Quote from Film
One is ahead of the other, and passes close enough
to FILL FRAME, looking like a spacecraft
blazing with lights, bristling with insectile
manipulators.
TILTING DOWN to follow it as it descends away into the limitless blackness below. Soon they are fireflies, then stars, then gone.
INSIDE, it is a cramped seven foot sphere, crammed
with equipment.
ANATOLY MIKAILAVICH, the sub's pilot, sits hunched
over his controls... singing softly in
Russian.
Next to him on one side is BROCK LOVETT. He’s
in his late forties, deeply tanned, and likes to
wear his Nomex suit unzipped to show the gold
from famous shipwrecks covering his gray chesthair. He is a wiley, fast-talking
treasure hunter, a salvage superstar who is part historian, part adventurer
and part vacuum cleaner salesman. Right now, he is propped up against the
Co2 scrubber fast asleep and snoring.
On the other side, crammed into the remaining space is a bearded wide-body named LEWIS BODINE, who is also asleep. Lewis is am R.O.V. (REMOTELY OPERATED VEHICLE) pilot and is the resident Titanic expert.
Anatoly glances at the bottom sonar and makes a ballast adjustment.
ANATOLY
(heavy Russian accent)
We are here.
BODINE
Come left a little. She's right in front of us, eighteen
meters. Fifteen. Thirteen...you should see it.
ANATOLY
Do you see it? I don't see it... there!
Out of the darkness, like a ghostly
apparition, the bow of a ship appears. It's knife-edge prow is
coming straight at us, seeming to plow
the bottom sediment like ocean wave. It towers above the sea
floor, standing just as it landed 84 years ago.
THE TITANIC. Or what is left of her. Mir One goes
up and over the bow railing, intact except for an
overgrowth of "rusticals" draping it like mutated
Spanish moss.
TIGHT ON THE EYEPIECE MONITOR of a video camcorder. Brock Lovett's face fills the BLACK AND WHITE FRAME.
LOVETT
It still gets me every time.
The image pans to the front viewport, looking
over Anatoly's shoulder, to the bow railing visible in the lights beyond.
Anatoly turns.
ANATOLY
Is just your guilt because of stealing from the dead.
CUT WIDER, to show that Brock is operating
the camera himself, turning it in his hand so it points at his face.
BROCK
Thanks, Tolya. Work with me, here.
Brock resumes his serious, pensive gaze
out the front port, with the camera aimed at himself at arms length.
BROCK
It still gets me every time... to see the sad ruin of the
great ship sitting there, where she landed at 2:30 in the
morning, April 15 1912, after her long fall from the world
above.
Anatoly rolls
his eyes and mutters in Russian. Bodine chuckles and watches the sonar.
BODINE
You are so full of shit, boss.
LOVETT (V.O.)
Dive nine. Here we are again on the deck of Titanic...
two and a half miles down. The pressure is three tons
per square inch, enough to crush us like a freight train
going over an ant if our hull fails. These windows are
nine inches thick and if they go, it's sayonara in two
microseconds.
LOVETT
Right. Lets get to work.
Bodine slips
on a pair of 3-D electronic goggles, and grabs the joystick of the ROV.
BODINE (V.O.)
Walkin' the dog.
SNOOP DOG drives itself away from the sub,
paying out its umbilical behind it like a robot yo-yo. Its
twin stereo-video cameras swivel like insect
eyes. The ROV descends through an open shaft that once
was the beautiful First Class Grand Staircase.
Snoop Dog goes down several decks, then moves laterally into the First Class Reception room.
SNOOP'S POV, moving through the cavernous interior.
The remains of the ornate handcarved
woodwork which gave the ship it's elegance move
through the floodlights, the lines blurred by slow
dissolution and descending rustical formations.
Stalactites of rust hang down so that at times it looks
like a natural grotto, then the scene shifts
and the lines of a ghostly undersea mansion can be seen
again.
MONTAGE STYLE, as Snoop passes ghostly images of Titanic's opulence:
Snoop enters a corridor which is much better preserved.
Here and there a door still hangs on it's
rusted hinges. An ornate piece of molding, a
wall sonce... hint at the grandeur of the past.
LOVETT
Stay off the floor. Don't stir it up like you
did yesterday.
BODINE
I'm tryin' boss.
CUT TO:
THE SAFE, dripping wet in the afternoon sun, is lowered onto the deck of a ship by a winch cable.
We are on the Russian research vessel AKADEMIK
MISTISLAV KELDYSH. A crowd has
gathered, including most of the crew of KELDYSH,
the sub crews, and a handwringing money guy
named BOBBY BUELL who represents the limited
partners. There is also a documentary video crew,
hired by Lovett to cover his moment of glory.
