knighthood - 4th draft

8/3/2019 Knighthood - 4th Draft

1/10

Knighthood

By

Daniel Kennedy

4th Draft


2/10

EXT. MUDDY FIELD - DAY

Rain pours down. It hits the helmet of a KNIGHT. He is onhis knees.

He breathes heavily. Through the slit in his visor he seesthe blurred shapes of half a dozen medieval soldiersrunning towards him.

Dazed, the knight looks to his side. All around him liethe lifeless bodies of his fellow soldiers. He turns backto see an ENEMY SOLDIER readying his sword.

The sword swings down. The knights elbow swings up - andconnects with the the enemy soldiers breastplate.

The breastplate crumples like plastic. The attacker fallsto the mud.

The knight rises to his feet, taking his felled enemyssword. The remaining soldiers stop in their tracks.

The knight rushes them. He swings at their legs, theirarms, their heads. Some try to fight him off, others turnand run - all end up in the mud.

Exhausted, the knight pulls himself upright. The bodies ofhis enemies lie at his feet. All except for one. A WHITEKNIGHT, standing defiantly before him.

The knight raises his sword, ready for a showdown.

The white knight surveys the bodies of the fallen. Hethrows his sword to the ground.

WHITE KNIGHT(muffled through helmet)

What the fuck?

Confused, the knight half-lowers his sword. The whiteknight pulls up his visor, revealing a handsome face andstyled hair incongruous with the dark ages. This isGEORGE.

GEORGEWhat are you playing at? You weremeant to stay down!

The knight stands dumbfounded as George helps one of thefallen soldiers to his feet. All of the soldiers felled bythe knight are on the ground bloodied and battered;cursing and groaning.

The soldiers behind the knight stand up and walk past him.All are perfectly fine - merely playing dead.

A SOLDIER walks past the knight, purposefully shoving himin the shoulder as he goes.

(CONTINUED)


3/10

CONTINUED: 2.

SOLDIERDickhead.

The knight raises his visor, revealing a timid, confusedman. This is DONAL.

DONALIm sorry...

George is tending to an INJURED SOLDIER. Blood streamsfrom the mans nose.

GEORGEYou broke Brians nose, youpsycho!

George turns to Donal, who stands frozen.

DONAL(too low to be heard)Im sorry. I didnt mean it. I -I dunno...

BRIAN(holding a tissue to hisnose)

Youre only a bollocks Donal.

DONALI know Brian. Sorry about yournose.

TIM, one of the soldiers not beaten by Donal, approacheshim.

TIMCmon Donal.

Tim walks Donal off the field, through a small crowd ofspectators - friends and family.

INT. DONALS CAR - DAY

Tim sits in the passenger seat as Donal drives, a troubledlook on his face. He keeps glancing in the rear-viewmirror.

TIMNever mind them. Theyll haveforgotten all about it bytomorrow.

DONALI know. But I didnt mean to -yknow.

(CONTINUED)


4/10

CONTINUED: 3.

TIMFuck it. A good hiding will dosome of them lads no harm. Allthe same...

DONAL

Yeah.

TIMRe-enactments. You dress up inall the gear, you get intocharacter, but no matter what youdo you cant change the outcome."All the worlds a stage" sort ofthing.

Donal stares in the rear-view mirror, not listening.

DONALI suppose I needed to blow offsome steam. Wont happen again.

EXT. TIMS HOUSE - DAY

Donal pulls the car up outside the house.

TIMIm not trying to lecture you. Iknow you know more about thisstuff than most.

DONALI know. Thanks.

Tim opens the door, then hesitates.

TIMListen, are you sure yourealright? I mean, like,everythings all right at home,yeah? Youre not depressed,or...?

DONALIm fine Tim. Honestly. Thanksthough.

Donal glances in the rear-view mirror. In its reflectionhe sees a BLACK KNIGHT sitting in the back of the car,staring at him. In his hands he holds a large sword.

TIMAlright. Just checking. See youin two weeks.

(CONTINUED)


5/10

CONTINUED: 4.

DONALSee you.

Tim exits.

Donal sits in silence for a moment. He looks in thereflection. The black knight sits there still.

Donal turns the key in the ignition. The car sputters andfails to start.

INT. DONALS HOUSE - DAY

Donal comes through the door, exhausted.

DONALSorry Im late. The car brokedown.

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Donal pops his head in the door. His girlfriend KAREN ison the floor meditating, her eyes closed. Shes listeningto a tape of strange noises.

DONALI had to get it towed.

