DEAD POETS SOCIETY 7 страница

Charlie, I got it!

CHARLIE

Congratulations. Good for you, Neil.

Good for you.

Neil enters his room with Todd and sits down at his typewriter.

NEIL

Okay, okay, okay, okay.

TODD

Neil, how are you gonna do this?

NEIL

They need a letter of permission from my

father and Mr. Nolan.

TODD

You're not gonna write it.

NEIL

Oh yes, I am.

TODD

Oh, Neil. Neil, you're crazy.

Neil begins typing.

NEIL

Okay. " I am writing to you on behalf of

my son Neil Perry. "

Neil begins laughing and stomping his feet up and down.

NEIL

This is great.

EXT. CAMPUS - NIGHT

A lone bagpiper plays out on the dock.

INT. TODD'S ROOM - NIGHT

Todd is pacing circles about his room as he reads his poem. His

pacing slows and then he tears the poem up.

INT. KEATING'S CLASSROOM - DAY

Knox stands at the front of the room with his poem in hand.

KNOX

(quietly)

" To Chris. "

Charlie looks up from his desk with a grin.

BOY 1

Who's Chris?

BOY 2

Mmm, Chris.

KNOX

I see a sweetness in her smile.

Blight light shines from her eyes.

But life is complete; contentment is

mine,

Just knowing that...

Several students begin to snicker.

KNOX

just knowing that she's alive.

Knox crumples his poem and walks back to his desk.

KNOX

Sorry, Captain. It's stupid.

KEATING

No, no. It's not stupid. It's a good

effort. It touched on one of the major

themes, love. A major theme not only in

poetry, but life. Mr. Hopkins, you were

laughing. You're up.

Hopkins slowly walks to the front of the class and unfolds

his piece of paper.

HOPKINS

" The cat sat on the mat. "

KEATING

Congratulations, Mr. Hopkins. Yours is

the first poem to ever have a negative

score on the Pritchard scale. We're not

laughing at you, we're laughing near

you. I don't mind that your poem had a

simple theme. Sometimes the most

beautiful poetry can be about simple

things, like a cat, or a flower or rain.

You see, poetry can come from anything

with the stuff of revelation in it. Just

don't let your poems be ordinary. Now,

who's next?

Keating approaches Todd's desk.

KEATING

Mr. Anderson, I see you sitting there in

agony. Come on, Todd, step up. Let's put

you out of your misery.

TODD

I, I didn't do it. I didn't write a

poem.

KEATING

Mr. Anderson thinks that everything

inside of him is worthless and

embarrassing. Isn't that right, Todd?

Isn't that your worst fear? Well, I

think you're wrong. I think you have

something inside of you that is worth a

great deal.

Keating walks up to the blackboard and begins to write.

KEATING

" I sound my barbaric yawp over the

rooftops of the world. " W. W. Uncle Walt

again. Now, for those of you who don't

know, a yawp is a loud cry or yell. Now,

Todd, I would like you to give us a

demonstration of a barbaric " yawp. " Come

on. You can't yawp sitting down. Let's

go. Come on. Up.

Todd reluctantly stands and follows Keating to the front.

KEATING

You gotta get in " yawping" stance.

TODD

A yawp?

KEATING

No, not just a yawp. A barbaric yawp.

TODD

(quietly)

Yawp.

KEATING

Come on, louder.

TODD

(quietly)

Yawp.

KEATING

No, that's a mouse. Come on. Louder.

TODD

Yawp.

KEATING

Oh, good God, boy. Yell like a man!

TODD

(shouting)

Yawp!

KEATING

There it is. You see, you have a

barbarian in you, after all.

Todd goes to return to his seat but Keating stops him.

KEATING

Now, you don't get away that easy.

Keating turns Todd around and points out a picture on the wall.

KEATING

The picture of Uncle Walt up there. What

does he remind you of? Don't think.

Answer. Go on.

Keating begins to circle around Todd.

TODD

A m-m-madman.

KEATING

What kind of madman? Don't think about

it. Just answer again.

TODD

A c-crazy madman.

KEATING

No, you can do better than that. Free up

your mind. Use your imagination. Say the

first thing that pops into your head,

even if it's total gibberish. Go on, go

on.

TODD

Uh, uh, a sweaty-toothed madman.

KEATING

Good God, boy, there's a poet in you,

after all. There, close your eyes. Close

your eyes. Close 'em. Now, describe what

you see.