Everyone crowds around the safe. In the background
Mir Two is being lowered into its cradle on
deck by a massive hydraulic arm. Mir One is already
recovered with Lewis Bodine following Brock
Lovett as he bounds over to the safe like a kid
on Christmas morning.
LOVETT
You are, Lewis.
(to the video crew)
You rolling?
BODINE
You know, boss, this happened to Geraldo and
his career never recovered.
LOVETT
(to the video cameraman)
Get that outta my face.
Technicians are carefully removing some papers
from the safe and placing them in a tray of water to
separate them safely. Nearby, other artifacts
from the stateroom are being washed and preserved.
Buell is on the satellite phone with the INVESTORS.
Lovett is yelling at the video crew.
BUELL
The partners want to know how it's going?
LOVETT
How it's going? It's going like a first date
in prison,
Whattaya think?!
Lovett grabs the phone from Buell and goes instantly
smooth.
Hi, Dave? Barry? Look, it wasn't in the safe...
no, look, don't worry about it, there’s still plenty of places it could
be... in the floor debris in the suite, in the mother's room, in the purser's
safe on C deck...
(seeing something)
Hang on a second.
Brock looks closely at the drawing, which is in
excellent shape, though its edges have partially
disintegrated. The woman is beautiful, and beautifully
rendered. In her late teens or early twenties, she
is nude, though posed with a kind of casual modesty.
She is on an Empire divan, in a pool of light that seems
to radiate outward from her eyes. Scrawled in the lower right corner is
the date: April 14. 1912.
And the initials JD.
The girl is not entirely nude. At her throat is
a diamond necklace with one large stone hanging in the
center.
Lovett grabs a reference photo from the clutter
on the lab table. It is a period black-and- white photo
of a diamond necklace on a black velvet jeweler’s
display stand. He holds it next to the drawing. It is
clearly the same piece... a complex setting with
a massive central stone which is almost heart-shaped.
LOVETT
I'll be God damned.
CUT TO:
A CNN NEWS STORY: a live satellite feed from the
deck of the Kelysh, intercut with the CNN
studio.
ANNOUNCER
Treasure hunter Brock Lovett is best known for
finding Spanish gold in sunken galleons in the
Caribbean. Now he is using deep submergence
technology to work two and a half miles down at
another famous wreck... the Titanic. He is with us
live via satellite from a Russian research ship in the
middle of the Atlantic... hello Brock?
BROCK
Yes, hi, Tracy. You know, Titanic is not just A
shipwreck, Titanic is THE shipwreck. It's the Mount
Everest of shipwrecks.
CUT TO:
PULL BACK from the screen, showing the CNN report
playing on a TV set in the living room of a
small rustic house. It's full of ceramics, figurines,
folk art, the walls crammed with drawings and
paintings... things collected over a lifetime.
PANNING to show a glassed-in studio attached to
the house. Outside is a quiet morning in Ojai,
California. In the studio, amid incredible clutter,
an ANCIENT WOMAN is throwing a pot on a
potter's wheel. The liquid red clay covers her
hands... hands that are gnarled and age-spotted, but still
surprisingly strong and supple. A woman in here
early forties assists her.
BROCK (V.O.)
I've planned this expedition for three years, and we're
out here recovering some amazing things... things that
will have enormous historical and educational value.
CNN REPORTER (V.O.)
But it's no secret that education is not your main
purpose. You're a treasure hunter. So what is the
treasure you're hunting?
BROCK (V. O.)
I'd rather tell you than show you, and we think we're
very close to doing just that.
The old woman's name is ROSE CALVERT.
Her face is a wrinkled mass, her body shapeless and
shrunken under a one-piece African print dress.
But her eyes are just as bright and alive as those of a young girl.
Rose gets up and walks into the living room, wiping
pottery clay from her hands with a rag. A
Pomeranian dog gets up and comes in with her.
The younger woman, LIZZY CALVERT, rushes to help her.
ROSE
Turn that up please, dear.
REPORTER (V.O.)
Your expedition is at the center of a storm of
controversy over salvage rights and even ethics.
Many are calling you a grave robber.
TIGHT ON THE SCREEN
BROCK
Nobody called the recovery of the artifacts from King
Tut's tomb grave robbing. I have museum-trained
experts here, making sure this stuff is preserved and
catalogued properly. Look at this drawing, which was
found today...
The video camera pans off Brock to the
drawing, in a tray of water. The image of the woman with the necklace
FILLS FRAME.
BROCK
...a piece of paper that's been underwater for 84
years... and my team are able to preserve it intact.
Should this have remained unseen at the bottom of the
ocean for eternity, when we can see it and enjoy it
now...?
ROSE is galvanized by this image. Her mouth hangs open in amazement.
ROSE
I'll be God damned.
