1917

Written by

Barry Luc

Based on, If Any

Address
(412) 312-3111
 1.

II
‘Life, to be sure, Is nothing much
to lose, But young men think it is,
And we were young.’
-A.E. Housman
‘We have so much to say, and we shall never say it.’
-Erich Maria Remarque

All Quiet On The Western Front

III
NOTE:
The following script takes place in real time, and - with the
exception of one moment - is written and designed to be one
single continuous shot.

1 EXT. MEADOW - DAY - APRIL 6TH 1917 1

A rolling landscape. The rustling of leaves, and birdsong.
Thunder rumbles in the distance. There is no rain.
A figure lies against a tree, eyes closed - this is
SCHOFIELD, early-20s. Soft features.
A man is sleeping next to him on the grass - BLAKE, 19,
youthful, strapping.
SERGEANT SANDERS (O.S.)
Blake.

Blake doesn’t stir.

SERGEANT SANDERS (O.S.)
Blake!
Blake wakes. He’s in uniform, damp and crumpled - Lance
Corporal chevrons adorn it.
BLAKE
(sleepily)
Sorry, Sarge.
SERGEANT SANDERS
Pick a man, bring your kit.
BLAKE
Yes, Sarge.
 2.

Blake stands, stiff limbs coming back to life.

Schofield’s eyes are still shut. Blake holds out his hand to
Schofield. Schofield opens his eyes - they are gentle, wise.
Schofield grudgingly raises his hand for a lift.
Blake heaves him to his feet - his uniform is identical to
Blake’s, same rank, the only difference is the brass wound
stripe on Schofield’s left sleeve.
They trudge towards Sanders, fastening their webbing. A
smattering of SOLDIERS - same regiment - same state of
fatigue and filth, lie around them. Stealing sleep.
SERGEANT SANDERS (O.S.)
Don’t dawdle.
BLAKE
No, Sarge.
After a few paces the long grass begins to give way to well
trodden earth. Washing lines appears on either side of them.
Blake and Schofield move past them. After a while -
BLAKE
Did they feed us?
Schofield shakes his head, he hands an envelope to Blake.
SCHOFIELD
No, just mail.
Blake’s eyes light up at the sight of the envelope, he tears
it open, reads it as he walks. Eyes scanning quickly, his
face filling with warmth.
BLAKE
(reading)
Myrtle’s having puppies.
Blake finishes the note and slips it into a pocket.

BLAKE
You get anything?
SCHOFIELD
No.
Schofield doesn’t seem to mind.

The mess tents are now alongside. Fires are stoked, cooking
is underway. More soldiers mill about.
 3.

BLAKE
I’m bloody starving, aren’t you? I
thought we might get some decent
grub out here - only reason I
decided against the priesthood.

Schofield lets out a laugh. Blake looks on hungrily as they

pass by the mess tents.
Schofield rummages in his pockets, finds what he’s looking
for - a handkerchief with some food wrapped in it. Blake’s
eyes fall on it hungrily.
BLAKE
What you got there?
SCHOFIELD
Ham and bread.

BLAKE
Where did you find that?
SCHOFIELD
I have my uses.
Schofield breaks the bread in half. As he does this, they
move down a slope, and begin to descend down into the earth,
into--

2 EXT. COMMS TRENCH - DAY - CONTINUOUS 2

A narrow Comms trench.

SCHOFIELD
Here-
The bread is stale, practically cardboard. Blake’s teeth
struggle to get through it.

BLAKE
(mouth full of food)
Tastes like old shoe.

SCHOFIELD
Cheer up. This time next week it’ll
be chicken dinner.

The trench drops deeper into the earth...

BLAKE
Not me. Leave got cancelled.

SCHOFIELD
 4.

They say why?

BLAKE
No idea.
A beat. The world above has now disappeared.

SCHOFIELD
It’s easier not to go back at all.

Blake registers this - looks at him.

The wider Rear Trench crosses their path. Chains of soldiers

move past them - shifting crates, ammunition, cooking, and
medical supplies.

BLAKE
(looking at the soldiers)
Something’s up.

Expectation is growing in Blake. But Schofield looks

concerned. They cut a route through the bustle.

BLAKE
Did you hear anything?

SCHOFIELD
No.

BLAKE
Has to be the push, right?
Men carrying things push past them. Blake watches.

BLAKE
Ten bob says we’re going up.

SCHOFIELD
I’m not taking that bet.
BLAKE
Why? ‘Cos you know I’m right?
SCHOFIELD
No. ‘Cos you haven’t got ten bob.

Blake laughs.
They follow Sanders into-

3 EXT. SECOND TRENCH - CONTINUOUS 3

They turn into a wider second line trench.

 5.

SERGEANT SANDERS
In your own time, gentlemen...

Up ahead, Sanders waits.

Blake and Schofield put on speed, catch Sanders.

BLAKE
Is there news, Sarge?
SERGEANT SANDERS
News of what?

BLAKE
The big push. It was supposed to
happen weeks ago. They told us we’d
be home by Christmas.
SERGEANT SANDERS
(mild sarcasm)
Yes, well, sorry to disrupt your
crowded schedule, Blake, but the
Brass Hats didn’t fancy it in the
snow.

BLAKE
More’s the pity Sarge, I could have
done with some turkey.

SERGEANT SANDERS
Well, I’ll make sure to relay your
displeasure to command.

Ahead and above them is a web of telegraph wires - stretching

overhead and along the trench. THREE ROYAL ENGINEERS are
working on them, tagging and testing. They duck around them.

SCHOFIELD
So what’s on the cards then,
Sergeant?

SERGEANT SANDERS
The Hun are up to something.
SCHOFIELD
Any idea what?
SERGEANT SANDERS
No - but it’s bound to ruin our
weekend.

Sanders turns a corner, and comes to a stop. Just beyond him

is the dark, yawning mouth of a Dugout.
 6.

SERGEANT SANDERS
Now listen, Erinmore is inside, so
tidy yourselves up.

They are suddenly alert.

SERGEANT SANDERS
You never know - might be mentions
in dispatches for this one, if you
don’t bugger it up.

Sanders gives them a look, and disappears inside the dugout.

Schofield quickly buttons up his tunic, hiding any sins there

may be underneath.

Blake nervously tidies himself, leans in to Schofield.

BLAKE
Must be something big if the
General’s here.
They enter.

4 INT. DUGOUT - CONTINUOUS 4

Lit by paraffin lamps, it takes Schofield a moment for his
eyes to adjust to the half-light. He and Blake hand their
rifles to the ORDERLIES, salute, and stand at attention.

There is a simmering sense of unease in this place.

In the centre of the room, there are two tables. On one table
lie several maps, on the other are a number of large aerial
reconnaissance photographs.

GENERAL ERINMORE (50s), LIEUTENANT GORDON (40s) and a CAPTAIN

are gathered around the far table, looking down at the
aerials, talking in hushed tones.

Other men watch from the shadows - TWO NCOs and ANOTHER
ORDERLY.

SERGEANT SANDERS
Lance Corporals Blake and
Schofield, Sir.

General Erinmore turns around. Looks at Blake and Schofield.

GENERAL ERINMORE
Which one of you is Blake?

BLAKE
 7.

Sir.
ERINMORE
You have a brother, a Lieutenant in
the 2nd Devons?

BLAKE
Yes, sir. Joseph Blake. Is he-

ERINMORE
Alive, as far as I know. And with
your help I’d like to keep it that
way.

Blake stares at Erinmore, he would do anything.

ERINMORE
Sanders tells me you’re good with
maps. That true?
BLAKE
Good enough, Sir.

ERINMORE
So.
Erinmore turns the map to face Blake. The British lines are
marked in blue, the German lines in red.

ERINMORE
We are here. The 2nd Devons are
advancing here.

He points out a cross on the map at Croisilles Wood.

ERINMORE
How long will it take you to get
there?

Blake hesitantly studies it. Croisilles Wood sits in the

centre of a huge area of land, which is scored as occupied
territory.
BLAKE
I don’t understand, Sir.
SCHOFIELD
Sir, that land is held by the
Germans.

ERINMORE
Germans have gone.
Shock plays on their faces.
 8.

ERINMORE
Don’t get your hopes up. It appears
to be a strategic withdrawal. They
seem to have created a new line,
nine miles back here, by the looks
of it.

Erinmore runs his finger along the massed red lines of the
German trenches and fortifications, newly drawn on the map.
The new German Line - what came to be known as the Hindenburg
Line - is huge, and cuts its way across the paper, almost
intersecting with Croisilles Wood.
ERINMORE
Colonel Mackenzie is in command of
the 2nd. He sent word yesterday
morning that he was going after the
retreating Germans. He is convinced
he has them on the run - that if he
can break their lines now, he will
turn the tide. He is wrong.

Schofield watches Blake as he begins to register what this

might mean.
ERINMORE
Colonel Mackenzie has not seen
these aerials of the enemy’s new
line.
Erinmore turns to the other table.

ERINMORE
Come round here, Gentlemen.
Blake and Schofield move to the next table. They look down at
the large aerial photographs.
ERINMORE
Three miles deep. Field
fortifications, defences and
artillery the like of which we’ve
never seen before.
Beat.
ERINMORE
The 2nd are due to attack the line
shortly after dawn tomorrow. They
have no idea what they are in for.
And we can’t warn them - as a
parting gift, the enemy cut all our
telephone lines.
 9.

Blake and Schofield are silent while they take this in.
ERINMORE
Your orders are to get to the 2nd
at Croisilles Wood, one mile south
east of the town of Ecoust.
Erinmore hands over an envelope to Blake. We see the
distinctive red stamp of Army Command.

ERINMORE
Deliver this to Colonel Mackenzie.
It is a direct order to call off
tomorrow morning’s attack.

Erinmore speaks slowly, desperate to impress upon Blake and

Schofield the gravity of this situation. Nothing can be
misunderstood.
ERINMORE
If you don’t, it will be a
massacre. We would lose two
battalions. Sixteen hundred men,
your brother among them.
Schofield hides his shock. But Blake looks at Erinmore,
determination etched in his face: understood.
ERINMORE
Do you think you can get there in
time?

BLAKE
Yes, Sir.
ERINMORE
Any questions?
BLAKE
No, Sir.
Schofield eyes flick to Blake: No questions? Blake purposely
doesn’t catch Schofield’s eye.
ERINMORE
Good. Over to you, Lieutenant.

The men salute Erinmore. Lieutenant Gordon, stands to one

side.
LIEUTENANT GORDON
Supplies, Gentlemen.
 10.

Lt. Gordon nods them over to a table. Various items are laid
out on it.

LIEUTENANT GORDON
Map, torches, grenades, and a
couple of little treats.
They look. A folded map, two electric torches, two grenades
and two small packs of Huntley and Palmer biscuits lie on the
table. They take them and start hastily putting them into
their webbing. While they do:
LIEUTENANT GORDON
Leave immediately, take this trench
west, up on Sauchiehall Street,
then north west on Paradise Alley
at the front. Continue along the
front line until you find the
Yorks.

Gordon slides a note into Blake’s top pocket.

LIEUTENANT GORDON
Give this note to Major Stevenson.
He’s holding the line at the
shortest span of No Man’s Land.
You’ll cross there.
Both men turn at the mention of No Man’s Land.

SCHOFIELD
It will be daylight, Sir. They’ll
see us.
ERINMORE (O.C.)
No need to be concerned. You should
meet no resistance.
An Orderly hands them back their rifles.

Blake moves towards the doorway. Schofield turns to Erinmore.

SCHOFIELD
Sir, is it just us?
Erinmore looks up.

ERINMORE
“Down to Gehenna or up to the
Throne

ERINMORE
 11.

He travels the fastest who travels

alone.” Wouldn’t you say,
Lieutenant?
LIEUTENANT GORDON
Yes, Sir. I would.

The General looks at them levelly.

ERINMORE
Good luck.
Blake and Schofield turn and head through the door-

5 EXT. SECOND LINE TRENCH - CONTINUOUS 5

Schofield’s eyes wince in the daylight. A small curved branch
leads from the rear of the dugout back to the Second Line.
SCHOFIELD
Blake - let’s talk about this for a
minute.

BLAKE
Why?
Blake is already off, moving fast.

Schofield moves after him, trying to fill and fasten his

webbing as he goes.
SCHOFIELD
Blake!

Blake begins to move faster, setting a punishing pace. Boots

clattering over the wooden boards.
SCHOFIELD
We just need to think about it-
BLAKE
-There’s nothing to think about.
It’s my big brother.

Schofield runs to catch up, he falls in behind Blake,

breathing heavy.
SCHOFIELD
We should at least wait till it’s
dark-
BLAKE
Erinmore said to leave immediately.
 12.

SCHOFIELD
Erinmore’s never seen No Man’s
Land. We won’t make it ten yards.
If we just wait-
BLAKE
You heard him. He said the Boche
have gone.
SCHOFIELD
Is that why he gave us grenades?

The Second line runs through a small row of derelict railway

cottages. Braziers have been lit, men mill around queueing to
collect their rations.
Schofield and Blake push themselves to the edge of the trench
to get around the crush.
Blake is through and clear, but Schofield bumps into a
Sergeant.

SERGEANT
Watch where you’re going!
SCHOFIELD
Sorry.

Blake keeps pace, Schofield jogs to catch him.

SCHOFIELD
All I’m saying is that we wait.

BLAKE
Yes, you would say that, because
it’s not your brother, is it?
Schofield moves alongside Blake again, grabs his arm.

SCHOFIELD
Look, the last time I was told the
Germans were gone, it didn’t end
well.

Blake shakes him off, and pushes his way forward, squeezing
in and out of the lines of traffic - His shoulder and pack
battering against MEN as he passes them.

SCHOFIELD
You don’t know, Blake, you weren’t
there.
Ahead a group of men are bunched up collecting mail and
parcels from the post bag. Gumming up the trench.
 13.

BLAKE
Excuse me... Excuse me!
Blake and Schofield squeeze past them.

Another junction. A painted sign: “SAUCHIEHALL STREET” points

to a smaller branching comms line. Blake turns up it.
Schofield follows-

6 EXT. SAUCHIEHALL LINE - COMMS “DOWN” TRENCH - CONTINUOUS 6

Much narrower. Blake pushes onwards, going against the
direction of the traffic. Schofield follows after him, single
file, increasingly frustrated. Soldiers buffet against them.

A Sergeant snarls at them.

SERGEANT MILLER
You’re going up a down trench you
bloody idiots.
BLAKE
Orders of the General, Sir.

Schofield follows, catching the ire from the men Blake has
just passed. He checks his watch.
SCHOFIELD
Alright, say the Boche have gone.
Nine miles will take us, what, six
hours? Eight at the very most. So
we’ve got time to wait until the
sun sets. Otherwise we’ll be wide
open-
BLAKE
-It’s enemy territory, we’ve got no
idea what we’re walking into-
SCHOFIELD
-Blake, if we’re not clever about
this, no one will get to your
brother.
BLAKE
I will.
Blake’s tone indicates that this is the end of the
conversation.
They are approaching a junction. They slow down. A flicker of
fear on both of their faces.
 14.

SCHOFIELD
We’re here. This is the front line.

7 EXT. PARADISE - FRONT LINE - TRENCH - CONTINUOUS 7

The Front Line.

A sign hangs on the junction wall: PARADISE ALLEY. Just
visible above the trench wall to the front is an endless line
of wire.
BLAKE
Now we need to find the Yorks.
There is an eeriness here, a sudden smothering silence.

Blake looks around. Trying to work out which way is North

West.
Blake heads in that direction, moving fast again. Schofield
follows alongside him.
The trench stretches away from them, in a long line.
Duckboards slick with mud mark out a path.
There are many men here, and many pairs of eyes watch from
the shadows of dugouts.
Crudely painted signs are strung up along the walls, dire
warnings. We catch glimpses as Blake and Schofield pass:
KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN IN DAYLIGHT! ENEMY SNIPERS AT PLAY!
They walk single file down the Front Line.
TWO STRETCHER BEARERS are heading towards them, A MAN carried
between them. Schofield drops back, looks down. The man is
unconscious, his face bandaged - two red bloodstains in place
of eyes.
Fear is rooting itself in Schofield. He fights it.
Schofield looks up, he’s briefly lost sight of Blake round
the next bend. He moves to catch up. He hears voices.
PRIVATE STOKES (O.S.)
Here, watch who you’re shoving.

BLAKE (O.S.)
Get out of the way then.
 15.

Schofield’s puts on speed, quickly pushes aside the soldier

in front of him.
He makes his way to Blake, three SOLDIERS have surrounded
him. One, PRIVATE STOKES - a large red-haired bruiser, with
tattoos on his forearms - is gripping Blake’s tunic. Blake
has him by the collar. Both are angry. Blake is on the verge
of tears.
BLAKE
Let go.
PRIVATE STOKES
Fuck you think you are, pushing
wounded men around?

