EXT PIAZZA DEL POPOLO DUSKLangdon dashes down the stairs outside the church and into the
middle of the piazza. It's getting dark now, shadows streaking
the square.
LANGDON
Southwest... it points southwest...
He gets his bearings, looks to the southwest, sees nothing but
buildings in the way.
He runs back up the church steps, where Vittoria and Rocher are
just coming outside. Langdon's mind is racing.
LANGDON (cont'd)
Earth-air-fire-water, we're looking
for a Bernini sculpture having
something to do with air...
(to Rocher)
And the next church is southwest of
here.
ROCHER
You're sure this time?
LANGDON
I need a map. One that shows all
the churches in Rome.
Rocher just stares at him, studying him.
LANGDON (cont'd)
I could use it now.
Rocher starts down the steps toward his car.
LANGDON (cont'd)
And a compass!
He looks around, sees the rickety scaffolding outside the church,
and ---
53.
A MOMENT LATER,
--- he climbs into our view, now on the scaffolding. He's moving
upward, fast, toward ---
EXT CHURCH ROOF DUSK
--- the roof of the old church, also undergoing renovation. The
view of Rome is spectacular from up here, and Langdon rushes to
the western wall, looking intently off in that direction.
He sees something that makes him suck in his breath, hears a voice
from behind him ---
VITTORIA (O.S.)
Robert!
--- and turns as Vittoria tosses something small and black up to
him.
A compass. He catches it, holds it steady, and walks toward the
edge of the roof as the compass needle swivels and settles on SW.
Langdon looks up, following the line of the needle, up over the
rooftops of Rome, to a massive structure in the distance, exactly
in line with the compass needle.
A huge dome on the horizon blots out the setting sun.
ST. PETER'S BASILICA.
CUT TO:
INT CAR NIGHT
CLOSE ON a map of Rome, unfolded in the back seat of a racing car
and spread out over Langdon and Vittoria's laps. Langdon has a
pen and is drawing a line on the map, through --
LANGDON
The black rectangles with crosses are
churches, and none of them intersect
the line until it comes to an end,
right in the middle of St. Peter's
Square.
Night has fallen, and the four Alfa Romeos are now speeding across
Rome. No sirens, but lots of speed. Olivetti drives, Rocher
is in the passenger seat.
54.
ROCHER
Your theory doesn't hold up,
Professor. Michelangelo designed
St. Peter's, not Bernini.
LANGDON
The Basilica is Michelangelo, but the
square is Bernini. The second
marker must be a statue in the square.
VITTORIA
It's ten minutes till nine! Can we
go any faster?!
ROCHER
Not unless we want the full attention
of the world press.
She looks down, to two television screens mounted into the backs
of the front seats. Both are tuned to coverage of the papal
selection process, REPORTERS doing stand-ups from the middle of
crowded St. Peter's Square.
We move in on one of the images, then into the image, coming out -
CUT TO:
EXT ST. PETER'S SQUARE NIGHT
--- on a television monitor in St. Peter's Square. The Reporter, a
JAPANESE WOMAN, is giving a stand-up report on the progress so
far, gesturing to the chimney over the Sistine Chapel.
The crowd has grown, now four thousand, maybe five. FLASHBULBS
POP. A few PROTESTERS CHANT.
Almost silently, behind them all, half a dozen black Alfa Romeos
race in, too fast, and come to an abrupt halt.
IN ROCHER'S CAR,
they all get out, trying to avoid causing a panic.
Langdon walks into the square, eyes focused on an object in the
middle.
LANGDON
Another obelisk. We're close.
He looks up, at row after row of statues that ring the square from
atop the oval colonnades.
SHARPSHOOTERS scurry among the statuary, setting themselves up.
55.
In the crowd, Rocher MUTTERS into his radio and to undercover
SWISS GUARD scattered throughout. The crowd is unaware of them.
Langdon keeps walking, turning in circles, looking above him, to
the tops of the colonnades that border the square.
VITTORIA
There must be a hundred statues up
there, which one is it?
