revised - semi-finished script
Rough Script/Shotlist for Dikaios
written by Tyler Henry
(c)2005, Tyler Henry
CHORUS (sung slowly, amelodically, like a Gregorian chant):
A Dead Calm
Plagues this ocean;
A wraith –
Sent by God –
To haunt mortal man –
There is no resolution.
Alternatively:
This sea
Plagued by winds no man can quell
Only God in vengeance
Blood must be spilled
[general lines to re-translate from original Aeschylus:
“Suffer into Truth” (l. 179)
“There comes a violent love” (l. 184)
(l. 190 -):
“and the squadrons
rowed in the shallows off Chalkis
where the riptide crashes, drags,
and winds from the north
pinned down our hulls
at Aulis,
port of anguish…
head winds starving,
sheets and the cables snapped
and the men’s minds strayed,
the pride, the bloom of Greece
was raked as time ground on,
ground down…
it all comes clear with the light of day…”]
CHORUS:
Nay –
A strong head wind
Prevents their every movement –
They waste their strength
A final test
“Pain both ways and which is worse” (re-translate)
CHORUS:
I can see the water lash their oars,
The wind whip back their proffered sails –
Nature will not
Break way
Without blood –
I can see
That now –
Long shot of CALCHAS limping far on beach. Long take, telephoto – is walking but not getting closer. Cut to his feet dragging on the beach, hurriedly, strenuously, madly. Cut to close up of his face – his eyes are white, no pupils at all – he is obviously blind. CALCHAS is out of breath, we hear and see – camera spins to reveal close up of AGAMEMNON. Beard. Gray-brown hair. Worried face, bent eyebrows. CALCHAS gropes for his face. As he does AGAMEMNON says slowly –
AGAMEMNON:
Calchas –
The brazen –
He who sees more than man himself,
I fear your approach.
I dread the approach of truth –
For what is to be feared more?
Calchas –
He who speaks of dreams come alive –
I have not but feared you in my own dreams.
Tell me!
I must have truth!
Oh, but pain upon pain is all I can see.
It stands in front of me, breathing as a man must do –
Though he may not want but to quell it.
Heavy are my heart and hand.
Vengeance cuts my mind in two –
I command you,
Blind seer –
Speak!
[Pause]
CALCHAS:
You prophesize well, King – Father –
Agamemnon –
Leader of the Argive fleet –
Borne of the blood of Atreus!
AGAMEMNON:
How I shudder to hear!...
CALCHAS:
…I see…
AGAMEMNON:
What? Tell me what you see,
for it is I who am blind to the will of these winds.
CALCHAS:
…Eagles!...
They devour a hare, and her unborn offspring –
Helpless it is and so are we.
AGAMEMNON:
The hare of which you speak… who…?
CALCHAS:
Fine,
Yet untouched
By man,
Do you not hear its screams?
They are your own,
King of Argos –
[Pause]
…Father of Iphigenia!
AGAMEMNON:
No! Tell me I am mad!
Tell me it is not so!
Tell me that I do not understand -
What horrible vision!
CALCHAS:
It is as you know it to be!
The seer only looks upon what is,
King.
The winds –
Artemis –
Thirsts for blood – pure and holy.
Sacrifice your beloved daughter or we shall not leave
this place by sail, but in the winged arms of Death –
he – the sole bird to fly without wind.
Cut to AGAMEMNON.
AGAMEMNON:
Oo!
Is there no law but this?
This is the rule of Death –
Sweet! - innocence!
How can I?
How must I?
How, I ask!
Tell me, seer!
CALCHAS remains silent, is gone.
AGAMEMNON is alone.
Cut - like cut at end of 2001 where Dave grows old by looking at himself – he hears footsteps – splashing, wet footsteps – he looks up and sees faraway on the mountain by the ocean – himself – climbing (like the dance of Death scene at the end of Seventh Seal) – leading Iphigenia – both dressed in white, silhouetted against the sky, dark – He leads her like death.
Footsteps. Footsteps of AGAMEMNON intercut with footsteps of IPHIGENIA.
