Quote from Film
At the divine service, Captain Smith is leading a large group in the hymn "Almighty Father Strong To Save." Rose and Ruth sing in the middle of the group.
Lovejoy stands well back, keeping an eye on Rose. He notices a commotion at the entry doors. Jack has been halted there by two stewards. He is dressed in his third class clothes, and stands there, hat in hand, looking out of place.
STEWARD
Look, you, you're not supposed to be in here.
JACK
I was just here last night... don't you remember?
(seeing Lovejoy coming toward him)
He'll tell you.
LOVEJOY
Mr. Hockley and Mrs. DeWitt Bukater continue to be
most appreciative of your assistance. They asked me
to give you this in gratitude--
He holds out two twenty dollar bills, which Jack refuses to take.
JACK
I don't want money, I --
LOVEJOY
-- and also to remind you that you hold a third class
ticket and your presence here is no longer appropriate
Jack spots Rose but she doesn’t see him.
JACK
I just need to talk to Rose for a--
LOVEJOY
Gentlemen, please see that Mr. Dawson gets back
where he belongs.
(giving the twenties to the stewards)
And that he stays there.
STEWARD
Yes sir!
(to Jack)
Come along you.
END ON ROSE, not seeing Jack hustled out.
ROSE
(singing)
O hear us when we cry to thee for those in peril on the
sea
CUT TO:
CAL
Reminds me of my Harvard days.
T.W. McCAWLEY, the gym instructor, is a
bouncy little man in white flannels, eager to show off his modern equipment,
like his present-day counterpart on an "Abflex" infomercial. He hits a
switch and a machine with a saddle on it starts to undulate. Rose puts
her hand on it, curious.
MCCAULEY
The electric horse is very popular. We even have an
electric camel.
(to Ruth)
Care to try your hand at the rowing, m'am?
RUTH
Don't be absurd. I can't think of a skill I should likely
need less.
ANDREWS
The next stop on our tour will be the bridge. This
way, please.
CUT TO:
Jack, walking with determination, is followed closely by Tommy and Fabrizio. He quickly climbs the steps to B-Deck and steps over the gate separating 3rd from 2nd class.
TOMMY
She's a goddess amongst mortal men, there's no
denyin'. But she's in another world, Jackie, forget
her. She's closed the door.
Jack moves furtively to the wall below the A-Deck promenade, aft.
JACK
It was them, not her.
(glancing around the deck)
Ready.. go.
Tommy shakes his head resignedly and puts
his hands together, crouching down. Jack steps into Tommy's
hands and gets boosted up to the deck, where he scrambles nimbly over the
railing, onto the First Class deck.
TOMMY
He's not bein' logical, I tell ya.
FABRIZIO
Amore is'a not logical.
CUT TO:
CUT TO:
HAROLD BRIDE, the 21 year old junior Wireless Operator, hustles in and skirts around Andrews' tour group to hand a Marconigram to Captain Smith.
BRIDE
Another ice warning, sir. This one from the "Baltic".
SMITH
Thankyou, Sparks.
Smith glances at the message then nonchalantly
puts it in his pocket. He nods reassuringly to Rose and the group.
SMITH
Not to worry, it's quite normal for this time of year.
In fact, we're speeding up. I've just ordered the last
boilers lit.
Andrews scowls slightly before motioning
the group toward the door. They exit just as SECOND OFFICER
CHARLES HERBERT LIGHTOLLER comes out of the chartroom, stopping next to
First Officer Murdoch.
LIGHTOLLER
Did we ever find those binoculars for the lookouts?
FIRST OFFICER MURDOCH
Havn't seen them since Southampton.
CUT TO:
Andrews leads the group back from the bridge along the boat deck.
ROSE
Mr. Andrews, I did the sum in my head, and with the
number of lifeboats times the capacity you
mentioned... forgive me, but it seems that there are not
enough for everyone aboard.
ANDREWS
About half, actually. Rose, you miss nothing, do
you? In fact, I put in these new type davits, which can
take an extra row of boats here.
(he gestures along the deck)
But it was thought... by some... that the deck would
look too cluttered. So I was over-ruled.
CAL
(slapping the side of a boat)
Waste of deck space as it is, on an unsinkable ship!
ANDREWS
Sleep soundly, young Rose. I have built you a good
ship, strong and true. She's all the lifeboat you need.
As they are passing Boat 7, a gentleman
turns from the rail and walks up behind the group. It is Jack. He
taps Rose on the arm and she turns, gasping. He motions and she cuts away
from the group toward a door which Jack holds open. They duck into the--
CUT TO:
Jack closes the door behind her, and glances out through the ripple-glass window to the starboard rail, where the gym instructor is chatting up the woman who was riding the bike. Rose and Jack are alone in the room.
ROSE
Jack, this is impossible. I can't see you.
