THE JIGSAW MAN
Script by Caucus de Bourbon
From the short story by Larry Niven
PANEL 1
CLOSE ON TOE TAG - fastened to CADAVER'S foot. The tag is not
hanging by string looped over toe. It is speared through by
a thin twig of plastic like those used to adhere department
store price tags to clothing, the ends of which form Ts to
prevent yanking through the fabric without tearing. Or, in
this case, ripping the fleshy tip off a corpse's big toe.
TAG READS: D.O.A., under which is the universal symbol for
recycling (three arrows turned in on themselves).
PANEL 2
NEW ANGLE - THE CADAVER - a naked man on a conveyer belt. A
mechanical arm reaches in and removes the tag.
SFX: (arm activating) ZZHWIMM
SFX: (cutting of tag) SNIP!
PULL BACK TO REVEAL
PANEL 3
THE MACHINE - A massive contraption encased by a roomful of
shadows. It seems strikingly clean--sterile--a fantastic
hodgepodge of gleaming metal and dull plastic. Technoid arms
and wicked spears of stainless steel jut out from it lending
to an instantly sinister atmosphere. This is the future of
medicine. This is "The Doctor."
Cadaver rolls into "The Doctor." It consumes him.
SFX: (floating-conveyor) HHMMMMMM
PANEL 4
CADAVER'S CHEST - A surgical saw cuts through sternum,
spitting meaty bits of dark fluid.
SFX: (saw) VVVWEEEEEEYYYYRRR
PANEL 5
SHOT - CADAVER'S HEART - drops into a glassine urn of liquid.
SFX: PLOSSHH!
PANEL 6 (wide)
FULL ON CADAVER - virtually every portion of it's epidermus
slit open and peeled back to expose organs being excavated.
SFX: KLIIIP
SFX: SQUUUUUSH
SFX: FLOOOMP
PANEL 7
SHOT: A LONG SYRINGE NEEDLE - hollow, with a hole in the end.
PANEL 8
SIDE VIEW OF CADAVER'S EYE - opened by braces. It stares up
into the needle, a millimeter away from stabbing its pupil.
PAGE 17
PANEL 1
CLOSE ON BOTH LEW'S EYES - opened wide with fright. On
either side of them are padded bars.
LEW: It's not fair!
PULL BACK TO REVEAL
PANEL 2
THREE JAIL CELLS - LEW (late-twenties) stands with his face
pressed against the padded bars of his cell. On either side
of his cell is another. Each shares the same back wall of
concrete. The cell to his left contains a kid named BERNIE.
On the right, a wirey old MAN guy wearing spectacles. All
wear simple pull-string pants and pullover shirt. No shoes.
LEW: ...It's just not fair.
MAN: Stupidity.
PANEL 3
NEW ANGLE - Lew regards the Man seated on his bunk, a
concrete slab with a mattress like his own.
LEW: What?
MAN: Stupidity's always been a capital crime.
If you had to get yourself executed, why
not for something important?
MAN: (2nd balloon) See the kid on the other
side of you?
PANEL 4
SHOT THRU BARS OF BERNIE - a droopy-eyed oaf with vacant eyes
leveled Lew's way.
LEW: (from Off Panel) What about him?
MAN: (from Off Panel) He's an organlegger.
PANEL 5 (small)
SHOCK PANEL - A BUTCHER KNIFE - lobs off a slab of steak.
SFX: TTTHWUNKK!
PANEL 6
OVER MAN'S SHOULDER - Lew backs away from Bernie's cell,
closer to the Man.
LEW: How many did he kill?
MAN: None. He was the snatch man. He'd find
someone alone at night, drug 'em and take
'em to the doc that ran the ring. It was
the doc, did the killing.
PANEL 7
ON MAN -
MAN: And if he brought home a dead prospect,
the doc'd skinned him down.
LEW: How can you stand it?! They're going to
do to that us!
MAN: Not to me. They won't take me apart like
some hog.
PAGE 18
PANEL 1
NEW ANGLE -
LEW: No? And why not?
MAN: Because there's a bomb where my right
thigh bone used to be. I'm gonna blow
myself up. What they find, they won't
use.
PANEL 2
LEW SCOFFS -
LEW: Nonsense! How can you put a bomb in your
leg?
MAN: Take the bone out, bore a hole in it,
build the bomb in the hole, get all the
oganic material out of the bone so it
won't rot, put the bone back in.
LEW: Right.
