荒岛余生剧本CastAway.doc

Cast Away (2000)
by William Broyles.
Third draft, March 13, 1998.

FADE IN:

EXT. MARFA, TEXAS - 1993 - WIDE - DAY

The Texas plains, horizon to horizon, nothing but the browns
and ochres of earth and the blue and violet of the sky. The
sheer scope of it sinks in: the blank slate of nature, the
absence of man. On the screen superimpose:

MARFA, TEXAS, 1993.

CREDITS BEGIN.

A plume of dust comes into frame. The dust is from a TRUCK,
orange and white and violet, with "FedEx" blazoned across the
side.

The truck turns into a collection of ramshackle World War II
era Quonset huts and outbuildings. Around the outbuildings
are large sculptures of wood and metal.

EXT. QUONSET HUT - DAY

The door is opened by a WOMAN in her late twenties. Hair
pulled back, casual, an artist. She hands the DRIVER a FedEx
BOX which is decorated with a drawing of two ANGEL WINGS.
The Driver has a hand-held computer; a portable printer
dangles from his belt.

The Driver scans the package with his hand-held computer,
prints out a label and sticks it on the Box, ready to go.
But something on the box catches her eye. She wants it back.
He glances at his watch. She draws RINGS around the Wings,
uniting them. She gives the box to the Driver, then hands
him a cup of coffee. They've done this before.

He takes a sip of the coffee, then runs for the truck. He
jumps in and heads back onto the plains.

EXT. FEDEX OFFICE - MIDLAND/ODESSA - NIGHT - HOURS LATER

The Driver jams the distinctive Angel Wing Box on top of a
dolly and loads it into a CONTAINER with clear plastic sides.
A female Loader slaps a large bar code label on the
container, scans it, then pulls the container across a belt
of rollers onto a larger truck. The doors of the truck
close. The latch slams down.

A forklift hoists the container to the cargo doors of a 737.

EXT. MEMPHIS AIRPORT SUPERHUB - NIGHT

The 737 lands.

EXT. SUPERHUB - NIGHT - MINUTES LATER

One of a seemingly endless line of FedEx planes, our 737
taxis to a gate at the FedEx SUPERHUB. The Hub is a vast
living organism -- loud, complex, overwhelming, as much a
symbol of modern life as was the factory in Modern Times.

Five thousand people work in a frenzy of interconnected
activity inside three vast hangers brightly lit. Hundreds of
forklifts and cargo-pullers dart about, their headlights
crisscrossing like a laser show.

Loaders quickly roll the container onto a FORKLIFT.

INT. MEMPHIS SUPERHUB - NIGHT

The forklift speeds inside one of the hangers to a LOADING
BELT, where our Box is spilled into a Mississippi River of
packages, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of them, all shapes and
sizes, from shoe boxes to engine blocks. Large mechanical
arms divert the immense flow of Workers at dozens of
stations. The packages surge and move.

The Workers place the packages label-side-up on new belts,
where they're scanned by laser readers. Picking up speed our
Box is shunted across the acres of interlocking belts.

The Box ends up in a much larger CONTAINER labeled CDG.

EXT. MEMPHIS SUPERHUB - NIGHT

A forklift lifts the Container to a door on a giant MD-11.

INT. GLOBAL OPERATIONS CENTER - NIGHT

A jumbled room jammed with computers and dominated by a HUGE
WALL GRAPHIC that charts hundreds of airplanes. An Operator
moves a yellow strip labeled Jumbo 12 across the board.

EXT. CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT - DAY

SERIES OF SHOTS

The giant place touches down in Paris. The Angel Wing Box
moves quickly on another belt and disappears into another
CONTAINER, which is loaded onto still another AIRPLANE.

EXT. ST. PETERSBURG AIRPORT, RUSSIA - NIGHT

The plane lands. The container is unloaded down a belt. We
see our Angel Box. Directly in front of it is a DENTED BOX.

INT. ST. PETERSBURG FEDEX OFFICE, RUSSIA

SERIES OF SHOTS

Night. The manic activity has come to a dead stop. Our two
Boxes sit on a table in a corner not far from a small
Christmas tree.

Daylight now. YURI, a Supervisor, saunters over, picks up
the Angel Box, sees an attractive co-worker, puts it down.

Night again. A cat walks by the table where our two Boxes
have come to rest.