Footsteps. Heartbeats. Breathing in. Breathing in.
Drumming.
AGAMEMNON's feet on the rocks, looking out over the ocean.
IPHIGENIA's feet behind his, medium shot, calves down. Close up of feet taking steps. Intercut: AGAMEMNON steps down, cut to IPHIGENIA's foot hitting the rock. As she picks up her foot, cut to AGAMEMNON's foot lifting off the rock. Cycle these cuts three times (with same footage - repeating the same mistakes over and over - walking without getting anywhere). Cut to Rock jutting out of ocean, waves hitting its side, against a dark sky. Cut to rock jutting out of rock. Cut to bright sky.
CHORUS:
[in varying pitches, threateningly]
Ooohhh!
AGAMEMNON:
They say it is through my anguish that I may reach God.
They say it is through my rage,
my fury,
that I may exact punishment.
They say...
IPHIGENIA:
They say it is your arrogance, King, that divides us.
[Pause. They look at each other.]
[incriminatingly]
This is your punishment.
This burning flame within you - it consumes your core,
your limbs
spasm in pain.
From the inside out in devours you -
Until you no longer are, but
are you God.
AGAMEMNON:
Oh, what heat! This fire!
IPHIGENIA:
Take the dagger in your hand and slice the breast of I,
your holy daughter.
Catch me in your talons!
Rip my flesh!
Let the fire in you burn through my cold corpse until
I am a memory -
fixed
like a dagger
in your thoughts -
The hilt in your throat,
choking your words,
strangling your will.
Oh, pitiless inaction!
Oh, tormented seas and rigid, stone-cut stones!
Let God take hold, Father!
Let her clench her iron talons into your fist and guide
your calloused hand!
To my innocent, beating heart -
Fly your dagger!
[whispered]
And cease this breath.
CHORUS:
Oh, to hear her speak!
We shut our ears and
locked our minds!
Words, like daggers
fell from her lips,
full of fate,
full of truth!
Oh, too full!
[menacingly]
Gag her so that she may not curse the house of the King!
[penitently]
May the suffering end here -
May we have suffered into truth!
AGAMEMNON's mind races as he searches for feeling. The tempest within him churns his thoughts into confusion, and he feels as if he is standing outside himself, an onlooker. Point of view shot of his hands, facing up both toward the camera and toward the sky - below are the treacherous cliffs and the oceans. Pull focus? Counter-shot (from his hands POV), looking up at his face, silhouetted against the cloudy sky. His features are twisted, his pain visible. Counter shot looking down, but this time at IPHIGENIA, gagged on the rock, jutting out from rocks. (Ocean in back?) This time his hands hover above her frame, shivering. We see IPHIGENIA's eyes. They are wild with fear.
AGAMEMNON:
What part of this child is mine?
[cut to medium shot of AGAMEMNON kneeling in front
of IPHIGENIA's rock-altar, his hands hovering above her]
What am I to give her away?
What portion can I sacrifice?
What can I extinguish if not all?
To sacrifice - to murder.
To whom?
[growing in intensity]
To what?!
What god commands this of me?!
Can they not see?
Are they blind to the pain of man?
[softly, almost whispered]
Yet it is my pain that spurs me.
A force drives -
of which I am not king.
Nor father.
From my core it feeds upon these very limbs -
[shot of hand and arm over IPHIGENIA]
it sits in my marrow,
and courses in my blood.
While I am doomed to starve.
How cruel this fate.
How cruel this blood.
[removed from himself, in trance]
Action upon action.
Inaction upon inaction.
My mind brays wildly, freed -
from its former grave.
Something within me speaks -
I hear it against my tongue.
It grasps -
[as if surprised]
my hands!
[shot of his hand, holding dagger pointed down,
IPHIGENIA looking at dagger (and camera)]
Oh, it is not I who slay my daughter!
Let God see that I beg!
May this be the end of retribution!
May Troy fall by this hand alone -
and from its ruins come resolution!
