MOBY-DICK – Revenge and Redemption – A Filmscript - 5. Part 8 – The Finale & Part 9 – Epilogue

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[Part 8 – The Finale – I: First Day, The Chase]

EXT. QUARTERDECK OF THE PEQUOD – DAWN

FLASK stands a drowsy watch, but perks up once AHAB approaches. Together they look out upon the wake of the ship. Ahab sniffs.

 

AHAB

Smell that, Flask?

 

FLASK

Aye, sir. The sweet ambergris farts of a sperm whale.

 

AHAB

(cheers)

Unmistakable, lad. And look, it seems the Pequod sails in the wake of a giant submerged beast.

 

EXT. HIGH SHOT OVER THE PEQUOD

The ship sails dead-center of a large wake that originates about two miles before the bow of the Pequod.

 

EXT. MAIN DECK OF THE PEQUOD

AHAB moves rapidly to take up a lookout position from the bows. FLASK tries to keep up without passing his Captain.

 

FLASK

The ‘spirit spout’ was spotted five or six miles out at first light.

 

AHAB

(to himself)

Ah, my goal….

(shouts)

Man the mastheads! Alive, men. First to hail the white whale gets the gold!

 

The two arrive at the starboard bow. Both peer out with fixed concentration.

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER

The Pequod’s starboard is less than a mile in the distance. The water erupts into a foaming geyser, and a mountain of up-rushing water.

 

EXT. BIRDSEYE’S OVER THE WATER

Moby-Dick is as long as the Pequod. His snow-white form kicks up spray as he turns sprightly in the water. He aims towards the ship. His powerful breaths pants in awesome spouts of jets, and there is a combined SOUND from his head of angry clicking and gnashing teeth. Both sounds are muffled by the water, but become louder when he sinks under.

 

EXT. STARBOARD BOW OF THE PEQUOD

AHAB stumbles back a half-step. He cannot contain his mixture of joy and madness.

 

AHAB

(quiet)

There he blows.

(shouts)

There the devil blows. Flask – four boats in the water, now!

 

FLASK

Aye, aye sir.

 

AHAB

The beast is sounding. We don’t have

much time.

 

EXT. SHOT ABOVE THE WATER

The Pequod is stationary. Four whaleboats pause where Moby-Dick was last seen. Now white waterfowl begin to gather and fly down to where the boats are.

 

INT. FLASK’S BOAT

FLASK and DAGGOO stand. All is still. Daggoo eyes the birds; they seem to slowly swarm to a spot about a quarter mile away from the boats.

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER

Moby-Dick breaches the water in full splendor. Half of his massive torso is in the air, and as if in slow-motion, he twists midair to send his taunting splash towards the boats. He falls majestically back into the ocean spray. The birds frolic and screech in delight in his tumult. He calmly raises his head above water again and glares his brilliant blue eye at Ahab.

 

INT. AHAB’S BOAT

AHAB stands in a quietly-building rage.

 

AHAB

‘If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out….’ Now men, the devil will sound again. I know it.

 

The four boats begin to row to the whale.

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER

The birds land on Moby-Dick’s exposed surfaces. Bit by bit, he settles below the water and the seafowl disperse.

 

INT. STARBUCK’S BOAT

The boats slow and gather where Moby-Dick has dived.

 

STARBUCK

He’s sounded, and won’t rise for an hour.

 

REDBURN

We wait in the same kind of quietude that vestures tornadoes.

 

INT. STUBBS’ BOAT

TASHEGO’s attention drifts across the blue background of sky. The birds gather in a directional swarm again. They form an indistinct cluster, and when Tashego spots the point on the water above which they hover, he sees it is right over Ahab’s boat. He waves frantically to get Fedallah’s attention.

 

INT. AHAB’S BOAT

FEDALLAH sees Tashego waving, then Tashego pointing with two arms over Fedallah’s head.

 

FEDALLAH

(looking skyward)

Sir….

(points)

 

AHAB sees the mass flying overhead. He kneels and peers into the water.

 

UNDERWATER SHOT

The murky green silence is uniformly ‘static,’ until Ahab perceives it being broken by a rising form. Indistinct CLICKS are heard. The form slowly grows less and less green, and more and more white. Then he sees the face and open jaws of Moby-Dick chopping the water, and moving straight up for him.

 

AHAB

(righting himself; roars)

Row!

 

Ahab leans on the steering oar with all his might. The oars hit the water and jolts the boat forward a length. Moby-Dick breaches with loud angry clicks and chopping teeth right at the stern; but barely misses. The wake pushes the boat out of his reach momentarily. On the boat, all is grunting surprise and gut-wrenching heaves, but the instant the boat settles in the water, Moby-Dick corrects his course, turns and takes the starboard bow in his jaws. Fedallah stands and thrusts his harpoon, but it only hits the whale’s teeth in an awful scraping sound. Moby-Dick lets go a moment, but instantly regrips a little farther astern. The boat cracks; begins to splinter, and like a dog with a stick, Moby-Dick lifts his head and shakes. All the men, except Ahab, are tossed into the water. The Captain in the stern of the boat falls face-forward, and grabs on. Moby-Dick lets the wreck loose.