SLIT PANEL 3
ON MAN - mischievous.
MAN: Want to join me?
SLIT PANEL 4
ON LEW - uncomfortable.
LEW: Join you?
PANEL 5
TWO SHOT -
MAN: I know what it's like.
LEW: What what's like?
MAN: Hunch up against the bars. This thing'll
take care of both of us.
LEW: No, thanks...
PANEL 6
NEW ANGLE -
MAN: You say your father use to be a butcher?
Well, it's no different from that--what
they'll do to you.
LEW: The attorney will think of something.
MAN: First, they dip you in a vat of freezing
chemicals--slow, so's not to splash...
PANEL 7
SHOT - LEW AS A CADAVER - his face submerged in frothy
freezing liquid, a tube leading from his mouth.
CAPTION: "A tube in your mouth feeds oxygen to the
lungs while they dribble something else
entirely into your veins."
2ND CAPTION: "Your heartbeats get further and
further apart."
PAGE 19
PANEL 1
SHOT - CARDIOGRAPH - reports a steady flat-line.
CAPTION: "When it stops completely, the machine
begins sugery."
2ND CAPTION: "Only you're not dead yet--"
3RD CAPTION: "--Not really--"
4TH CAPTION: "--Not clinically."
PANEL 2
SHOT - HEART - deposited into a container.
CAPTION: "Cardiectomy preserves the heart as
lasers slice fine seams across your
skin."
PANEL 3
SHOT - SKIN BEING LASERED - PEELED BACK
CAPTION: "It's peeled back from the deeper,
fiberous tissue, mostly in one piece,
like a wet pink sleeve."
2ND CAPTION: "All of it still living."
PANEL 4
2 SHOTS - BRAIN BEING SCOOPED OUT & BRAIN BEING INCINERATED -
leaving only a small pile of ashes.
CAPTION: "The cranium is opened, brain removed and
flashburned for burial."
PANEL 5
REMAINDER OF PAGE MONTAGE - CARCASS SURGICALLY TAKEN APART -
CAPTION: "What remains is disassembled; a
flexible, fragile, tremendously complex
jigsaw puzzle excavated in slabs and
small blobs and parchment-thin layers of
tubing for storage in the hospital organ
banks."
PAGE 20
PANEL 1
LOW AND TILTED FORCED PERSPECTIVE - LOOKING UP - at PARTNER
falling from futuristic pedwalk spanning skyscraper towers
above him. A bullet's ripped a hole in his chest--dead long
before hitting the street below.
MAN: "Bernie weren't so lucky as his partner,
the other snatch man. He was killed
straight off. Went over a pedwalk."
PANEL 2
BACK TO SCENE - LEW AND MAN - Emphasis on Lew looking faint.
LEW: You know an awful lot. Not just about
Bernie, I mean, in general.
MAN: I never did tell you what I was in here
for, did I?
PANEL 3
NEW ANGLE - MAN
MAN: You see, Bernie and the other snatched
for me.
PANEL 4
NEW ANGLE - MAN - grinning fiendishly.
MAN: I was the doc!
PANEL 5
TILTED - SHOT THROUGH BARS - THE GUARD - sitting bored at his
desk, throws a look over the newspaper he he reads, uncaring.
LEW: (floating from Off Panel) Guard!
PANEL 6
TILTED - ON LEW - He backs away from the cage, panic rifling
through him.
LEW: I'm surrounded by professional killers!
MAN: Hide behind your bunk if you don't want
to die clean, boy!
PANEL 7
TILTED - NEW ANGLE - Lew scrambles for cover.
LEW: You're all mad!
PANEL 8
TILT - ON MAN - ranting maniacally.
MAN: (floating) They won't skin me!
PAGE 21
PANEL 1
NEW ANGLE - Lew drops into the nootch between his bunk and
the wall. Pillow in hand, he insulates his head...
SFX: (floating-heartbeat) THUMP-THUMP THUMP-
THUMP THUMP-THUMP
PANEL 2
ON BERNIE - levels a glare through the bars. Drooling.
SFX: (floating) THUMP-THUMP THUMP-THUMP
PANEL 3
CLOSER ON LEW - behind bunk, holds his head, shuts his eyes.
SFX: (floating) THUMP-THUMP THUMP-THUMP
PANEL 4
CLOSE ON MAN'S EYES - peering through spectacles.
SFX: (floating) THUMP-THUMP
PANEL 5
TIGHT ON LEW'S EYES - squinting back the imminent blast.
