SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS
Screenplay by Ron Bass and Scott Hicks
Based on the novel by David Guterson
May 4, 1998
NOTE: THE HARD COPY OF THIS SCRIPT CONTAINED SCENE NUMBERS
AND SOME "OMITTED" SLUGS. THEY HAVE BEEN REMOVED FOR THIS
SOFT COPY.
EXT. THE SUSAN MARIE, SHIP CHANNEL BANK - NIGHT
Fog. Penetrated only by sound. The LAPPING of sea at a
drifting hull. Tendrils of mist part, revealing...
...a f
drifting cloud up there.
Up the mast with you!
-I command you! Climb the mast! -Drop the sail!
My prince, the ropes are fouled, and these men refuse to climb the mast.
-Ill flay them! -No!
Theres only one way to cure these fantasies.
No, my prince, not you. No!
Paris!
Paris!
Paris!
Paris! Paris!
Paris!
Megas!
Aphrodite.
What?
Some ship had bad luck.
She does exist.
-Who? -The fairest goddess.
Thi
DRIFT OR WHAT HAVE YOU...
ABOUT FIVE MONTHS BEFORE IT GETS HERE.
THATS WHY I SAY FOUR FOR REVIEW.
THERES TRANSPORT LEAVING FOR WILLIAMSTOWN, IF YOU CARE TO TAKE THAT.
YES, SIR.
HOSGOOD, WHERE IS THIS COFFEE COMING FROM ?
SUPPLY SAYS ITS THE BEST THEY CAN DO THESE DAYS, SIR.
SHALL I QUERY THEM AGAIN ? NO, NO, NO. IT DOESNT MATTER.
YOU HAVE ANYTHING IMPORTANT TO DO, HOSGOOD ? NO, SIR. WHAT
Drifting,
drawn, lost.
OLDER CHUCK (V.O.)
Though he had moved on with his
life, now even for the years, to
hear him eulogized by strangers,
seemed strange. He had been a
hewner of stones, a pilot by the
silent stars. Like me, alone among
many. But most of all for us, the
crew of the brigantine Albatross, he
was always and would forever be...
our Skipper.
A SHIPS BELL turns him around. Ding ding.
Silent and endless. The stars shine like the love of God... cold and remote. Against them drifts a tiny chip of technology.
CLOSER SHOT
It is the NARCISSUS, lifeboat of the ill-fated star-freighter Nostromo. Without interior or running lights it seems devoid of life. The PING of a RANGING RADAR grows louder, closer. A shadow engulfs the Narcissus. Searchlights flash on, playing over the tiny ship