He takes her by the shoulders.
JACK
Rose, you're no picnic... you're a spoiled brat
even, but under that you're a strong, pure heart, and
you're the most amazing astounding girl I've ever
known and--
ROSE
Jack I--
JACK
No wait. Let me try to get this out. You're amazing...
and I know I have nothing to offer you, Rose. I know
that. But I'm involved now. You jump, I jump,
remember? I can't turn away without knowin' you're
going to be alright.
Rose feels the tears coming to her
eyes. Jack is so open and real... not like anyone she has ever known.
ROSE
You're making this very hard. I'll be fine. Really.
JACK
I don't think so. They've got you in a glass jar like
some butterfly, and you're goin' to die it you don't
break out. Maybe not right away, 'cause you're
strong. But sooner or later the fire in you is goin' to
go out.
ROSE
It's not up to you to save me, Jack.
JACK
You're right. Only you can do that.
ROSE
I have to go back, they'll miss me. Please, Jack, for
both our sakes, leave me alone.
Rose runs out onto the deck. Jack watches
her go, through the rippled windows of the gymnasium.. like
a figure underwater.
CUT TO:
The most elegant room on the ship, done in Louis Quinze Versaille style. Rose sits on a divan, with a group of other women arrayed around her. Ruth, the Countess Rothes and Lady Duff-Gordon are taking tea. Rose is silent and still as a porcelain figurine as the conversation washes around her.
RUTH
Of course the invitations had to be sent back to the
printers twice. And the bridesmaids dresses! Let me
tell you what an odyssey that has been...
TRACKING SLOWLY IN on Rose as Ruth goes on.
REVERSE, ROSE'S POV: A tableau of MOTHER and DAUGHTER having tea. The four year old girl, wearing white gloves, daintily picking up a cookie. The mother correcting her on her posture, and the way she holds the teacup. The little girl trying so hard to please, her expression serious. A glimpse of Rose at that age, and we see the relentless conditioning... the path to becoming an Edwardian geisha.
ON ROSE. She calmly and deliberately turns her teacup over, spilling tea all over her dress.
ROSE
Oh, look what I've done.
CUT TO:
TITANIC STEAMS TOWARD US, in the dusk sky, as if lit by the embers of a giant fire. As the ship looms, FILLING FRAME, we push on the bow. Jack is there, right at the apex of the bow railing, his favorite spot. He closes his eyes, letting the chill wind clear his head.
Jack hears her voice, behind him...
ROSE
Hello, Jack.
He turns and she is standing there.
ROSE
I changed my mind.
He smiles at her, his eyes drinking her
in. Her cheeks are red with the chill wind, and her eyes sparkle.
Her hair blows wildly about her face.
ROSE
Fabrizio said you might be up --
JACK
Sssshh. Come here.
He puts his hands on her waist. As if he is going to kiss her.
JACK
Close your eyes.
She does, and he turns her to face forward,
the way the ship is going. He presses her gently to the rail, standing
right behind her. Then he takes her two hands and raises them until she
is standing with her arms outstretched on
each side. Rose is going along with him. When he lowers his hands, her
arms stay up... like wings.
JACK
Okay. Open them.
Rose gasps. There is nothing in her field
of vision but water. It's like there is no ship under them at all,
just the two of them soaring. The Atlantic unrolls
toward her, a hammered copper shield under a dusk sky.
There is only the wind, and the hiss of the water 50 feet below.
ROSE
I'm flying!
She
leans forward, arching her back. He puts his hands on her waist to steady
her.
JACK
(singing softly)
Come Josephine in my flying machine...
Rose closes her eyes, feeling herself
floating weightless far above the sea. She smiles dreamily, then
leans back, gently pressing her back against his
chest. He pushes forward slightly against her.
Slowly he raises his hands, arms outstretched, and they meet hers... fingertips gently touching. Then their fingers intertwine. Moving slowly, their fingers caress through and around each other like the bodies of two lovers.
Jack tips his face forward into her blowing hair, letting the scent of her wash over him, until his cheek is against her ear.
Rose turns her head until her lips are near his. She lowers her arms, turning further, until she finds his mouth with hers. He wraps his arms around her from behind, and they kiss like this with her head turned and tilted back, surrendering to him, to the emotion, to the inevitable. They kiss, slowly and tremulously, and then with building passion.
Jack and the ship seem to merge into one force
of power and optimism, lifting her, buoying her
forward on a magical journey, soaring onward
into a night without fear.
FLEET
Wish I had those bleedin' binoculars.
CUT TO:
OLD ROSE blinks, seeming to come back to the present. She sees the wreck on the screen, the sad ghost ship deep in the abyss.
ROSE
That was the last time the Titanic ever saw daylight.
Brock Lovett changes the tape in the minicassette recorder.
