ATUK - REEL ONE

FADE IN

ARCTIC WASTELAND - WINTER - DAY

Screen is frigid white. Image resolves to powder swirling and rolling like smoke
as wind howls, and an eskimo appears in the distance, struggling across an
infinite plain of ice, falling down one or two times, but deliberate and determined.

He has a large round belly, wears a seal-skin parka and polar bear pants,
and carries a primitive harpoon. He spots something at his feet, stops
and brushes snow away to expose a small hole in the ice, and as the
camera moves tight, he poises himself as a powerful action-warrior,
hunched over the hole with his harpoon, waiting for the kill.

SUPER TITLE
ATUK

The wind blows him over. He gets up and waits.

ATUK
(into hole, playful, childlike)
Time for a little oxygen, don't you think? Mmmmmm, fresh air.
(assumes new stance and waits, louder)
Come on, the whole gang's here -- we're all just sitting around ... breathing ...
(waits)
This is the life, huh? 40 below zero, little breeze, conversation ...
(impatient edge)
As best we can, starving to death.
(over his shoulder, childlike again)
Girls, stamp your flippers, girls ...
(stamping his feet)
And those aren't just ordinary girls, no sir, these are girls with
big white teeth, and fashionable clothes, and earning power ...

A seal pokes his cute whiskered nose up through the hole.
Atuk raises his harpoon, the seal takes a few breaths,
Atuk raises the harpoon higher, stares down
at the nose, and freezes -- he can't do it.

EXT. VILLAGE - HUDSON BAY - EVENING

A collection of sod, driftwood, and tin-roofed huts scattered around a larger
meeting hall. Kayaks, whale boats, sleds, and barking dogs litter snow
drifts in between. Atuk, carrying his harpoon, walks to a hut with a
wiry older man -- his STEPFATHER -- who's holding a string of fish.

ATUK
I just couldn't find anything, you know -- it's like they hear me coming.

INT. KALEEYE HUT - NIGHT

Atuk's family at dinner. The stepfather and several children -- ranging from
Atuk's age, around 29, to a little girl four or five years old -- sit around
a cramped floor while Mom and a daughter serve raw fish on a
variety of old metal and ceramic plates. All eat with their hands.

Walls are papered with newsprint. An oil lantern burns overhead.
The stepfather eyes Atuk stuffing his amble belly as he
removes sealskin muckluks and socks of wadded straw.

STEPFATHER
(to Atuk)
If you ate only what you caught, maybe they wouldn't hear you.

Two younger kids giggle and point at their own stomachs, making fun of Atuk's.

ATUK
(to his mother)
This is getting a little old, isn't it?
(mother hushes the kids, Atuk addresses the family)
Look, I'm different than you, allright?
Mom made a little mistake with the missionary ...
(she gives an embarrassed stern look, Atuk eats and talks)
No, it's time there was some realism in this household. Now,
I know I'm not exactly a model specimen here, I don't
look like you, I'm not the greatest hunter in the world ...

Dad, busily eating a raw whole fish, rolls his eyes.

ATUK
(continuing)
You can stick an eight-inch spike in a seal's nose -- I can't. I can't help it.
(looks around, everyone is biting into fish, no one is listening)
My mind's on other things.

INT. KALEEYE'S HUT - ATUK'S BED - NIGHT - LATER

He lies with his four-year-old sister by a dim lantern on a cot in the corner, staring at his
sole personal decoration -- a faded poster showing a pretty girl in a Hawaiian shirt and
sunglasses on a tropical beach. Someone snores. Atuk glances at his family, sleeping all
around him under heaps of animal fur, then reaches beneath his bed and has his little sister
help him lift out an old tea chest full of his possessions. They find worn, dog-eared copies
of American magazines -- Life, Reader's Digest, Road and Track, Country Life, New York,
Opera News, American Philatelist, Byte, Boy's Life, Wrestling, Gourmet -- which he pauses
at, then -- Psychology Today, Seventeen, Time, Metallurgy News, Architectural Digest,
and finally, a recent issue of Fortune. Atuk opens it and begins to whisper-read to his
sister -- like a child himself, in his own world, venturing off to fantastic places.

ATUK
" ... some believe the company introduced Classic Coke to offset
lackluster profits and market share in the previous six quarters ... "

INT. KALEEYE'S HUT - NIGHT - MOTHER AND STEPFATHER

He wakes and looks annoyedly at Atuk. Mother,
protecting Atuk, pulls her husband back to sleep.

EXT. VILLAGE - MORNING

Weak sun appears on the horizon as men head out for a day on sleds.
A plain, plumb girl -- MISA -- around 16 or 17 years old, pulls up
to Atuk's hut with a sledload of seal and walrus hides as Atuk
emerges, barely awake, barely ready for more endless drudgery.

MISA
(yells at him, bossy)
Hey! Come on!

