. She gazes up at the Statue of Liberty, looking just as it does today,
welcoming her home with her glowing torch. It is just as Fabrizio saw it, so clearly, in
his mind.
302 LATER CARPATHIA DISGORGES THE SURVIVORS at the
Cunard pier, Pier 54. Over 30,000 people line the dock and fill the surrounding streets.
The magnesium flashes of the photographers go off like small bombs, lighting an amazing
tableau.
Several hundred police keep the mob back. The dock is
packed with friends and relatives, officials, ambulances, and the press--
Reporters and photographers swarm everywhere... 6 deep at
the foot of the gangways, lining the tops of cars and trucks... it is the 1912 equivalent
of a media circus. They jostle to get close to the survivors, tugging on them as they pass
and shouting over each other to ask them questions.
Rose is covered with a woolen shawl and walking with a
group of steerage passengers. Immigration officers are asking them questions as they come
off the gangway.
IMMIGRATION OFFICER
Name?
ROSE
Dawson. Rose Dawson.
The officer steers her toward a holding area for
processing. Rose walks forward with the dazed immigrants. The BOOM! of photographer's
magnesium flashes cause them to flinch, and the glare is blinding. There is a sudden
disturbance near her as two men burst through the cordon, running to embrace an older
woman along the survivors, who cries out with joy. The reporters converge on this
emotional scene, and flashes explode.
Rose uses this moment to slip away into the crowd. She
pushes through the jostling people, moving with purpose, and none challenges her in the
confusion.
OLD ROSE (V.O.)
Can you exchange one life for another? A caterpillar
turns into a butterfly. If a mindless insect can do it, why couldn't I? Was it any more
unimaginable than the sinking of the Titanic?
TRACKING WITH HER as she walks away, further and further
until the flashes and the roar are far behind her, and she is still walking, determined.
CUT TO:
303 INT. IMAGING SHACK / KELDYSH
Old Rose sits with the group in the Imaging Shack, lit by
the blue glow of the screens. She holds the haircomb with the jade butterfly on the handle
in her gnarled hands.
BODINE
We never found anything on Jack. There's no record of him
at all.
OLD ROSE
No, there wouldn't be, would there? And I've never spoken
of him until now, not to anyone.
(to Lizzy)
Not even your grandfather. A woman's heart is a deep
ocean of secrets. But now you all know there was a man named Jack Dawson, and that he
saved me, in every way that a person can be saved.
(closing her eyes)
I don't even have a picture of him. He exists now only
in my memory.
CUT TO:
304 OMITTED
305 EXT. OCEAN FLOOR / TITANIC WRECK
The Mir submersibles make their last pass over the ship.
We hear Yuri the pilot on the UQC:
YURI
Mir One returning to surface.
The sub rises off the deck of the wreck, taking its light
with it, leaving the Titanic once again it its fine and private darkness.
CUT TO:
306 EXT. KELDYSH DECK
A desultory wrap party for the expedition is in progress.
There is music and some of the (co-ed) Russian crew are dancing. Bodine is getting drunk
in the aggressive style of Baker Joughin.
Lovett stands at the rail, looking down into the black
water. Lizzy comes to him, offering him a beer. She puts her hand on his arm.
LIZZY
I'm sorry.
LOVETT
We were pissin' in the wind the whole time.
Lovett notices a figure move through the lights far down
at the stern of the ship.
LOVETT
Oh shit.
CUT TO:
307 EXT. KELDYSH STERN DECK
Rose walks through the shadows of the deck machinery. Her
nightgown blows in the wind. Her feet are bare. Her hands are clutched at her chest,
almost as if she is praying.
ON LOVETT AND LIZZY running down the stairs from the top
deck, hauling ass.
ROSE reaches the stern rail. Her gnarled fingers wrap over
the rail. Her ancient foot steps up on the gunwale. She pushes herself up, leaning
forward. Over her shoulder, we see the black water glinting far below.
LOVETT AND LIZZY run up behind her.
LIZZY
Grandma, wait!! Don't--
ROSE TURNS her head, looking at them. She turns further,
and we see she has something in her hand, something she was about to drop overboard.
It is the "Heart of the Ocean".
Lovett sees his holy grail in her hand and his eyes go
wide. Rose keeps it over the railing where she can drop it anytime.
ROSE
Don't come any closer.
LOVETT
You had it the entire time?!