Schofield is quickly into the fray, putting himself in

between Blake and the Private.
BLAKE
Let go of me!
SCHOFIELD
Stop.
PRIVATE STOKES
Arsehole knocked our Sergeant down,
the man’s fucking wounded-
Beside them an NCO with a sling on, is being helped out of
the mud.
BLAKE
Alright. I’m sorry, alright, I’m
sorry.
Blake struggles to get free, tears of frustration well in his
eyes. Schofield sees this, realises Blake is on the verge of
losing control.
The Private’s hand balls into a fist, his anger simmering.
Schofield gets between them.
SCHOFIELD
We’re on commission. Orders from
the General.

BLAKE
Let me through.
Stokes stops.
SCHOFIELD
 16.

(levelly)
Get out of the way.
PRIVATE STOKES
Right. Just watch where you’re
going.
The other men move aside to give them a passage through.
They keep moving. Schofield is a step behind Blake, he steals
glances at him, concerned.
The two men walk on, the silence heavier. After a while -
SCHOFIELD
It’s bloody quiet...
A beat. Blake looks at Schofield.
BLAKE
Was it like this before Thiepval?
The name does something to Schofield. Fear clings to him. He
pushes it away.

SCHOFIELD
I don’t remember.
BLAKE
You don’t remember the Somme?
SCHOFIELD
Not really.
BLAKE
Well, you did alright out of it. At
least wear your ribbon.
Beat.
SCHOFIELD
Don’t have it anymore.
They push on round the next bend.
BLAKE
What? You lost your medal?
Before he can answer, the trench suddenly expands - the back
wall has been blown out into a large crater. Debris and
sandbags are strewn around. A small team of DIGGERS work on
it with picks and shovels, breaking up the earth, pulling out
body parts from the mud, putting them in empty sandbags.
 17.

SCHOFIELD
Stay low.

Schofield climbs over the rubble and sandbags, crushing his

body to keep his head below the front parapet.
Blake follows. One of the diggers turns to Schofield, his
voice a harsh whisper.
NCO HARVEY
God’s sake. Careful there, you’re
stepping on the dead.

Schofield looks at the sandbag, 15 inches by 25. Red is

rusting through it.
NCO HARVEY
That’s our Sergeant -
Schofield quickly moves off the bag.
NCO HARVEY
Be better washing them out of this
dugout with a bloody hose.

BLAKE
Do you know where the Yorks are?
NCO HARVEY
The next bend you’ll be standing on
top of half of them. Shot to hell
two nights ago.
Blake and Schofield continue. They slip round a bend and into
a small bay.
They stop by two men - one is burning the lice from his
clothes with a lighter Another, BUCHANAN, sits against the
back wall, a small dog on his lap.
SCHOFIELD
Yorks?
Buchanan nods.

PRIVATE BUCHANAN
Yes, Corp.
BLAKE
Where’s Major Stevenson?
PRIVATE BUCHANAN
 18.

Killed a couple of nights ago,

Corporal. Lieutenant Leslie has
command.
BLAKE
Where can we find him?
Buchanan nods down the line.
PRIVATE BUCHANAN
Next dug-out.

They round the bend and spot the dugout. It has been badly
shelled, but patched and re-built. A fire is lit in a brazier
just outside the door. Inside, a provisions bag and a few
other wooden items hang from a rafter, out of reach of the
rats.
SCHOFIELD
Here.
LT. LESLIE is asleep on a small camp bed, his arm over his
eyes. A couple of ORDERLIES sit or lie nearby.

They approach the sleeping Leslie.

BLAKE
Sir?
He doesn’t stir. Blake speaks louder.
BLAKE
Lieutenant Leslie, Sir?

Leslie stirs a little, he doesn’t move his arm from his eyes.
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
What is it?
BLAKE
We have a message from General
Erinmore.
Leslie looks up, his face shines with sweat, his voice is
croaky, full of flu, a little delirious.
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
Are you our relief?
Schofield shakes his head.
SCHOFIELD
No, Sir.
 19.

LIEUTENANT LESLIE
Then when the fucking hell are they
due?
BLAKE
We don’t know, Sir. But we’ve got
orders to cross here.
Blake offers the letter.
Leslie sits up. Looks at them queerly.

LIEUTENANT LESLIE
That is the German front line.
BLAKE
We know, Sir. If you’ll just take
the letter-
Blake hands over Erinmore’s letter. Leslie sighs, tears it
open and reads quickly.

LIEUTENANT LESLIE
(as he reads)
Settle a bet, what day is it?
SCHOFIELD
Friday.
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
Friday. Well, well, well. None of
us was right. This idiot thought it
was Tuesday.
(off the letter)
Are they out of their fucking
minds?
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
One slow night, and the brass think
the Hun have just gone home.
SCHOFIELD
(looking at Blake)
Do you think they’re wrong, Sir?
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
We lost an officer and three men
two nights ago. They were shot to
bits patching up wire. We dragged
two of them back here. Needn’t have
bothered.
Blake is determined to press on.
 20.

BLAKE
Sir, the General is sure the enemy
have withdrawn. There are aerials
of the new line-
Leslie gets to his feet.
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
Shut up. We’ve fought and died over
every inch of this fucking place,
now they suddenly give us miles?
Schofield turns and stares at Blake.
Blake won’t meet his eye.
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
It’s a trap.
Leslie leans in to Schofield.

LIEUTENANT LESLIE
But, chin up. There’s a medal in it
for sure. Nothing like a scrap of
ribbon to cheer up a widow.
Schofield stares at him like he would lift him out of his
boots with one punch.
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
Alright.

Leslie walks out of the dugout. As he walks-

BLAKE
Where’s the nearest way through,
Sir?
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
Our wire’s a mess. But there is a
path through. Of sorts.

He leads them a few paces to a small dead-end lookout trench,

half earth, half corrugated steel. At the end of it is a
rudimentary periscope.
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
(to the soldier)
Rushworth! Let him look.
The soldier manning it steps away to allow them to look.

Blake presses his eye to the lens.

 21.

LIEUTENANT LESLIE
Straight ahead, to the left, past
the dead horses-
Blake squints, moves the periscope. While Blake does this,
Leslie lights a cigarette, his hands shaking.
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
There’s a gap directly behind them.
Useful, because if it’s dark you
follow the stench. When you get to
the second wire, look out for the
bowing chap. There’s small break
just beside him.
As Blake scans the terrain with the periscope, Schofield
methodically prepares himself.
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
The German line is a hundred and
fifty odd yards after that. Watch
out for the craters. They’re deeper
than they look. You fall in,
there’s no getting out.
Leslie indicates for them to follow.
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
This way.

Leslie kicks at a sleeping PRIVATE KILGOUR as he walks.

LIEUTENANT LESLIE
Wake up, Kilgour.
(to himself)
Bloody waste of space.
SCHOFIELD
Any cover, Sir? Anywhere to jump
off from?

Leslie leads them to a wide ladder leaning against the trench

wall.
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
No. The sap trench was blown to
hell weeks ago. It’s full of bodies
anyway. Your best bet is to pop
over here.
Blake and Schofield stop by the ladder, ready themselves,
checking and loading their rifles, fixing their bayonets
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
 22.

If you do get shot, try to make it

back to the wire. We won’t come
after you, not until it’s dark.
And, if by some fucking miracle you
do make it, send up a flare.
SCHOFIELD
Don’t have any, Sir.
Leslie gestures impatiently to a nearby PRIVATE KILGOUR.
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
Well get him one, Kilgour! Make
yourself useful.
PRIVATE KILGOUR
Yes, Sir.

Kilgour goes to fetch the flare gun, Leslie amuses himself:

LIEUTENANT LESLIE
(sprinkling whisky on the
men)
“Through this holy unction may the
Lord pardon thee whatever sins or
faults thou hast committed”
Leslie laughs mirthlessly. Schofield and Blake try to stay
focused.
Kilgour hands Leslie a flare pistol and two cartridges.
LIEUTENANT LESLIE
I do hate losing these to the Hun.
So when they start shooting at you,
could you be so kind as to throw it
back, there’s a good chap.
Blake tucks the flare and cartridges into his pack.

LIEUTENANT LESLIE
Cheerio.
Leslie steps back. A crowd of MEN have now gathered behind
him to watch Blake and Schofield, their faces a combination
of shock and fascination.
Blake and Schofield climb onto the firing step.

Schofield looks at Blake, speaks quietly to him.

SCHOFIELD
You sure?
 23.

Blake isn’t. But he nods.

BLAKE
Yes.
Blake goes to climb over. Schofield stops him.

SCHOFIELD
Age before beauty.
Schofield takes a deep breath, and goes first. He puts one
hand over the parapet. Then the other.
Slowly he advances up, his head inching over the protection
of the trench. His hand is shaking, he drives it into the
mud, grasping for purchase.

Everyone is still, breathless, listening for the enemy to

fire.
Schofield drags his body up and over into -

8 EXT. NO MAN'S LAND - CONTINUOUS 8

Vast, almost unbearably open after the close quarters of the
trench.

A light mist hangs low over the land.

The ground is treacle-like. Schofield’s hands and knees sink
into it as he pulls himself forward, his eyes are trained
through the British wire towards the German lines.
The whole world is lunar and empty. Earth pounded to atoms,
all mounds and holes.
Nothing moves. Nothing lives.

The only sound is Blake’s breathing as he heaves himself out

of the trench beside Schofield.
Both men are still for a beat. Hunched down low on their
knees, two nocturnal animals caught in the daylight.
British wire runs in loops ahead of them, tangled and
haphazardly strung. A mess to navigate through.

They get to their feet and move forwards over the slick
earth, towards the putrid remains of the horses. Breathing
through their mouths, trying to deal with the stench.
 24.

A layer of black fur covers the animals, as Schofield and

Blake close in on them they see the fur is actually flies,
hundreds of them.
Schofield moves past the remains and through the first break
in the wire. The path is pocked with craters and puddles,
shrapnel litters everything.
Blake follows Schofield through the channel - ahead, on the
second wire, is “the bowing chap” - a GERMAN SOLDIER, dead,
bent double over the wire, one arm outstretched in a courtly
manner, as if bowing.
Schofield doesn’t linger on the dead German, doesn’t look at
his face. He focuses on the task at hand. To the side of the
man is a small gap in the razor wire, easy to miss without
the landmark. Schofield struggles to further pull apart the
dense tangle of wire. He indicates for Blake to pass through.
As he does so, Schofield slips in the mud. His hand
instinctively closes around the wire. It slices into his
palm, hooking into his flesh.
Bright red seeps along his hand, he wrenches it back, tearing
the skin to free himself. A heavy breath hisses out of him.

He balls his hand into a fist to stem the bleeding.

BLAKE (O.C.)
You alright?
Blake looks at him with concern. Schofield nods that he’s
fine.
SCHOFIELD
Look for cover.

Everything after here is unnatural land. Craters are gouged

out of the earth. There is a rise and fall to this stretch,
but no flow or reason to it.
About a hundred yards from them, in the distance, is an
artificial horizon, something grey, mesh-like, stretching the
entire length of the land - The German Wire. Occasional dead
trees dot the land beyond.
Blake goes into the closest crater. He looks to Schofield,
some silent communication. Schofield’s eyes pull out a path
where there isn’t one.
SCHOFIELD
Sap trench.
 25.

Schofield goes first, crouching low, moving faster now,

picking his way towards a hole in the earth.
And then jumps directly into the old sap trench.

Blown out and neglected, it is now little more than a ditch,

but it offers a stretch of cover.
Schofield checks his wounded hand. It pulses blood. He feels
as if he is being watched. He looks around.
Next to him is the body of a German soldier; face down in the
mud, rats are on the corpse, feasting.

Blake jumps into the sap just next to Schofield. He lands

right next to A DEAD MAN, looking straight at them. He is
sitting up, his lips and eyes have been chewed off by rats.
White teeth grin in a pale face.
Blake reflexively scrambles back in horror, knocking into
Schofield. Schofield slips, reaches out to steady himself,
and grabs at the first thing he finds - the BODY OF THE
GERMAN.

Schofield’s wounded hand lands on the man’s back and sinks -

right through.
Schofield’s cut hand goes into the putrid flesh.
Beside him, Blake is frozen. Panicking.
Schofield gestures to him - ‘stay calm’. Blake tries to
steady himself.

They move further along the side of the sap trench. Schofield
peers out. About eighty yards now to the German wire.
They gather themselves. Schofield takes the lead. He pulls
himself out of the sap, Blake follows.
They move, crouched low. Watching. Waiting for guns to open
on them.
Silence.

The land is flatter here. There is an eerie feeling of

emptiness and silence. Schofield and Blake keep moving
forwards, trying to stay focused. Crouching to keep low.
The mud is like oil, but some things are solid underfoot.
Outlines of guns, shrapnel, unexploded shells, bodies.
 26.

Suddenly a loud sound approaching.

TWO PLANES.
Blake and Schofield both move quickly to the nearest shell-
hole. They throw themselves in and freeze. Keeping the brims
of their helmets low, hiding their faces from the planes
above. Blending in to the landscape around them.
SCHOFIELD
(Sotto)
Stay still.

The engines grow louder. The planes fly close overhead, and
then begin to recede into the distance.
Both men now turn their heads to look at them.

SCHOFIELD
(Sotto)
They’re ours.
Blake nods.
SCHOFIELD
(Sotto)
Keep going. We’re half way.
They move back out into the open expanse.
Large shell holes appear on either side of them. They pick
their way through them, balancing carefully along the ridges.
They climb to the top of a small hillock and suddenly on the
other-side - vertigo. The ground falls away steeply in a mine
crater, stories deep.
They look down into it.

BLAKE
There’s a gap in the wire.
We can see the base of the crater: The nearest line of German
wire has been split by the blast, and hangs limply down the
side wall of the crater, the other half of it disappears into
a huge pool of water at its base.
They meet each other’s gaze. An obvious way through the wire.
It’s clear they need to go down into the crater.
They slide carefully down the steep bank.
 27.

At the base of the crater the water is fathomless - the

colour of mucus, and the same consistency. A DEAD GERMAN
floats in it, bloated.
Blake follows in Schofield’s exact footsteps, walking around
the edge of the pool.

Blake looks into the pool. Things float in it. Bodies. The
pages of a letter, a cigarette tin, a water canteen.
Ahead of them, halfway up the far bank another line of German
wire - the main one - is suspended across the crater. There
is a gap beneath the wire.
They climb up the far bank towards the gap. Blake is
struggling.
BLAKE
Sco...
Schofield helps him up the slope.
The main German wire is a huge thicket of razor wire, denser
than a hedgerow. Using their hands, they dig into the muddy
sides of the crater, and pull themselves upwards, through the
German wire.
Schofield looks - close to him, caught on the wire, a small
clump of human hair blows in the breeze.
Hands and bayonets digging deep into the muddy bank, they
haul themselves out of the crater. Ahead of them is the
German Front Line.
BLAKE
There! That’s the front line.
They lift their rifles and aim them towards the German line.
Blake moves first. He quickly approaches the German trench.
Schofield is next to him.
Both men suck in a breath and stand tall, leaning over the
German sandbags.
Their rifles sweep in unison down the length of the trench.
Empty. Schofield turns to Blake.

BLAKE
Fuck me. They really have gone.
 28.

They look around in awe - this trench is massive,

fortified... and seemingly abandoned. Intermittent shell
holes have levelled large sections.
Blake and Schofield drop down into the trench.

9 EXT. GERMAN FRONT LINE TRENCH - CONTINUOUS 9

This trench is better crafted than the British trench. Deeper
and well reinforced, and eerily empty. They are alone.
To one side the trench is smashed in. A mountain of earth and
debris. Blocked.
Schofield crouches, attends to his bleeding hand. Blood oozes
out of it.
BLAKE
Your hand alright?
SCHOFIELD
Put it through an effing German.
Schofield has taken out his canteen, he pours water on his
sliced up palm. Blake keeps watch.
BLAKE
Patch it up. You’ll be wanking
again in no time.
SCHOFIELD
Wrong hand.
Blake laughs.
Blake moves off, rifle ready. Schofield follows, wrapping a
bandage round his hand as they move. He tightens the dressing
with his teeth. Red seeps through the white gauze.
Ahead of them is a brazier, full of spent white coal dust.
Blake kicks it over, the white dust crumbles, red embers glow
- wisps of smoke. Still smouldering.
Schofield turns to Blake, his eyes are on the embers too.
SCHOFIELD
They’re not long gone.
Blake hands tighten on his rifle, he pushes off, heading east
down-
 29.

10 EXT. GERMAN COMMS TRENCH - CONTINUOUS 10

Blake leads them into the deep, narrow trench. Creeping
forward quickly, eyes darting ahead, looking for any enemy.

The comms trench opens out into-

11 EXT. GERMAN SECOND LINE TRENCH - CONTINUOUS 11

Blake hovers by the mouth of the comms trench, peeking out.
Another dead end.
BLAKE
No good.
Schofield is at his back. Their eyes scan the empty second
line trench.
They push on in silence.
Their footsteps click and echo over the duckboards. They
move, bayonets pointed forward.