INT. MEETING HALL - DAY

Village women chew hides to soften them -- the older ones'
teeth are ground to nubs -- while other women sew softened
hides around a boat frame. Atuk and Misa struggle in with
enormous loads from her sled and spread them on the floor.

ATUK
(to Misa, while struggling)
All right, here's a question for you ... How many of
the top 20 banks in the world are in the United States?

Misa pays no attention.

ATUK
(enthusiastic)
Are you ready for this? One. The greatest economic
power in the world, and all they got anymore is one ...
(follows her to the door as she gets another load)
So you know what they're going to do, they're going
to start merging their industries with their banks,
and they're going to have these huge super banks
that'll change the whole American system of banking.

Misa reappears with more hides, shoves them into his arms and leaves.

ATUK
(continuing)
I know, I know, so what? ... but it's not "so what?" --
these are the kinds of things that effect the whole world.

He looks to see all of the women staring at him, dumps the hides and goes outside.

EXT. MEETING HALL - DAY

Misa rides off on her sled. Atuk yells to her, frustrated.

ATUK
The whole world!

He watches her for a moment, then looks up to see a red twin-engine
plane roar overhead. Locals pop from their huts and run to
greet it as the plane circles and lands on skids near the village.

EXT. AIRPLANE - DAY

A Canadian Indian Affairs agent climbs out with an American documentary
film team, led by an ambitious, self-assured, very good looking 25 year old
woman -- MICHELLE ROSS. She braces herself against a freezing blast of wind.

INT. MEETING HALL - DAY

Filled with tobacco smoke. Lanterns burn. The entire village is seated
on chairs and the floors -- stone faced -- as Michelle stands before them
trying to win them over. Misa sits down next to Atuk, sees him eyeing Michelle.

MICHELLE
Hello, everyone -- my name is Michelle. I'm from New York City,
and as our friend from the Indian Bureau has already explained,
we're making a documentary film for American television.
(silence from Eskimos, a little nervous)
Our purpose is to experience your great, ancient
culture -- so little understood by the outside world.

Atuk continues to stare at Michelle. Misa knocks his head
smartly with her knuckles. Atuk's sisters giggle.

MICHELLE
(struggling)
Now we've been told some of you are going out hunting tomorrow ...
(to agent)
For reindeer, is that right?
(to Eskimos)
So what we'd like to do is team up with your best
hunter and have him show us how it's done.
(looks at file card)
Where is Mr. Kaleeye?

Everyone looks at Atuk's stepfather. He reluctantly signals with his hand.

MICHELLE
Well, sir, we hear you're the ace in these parts ...
(sensitive to egos)
But anyone else who'd like to help us, you're certainly welcome.

Atuk looks at her and his stepfather, then eagerly stands up. Everyone laughs, except Misa.

ATUK
My name is Atuk.

Michelle lights up, having finally gotten a response from someone,
while Kaleeye again rolls his eyes at his peculiar, inexplicable ward.

INT. ARCTIC TENT - NIGHT

State of the art, filled with equipment. Michelle sleeps in a
bag on a cot. We hear an odd clanging noise off camera --
her eyes open, noise continues, she scrambles to her feet.

EXT. AIRPLANE - NIGHT

In darkness on the tundra. Camera pans slowly to a figure in the pilot's seat,
talking on the radio, as Michelle and a CREW MEMBER approach from the village.

ATUK
This is Air Force One. We're at 70000 feet and I've got the President aboard, plus,
oh ... George Bush and Margaret Thatcher, Prince Carlos of Spain, Prime Minister
Mulroney, Helmut Kohl, Mr. Nokasone, and Mr. Mitterand, and we've got a crisis
mayday situation here ... Roger ... a debt crisis, actually -- third world debt crisis
and we've got to deliver an infusion of monetary credits -- we've got ten trillion in
credits on board and request priority to land ... okay, I'll wait, but make it fast.

Michelle creeps up to the plane, hears garbled static from the radio.

MICHELLE
(whispers)
It's that guy, Atuk ...

ATUK
Okay, that's a roger, and we've also got ten, make that fifteen, Backfire
bombers all around us, and the President is asleep so if you'll just
connect me to Moscow, I'll see if I can't straighten this thing out.

CREW MEMBER
What the hell is he doing?

MICHELLE
He sounds like a kid.
(crewman starts to open cockpit door, savvy)
No, wait, you'll embarrass him.

CREW MEMBER
He's in a $400000 plane, for Christ's sake.

MICHELLE
And he's the only one who's volunteered to do anything with us.

ATUK
Well, okay, I'm going to have to take some evasive action.
Plus I'm activating my stealth systems ... stand by.

Michelle and the Crew Member look at each other, sensing trouble as
Atuk reaches forward and pokes the instrument panel, accidentally turning
on one of the engines. The plane begins to turn in a slow circle. Atuk
jumps out of the door, screaming in terror, falls on Michelle and the Crew
Member, as the pilot and other crew race toward the plane. Atuk stands
up. Michelle shouts as the plane's tail sweeps over his head. Atuk drops
to the ground, and the pilot jumps into the cockpit and shuts off the engine.