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER

Moby-Dick has moved back to watch. He surfaces and birds screech and play with him, but his eye stays trained on Ahab’s boat crew. The men frantically swim to the wreckage and cling on. Moby-Dick submerges.

 

EXT. BIRDSEYE SHOT OVER THE WATER

Moby-Dick begins to swim a circle around the wrecked whaleboat and men in the water. With every pass, he tightens it, ensnaring the crew in a slowly developing eddy. The birds follow from above him like a ring of white smoke.

 

INT. FLASK’S BOAT

 

DAGGOO

He’s trapping them! He’s going to chew them up!

 

FLASK

Row boys!

 

INT. STUBBS’ BOAT

 

STUBBS

It’s not good. He’ll drown us all.

 

Suddenly a dark shadow moves above and behind him. The hull of the Pequod cuts them off.

 

EXT. BIRDSEYE SHOT OVER THE WATER

The ship sails a line right between Moby-Dick and Ahab’s boat and crew. She slows by the wreck, and Moby-Dick disappears. The birds drift off in all directions. A SHOUT goes up, as all the men of the Pequod and her boat crews celebrate.

 

INT. STARBUCK’S BOAT

Redburn and Queequeg pull Ahab from the water. Other men assist those in the water. Ahab lands in a pile in the bottom of the boat. He rolls with hands over his eyes, and lets out a heart-sickening wail. Redburn watches him with a mixture of pity and contempt. Starbuck bends to try and console the Captain.

 

REDBURN (V.O.)

In an instant’s compass, great heats sometimes condense into one deep pang; aggregate an age of woe into an instant: for even in their pointless centers, those minute pin-pricks contain the whole circumference of their exterior’s soul.

 

[Part 8 – II: First Night, Shotgun to the Face II]

EXT. QUARTERDECK OF THE PEQUOD – TWILIGHT

The vermillion sun nears the horizon to the fore of the ship with beautiful clouds arching high overhead. STUBBS and FLASK idly smoke and chat.

 

STUBBS

The wreck of his boat is a bad omen. Ahab’s plans will likewise be Nature-dashed.

 

FLASK

Enough melancholy, Stubbs. Tomorrow, the albino water-rat dies, and our prow sets its course for home!

 

STUBBS

I didn’t know you to be a man of ‘faith,’ Kingpost.

 

FLASK

Faith...? No, of stronger stuff than that – of ‘Good Cheer.’

 

(he begins to SING)

”We’ll drink tonight with hearts so light,

To love that’s gay and fleeting,

While bubbles swim on breakers’ brim

To burst on lips when meeting.” ^[17]

 

(to Stubbs dower looks)

Come, Stubbs, my man, sing with me!

 

STUBBS

I don’t know that one.

(suddenly dead earnest)

I am not a brave man, Flask. I like you to sing to keep my spirits afloat, so there’s no way to stop us up, Kingpost, from singing in this world – except to cut our throats. But, even then, I’ll sing the ‘Doxology’ to prove I still have breath.

 

FLASK

The Docs’-what-olo-gy?

 

STUBBS

I see; you really are not a man of faith.

 

Stubbs chuckles, then slowly hums a few bars with increasing intensity.

 

INT. CABIN OF THE PEQUOD

AHAB sleeps deeply, but fitfully, in a chair pulled up to the table. PIP sits in the background, while a wicked smile plays in his lips. He watches something and leans on his elbows to get a closer look. A few feet before the Captain, STARBUCK has the shotgun leveled at Ahab’s face.

 

STARBUCK

Great God – where are you? Is it murder when lightning strikes a would-be killer in his bed? One spark, one flash,

and I like the light itself can save all our lives; all but one. The instant he stirs, I’ll…

(loud voice)

…Captain, the fore and main topsails are reefed – she heads…her….

 

AHAB

(pleads in his sleep)

…If God is still in His heaven, may He help you, for I cannot….

 

Starbuck is startled. He slowly lowers his now-trembling gun. He latches eyes on Pip.

 

STARBUCK

Who can help us now?

 

Pip howls with laughter.

 

[Part 8 – III: Second Day, The Symphony]

EXT. QUARTERDECK OF THE PEQUOD – DAWN

It is going to be another beautiful and calm day. The sun rises behind the stern of the ship. Seafowl glide as free as thought through the cloudless sky. The Pacific is deep, magnificent and brooding. AHAB stands alone. STARBUCK comes up on deck and sees a tear fall from the old man’s cheek into the drink. The first officer inhales deeply.