The trench takes a sharp turn. Schofield and Blake inch

round, rifles up, checking.
Ahead of them the trench is destroyed. A direct hit. Earth,
sandbags, and huge splinters of timber jut out of the pile of
dirt.
SCHOFIELD
Blocked.
It is impassable.
Next to them is the mouth of a dugout. A doorway.
Blake peers into the darkness.
Timber stairs descend two storeys down into the earth.
BLAKE
This might be a way through.

They click on their torches and move down the stairs.

Whole tree trunks have been used to reinforce the walls. They
share a look. The sophistication of the Germans amazes them.
At the foot of the steps, Blake turns the corner.
BLAKE (O.S.)
 30.

Jesus...
Schofield follows him quickly, the timber creaks under him as
he rounds into the mouth of-

12 INT. GERMAN DUGOUT - CONTINUOUS 12

He turns the corner and sees Blake, torch in hand.
BLAKE
Look at this. It’s massive.

The dugout is huge - an entire barracks carved out of the

chalky earth. It’s ghostly in the torch light.
Timber struts run along walls and ceilings. Rows of bunk beds
run along the length of the huge room, stacked up to the
ceiling.
BLAKE
They built all this.
Blake and Schofield move through it, their torchlights
slicing through the darkness. It is palatial compared with
what we have seen on the British lines.
Schofield’s eyes land on something - a photograph, someone’s
wife and child, pinned to a bed frame. Schofield stares at it
for a beat.
Blake noses through some of the detritus left behind by the
Germans, then moves through into:

The Officer’s Quarters: Iron bed frames, an arm chair, a

desk. In one corner are the remains of a cooking area, some
boxes of supplies lie abandoned.
Next to one of the beds a tunnel stretches away from him into
the darkness.
SCHOFIELD
Here’s our way through.
BLAKE (O.C.)
Sco - how about this?
Schofield turns to see Blake sitting on one of the officers’
beds, bouncing gently. The springs squeak loudly in the
silence, he grins. Then movement catches his eye. A massive
rat gnaws on a canvass sack suspended form the roof beams.
BLAKE
 31.

Bloody hell... Even their rats are

bigger than ours.

By the light of their torches, they can see a large, bloated

rat moving quickly along one of the roof beams.
Their torches follow the rat, as it scampers along the beam.
The light catches more canvas sacks, all suspended from a the
ceiling. Grease is pooling at the base of them, turning them
translucent - bags of food, or at least an approximation of
it. Other frayed and empty canvas sacks lie around.
BLAKE
What do you think’s in the bags?
SCHOFIELD
You cannot be that hungry.
Blake thinks for a beat.
The rat makes a leap for one, dropping from the rafter to the
canvas. The bag swings violently under the rat’s weight, a
pendulum in the middle of the room.
BLAKE
Look at him. Cocky little bastard.
Something has caught Schofield’s eye. A crate full of food
tins has been left in the corner. Schofield walks over and
grabs one.
SCHOFIELD
You could eat this, though.
He turns to read the writing in Blake’s torch light:
“Fleischkonserve”
BLAKE
What is it?
Schofield tosses a tin across the room to him. Blake catches
it, reads the label.

SCHOFIELD
Boche dog meat.
BLAKE
What’s in the other boxes?
Schofield goes for the other crate... and freezes.
BLAKE
What’s wrong?
 32.

SCHOFIELD
Trip wire.
Blake stands stock still.
SCHOFIELD
Don’t move.
The two men are frozen.
BLAKE
Where is it?
SCHOFIELD
Goes from here to the door.
Blake’s breath quickens as he scans the room, trying to pick
out the wire in the torchlight... The door is about ten feet
away.
Suddenly -
BAM!
Both men jump - The rat and the canvas bag are on the floor.
BLAKE
Jesus!
The rat is dragging the canvas bag towards the door to the
next room, desperate to keep its treasure from the two men.

BLAKE
No...no! -
Blake’s eyes go wide, he starts forward for the rat-
The rat lets go of the bag and flees - into the wire. A flash
of blinding light then almost simultaneously-
BOOM!
Impossibly loud. The blast is reflected back in off the solid
walls, a section of roof drops. Dirt and chalk dust blast
outward.
Blake is flung backwards against the wall with a thud.
White chalk dust swirls in the room, bright in the
torchlight. Blake’s torch lands on the floor, beam pointing
upwards at the ceiling.
For a second there is silence.
 33.

Blake begins to pant. The wind is knocked out of him. He

catches his breath.
He feels his head, reaches for his torch. His eyes scan the
room.
His torchlight slices through the dust and smoke. The world
has been turned over. Some parts are buried. And where
Schofield was standing - a pile of rubble.
Panic streaks across his face.
Then there is a sound. Muffled, from deep in the white dirt.
Screaming.
Schofield is buried.
Blake is on his feet, staggering towards the mound of chalk
and dust. Moving over it, ears to the dirt, listening.

Schofield’s screams slip through it.

Blake frantically begins to dig.
BLAKE
Sco?!
Ripping earth away from one spot, then listening to
Schofield’s muffled screams and moving to another.
Desperation on his face.
BLAKE
SCO!
The screams are getting weaker. Disappearing beneath the
sounds of the timber creaking and groaning.
Blake swims through the earth, sweeping it away-

Schofield’s screams stop.

Blake thrashes in the chalk - at last unearths -
Lips. Schofield’s mouth, wide open, filled with pale grey
dirt. Still.
BLAKE
SCO! SCO!
Blake tears the chalk away from his mouth and nose and
suddenly Schofield heaves into life, retches, coughing up
dirt, sawing in breaths.
 34.

Blake uncovers Schofield’s face, his eyes are packed with

dirt and chalk. Blake keeps digging, frees Schofield’s arm,
chest. Schofield thrashes in the debris, trying to free
himself. He can’t. It’s too tightly packed.
BLAKE
Sco! Wake up! Wake up! Sco!

Blake grabs at Schofield’s arm and with all his might

wrenches him out of the dirt.
BLAKE
Sco... Stand up! Stand up! Up! UP!
Schofield is in shock - numb. Caked in the pale white earth.
His heaves and retches fill the tiny space. His body shaking
and contorting with shock.
BLAKE
STAND UP!
The timber is groaning all around them now. Blake looks up at
it.
BLAKE
The whole thing’s coming down.
As Blake looks, the chalk dust swirls in the air, drawn
towards the tunnel entrance, sucked out by the backdraft.

Their way out.

Blake stands, half-drags Schofield to his feet. Schofield can
hardly see out of his dust-filled eyes. Blake pulls him over
to the tunnel entrance.
BLAKE
You keep hold of me!

13 INT. GERMAN TUNNEL - CONTINUOUS 13

Carved through the chalk bedrock. Seven feet high and
reinforced with timber, some of which have already split in
the blast. The tunnel slopes gently down, deeper into the
earth. White walls reflect Blake’s torch.
The earth around them groans, silt and dust piss from the
ceiling.

Schofield coughs and convulses, grasping on to Blake, towed

along in his wake.
 35.

The tunnel splits, one fork has been destroyed, Blake pulls
them forward the only way they can go.
BLAKE
We need to keep moving. Come on!
SCHOFIELD
I can’t see - I can’t see!
Blake stops suddenly.
BLAKE
Stop! Stop!
He has kicked a bucket that sits on the lip of a mineshaft.
The bucket drops into the hole, pulleys spinning ferociously.

BLAKE
Stop. It’s a mineshaft.
Blake looks for a way round it. It has been blown by the
Germans.
BLAKE
We’ll have to jump. Come on!
Blake jumps across it. Schofield is frozen.
BLAKE
You’re going to have to jump! Just
jump.
SCHOFIELD
I can’t- I can’t see!
Blake wheels around and shines his light on Schofield.
Schofield’s eyes stream with tears and debris, he’s
paralyzed, blinded.
Between them is nothing but a gaping hole in the floor,
fathomless blackness.
The walls around them groan under the strain. The place is
coming down.
BLAKE
You need to trust me. Jump!
Schofield tears in a breath then leaps forwards towards
Blake.
Schofield takes off, jumps across the hole and lands hard.
 36.

His back foot slips down the side of the mineshaft, but Blake
grabs him, and heaves him up.
Blake pushes forward, Schofield clings to him.
BLAKE
Don’t let go of me! Don’t let go!
The sound of earth collapsing suddenly fills the tunnel. The
dugout behind them has collapsed in.
Ahead there is a fork in the tunnel. Blake spots something to
his right - a blue haze.
Daylight.
He pulls Schofield towards it.
BLAKE
Light! There’s light!
They scramble forwards. Light begins to flood the passage
way. They reach the end of the tunnel and stumble out into
the light.

14 EXT. REAR GERMAN TRENCHES - CONTINUOUS 14

Blake scrambles down a small incline, scanning for enemy.

They are in a large sunken ditch.
Schofield stands, bent double, at the mouth of the tunnel,
trying to catch his breath. Both of them are covered with
chalk dust. They look like pale ghosts.
SCHOFIELD
Stop... stop. Just...just let me
stand.
BLAKE
Dirty bastards.
Schofield gathers himself and drops down beside Blake.
Blake pushes on, climbing up a small rise, rifle ready.
Schofield goes after him, shakily.

BLAKE
Careful, they may have left other
traps.
Blake crests the small berm and looks.
 37.

Curving away from him - a quarry. A huge desolate

amphitheatre.
The quarry is several storeys high. Holes and entrances are
carved all over it, like rabbit warrens.
Scattered around is the detritus of war. Several huge German
guns and some small artillery lie damaged and abandoned.
Small mountains of brass - thousands of spent shell casings.
BLAKE
Jesus.
Blake sweeps his rifle around, searching for any threat. This
place is abandoned.
Schofield makes it to the top of the berm, and drops down to
the ground, trying to clean out his eyes.
SCHOFIELD
Dust... so much dust in my eyes.
He empties the remaining water from his canteen onto his
face.
Blake approaches Schofield, hands him his canteen. Schofield
washes the chalk off of his face.
BLAKE
Here. Have some of mine.
Blake crouches beside him. He watches him, concerned.
BLAKE
I wish I’d shot that rat now.

Schofield turns on him, sharp.

SCHOFIELD
And I wish you’d picked some other
bloody idiot.
BLAKE
What?
SCHOFIELD
Why in God’s name did you have to
choose me?
Schofield checks his pockets - takes out small tobacco tin.
Checks inside it. His hands are shaking badly.
 38.

BLAKE
I didn’t know what I was picking
you for.

SCHOFIELD
No, you didn’t. You never know.
That’s your problem.
Blake is stung.
BLAKE
Alright then, go back. Nothing’s
stopping you. You can go all the
way bloody home if you want.
At the mention of home Schofield turns on him sharply.
SCHOFIELD
Don’t.
A beat. Schofield puts the tobacco tin back in his pocket.
BLAKE
(calmer now)
Look, I didn’t know what I was
picking you for. I thought they
were going to send us back up the
line, or for food, or something. I
thought it was going to be
something easy, alright? I never
thought it would be this.
A beat.
BLAKE
So do you want to go back?
Schofield looks at him, softening.
SCHOFIELD
Just fire the fucking flare.
He loads and lifts the flare, and looks back towards the
British lines.
BLAKE
(under his breath)
Up yours, Lieutenant...
He fires it straight up. The light streaks through the sky.
He watches it drop.
 39.

Blake tosses the flare gun, lowers his hand to Schofield and
helps him up.
Schofield stands unsteadily. Blake studies his compass,
getting his bearing.
SCHOFIELD
Do you know where we are?
BLAKE
Ecoust is directly south east. If
we keep that bearing, we should
make it.

He looks in the direction Blake is facing - the land rolls

gently down, a trampled road leads out of the quarry, a
shattered copse of trees juts out of the earth. Charred and
black.
Schofield nods. Blake stows the compass. Raises his rifle.
BLAKE
Come on then.
They begin to walk.
Blankets, ammunition, guns, bayonets, shells. All have been
abandoned in this place. They pass the remains of artillery -
the gun barrels have been blown out.
BLAKE
Look at that. They destroyed their
own guns...

SCHOFIELD
They destroyed their own trenches
too.
BLAKE
What do you mean?
SCHOFIELD
I think they wanted us to go that
way. They wanted to bury us.
They walk.
A noise startles them both. They turn to the source, ready to
fire -
A large rat scuttles over A DEAD GERMAN. Blake kicks a rock
at it. It scatters.
BLAKE
 40.

Bastard rats.

Blake looks across at Schofield. He is still shaking

slightly.
They walk, watchful. Eventually:
BLAKE
Hey - did you hear that story about
Wilko? How he lost his ear?
SCHOFIELD
I’m not in the mood. Keep your eyes
on the trees, top of the ridge.
Blake watches the top of the slope. They walk.
BLAKE
Bet he told you it was shrapnel.
Beat.

SCHOFIELD
What was it then?
BLAKE
Well, you know his girl’s a
hairdresser, right? And he was
moaning about the lack of bathing
facilities when he wrote to her -
remember those rancid jakes at
Arras?
Schofield nods - they were disgusting.
BLAKE
Anyway, she sends him over this
‘hair oil’. Smells sweet, like
Golden Syrup. Wilko loves the
smell, but he doesn’t want to cart
it around in his pack, so-
They continue into the-

15 EXT. SHATTERED COPSE - CONTINUOUS 15

They tread carefully over the battered earth. It’s littered
with casings and flecks of metal.
BLAKE
 41.

He slathers it all over his barnet,

goes to sleep and in the middle of
the night he wakes up, and a rat is
sitting on his shoulder licking the
oil off of his head!
Schofield begins to laugh, despite himself.
BLAKE
Wilko panics and he jumps up and
when he does - the rat bites clean
through his fucking ear and runs
off with it!
They are both laughing quietly.
BLAKE
Oh, he made a hell of a fuss,
yelling, screaming.
The ground sweeps gently downward out of the burnt copse.
Living things return to the world in small patches.
BLAKE
Best of it was he put so much
bloody oil on himself that he
couldn’t wash it off! He was like a
magnet. Rats left us alone, but
they couldn’t get enough of him.
Poor bastard.

They emerge from the copse, scanning the surroundings. They

appear to be alone.
Above, far in the distance, the same two British planes seem
to hover in the sky, arcing back towards British lines.
Schofield looks up at them.
SCHOFIELD
Heading back home.
(beat)
I wonder what they saw...
Schofield pulls his eyes away from the planes. The two men
briefly scan the land around them.
BLAKE
Watch the ridge lines.
They move off again. Blake’s eyes stick to the left,
Schofield’s scan the right. After a beat.
 42.

SCHOFIELD
Well that’s your medal sorted then.
BLAKE
What do you mean?
They continue walking.
SCHOFIELD
“Lance Corporal Blake showed
unusual valour in rescuing a
comrade from certain death” blah,
blah, blah.
BLAKE
You reckon?
SCHOFIELD
I do.

Blake is pleased.
BLAKE
Well, that’d be nice. Since you
lost yours.
A beat.
SCHOFIELD
I didn’t lose mine.
Schofield keeps walking.
BLAKE
What happened to it, then?
SCHOFIELD
Why do you care?
BLAKE
Why do you not?

Beat.
SCHOFIELD
I swapped it with a French captain.
BLAKE
Swapped it? For what?
SCHOFIELD
Bottle of wine.
BLAKE
 43.

What did you do that for?

SCHOFIELD
I was thirsty.
BLAKE
What a waste.
(beat)
You should have taken it home with
you, you should have given it to
your family.
Schofield doesn’t respond.
BLAKE
Men have died for that.
No response.
BLAKE
If I got a medal, I’d take it back
home, why didn’t you just take it
home-
SCHOFIELD
Look it’s just a bit of bloody tin!
It doesn’t make you special, it
doesn’t make any difference to
anyone.

BLAKE
Yes it does.
Beat.
BLAKE
And it’s not just a bit of tin.
(then)
It’s got a ribbon on it.
Schofield laughs, exasperated.
Then he turns to Blake, looks at him.
SCHOFIELD
I hated going home. I hated it.
When I knew I couldn’t stay. When I
knew I had to leave them, and they
might never see me-

He chokes up. Fights with himself for a moment. Then he turns

and walks ahead.
Blake watches him, feeling guilty. Then he follows.
 44.

Up ahead, Schofield is approaching the remains of a walled

orchard. He stops at the gate.

16 EXT. WALLED ORCHARD - CONTINUOUS 16

The near wall has partially collapsed in a mound of rubble.
Beyond it cherry trees litter the ground. All have been cut
down, felled in the wanton destruction of the German retreat.
Pale blossoms swim all around, ruffled by the wind.
Schofield looks at it all.
SCHOFIELD
(to himself)
Jesus. They chopped them all down.
Blake has followed him, a little guiltily. Wanting to
apologise, but unsure how. He takes in the orchard.
BLAKE
Cherries.
Blake looks at one of the trees. He reaches down, picks a
blossom, holds it up.
BLAKE
Lamberts.
They begin to walk through the felled trees.
BLAKE
They might be Dukes, hard to tell
when they aren’t in fruit.
SCHOFIELD
What’s the difference?