EXT. VILLAGE - MORNING

Atuk's stepfather hitches up his ace dog team. Atuk appears from behind a hut with a
pack of completely unmanageable dogs, running circles around him, snapping at him,
wriggling from their harnesses and darting in all directions. He chases them, tackles
one or two, then finally distracts them with a scrap of meat as the film crew walks
up with their equipment and begins to load it on the sleds. Michelle rubs her neck.

ATUK
(over-eager, self-conscious, like a guilty child)
Oh, hi, just getting my team ready.
(the crew eyes him skeptically)
Don't let them bother you -- you
keep them hungry, they go faster.

Kaleeye's ready to go. All crew members climb aboard, keeping distance
from anything controlled by Atuk. Kaleeye snaps his whip and they're off.
Michelle musters a polite smile, secures herself on Atuk's sled. Atuk herds the
dogs into a more or less straight line, cracks his whip, and nothing happens. He
cracks it again and they turn and run at him -- growling, nearly up-ending the sled.

ATUK
(to Michelle)
I'm sorry. These aren't my dogs, really ...

Her smile grows more wary as he begins to pet the dogs. They finally calm down.

ATUK
(goes back to her)
I'm sorry about last night in the airplane too.
I just wanted to see what it was like.

MICHELLE
Don't worry about it.
(looks off towards other sled, now on the horizon)
Can we catch up?

Misa walks up, looks at Michelle and Atuk talking, and shouts at the dogs.
They instantly blast off, pulling the sled and Michelle. Atuk turns to Misa,
closes his eyes to forebear from cuffing her, then chases after the sled.

EXT. GLACIAL PARADISE - DAY

Atuk and Michelle sled in the distance across remarkable blue-white sheets
and folds of ice. The weather is clear now. Sun and sky are brilliant.

ATUK
(V.O.)
Have you ever been to a ballet?

MICHELLE
(V.O.)
Yes ...

ATUK
How tall is the World Trade Center?

MICHELLE
I'm not sure.

ATUK
Why did they build two buildings right next to each
other like that? Why not just one big building?

MICHELLE
How do you know about all these things?

ATUK
I read about them. You see, with one building,
there's be two less walls. Do you use a conditioner?

MICHELLE
Pardon me?

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. CAMPSITE - DAY

Crew sets up camera and audio as Kaleeye and Atuk unload the other sled and
feed the dogs. Michelle stands near Atuk as the crew sets up in the background.

ATUK
(to Michelle)
Do you have an active sexual life?
(off her look)
I was wondering what that means, you know -- if you bounce
around a lot, or you have it while you're running or something ...

MICHELLE
(seeing crew is set up)
Atuk, I think we're almost ...

ATUK
I'll bet sex during a ballet would be pretty active --
you ever see anything like that? You know,
people having sex while they're jumping around
in a ballet. That's something I'd like to see.

MICHELLE
(patronizing again, as if to a child)
Atuk, I think you have a ... very special imagination,
but as far as the film goes, we have a lot of pressure
to finish ... reasonably soon, so we have to focus and
work very quickly. Do you know what I'm saying?

ATUK
(stares at her, then smiles, wanting to please her)
Oh, yeah, exactly.

EXT. SNOW HOUSE - CREW FILMING SEQUENCE - ATUK - DAY LATER

Kaleeye packs a boulder of snow, takes a long ivory knife, licks its blade, to give
it a keen icy edge, then with the dexterity of a Japanese chef, slices a perfectly
dimensioned brick and places it on a half-finished dome. Atuk, nearby, away
from filming, chips manically at a block of ice with a knife. Kaleeye adds more
snow bricks to the igloo, as Atuk runs up behind the nearly finished dome with
a large, thin block of ice. Kaleeye walks around to check what Atuk is doing, the
film crew follows -- and sees that Atuk has installed a large ice window on the back
side of the igloo, complete with a decorative balcony, formed with snow. Kaleeye
will have none of this silliness, yells at Atuk -- who grudgingly removes the balcony.

EXT. CAMPSITE - DAY - LATER - ATUK

He sits crosslegged on a moss mat, smoking a hand-rolled cigarette and holding a
string with a lure on it over a hole in the ice. He lowers it into the hole and wiggles it.

ATUK
(to camera, stiff)
Uh ... this is called jiggle fishing. You just tie a piece of ivory on
the end of some seal hide, and you do this until you catch a fish.

MICHELLE
(O.S.)
How long does it take?

ATUK
It depends.
(line is pulled from his hand, disappears down hole)
On how good you are.

Sounds of a seal and puffs of breath emerge from the hole.

MICHELLE
(O.S. to crew)
Get that!

