Gattaca
A Screen Play
by Andrew M. Niccol
FADE IN
A white title appears on a black screen.
"As night-fall does not come at once, neither
does oppression...It is in such twilight that
we all must be aware of change in the air
- however slight - lest we become victims of
the darkness."
Justice William O. Douglas
The title fades off, replaced by a second title.
"I not only think that we will tamper
FEMALE LEGS in high heels walk INTO
FRAME. The VOICE belonging to the legs talks down to Baby
Herman in a maternal coo.
VOICE (O.S.)
Mommys going to the beauty parlor,
darling. But Im leaving you with your
favorite friend, Roger. Hes going to
take very, very good care of you...
(voice turns
ominous)
... cause if he doesnt, hes going
back to the science lab!
Roger gulps as he watches the legs disa
victims didnt get a chance
to choke on a peanut, did they, sir?
Now youre going down.
Drop the guns or Ill kill her.
Ivan, out the back.
Youre not killing anyone.
Partys over!
Hows your head, my little piroshki?
This is gonna put you away
for a long time.
Lets get that ambulance in here!
- Shut up!
- Stay with me!
- Im sorry.
- Dont be sorry. You did a great job!
Nice work. See you back there.
Co
victims is relief
from passivity. For these men, ten
minutes relief is worth far more
than the life of another human
being. Torture, the pain they
inflict, the screams of the victim,
are all part of the ritual that
gives them a brief respite from
their own psychic pain. And then
the depression, the forgetting, the
feeling of sadness and despair
begins the cycle all over again.
Like addicts seekin
victim, Fry stumbles to the
next forward locker. Its riddled with holes. One DEAD CREWIE
is seen through fractured plexi, body pocked and bloodied. But
in the next cryo-locked...
The CAPTAIN is struggling awake. Frys face floods with relief.
Slapping an intercom:
FRY
Hear me? Capn? Some kinda compromise to
the hull...holding for now, but...Goddamn,
Im glad youre alive. Gotta pull your
E-release..
victims are buried
without reprisal while guilty men
roam our streets?
The High Constable reaches a desk, taking a seat. Guards
wait to process beaten, bloody prisoners.
HIGH CONSTABLE
Very few, if any.
ICHABOD
Even though I have seen confessions
pried from the lips of the accused,
often quite literally?
HIGH CONSTABLE
For one who calls himself a
Federalist, your mouth reeks of
Republican liberal
victim.
But for children
and midgets its different.
Kids are lighter.
So its four times body weight.
What?
- Never had problems?
No. Midgets are heavier,
so you double the weight.
Midgets have denser bones
so you double the weight.
For old people, multiply by five.
Old bones are porous.
- Hi, Mom!
- Goodness gracious!
Hows my little boy?
This is Mom, thats Grandma,
this is the store.
This is wher
victims didnt get a chance to choke on a peanut, did they, sir?
Now youre going down.
Drop the guns or Ill kill her.
Ivan, out the back.
Youre not killing anyone.
Partys over!
Hows your head, my little piroshki?
This is gonna put you away for a long time.
Lets get that ambulance in here!
-Shut up! -Stay with me!
-Im sorry. -Dont be sorry. You did a great job!
Nice work. See you back there.
Come o
victim.
Those that are not solved within
the first hours seldom are.
Not so with serial killers.
One advantage
in this line of work
is knowing that as long as
the UNSUB is out there,
youll always have
another chance.
With each new killing comes
a resetting of the clock.
Time is on your side.
The model for this exercise
was a missing-persons search
in Buffalo, .
The dead man was an accomplice
who
hands...
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY
CLARICES POV - MOVING - as she first sees, sitting on the edge of a bed - a FEMALE HOSTAGE. Black, late 20s, gagged, hands behind her back. Then, SWIVELLING... she sees a startled MALE SUSPECT - white, mid-20s - standing by a window with a rifle in his hands. He is turning towards her...
Clarice drops into a combat crouch, gun extended, and shouts.
CLARICE