SFX: (floating) THUMP-THUMP...
UPANEL 6
CLOSER - ON ONE OF LEW'S EYES - He risks a peek at --
SFX: (floating) ...THUMP-THUMP...
PANEL 7
LEW'S POV - THE GUARD'S STATION - at the end of the hall.
The desk is vacant.
SFX: (floating) THUMP
PANEL 8
LEW - opens his eyes fully. Looks up to discover --
SFX: (floating) THUMP
PANEL 9
THE GUARD - stands at cell's front looking at him. Laughing.
GUARD: HYAAA-HA-HA-HA!
PAGE 22
SHOCK PANEL 1
EXPLOSION!!!
SFX: KA-BLLOOOOMMM!!!
UPANEL 2
FULL SHOT - THE THREE CELLS - rubble-strewn and filled with
smoke. Blood splayed across the bars, the wall, the ceiling-
-everywhere! There is no sign of the Doc's body.
PANEL 3
ON LEW - picks himself off the floor. The bedding of his
mattress is shredded from the blast. A low groan emits from
Off Panel as Lew has a looksee around.
FLOATING: (small) OOOHH...
PANEL 4
THE GUARD - a crumpled heap against the cell across the
corridor.
FLOATING: (little larger) HHGGGGAA..
PANEL 5
BERNIE - lies on the floor, an impossibly twisted wreck. He
is the source of the "floating" groan which now raises in
volume to a wail of excrutiating pain.
BERNIE: (floating large) UUUAAAAGGGHHH!!!
PANEL 6
SHOT FROM INSIDE MAN'S CELL - Lew reacts to something he
see's here. Though the bars seperating are still intact,
much of the silicone plastic sheathing has been ripped away.
However, this is not what Lew is staring at.
BERNIE: (floating in B.G.) UUGGHH
PAGE 23
PANEL 1
FROM OVER LEW'S SHOULDER - A HOLE IN THE CONCRETE WALL - of
Man's cell.
LEW: (thought) The outside wall!
LEW: (thought) He must have been standing
right there.
PANEL 2
NEW ANGLE - LEW - on hands and knees, shuffles over to the
shredded bars.
LEW: (thought) The blast ripped the sheathing
off.
LEW: (thought) If I can just squeeze
through...
PANEL 3
NEW ANGLE - CLOSER - as Lew takes hold of the bars. They are
noticeably vibrating, as does his hands when touching them.
SFX: (stunner) VVWWMMMMMMM
LEW: (thought) Sonic stunners... Making me
sleepy...
PANEL 4
NEW ANGLE - Lew squeezing through bars. Whole cell vibrating.
LEW: (thought) The bars are slick with...
LEW: Don't think about it! Got to stay...
stay awake.
LEW: (thought) ...So sleepy...
SFX: (stunner) VVWWMMMMM
PANEL 5
NEW ANGLE - Lew through the bars. His strength being sapped.
He pokes his head out hole.
SFX: (stunner) VVWWMMMM
LEW: (thought) ...Sleep...
PANEL 6
EXT. HOLE - NIGHT - HIGH ANGLE - looking past Lew's head.
Below, are fifty floors of smooth concrete slab devoid of
recesses or precipices of any kind.
LEW: Jeezus--I'm at top of the courthouse!
PANEL 7
REVERSE ANGLE - Lew turns to see above the hole. Only a few
feet away is the edge of the roof. He stretches a hand out.
LEW: (thought) Can't reach the roof.
LEW: Win or lose, they won't get me for the
organ banks.
PANEL 8
NEW ANGLE - Foot under him for leverage, Lew lunges --
LEW: Fuck it!
PAGE 24
PANEL 1
ON LEW - in mid-air, arms flailing skyward.
LEW: (floating) AGGGGHHH
PANEL 2
LEW'S FINGERS - slap onto the edge of the roof.
SFX: SLAPPP!
PANEL 3
NEW ANGLE - LEW - facing the courthouse wall, falls back and
away from it as one of his hands slips.
LEW: WHOOOAAAT???!!!
PANEL 4
NEW ANGLE - Instead of falling, Lew hangs swaying from the
courthouse rooftop pedwalk (a moving sidewalk) that pulls him
toward another building across the way. He hangs on with
both hands.
LEW: A pedwalk! Yes!!
LEW: Hang on!
LEW: Hang on!
LEW: I won't die...