 

AHAB

(seeing him)

Mister Starbuck, man the mastheads; call

all crew.

 

STARBUCK

Aye, sir.

 

EXT. MAIN DECK OF THE PEQUOD

The entire crew is gathered around the mainmast and the coin. AHAB stands on a barrel.

 

AHAB

Morale men; morale. Yesterday the fish won. Not so today. Nature will always bend to Man’s will; She exists for us to use, and use up, as and when We see fit. I cried the first sight of him yesterday, but I do not claim that sixteen dollars of gold. D’ye hear, men, all of ye – pull that dead monster alongside the Pequod tonight, and there’ll be a gold doubloon for each and every mother’s son of ye!

 

The men cheer. DAGGOO helps the Captain off his stand.

 

AHAB (CONT’D)

We are one man, not twenty! For as one ship holds us all, though put together of contrary things –

(gestures to Starbuck)

oak;

(gestures to Stubbs)

maple; and

(laughs – gestures to Flask)

pine…

 

The crew laugh too.

 

AHAB (CONT’D)

…It is all held together by iron, steel and line.

(to the harpooners – Ahab’s hand landing decisively on Daggoo’s shoulder)

Yet all these run into each other and into one concrete hull and keel, so the traits of this crew – one’s man’s valor, another’s guilt; one man’s decisiveness, another’s quavering – all weld into oneness, and all are directed to that fatal goal which I, Ahab, as this ship’s one Lord, and this keel moving us on, will discover and kill Moby-Dick!

 

The men go crazy, toss hats and shout.

 

AHAB (CONT’D)

(aside to Daggoo)

See, lad, fresh yeast works old wine to a fresh froth – morale, Daggoo, morale.

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER – NOON

Three whaleboats sit still and wait: FLASK, STARBUCK and AHAB. Again, Flask stands on DAGGOO’s shoulders, and FEDALLAH and QUEEQUEG are vigilant in the bows of their respective boats.

 

INT. FLASK’S BOAT

The third officer shields his eyes.

 

FLASK

He toys with us – as cat with mouse.

 

INT. AHAB’S BOAT

As they scan, one and all are startled back. Less than a half-mile off, Moby-Dick breaches full out of the water like a mighty salmon swimming upstream. His body glints in midair like a glacier. The spray elevates about him like an advancing shower in a tropical vale. He and the aerosolized water pause a gravity-defying moment, before his body and the attending water fall to the sea in a myriad of shattered rainbows. As the whale swims to Ahab’s boat, the crew braces. Moby-Dick resurfaces with an eye on them.

 

AHAB

Breach your last to freedom, and the open sky of forgiveness, thy hour and spear are

at hand.

(shouts)

Stand by!

 

Moby-Dick does not wait. He aggressively charges after them with a roaring CLICKING. As the flashing jaws of death growl in, Ahab grits his teeth.

 

AHAB (CONT’D)

Come and get it, you bastard. We’ll fight

eye-to-eye.

 

Moby-Dick thrashes at the bows of the boats to scatter them, and the three harpooners all land barbs with lines into him. Moby-Dick twists, and pulls the boats towards him. His jaws find the bow of Flask’s boat, and cracks it open. The men spill into the water. Ahab and Fedallah exchange places; as do Starbuck and Queequeg. Ahab lifts a spear, and lands a fresh line into the whale. Moby-Dick reels around to attach Flask’s men in the water. Fedallah grabs the line, burns his hands, but manages to brace it around the kingpost, with a foot locking it in place. Now Ahab can see several of the spears have worked their way out and become knotted in other lines. The blades flash menacingly above and below the water.

 

INT. STARBUCK’S BOAT

Suddenly, Moby-Dick turns on his side and sends a flailing spear out of the water and over Starbuck’s boat. It sparkles in the air with tiny drops like iridescent opals, and then falls in a graceful arc to catch in the shoulder of a member of the crew. Moby-Dick moves again, and the man is launched screaming into the air. Queequeg and Redburn try to grab him, but he is instantly gone, and in the water.

 

STARBUCK

Ahab! Cut your line!

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER – NOON

Moby-Dick feels the lines getting tangled around his flippers and torso, and he draws his attackers into his jaws.

 

INT. AHAB’S BOAT

Ahab pulls his knife and begins sawing on the line with the most tension; the one Fedallah’s grip is still on.

 

INT. STARBUCK’S BOAT

Moby-Dick thrashes, and with every motion, the boat is drawn closer into his mouth.

 

STARBUCK (CONT’D)

Jump, men!

 

They do, and the entire boat goes flying into the air as Moby-Dick rolls on his side. It crashes on the other side of him in splinters, and Ahab’s boat is drawn right up to him.

