WAYNE
As weapons?
Ducard hands Wayne a pinch of the powder.
DUCARD
Or distractions. Theatricality and deception are powerful agents. You must become more than just a man in the mind of your opponent.
Wayne tosses the powder – on the small explosion we cut –
EXT. FROZEN LAKE, HIMALAYAS – DAY 34
Wayne and Ducard circle each other on the ice, swords poised to strike. Dark figures in the white and blue landscape.
Ducard nods. Then strikes at Wayne, who deflects the blow using a silver gauntlet with three scallops (thick, hook-like projections). Ducard skids left, breath steaming …
Wayne steps sideways on the ice, his foot landing on a thin patch which creaks, water bubbling underneath.
DUCARD
Mind your surroundings. Always.
Wayne strikes – Ducard blocks with his own bronze gauntlet. Wayne slips right and flies in with a short thrust – Ducard’s arm flips down in a backhand move.
Ducard catches Wayne’s sword in one of his scallops.
Your parents’ death was not your fault …
Ducard rotates his arm, wrenching Wayne’s sword from his grasp – it skids along the ice. Ducard looks at Wayne.
… it was your father’s.
Wayne, enraged, dives at Ducard, swinging at him with the scallops, furious, reckless. Ducard parries with his sword, they lock – noses inches apart, Wayne breathing … angry …
Anger will not change the fact that your father failed to act.
WAYNE
The man had a gun!
DUCARD
Would that stop you?
WAYNE
I’ve had training.
DUCARD
The training is nothing. The will is everything. The will to act –
Wayne pushes Ducard back – Ducard strikes down at Wayne with his sword … Wayne blocks the strike with forearms crossed, slides between Ducard’s legs across the ice to where his sword lies. Grasping his sword he spins, sweeping at Ducard’s feet. Ducard leaps – Wayne catches his foot, brings him down onto the ice. Wayne thrusts his sword at Ducard’s throat –
Stops inches from Ducard’s bare neck. Ducard freezes, arms at his sides. Wayne looks down at Ducard in triumph.
WAYNE
Yield.
Ducard shakes his head.
DUCARD
You haven’t beaten me. You’ve sacrificed sure footing for a killing stroke.
Ducard taps the ice beneath Wayne’s feet with his sword – the ice gives way, plunging Wayne through the surface.
EXT. SHORE, FROZEN LAKE – EVENING 35
Ducard feeds a small fire. Wayne rubs his arms, shivering violently against hypothermia. Ducard looks at Wayne.
DUCARD
Rub your chest. Your arms will take care of themselves.
Wayne rubs his torso.
You’re stronger than your father.
WAYNE
(eyes blazing)
You didn’t know my father.
DUCARD
But I know the rage that drives you … that impossible anger strangling the grief until your loved one’s memory is just poison in your veins … (Distant.) And one day you catch yourself wishing the person you loved had never existed so you’d be spared your pain …
Wayne looks up at Ducard, struck by his words.
I wasn’t always here in the mountains. Once I had a wife. My great love. (Looks into fire.) She was taken from me. Like you, I was forced to learn that there are those without decency. Who must be fought without hesitation or pity. (Looks at Wayne.) Your anger gives you great power, but if you let it, it will destroy you. As it almost did me.
WAYNE
What stopped it?
DUCARD
Vengeance.
Wayne nods. Bitter.
WAYNE
That’s no help to me.
DUCARD
Why …?
INT. MONORAIL TRAIN – DAY (WAYNE’S MEMORY) 36
Looking out to Gotham. Bruce, now twenty-two, reflected in the glass, stares sadly out at the city.
DUCARD
(voice-over)
Why could you not avenge your parents?
The train is now filthy and covered in graffiti.
ANNOUNCER
(over loudspeaker)
Wayne Station. Wayne Station next.
EXT. WAYNE MANOR – DAY 37
A yellow cab sits at the end of the drive.
INT. YELLOW CAB – CONTINUOUS 38
Bruce stares at the imposing house.
CABBIE
You wanna pull up?
Alfred emerges from the house, peering at the cab. Bruce smiles sadly at the sight of his old friend.
INT. WAYNE MANOR – CONTINUOUS 39
Alfred leads Bruce through the main hall and up the main staircase. The house is now dark and empty. Dustcloths cover much of the furniture.
ALFRED
Will you be heading back to Princeton after the hearing, or could I persuade you to spend an extra night or two?
BRUCE
I’m not heading back at all.
ALFRED
Don’t you like it there?
BRUCE
I like it fine … they just don’t feel the same way.
Alfred glances back at Bruce. Irritated.
ALFRED
(turns up the stairs)
I’ve prepared the master bedroom.
BRUCE
My old room will be fine.
ALFRED
With all due respect, sir, Wayne Manor is your house.
BRUCE
(irritated)
No, Alfred, it’s my father’s.
ALFRED
Your father is dead, Master Wayne.
BRUCE
(gestures)
And this is a mausoleum. When I have my way, I’ll pull the damn thing down brick by brick.
Alfred turns on Bruce, angry.
ALFRED
This house, Master Wayne, has sheltered six generations of the Wayne family.