BLACK
(c) 2005, Tyler Henry
written by Tyler Henry
(c)2005, Tyler Henry
CHORUS (sung slowly, amelodically, like a Gregorian chant):
A Dead Calm
Plagues this ocean;
A wraith –
Sent by God –
To haunt mortal man –
There is no resolution.
Alternatively:
This sea
Plagued by winds no man can quell
Only God in vengeance
Blood must be spilled
[general lines to re-translate from original Aeschylus:
“Suffer into Truth” (l. 179)
“There comes a violent love” (l. 184)
(l. 190 -):
“and the squadrons
rowed in the shallows off Chalkis
where the riptide crashes, drags,
and winds from the north
pinned down our hulls
at Aulis,
port of anguish…
head winds starving,
sheets and the cables snapped
and the men’s minds strayed,
the pride, the bloom of Greece
was raked as time ground on,
ground down…
it all comes clear with the light of day…”]
CHORUS:
Nay –
A strong head wind
Prevents their every movement –
They waste their strength
A final test
“Pain both ways and which is worse” (re-translate)
CHORUS:
I can see the water lash their oars,
The wind whip back their proffered sails –
Nature will not
Break way
Without blood –
I can see
That now –
Long shot of CALCHAS limping far on beach. Long take, telephoto – is walking but not getting closer. Cut to his feet dragging on the beach, hurriedly, strenuously, madly. Cut to close up of his face – his eyes are white, no pupils at all – he is obviously blind. CALCHAS is out of breath, we hear and see – camera spins to reveal close up of AGAMEMNON. Beard. Gray-brown hair. Worried face, bent eyebrows. CALCHAS gropes for his face. As he does AGAMEMNON says slowly –
AGAMEMNON:
Calchas –
The brazen –
He who sees more than man himself,
I fear your approach.
I dread the approach of truth –
For what is to be feared more?
Calchas –
He who speaks of dreams come alive –
I have not but feared you in my own dreams.
Tell me!
I must have truth!
Oh, but pain upon pain is all I can see.
It stands in front of me, breathing as a man must do –
Though he may not want but to quell it.
Heavy are my heart and hand.
Vengeance cuts my mind in two –
I command you,
Blind seer –
Speak!
[Pause]
CALCHAS:
You prophesize well, King – Father –
Agamemnon –
Leader of the Argive fleet –
Borne of the blood of Atreus!
AGAMEMNON:
How I shudder to hear!...
CALCHAS:
…I see…
AGAMEMNON:
What? Tell me what you see,
for it is I who am blind to the will of these winds.
CALCHAS:
…Eagles!...
They devour a hare, and her unborn offspring –
Helpless it is and so are we.
AGAMEMNON:
The hare of which you speak… who…?
CALCHAS:
Fine,
Yet untouched
By man,
Do you not hear its screams?
They are your own,
King of Argos –
[Pause]
…Father of Iphigenia!
AGAMEMNON:
No! Tell me I am mad!
Tell me it is not so!
Tell me that I do not understand -
What horrible vision!
CALCHAS:
It is as you know it to be!
The seer only looks upon what is,
King.
The winds –
Artemis –
Thirsts for blood – pure and holy.
Sacrifice your beloved daughter or we shall not leave
this place by sail, but in the winged arms of Death –
he – the sole bird to fly without wind.
Cut to AGAMEMNON.
AGAMEMNON:
Oo!
Is there no law but this?
This is the rule of Death –
Sweet! - innocence!
How can I?
How must I?
How, I ask!
Tell me, seer!
CALCHAS remains silent, is gone.
AGAMEMNON is alone.
Cut - like cut at end of 2001 where Dave grows old by looking at himself – he hears footsteps – splashing, wet footsteps – he looks up and sees faraway on the mountain by the ocean – himself – climbing (like the dance of Death scene at the end of Seventh Seal) – leading Iphigenia – both dressed in white, silhouetted against the sky, dark – He leads her like death.
Footsteps. Footsteps of AGAMEMNON intercut with footsteps of IPHIGENIA.