 

INT. AHAB’S BOAT

Fedallah retightens his grip. Ahab finally cuts through the line, and the motion of the whale, the sudden slack, and Fedallah’s iron grip, send Fedallah reeling with the line into the foam. But, no one sees this on the boat because of all the spray. The whale thrashes around violently, chopping this way and that. Then as quickly as it began, the commotion is over. Moby-Dick swims off about a half-mile, stops and watches. Flask’s and Starbuck’s crews begin to swim to Ahab’s boat. Ahab’s crew bail and pull men onboard. Ahab stands and glares at Moby-Dick, who sighs out a mighty spout, and then silently submerges.

 

[Part 8 – IV: Second Night, The Symphony II]

EXT. MAIN DECK OF THE PEQUOD – TWILIGHT

Wet and broken men are attended to by the others. Some have arms in slings, some have bloody bandages; all are cold and shivering. REDBURN and QUEEQUEG find each other and have a silent, but thorough, inspection of their partner. STUBBS comes up to them with quiet seriousness – like he has bad news to deliver.

 

STUBBS

Ishmael, lad, the Captain has decided that you shall go on his boat in the morning as his harpooner. Fedallah is missing.

 

Stubbs pats Queequeg’s shoulder and moves off.

 

REDBURN

(suddenly)

Sir, do us a favor.

 

STUBBS

(comes back)

Yes, lad.

 

REDBURN

(interlacing his arm with his mate’s)

Make it official.

 

EXT. QUARTERDECK OF THE PEQUOD

Again AHAB stands alone; again he broods on an impossibly beautiful sea. A tear falls, and STARBUCK joins him wordlessly.

 

AHAB

(as if addressing the water)

I regret, Mister Starbuck, leaving my young wife a window. In the last forty years I’ve been at home less than three. Have I lived enough joys to deserve these gray hairs?

(rises; faces him)

Stand close to me, Starbuck. It is better to look into a fellow mortal eye than stare unblinkingly into sea or sky – into Her eye, Nature immortal; uncaring. In your eyes – yes, in them alone –

(grabs his shoulders forcefully)

I can see my far away widow and infant son. So stay onboard when I lower for the white whale tomorrow. Curse or redemption – stay ye onboard when branded Ahab gives final chase – sail yourself back to them and tell what happened.

 

STARBUCK

(surprised at his own emotions)

Captain; oh, my Captain – noble, grand old heart – why should any of us give chase to that hated fish? He hunts us not, for he could have killed us all today, but he does not seek our destruction; why should we? Come away with me! Let us home! A wife and son are Starbuck’s too. Let us away, for there are many more mild and blue days such as this, oh, my Captain, on Nantucket.

 

AHAB

(lost in memory; moves away)

There are. I have seen them – some summer days in the morning, my lad wakes, sits up and his mother tells him of me to stop his tears. Me. Of prodigal old me, his father. She tells him how I am abroad the unforgiving deep, alone, but still longing to be back and dance with him again.

 

STARBUCK

For me, tis my Mary, sir. She promised me that after three years, every morning, my boy – every morning – should be carried up the hill to be the first to catch sight of his father’s ship returned to him. It’s not too late – no fate is cast in stone. Study our course. See your boy’s hand at the window; see mine from the hilltop – both reach out to us.

 

AHAB

(avoids the questions; draws in a deep draught)

Before you came to me, I was thinking how soft and free these two azures are – so alike, so different. The air, blue and light and feminine: free, like thought itself. But, as I bent my reflection upon the face of the deep, it rose back up to me with brooding, like the masculine mind. In it swims emotions dark and dangerous, and where sharks and leviathans act out Nature’s murderous intent.

 

STARBUCK

I saw you, sir. How you leaned over the side like you heard your own true heartbeat. Something faint, something forgiving stealing out of the center of the serenity all around us. I also saw that single tear fall. If only, sir, you could believe that all the Pacific contains not so much wealth as that one single gift of humanity.

 

AHAB

Yes. For a moment, the sweet air, the winsome sky, seemed to caress me. The step-mother world – so long cruel, foreboding – threw tender arms around this stubborn neck. She seemed to sob over me. Over one She could yet forgive; could absolve…

(averts his gaze; steels himself)

…But then my thoughts return to that accursèd creature, and all things seem veiled once more. Each act of life is but a mask, and though Man will strike with all his might, behind that partition still lies the unreasoning unknown. To me, the white whale is a wall. I fancy there's naught beyond him. But 'tis enough. He tasks me; he heaps upon me; I see in him outrageous strength, and that tightens springs of inscrutable malice in me.

 

STARBUCK

Captain Ahab, it is not too late. Do not be like that shriveled apple tree shaking his last rotten fruit to the careless soil that bore him.

 

Ahab grows slowly angry. He gestures hatefully over the watery waste.