EXT. ST. PETERSBURG FEDEX OFFICE - DAY

A FedEx truck pulls out of the warehouse. The walls of the
warehouse are covered with graffiti. The streets are slushy,
the buildings blanketed in snow.

EXT. ST. PETERSBURG - DAY

The Driver sits in the truck drinking tea. He takes a last
sip, sighs, gets out with the Angel Box. Walks slowly toward
an APARTMENT HOUSE.

EXT. ST. PETERSBURG APARTMENT HOUSE - MOMENTS LATER

A beautiful young RUSSIAN WOMAN opens the door. A young
AMERICAN MAN comes up behind her, signs the form and takes
the Angel Box. We see Christmas decorations inside. The
woman puts her arms around him as the door closes.

RUSSIAN WOMAN (O.S.)
(accented English)
It's pretty. Who is it from?

AMERICAN MAN (O.S.)
My wife.

We stay with the Driver as he ambles back toward the truck.

EXT. ST. PETERSBURG OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER

The Driver has just delivered the Dented Box to ALEKSEI,
Russian Businessman, who closes the door of a Czarist-era
building. Aleksei checks his watch, picks up the phone.

EXT. FEDEX OFFICES - MANILA - DAY

CHUCK NOLAND, early thirties, walks along a line of brightly
colored jitneys, each bearing the FedEx logo. With him is a
Filipino FedEx SUPERVISOR wearing a guayabera. Chuck
glistens with a thin layer of sweat.

CHUCK
My guess is we're talking fuel filters
here, Fernando. The gas is dirty, these
jitneys get in the mountains, their
engines cut out.

FERNANDO
That could lose us half an hour.

CHUCK
Easy. Each way.

His beeper goes off.

INT. FEDEX OFFICES - MANILA - DAY - MOMENTS LATER

Chuck is on the phone.

CHUCK
So it finally turned up...

Chuck hesitates for a moment, then looks at his watch.

CHUCK
I'll catch the sweep tonight.

INT. FEDEX PLANE - NIGHT

Strapped into the jump seat behind the pilots, Chuck sleeps
with a mask over his eyes. On his lap are some travel
brochures. We see sailboats, we see the Florida keys.

EXT. ST. PETERSBURG FEDEX OFFICES - DAY

Christmas in Russia. Snow everywhere. Brightly colored
lights. Chucks gets out of a Volga with Aleksei. He has a
bag over his shoulder, the dented package under one arm.

INT. FEDEX OFFICES - DAY

The staff has assembled near the loading dock. Yuri the
station manager stands in front, occasionally catching the
eye of the attractive woman. Chuck displays the FedEx box.

CHUCK
It took this test package thirty-two
hours to get from Seattle to St.
Petersburg, a distance of nine thousand
miles. And then it took forty-one hours
to get from our warehouse in St.
Petersburg to here, a distance of,
what --

ALEKSEI
Six kilometers. Four miles.

CHUCK
So how are we going to get this place
shaped up?

There's a muttered chorus of answers.

CHUCK
There's only one way. We have to work
together. Every one of us depends on
everyone else. If one package is late,
we are all late. If one truck misses the
deadline, we all miss the deadline.
Let's start by taking a look around.

Chuck leads his team through the sorting area. Yuri squeezes
right next to him, ostentatiously carrying a clipboard.
Chuck stops.

CHUCK
Here, this table is too far from the
wall. Packages can slip down...like...
(pulls out a package from
behind a table)
...this.

He hefts the package, as if trying to guess what's inside.

CHUCK
What could be in here? Let's say one of
you sent it. Could be the closing papers
on your dacha, could be a toy for your
grandson's birthday, could be a kidney to
keep your mother alive. I don't think
you want your mother's kidney to end up
behind a table.

The Sorter shoves the table against the wall. Yuri says
something to the Translator.

TRANSLATOR
He says they have been very busy. It is
hard to get good employees. He is sure
you understand.

Wrong answer: Chuck glances sharply at Yuri. Aleksei
appears with a cellular phone.

ALEKSEI
Phone call. Malaysia.

Chuck takes the phone, opening his BAG as he does so.

CHUCK
Kamal? Right. I'm getting them.

He pulls out a set of blueprints and tacks them to a bulletin
board as he talks.

CHUCK
I'm looking at the blueprints of K.L.
right now. The belts are too small for
the sorters. Yeah, sometimes you never
see what's right in front of your face.
Look, it's --

Chuck keeps an eye on what is going on in the warehouse.
Then he notices something over by one of the trucks.

