YOU HAVE

YOU HAVE 

7 DAYS TO LIVE

Screenplay for a cinema feature

by

Dirk Ahner

2nd draft

May 1999

FADE IN

1.         outside country house – ext. / night

An ancient house, standing lonely in the middle of a deserted landscape in Northern Germany; lying there like a sleeping giant under the starry sky.

But something seems strange: All of the windows and doors have been nailed shut.

Text chart: “1976”

The headlights of a car pierce the darkness.  A car halts in the yard.  Three MEN step out.  One of them is wearing a police uniform.  The men switch on their flashlights and look around.

man #1

How long has the house already been like this?

KARL LINDNER, a keen police officer in his late thirties, approaches the entrance door.  He speaks in a calm, hoarse voice.

lindner

No idea. I haven’t seen them in weeks.

Lindner makes himself a picture of the situation.

He rings the doorbell.  Nothing stirs inside the house.  Then, he tries to get a look inside through one of the nailed-shut windows.

Through the cracks, he can barely make out a faint pulsating light.

lindner

I haven’t seen them in weeks.

The three men exchange looks. 

With a heavy heart, Lindner makes his decision:

lindner

We’re going in.

The third man fetches a crowbar and prepares to open the door with it.

2.         entrance area / country house – int. / night

The house door breaks open with a loud crack.

On the floor below the mail slot, there are piles of mail and unread newspapers which the door pushes out of the way as it opens.

The three men cautiously enter.  They look around.  The hallway is as dark as night.  Lindner tries the light switch – nothing.  The only light comes from a TV-set running in the living room.

3.         living room – int. / night

The three of them enter the living room.  Disgusted, the first man holds a handkerchief to his mouth.

man #1

Pooh, what a stench...

There is a massive armchair in the center of the room, in front of the television. – There seems to be someone sitting in it.  In the darkness we cannot recognize who it is.

Lindner carefully steps closer.

The second man stops in front of a large, dark stain on the wall.  He touches it, draws back his hand and inspects it  – blood.

Lindner slowly walks around the armchair.

lindner

My God... Marlene...!

During the next flicker of light from the television, we recognize the corpse of a woman around forty years of age.

Suddenly, Lindner hears something behind him – breathing!

He turns around.

Indeed, hidden in the semi-darkness, there is the shadow of a figure squatting on the floor.

lindner

Frank... Hell, what happened in here?

Lindner carefully approaches the figure.

It is a man, FRANK KOSINSKI.  He looks scrawny, all skin and bones, with a pale and hollow face.

He doesn’t pay the least attention to Lindner.  Mesmerized, he just stares at the dead woman in the armchair.

The “first man” follows the direction the man is looking in and takes a careful look at the dead woman.  Something seems to be irritating him.

man #1

Now that’s really odd.

man #2

What?  What is it?

man #1

I’d say she drowned...

Lindner leans over to the lethargic man in the shadows.

lindner

Frank...!?

He gently touches his shoulder.  At the same moment, Kosinski seems to snap out of it.

He begins to scream in wild panic – loud, heartrending!

CUT TO:

4.         title sequence

A photo montage of corpses, preserved in the swamps over hundreds and thousands of years: children, old people, warriors, farmers with hair stained red from the humin acid, bony extremities and shriveled faces with skin that resembles an ancient landscape ...

... FADE TO:

5.         landscape of swamps in northern germany – ext. / day

The structures of the corpses’ skin fade into pictures of a vast landscape of heaths, forests and moors.

An expensive offroad vehicle is leading a sports car along a deserted country road.  It’s a wonderful late-summer’s day.  The two cars take a bend...

6.         outside country house – ext. / day

... into the driveway of the same old house.  It lies peacefully in the afternoon sun.  The gravel crunches underneath the tires.

A large moving truck is already parked outside.

Title chart: “23 years later”

7.         offroad vehicle – int. / day

Driving the Jeep is ELLEN STRAUB, an attractive, self-assured woman of approx. 30 years.

Asleep on the passenger’s seat beside her is her husband MARTIN, who in no way resembles the cliché of the successful author – he has a rather boyish charisma and is a bit too attractive.

Ellen stops the car and takes out some house keys.  She holds them right up to her sleeping husband’s ear.  Then, she shakes them.  They tinkle.

ellen

(playful)

Sir, we have arrived at your residence.

Martin blinks and takes the keys.

martin

Thank you, James.

The two of them step out of the car.

8.         in front of the house – ext. / day

Also getting out of their sports car are PAUL – a dynamic looking man in his mid-forties – and his wife CLAUDIA.  Despite their careful choice of casual dress, they still look like the epitome of snobbish city people.

They take a look around.  Time has left it’s marks on the old house:  Like an enchanted castle, it is camouflaged in waist-high grass and wildly ranking shrubs.

Paul and Claudia exchange skeptic looks.

Paul

Well, look here!

martin

Ladies and gentlemen: The “Straub country-residence”.

Claudia

It looks more like the “Straub ruins”.

Paul

Welcome to the far end of the world.

Ellen contradicts.

ellen

The lap of nature.  Where’s your famous optimism?

Two REMOVAL MEN climb out of the truck.  One of them is still chewing on his lunch.

He points at his watch as he addresses Martin.

removal man

Lunch break is ‘til one o’clock.

martin

            (sarcastic)

Sure, take your time.

            (to Ellen)

They get a lunch break before they even start working. 

Cool job.

Laughing, the four of them enter the house.

9.         entrance area – int. / day

They step into the entrance area.  The golden sunlight shines in stripes through the shutters.  The house is old, monumental.  One senses the centuries.

A staircase leads upstairs, the rooms on the first floor are the kitchen and living room.  A heavy wooden door opens to the cellar stairs.

martin

The country residence offers everything the doctor ordered for a stressed author needs: fresh air, clean water and – most of all – absolute peace and quiet.

Paul walks upstairs.  The staircase creaks.

Paul

This wood is pretty decayed.  Hope I don’t land a floor lower.

ellen

Although it would give you a perfect opportunity to visit our new wine cellar.

Claudia

How old is this shack, anyway?

ellen

Four hundred years.  Come on, I’ll give you a tour of the museum...

            (blinking an eye at Martin and Paul)

...while our husbands already get to work.