Kaleeye's face lights up instantly at the site -- food. He lunges at the hole
with his harpoon. The seal ducks beneath the ice. Kaleeye jabs through the
hole, hooks the seal, and hands Atuk a rope attached to the harpoon.
Atuk isn't too keen on this, but for the camera he takes hold as the seal
jerks the rope and practically pulls Atuk down the hole. Kaleeye lets
Atuk struggle in this losing tug-of-war for a while, then finally helps him.

INT. SNOW HOUSE - NIGHT

Open on a kettle of tea sizzling over a moss fire. Everyone has a plateful
of raw meat. Kaleeye gestures, asking if they all approve of the taste.
Michelle and the crew cover their repugnance with hearty smiles.

ATUK
Any of you guys ever had vinaigrette?
(they look at him with full mouths)
What's it like? Is it good?
(to Kaleeye, as he turns away disdainfully)
Oh, now come on, it was just a simple question.

KALEEYE
(cutting)
From a simple mind.

An awkward silence follows. It's useless, as far as Atuk is concerned,
arguing with a man so unwilling or unable to understand him.

EXT. CARIBOU HERD - MORNING

A huge swarm of them, suddenly invaded by Atuk and Kaleeye, chasing
after them with lariots. Atuk clearly has a good time running among the
animals, falling down,laughing, being chased by them. He finally lassos a
deer. The animal drags him full speed across the snow -- the ultimate sled ride.

EXT. GLACIAL PARADISE - TWILIGHT

The hunters and film crew return home. We see several pairs of antlers on the sleds.

EXT. MEETING HALL - EVENING

We hear noisy chanting and human banging. The Indian
Agent walks Michelle and the crew to the hall.

AGENT
Well, you can use this for sure -- it's a dance they do every once in
a while, where they sorta do impressions of each other. It's all fairly
good natured, but right to the quick sometimes -- you'll see for yourselves.

INT. MEETING HALL - NIGHT

Hot, loud, and smoke filled. A dozen villagers hop about in elaborate
comical masks and costumes, caricaturing others standing in the crowd.
A tiny woman with a pointed nose smiles as she recognizes a dancer,
in woman's clothes, mincing around on his knees with a beak-like nose.

MICHELLE
(excited, to crew)
This is great!

Others laugh at images of themselves and their friends, as the crew walks in
and begins filming. One of Atuk's younger sisters spots something hilarious,
points to a grotesquely fat dancer with bundles under his shirt, and covers and
pages from Atuk's magazines pasted all over his body, wearing Atuk's tropical
poster for a mask. Everyone, including Atuk's stepfather, begins to laugh.
Atuk sees this, and then sees that the dancer is Misa. He runs out, past Michelle,
again angry and humiliated. Michelle pays no attention, she's completely
wrapped up in the shooting. Atuk's mother, feeling for her son, runs after him.

EXT. AIRPLANE - MORNING

The crew steps aboard. Michelle addresses the assembled, stone-faced villagers.

MICHELLE
(professional sincerity)
Well, one more stop at the next village, and then
we're off to our own homes ... You've made this
truly a most rewarding and interesting experience ...

INT. KALEEYE'S HUT - DAY - ATUK

He stands by a tiny window, listening to Michelle's speech in the
distance. His mother sews a pair of mucklucks in the corner.

MICHELLE
(O.S.)
... and made us feel like welcome and special
guests. Goodbye and good luck.
(repeats it in phonetic Eskimo)
Goodbye and good luck.

EXT. AIRPLANE - DAY

Taxis and takes off.

INT. KALEEYE'S HUT - DAY - ATUK

He stares through the window, as if watching a sad dream, then goes to
his mother, pulls an old tea tin from the cupboard and hands it to her.

ATUK
Can I have a loan?

She reluctantly opens it -- knowing something difficult is about to happen -- and
pulls out a crumbled stack of Canadian bills. Atuk kneels by her and hugs her.

ATUK
Do you understand?

MOTHER
(teary)
Yes.
(looks at him)
When will you come back?

ATUK
I don't know. I'll write you letters, okay? I love you.

He kisses her, takes the money, and rushes to the door.

ATUK
And say goodbye to everyone ...
(afterthought)
And tell Misa she can find her dogs up the road.

He smiles at her and rushes out.

EXT. VILLAGE - DAY

Atuk herds the unmanageable dogs again, this time absolutely
determined and forceful as he attaches the harness to his sled.

ATUK
(shouting, exasperated)
Any dog who fails to respond will die.
Do we understand each other? Do we?

One dog growls at him. Atuk grabs him by the head and
screams in his ear -- his frustration has pushed him over the top.