 

AHAB

What is it? What nameless, inscrutable, unearthly thing is it? What cozening, hidden lord and master; what cruel, remorseless thing commands me against intrinsic love to keep pushing, and crowding, and jamming myself against time itself?! Is it Ahab; Ahab...? Is it I who lifts this arm; lifts it in defiance! But if the great sun moves not himself, nor all the stars, except as some errand boy to an invisible power, how can this one small heartbeat sound unless Nature does the thumping? What thoughts are mine, unless already conjured in the universal mind? Where does a murderer go, man, when the judge himself is marked with the sin of Cain?

(gathers himself)

I’ll tell thee where he goes. He goes where we all do, to rest, and nothingness. Let them redeem those who have never sinned; the rest of us must suffer. Now, be gone. There’ll be no talk of Nantucket, or perfect days, or lives I’ll never see lived.

 

STARBUCK

Oh, my, Captain….

 

AHAB

Enough. Be gone.

 

Starbucks steps back, and goes. Ahab looks into the sea. He is momentarily startled – he thinks it is Fedallah’s reflection looking back at him.

 

INT. CABIN OF THE PEQUOD

The lamps are lit. STUBBS stands over the shoulders of REDBURN and QUEEQUEG sitting at the table. PIP sits off to the side. Queequeg is finishing making his mark on a large piece of paper. Stubbs quickly takes the pen and bends down to sign and date the document as witness.

 

STUBBS

(wanting to leave)

Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I have duty to attend to on deck.

 

Stubbs exits.

 

QUEEQUEG

(bemused but concerned)

So, what is this all about?

 

REDBURN

(picks up the paper)

This proves it. Proves it to my skeptical, cynical and litigious world, that you are closer to me than family. This is my will. All that I have belongs to you – it tells the world that you are mine; that I am yours. We are partners, we are joined, we are married now and forever.

 

Queequeg puts Redburn’s hand down with the will.

 

QUEEQUEG

That is a piece of paper – what we have

is here –

(touching Redburn’s chest)

what we vowed in The Spouter Inn, is what is real.

(pauses)

You do love me?

 

REDBURN

God, yes, I love you. You?

 

QUEEQUEG

(pulls him into a head-touch)

More than life itself.

 

They kiss.

 

REDBURN

Then the rest of them can go to hell!

 

PIP

(quietly)

They already have….

 

[Part 8 – V: Third Day, Redemption]

EXT. MAIN DECK OF THE PEQUOD – DAWN

ARCHY and CABAÇO stand by the bulwarks and smoke.

 

ARCHY

The chase, day three, eh?

 

CABAÇO

It won’t last longer – Christ rose on the third day; the devil won’t keep Ahab waiting any more than that!

 

ARCHY

The crew says Fedallah was the devil.

 

CABAÇO

Devil? No, he was only our Captain’s minion, whoever or whatever he was.

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER

MOBY-DICK slowly surfaces and glares at the Pequod about a mile in the distance. White seafowl begins to buzz over him.

 

INT. CABIN OF THE PEQUOD

PIP sits in his usual chair. AHAB slips into his coat, glances at the boy’s frank stare, and goes to him. Pip stands.

 

AHAB

Thou touches my inmost center, boy. You are tied to me with cords woven of heartstrings and shared visions.

 

PIP

(takes the man’s hand)

What’s this? It’s like velvet sharkskin.

(manipulates it; looks into Ahab’s eyes)

If poor Pippin had felt a thing as kind as this, perhaps, he’d never have been lost. Oh, sir,

(raising and interlacing their fingers)

let the blacksmith come and rivet these two together, I will not let this go.

 

AHAB

(forcing the boy to sit)

Not my own hand complies with my humor more genially than yours, boy – but – my fate is not yours. Yours is to live.

 

DOUGHBOY enters and pauses in the doorway. He signals to Ahab. Pip clings strongly to the Captain’s hand.

 

AHAB (CONT’D)

Although I do suck most wondrous philosophies out of you – I fear you are too curing to my malady, for like-cures-like, and your madness is a way back to my sanity. But I have come too far, am so far gone to the dark side of earth, that the other side is bright again. It is my only hope now. So, beware, boy…

 

Ahab tries to move away, but Pip holds on tightly. The back of Ahab’s other hand flies above his head in a position to strike the young man. Doughboy rushes into the room.

 

…Ahab’s madness is a dangerous; murderous thing.

(rips out his hand; says to both Pip and Doughboy)

Stay onboard; be safe. Starbuck will see ye safely home.

 

Pip collapses into his chair. The Captain leaves. Doughboy goes and in slow-motion kneels before Pip. He lowers his head into Pip’s lap. Pip absent-mindedly strokes his mate’s hair, but his eyes look straight ahead. His features grow round with a sightless vision of Ahab’s demise.

 

PIP

(slowly rising scream)

Beware the sharks, sir – the sharks!