Footsteps. Heartbeats. Breathing in. Breathing in.
Drumming.
AGAMEMNON's feet on the rocks, looking out over the ocean.
IPHIGENIA's feet behind his, medium shot, calves down. Close up of feet taking steps. Intercut: AGAMEMNON steps down, cut to IPHIGENIA's foot hitting the rock. As she picks up her foot, cut to AGAMEMNON's foot lifting off the rock. Cycle these cuts three times (with same footage - repeating the same mistakes over and over - walking without getting anywhere). Cut to Rock jutting out of ocean, waves hitting its side, against a dark sky. Cut to rock jutting out of rock. Cut to bright sky.
CHORUS:
[in varying pitches, threateningly]
Ooohhh!
AGAMEMNON:
They say it is through my anguish that I may reach God.
They say it is through my rage,
my fury,
that I may exact punishment.
They say...
IPHIGENIA:
They say it is your arrogance, King, that divides us.
[Pause. They look at each other.]
[incriminatingly]
This is your punishment.
This burning flame within you - it consumes your core,
your limbs
spasm in pain.
From the inside out in devours you -
Until you no longer are, but
are you God.
AGAMEMNON:
Oh, what heat! This fire!
IPHIGENIA:
Take the dagger in your hand and slice the breast of I,
your holy daughter.
Catch me in your talons!
Rip my flesh!
Let the fire in you burn through my cold corpse until
I am a memory -
fixed
like a dagger
in your thoughts -
The hilt in your throat,
choking your words,
strangling your will.
Oh, pitiless inaction!
Oh, tormented seas and rigid, stone-cut stones!
Let God take hold, Father!
Let her clench her iron talons into your fist and guide
your calloused hand!
To my innocent, beating heart -
Fly your dagger!
[whispered]
And cease this breath.
CHORUS:
Oh, to hear her speak!
We shut our ears and
locked our minds!
Words, like daggers
fell from her lips,
full of fate,
full of truth!
Oh, too full!
[menacingly]
Gag her so that she may not curse the house of the King!
[penitently]
May the suffering end here -
May we have suffered into truth!
AGAMEMNON's mind races as he searches for feeling. The tempest within him churns his thoughts into confusion, and he feels as if he is standing outside himself, an onlooker. Point of view shot of his hands, facing up both toward the camera and toward the sky - below are the treacherous cliffs and the oceans. Pull focus? Counter-shot (from his hands POV), looking up at his face, silhouetted against the cloudy sky. His features are twisted, his pain visible. Counter shot looking down, but this time at IPHIGENIA, gagged on the rock, jutting out from rocks. (Ocean in back?) This time his hands hover above her frame, shivering. We see IPHIGENIA's eyes. They are wild with fear.
AGAMEMNON:
What part of this child is mine?
[cut to medium shot of AGAMEMNON kneeling in front
of IPHIGENIA's rock-altar, his hands hovering above her]
What am I to give her away?
What portion can I sacrifice?
What can I extinguish if not all?
To sacrifice - to murder.
To whom?
[growing in intensity]
To what?!
What god commands this of me?!
Can they not see?
Are they blind to the pain of man?
[softly, almost whispered]
Yet it is my pain that spurs me.
A force drives -
of which I am not king.
Nor father.
From my core it feeds upon these very limbs -
[shot of hand and arm over IPHIGENIA]
it sits in my marrow,
and courses in my blood.
While I am doomed to starve.
How cruel this fate.
How cruel this blood.
[removed from himself, in trance]
Action upon action.
Inaction upon inaction.
My mind brays wildly, freed -
from its former grave.
Something within me speaks -
I hear it against my tongue.
It grasps -
[as if surprised]
my hands!
[shot of his hand, holding dagger pointed down,
IPHIGENIA looking at dagger (and camera)]
Oh, it is not I who slay my daughter!
Let God see that I beg!
May this be the end of retribution!
May Troy fall by this hand alone -
and from its ruins come resolution!
BLACK
(c) 2005, Tyler Henry
posted by Sturgeon General at 12:37 AM
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