Blake is a little wry, sensing Schofield softening.

BLAKE
Well people think there’s one type,
but there’s lots of them -
Cuthberts, Queen Annes,
Montmorencys. Sweet ones, sour
ones...
SCHOFIELD
Why on earth would you know this?
BLAKE
 45.

Mum’s got an orchard, back home.

Only a few trees. This time of year
it looks like it’s been snowing,
blossom everywhere. And then in
May, we have to pick them. Me and
Joe. Takes the whole day.

A pang of homesickness creeps into Blake as he and Schofield

clamber over a downed tree. They are now alongside each
other.
Schofield registers this.
SCHOFIELD
So, these ones all gonners?
BLAKE
Oh no, they’ll grow again when the
stones rot. You’ll end up with more
trees than before.
A large wall borders the lower end of the orchard, still
intact. Schofield arrives at the gate.
Ahead of them, visible through the gate is a small valley. In
the valley lie the remains of a French farmhouse, abandoned.

It is utterly derelict now - the roof is just a skeleton of

beams. Next to it is a clapboard barn, ragged with shell
holes.
Schofield and Blake peer through the gate at the small
collection of buildings below. Everything is still.
Schofield looks anxiously at the farmhouse.
BLAKE
It looks abandoned.
SCHOFIELD
Let’s hope so.
BLAKE
We have to make sure.
Schofield leads the way, he moves through the gate
cautiously, rifle raised. Blake follows.

They slip down the hill. They are in an old pigsty,

surrounded by a broken fence, which runs down to the murky
water of a pond.
Carefully, as he walks, Schofield scans the buildings ahead.
 46.

The wind rustles the long grass. An ominous atmosphere

pervades this place.
They approach the farmhouse.
SCHOFIELD
(sotto)
I’ll take front, you take back.
They split. Blake disappears round the back, Schofield moves
towards the front door.
A DEAD DOG lies by the path.
Schofield looks at it for a beat. His hands tighten on his
rifle, as he braces himself for what might be inside.
Schofield quickly walks up the small front path, through the
open door.

17 INT. FRENCH FARMHOUSE - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS 17

He is still for a moment on the threshold, breath held,
listening for any sounds of life in the house.
The silence burns.
Schofield enters. The only sounds now are the floor boards
creaking under his boots.
This place has been trashed by the soldiers who were here.
Schofield turns right into -

18 INT. FRENCH FARMHOUSE - BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS 18

Schofield moves through the bedroom. Empty. He moves back
into-

19 INT. FRENCH FARMHOUSE - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS 19

Schofield crosses the hallway. He spots Blake through the
window.
BLAKE
Anything?
SCHOFIELD
Nothing.
 47.

Schofield moves forward towards the kitchen. Something

catches his eye.

A child’s doll sits on the floor. Cigarette burns on its

eyes.
Schofield looks at it for a beat. Then moves into the
kitchen.

20 INT. FRENCH FARMHOUSE - KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS 20

Low, dusty light streaks in from the smashed windows.
Schofield takes in the room. Blake enters through the back
door.
BLAKE
Did you find any food?
SCHOFIELD
No.
(beat)
I don’t like this place.

He moves out through the back door-

21 EXT. REAR FRENCH FARMHOUSE - CONTINUOUS 21

Schofield moves across the barren yard to a dilapidated barn.

22 INT. BARN - CONTINUOUS 22

Remnants and debris are scattered around.
The low sounds of a cow echo from the fields beyond.
Schofield looks - a single COW stands in the field. Two or
three other dead cows lie near it.
Schofield turns, scanning the barn floor. He peers into a
milk urn, it’s empty.

Close by there is a bucket, lid half on.

He tips the lid off with his foot -
Milk.
He kneels and smells it, then lowers in a hand and lifts some
to his mouth. It’s been months since he tasted anything as
good.
 48.

Behind him, Blake exits the farmhouse.

BLAKE
Map says we get over that ridge and
it’s a straight shot to Ecoust.
SCHOFIELD
Good.
He takes out his empty canteen and pours milk into it, fills
it to the brim.
The huge door at back of the barn is open to the fields.

The drone of plane engines through the doorway catches

Schofield’s attention.
Schofield spots planes through the barn door. He moves
towards them to get a better look. Entranced.
He moves outside to watch.

23 EXT. REAR FRENCH FARMHOUSE - CONTINUOUS 23

Schofield wanders out away from the barn. He looks up into
the grey sky.
Three planes - a dogfight. Tiny at this distance, insect-
like.
Schofield’s eyes follow them keenly: Two British fighters
against one German.

The violence is so far removed from him that it looks

balletic. Beautiful even. He moves towards them to get a
better look.
The planes twist and circle in the air, engines droning and
whining as the planes dip and rise.
BLAKE (O.S.)
Is that our friends again?
SCHOFIELD
Looks like it. Dogfight.
BLAKE
Who’s winning?
SCHOFIELD
Us, I think. Two on one.
The two of them stand looking up at the majesty of it.
 49.

Then, in the distance, the German plane begins to trail black

smoke.
The hum of the German engine fails. The two British planes
follow it, hammering away on their guns until it is clear
that there is no hope for the German.
BLAKE
They got him...
The German plane coasts silently towards the earth.
Blake and Schofield watch as it gets closer and closer.
Hypnotised.
From the bend of wings you can tell the PILOT is trying to
glide. Trying and failing.
The plane drops like a leaf, catching updrafts only to
suddenly dip again - aiming for the fields some distance
ahead of them.

The plane dips. Wobbles. Fighting to stay up. It banks left,

and drops below the horizon.
Schofield walks forwards to have a better look. Then
suddenly, the plane reappears over the horizon, flying very
low. It is heading straight at them.
Schofield realises they are in the path of the plane. He
begins backing away, retreating towards the house.
The plane is much closer now, behind them as they run. They
can’t make it back to the house.
Schofield and Blake throw themselves down on the ground,
pressing themselves into the earth as the plane screams in
their direction, smashing into the barn directly behind them.
Black smoke pours from the plane and the shattered skeleton
of the barn.

The fire is quick, licking along the old wood.

24 INT. BARN - CONTINUOUS 24

Smoke billows from the plane. Inside it someone is screaming.
Blake moves first, he runs into the barn, Schofield tailing
him.
 50.

Tongues of fire whip out from the engine, the pilot is

inside. Burning.
Flames lick at his mangled legs and torso, his gloved hands
cover his face.
Blake grabs at the man, the back of his hand touches the yoke
as he tries to free the pilot - he cries out as the metal
sears his skin.

Schofield tears open the pilot’s strap and together they

wrench him free, dragging him from the remains of the
cockpit, and pulling his body through the smoke.
The Pilot’s legs are on fire.
PILOT
Meine beine! Meine beine! Hilf mir!
Hilf mir!
PILOT
My legs! My legs! Help me! Help me!

25 EXT. REAR FRENCH FARMHOUSE - CONTINUOUS 25

Schofield and Blake drag the pilot by his shoulders - the
true extent of his injuries laid bare in the daylight.
The flames have done bad damage. His trousers have been
partially burnt off, blood streaks down his legs.

The Pilot’s blue eyes dart at them, in agony. He shivers

violently with shock, his lips form words, his voice is a
harsh whisper.
(N.B. None of the German dialogue will be subtitled. We
should understand only what Blake and Schofield understand.)
PILOT
Lazarett, Kamerad. Bitte. Bitte.
Wasser. Water.
PILOT
Military hospital, comrade. Please.
Please. Water. Water.
They look down at the Pilot, shocked, unsure of what to do.
Schofield turns to Blake.
SCHOFIELD
(sotto to Blake)
 51.

We should put him out of his

misery.
Schofield and Blake share a look.
BLAKE
No. Get him some water. He needs
water.
Blake kneels beside the pilot, gently cradles his head on his
knees. The pilot struggles, terrified and in pain.
Schofield moves to the water pump, his back to Blake and the
Pilot.
BLAKE (O.S.)
It’s alright, you’re alright. Stay
still. Stay still...

PILOT
Bitte töte mich nicht. Ich möchte
leben.
PILOT
Please help me, I don’t want to
die.
Schofield works the pump, the levers screeching as the
mechanism creaks back to life.
Creak- creak-
Orange water cascades out, slapping into the metal trough.
Schofield keeps cranking the squeaking handle, it almost
drowns out the voices behind him.
Creak- creak-
Schofield collects the water in his helmet.
Creak- creak-
Then suddenly - shouting.
From behind him, piercing through the other sounds.
BLAKE
Stop...Stop!
Schofield turns, starts forward.

Blake screams in agony. Schofield moves towards him,

confusion on his face, until he sees-
 52.

A bloody knife in the pilot’s hand, pulled out of Blake’s

abdomen.
SCHOFIELD
No, no, no!
Schofield grabs his rifle-
He fires two shots into the pilot, killing him outright.
Blake is looking down at his own bloody hands.
BLAKE
Bastard, bloody bastard.
Blake gets to his feet, breathing heavy. Clutching his
abdomen, he staggers away from the pilot’s body.
BLAKE
Oh, God no. Oh, God no.
Schofield watches him, scared.
Blake goes for his dressings, he clumsily pulls them out of
his pocket, they unspool in his shaking hands.
Blood is seeping through Blake’s tunic. He drops to his
knees. He looks down at his own blood and sobs.
BLAKE
Jesus. Jesus, no.
Schofield moves forward, grabs the dressing, just as Blake
drops down to the ground.
SCHOFIELD
We have to stop the bleeding.
Schofield wads the dressing, he moves Blake’s hand and pushes
the white bandage hard against Blake’s tunic, trying to stem
the blood.
Blake shouts in pain.
BLAKE
Stop it. Stop it!
Schofield tries to calm him.
SCHOFIELD
It’s alright, it’s going to be
alright. We’re going to stand up.
Schofield wraps his hands around Blake’s webbing.
 53.

BLAKE
Yes. Yes.
Blake sets his feet. Schofield wrenches him up. Blake screams
in agony.
BLAKE
No! I can’t. I can’t.
They drop back down.
Blake is pale, blood is pumping out of him, his lips are
already grey.
SCHOFIELD
We have to get to an Aid Post.
BLAKE
I can’t.
SCHOFIELD
I’ll carry you. It isn’t very far.
BLAKE
Just bring a doctor here.
Schofield looks around for help, there isn’t any. They are
alone.
SCHOFIELD
We can’t, we have to go together-
Schofield looks at Blake, desperation in his eyes.
SCHOFIELD
We’re going to get up. We’re going
to get up.
Schofield moves behind Blake, grabs him under his arms. He
lifts Blake, but Blake cannot support his own weight, his
legs buckle.
BLAKE
Stop, please! Stop!
Schofield holds him up. Begins to drag him.
Schofield keeps trying to drag Blake. The more Blake
struggles the more blood pisses out of his wound.
Blake is suddenly wild, he screams like an animal, flailing
savagely, clawing at Schofield’s chest and neck, spitting
blood, struggling against him.
 54.

BLAKE
Put me down! Put me down, you
bastard, please! Put me down!
They fall backwards.
Schofield moves to face Blake.
Blake’s whole face is colourless now.
Schofield looks down. His eyes land on Blake’s dressing. It
is scarlet now, sopping wet with blood. He swaps it for a
fresh dressing. Panic swarms him.
SCHOFIELD
You have to try to keep moving.
Blake is weakening.
BLAKE
Let’s just sit... let me sit.
SCHOFIELD
We can’t. We have to find the 2nd.
Remember? Your brother. We have to
go now...
Schofield stares down at Blake, he’s not lucid anymore. His
eyes are already glazing.
BLAKE
You can start on without me. I’ll
catch up.
SCHOFIELD
You can’t stay here. We have to
move, alright? We have to move.
A beat.
SCHOFIELD
Come on. Come on. That’s it. Come
on, come on...
Schofield wraps one arm around Blake’s back, the other round
his legs, he gets to his feet and with all his might he
heaves Blake upward. Blake howls in pain.
Schofield screams with the effort, giving it all he’s got.
But Blake is a dead weight. He can’t lift him.
They drop. Schofield looks at him, desperate.
 55.

SCHOFIELD
Your brother. We have to find your
brother.

Blake’s breathing is coming in short bursts.

BLAKE
You’ll recognise him. Looks like
me...a bit older.
Schofield holds Blake’s head up. He looks impotently around
for help.
Behind them the barn is crumbling in on itself, scarlet
embers drift across the sky, carried on the breeze. Blake
stares up at them, confused.
BLAKE
What are they? Are we being
shelled?
SCHOFIELD
They’re embers, the barn is on
fire.

Blake looks bewildered. Then some pain creeps into his eyes,
some awful knowledge.
BLAKE
I’ve been hit... What was it?
Schofield looks down at him, unsure how to answer.
SCHOFIELD
You were stabbed.
Blake looks surprised. His hand feels dumbly for his wound.
It lands on Schofield’s - he’s holding down the tunic,
stemming what blood he can.
There is blood on Blake’s lips. His breathing is becoming
laboured.
BLAKE
Am I dying?
A beat.
SCHOFIELD
Yes, I think you are.
An “Oh” forms on Blake’s lips. Profound sadness follows the
shock.
 56.

Blake reaches up slowly, and taps his tunic pocket, Schofield

guesses his meaning - goes to the pocket, pulls out a wallet.
SCHOFIELD
This?
BLAKE
Inside...
Schofield opens the cover, inside are a bunch of letters, and
a photograph - Blake, his mother, and his brother Joe.
Schofield holds it up for Blake to see: yes, that’s what I
want.
Schofield puts the photograph in Blake’s hand, he presses it
to his breast.
BLAKE
Will you write to my mum for me?
SCHOFIELD
I will.
BLAKE
Tell her I wasn’t scared.
Schofield nods.
A long beat. Schofield lets go of the pressure on Blake’s
wound. He holds his hand.
SCHOFIELD
Anything else?
Blake is slipping away, tears well and roll down his cheeks.
BLAKE
I love them...I wish that... I
wish...
It’s half strangled by sadness. A long beat. Schofield holds
him. Death is close, stiffening Blake’s body, it’s already in
his eyes.
BLAKE
Talk to me.
Schofield looks at Blake, he has no idea what to say.
BLAKE
Tell me you know the way.
SCHOFIELD
 57.

I know the way. I’m going to head

south east until I hit Ecoust.

Blake listens.
SCHOFIELD
I’ll pass through the town and out
to the east, all the way to
Croisilles Wood.
BLAKE
(faint)
It’ll be dark by then.
SCHOFIELD
That won’t bother me... I’ll find
the 2nd, I’ll give them the
message, and then I’ll find your
brother. Just like you, a little
older...
He stops. Blake is no longer breathing.
Without the lines of worry or agony on his face Blake looks
very young.
Schofield is still for a moment, cradling the head of Blake.
A long beat. Behind Schofield the barn is collapsing in on
itself.
The smoke has risen several stories into the sky.
Schofield looks at Blake. Desperate.
Then, he snaps out of it. With sudden determination, he
rummages through the pockets of Blake’s tunic - takes the
message for the 2nd, blood from his hands smudges on the
envelope.
He stows it safely in his top pocket. He pulls out the map
from Blake’s tunic. It is saturated in blood. Illegible.
Schofield throws it away.

He takes Blake’s rings from his lifeless hands, then opens

his tunic and goes for Blake’s identity disc, tearing it off
of the twine.
He pries the photograph from Blake’s dead hand, looks at it,
then leaves it face down over his heart, inside his tunic.
Schofield looks around them, beside the pond is a patch of
long grass.
 58.

Schofield heaves Blake’s torso up - the endeavour entirely

different now Blake is dead.
Nothing is heavier than the dead body of someone you loved.
PRIVATE PARRY (O.S.)
You alright, mate?
Schofield looks up, shocked to see TWO BRITISH PRIVATES -
PARRY and ATKINS.
PRIVATE ATKINS
It’s alright, it’s okay.
PRIVATE PARRY
Come on, help him.
Parry and Atkins move forward and take Blake’s legs. Together
the three of them move Blake to the long grass. As they move
him:
PRIVATE ATKINS
Jesus, what happened to him?
Schofield doesn’t answer.
PRIVATE PARRY
Was it the plane? We saw the smoke.
Schofield nods.
SCHOFIELD
(sotto)
Yes.
They lower Blake down. Schofield kneels by his head. Lost.
A gentle voice, off camera.
CAPTAIN SMITH (O.S.)
Go fetch his things.
PRIVATE PARRY
Sir.
PRIVATE ATKINS
Yes, Sir.
Parry and Atkins go to collect Schofield’s helmet and rifle.
CAPTAIN SMITH
(quietly)
A friend?
 59.

Schofield nods. He kneels beside Blake’s body. Impotent.

A beat.
CAPTAIN SMITH
What are you doing here?
SCHOFIELD
I have an urgent message for the
2nd Devons. Orders to stop tomorrow
morning’s attack.
CAPTAIN SMITH
Where are they stationed?
SCHOFIELD
Just beyond Ecoust.
CAPTAIN SMITH
Come with me.