ATUK
WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? DON'T YOU KNOW I CAN
STARVE YOU TO DEATH? I CONTROL THE FOOD. YOU
THINK GOD CONTROLS THE FOOD, NATURAL CONTROLS
THE FOOD? WELL, THINK AGAIN, DOG -- EVERYTHING
GOES THROUGH ME. I'M THE CHOKE POINT. I'M THE
PANAMA CANAL. NOTHING GETS THROUGH WITHOUT ME.
(dog starts to growl)
OH! OHH!! -- DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!

The dog looks at him, lets out a submissive whimper.
Atuk lets him go, showing surprise at discovering
this behavior actually works. He walks to the
sled as the dog limps to his place in line.
Atuk snaps his whip and the team fires off.

BLIZZARD MONTAGE

A - Atuk sleds through a blinding storm.

B - He pushes the sled up a giant hill.

C - The sled, Atuk, and the dogs go down a giant hill.

D - Angle on runners as the sled crackles
over the ice hard and sharp as broken glass.

E - The sled comes to a stop. The dogs refuse
to go any further -- they're exhausted.

ATUK
(exasperated)
OH, COME ON -- NOT NOW. PLEASE?

The dogs won't budge. Atuk runs ahead on foot. He pets the lead dog as he passes by.

EXT. AIRPLANE - DAY

Parked near a village. Atuk staggers from behind a snowdrift a couple of hundred feet away,
as the film crew and a crowd of Eskimos appear in the village and walk toward the plane.
Atuk darts from one drift to another, legs churning in the snow as he zigzags to
the plane and slips in the door just as the crowd approaches from the other side.

INT. PLANE - DAY

The door opens and crew members climb in. We hear
Michelle finishing her farewell speech outside.

MICHELLE
Tavaoovotit Amaloo and Echlgamut.
(Eskimo dialect - Goodbye and good luck.)

She climbs in, drops wearily into a front seat, glad it's all over.

INT. PLANE - DAY LATER

Everyone is dozing, except Michelle -- by herself in a front seat, gazing out a window.

ANGLE ON a pile of parkas and gear in back. Atuk suddenly pops from
beneath them and slips into a rear seat as Michelle walks to the gear.

ATUK
(she hasn't noticed him, to her back)
May I be of assistance, please?

MICHELLE
No, just looking for a cigarette ...
(turns, startled)
What are you doing?

ATUK
Well ... I thought I'd like to see New York.

MICHELLE
(everyone turns to see Atuk, exasperated)
Oh, Jesus.

ATUK
(shows her his money)
It's okay, see? ... I have money.

MICHELLE
Atuk, listen to me. You can't do this.

ATUK
I wanna see New York.

MICHELLE
I understand that, but they won't let you -- you
have to go through customs, you have to show a
passport, a license -- Atuk, have you got any I.D.?
(he stares at her, she gives up)
Will somebody explain to him?
(the crew turns, no one can think of what to say)
Atuk ...
(looks at his innocent face,
can't think of what to say either)

ATUK
(offering her a crudely rolled cigarette)
You still want one?

EXT. EXECUTIVE AIR TERMINAL - TORONTO - AFTERNOON

Plane lands. The door flies open, Michelle, crew members, and Atuk
jump out and head across the tarmac -- some carrying film cans.

INT. TERMINAL - AFTERNOON

They enter a crowded arrivals area. The camera is
on Michelle as she is met by a production assistant.

ASSISTANT
(walking with her)
Bad news -- the last connection left about five minutes ago.

MICHELLE
Jesus, how are we gonna get the film in?

ASSISTANT
(hands her a set of keys and rental folder)
Blue Ford, space 19.

MICHELLE
(stopping, collecting herself)
Allright, you stay with the equipment,
and see what you can do for him ...
(turns to point out Atuk)

ASSISTANT
Who?

MICHELLE
(rushed, grabbing film cans, sees that Atuk is gone)
Atuk -- he's around here somewhere --
a large sort of Eskimo, you can't miss him.

She's fully loaded up, nods goodbye, and rushes off.

INT. BLUE FORD - AFTERNOON

Michelle drives from the airport onto a highway, tapping absent-mindedly on
the steering wheel to a song on the radio -- releasing tension from the last few
days. Atuk pops up from the back seat and listens, then copies her, tapping his
fingers on the seatback. Michelle turns and starts, then gives an exasperated sigh.

ATUK
(smiles)
Hello.

MICHELLE
Atuk, didn't you hear me before -- you can't do this. It's illegal.
(no response)
How are you going to function? Do you know anyone in New York?
(he shakes his head)
Well ... neither did I.
(he grins, she can't help but feel for him)
This is ridiculous.

ATUK
Thanks, Michelle.
(climbing, all 250 pounds of him, into the front seat)
I won't be any trouble -- really.

MICHELLE
(giving up)
This is just a ride, okay -- you're going to be on your own.

ATUK
(elated howl)
THIS IS SO GREAT, I CAN'T STAND IT!

EXT. HIGHWAY - LATER - DAY

Winding toward the U.S. border. Loud rock and roll
plays on the radio as Atuk fools with the volume knob.