CHUCK
(to a loader)
Hold it! Hazardous material needs its
own container!
(back on the phone)
-- three in the afternoon there, right?
That gives you five hours until the sweep
comes through. Do the sort by hand
tonight, then put in a new feeder belt,
say a twenty-four incher. Yes, overtime
is authorized.

He hangs up the phone. He turns to the crew.

CHUCK
I'm going out on every route, I'm going
to work every job here, until I know
enough to help you. That's it.

The crew disperses back to work. Chuck and Aleksei walk
toward the office. They've done this before. Chuck lets a
corner of his command persona slip.

ALEKSEI
It's bad.

CHUCK
Worse than Warsaw.

ALEKSEI
Nobody remembers that.

CHUCK
The failures they remember. It's the
successes they forget.

EXT. ST. PETERSBURG - DAY - MOMENTS LATER

A FedEx truck pulls out of the FedEx office. Chuck is
inside. He notices the graffiti on the walls.

INT. TRUCK - MOMENTS LATER

Chuck rides next to LEV, the driver, a serious sort. The
Translator squats on some boxes between them, trying to keep
his balance.

CHUCK
You sorted your packages before you left.
None of the other drivers did.

The Translator and Lev exchange a few words.

TRANSLATOR
He says he wants to be organized. Do
packages in order.

Chuck looks at Lev with respect. Right answer.

CHUCK
So how come the other drivers haven't
left yet?

The Translator asks Lev, who looks at him as if he is crazy,
then snorts an answer. The Translator blushes.

TRANSLATOR
He says -- he is a very rude fellow --

CHUCK
Tell me exactly what he said.

TRANSLATOR
He says why don't his farts smell sweet?

Chuck grins. Lev shrugs and says something else.

TRANSLATOR
He says that's just the way it is.

CHUCK
Lev -- it's Lev, right? Listen, this is
FedEx. We don't have to accept the way
it is.

EXT. HOTEL - ST. PETERSBURG

A weary Chuck enters the hotel. In the sky above him we see
the Northern Lights. He doesn't even look up.

INT. HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT - LATER

Chuck is watching CNN on the television, working his
PowerBook, and holding the phone.

CHUCK
No, keep trying. A circuit's bound to
open up.

He hangs up.

CHUCK
(to himself)
Those damn Northern Lights.

Just then the lights go off. For a moment everything is
darkness. Then a small light switches on. Chuck has a
headlamp on.

He gets up, heads into the bathroom. We stay in the bedroom.
After only a moment, the light reemerges. It heads over to
his bag. We go with it.

Chuck takes out a roll of toilet paper. The guy is prepared
for anything. He goes into the bathroom, closes the door.

The lights come back on just as the phone rings.

We hear scuffling sounds on the other side of the door.
Chuck charges out, holding up his pants.

Grabs the phone.

CHUCK
Hello? Great. Try it.

He waits. We hear an ANSWERING MACHINE.

KELLY (V.O.)
This is Kelly, leave me a message and
I'll call you back soon as I can.

This is not what Chuck wanted to hear.

CHUCK
Kelly, damn, look, this is Chuck. I'm
going to be a little late. Well, more
than a little. I had to go to Russia.
Couldn't be helped. Could you call and
cancel the trip? Look, we'll sail the
Keys in March. It's better then anyway.
I'll be back before Christmas. I
promise. I think. I mean, I will. I,
uh --

He's stumbling over whether to say I love you.

CHUCK
I miss you.

He gently hangs up the phone.

INT. FEDEX OFFICES - ST. PETERSBURG - SERIES OF SHOTS

A surprised Yuri stands with the attractive assistant as
Chuck takes his clipboard away.

An even more surprised Lev stands by his truck as Chuck hands
the clipboard to him.

Chuck and the loaders clean off the graffiti.

Working alongside the sorters as the packages come in, Chuck
points out how to organize the inflow.

Chuck and Lev go over large maps of St. Petersburg with the
drivers.

INT. FEDEX WAREHOUSE - ST. PETERSBURG - WEEK LATER

A big semi is being loaded with outgoing packages for the
airport run. Aleksei, Chuck, Lev and the office executives
watch as containers are rolled on.

LEV
We've never got all the trucks in on
time. Never.

Chucks looks at the clock.

CHUCK
Only one still left?

LEV
Route six.

Aleksei points at