BROCK
So we're up to dusk on the night of the sinking. Six
hours to go.
BODINE
Don't you love it? There's Smith, he's standing there
with the iceberg warning in his fucking hand...
(remembering Rose)
... excuse me... in his hand, and he's ordering more
speed.
BROCK
26 years of experience working against him. He
figures anything big enough to sink the ship they're
going to see it in time to turn. But the ship's too big,
with too small a rudder... it can't corner worth shit.
Everything he knows is wrong.
ROSE is ignoring the conversation. She has the
art-nouveau comb with the jade butterfly on the
handle in her hands, turning it slowly. She is
watching a monitor, which shows the ruins of Suite
B-52/56. PUSH IN until the image fills frame.
TRANSITION:
... 1912. Like in a dream the beautiful woodwork and satin upholstery emerge from the rusted ruin. Jack is overwhelmed by the opulence of the room. He sets his sketchbook and drawing materials on the marble table.
ROSE
Will this light do? Don't artists need good light?
JACK
(bad French accent)
Zat is true, I am not used to working in such 'orreeble
conditions.
(seeing the paintings)
Hey... Monet!
He crouches next to the paintings stacked against the wall.
JACK
Isn't he great... the use of color? I saw him once...
through a hole in his garden fence in Givereny.
She goes into the adjoining walk-in wardrobe
closet. He sees her go to the safe and start working the combination. He's
fascinated.
ROSE
Cal insists on lugging this thing everywhere.
JACK
Should I be expecting him anytime soon?
ROSE
Not as long as the cigars and brandy hold out.
CLUNK! She unlocks the safe. Glancing
up, she meets his eyes in the mirror behind the safe. She opens
it and removes the necklace, then holds it out to Jack who takes it nervously.
JACK
What is it? A sapphire?
ROSE
A diamond. A very rare diamond, called the Heart of
the Ocean.
Jack gazes at wealth beyond his comprehension.
ROSE
I want you to draw me like your French girl. Wearing
this.
(she smiles at him)
Wearing only this.
He looks up and we
ROSE
The last thing I need is another picture of me looking
like a china doll. As a paying customer, I expect to
get what I want.
She hands him a dime and steps back, parting
the kimono. The blue stone lies on her creamy breast.
Her heart is pounding as she slowly lowers the robe.
Jack looks so stricken, it is almost comical. The kimono drops to the floor (this is all in cuts, lyrical).
ROSE
Tell me when it looks right to you.
She poses on the divan, settling like a
cat into the position we remember from the drawing... almost.
JACK
Uh... just bend your left leg a little and... and lower
your head. Eyes on me. That's it.
Jack starts to sketch. He drops his pencil and she stifles a laugh.
ROSE
I believe you are blushing, Mr. Big Artiste. I can't
imagine Monsieur Monet blushing.
JACK
(sweating)
He does landscapes.
TIGHT ON JACK as his eyes come up to look
at her over the top edge of his sketchpad. We have seen this image before,
in her memory. It is an image she will carry the rest of her life.
Despite his nervousness, he draws with sure strokes, and what emerges is the best thing he has ever done. Her pose is languid, her hands beautiful, and her eyes radiate her energy.
PUSH SLOWLY IN ON ROSE'S FACE...
TRANSITION:
MATCH DISSOLVE/MORPH to Rose, 101 years old. Only her eyes are the same.
OLD ROSE
My heart was pounding the whole time. It was the
most erotic moment of my life... up till then at least.
CUT TO REVERSE: A semicircle of listeners
staring in rapt, frozen silence. The story of Jack and
Rose has finally completely grabbed them.
BODINE
What, uh... happened next?
OLD ROSE
(smiling)
You mean, did we "do it"?
CUT TO:
BACK TO 1912. Jack is signing the drawing. Rose,
wearing her kimono again, is leaning on his
shoulder, watching.
OLD ROSE (V.O.)
Sorry to disappoint you Mr. Bodine.
Rose gazes at the drawing. He has X-rayed her soul.
ROSE
Date it, Jack. I want to always remember this night.
He does: 4/14/1912. Rose meanwhile scribbles
a note on a piece of Titanic stationary. We don't see what is says. She
accepts the drawing from him, and crosses to the safe in the wardrobe.
She puts the diamond back in the safe, placing the drawing and the note on top of it. Closes the door with a CLUNK!
CUT TO:
Lovejoy enters from the Palm Court through the
revolving door and crosses the room toward
Hockley. A fire is blazing in the marble fireplace,
and the usual fatcats are playing cards, drinking and talking.
Cal sees Lovejoy and detaches from his group, coming to him.
LOVEJOY
None of the stewards have seen her.
CAL
(low but forceful)
This is ridiculous, Lovejoy. Find her.
CUT TO:
TITANIC glides across an unnatural sea, black
and calm as a pool of oil. The ships lights are
mirrored almost perfectly in the black water.