ATUK
(gleeful discovery)
Rock and Roll! This is it, right? This is it!

They enter a town. Michelle turns down the radio.

MICHELLE
Atuk -- we're getting close to the border, okay ... so, you'll
have to say you're an American to get across ... and if
they find out you're not, we'll both be in a lot of trouble.
Do you understand that? Do you understand the danger here?

ATUK
(still hopped up from the music)
Danger!

MICHELLE
Are you listening to me? They have to think you're an American.

She scans Main Street businesses, pulls into a small general store.

EXT. RAINBOW BRIDGE - NIAGARA FALLS - DUSK

Michelle drives toward the U.S. border station. Atuk is dressed in a white
shirt and bow tie, with his hair wetted and combed neatly to one side --
like a young boy. Atuk also smokes one of his hand-rolled cigarettes.
They pull into the inspection area. Michelle lowers Atuk's window.

MICHELLE
(under her breath)
Just let me do the talking.

Atuk looks straight ahead with a fixed grin.

INSPECTOR
Are you American citizens?

MICHELLE
Yes, sir.

INSPECTOR
Did you buy anything in Canada?

MICHELLE
Nothing, sir.

He scans the car, then waves them on.

INSPECTOR
(friendly smile)
Good day and good luck.

ATUK
Tavaoovotit Amaloo and Echlgamut.
(Eskimo dialect for - Goodbye and good luck)

Michelle starts to pull away -- but the inspector heard.

INSPECTOR
Hold it.
(walks to Atuk's window)
What was that?

ATUK
(hesistates, then handles it, cutting off Michelle)
It's Japanese, sir -- a very important language in the
modern world, so I use it to flavor my conversation.

The inspector digests this for a moment, then waves them
on. Michelle smiles at Atuk, then breaks out laughing.

MICHELLE
Flavor your conversation?

Atuk shrugs. She can't help but love this guy.

EXT. HIGHWAY TO NEW YORK CITY - DAWN

Camera follows car overhead as it approaches the George Washington Bridge.

ATUK
(V.O.)
So how come you don't have an active sex life?

MICHELLE
(V.O.)
Well ... first you gotta have someone serious in your life.
Someone you can talk to, a guy who has some values ...

ATUK
I suppose you'd reall like to find someone like that, huh?

MICHELLE
Sure.

ATUK
Then you could have an active sex life.

The car rolls onto the bridge. Atuk beholds Manhattan for the first time --
shining and dreamlike in the bright low sun. He can't believe it! He lowers
the window, puts his head out to take it in, and lets out a booming joyful yell.

EXT. MIDTOWN - 60TH & 5TH AVENUE - DAY

Michelle's stopped in traffic. Atuk's eyes are still overloaded.

MICHELLE
Atuk -- listen to me -- I'm in a hurry, so I'm going to take you to the YMCA,
okay? It's a nice place to stay, and it's not very expensive. Is that okay?

ATUK
Where are we now?

MICHELLE
This is midtown -- it's the middle of the city ...
that's the Park, that's the Plaza, Fifth Avenue ...

Atuk opens the door and gets out.

ATUK
(excited; enraptured)
Wow! This is unbelievable ...

MICHELLE
Atuk, you can't
(he pulls his parka from the back seat, puts it on)
Atuk -- this is very expensive here.

ATUK
(leans in the window)
Thank you, Michelle. Thank you for helping me.

MICHELLE
(rummages her bag)
Look, here's some money ...

Horns honk, Atuk drops money all over the seat.

ATUK
(scooping it up)
I have money already.
(big smile, gets out)
Good-bye!

Horns honk louder; traffic begins to squirm around him. Atuk,
intimidated by the cars, tries to dodge his way across the street.

MICHELLE
(leans out the window)
It's Canadian, Atuk. You have to go to a bank.

Atuk makes it to the sidewalk.

ATUK
Yeah, well if the dollar falls any lower, there won't be a bank.

MICHELLE
(can't help but laugh)
Be careful!

The light turns green, traffic starts to move, but Michelle doesn't notice. She
continues to watch Atuk, worried about him -- in an odd way, she'll even miss
him. Horns honk, a taxi finally bumps her from her trance and she drives on.

EXT. FIFTH AVENUE 58th-60th STREETS - DAY

Atuk walks downtown, jauntily, full of anticipation and awe, goggling at Tiffany's,
Cartier, Rockefeller Center; snow starts to fall; people bundle in their overcoats and
furs, while Atuk -- dressed in brown double-knit pants, white shirt, bow tie, muckluks,
and parka -- is overheated in 30 degree weather. He takes off his parka and carries
it. Then he pauses with a group waiting at an intersection and asks directions.
Several people point half-heartedly to different places. Atuk whirls around --
sees one finger aimed at the building behind him -- the Merchants Security Bank.