BRUCE
Why do you give a damn? It’s not your family, Alfred.
Alfred looks away. Bruce immediately regrets his words.
ALFRED
(quiet)
I give a damn, sir, because a good man once made me responsible for what was most precious to him in the whole world.
Bruce looks at Alfred. Nods. Alfred opens the door.
Miss Dawes offered to drive you to the hearing.
BRUCE
Rachel? Why?
ALFRED
She probably hopes to talk you out of going.
BRUCE
Should I just bury the past out there with my parents, Alfred?
ALFRED
I don’t presume to tell you what to do with your past, sir. Just know that there are those of us who care what you do with your future.
BRUCE
Haven’t given up on me, yet?
ALFRED
(conviction)
Never.
INT. MASTER BEDROOM – CONTINUOUS 40
Bruce puts his bag on the bed. Looks around the room. Uncomfortable. The room is full of his parents.
At the mantel, Bruce stares at a framed photograph of his parents. He wipes dust from it. Smiles at it. He turns to look at a case on the table. Inside it is his father’s stethoscope.
Insert cut: Young Bruce wearing the stethoscope, pressing it against Thomas’s chest, listening … Thomas shifts the position of the diaphragm – Young Bruce smiles as he hears the beating.
Bruce moves to the bed. Opens his case: inside it is a gun.
INT. MAIN HALL, WAYNE MANOR – LATER 41
Bruce walks through the hall to the kitchens.
INT. KITCHENS, WAYNE MANOR – CONTINUOUS 42
Bruce stops at the open pantry door to stare at Rachel, now a beautiful young woman of twenty-two. She runs her fingers over the shelves of cans and boxes, a sad smile
on her face.
WAYNE
Alfred still keeps the condensed milk on the top shelf.
Rachel looks up, smiling at the tins of the sweet liquid.
RACHEL
Hasn’t he noticed that you’re tall enough to reach, now?
WAYNE
Old habits die hard, I guess.
She turns to face Bruce.
RACHEL
Never used to stop us, anyway.
WAYNE
(smiles at the memory)
No. No, it didn’t.
RACHEL
So, you still trying to get kicked out of the entire Ivy League?
BRUCE
(shakes head, smiling)
Turns out you don’t actually need a degree to do the international playboy thing. But you…. intern at the DA’s office … quite the over-achiever.
Rachel shrugs modestly. Looks around.
RACHEL
I miss this place.
Wayne shakes his head, sadly.
WAYNE
This place is nothing without the people who made it what it was. Now there’s only Alfred.
Rachel looks at Wayne significantly.
RACHEL
And you.
Wayne looks into her eyes. Sees the hope. Shifts.
WAYNE
I’m not staying, Rachel.
Rachel takes this in, hiding disappointment. Awkward.
RACHEL
Oh. I thought maybe this time … but you’re just back for the hearing?
Bruce nods. Rachel looks down. Then back to Bruce.
Bruce, I don’t suppose there’s any way I can convince you not to come?
BRUCE
Someone at this proceeding should stand for my parents.
RACHEL
We all loved your parents. What Chill did is unforgivable.
BRUCE
Then why’s your boss letting him go?
RACHEL
In prison he shared a cell with Carmine Falcone. He learned things and he’ll testify in exchange for early parole.
BRUCE
Rachel, this man killed my parents. I cannot let that pass. I need you to understand.
Rachel looks at Bruce. Gently nods.
EXT. COURTHOUSE – DAY 43
Moving in on an imposing building surrounded by skyscrapers.
INT. COURTHOUSE – DAY 44
A small bureaucratic proceeding. A five-person panel chaired by Judge Faden. Bruce sits amongst the observers. Watching the back of Chill’s head. Rachel’s boss, Finch, is speaking.
FINCH
The depression hit working people like Mr. Chill hardest of all. His crime was appalling, but it was motivated not by greed but by desperation. Given the fourteen years already served and his extraordinary level of cooperation with one of this office’s most important investigations … we strongly endorse his petition for early release.
FADEN
Mr. Chill?
Chill glances around nervously. Rises. The years have not been kind. He clears his throat.
CHILL
Your honor, not a day’s gone by when I didn’t wish I could take back what I did. Sure, I was desperate, like a lot of people back then. But that doesn’t change what I did.
Chill sits. Judge Faden nods, consults his paperwork.
FADEN
I gather a member of the Wayne family is here today …
Chill reacts, turning. Bruce studies his weathered face.
CHAIRMAN
Does he have anything to say?
Chill spots Wayne’s cold eyes. Has to look away. Bruce rises, walks out, all eyes on him. Including Rachel’s.
EXT. PARKING LOT, COURTHOUSE – MOMENTS LATER 45
Bruce moves to Rachel’s car. Crouches beside the front tire, picks up his gun, stuffs it up the sleeve of his overcoat.
The side exit opens and two Cops come out. A shout goes up from the Reporters around the front of the courthouse.
REPORTERS
They’re taking him out the side!!
Reporters swarm around the building as Chill emerges.
REPORTER 1
Chill, any words for the Wayne family?!
Chill, head down, presses on. Bruce straightens. Breathes. Starts walking towards Chill. A Reporter spots him.