The sky is brilliant with stars. A meteor traces a bright line
across the heavens.
LIGHTOLLER
I don't think I've ever seen such a flat calm, in 24
years at sea.
SMITH
Yes, like a mill pond. Not a breath of wind.
LIGHTOLLER
It'll make the bergs harder to see, with no breaking
water at the base.
SMITH
Mmmmm. Well, I'm off. Maintain speed and
heading, Mr. Lightoller.
LIGHTOLLER
Yes sir.
SMITH
And wake me, of course, if anything becomes in the
slightest degree doubtful.
CUT TO:
Rose, fully dressed now, returns to the sitting room. They hear a key in the lock. Rose takes Jacks hand and leads him silently through the bedrooms. Lovejoy enters by the sitting room door.
LOVEJOY
Miss Rose? Hello?
He hears a door opening and goes through Cal's room toward hers.
CUT TO:
Rose and Jack come out of her stateroom, closing the door. She leads him quickly along the corridor toward the B deck foyer. They are halfway across the open space when the sitting room door opens in the corridor and Lovejoy comes out. The valet sees Jack with Rose and hustles after them.
ROSE
Come on!
She and Jack break into a run, surprising
the few ladies and gentlemen about. Rose leads him past the stairs to the
bank of elevators. They run into one shocking the hell out of the OPERATOR.
ROSE
Take us down. Quickly, quickly!
The Operator scrambles to comply. Jack
even helps him close the steel gate. Lovejoy runs up as the lift starts
to descend. He slams one hand on the bars of the gate. Rose makes a very
rude and
unladylike gesture, and laughs as Lovejoy
disappears above. The Operator gapes at her.
CUT TO:
Lovejoy emerges from another lift and runs to the one Jack and Rose were in. The Operator is just closing the gate to go back up. Lovejoy runs around the bank of elevators and scans the foyer... no Jack and Rose. He tries the stairs going down to F-Deck.
CUT TO:
A functional space, with access to a number of machine spaces (fan rooms, boiler uptakes). Jack and Rose are leaning against the wall, laughing.
JACK
Pretty tough for a valet, this fella.
ROSE
He's an ex-Pinkerton. Cal's father hired him to keep
Cal out of trouble... to make sure he always got back
to the hotel with his wallet and watch, after some crawl
through the less reputable parts of town...
JACK
Kinda like what we're doin' right now-- uh oh!
Lovejoy has spotted them from a cross-corridor
nearby. He charges toward them. Jack and Rose run around a corner into
a blind alley. There is one door, marked CREW ONLY, and Jack flings it
open.
JACK
After you, m'lady.
CUT TO:
Jack and Rose come down the escape ladder and look around in amazement, It is like a vision of hell itself, with the roaring furnaces and black figures moving in the smoking glow. They run the length of the boiler room, dodging amazed stokers, and trimmers with their wheelbarrows of coal.
JACK
(shouting over the din)
Carry on! Don't mind us!
They run through the open watertight
door into BOILER ROOM SIX. Jack pulls her through the fiercely hot alley
between two boilers and they wind up in the dark, out of sight of the working
crew. Watching from the shadows, they
see the stokers working in the hellish glow, shoveling coal into the insatiable
maws of the furnaces. The whole place thunders with the roar of the fires.
CUT TO:
Amid unparalleled luxury, Cal sits at a card game, sipping brandy.
COLONEL GRACIE
We're going like hell I tell you. I have fifty dollars that
says we make it into New York Tuesday night!
Cal looks at his gold pocket watch, and scowls, not listening.
CUT TO:
The furnaces roar, silhouetting the glistening stokers. JACK kisses Rose's face, tasting the sweat trickling down from her forehead. They kiss passionately in the steamy, pounding darkness.
CUT TO:
Jack and Rose enter and run laughing between the rows of stacked cargo. She hugs herself against the cold, after the dripping heat of the boiler room.
They come upon William Carter's brand new RENAULT touring car, lashed down to a pallet. It looks like a royal coach from a fairy tale, it's brass trim and headlamps nicely set off by it's deep burgundy color.
Rose climbs into the plushly upholstered back seat, acting very royal. There are cut crystal bud vases on the walls back there, each containing a rose. Jack jumps into the driver's seat, enjoying the feel of the leather and wood.
JACK
Where to, Miss?
ROSE
To the stars.
ON JACK as her hands come out of the shadows
and pull him over the seat into the back. He lands next
to her, and his breath seems loud in the quiet darkness. He looks at her
and she is smiling. It is the moment of truth.
JACK
Are you nervous?
ROSE
Au contraire, mon cher.
He strokes her face, cherishing her. She kisses his artist's fingers.
ROSE
Put your hands on me Jack.
He kisses her, and she slides down the seat under his welcome weight.