INT. MERCHANTS SECURITY BANK - DAY

Manhattan's premier depository for wealthy women, with thick carpets
and Queen Anne desks. Atuk presses his face to the window, then comes
inside, looks around, sees a teller counting money out to a WOMAN and
gets in line behind a dowager zillionaire in a full-length silver fox coat.

ATUK
(staring at coat)
You've got a lot of foxes there.
(woman turns and gives him a sour smile)
The skin should be on the outside though.
(she nods again, wary)
We used to catch those foxes sometimes. It's easy,
you just make a hole in the snow and put in the bait
and a one-way door, and then you reach in and grab
it -- but you have to break it's neck pretty quick or
it'll bite you. Also you have to slice it open and pull
out it's insides fast or the fur will lose it's shine ...
(points to fur)
See -- these were probably cut open real fast.

WOMAN
(repulsed, white-faced)
My God ...

ATUK
(not watching her, caught up in his story)
The red ones are the hardest because they
make a squeak sound when you do it ...
(mimes holding an animal by its ears and cutting it's belly)
Squeeeak ... Squeeeak ...
(looks at her)
I couldn't do it, though --
I felt pretty bad about it.
(woman starts to hyperventilate)
Maybe you're too hot in the coat.

The woman nods, she's losing consciousness. Atuk helps her get the coat off,
then she suddenly pulls away and shrieks loudly for help. A GUARD runs up,
sees the woman tottering, pointing at Atuk as he holds the woman's coat.

WOMAN
That man! My coat!

GUARD
(accosting Atuk)
What are you doing?

ATUK
(confused)
I want some money.

The woman grabs her coat from him, coughing, on the
verge of throwing up, as a manager rushes to help her.

GUARD
Not here, pal.

ATUK
I don't understand ...
(to woman, as guard forces him to the door)
I'm sorry -- I didn't mean anything.

EXT. BANK - DAY

Guard pushes Atuk onto the sidewalk. A street person is standing by the door.

ATUK
Why are you pushing me?
(as guard goes back inside, holds up his wad of Canadian bills)
I just wanted to give you my money.

Atuk stares bewilderedly at the door as the street person wanders near Atuk, then grabs
the money from his hand and runs. Atuk yells at him; the guy darts across a crowded
cross street. Atuk tries to follow, bumping into people as drivers begin screaming
at him. Horns honk. Atuk backs away, tries to spot the thief -- now long gone.

EXT. McKUEN'S OFFICE - BALCONY - DAY

ALEXANDER McKUEN, extraordinarily shrewd and powerful real estate king of New York,
in his mid-forties, stands at the railing surveying the towers and crevices of Manhattan
packed all around him. Snow falls on his head and shoulders, but McKuen is oblivious.
His greed, his compulsion to clutch what he owns and prowl for what he doesn't
reads like a menace across his face. The expression lasts only a second, though.
McKuen is suddenly softer -- a sincere man with enormous responsibilities --
as he turns to go inside.

INT. McKUEN'S OFFICE - DAY

McKuen aide holds the balcony door open as McKuen enters and walks to a long table full
of lawyers and businessmen -- his organizational brass. The room is rich and dim, full of
butter quiet elegance, a power-lair where the faithful gather to receive the vision of the master.
McKuen hands Pike his coat. A bank of TV's and Quotrons play silently in the background.

MCKUEN

Nature. There are children in New York who've never seen
a forest or flower garden, and they're thought to be deprived
of nature. Yet, what is there around them, but expansion and
contraction, growth and decay, great man-made organisms
no less natural than the hive of a bee or the nest of a bird.
(he looks at all of them, they nod at the profundity)
I'm sometimes asked what propels our organization ...
"Why," they ask, "does Mr. McKuen want another building?
Why is he razing and converting and acquiring and erecting
more and more when he, when our organization already
has so much?" And I say, because I am human ... because
expansion and multiplication obtain to natural beings.
It is our nature which propels us. Our God-given nature.

He surveys the men. One zealous younger man applauds --
mesmerized by his charismatic leader. McKuen's aide sees his
cue to touch a switch, which slowly illuminates a model behind
an opaque seeming panel of scrim. The room is awed by his
vision -- an enormous neo-gothic city, with tall colored buildings
amid stark white plazas and esplanades, set on a plain of rolling
hills and trees that run down to a river. The scrim panel rises
as a lattice of fiber-optical lights begin to shimmer along
the contours of the city. And a sculpture at it's center --
cut like an emerald -- pulses brighter and brighter.

McKUEN
Exactly 221 miles from where I stand, gentlemen, amid
the green of trees and meadows, will rise "The Emerald" ...

MODEL - CLOSEUPS

Camera snorkels through channels
and caverns in the miniature city.

McKUEN
(V.O.)
A city of every conceivable diversion and convenience ...
esplanades edges by shops, cafes, theatres, and magnificent
apartments and hotels .. the finest golfing, skiing, and boating in
the world ... a masterwork of aesthetic power and civilized pleasure ...
Our growth, gentlemen, our evolution -- dream, process, and destiny.