LANGDON
How in God's name would anyone make a
sculpture about air?
And indeed there are. Langdon looks at his watch. Two
minutes to nine.
And then he freezes. Staring down, not up.
He takes a step back. There is a fresco carved into the square
beneath his feet, or more accurately --
LANGDON (cont'd)
Bas relief!
He takes a step back, to look at the carving, as does Vittoria.
LANGDON (cont'd)
The other half of sculpture is bas
relief.
(to Vittoria)
Look for more! Something having to
do with air!
They move through the crowd, pushing people aside, causing a bit
of a ruckus as they try to uncover the elaborate carvings in the
stone of the square.
(IF WE ARE EAGLE-EYED, at this point we will see TWO ROBED MEN,
one helping the other, who carries a cross, as they pass through
the crowd behind Langdon.)
Remembering something, Langdon rushes forward, toward the center
of the square, uncharacteristically brusque with the crowd,
shoving his way through now.
He draws close to one carving in particular, slows to a stop, and
stares down at it, eyes wide.
It's a carving of an angel's face, cheeks billowing outward as it
blows a gust of wind, symbolized by five vertical streaks. Its
title is ---
56.
LANGDON (cont'd)
"West Ponente." The West Wind. An
angel's face and five streaks. Air!
So this is it, but now what? They look around frantically,
scanning the crowd. So does Rocher, so does Olivetti. The
BELLS of St. Peter's start to TOLL the hour.
NEARBY,
a LITTLE GIRL dances with a doll. Happily unaware of what's
going on.
ELSEWHERE,
some PROTESTERS tangle. Some believe one thing, others don't.
Swiss Guard and Vatican Police race in to break it up. But there's
no bloodshed.
CLOSE TO THAT,
a ROBED MAN carrying a small wooden cross falls to the ground.
Somebody near him SCREAMS.
NEARBY,
the Little Girl is jostled by a HOMELESS MAN, drops her doll.
THE ROBED MAN
is helped to his feet by the Police. He's fine. He wanders
away, holding his cross high.
And as he passes us, we catch just a glimpse of his face ---
--and recognize Mr. Gray.
THE LITTLE GIRL
bends down, picks up her doll, and sees --
-- IT'S COVERED IN BLOOD.
She looks down at the ground, sees a trail of blood, follows it
with her eyes to where ---
-- the Homeless Man, dressed in torn rags, leans against a
fountain, gasping for breath.
ACROSS THE CROWD,
57.
Vittoria and Langdon hear the SCREAMS. They're closest, and
they're at the fountain in just a few seconds.
Langdon drops to his knees, turns the Homeless Man over.
Through the man's torn shirt, he can see a black and red brand
burned into his chest.
Three letters, ornate script, reading the same front to back:
AIR.
Vittoria grabs his arm, feels for a pulse.
VITTORIA
He's still alive!
But the dying Cardinal is gasping for breath, his mouth opening
and closing like a fish on a dock.
She bends down, arches his neck, closes her mouth over his, and
blows air into his lungs.
Immediately, a fog of red mist BILLOWS from two puncture holes in
the man's chest, covering Langdon in blood --- his face, his
clothes.
VITTORIA (cont'd)
His chest! They punctured his lungs!
Langdon recoils in horror, overcome, completely out of his depth.
Rocher arrives, as does Olivetti, as do a DOZEN MORE SWISS GUARD
and VATICAN POLICE. Rocher looks around, defeated and enraged,
as the Cardinal expires and the Crowd panics, fleeing in all
directions.
He presses his radio to his lips and keys the mic.
ROCHER
Clear the square.
CUT TO:
INT BATHROOM NIGHT
Blood and water swirl down a drain. Langdon looks up from the
sink, water rushing from his face. He dries himself, looks in the
mirror. He holds up his hands. They're shaking.
He's standing in a lavish marble bathroom, now cleaned up and
changed into black pants and a black long-sleeved shirt. No
Roman collar, they don't just give you those, but clearly the
clothes of a priest. He steps out of the bathroom and into ---
58.
Date: 2015-12-18; view: 512
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