Smith heads back towards the farmhouse. Schofield doesn’t

move. He can’t look away from Blake.
Smith stops, turns back.
CAPTAIN SMITH
Come with me, Corporal. That’s an
order.
Schofield looks up at him.
CAPTAIN SMITH
We’re passing through Ecoust. We
can take you some of the way.
SCHOFIELD
Sir.
Using the grass, he wipes Blake’s blood from off his hands.
He stands, drags his eyes away from Blake’s body and then
moves after Smith.
He collects his rifle and helmet from Parry then follows
Smith through the farmhouse and back out into-

26 EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - CONTINUOUS 26

A small convoy of four trucks idle on the road, all caked in
mud and battered from their journey. Soldiers mill, smoking,
pissing, stretching their legs.
 60.

At the head of the small convoy is an Officer’s car. Exhaust

fumes swirl in the still air.
COLONEL COLLINS (O.S.)
Oh, come on Sergeant. Put more men
at the base. At the trunk! It’ll be
heavier there...
The trucks are filled to the brim with SOLDIERS - a mixture
of seasoned fighters and fresh recruits. All are covered in
the mud of No Man’s Land.
CAPTAIN SMITH
Might be a tight squeeze.
They move towards the Officer’s car. Mud hardens on the
undercarriage and the wheel arches.
COLONEL COLLINS
No. You’re not going to be able to
just lift it. Pivot the front end
to the left-
At the front of the convoy a large tree trunk blocks the
road, like the cherry blossoms, felled on purpose, trunk
neatly chopped. Several PRIVATES and an NCO are gathered
around trying to lift it.
A Colonel, COLLINS (corpulent, sweating) barks orders from
the front seat of the car.
Smith and Schofield approach the car.
COLONEL COLLINS
(to the driver)
Jesus. They don’t make things easy
do they. They could at least have
retreated with a bit of grace.
Bastards.
CAPTAIN SMITH
Sir-
Collins turns and looks down on Smith and Schofield, his face
registering confusion.
COLONEL COLLINS
(registering Schofield)
You’re not one of mine.
SCHOFIELD
No, Sir.
Collins looks at Smith for explanation.
 61.

CAPTAIN SMITH
He’s got an urgent message to
deliver to the 2nd Devons, Sir.
Collins’ attention is drawn back to the tree, the men have
managed to shift it a few feet to the left.
COLONEL COLLINS
(To the driver)
Can you get past it?
SERGEANT HARROP (O.S.)
No, Sir.
COLONEL COLLINS
Oh, for God’s sake.
(Loudly, to the men)
Just move it!
CAPTAIN SMITH
There’s room in the casuals truck,
sir. He has orders-
COLONEL COLLINS
Yes, yes, alright.
(to Harrop)
Come on now. You can get through
there sideways.
The car begins to roll forward.
Smith moves off, as the Colonel’s car begins to manoeuvre its
way around the felled tree.
Smith and Schofield walk past the row of trucks, all packed
with soldiers. Schofield takes it in.
SCHOFIELD
How did you get here, Sir?
CAPTAIN SMITH
Crossed No Man’s Land just outside
Bapaume. Took us the whole night.
Bumped into a couple of Hun
stragglers on the way who made a
nuisance of themselves.
SCHOFIELD
You going up to the new line?
CAPTAIN SMITH
Attempting to. The Newfoundlands
have pushed forwards and requested
reinforcements.
 62.

They approach the last truck. Smith looks at him.

CAPTAIN SMITH
I’m sorry about your friend.
Schofield nods.
CAPTAIN SMITH
May I tell you something that you
probably already know?
They stop. Schofield looks to him.
CAPTAIN SMITH
It doesn’t do to dwell on it.
SCHOFIELD
No, Sir.
They have reached the rear of the fourth and final truck. TWO
or THREE PRIVATES mill by the rear step, smoking. They stand
to attention when the see the Captain.
CAPTAIN SMITH
(to Schofield)
Hop on.

Smith speaks to the soldiers.

CAPTAIN SMITH
Make some space there... Come on,
in you get!
A bit of grumbling as the soldiers try to make space for him.
A couple of the men help him up and into-

27 INT. ARMY TRUCK - CONTINUOUS 27

Twenty men, an amalgamation of companies - some SCOTS, some
SIKHS, are crammed in here. Schofield makes space for himself
on the fringe. The men don’t look at Schofield, don’t much
care about the hitch-hiker.
They are quiet for a beat, until Smith’s footsteps die away
and the sound of the engine rumbles.

Schofield sits silently.

PRIVATE COOKE
Alright. Here we go again boys.
PRIVATE ROSSI
 63.

Welcome aboard the night bus to

fuck-knows-where.
PRIVATE COOKE
Is that a dead dog?
No one answers him.
Schofield looks out of the back, watching the road and the
farmhouse disappear behind him.
PRIVATE BUTLER
(To Rossi)
You got a fag?

Rossi hands one over.

PRIVATE ROSSI
Yeah, there you go.
They light their cigarettes.
PRIVATE COOKE
(sotto)
Butler... Oy. Carry on with that
story.
PRIVATE BUTLER
(sotto)
Oh yeah, Right. So. When we get off
the train, Beaufoy comes up to us
and he’s having a right go -
(He attempts a posh
accent, complete with
lisp)
“Lance Corporal! Whatever one does,
one never lets standards slip!”
Then Scott comes out of the
latrine, he wipes his hand on the
back of Beaufoy’s jacket! Shit all
down his back.
Laughter.
PRIVATE COOKE
Was that meant to be Captain
Beaufoy?
PRIVATE BUTLER
Oh, piss off you. You can’t do any
better.
Schofield pulls his bloody tunic tight around himself,
watches. He almost disappears into the noise of the men.
 64.

PRIVATE COOKE
(Impersonating the lisp)
“MEN! Your rifle stocks are an
embarrassment to the entire
expeditionary force.”
SEPOY JONDALAR
You’re both bloody awful.
PRIVATE COOKE
You don’t know, you barely even
speak the bloody language.
PRIVATE MALKY
He’s got a better grasp of it than
you, Cooke.
PRIVATE COOKE
Go on then Jondalar, give it a go,
let’s see it!
The men are getting rowdier. We watch Schofield as they grate
on his quiet grief.
PRIVATE ROSSI
Let’s hear it then Jonny!
The men noisily encourage him.
SEPOY JONDALAR
(Much the best
impersonation - perfect
lisp, gestures)
“Rossi! Never in my two hundred
years as a soldier have I seen such
a sorry excuse for a latrine pit-”
The men are all laughing, enjoying it.
PRIVATE COOKE
Shite. That is total shit!
Cooke gets shouted down by the men. Someone chucks a canteen
at Cooke, misses.
PRIVATE COOKE
Oy! You could have taken my teeth
out with that.
PRIVATE ROSSI
You could do with a new set.
Schofield is still. The laughter settles.
 65.

After a beat Schofield checks his wristwatch. BUTLER sees it.

PRIVATE BUTLER
You got somewhere you need to be?
The men all look at him.
Suddenly, the truck lurches violently. Schofield bumps into a
man near him. The engine groans under them. The sounds of
tyres spinning.
PRIVATE ROSSI
Oh, no...

A spatter of mud is thrown up. The engine revs, but the truck
sinks deeper.
Schofield stands, leans out of the canvas.
PRIVATE COOKE
Arsehole needs driving lessons.
A few men groan in agreement.
Schofield jumps out into-

28 EXT. ROADSIDE DITCH - CONTINUOUS 28

Schofield looks at the stuck wheel. The truck has driven off
the road trying to get round another fallen tree. Its rear
wheel is sinking into a muddy ditch.
Ahead, the convoy is stopped, waiting on them.

Schofield speaks to one of the Privates, Cooke, as he stares

at the wheel.
SCHOFIELD
He should reverse.
PRIVATE COOKE
Yeah.
Cooke does nothing. Schofield moves to the Driver’s side of
the truck.
SCHOFIELD
(Loudly, to the driver)
Try it in reverse. REVERSE.
A crunch of gears as the driver puts it in reverse. The
engine revs again. Schofield bends down to look. The wheel is
still spinning. The truck is slipping deeper.
 66.

SCHOFIELD
No. Stop. STOP!
After a beat the sound of revving dies out and the engine
idles.
SCHOFIELD
Everyone needs to get out.
Some of the men climb to their feet and drop out. Others
don’t move.
SCHOFIELD
All out!
The men aren’t moving fast enough.
SCHOFIELD
Come on!
PRIVATE BUTLER
Alright, alright. Keep your bloody
hair on.
Begrudgingly a few fall in behind and beside the truck and
ready themselves.
SCHOFIELD
Right. One. Two. Three.
The tyre spins on the spot, mud flies up. Schofield and the
men push. Heaving together-
The truck isn’t moving.
But Schofield won’t stop, he pushes and pushes, groaning
under the effort. Desperation etched all over his face.
PRIVATE COOKE
We need to get some wood, put it
under the wheels.
The other men drop back away from the truck frame.

Schofield doesn’t.
SCHOFIELD
No! We haven’t got the time!
He puts everything he has into shifting the truck.
SCHOFIELD
We all need to push!
 67.

His whole body shakes with the effort.

SCHOFIELD
Come on! COME ON!
He begins to yell. Pushing, screaming in desperation.
SCHOFIELD
COME OOOON!!
The men look at him.
SCHOFIELD
Please. I have to go now! Please.
The men see Schofield’s desperation. Recognise it.
They fall back in beside him.
PRIVATE BUTLER
Alight, come on lads! Come on.
Together the twenty of them push, all at once, all stretched
to the very limits of their strength.
PRIVATE ROSSI
Come on, boys!
SCHOFIELD
One. Two. Three!
Schofield screams in desperation.
SCHOFIELD
AAAAAAAHHHHH!
PRIVATE ROSSI
Come on boys! One last push! Yes!
One. Two. Three!
Suddenly, the truck moves, the wheel catches some grass and
WHOMPH-
It lurches forwards, out of the ditch. Schofield falls
forward into the mud.
He struggles to his knees, trying to get his emotions back
under control, struggling not to cry.
Jondalar lifts him to his feet.
SCHOFIELD
Back in. Get back in. Go.
 68.

The other men are looking at him, they see his emotion. They
start to load back in.
Jondalar puts his hand on Schofield’s arm. A fleeting moment
of solace.
SEPOY JONDALAR
Are you alright?
Schofield nods.
TWO SOLDIERS stand on the rear step, helping to pull the
others up and in. As they do-
PRIVATE COOKE(O.S.)
Here, Driver, how about you try to
keep it on the bloody road for a
change!
DRIVER (O.S.)
Oh, piss off.
The men are almost all loaded in. Schofield brings up the
rear.

29 INT. ARMY TRUCK - CONTINUOUS 29

Schofield takes the arm of the soldier helping men up and is
pulled inside.
The convoy moves off. Rattling over the land.
Around Schofield the men are quiet, their eyes on him.
After a while-
SEPOY JONDALAR
So, where are you going?
SCHOFIELD
I have to get to the 2nd Devons.
Just past Ecoust.
SEPOY JONDALAR
Why?
SCHOFIELD
They’re attacking at dawn. I have
orders to stop them.
PRIVATE MALKY
How come?
 69.

SCHOFIELD
They’re walking into a trap.
PRIVATE COOKE
How many?
SCHOFIELD
Sixteen hundred.
This stops them all.
PRIVATE COOKE
Jesus.
PRIVATE BUTLER
Why did they send you on your own?
SCHOFIELD
They didn’t. There were two of us.
A beat. The men understand what this means.
PRIVATE ROSSI
So now it’s down to you.
SCHOFIELD
Yes.
PRIVATE COOKE
You’ll never make it.
Beat. Schofield turns to Cooke. Looks at him.
SCHOFIELD
Yes. I will.
Butler offers Schofield some of his whisky. He takes a drink.
SCHOFIELD
Thank you.
Now all the men are looking out the back, watching the
distance drop away.
The truck is sweeping past a small hamlet, or at least the
remains of one, houses have been reduced to skeletons, the
destruction is fresh, embers still smoulder. Anything of
value built on this land has been systematically destroyed.
Dead cattle lie in the fields.
PRIVATE ROSSI
 70.

Look at it. Fucking look at it...

Three years fighting over this. We
should have just let the bastards
keep it. I mean, who machine guns
cows?
PRIVATE MALKY
Huns with extra bullets.
PRIVATE ROSSI
Bastards.
While they talk, Schofield checks that the letter is still in
his pocket.
He carefully puts it in his tobacco tin.

SEPOY JONDALAR
Clever. They know if they don’t
shoot the cow, you will eat it.
Rossi nods: fair point.
PRIVATE ROSSI
Still bastards.
PRIVATE MALKY
Yeah, it’s not even our bloody
country.
Brakes creak as the truck slows a little. Schofield reacts.
PRIVATE BUTLER
How long gone d’you reckon they
are?
SEPOY JONDALAR
Why? Worried we’ll catch up with
them?

PRIVATE BUTLER
Yeah, right. Be a bloody miracle at
this rate.
PRIVATE COOKE
They are probably right around the
next corner.
PRIVATE ROSSI
Piss off, no they’re not.
PRIVATE COOKE
 71.

Why don’t they just bloody well

give up? Eh? Don’t they want to go
home?
PRIVATE ROSSI
They hate their wives and
mothers... and Germany must be a
shit hole.
PRIVATE COOKE
They’re retreating... they’re miles
back. We’ve got them on the ropes
at least.
SEPOY JONDALAR
No. We don’t.
The truck slows down. It is juddering, as if navigating
cobbles.
Schofield’s eyes dart to the back, worried.
Suddenly the truck grinds to a halt. A few ready themselves
to jump out.
PRIVATE BUTLER
Oh, bollocks. What’s up now?

PRIVATE COOKE
Not another bloody tree.
The driver calls through the canvas.
DRIVER (O.S.)
Bridge is down.
PRIVATE COOKE
(sarcastic - sotto)
Oh. That’s a shame.
Schofield looks out the back of the truck.
SCHOFIELD
Looks like I’ll be getting out
here. Good luck.
PRIVATE ROSSI
Keep some of that luck for yourself
pal. Think you’ll be needing it.
PRIVATE BUTLER
Good luck, mate.
PRIVATE MALKY
 72.

Good luck.
Drops out onto-

30 EXT. CANAL SIDE - CONTINUOUS 30

Schofield jumps down into a new landscape.
The land is sliced through by a huge, straight, industrial
canal. The sun is now below the horizon.
The men from the truck watch him go.
PRIVATE COOKE
Don’t balls it up.
SEPOY JONDALAR
I hope you get there.
SCHOFIELD
Thank you.
Captain Smith approaches.
CAPTAIN SMITH
Next bridge is six miles. We’ll
have to divert.
SCHOFIELD
I can’t, Sir. I don’t have the
time.
CAPTAIN SMITH
Of course.
Smith offers Schofield his hand. He takes it.
CAPTAIN SMITH
Best of luck.
SCHOFIELD
Thank you, Sir.
Smith goes to leave, stops.
CAPTAIN SMITH
Corporal. If you do manage to get
to Colonel Mackenzie, make sure
there are witnesses.
Beat.
SCHOFIELD
 73.

They are direct orders, Sir.

CAPTAIN SMITH
I know. But some men just want the
fight.
SCHOFIELD
Thank you, Sir.
Captain Smith calls out to the driver at the head of the
convoy.
CAPTAIN SMITH
Driver! Move off!
Schofield watches as the small convoy drives away. Fumes
swirl in its wake.
He turns his attention to the new obstacle - the remains of a
bridge, shattered and half blown - now little more than
twisted metal dropping into the water.
The town of Ecoust is a jagged silhouette, visible about two
hundred yards the other side of the canal. Smoke drifts. The
town is still on fire.
The canal is large and industrial - about 90 feet wide, stone
sides, once deep, wood and detritus float on the surface of
the water.
On the opposite bank are the remains of a lock house. Two
storeys. Windows blown in, roof half collapsed. Beyond that,
the remains of some small buildings, all abandoned, and then
the jagged remains of Ecoust.
Schofield surveys it. Looks around. All seems quiet. Eerie.
Schofield looks around for a way across. The blown bridge is
his best bet. Both sides of the metal bridge have collapsed,
and slant down into the dark water.
Schofield starts along the broken bridge, then climbs up onto
the slim metal balustrade and starts inching downwards
towards the waterline. It takes all his effort not to lose
his balance and fall into the water below.

Finally he reaches the base of the slope, and looks across at

the remaining half of the bridge. About eight feet of water
between him and the other side...
He prepares himself to jump across and-
CRACK-
 74.