PANEL 5
NEW ANGLE - FULL - Nobody is on the pedwalk, but it continues
its ongoing trek from one building to another. In this case,
a skyscraper equal in height to the courthouse from which Lew
flees. He hangs in space between the two, unable to pull
himself onto it.
LEW: I refuse to die.
LEW: I committed no crime worth dying for!
PAGE 25
A SERIES OF ANGLES - LEW TRAVERSING THE PEDWALK SPAN
PANEL 1 (across page)
FULL SHOT - THE CITY - Lew and the pedwalk merely a minute
piece of the dark megalopolis around him. NOTE: This is the
not-too-distant future. Not quite "Blade Runner" bleak.
CAPTION: They argued that killing a man for his
crime teaches him nothing; that it serves
as no deterrent to others who might
commit the same crime; that death is
irreversible, whereas an innocent man
might be released from prison once his
innocence is belatedly proven.
PANEL 2
LOW ANGLE - LOOKING UP AT LEW - dangling.
CAPTION: Killing a man serves no good purpose,
they said, unless for society's
vengeance.
LEW: (thought) Hold on...
2ND CAPTION: Vengeance, they said, is unworthy
of an enlightened society.
PANEL 3
CLOSE ON LEW - His face a bad mix of desperate grip, sweat
and determination.
CAPTION: By 1990 it was possible to store any
living human organ for any reasonable
length of time. Transplants had become
routine. The dying regularly willed
their remains to the organ banks.
PANEL 4
LEW'S POV - The new building, several windows ablaze with
light. One in particular is directly ahead and beneath him,
set in a slender encasement.
CAPTION: But such gifts from the dead were not
always useful.
LEW: Almost there...
PANEL 5
LOOKING DOWN - over pedwalk and Lew hanging in space, very
close to the new building.
CAPTION: With the passing of the first organ bank
statutes, now a condemned man could know
that his death would save lives.
LEW: (thought) Now!
PANEL 6
LEW'S HANDS - let go of the pedwalk.
CAPTION: No longer was it true that an execution
served no good purpose.
PAGE 26
PANEL 1
WINDOW CASEMENT - Lew's feet land hard on the encasement.
SFX: THWUMP
LEW: OOOF!
PANEL 2
LEW'S HANDS FLAT AGAINST THE WINDOW - The small office beyond
is illuminated, but empty. Lew's wristwatch is visible. It
reads 10:00. He also wears a diamond ring.
LEW: Twenty-one hundred hours.
LEW: (thought) It won't take the courthouse
long to figure out where I am.
PANEL 3
LEW SMASHES A FIST - against the window. It doesn't give.
SFX: (punch) WHHHUUUMP!
LEW: Damn.
PANEL 4
CLOSE ON DIAMOND RING - Lew eyeballs it catching the light.
LEW: Maybe...
PANEL 5
INT. OFFICE - Lew, still outside window, pops out a small
circle of glass he has cut with his diamond ring.
SFX: (glass falling to floor) CHINK
PANEL 6
EXT. WINDOW - Several circles have been cut out allowing a
hole large enough for Lew to slip through. Inside, he pulls
his courthouse shirt off.
LEW: A jail suit on my back will be a dead
giveaway. There must be something to
wear in--
PANEL 7
INT. OFFICE - LOW OVER DESK TOP - Shirtless, Lew reacts as he
spots something. Not pleased.
LEW: Jeezus...
PAGE 27
PANEL 1
DESK PLACARD - reads: "HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATOR". Lew holds
some papers littered around the desk, smirking.
LEW: (thought) A hospital, how convenient.
LEW: Leave it to me to escape to the hospital
next door to the courthouse!
PANEL 2
THE WASTEPAPER BASKET - Lew buries his shirt deep into it.
SFX: SHOOF
PANEL 3
A DESK DRAWER OPEN - Lew finds a shaving razor.
PANEL 4
NEW ANGLE - Lew throws open the closet. No clothing inside.
LEW: Dammit!
PANEL 5
FROM INSIDE CLOSET - LEW REACTS - as the office door opens
behind him.
SFX: (door) KL-LIK
PANEL 6
NEW ANGLE - A beefy ORDERLY enters, surprised to find Lew.
ORDERLY: Hey, what're yo--
PANEL 7
ORDERLY'S FACE - Lew lands a punch immediately shutting it's
mouth and sending broken teeth flying.
SFX: (punch) CRAACK
PAGE 28
PANEL 1
HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - LEW - bolts from the office, Orderly
unconscious on floor. An elevator is seen at the far end of
hall. It's doors are open.
