Ken Russell's Dracula (10 page)

Doctor was only acting for the
best, and Quincey was too drunk to know better!

LUCY

(
bitterly
)

Well I’d rather drop dead

dancing than be buried in

that dreadful sanatorium.

MINA

(
placatingly
)

Come back and have a nice

quiet drink with them.

Lucy rounds on her.

LUCY

And stop treating me like

an ...

(
she is going to say

‘invalid’
) ... you’re my

secretary, not a paid nurse;

now leave me!

MINA

(
hurt
)

Shall I bring your mail up

to your room with breakfast,

as usual?

LUCY

(
angrily
)

Yes, yes, yes, together with

the pills, and the medicine,

and all the other rubbish.

Lucy hurries off into the depths of
the garden, wishing to be alone in her misery, leaving Mina to walk off sadly.

A FLOODLIT FOUNTAIN. NIGHT.

A tear trickles down LUCY’S cheek
as she contemplates the deep dark waters and the oblivion they offer. Even her
reflection seems to be beckoning. She is literally on the brink of suicide when
she feels a pair of hands on her shoulders turning her around to face a tall
dark stranger who cups her face in his hands.

DRACULA

(
gently
)

I would much prefer to

remember you as Joan of Arc

than Ophelia.

Lucy responds to him almost like a
lover in a dream and looks at him curiously without fear.

DRACULA

Do you know me?

LUCY

(
falteringly
)

Yes and no; not your name,

but I have seen you before.

Dracula too has fond memories.

DRACULA

... in Paris, Berlin, Milan,

Budapest ...

To Lucy it is like a dream come
true.

LUCY

I would see you across

The footlights. You were

always close to me, but

never as close as tonight.

DRACULA

(
urgently
)

I no longer wish to be a

spectator. The time has come

for me to be part of you.

LUCY

(
wistfully
)

I’m afraid you’re too late.

DRACULA

(
firmly
)

No ... I can save you.

LUCY

(
hoping against hope
)

But no one can cure

leukemia. Are you a

specialist? Where is your

practice?

DRACULA

(
with a hint of irony)

I’ve accomplished some of

my finest work in Central

Europe, especially

Transylvania...

Lucy draws in a breath recalling
the case of Renfield, but speaks obliquely.

LUCY

You must be a miracle

worker.

Dracula continues with growing
emotion.

DRACULA

... I work alone and shun

publicity, and with the

exception of those cases

I take merely to live,

I reserve my skill solely

for those worth saving for

their talent alone. And were

I not pledged to secrecy you

would know them for the

illustrious artists they

are. But not one of them

is more worthy of life

than you - your voice has

more colour than Turner

ever dreamed of, there is

more music in your every

movement than in a romance

by Sibelius, more poetry

in your smile than a verse

by Baudelaire. You are a

living work of art,

complete and eternal –

how can you die?

Lucy’s tears are no tears of joy as
she succumbs totally to Dracula’s spell.

LUCY

You are not promising me

forgetfulness in a dizzy

spin, neither are you

preparing me to meet death

with fortitude - you are

giving me life.

DRACULA

(
whispering
)

I will be your new

lifeblood, for the blood

is the life, the blood

is the life ...

Lucy allows herself to be
hypnotised and drawn towards him. The distant music has turned into a
languorous waltz. Gently she rests her head on Dracula’s shoulder, gently he
rocks her in rhythm to the pulsating music. He caresses her closed eyes, kisses
her mouth and neck. Gently his teeth penetrate her throat and all the time she
is dreamily swaying. As Dracula drinks her blood she smiles and whispers.

LUCY

Death is departing from me,

death is draining away,

draining away, away ...

DISSOLVE to Lucy’s Dream:

LUCY is part of the fountain. It
has become the fountain of Eternal Youth, She sings ecstatically in the sun as
the shining water dances off her golden skin. She is reborn. Somewhere, a long
way off, someone is calling her.

EXT. GARDEN. NIGHT.

MINA is searching for Lucy with a
flashlight and calling her name. Suddenly she sees her, dancing with closed
eyes, alone by the fountain. Mina runs up and touches her on the shoulder.

MINA

Lucy, it’s cold, you must

come to bed.

Lucy comes back to reality with a
start and looks about her at a total loss. When she speaks, her voice is full
of regret.

LUCY

My lover, he’s gone.

Something flits through the trees
and flies off. Mina puts a shawl around Lucy’s shoulders and leads her towards
the house.

MINA

Quincey and the Doctor

left hours ago. I waited

up for you.

LUCY

I feel dizzy, it must be

The champagne.

MINA

Stop a moment.

Mina notices two specks of blood on
Lucy’s neck.

MINA

You must have pricked

yourself. There!

She brushes away the blood while
Lucy smiles to herself remembering.

LUCY

It is nothing.

I was dancing.

MINA

Well next time, don’t

choose a rose bush

for a partner.

Arm in arm the two girls walk off
towards the darkened house.

EXT. SKY. NIGHT.

A BAT flies past the moon.

E
XT. RENFIELD’S CELL. NIGHT.

RENFIELD grips the bars and watches
the bat in a fever of religious devotion.

RENFIELD

Long have I prayed for your

coming, dear Master, and now

that you are near, I await

your commands, and you will

not pass me by will you,

dear Master, in your

distribution of good

things?

EXT. SKY. NIGHT.

The BAT circles once as if
acknowledging Renfield’s prayer and goes out of sight into some nearby trees.

RENFIELD’S VOICE

Amen!

EXT. RAILWAY STATION SOUTHAMPTON
EAST. DAY.

DR SEWARD is standing on an almost
deserted platform staring up the line into the early morning mist, lost in
thought, when he recognizes with a start a familiar, if unexpected, voice.

MINA

Dr. Seward! Thank God!

What luck!

There, on the opposite platform is
MINA looking worried and agitated.

MINA

I tried phoning the

Sanatorium but they said

you had already left.

DR. SEWARD

Mina! Good gracious,

what on earth (
alarmed
) ...

it’s not Lucy, is it?

MINA

(
quickly
)

She’s had a relapse.

She must be at the

sanatorium by now.

They sent an ambulance.

When I went into her room

this morning she ...

The train drowns her explanation
and hides her from view as it arrives at her platform. But soon she has boarded
the carriage and is shouting to Dr. Seward through the window of her
compartment.

MINA

... I couldn’t wake her,

not for some time anyway,

and even then...

DR. SEWARD

What were the symptoms?

MINA

(
hesitantly
)

Well, she was weak and

feverish, and when she

tried to get up she had

a dizzy spell and collapsed

so I put her back to bed

and phoned...

DR. SEWARD

(
interrupting
)

Speak up, I can’t hear you!

Further speech is rendered
impossible by the arrival of the train at Dr. Seward’s platform. From one of
the carriage windows leans the cloaked figure of a stout old man with a round,
cheery face and billowing silver locks. The train brings him into a big
CLOSE-UP and halts. It is none other than Dr. Seward’s old teacher, Professor
VAN HELSING, greeting his ex-pupil with a laugh and a jest.

VAN HELSING

Ah ha! The first sign

of madness - talking to

oneself. I always said

insanity was contagious,

remember?

He embraces the slightly distracted
Doctor Seward.

VAN HELSING

How are you, my boy?

DR. SEWARD

Very well, Professor.

Excuse me!

To Van Helsing’s surprise, Dr.
Seward shakes himself off and jumps into the carriage.