A gunshot slaps the water just in front of him. Birds fly up.
Instinctively, he leaps-
He lands heavily on the other side of the bridge. His foot
slips into the water, and he hauls himself up with his hands.
He clings to the metal latticework, scrambling forward.
CRACK- another shot rings out, hitting the water behind.
CRACK- a bullet hits the metal near his hand. He quickly
climbs across the torn carcass of the bridge towards the far
bank.
Another bullet rings out, as he drops down, throwing himself
into-

31 EXT. CANAL - CONTINUOUS 31

The cover of the far bank wall. He rips in breaths as he
presses his body into the stone bank. He stays low, inching
along the side until he can get a sense of where the shots
are coming from.
He looks. Now he can register the direction of the shots. A
SHOOTER, in the lock house. On the upper floor. A single high
window.
Schofield slides along the bank until he hits a small
stairwell set into the wall of the canal bank. Barely enough
cover, but his only option.

CRACK. Another bullet sings against the stone as he darts to

the other side of the stairs.
Schofield readies his rifle, his hands are ice, and injured,
and slow to work. They shake violently as he tries to check
and load the weapon.
Panting, he tries to still his trembling body as he creeps up
to the top of the stairs, he peers over the top step to line
up his shot.
CRACK- a bullet sings off the stone next to his head.
He sucks in a deep breath and holds it. He exhales as he
leans into the shadow of the wall, and readies his rifle...
Schofield lifts his body above the wall, and fires once.
CRACK.
 75.

Quickly, the shooter fires back.

Schofield aims again, CRACK.
The shooting stops.
Silence.
Schofield is still for a moment. Breathing heavy. Shaking
from the cold and from adrenalin.
He spins and fires another two shots through the window of
the lock house.
CRACK. CRACK. Wood splinters. He waits.
Again, silence.
He steadies himself and stands carefully, rifle ready, and
quickly advances to the lock house. He pushes open the doors
and moves inside.

32 INT. LOCK HOUSE - CONTINUOUS 32

No movement on the ground floor.
The staircase is ahead of him. His ears burn listening for
any sounds, any hint of movement.
He holds his breath, the wood creaks under him as he backs
against the wall, rifle pointing to the top of the staircase.
Staying low and against the wall he moves upwards. Parts of
the upstairs come into view -
He can now see the door to the upper room.
Slowly, he moves along the short corridor. With his foot,
Schofield pushes at the door. It swings open, agonisingly
slowly, creaking on its hinges.
Revealing-
A GERMAN SOLDIER, slumped against the far wall, wounded - but
with his gun raised.
A split second to react, Schofield raises his rifle and
BOOM-BOOM!
Both guns go off at the same time.
 76.

The German’s bullet hits Schofield on the helmet, ripping his

neck and upper body backwards, almost lifting him off his
feet.
Schofield stumbles backwards and falls-
Down the stairs.
BAM - he hits the stone at the foot of the stairs and...

Black.

33 INT. LOCK HOUSE - NIGHT 33

Still black.
In the darkness the sound of a single drip.
Out of the darkness, Schofield’s face.
The drip comes from a hole in the ceiling, and falls on
Schofield’s forehead. He opens his eyes.
Schofield starts to move, gingerly. He lifts his hand with
difficulty, runs it along the back of his head. Looks at it -
slick with black blood.
He sits up, begins to focus. His face and hair are wet. His
legs are sprawled on the stairs above him. He looks around
dumbly. Unsure of what is up and what is down.
He looks at his watch - smashed in the fall. No idea what
time it is.
Panic begins to claw at him. He has somewhere to be. If only
he could remember it.
He looks around for his rifle. He spots it above him, at the
top of the stairs. He crawls towards it.
Reaches it.
Suddenly, the room fills with light. Outside, a flare streaks
across the sky. As the light swings across the room,
Schofield now sees the German soldier lying dead, slumped
against the wall.
Schofield stands and gradually descends the staircase.

34 EXT. ECOUST - CANAL SIDE - CONTINUOUS 34

Darkness.
 77.

Then, another flare hisses across the black sky, light bursts
from it.
It falls slowly to earth, the magnesium light blinding.
As the light falls the whole world undulates before him. Not
clear to him if he is awake or dreaming.
The falling flare is playing with reality; shapes and shadows
warp across the land.
There has been a rainstorm. The outlines of destroyed
buildings contract and expands ahead of him.
He begins to stagger forwards through Ecoust. Struggling to
pick his way through shifting spots of darkness, unable to
tell what is shadow and what is a ditch. The puddles reflect
the Verey light, glowing as it falls, stinging his eyes.
CRACK - A gunshot. Somewhere in the darkness there is another
sniper.
A brief moment of confusion, as he looks around for the
source of the gunshot.
CRACK. Another gunshot. Distant shouts. Schofield begins to
run.
He runs at full pelt. As he does, the flare light dies. Now
he is careening through shapeless darkness.
We are running blind, with Schofield. The sound of his
footfalls, his breathing.
He crashes through a puddle, the noise draws shots. The
bullets buzz around him in the darkness. Then -
HISS - another flare bursts above him.
He flings himself down in the rubble.
Shots clip the ground around him. Schofield lies motionless,
breathing heavily, trying to disappear into the rubble around
him, waiting for the light to die.
He looks up, trying to memorize his next path as the light
moves the ground ahead of him. The light dies.
Schofield is up and clattering in darkness across cobbles.
Another flare goes up into the night sky, but this time
Schofield doesn’t stop. He keeps running.
 78.

It sweeps directly over him, he darts into the bombed out

remains of a shop. As the light from the flare dies above
him, he turns the corner into -

35 EXT. ALLEY WAY - ECOUST - CONTINUOUS 35

Narrow, dark.

He starts to move along the alley. Feeling safe in the

blackness, heading towards the flickering light at the end of
the alley -

36 EXT. MAIN STREET - ECOUST - CONTINUOUS 36

Schofield looks both ways. A broad main market street
stretches away in both directions.
All windows are smashed, buildings have been shelled and
collapsed in on themselves. Some have vanished altogether.
Schofield cautiously peers out along the wide street. To his
left, at the far end of the street, is a Main Square, framed
by a colonnade.
Beyond, just out of sight, something large is burning.
Schofield checks both ways, then begins to walk down the
ruins of the empty street, towards the square. Wary.
Large medieval colonnades flank the entrance to the square,
some have crumbled. Schofield slips through them and into -

37 EXT. ECOUST MAIN SQUARE - CONTINUOUS 37

Schofield stops under the columns. The destruction here is
staggering -
Colonnades run around most of the square, massive sections of
it are pitted with gaps. Whole buildings are gone, like
missing teeth - blackness yawns in them. Entire storeys have
fallen away, revealing empty rooms.
At the centre of the square, the remains of a fountain.
In the far corner of the square the Church is on fire. The
firelight reflects off the wet cobblestones and puddles.
Schofield stares at it. Awed.
Then he spots something-
 79.

In front of the bright flames: A MAN’S SILHOUETTE.

Schofield sees him. The Man stops, lowers his weapon. Starts
to walk towards him.
Schofield cannot make out if he is a German or British
soldier and begins to move towards him.
Suddenly the Man lifts his gun and starts to run, heading
straight towards Schofield. It’s A GERMAN SOLDIER.
Schofield responds quickly. He takes off running, heading
through the colonnade. The Soldier raises hie rifles and
fires after him.
Schofield doesn’t stop, heading out of the square and into -

38 EXT. SIDE STREET - ECOUST - CONTINUOUS 38

He can hear the shouts of the Soldier coming after him.
Schofield runs full tilt. He turns a corner. Ahead, to his
left, at about knee height, is a low cellar window.
He heads towards it, grabs at it. It’s locked.
He can hear the footsteps of the soldier getting closer.
Beside the window is a coal chute. In a flash, Schofield is
on his hands and knees through the dark opening, scrambling
into -

39 INT. COAL CELLAR - CONTINUOUS 39

Pitch black while his eyes adjust.
He clutches his rifle, steps back into the shadows. His
breath saws in and out, he listens to the slap of running
footsteps getting closer.
Schofield slides down into the darkness as a pair of German
boots run by the low window.
He stays crouched in the darkness for a time, listening to
the footsteps receding. His eyes finally leave the window and
look around him.
He is in a low-ceilinged coal cellar. Sections of the roof
above have collapsed, letting in drips of rain and some faint
light. The room is empty. Then something catches his eye.
 80.

At the far end of the room, a small doorway. Heavy fabric has
been hung across it. His eyes catch the flicker of flame
escaping through material.
Schofield readies his rifle. He points it at the curtain,
ready to fire, gun cocked-
Carefully he advances into the small room. Pushes the fabric
aside with his rifle.
In the centre of the room a furnace, presumably used to heat
the house. A small makeshift fire has been lit in it. Around
the fire a couple of blankets, some firewood, empty cans,
crusts of stale bread.
As Schofield’s eyes adjust to the light, he sees movement in
the shadows. Instinctively, he lifts his rifle.
There is a woman crouched in the corner. LAURI, late teens,
frail and hollow-eyed.
Her eyes fill with fear when she sees Schofield enter her
hiding place. She doesn’t move to flee - there is nowhere to
go.
LAURI
(subtitles; pleading)
Il ny rien ici. Nous n'avons rien
pour vous. S'il vous plaît.
LAURI
(subtitles)
There is nothing here. We have
nothing for you. Please.
Schofield sets his rifle down, holds his hands up, as if to
say: I am not a threat.
SCHOFIELD
Anglais. Not German. Friend... I’m
a friend.
She calms a little. He looks around.
SCHOFIELD
This place, this town. Ecoust?
C'est Ecoust?

Lauri nods.
LAURI
(subtitles)
Oui.
 81.

Schofield looks relieved.

He suddenly begins to feel the pain in his head. He sways a
little.
LAURI
(subtitles)
Ou sont les autres?
LAURI
(subtitles)
Where are the others?
She looks at him.

SCHOFIELD
Others? No. Just me.
She looks. He gestures.
SCHOFIELD
Only. Me.
She understands. A beat.
SCHOFIELD
I need to be somewhere... I need to
find a wood to the South East?
Lauri looks at him blankly.
SCHOFIELD
Trees... les arbres?
Schofield searches his woozy head.

SCHOFIELD
Croiset?
LAURI
Croisilles?
Schofield nods.
SCHOFIELD
Yes.
Lauri points out the direction.
LAURI
(subtitles)
La rivière-
LAURI
 82.

(subtitles)
The river-

SCHOFIELD
River?
LAURI
River. It go there. Trees.
Croisilles.
A little wave of relief. He tenderly touches his bleeding
head with his hand, winces with the pain, reels with nausea.
LAURI
(subtitles)
Assiez-toi.
LAURI
(subtitles)
Sit down.
She motions for Schofield to sit, pointing at a chair near
the fire. He sways, but doesn’t move.

LAURI
Asseyez vous. Monsieur.
LAURI
Sit down. Sir.
He understands enough to obey her. Swaying slightly he drops
into the chair.
Still holding his hand to his head, he closes his eyes and
feels the warmth of the fire on his face. It makes him almost
delirious.
Lauri watches him. She slowly moves over to Schofield and
places her hand on his. He jumps at her touch. Tenderness
foreign to him.
LAURI
Shhh. Shhh.
Her kindness translates.
She inspects the wound. She carefully parts his damp hair,
finds the jagged wound. He flinches.
She is very close to him, he can feel her breath on his neck.
She reaches down, takes out a handkerchief, holds it against
the wound.
 83.

He closes his eyes, relaxes against her touch.

Lauri looks at Schofield, his eyes closed, his uniform caked
in blood and mud.
At last he turns back to face her. They lock eyes. A beat.
SCHOFIELD
(quietly)
Thank you.
Then, from behind her comes a sound. Something soft, small. A
BABY stirring. Schofield starts.
Lauri moves to the corner of the room. An old mattress lies
on the floor. Next to it, a drawer from an old chest has been
lined with cloth. She reaches in, lifts the child, cradles it
protectively.
LAURI
(subtitles)
Ma petite.
LAURI
(subtitles)
My little one.
Schofield stares at the baby as it settles in her arms. It
can’t be more than five months old.
SCHOFIELD
A girl?

She nods her head.

LAURI
(subtitles)
Qui. Une fille.
LAURI
(subtitles)
Yes. A girl.
Schofield smiles. A long beat.
The baby is waking, she begins to cry. Lauri soothes her.
Schofield kneels down bedside them.
The baby is soothed, she settles.
SCHOFIELD
What is her name?
 84.

Lauri looks to Schofield, desolate. Shakes her head.

LAURI
(subtitles)
J’ne sais pas.
LAURI
(subtitles)
I don’t know.
SCHOFIELD
Who is her mother?
LAURI
(subtitles)
J’ne sais pas.
LAURI
(subtitles)
I don’t know.
The sadness nearly drowns them both. A long beat.

Schofield opens his pack and rummages -

SCHOFIELD
I have food. Here. I have these.
You can have them - here, take them
all, for you and the child. Here.
He empties his rations onto the mattress, a bounty in this
barren place. Lauri looks at them, aching with hopelessness.
Schofield doesn’t understand.
LAURI
(subtitles)
Elle ne peut pas manger ça. Elle a
besoin de lait...
LAURI
(subtitles)
She can not eat that. She needs
milk...
She searches for the word in English-
Schofield blinks at her, in disbelief.
SCHOFIELD
Milk.
Lauri nods.
 85.

Schofield’s cold fingers pry the canteen from his belt. He

opens it and hands it to her. She looks at him in wonder. She
smells the canteen. Milk.
Lauri looks up at him, amazement and gratitude etched onto
her tired features.
LAURI
Merci.
The baby is fussing.
Schofield moves closer, gently talking to the child.
SCHOFIELD
Bonjour.
The baby’s bright eyes latch on to his.
SCHOFIELD
Bonjour.
The baby looks at him. Begins to settle.
LAURI
(subtitles)
Avez-vous des enfants? Children -
you?
LAURI
(subtitles)
Do you have children? Children -
you?
He doesn’t answer. He watches the baby.
SCHOFIELD
Shhhh... It’s alright...
LAURI
(subtitles)
Elle vous aime. Continuez...
continuez a parler.
LAURI
(subtitles)
She likes you. Continue ... keep
talking.
Schofield looks at the child, searching for something to say.
He says the first thing that comes into his head.

He speaks softly, like he’s done it before...

 86.

SCHOFIELD
“They went to sea in a Sieve, they
did,
SCHOFIELD
In a Sieve they went to sea: In
spite of all their friends could
say, On a winter’s morn, on a
stormy day, In a Sieve they went to
sea.”
The baby’s eyes don’t leave Schofield.
SCHOFIELD
“Far and few, far and few, Are the
lands where the Jumblies live;
Their heads are green, and their
hands are blue, And they went to
sea in a Sieve.”

A beat. The baby has settled, hypnotised by the sound.

They are still for a moment in the firelight.
Suddenly, the distant church bell tolls. The noise rolls
through the quiet cellar. Schofield starts at the sound.
He counts the clock strikes in his head as they happen.
TWO... THREE...
He keeps looking down at the baby, but his eyes are filling
with fear.
FOUR...FIVE... His heart is sinking.
SIX. He holds his breath.
Silence.
He stands. Goes for his pack. Lauri watches him, confused.
LAURI
(subtitles)
Le jour. Les soldats vont vous
voir... They see you. Il fera jour.
Vous devriez attendre. Stay. Stay.
Please.
LAURI
(subtitles)
 87.

The morning. The soldiers will see

you. They see you. It will be
light. You should wait. Stay. Stay.
Please.
SCHOFIELD
I have to go.

Schofield takes his rifle and moves to the doorway.

SCHOFIELD
I’m sorry.
He leaves.

40 INT. HOUSE - ECOUST - CONTINUOUS 40

He pushes through the doorway. Damaged wooden stairs lead up.
Schofield slips over the rubble, over the remains of the
house.
He peers along the empty street.

41 EXT. SIDE STREET - ECOUST - CONTINUOUS 41

Schofield stays in the shadows, and begins to work his way
along the street in the direction Lauri pointed him.
The town is silent. He looks up at the sky to see if the sun
is rising. No light.
He reaches a crossroads - small alleyways branch off. He
looks around. Lost. He turns to his right - a wide alleyway.
He moves along it, quickly, quietly.
BANG - ahead of him a door flies open, warm light spills out
onto the street, followed by a German soldier. PRIVATE
MULLER, 30s, blind drunk.
Muller stumbles a few steps and then vomits. Moaning and
muttering to himself.
Schofield ducks into the darkness of a doorway.
Muller moans and pukes again. Schofield backs inside the
doorway and into-

42 INT. SCHOOL HOUSE - ECOUST - CONTINUOUS 42

 88.