Men begin to gather around it, jabbering excitedly as a personal
SECRETARY steps in, interrupts McKuen and whispers in his ear.

SECRETARY
(gravely)
Sorry to interrupt, sir -- I have a call from your son's school.

INT. PREP SCHOOL CHEMISTRY LAB - DAY

A headmaster peeks in the door, retreats when a beaker explodes against
the jamb. BISHOP McKUEN -- a sixteen-year old in a school blazer,
decent looking, but disheveled and drunk -- sits on a chair on top of a lab
counter, with a cigarette in his mouth, surrounded by smashed equipment.
He has a bottle of Bombay gin between his legs and holds a bunson
burner as a small class of stundents and their frightened teacher look on.

BISHOP
(booming)
There will be no more intrusions. I have a ten-inch flame on
my lap, and it's jumping all around looking for chemicals.

A HEADMASTER finally pushes open the door. The hall
behind him is filled with more curious students and teachers.

HEADMASTER
(boldly, outraged)
Young man, this is enough.

BISHOP
(standing and shouts)
Hey!
(as headmaster approaches cautiously, shouts toward hall)
He's making a grandstand play, ladies and gentlemen.
He's throwing his entire fucking weight into this situation.

HEADMASTER
Put down the burner, Mr. McKuen.

BISHOP
Not until she gets in here and apologizes.
(to hall, as headmaster gestures to
teacher to get the girl -- teacher leaves)
I know what you're thinking -- how can I have a relationshi with a guy
who has these sorts of reactions. "You're an emotional dickhead, Bishop.
All I did was fuck you over, and you wann blow up a four-story building."

HEADMASTER
Bishop ...

Teacher opens the door. A pretty GIRL steps through the crowd into the doorway.

GIRL
(wanting no more of Bishop, dismissive)
You're too bizarre.

Bishop considers her. The headmaster reaches for a valve and turns off the
gas to the burner lines. Bishop sees his flame go out, realizes it's all over.

INT. PSYCHIATRIST'S OFFICE - DAY

Bishop sits on a couch. A mealy, squeamish-looking middle-aged DOCTOR
sits in a dim corner. Bishop can't or won't think of anything to say.

DOCTOR
(irritating monotone, condescending)
Your parents are very worried about you.
(no response)
They love you very much.
(no response - such a wrongheaded notion deserves none)
Your father, particularly, Bishop ... he's given you everything, yet you
seem to have no sense of the hurt you cause him with this bizarre behavior.
(Bishop looks at him)
You said, the girl called you "bizarre" -- can you give me a better word?
(still gratingly bland, an unstoppable badgering drone)
You're sitting on a countertop, drunk, with a torch in your hands
ranting, smashing things, terrorizing half the school, and she walks
in and calls you bizarre -- I'd say that's a very appropriate word.
(stares at Bishop)
Are you angry about something, Bishop?
Perhaps you don't like to be loved.

EXT. McKUEN MANSION - EVENING

An astonishing, sprawling colonial masterpiece
in the country -- thirty minutes from New York.

INT. McKUEN DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Alexander and his attractive and regally-groomed 40-year-old wife, VERA, dine with
their son. Bishop stares at his food while his mom and dad pick silently at theirs.

McKUEN
So, we understand you're "frustrated" about something.

BISHOP
Can I be excused?

VERA
(harsh, detached)
Oh, this is a terrific attitude, isn't it. Just the
thing to help us understand your problem.

Bishop glares at her.

McKUEN
(concerned, trying to be helpful)
Son, you're not four years old anymore. I mean, my God,
if I got mad and flipped out every time something didn't
go my way -- half of Manhattan would be rocks by now.
(smiles at his own joke, reaches to pat Bishop's shoulder)
No, you gotta point yourself toward fixing the
problem. Understand it, analyze it -- you want
it bad enough, son, there's always a solution.

BISHOP
(looks at him, softer, but not buying it)
Can I be excused?

McKuen assents with a frustrated sigh. Vera glances
disapprovingly at him and Bishop, as Bishop gets up and leaves.

VERA
You're grounded!

BISHOP
(incredulous)
What?

VERA
You're going to your room and you're not going to leave it.

INT. BISHOP'S ROOM

A palace, nearly the size of an ordinary house, filled with arcade and video games, a media wall,
piles of sports equipment, electric guitars, synthesizers, amps, a nautilus, computer, refrigerator,
plus couches, chairs, tables, and gleaming hardwood floors - a place where most kids would gladly
spend a lifetime, much less a few days. Bishop walks to a guitar amp, reaches behind it, removes a
bottle of Bombay gin, goes to a wide window, gazes across the snow to a private dock and boathouse --
and smiles ...

END
REEL ONE

ATUK - REEL TWO
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