Isle of the Dead Page #5

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EXT. THE CYPRESS GROVE - NIGHT

MED. CLOSE SHOT --Oliver and the General. The CAMERA TRUCKS

WITH them as they pass under the cypress trees, their faces

alternately in moonlight and shadow. The sound of the woman's

voice singing cones over the scene very faintly.

EXT. THE STAIRWAY AND TUNNEL MOUTH - NIGHT

MED. SHOT - To the right, a stairway cut into the rock winds

upward from the sandy floor of the beach. The CAMERA PANS

SLOWLY UP the rock to the head of the stairway, a narrow

shelf or landing above the sea. A square opening is cut into

the cliff-face, black and impenetrable from this angle. As

the CAMERA RESTS ON the tunnel opening, the minor melody of-

the singing rises to an impassioned lament, wild and

melancholy.

REVERSE ANGLE. From the shelf, CAMERA SHOOTS DOWN onto the

stairway. The two men are starting up the steps, the General

in the lead. They move upward slowly, hesitantly. The singing

continues, clear and alluring.

MED. SHOT. Oliver and the General come up onto the shelf of

rock. Before then is the tunnel opening, an ominous door of

darkness in the moonlit stone. (See page 113 "HELLAS".) As

the two men face it, the singing comes to a climax on a high,

almost triumphant note. There is a moment's after-silence and

then the earlier motif of the song begins again, subdued,

softer, as if the singer were moving away.

CLOSE SHOT. The General stares off, rapt, his entire being

focused on the unseen singer. CAMERA DRAWS BACK to include

Oliver, who stands a little to one side, watching the

General. The General moves forward andOliver accompanies

him. CAMERA TRUCKS WITH them, until they are framed in the

opening of the tunnel. They stand there for a second, than

move forward again. Their figures grow dimmer as the CAMERA

TRUCKS WITH then into the blackness of the tunnel. The

singing continues, faint and slightly distorted. Over it

sound the slow, hesitant footsteps of the two men.

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