A small school assembly hall and a couple of other rooms have

been blown together into one large space. Metal beams where
there once was a roof. A few school desks, tipped onto their
sides.
To one side of the room, wide arched windows let in shafts of
light from the burning church outside. They streak across the
inky darkness.
At the far end of the room is the door Private Muller just
exited. A small fire burns on the floor by it. Smoke hangs in
the room. A couple of empty bottles lie around.
Schofield stays in the shadows. Silently scanning the
darkness, listening to the pathetic moans of Muller outside.
He looks around, searching for another way out, a way past
Muller.
Out of the shadows steps a man - ANOTHER GERMAN SOLDIER -
BAUMER, late teens. He is doing up his flies.
They lock eyes, three feet apart.
A beat - shock on both their faces, then horror. Neither of
them want this.
Baumer opens his mouth to scream.
Schofield closes the three feet and is on him - pushing
Baumer hard against a pillar.
Schofield holds Baumer there, his hand clamped over the young
soldiers mouth. They lock eyes. Schofield holds his finger to
his lips: Stay quiet.
Baumer nods.

Schofield slowly drops his hand from Baumer’s mouth. Wary.

Baumer sucks in a breath and shouts out:
Schofield reacts quickly, ramming his palm into Baumer’s
mouth, gagging him as they both fall onto the hard ground -
the sound echoes loudly though the school house.
Baumer bites down on Schofield’s hand, still bound with its
bandage.
Schofield gasps out, gritting his teeth against the pain. He
forces his hand further into Baumer’s mouth, his other hand
goes to the boys throat - squeezing with all his strength.
Baumer has a knife. Schofield wrestles it out of his hand.
 89.

Baumer thrashes and kicks under Schofield, rolling the two of

them to the side.
They are two feral creatures - both know this is to the
death.
A shadow at the far end of the room. Muller is coming back...
PRIVATE MULLER
Mein Gott Baumer... Das war ein
Fehler. Wir sollten heute Abend
zurück gehen. Vielleicht hat
niemand gemerkt, dass wir weg
waren.
PRIVATE MULLER
Christ Baumer... This was a
mistake. We should go back tonight,
maybe no one will notice we’ve
gone.
Muller staggers his way over to a spot by the fire, slumps
down. Rummages among the empty bottles.
Baumer tears a breath in through his nostrils, tries to
scream -
Schofield squeezes harder on the boy’s neck, pushing the
boy’s head down into the ground. Crushing him into the broken
glass and debris.
PRIVATE MULLER
Wo ist der Brandy? Du kleiner
Scheisser.. wehe du bist damit
fortgelaufen.
PRIVATE MULLER
Where’s the brandy? You little
shit, you better not have run off
with it.
Desperately, Baumer beats his hands against Schofield’s
chest. Muller hears the noise.
Muller turns and peers towards them. He can’t see them in the
shadows.

PRIVATE MULLER
Baumer. Wo ist..? Baumer?
PRIVATE MULLER
Baumer. Where is..? Baumer?
But Schofield can see him, and his focus briefly shifts.
 90.

In that moment, Baumer fights back - Kicking, clawing,

punching. But he is weaker now. Schofield redoubles his
efforts. His hands and arms ache. Acid stings in his muscles.
Schofield is desperate. His eyes flick between Muller and
Baumer.
Baumer’s feet scratch and scrape frantically on the stone.
PRIVATE MULLER
Baumer?
PRIVATE MULLER
Baumer?
Muller stands, teeters towards them.
Then - Baumer’s arms fall limp.
Schofield snaps up, leaving his rifle behind him, and leaps
out of the shadows.
He barges straight past Muller, heading for the door at the
far end of the room. Muller staggers back -
MULLER (O.S.)
BAUMER!

43 EXT. SIDE STREET - ECOUST - CONTINUOUS 43

Schofield is out of the door, running, hands free, breath
sawing in his ears. The sound of Muller behind him-
PRIVATE MULLER (O.S.)
ENGLANDER! ENGLANDER!
Muller’s howl chases Schofield along the street. The sound of
the door swinging open echoes after him.
Schofield doesn’t stop. Behind him is the sound of Muller
giving chase then-
CRACK-
A bullet sings off the wall opposite.

44 EXT. SMALL STREET - ECOUST - CONTINUOUS 44

Schofield sprints, looking over his shoulder.
He turns... and fifty yards in front him -
 91.

Another German Soldier. The same man who chased him across
the square. The soldier breaks into a run, reaches for his
rifle.
The soldier shoots, but Schofield breaks left across the
street and into -

45 EXT. TINY STREET - ECOUST - CONTINUOUS 45

A narrow alley.
Schofield darts down it, looking for some escape.
Muller and the other German race into the alley behind him.
Shots burst on the wall next to Schofield.
To his left is another corner, Schofield sprints for it. Flat
out into -

46 EXT. CURVED STAIRS STREET - ECOUST - CONTINUOUS 46

Ahead of Schofield is a flight of stone steps.
He leaps down. Taking them three or four at a time.
He slams against the wall, leaps down another flight.
His breath burns in his lungs. At the bottom of the stairs,
is a long straight street, about 100 yards. Leading to a
Bridge.
Schofield runs towards it.

47 EXT. BRIDGE STREET - ECOUST - CONTINUOUS 47

His heartbeat thunders as he sprints flat out.
The street slopes downhill. Yards fall under him. We can now
see the burning Town receding behind him.
The sound of the Two Germans battering down the stairs echoes
after him.
They hit the flat street. 30 yards behind him.
They open fire.
Bullets crack off the cobbles just in front of him.
He is 50 yards from the bridge, running full tilt.
 92.

Shots ring out.

Schofield reaches the bridge. Bullets ring off the rubble.
He keeps sprinting.
And suddenly, with no warning, Schofield veers across the
street, puts one hand on the stone wall of the bridge...
...and vaults clean over it -

48 EXT. RIVER - ECOUST - CONTINUOUS 48

Schofield drops forty feet and smashes into the water.
We are under the dark water.
Schofield resurfaces, gasping for air. Numb, panicking, he
thrashes and kicks, fighting the weight, the cold, the fear.
He struggles to slip off his webbing. It tangles up in his
arms, pulling him down.
Finally he gets it off, it is swallowed up in the white water
which churns all around him.
Losing the weight of the webbing, he manages to stay above
the water.
The bridge and the German soldiers are long gone. The water
is fast flowing after the rain, rapids sweep him along.
A felled tree lies across the river. Schofield grabs hold of
its branches, tries to pull himself up. But the torrent is
too strong to fight. It rips his hands away, and pulls him
under again.
He surfaces. Coughs and splutters on the water line.
The rapids continue to pull him through the water at speed.
Schofield goes with it. Letting the water carry him.
He scans the river banks ahead. They tower up steeply. He
looks for a way out. Around him, rocks jut out from the water
dangerously. They churn the river into a whirlpool, spinning
him around.
He is now traveling backwards downstream.
Behind him, a large rock rises up out of the water. He is
approaching it fast. He doesn’t see it.
 93.

The water drives him hard into the rock. His back and head
are slammed against it.
Schofield is winded, disorientated, barely staying afloat.
Ahead there is a sound.
A deep rumbling.
He fights to keep his ears above the water, to hear it.
The rapids are getting faster, more turbulent.
Schofield realizes what the sound is - the roar of water.
Panic flashes on his face. He thrashes, tries to swim to a
bank.
But it’s too late.
A waterfall lies ahead.

He braces himself, and then the waterfall is on him in a

flash.
Schofield goes over it.
He is pulled down into the plunge pool.
We lose sight of him. And then, nothing. He is gone.
For a few moments, just the roar of the falls.
Then, suddenly Schofield resurfaces, gasping for air.
The churning water pushes him free of the falls. He manages
to turn onto his back.
The river has got wider, deeper. He grabs hold of a branch.
The current carries him. The world around him has turned blue
in the pre-dawn light.

The river sweeps him forward. He is still gasping for breath.

Now the tumbling river gradually begins to smooth out into a
cool apron of water.
Schofield is almost unconscious. He is slipping down, his
mouth just above the waterline.
His eyes flutter and open, he spits out water.
 94.

Grey mistrals roll through a pale world. Unearthly. They

hover above the river ahead.
The river slowly pulls him. Occasional trees line the bank.
This place is untouched by war. Spared. Clean and cool and
filled with some life.
Schofield is fighting it, but ready to accept that this is
the end. He knows too well there are worse places, worse
ways...
Inch by inch he starts to slip down.
His ears fall under the waterline. The sound is sucked from
the world. His eyes stare upwards. Lips just above the water.
Schofield seems so peaceful, just floating on the water. The
sound of the falls recedes.
We are aware of birds, the wind in the leaves.
Then the water around him turns flat. The current begins to
slow.
White. Petals float on it, a patchwork blanket.
Cherry Blossom.
Schofield is swept through the white petals.

Schofield raises an arm from the water and sees the petals
clinging to him.
Blake.
A long beat.
Life seeps back into him, breaks through the icy numbness.
Schofield’s limbs struggle to work in the cold.
He fights, willing movement.
He swims towards the bank.
Ahead there are the sounds of a dam: a gentle fountain of
water.
The sun is rising somewhere - the pre-dawn light is beginning
to illuminate the world around him.

He has reached the dam - a fallen tree. He begins to haul

himself out. He looks down.
 95.

BODIES.
Twelve bodies, give or take.
SOLDIERS - British, German. And CIVILIANS. Men and women.
They have caught and gathered, blocked by the tree from
floating downstream. They have formed a kind of dam.
He takes the only option. He pulls himself up, and climbs
across the bodies. His way out.
He makes it to the river bank, and stumbles up onto the
slope.

49 EXT. RIVER BANK - CONTINUOUS 49

He drags himself across the grass, and collapses to his
knees.
He cries.
Big racking sobs - for the river, for life, for Blake, for
the baby.
The morning is forming.
Far off in the distance, something foreign, or long
forgotten.
Music. Singing.
Schofield listens. Then slowly gets up, walks, shaking,
towards the sound. He stumbles but doesn’t fall. His frozen
limbs are forced, dragged, back to life.
Schofield moves up the steep rise. He stops and looks at the
woods that now lie ahead of him.

50 EXT. PINE WOOD - CONTINUOUS 50

Shafts of morning light stream through the pine trees.
Schofield walks towards the music. Uncertain if it is real.
The music is in the air, a canopy, almost directionless. He
can now make out a voice. And words.
VOICE (O.S.)
...there is no sickness, toil, nor
danger/In that bright land to which
I go...
 96.

Schofield picks his way through the thin trees... and

suddenly the music has a source.
A YOUNG SOLDIER stands in a small clearing.
A British COMPANY - about two hundred men - are gathered
around listening.
The young soldier’s voice is pure, untrained. He sings the
old folk song - “I Am A Poor Wayfaring Stranger”.
YOUNG SOLDIER (O.S.)
I’m going there to see my Father,
And all my loved ones who’ve gone
on.
Schofield stops on the edge of the clearing. Unsettled by the
world before him. Unsure if these men are living or dead.
If he is one of these ghosts.
He leans against a tree and slumps down on the outskirts of
the group. The music washes over him.
Dawn is breaking.
He closes his eyes. Done.

YOUNG SOLDIER
I’m only going over Jordan I’m only
going over home.
The song finishes. A smattering of applause.
CAPTAIN (O.S.)
D Company! MOVE OUT!
The men stand up and begin to move. Then a voice.
PRIVATE SEYMOUR
You alright pal?
Schofield opens his eyes. A pair of legs before him.
PRIVATE SEYMOUR
Where are you from?
Another pair of legs.

PRIVATE GREY
He’s probably got the wind up.
PRIVATE SEYMOUR
Well he’s not one of ours.
 97.

PRIVATE BULLEN
He’s bloody soaked.
PRIVATE GREY
Fuck it, let’s just pick him up and
take him with us.
SCHOFIELD
(very faintly)
Have to find the Devons.
PRIVATE GREY
What’s he saying?
PRIVATE SEYMOUR
What’s that mate?
SCHOFIELD
The Devons. I have to find the
Devons.
A pause while the soldiers share a look.
PRIVATE SEYMOUR
We’re the Devons.
Schofield looks up at them, disbelief on his face.
SCHOFIELD
You’re the Devons.
PRIVATE SEYMOUR
Yes, Corp.
SCHOFIELD
Why haven’t you gone over?

PRIVATE BULLEN
We’re the second wave.
PRIVATE WILLOCK
They don’t send us all at once.
PRIVATE SEYMOUR
We’re D Company, we spent the night
digging in. We go last.
Schofield staggers to his feet. His hand goes to his tunic
pocket, to the envelope.
PRIVATE SEYMOUR
Are you all right?
SCHOFIELD
 98.

Mackenzie. Where’s Colonel

Mackenzie?
PRIVATE SEYMOUR
He’s down at the line.

SCHOFIELD
Which way?
PRIVATE SEYMOUR
This way. We’re headed up there
now.
Schofield takes off down the line of men, shoving and pushing
his way as the queue of them winds out of the woods.
We hear Seymour behind him.
PRIVATE SEYMOUR (O.S.)
Oy! Steady on mate! Where you
going?
Schofield reaches the edge of the wood. From the break in the
trees he can see the land stretching ahead of him.
The one-day-old British trench, is perhaps forty yards away,
and beyond it, far in the distance, on the higher ground is a
black ribbon across the land: The German trenches. From here
you can just begin to sense the scale of it.
A comms trench leads to the front line. Schofield staggers
down into it.

51 EXT. 2ND COMMS TRENCH - CONTINUOUS 51

Schofield begins to run along the comms trench, stumbling,
weaving in and out of the advancing line of soldiers.
SCHOFIELD
Move!
We catch glimpses of the men as Schofield passes -
SCHOFIELD
Let me by - Move! Let me through!
He grabs the first Corporal he sees by the shoulder.
SCHOFIELD
Where’s your commanding officer?
LANCE CORPORAL DUFF
He’s in the holding pen.
 99.

Schofield sprints in that direction - shoving and barging

now.
As he approaches the Holding Area, we can see THRONGS of
SOLDIERS - The 2nd A and B Companies.

52 EXT. HOLDING PEN - CONTINUOUS 52

The holding area is packed with men.
LIEUTENANT HUTTON(O.S.)
B Company, stand to! Now listen,
and listen well!

Schofield spots the commanding voice, pushes through towards

the Lieutenant-
LIEUTENANT HUTTON
On the first mark, A Company will
advance! B Company will then move
to the front line!
SCHOFIELD
Sir, I have a message from General
Erinmore!
LIEUTENANT HUTTON
Who the fuck are you?
SCHOFIELD
The attack has been called off.
General Erinmore has called off the
attack.
The Lieutenant stares at Schofield, incredulous.
LIEUTENANT HUTTON
Balls, man. We’re about to go over.
We’ve got them on the run.
SCHOFIELD
(frantic)
You don’t! Please. Don’t send your
men over.
LIEUTENANT HUTTON
Get out of the way, Corporal -
SCHOFIELD
These are direct orders from Army
command! Where is the Colonel
Mackenzie?
 100.

Schofield brandishes his letter. Still wet from the river,

but legible. He looks like a madman. Hutton grabs him by the
lapels.
LIEUTENANT HUTTON
(furious)
Jesus Christ, man! Go and see the
Captain!
Hutton shoves him away. Schofield staggers on, pushing out of
the holding area. As he goes, we hear Hutton bellowing to his
men-
LIEUTENANT HUTTON
Now I want us up there quickly, you
understand? Do you understand!
Hutton’s men respond: ‘Yes, Sir!’ etc.
Schofield rushes through them and into -

53 EXT. 2ND FRONT LINE TRENCH - CONTINUOUS 53

The narrow trench is packed with more men.

This trench is hastily dug. Little more than a temporary
berm, perhaps five feet high. Hundreds of men crouch just
inside the trench wall, waiting, preparing.
He pushes past more men. And still more.
SERGEANT WRIGHT
Sections 9 and 10 at the ready! We
will advance on the first whistle
blast!
Schofield pushes forwards.
SERGEANT GARDNER
You must not slow down! If the man
next to you falls, keep moving!
Your orders are to break the lines
-

SCHOFIELD
Where is the Captain?
Gardner nods to CAPTAIN IVINS, rocking back and forth, head
bowed.
SERGEANT GARDNER
He’s over there.
 101.

Schofield gets to Ivins.

SCHOFIELD
Sir? Sir!
Ivins looks up at Schofield, he’s crying, muttering to
himself, terrified. Tears roll down his face.
SCHOFIELD
Captain, I have a message. This
attack is called off. You have to
stop, you have to stop -
Before he can say more, the air vibrates. An impossibly loud
sound -
GERMAN ARTILLERY.
Shells scream overhead and then - a wall of noise.
The air seems to tremble.
SOLDIERS press themselves into the walls of the trench, take
cover wherever they can.
The earth groans as the shells land. Pounding the earth all
around. Not yet zeroed in on the British Line.
CAPTAIN IVINS
(Soundlessly)
No. No. No.
Schofield grabs Ivins.
SCHOFIELD
(Shouting, soundless)
Where is Colonel Mackenzie?
Men cover their ears and squeeze their skulls, but the sound
still drowns them. Captain Ivins has his hands over his ears.
Schofield tries to wrestle his arms away, so he can be heard.
SCHOFIELD
(Again, soundless)
Where is Mackenzie?
No response. The noise is too much.
Some men push their heads against the front wall of the
trench, scream into the mud, all voices are lost. Others
cower into the earth.
The noise is unbearable.
 102.