SFX: (elevator) PING
LEW: (thought) The elevator!
PANEL 2
SHOT FROM INSIDE ELEVATOR - The doors begin to shut as Lew
sprints toward it. Razor still in hand.
LEW: No!
PANEL 3
REVERSE ANGLE - Lew crashes into the doors, slipping both
arms between at the last moment.
PANEL 4
CLOSE ON ELEVATOR PANEL - Lew's finger jabs "STREET."
PANEL 5
INT. ELEVATOR - Lew folds back against its wall as the doors
slide closed. He still has no shirt and is breathless.
LEW: I'm going to make it.
PANEL 6
CLOSE ON RAZOR - Lew quickly shaves the growth off his face.
Dry and painful.
SFX: (shave) SKR-RATCH!
SFX: (elevator) PING
PANEL 7
NEW ANGLE - WITH WOMAN TECHNICIAN - Elevator doors open and
Lew brushes hurriedly past as she enters. A sidewise look.
WOMAN: Excuse me.
PAGE 29
PANEL 1
ON LEW - Spins back around as the elevator doors slap shut.
SFX: (doors) WHHOOMFF
LEW: Wait!
PANEL 2
ELEVATOR "DOWN" BUTTON - Lew stabs it hard.
SFX: (finger) STAB STAB STAB
LEW: (from O.P.) Waitaminute, I got off too
early!
THE FOLLOWING THREE VERTICAL PANELS FILL REMAINDER OF PAGE.
PANEL 3
LEW AT THE ELEVATOR - exasperated. He throws a look over his
shoulder to view the room behind him.
LEW: I'm on the wrong floor...
PANEL 4
PULL BACK (MID-WAY) - Lew turns fully to regard the clear
tanks which form a tall corridor either side of him. Inside
of them is what used to be people. He is standing at the
entrance of the "Organ Storage Vault."
PANEL 5
PULL BACK (FULLY) TO REVEAL - the full cavernous expanse of
the storage labyrinth. Men, Women, tissue and organs of
every description, clinically preserved. Sterilized.
Catalogued. Stored. A sign nearby denotes: "Organ Storage
Vault-Sec.25C."
PAGE 30
PANEL 1
ALARM - flashes beneath a device resembling a little cannon.
"Sharp Sonic Projector 5000," is indicated on its casing.
SFX: (alarm) WAA-MM WAA-MM WAA-MM
SFX: (stunner) VVWWMMMMM
PANEL 2
LOW ANGLE - LEW REACTS - to the overhead and out-of-reach
sonic stunner. He grabs a chair and shakes a fist.
LEW: Alright, you bastards! I'll give you a
reason worth dying for!
PANEL 3
MONTAGE OF DESTRUCTION - Lew smashes tanks with the chair--
glass and plastic bits spat like spinning shrapnel with each
successive blow. Fluid and body parts gush across the floor
as the stunners wear at Lew's strength.
SFX: CRASSHHH!
CAPTION: The cause of it all was the organ banks.
With good doctors and a sufficient flow
of material in the organ banks, any
taxpayer could hope to live indefinitely.
PANEL 4
SHOT - LEW'S FACE - lying against the wet floor. Eyes
droopy. The room still vibrating.
LEW: ...sleep...so sleepy...
CAPTION: The death penalty was his immortality.
SLIVER PANEL 5
MATCH PREVIOUS FACE SHOT - Lines alter to turn upright
(superimposition effect).
CAPTION: And what voter would vote against eternal
life?
SLIVER PANEL 6
MATCH PREVIOUS FACE SHOT - superimpose continued, still
altering lines of his face, now almost upright. Eyes open.
CAPTION: ..Or against the death penalty for any
crime at all?
PANEL 7
MATCH LEW'S FACE - fully upright, awake and alert. Next to
him his LAWYER speaks hushedly.
LAWYER: They'll prosecute you for destruction of
medical resources only if you beat this
rap. They're sure you won't. So am I.
But we'll try.
PULL BACK TO REVEAL
PANEL 8
INT. COURTROOM - PROSECUTOR makes his opening statement. Lew
and Lawyer watch.
PROSECUTOR: The state will prove that the defendant
in the space of two years, willfully
drove through six red traffic lights, and
once exceeded the speed limit by as much
as fifteen miles per hour.
PROSECUTOR: (2nd balloon) The people demand the
death penalty!
THE END