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER

Pip’s SCREAM reverberates and slowly fades to find the three boats of FLASK, STUBBS and AHAB – with REDBURN in the harpooner’s position – rowing out towards the waiting Moby-Dick. He is about two miles ahead, and many seafowl buzz him.

 

INT. AHAB’S BOAT

Sharks begin to gather – Redburn watches as they bite and shred the edges of the oars. Above them is another perfect day.

 

EXT. BIRDSEYE SHOT ABOVE THE WATER

Moby-Dick submerges. His birds disperse like tapers of smoke. Soon the whale is making a circle underwater around the three attack boats, forcing them to huddle for safety. The circle grows smaller, then, as Moby-Dick goes deeper, his form becomes less distinct.

 

INT. FLASK’S BOAT

All is eerily still. Suddenly the men’s ears pop lightly – like soundless pressure waves are piercing them from below. As they gauge its odd effect on the faces of their neighbors, the pressure grows to an angry CLICKING sound. Stilling holding one another’s fearful gaze, they inhale deeply and hold on. Moby-Dick surfaces like a hammer, but obliquely on his right side. The slashing harpoons and spears come flying out of the water and rip across the boat. One hooks into a seat and rips it out; another gets CABAÇO under the chin, and sprays gore on the other men as he is yanked out of the boat. The boat is violently rocked and ARCHY is nearly tipped out as he grasps at his mate’s legs.

 

INT. STUBBS’ BOAT

Moby-Dick turns with open jaws and latches onto the bow. He shakes it like a bone, throwing men into the water, and crunching on the hull. He lets go and turns on Flask’s boat to do the same.

 

INT. AHAB’S BOAT

They are slightly removed from the others, but can see Moby-Dick toss Flask and his crew into the drink.

 

AHAB

Ishmael, switch places with me. Men, row!

 

The crew heads into the jaws of death, while Redburn and Ahab trade places. Redburn steers right up to Moby-Dick’s left flank.

 

REDBURN

(pointing)

Sir!

 

Fedallah’s corpse is lashed within the knotted line to the whale’s side. His right arm is tangled in a position pointing to Moby-Dick’s flipper; behind which is the animal’s heart.

 

AHAB

Ah, faithful Fedallah – you said you’d go before me…

(raising his harpoon)

…And yet show me the way!

 

As Ahab flings it, Moby-Dick turns like he is just sensing their presence. The harpoon bounces off. Moby-Dick’s tail comes and strikes the stern of the boat, lifting it momentarily and making Redburn go flying out. The boat settles and the rowers pursue the whale, now swimming away.

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER

Flask and Stubbs have swum to one another. They tread water and look for the sip. It is about three miles off. In the near distance, men begin to SCREAM. Flashes of shark dorsal fin bob here and there through the cresting waves.

 

FLASK

The Pequod will pick us up. Don’t you sing your song yet.

 

STUBBS

One God-damned cherry, Flask. Just one more gift of the land on which we all belong, before I die.

 

FLASK

Don’t give up on me either Stubbs – this is not the end!

 

INT. AHAB’S BOAT

Ahab, with the only boat in the hunt, grows desperate.

 

AHAB

(shouts at his crew)

You are not men anymore. Do ye hear! You are but the legs, the arms, and the heart of Ahab – Do my bidding! Like Nature, you too will serve my will, and my will alone.

 

EXT. BIRDSEYE SHOT OVER THE WATER

The Pequod sails towards Flask and Stubbs’ men. Moby-Dick has moved off one mile from Ahab’s boat. He pauses and waits, turning to watch them and the ship in the background.

 

EXT. MAIN DECK OF THE PEQUOD

STARBUCK looks with a glass. He can see Ahab pressing his men on towards the white whale. He slams the glass shut.

 

STARBUCK

Heart of wrought steel.

 

QUEEQUEG passes behind him, rushing forward.

 

STARBUCK (CONT’D)

Queequeg, grab a maul and man the mizzenmast lookout. A damn sea hawk has ripped out our pennant. Go nail it back in place!

 

QUEEQUEG

Aye, aye!

 

But instead of running stern, Queequeg continues to the forecastle.

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER

Flask and Stubbs see the ship is heading their way. The SCREAMS continue and grow closer to them.

 

INT. AHAB’S BOAT

As the boat reaches Moby-Dick, the whale sounds and immediately comes completely out of the water. The animal and his spray are raised over Ahab’s head as he reaches for his lance.

 

AHAB

From hell’s heart, I stab at thee! For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee!

 

In an instant, the whale and spray fall on the boat. The lance harmlessly grazes the whale. Now in the water, Ahab shakes the hair out of his face and makes eye-contact with Moby-Dick. The whale’s glance move off of him, and Ahab follows it to the ship. Moby-Dick swiftly swims towards the Pequod.

 

AHAB (CONT’D)

No, no! Come and punish me, not them!