Keating puts his hands over Todd's eyes and they begin to slowly

spin around.

TODD

Uh, I-I close my eyes.

KEATING

Yes?

TODD

Uh, and this image floats beside me.

KEATING

A sweaty-toothed madman?

TODD

A sweaty-toothed madman with a stare

that pounds my brain.

KEATING

Oh, that's excellent. Now, give him

action. Make him do something.

TODD

H-His hands reach out and choke me.

KEATING

That's it. Wonderful. Wonderful.

Keating removes his hands from Todd but Todd keeps his eyes

closed.

TODD

And, and all the time he's mumbling.

KEATING

What's he mumbling?

TODD

M-Mumbling, " Truth. Truth is like, like

a blanket that always leaves your feet

cold. "

The students begin to laugh and Todd opens his eyes. Keating

quickly gestures for him to close them again.

KEATING

Forget them, forget them. Stay with the

blanket. Tell me about that blanket.

TODD

Y-Y-Y-You push it, stretch it, it'll

never be enough. You kick at it, beat

it, it'll never cover any of us. From

the moment we enter crying to the moment

we leave dying, it will just cover your

face as you wail and cry and scream.

Todd opens his eyes. The class is silent. Then they begin to clap

and cheer.

KEATING

(whispering to Todd)

Don't you forget this.

EXT. SOCCER FIELD - DAY

Keating's students are playing a soccer game. After they score the

winning goal they hoist Keating onto their shoulders and carry him

away.

INT. CAVE - DAY

The boys are all sitting around the cave lighting their pipes.

CHARLIE

Attaboy, Pittsie, inhale deeply.

MEEKS

My dad collects a lot of pipes.

CHARLIE

Really? Mine's got thirty.

PITTS

Your parents collect pipes? Oh, that's

really interesting.

CHARLIE

Come on, Knox. Join in.

MEEKS

Yeah, Knox, we're from the government.

We're here to help, man.

CHARLIE

What's wrong?

PITTS

It's Chris. Here's a picture of Chris

for you.

Pitts holds up a centerfold.

MEEKS

Smoke that. Put that in your pipe and

smoke it.

KNOX

That's not funny.

CHARLIE

Knock it off. Smoke your pipes.

MEEKS

Neil!

Neil enters the cave carrying a beat up light stand.

NEIL

Friend, scholar, Welton men.

MEEKS

What is that, Neil?

PITTS

Duh. It's a lamp, Meeks.

Neil removes the shade from the lamp, revealing the shape of a man

as the base of the lamp.

NEIL

No. This is the god of the cave.

MEEKS

The god of the cave.

Charlie begins making loud noises with his saxophone.

PITTS

Charlie, what are you doing?

CHARLIE

What do you say we start this meeting?

BOY 1

Y-Yeah, just-- I need a light. I just

gotta-

BOY 2

Got my earplugs?

Charlie stands up and clears his throat.

CHARLIE

Gentlemen, " Poetrusic" by Charles

Dalton.

Charlie begins playing erratic notes on the sexophone.

MEEKS

Oh, no.

CHARLIE

Laughing, crying, tumbling, mumbling.

Gotta do more. Gotta be more.

Charlie plays more erratic sounds.

CHARLIE

Chaos screaming, chaos dreaming. Gotta

do more! Gotta be more!

Charlie starts to play a real tune on the saxophone.

MEEKS

Wow!

PITTS

That was nice. That was great. Where did

you learn to play like that?

CHARLIE

My parents made me take the clarinet for

years.

CAMERON

I love the clarinet.

CHARLIE

I hated it. The saxophone. The saxophone

is more sonorous.

CAMERON

Ooh.

MEEKS

Vocabulary.

Knox jumps up.

KNOX

I can't take it anymore. If I don't have

Chris, I'm gonna kill myself.

CHARLIE

Knoxious, you've gotta calm down.

KNOX

No, Charlie. That's just my problem.

I've been calm all my life. I'll do

something about that.

NEIL

Where are you going?

CHARLIE

What are you gonna do?

KNOX

I'm gonna call her.

Knox begins to chuckle as he leaves the cave. The others

quickly grab their coats to follow him. Charlie goes back to

playing noise on his saxophone again.

INT. HALLWAY - DAY

Knox is making a call from the payphone.

CHRIS (O. S. )

Hello?

Knox immediately hangs up and looks at the other boys who are

all gathered around him.

KNOX

She's gonna hate me. The Danburrys will