Schofield leaves Ivins, moving faster through the line now as

men crouch and contort themselves low.
Schofield pushes forwards.
Then, twenty yards behind Schofield - a direct hit.

The concussion of the blast ripples along the narrow trench.

The walls literally bleed earth and chalk.

In an instant IVINS, his men, the entire section of trench

they were in has vanished. They simply disappear -
Schofield is thrown forward, into a huddle of stunned men.

Sound creeps back into the world, raspy screams over the
thunder of explosions. We can hear a voice in the distance.

SERGEANT GARDNER(O.S.)
Bearers! Stretcher bearers!

Schofield drags himself to his feet, keeps moving along the

trench.
German shells whistle through the air all around.

Schofield pushes his way along.

Fountains of mud and iron burst in No Man’s Land, towering
into the sky, showering dirt and shrapnel onto the line.
Schofield doesn’t stop running, pushing through A and B
Companies.

The trench gets thinner, tapering in-

Schofield fights through the men now, running out of space,
running out of time.
The trench narrows until Schofield can’t get through the men.

The PLATOONS have lost their form here, there are no gaps
between them, everyone is packed together in the chaos.

The German artillery is increasing now. Every moment is

rocked with noise. There is no space, no silence.
Ahead of him, 100 yards down, the trench takes another direct
hit. But Schofield keeps moving towards it.
MEN flow away from the damage. Pushing their way towards
Schofield. Completely blocking the trench.
 103.

Schofield pushes forward until the trench becomes impassable.

A wall of men, with nowhere to go.

A burly Sergeant is ahead of him, brandishing a pistol,

yelling commands, trying to regain some sort of order, but
his words are lost in the roar of the shells.

SERGEANT GUTHRIE
GET BACK! Return to your sectors.
GET BACK! BACK! Hold fast!
Schofield pushes past him, and finds the nearest C.O. -
LIEUTENANT RICHARDS. His eyes are on his men, revolver in
hand.
LIEUTENANT RICHARDS
SEVEN PLATOON! ONE MINUTE!

Schofield grabs at him, screams-

SCHOFIELD
Sir, I have orders to stop this
attack.
Richards wants to believe him.

LIEUTENANT RICHARDS
What?

SCHOFIELD
Where is Colonel Mackenzie?

LIEUTENANT RICHARDS
He’s further up the line.
SCHOFIELD
How far?
LIEUTENANT RICHARDS
Three hundred yards. He’s in a cut
and cover.
Both of them look around.

LIEUTENANT RICHARDS
You’ll have to wait until the first
wave goes over.

SCHOFIELD
No! No, I can’t!

Schofield turns and looks. More shells hit the trench. Chaos.
 104.

The way to Mackenzie is impassable. Panic mingles with

despair.

Richards turns back to his men.

LIEUTENANT RICHARDS
7 PLATOON! THIRTY SECONDS!
Suddenly, Schofield climbs up onto the firing step...

Richards turns and sees him.

LIEUTENANT RICHARDS
You can’t possibly make it that way
man, are you bloody insane?
300 yards. Open ground, utterly without cover. It may as well
be on the moon.

Everything slows. Something in Schofield snaps.

LIEUTENANT RICHARDS
What the hell are you doing, Lance
Corporal?

Schofield is on the top step...

He stands.

LIEUTENANT RICHARDS
NO, NO, NO, NO!
Richards and his men watch on in disbelief, as an unarmed
Schofield staggers out and into-

54 EXT. NO MAN'S LAND - CONTINUOUS 54

Schofield stumbles forwards. Shocked that he is now out in

the open.

Then he starts to run, picking up speed.

Now Schofield is sprinting full pelt, parallel to the trench-

His breath burns in and out, sawing in his ears

Schofield doesn’t stop.

His legs thump over the earth.

We hear the screech of the whistle. Three short blasts.

The roar of hundreds of men follows-

 105.

Schofield keeps sprinting to the western trench as now, SIX

HUNDRED SOLDIERS pour out of the British front line-

Running out into No Man’s Land, and crossing in front and

behind Schofield.

Hundreds of soldiers, heading towards the German lines as he

keeps sprinting to the western trench.

The German guns now erupt again.

Men fall in their dozens.

Hundreds more pour over the top.

Schofield is only half way. He stumbles, falls. But picks
himself up and keeps on running.

The whole world shakes on its axis as the shells land.

The air thunders around him. The ground itself bursts and
rolls.
A Company are still pouring out into No Man’s Land.

Schofield is running, running.

Through the hail of bullets and shells.

Still running.
His lungs burn, his breath grates in his throat as he runs.

Behind him, men continue to pour over the top.

Schofield sprints the final few feet and -

He jumps desperately into -

55 EXT. 2ND COMMAND TRENCH - CONTINUOUS 55

He tumbles and lands amongst the waiting men of B Company,
now in the breech.

Schofield careens through them and hits the ground hard.

Men look down at him in horror. He brandishes his message as
a Captain, SANDBACH, closes in on him-
SCHOFIELD
(Breathless)
Colonel Mackenzie?
 106.

The Captain helps Schofield to his feet and pushes him in the
direction of a dugout-
CAPTAIN SANDBACH
He’s in there.
(he turns to his men)
B Company two minutes!
There is a lull in the shelling, the earth still rumbles
above them with the sounds of distant machine guns, but the
blasts have stopped.
Schofield runs, half limping, cutting through the men who are
about to be sent over the top, and pushes his way to the
entrance of a dugout.

SCHOFIELD
Let me through!
ORDERLY DIXON
Hey, hey...!
SCHOFIELD
Let me through!

Schofield drops down a few steps, a second orderly, BYRNE

grabs him. Schofield tries to get past.

ORDERLY BYRNE
(overlapping)
What the hell do you think you’re
doing?

SCHOFIELD
I have to get through. I have to
see Colonel Mackenzie!

ORDERLY DIXON
What are you doing?!

SCHOFIELD
I have to stop this attack-

He pushes past Dixon and into-

56 INT. MACKENZIE’S DUGOUT ANTE-ROOM - CONTINUOUS 56

The two Orderlies have Schofield by the arms now. He has no

strength left to fight them.

His voice is lost in melee, as CAPTAIN RYLANDS sweeps past

him and in-
 107.

CAPTAIN RYLANDS
Colonel, we’ve seen flares, the men
on the left flank have made it to
the German Line-

SCHOFIELD
Colonel!

ORDERLY DIXON
Hold him!
SCHOFIELD
Colonel!
The Orderlies haul him out of the dugout.

57 EXT. 2ND COMMAND TRENCH - CONTINUOUS 57

Schofield struggles wildly against the orderlies, they have
him pinned against the trench wall.
SCHOFIELD
Listen to me, listen to me! I have
a letter! I need to see Colonel
MacKenzie!

The Orderlies yell over him.

ORDERLY BYRNE
There’s no bloody way you’re
getting in there, mate!
Captain Rylands exits the dugout and bellows down the sector
to two Sergeants.

CAPTAIN RYLANDS
Sergeant! Send the next wave!

The Sergeants yell back in the affirmative from further down

the line.
SCHOFIELD
NO!
With the last of his strength, Schofield throws his elbow
into the stomach of one of the orderlies. He breaks away from
them and into-

58 INT. MACKENZIE'S DUGOUT - CONTINUOUS 58

 108.

Schofield careens into the room. A huddle of OFFICERS are

inside, their backs to him. A commanding voice emanates from
among them.

COLONEL MACKENZIE (O.S.)

Tell Ivins and Murphy to direct
their men to the left flank.
Concentrate everything there.

SCHOFIELD
COLONEL MACKENZIE!

The officers turn on Schofield, parting as they do. In the

centre, staring straight at him, is COLONEL MACKENZIE, 40s.

Mackenzie stands ramrod straight, and is immaculately turned

out, despite the chaos surrounding him. He has a small scar
across his left eye.

SCHOFIELD
(in a rush)
Sir, this attack is not to go
ahead! You’ve been ordered to stop.
You have to stop.
COLONEL MACKENZIE
Who the hell are you?

SCHOFIELD
Lance Corporal Schofield, Sir. 8th.
I have orders from General Erinmore
to call off this attack.
Schofield offers up the letter. The other Officers all react.

But Mackenzie doesn’t take it.

COLONEL MACKENZIE
You’re too late, Lance Corporal.
SCHOFIELD
Sir, these orders are from Army
Command. You have to read them.
He holds out the letter to Mackenzie. A damp scrap of paper.

A Major, HEPBURN, is listening closely.

MAJOR HEPBURN
Shall we hold back the second wave,
Sir?
COLONEL MACKENZIE
 109.

No, Major. Hesitate now and we

lose. Victory is five hundred yards
away.

Mackenzie is resolute.
SCHOFIELD
Sir...Sir! Please read the letter.
COLONEL MACKENZIE
I have heard it all before. I’m not
going to wait until dusk, or for
fog. I’m not calling back my men,
only to send them out there again
tomorrow. Not when we’ve got the
bastards on the run. This is their
last stand.
SCHOFIELD
The German’s planned this, Sir.
They’ve been planning it for
months. They want you to attack.
Read the letter.

This catches MacKenzie’s attention. He nods to Major Hepburn:

get the letter.

Hepburn takes the letter from Schofield, hands it to Colonel

MacKenzie.

MacKenzie opens it. Reads.

His face utterly impassive. Inscrutable.

Schofield waits.
COLONEL MACKENZIE
Major.

MAJOR HEPBURN
Yes, Sir.

A horrible moment of silence. Everything hangs on this.

COLONEL MACKENZIE
Stand them down.
MAJOR HEPBURN
Yes, Sir.

Schofield closes his eyes. Relief floods his body.

The Major runs from the dugout, a blast of whistles from the
outside - a signal to stop.
 110.

Mackenzie addresses his other officers.

COLONEL MACKENZIE
Call up the orderlies. Tend the
wounded. Hold the line in case they
counter.

OFFICERS
Yes, Sir.
The Officers empty out of the dugout. Noises of orders being
shouted and whistles being blown seep in from outside.
A long beat. Schofield senses Mackenzie moving closer to him.

They are now alone.

Mackenzie speaks quietly.

COLONEL MACKENZIE
I hoped today might be a good day.
Hope is a dangerous thing.

Schofield stands stock still.

COLONEL MACKENZIE
That’s it for now. Then next week,
Command will send a different
message. Attack at dawn.

Mackenzie looks him in the eye.

COLONEL MACKENZIE
There is only one way this war
ends. Last man standing.
Mackenzie looks him up and down.

COLONEL MACKENZIE
Have someone see to your wounds.

Schofield is frozen.
COLONEL MACKENZIE
Now fuck off, Lance Corporal.

Schofield leaves the main dugout. Major Hepburn stands just

outside the door. He grabs Schofield’s arm as he passes.

Schofield turns.
MAJOR HEPBURN
(heartfelt)
Well done, lad.
 111.

SCHOFIELD
Thank you, Sir.

Beat.
SCHOFIELD
Do you know where Lieutenant Blake
is, Sir?
MAJOR HEPBURN
Blake?
SCHOFIELD
There were two of us. I was sent
here with his brother.
He looks at him. The Major understands.

MAJOR HEPBURN
Ah.

Beat.
MAJOR HEPBURN
Well, knowing Lieutenant Blake he
would have gone over with his men.
He was in the first wave.
SCHOFIELD
How could I find him, Sir?
MAJOR HEPBURN
You can try the casualty clearing
station, behind the line.
Otherwise...
Beat.

SCHOFIELD
Thank you, Sir.

CORPORAL CAIRNS (O.S.)

Major Hepburn, Sir!

He leaves. A beat while Schofield orientates himself. Then he

turns and walks out into -

59 EXT. 2ND TRENCH - CONTINUOUS 59

The sounds of the wounded and the dying as they pass. The
German guns have stopped for now. A brief pause.

Schofield walks along the line.

 112.

The B, C and D Companies are gathered, pulling in the

survivors, carrying dying and wounded men along the trench.

Lifting them by hand where they have no stretchers.

Schofield continues along. Searching for officers, for
Lieutenant Blake. No one looks at him. No one sees him. He
slips past them, a ghost.

60 EXT. SHATTERED COMMS TRENCH - CONTINUOUS 60

Schofield turns the corner, and pushes his way along the zig-
zag length of the trench.
STRETCHER BEARERS push past him, pressing him against the
back wall as they pass with the wounded.

SCHOFIELD
Sergeant, I have to find Lieutenant
Blake. Do you know where he is?

SERGEANT
No.

Schofield follows them, up a slope, and emerging out into-

61 EXT. MEADOW - CONTINUOUS 61

An impromptu field station, where several overwhelmed MEDICAL

OFFICERS, CHAPLAINS and ORDERLIES from the RAMC tend to the
wounded.
Schofield moves to the tent.

SCHOFIELD
Sir, is Lieutenant Blake here?
MEDICAL OFFICER
No idea.
(beat)
Move along Corporal.

Schofield walks through the tent, scanning the wounded.

Looking at the faces, the bodies.

MEDICAL OFFCIER
If you can walk, move to the triage
area.

None of the men are officers, none could be Blake’s brother.

 113.

SCHOFIELD
Lieutenant Blake! Blake?! Has
anyone seen Lieutenant Blake?
He moves through a tent of gravely wounded men. The terrible
sounds of the dying. None are Blake’s brother.
Schofield moves outside. He finally stands still, hopeless.

Sick with his failure.

LIEUTENANT (O.S)
Now come on boys. He’s taken one in
the leg. He’s lost a lot of blood.
Schofield turns to see an Officer. He is following a
stretcher bearer into the field station from the opposite
direction.
Schofield stares at the man’s back. The sound of his voice.

Just an instinct...
SCHOFIELD
Lieutenant Blake?
The Officer stops and turns to him. His similarity to his
brother takes Schofield’s breath away.

LIEUTENANT BLAKE
Yes.

Schofield is shaky on his feet. He sways a bit, staring at

him.
LIEUTENANT BLAKE
Do you need medical assistance?
SCHOFIELD
No, Sir. I’m from the 8th.
LIEUTENANT BLAKE
What the hell are you doing here?

SCHOFIELD
I was sent here to deliver a
message--

Recognition plays on Blake’s face, he smiles at the mention

of his brother’s brigade, moves towards Schofield.

LIEUTENANT BLAKE
The 8th? You must know my brother.
 114.

SCHOFIELD
I was sent here with him.
LIEUTENANT BLAKE
Tom’s here? Where is he?

Schofield looks at him. Blake’s smile slowly drops. A pause.

SCHOFIELD
It was very quick.
Blake takes it in.

SCHOFIELD
I’m sorry.

Blake nods, wordless. Schofield goes into his tunic pocket,

pulls out Blake’s possessions. There is blood on them. The
elder Blake’s face is ashen as he takes them. His eyes fill
with tears.

LIEUTENANT BLAKE
What’s your name?

SCHOFIELD
Schofield, Sir.

Blake nods. He looks down at his brother’s possessions in his

hands.
LIEUTENANT BLAKE
I’m sorry... what?
SCHOFIELD
It’s Schofield, Sir. William
Schofield. Will.
LIEUTENANT BLAKE
Well, you need some food. Get
yourself to the mess tent.
Beat. Schofield turns to leave. Then -

SCHOFIELD
If I may, I’d like to write to your
mother. Tell her that Tom wasn’t
alone.

LIEUTENANT BLAKE
Of course.

Schofield searches for something to say.

SCHOFIELD
 115.

He was...he was a good man. Always

telling funny stories.
Blake nods. It doesn’t seem enough.

Then Schofield finds the right words.

SCHOFIELD
He saved my life.
Schofield reaches out to shake his hand. Blake takes it. They
are still for a second.

LIEUTENANT BLAKE
I am glad you were with him.
(Then)
Thank you, Will.
Schofield nods. He turns and walks away.

He is like a sleepwalker. Unsure of where to go.

He moves away from the makeshift Aid Post and into the meadow
beyond.
The grass sways in the breeze. This place is beginning to
turn gold in the morning sun. Schofield drifts through it.

The noise of the horror behind him gradually fades.

Ahead, on the plain, an oak tree towers. Untouched. On the
high branches, leaves dance in the wind.
Schofield walks towards it. He sits on the far side of it,
his back to the trunk. The land stretches out ahead of him in
the early light.
He listens to the wind in the leaves. Birdsong.

He undoes his breast pocket. He pulls out the small tobacco

tin. He stares at it.

He takes a deep breath and opens it. Two photographs.

Schofield lifts them out, looks at them:

TWO YOUNG GIRLS, his daughters. They smile at the camera.

He looks at the other - his WIFE.

He turns the photo over.

On the back, her handwriting:
 116.

“Come back to us.”

He stares at it for a long beat.

The pain on his face ebbs into longing. Love.

He closes his eyes and feels the sun on his face.

THE END.
FOR LANCE CORPORAL ALFRED H. MENDES

1ST BATTALION, KING’S ROYAL RIFLE CORPS

WHO TOLD US THE STORIES