 

EXT. MIZZENMAST HEAD

Queequeg has climbed to the top with a hammer clinched in his teeth. A sea kite buzzes overhead with angry screeches. Queequeg pauses and looks over the water. Moby-Dick is heading straight for the starboard bow at ramrod speed.

 

QUEEQUEG

Starbuck! The whale attacks!

 

EXT. MAIN DECK

Starbuck can barely hear the harpooner, but he sees the man pointing. He goes to the bulwarks and cannot believe his eyes. The whale surfaces, flashes its jaws, releasing vengeful CLICKING sounds, then submerges to make the final onrush.

 

STARBUCK

(turning)

Up helm! Up helm – Oh, Ahab, this is

what you reap.

 

He braces for impact.

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER AT THE STARBOARD BOW

Moby-Dick’s submerged head makes a mighty wake moving like an arrow to the side of the Pequod. The CLICKS are muffled but loud and pressurized. The whale strikes the ship with tremendous force. All is cacophonous SOUND – timbers crack and groan as if in the force of an earthquake’s destruction wave. The sound and vibration washes over every inch of the ship inside and out. She keels sharply to port side, revealing splinters and a shocking gap in her hull below the waterline.

 

EXT. MAIN DECK

Men are knocked off their feet; the starboard side of the deck suddenly points skyward against the sharp blue atmosphere.

 

EXT. MIZZENMAST HEAD

Queequeg holds on desperately as the mast whips first to port, then snaps back to starboard. All the while, the sea kite laughs over his head. Once the mast nears vertical again, he glares at the bird, and feels the bow section going lower in the water. He eyes the distant men on the sea, then the hammer in his hand.

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER

Stubbs is in front of Flask; closer to the now obviously sinking Pequod. The two tread water up to their chins.

 

FLASK

Retribution; swift vengeance; sheer malice, and in spite of all, we—

 

Flask is violently pulled under the water for a moment. He bobs up with a pained and utterly panicked look on his face. He spits out his last words with some blood.

 

FLASK (CONT’D)

All we could do, She will always win.

 

He is yanked down with awesome force. The water turns thick with red.

 

STUBBS

(SINGS)

”Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him, above all ye heavenly host—”

 

Stubbs is pulled down. He resurfaces through his own blood.

 

STUBBS (CONT’D)

(SINGS)

”…Father, Son, and…Holy—”

 

He is wrenched below, and does not rise again.

 

EXT. MIZZENMAST HEAD

The ship sinks in a broad clockwise eddy. The mast begins to swivel, but QUEEQUEG climbs to the top. He takes the ship’s pennant and nails it defiantly in place. The bird continues to torment him, but as the water rises to his eyes, he glares, grabs the bird by the leg and drags it below the surface with him. It screams in terror as it is dragged under.

 

[Part 9 – Epilogue – I: “I alone am escaped to tell thee”]

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER

After the ship slips underwater, a great whirlpool sucks debris down into a vortex. REDBURN swims frantically to try and get out of its gravitational pull. He goes round and round, but with his every effort, he only draws nearer to the black hole that will drag him to the bottom of the Pacific. Just as he enters the final ring around the center, the hole closes. A foam rises here, as does an odd sound; like gurgling CLICKS. Redburn is near exhaustion, but beats the water desperately to get away from that sound and whatever is rising up in the foamy column. As he turns to try and dog paddle, taking water in his mouth as he does so, the thing is near the surface. He can ‘feel’ it, and is sorely afraid. Up through the snow-white mound of bubbles, the head-end of Queequeg’s coffin shoots like a bullet. It settles, bobs and floats eerily above all the swirling mess. Redburn blinks like he’s seen a ghost, but in a moment, he pauses and turns to swim to it.

UNDERWATER SHOT

The Pequod sails through the murky deep in a topsy-turvy, slow rotation. Her masts trace three large circles in the water like massive protractors. Around her, champagne bubbles rise and meet resistance from everyday shipboard items: flatware, a harpoon; then a man’s boot. All are sinking to the bottom.

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER

A wet and exhausted Redburn can’t believe he’s alive. He lies flat on the top of the coffin lid. His cheek is pressed against Queequeg’s carved portrait. ^[18] He lifts himself a bit, and strokes the cheek of his partner. He suddenly sits up. He frantically pats his pockets; Toby’s picture is gone.

 

 

BEGIN ‘THE WATER IS WIDE’ SERIES OF SHOTS:

The following series of shots are shown over a male vocal performance of “The Water is Wide” ^[19]

 

”The water is wide, I can’t cross o’er –

And neither have I, the wings to fly.

Build me a boat that can carry two,

And both shall row – my love and I.

 

I leaned my back against a young oak –

Thinking he were a trusty tree.

He at first bent, but he never broke,

Thus did my love prove true to me.

Thus did my love prove true to me.