REPORTER 2
It’s Bruce Wayne!
The Reporters clear a path, eager for a confrontation.
BLONDE FEMALE REPORTER
Joe! Hey Joe!!
This one catches Chill’s eye – blonde, local TV type.
Bruce’s hand drops to his side as he moves … he’s breathing hard … thinking … deciding …
Falcone says hi!!
She thrusts a gun at Chill’s chest and fires. Chill drops.
Bruce stops in his tracks. Reporters dive for cover – Cops jump on the Blonde Reporter, pinning her …
Bruce. Fifteen feet away. Loaded gun up his sleeve. Face as uncomprehending as the night Chill killed his parents. Rachel moves to Bruce, pulling him away from the chaos.
RACHEL
Come on, Bruce. Come on, we don’t need to see this.
Bruce yanks his arm away.
BRUCE
I do.
INT. RACHEL’S CAR – EVENING 46
Rachel drives. Bruce sits there, hands in his lap. Staring.
RACHEL
The DA couldn’t understand why Judge Faden insisted on making the hearing public. Falcone paid him off to get Chill out in the open.
BRUCE
Maybe I should be thanking them.
Rachel turns to Bruce, appalled.
RACHEL
You don’t mean that.
BRUCE
What if I do, Rachel? My parents deserved justice.
RACHEL
You’re not talking about justice, you’re talking about revenge.
BRUCE
Sometimes they’re the same.
RACHEL
They’re never the same, Bruce. Justice is about harmony … revenge is about you making yourself feel better. That’s why we have an impartial system –
BRUCE
Well, your system is broken.
RACHEL
Don’t you tell me the system’s broken, Bruce! I’m busting my ass in school so that I can do something to fix it. You care about justice …?
Rachel yanks the wheel.
EXT. FREEWAY, GOTHAM – CONTINUOUS 47
Rachel’s car screeches across two lanes, onto an exit ramp.
INT. / EXT. RACHEL’S CAR ON SURFACE STREETS – CONTINUOUS 48
The streets below are dark, crowded and threatening.
RACHEL
Look beyond your own pain, Bruce.
Rachel gestures at the filthy streets. Down dark alleys, shadowy figures conduct business.
This city is rotting. They talk about the depression as if it’s history, but it’s not – things are worse than ever down here. Falcone floods our streets with crime and drugs, preying on the desperate, creating new Joe Chills every day. Falcone may not have killed your parents, Bruce, but he’s destroying everything they stood for.
They pull up in front of a basement club.
You want to thank him for that, here you go. We all know where to find him … (Gestures at club.) But as long as he keeps the bad people rich and the good people scared no one will touch him. Good people like your parents who’ll stand against injustice are gone, Bruce. And what chance does Gotham have when the good people do nothing?
She pokes him in the chest. Bruce looks down at her finger.
BRUCE
I’m not one of your ‘good people’, Rachel.
RACHEL
What do you mean?
BRUCE
All these years I wanted to kill him … (Pulls up sleeve.) … now I can’t.
Turns his hand over. Rachel stares at the gun in his hand. She looks at Bruce. Shocked. Realizing.
RACHEL
You were going to kill him yourself.
; She slaps him. Bruce does nothing. Rachel slaps him again and again. Nothing. She stops. Tears flowing.
Just another coward with a gun. No better than Chill.
Rachel looks into Bruce’s eyes.
Your father would be ashamed of you.
Bruce stares at Rachel. Opens his door.
EXT. DOCK AREA, GOTHAM – CONTINUOUS 49
Bruce makes his way to the water. Takes out his gun. Turns it, studies the light off its metal.
Insert cut: the trembling barrel of Chill’s gun.
Bruce, with contempt, flings his gun into the black water.
EXT. BASEMENT CLUB, FACING DOCKS – LATER 50
Bruce strides towards the entrance.
INT. BASEMENT CLUB – CONTINUOUS 51
Bruce enters the crowded club. He spots a figure holding court at a corner table. Falcone. Bruce pushes through the crowd, attracting curious stares. Falcone looks up.
FALCONE
You’re taller than you look in the tabloids, Mr. Wayne.
A Thug appears at Bruce’s side. Pats him down.
No gun? I’m insulted.
BRUCE
Only a coward needs a gun.
Falcone shrugs. Motions him to sit.
FALCONE
Coulda just sent a thank you note.
BRUCE
I didn’t come here to thank you. I came here to show you that not everyone in Gotham is afraid of you.
FALCONE
(laughs)
Just those that know me, kid. Look around – you’ll see two councilmen, a union official, a couple off-duty cops, a judge
Judge Faden sits at a nearby table, eyeing Bruce nervously. Falcone pulls a gun from under the table. Holds it to Bruce’s forehead. People stop their conversations, staring.
I don’t have a second’s hesitation blowing your head off in front of them … that’s power you can’t buy. The power of fear.
BRUCE
(smiles)
I’m not afraid of you.
FALCONE
Because you think you’ve got nothing to lose. But you haven’t thought it through – you haven’t thought about your lady friend from the DA’s … or that old butler of yours
THE DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY: The Complete Screenplays with Storyboards Page 4