CUT TO:
CUT TO KELDYSH. The Mir subs are being launched. Mir Two is already in the water, and Lovett is getting ready to climb into Mir One when Bobby Buell runs up to him.
BUELL
There's a satellite call for you.
LOVETT
Bobby, we're launching. See these submersibles
here, going in the water? Take a message.
BUELL
No, trust me, you want to take this call.
CUT TO:
Buell hands Lovett the phone, punching down the
blinking line. The call is from Rose an we see both
ends of the conversation. She is in her kitchen
with a mystified Lizzy.
BROCK
This is Brock Lovett. What can I do for you, Mrs... ?
BUELL
Rose Calvert.
BROCK
... Mrs. Calvert?
ROSE
I was just wondering if you had found the "Heart of
the Ocean" yet, Mr. Lovett.
Brock almost drops the phone. Bobby sees his shocked expression...
BUELL
I told you you wanted to take the call.
LOVETT
(to Rose)
Alright. You have my attention, Rose. Can you tell
me who the woman in the picture is?
ROSE
Oh yes. The woman in the picture is me.
CUT TO:
CLOSE ON A WINDOW of the monster helicopter. Roses face is visible, looking out calmly.
CUT TO:
Brock and Bodine are watching Mir Two being swung over the side to start a dive.
BODINE
She's a goddamned liar! A nutcase. Like that...
what's her name? That Anastasia babe.
BUELL
They're inbound.
Brock nods and the three of them head forward to meet the approaching helo.
BODINE
She says she's Rose DeWitt Bukater, right? Rose
DeWitt Bukater died on the Titanic. At the age of 17.
If she'd've lived, she'd be over a hundred now.
LOVETT
A hundred and one next month.
BODINE
Okay, so she's a very old goddamned liar. I traced
her back as far as the 20's... she was working as an
actress in L.A. An actress. Her name was Rose
Dawson. Then she married a guy named Calvert,
moved to Cedar Rapids, had two kids. Now Calvert's
dead, and from what I've heard Cedar Rapids is dead.
The Sea Stallion approaches the ship, BG, forcing Brock to yell over the
rotors.
LOVETT
And everybody knows about the diamond is
supposed to be dead... or on this ship. But she knows
about it. And I want to hear what she has to say. Got
it?
CUT TO:
IN A THUNDERING DOWNBLAST the helicopter's wheels bounce on the helipad.
Lovett, Buell and Bodine watch as the HELICOPTER
CREW CHIEF hands out about ten suitcases,
and then Rose is lowered to the deck in a wheelchair
by Keldysh crewmen. Lizzy, ducking
unnecessarily under the rotor, follows her out,
carrying FREDDY the Pomeranian. The crew chief
hands a puzzled Keldysh crewmember a goldfish
bowl with several fish in it. Rose does not travel
light.
HOLD ON the incongruous image of this little old lady, looking impossibly fragile amongst all the high tech gear, grungy deck crew and gigantic equipment.
BODINE
S'cuse me, I have to go check our supply of Depends.
CUT TO:
Lizzy is unpacking Rose's things in the small
utilitarian room. Rose is placing a number of FRAMED
PHOTOS on the bureau, arranging them carefully
next to the fishbowl. Brock and Bodine are in the
doorway.
BROCK
Is your stateroom alright?
ROSE
Yes, very nice. Have you met my granddaughter,
Lizzy? She takes care of me.
LIZZY
Yes. We met just a few minutes ago, grandma.
Remember? Up on deck?
ROSE
Oh, yes.
Brock glances at Bodine... oh oh. Bodine
rolls his eyes. Rose finishes arranging her photographs. We get
a general glimpse of them: the usual snapshots... children and grandchildren,
her late husband.
ROSE
There, that's nice. I have to have my pictures when I
Travel. And Freddy of course.
(to the Pomeranian)
Isn't that right, sweetie.
BROCK
Would you like anything?
ROSE
I should like to see my drawing.
CUT TO:
Rose looks at the drawing in its tray of water,
confronting herself across a span of 84 years. Until they can
figure out the best way to preserve it, they have to keep it immersed.
It sways and ripples, almost
as if alive.
TIGHT ON Roses ancient eyes, gazing at the drawing.
BROCK
Louis the Sixteenth wore a fabulous stone, called the
Blue Diamond of the Crown, which disappeared in
1792, about the time Louis lost everything from the
neck up. The theory goes that the crown diamond was
chopped too... recut into a heart shape... and it
became Le Coeur de la Mer. The Heart of the Ocean.
Today it would be worth more than the Hope Diamond.
ROSE
It was a dreadful, heavy thing.
(she points to the drawing)
I only wore it this once.
LIZZY
You actually believe this is you, grandma?
ROSE
It is me, dear. Wasn't I a hot number?