 

There is a ship, and she sails the sea –

She’s laden deep, as deep can be.

But not so deep as my love for him,

And I know not how – I sink or swim.

 

Oh, love is handsome, and love is warm –

The sweetest flow’r when first it’s new;

And ever strong against the coming storm,

It can only last – If both endure.

It can only last – If both endure.”

 

(Instrumental solo, one verse)

 

”Build me a boat, that can carry two –

And both shall row – my love and I.

Thus did my love prove true to me.”

 

■ Through champagne bubbles, photographs of sailor partners slowly descend into the deep. These are formal studio shots, but each partner is making physical contact with his mate, and to the trained eye, these are all intimate ‘wedding portraits’ of the kind typical of the mid Nineteenth Century.

■ Toby and Redburn

■ Blunt and his Partner

■ Chips and Bungs

■ Harry Bolton and Lavender

■ Salem and Ropy

■ Jarman and Bembo

■ Zeke and Shorty

■ Jarl and Redburn

■ Archy and Cabaço

■ Doughboy and Pippin

■ Flask sitting on Daggoo’s lap

■ Queequeg and Redburn ^[20]

 

END ‘THE WATER IS WIDE’ SERIES OF SHOTS.

 

 

EXT. SURFACE OF THE WATER – DAWN

Redburn has removed the lid and rides the coffin like a canoe. The lid is lashed and trails behind. It looks to be another perfect day on calm tropical seas.

 

REDBURN (V.O.)

Like Job, who dared to raise an angry fist to an uncaring God, ‘I alone am escaped to tell thee.’

Though I cannot tell why the fates put me down for a shabby part in a great whaling adventure, when others…

(flashback shots of Ahab and Pip)

…Were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies…

(flashback shots of Starbuck)

…And others as heroes to themselves and to mankind generally…

(flashback shots of funny moments: like Peter Coffin saying ‘Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do)

…Or short and easy parts in genteel comedies…

(flashback shot of Queequeg sitting on Archy’s backside)

…Or jolly parts in farces –

(flashback series of shots of Redburn and Queequeg’s entire courtship at “The Spouter Inn”, and partnership on the Pequod)

…And although I cannot say why, or exactly how, but now I recall all the little springs and motives which presented themselves to me under various disguises – which set me about the role I did play – and cajoled me to believe I acted out of my own freewill…

(the series concludes with the unseen scene after the will-signing: Redburn kneels on the floor and lies his torso face-down on the Captain’s bed, and Queequeg makes love to him, kissing the back of his neck and ear and tells him how much he loves him; Pip watches approvingly and with a tear in his eye)

…But the most wonderful things are ever unmentionable, for deep memories yield no epitaphs, but these words, dear Queequeg – though but six inches of paper, and not six feet of earth – are your stoneless grave marker, and memorial to your love of me. The love that forever redeemed me.

 

Redburn kneels, then stands and shades his eyes. Approaching him from within the sunrise is the Rachel.

 

REDBURN (CONT’D – V.O.)

On the second day, a sail drew near and picked me up.

(waves towards ship)

It was the forlorn Rachel, searching after her lost children who instead only found another orphan…

         

ASCENDING SHOT OVER THE WATER

Shows the water sparkling in awesome jewel tones. As it continues to rise, Redburn’s tiny barque and his antics to get the attention of the ship is seen. Farther up, the Rachel slightly alters course to go to him.

 

REDBURN (CONT’D – V.O.)

…Yes, like the boy of my namesake, despondent and abandoned by his father, I wend my way in an uncaring world, but…

 

DESCENDING SHOT OVER THE WATER

The shot glides down to a patch of sea about five miles off. A smoky gathering of white seafowl moves out of the way over a lighter patch of water.

 

REDBURN (CONT’D – V.O.)

…Through and through my inmost soul floats o’er the conceit of the wonder-working world…

 

Moby-Dick breeches in raw magnificence. He looks uninjured and sends a mighty spout of spray up to the delighted birds. His blue eye sparkles in radiant intelligence as he begins to swim towards the rising sun.

 

REDBURN (CONT’D – V.O.)

…Where one grand hooded phantom looms – like a mountain of snow piled high in the tropical air.

 

[Part 9 – II: End Credits]

END CREDITS.

As the credits roll, another version of the title song “Loomings” – performed by a different artist – plays.

 

”Memory looms larger with time

What was on the verge, now is seen

More than a rhyme, higher to climb

On the horizon, still and serene.

 

Everyone chases their own whale,

For some it’s fortune or it’s fame,

And all of us will hoist our sail

To singe our wings against the flame.

 

In the quiet night I say it –

The words barely escape my breath,

But the truth is you know it –

‘Love’ is hard to say unto death.

 

In the loomings are latent dreams,

The love in us being made clear,

As things to represent the scenes,

Of the still light hidden so near.”

~

 

 

 

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