Snow Falling On Cedars

SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS Ronald Bass First Draft Screenplay March 3, 1997 EXT. THE SUSAN MARIE, SHIP CHANNEL BANK - NIGHT Fog.Penetrated only by sound.The LAPPING of sea at a drifting hull.Tendrils of mist part, revealing... ...a face.Strong and blond and handsome. SUPERIMPOSE:SEPTEMBER 15, 1954 LONG ANGLE...from below, we watch CARL HEINE, high on the cross spar of his mast.He has pulled a SHUTTLE of TWINE from his rubber overalls, and is LASHING a LANTERN in the cloud of mist, as MAIN TITLES BEGIN... ANGLE...the tiny, meticulously neat cabin.Empty, silent.A tin COFFEE CUP on the counter's edge.The battery well open, revealing two large BATTERIES in place.PAN to... ...the deck of this sturdy stern-picker.The fishing net stretched from the huge DRUM into the sea.Keep PANNING to the bow, where... ...Carl stands with his kerosene lantern and his air horn, watching as another BOAT comes slowly out of the mist.The silhouette of a FISHERMAN, holding a long fishing GAFF.As fragments of fog part, we CLOSE on the figure's face, to see... ...his eyes.They are Asian.SMASH CUT to... EXT. THE SUSAN MARIE, SHIP CHANNEL BANK - MORNING Blinding sun.Our boat bobs lifeless on placid water.As CREDITS CONTINUE, two figures slowly reel in the massive net.SHERIFF ART MORAN is painfully thin, unimposing, methodical.Only the eyes reflect his disquiet.His young deputy, ABEL MARTINSON, cuts anxious looks between his mentor and the sea.As the net brings silvered salmon across the gunnel, CUT to... ..