BROCK
I tracked it down through insurance records... an old
claim was settled under terms of absolute secrecy.
Do you know who the claimant was, Rose?
ROSE
Someone named Hockley, I should imagine.
BROCK
Nathan Hockley, right. Pittsburgh steel tycoon. For a
diamond necklace his son Caledon Hockley bought in
France for his fiancee... you... a week before he sailed
on Titanic. And the claim was filed right after the
sinking. So the diamond had to've gone down with
the ship.
(to Lizzy)
See the date?
LIZZY
April 14, 1912.
BROCK
If your grandma is who she says she is, she was
wearing the diamond the day the Titanic sank.
(to Rose)
And that makes you my new best friend. I will
happily compensate you for anything you can tell us
that will lead to the recovery.
ROSE
I don't want your money, Mr. Lovett. I know how
hard it is for people who care greatly for money to give
some away.
BODINE
(skeptical)
You don't want anything?
ROSE
(indicating the drawing)
You may give me this, if anything I tell you is of
value.
BROCK
Deal.
(crossing the room)
Over here are a few things we've recovered from your
staterooms.
Laid out on a worktable are fifty or so
objects, from mundane to valuable. Rose, shrunken in here
chair, can barely see over the table top.
With a trembling hand she lifts a totoise shell hand mirror,
inlaid with mother of pearl. She caresses it wonderingly.
ROSE
This was mine. How extraordinary! It looks the same
as the last time I saw it.
She turns the mirror over and looks at her ancient face in the cracked
glass.
ROSE
The reflection had changed a bit.
She spies something else, a silver and moonstone art-nouveau brooch.
ROSE
My mother's brooch. She wanted to go back for it.
Caused quite a fuss.
Rose picks up an ornate art-nouveau HAIR
COMB. A jade butterfly takes flight on the ebony handle
of the comb. She turns it slowly, remembering.
We can see that Rose is experiencing a rush of images and emotions that
have lain dormant for eight decades as she handles the butterfly comb.
BROCK
Are you ready to go back to Titanic?
CUT TO:
It is a darkened room lined with TV monitors.
IMAGES OF THE WRECK fill the screens, fed from
Mir One and Two, and the two ROV's, snoop Dog
and DUNCAN.
BODINE
Live from 12,000 feet.
ROSE stares raptly at the screens. She is enthralled
by one in particular, an image of the bow railing. It obviously
means something to her. Brock is studying her reactions carefully.
BODINE
The bow's stuck in the bottom like an axe, from the
impact. Here... I can run a simulation we worked up
on this monitor over here.
Lizzy turns the chair so Rose can see the
screen of Bodine's computer. As he is calling up the file, he
keeps talking.
BODINE
We've put together the worlds largest database on the
Titanic. Okay here...
BROCK
Rose might not want to see this, Lewis.
ROSE
No, no. It's fine. I'm curious.
Bodine starts a COMPUTER ANIMATED GRAPHIC
on the screen, which parallels his rapid-fire
narration.
BODINE
She hit's the berg on the starboard side and it sort of
bumps along... punching holes like a morse code... dit
dit dit, down the side. Now she's flooding in the
forward compartments... and the water spills over the
tops of the bulkheads, going aft. As her bow is going
down, her stern is coming up... slow at first... and
then faster and faster until it's lifting all that weight,
maybe 20 or 30 thousand tons... out of the water and
the hull can't deal... so SKRTTT!!
(making a sound in time with the
animation)
... it splits! Right down to the keel, which acts like a
big hinge. Now the bow swings down and the stern
falls back level... but the weight of the bow pulls the
stern up vertical, and the bow section detaches,
heading for the bottom. The stern bobs like a cork,
floods and goes under about 2:20 a.m. Two hours
and forty minutes after the collision.
The animation then follows the bow section
as it sinks. Rose watches this clinical dissection of the disaster
without emotion.
BODINE
The bow pulls out of it's dive and planes away, almost
a half a mile, before it hits the bottom going maybe 12
miles an hour. KABOOM!
The bow impacts,
digging deeply into the bottom. The animation now follows the stern.
BODINE
The stern implodes as it sinks, from the pressure, and
rips apart from the force of the current as it falls,
landing like a big pile of junk.
(indicating the simulation)
Cool huh?
ROSE
Thank you for that fine forensic analysis, Mr. Bodine.
Of course the experience of it was somewhat less
clinical.
BROCK
Will you share it with us?
Her eyes go back to the screens, showing the sad ruins far below them.
A VIEW from one of the subs TRACKING SLOWLY over
the boat deck. Rose recognizes one of
the Wellin davits, still in place. She hears
ghostly waltz music. The faint and echoing sound of an
officer's voice, English accented, calling "Women
and children only".