FLASH CUT TO: A SILENT IMAGE OF YOUNG ROSE walking
away from Pier 54. The photographers' flashes go off like a battle behind her. She has her
hands in her pockets. She stops, feeling something, and pulls out the necklace. She stares
at it in amazement.
BACK ON KELDYSH, Rose smiles at Brock's
incomprehension.
ROSE
The hardest part about being so poor, was being so rich.
But every time I though of selling it, I though of Cal. And somehow I always got by
without his help.
She holds it out over the water. Bodine and a couple of
the other guys come up behind Lovett, reacting to what is in Rose's hand.
BODINE
Holy shit.
LOVETT
Don't drop it Rose.
BODINE
(a fierce whisper)
Rush her.
LOVETT
(to Bodine)
It's hers, you schmuck.
(to her)
Look, Rose, I... I don't know what to say to a woman
who tries to jump off the Titanic when it's not sinking, and jumps back onto it
when it is... we're not dealing with logic here, I know that... but please... think about
this a second.
ROSE
I have. I came all the way here so this could go back
where it belongs.
The massive diamond glitters. Brock edges closer and holds
out his hand...
LOVETT
Just let me hold it in my hand, Rose. Please. Just once.
He comes closer to her. It is reminiscent of Jack slowly
moving up to her at the stern of Titanic.
Surprisingly, she calmly places the massive stone in the
palm of his hand, while still holding onto the necklace. Lovett gazes at the object of his
quest. An infinity of cold scalpels glint in its blue depths. It is mesmerizing. It fits
in his hand just like he imagined.
LOVETT
My God.
His grip tightens on the diamond.
He looks up, meeting her gaze. Her eyes are suddenly
infinitely wise and deep.
ROSE
You look for treasures in the wrong place, Mr. Lovett.
Only life is priceless, and making each day count.
His fingers relax. He opens them slowly. Gently she slips
the diamond out of his hand. He feels it sliding away.
Then, with an impish little grin, Rose tosses the necklace
over the rail. Lovett gives a strangled cry and rushes to the rail in time to see it hit
the water and disappear forever.
BODINE
Aww!! That really sucks, lady!
Brock Lovett goes through ten changes before he settles on
a reaction... HE LAUGHS. He laughs until the tears come to his eyes. Then he turns to
Lizzy.
LOVETT
Would you like to dance?
Lizzy grins at him and nods. Rose smiles. She looks up at
the stars.
308 IN THE BLACK HEART OF THE OCEAN, the diamond sinks,
twinkling end over end, into the infinite depths.
CUT TO:
309 INT. ROSE'S CABIN / KELDYSH
A GRACEFUL PAN across Rose's shelf of carefully arranged
pictures:
Rose as a young actress in California, radiant... a
theatrically lit studio publicity shot... Rose and her husband, with their two children...
Rose with her son at his college graduation... Rose with her children and grandchildren at
her 70th birthday. A collage of images of a life lived well.
THE PAN STOPS on an image filling frame. Rose, circa 1920.
She is at the beach, sitting on a horse at the surfline. The Santa Monica pier, with its
roller coaster is behind her. She is grinning, full of life.
We PAN OFF the last picture to Rose herself, warm in her
bunk. A profile shot. She is very still. She could be sleeping, or maybe something else.
CUT TO:
BLACKNESS
310 THE WRECK OF TITANIC looms like a ghost
out of the dark. It is lit by a kind of moonlight, a light of the mind. We pass over the
endless forecastle deck to the superstructure, moving faster than subs can move... almost
like we are flying.
WE GO INSIDE, and the echoing sound of distant waltz music
is heard. The rust fades away from the walls of the dark corridor and it is transformed...
WE EMERGE onto the grand staircase, lit by glowing chandelier. The music is vibrant now,
and the room is populated by men in tie and tails, women in gowns. It is exquisitely
beautiful.
IN POV we sweep down the staircase. The crowd of beautiful
gentlemen and ladies turn as we descend toward them. At the bottom a man stands with his
back to us... he turns and it is Jack. Smiling he holds his hand out toward us.
IN A SIDE ANGLE Rose goes into his arms, a girl of 17. The
passengers, officers and crew of the RMS Titanic smile and applaud in the utter
silence of the abyss.
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Script © 1996 James Cameron. All photos © 1997
by Paramount Pictures and Twentieth-Century Fox.

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