KARENMmm-hmm.

DONALWhat are you listening to?

KARENWhale-songs.

INT. DONALS STUDY - NIGHT

Donal enters the study, which is completely bare apartfrom stacks of boxes containing papers and documents,

medieval replicas and artifacts.

DONALKaren, what happened to my study?

KAREN O.S.Hmmm?

DONALWhy are all my things in boxes?

Donal takes a replica gauntlet from one of the boxes. Its

wrapped in newspaper.

(CONTINUED)


6/10

CONTINUED: 5.

KAREN O.S.I was cleaning.

DONALThis isnt cleaning, Karen. Thisis packing. Why were you packing

my things away?

KAREN O.S.I was de-cluttering. You shouldonly keep the things that arenecessary in order to lead afuller and more enriched life.Its called ascetisism.

DONALHoney, this is not clutter. Theseare very important documents and

manuscripts and expensivereplicas. This is my work!

INT. DONALS HALLWAY - NIGHT

Donal steps out into the hall with the gauntlet, visiblyannoyed. He stops in his tracks as he sees the blackknight, standing at the other end of the hall, perfectlystill.

KAREN O.S.Painting model dragons isnt

work, honey.

Donal and the black knight stare at each other. Donal ispetrified.

DONALWell talk about this later.

INT. DRY CLEANERS - DAY

Donal, in an ill-fitting suit and tie, is sorting through

bagged clothes on a rack, a look of numb apathy on hisface.

JOSEPH, his boss appears beside him.

JOSEPHDonal, can I talk to you for aminute?


7/10

6.

INT. JOSEPHS OFFICE - DAY

The office is particularly shabby. Joseph and Donal sit onopposite sides of a desk.

JOSEPH

You know I hate doing this Donal,but you cant say its not beencoming for a while now. You knowweve not been very satisfiedwith the work youve been doingof late...

Donal is completely zoned out, staring through Joseph atthe black knight, who stands behind him.

EXT. MECHANICS GARAGE - DAY

Donal is holding a bill and talking to a MECHANIC, his carin the background.

DONALThis is - this is a lot more thanI expected.

MECHANICHad to order for parts. You knowhow it is.

Donal looks annoyed, but doesnt do anything.

INT. DONALS CAR - DAY

Donal sits into the car. Adjusting the rear-view mirror,he sees the black knight sitting in his usual place.

The knight seems to be staring past Donal through thewindscreen. Donal looks and sees the mechanic outside,walking away counting his money.

Donal sighs internally and starts the car.

EXT. DONALS HOUSE - DAY

Donal pulls up at his house and heads for the front door.He struggles with the key for a few moments, then triesanother.

Donal sees something out of the corner of his eye. Heturns and sees a pile of boxes in the garden. Boxes of hispossessions.

Donal bangs on the door.

(CONTINUED)


8/10

CONTINUED: 7.

DONALBitch!

INT. BEDSIT - NIGHT

Donal sits on the edge of the bed, drinking a beer andwatching a tiny television. He looks worn-out anddisheveled.

He turns his head and sees the boxes of his things in thecorner of the room. Among them, propped against the wall -his knights uniform.

Donal turns his head back to the television. He nearlyjumps back as he sees the Black Knight on the screen,staring out at him.

Donal violently knocks the television to the ground,breaking it. He sits in silence, his head in his hands.

INT. DRESSING ROOM - DAY

Donal and George are putting on their outer suits ofarmour. Some others, including Tim, are putting on theiruniforms.

GEORGEPersonally, I feel as though itsa bad idea, but were giving you

this chance to redeem yourself.Stick to the script and dontfuck up.

DONALI know what to do. About the"script", Id like to talk to youabout the historical accuracy of-

GEORGEJust shut up, and when I hit you,

stay down. Got it?

DONALYeah.

Tim pats Donal on the back.

TIMGood luck.


9/10

8.

EXT. RE-ENACTMENT FIELD - DAY

The opposing sides are on opposite ends of the field. Asmall crowd has gathered to watch.

Donal stands on the front-line, sword drawn.

George lowers his helmet.

GEORGEAlright men - - Charge!

George swings his sword in the air and sprints across thefield towards Donal. His small army run behind him.

Donal braces himself, his grip tightening on his sword.

Georges army approaches.

Donal raises his sword.

George runs up to Donal, sword swinging.

Donal tenses.

George swings his sword. In a very false and practicedmanner, Donal goes to his knees, allowing himself to bedowned.

George sticks his sword into the crook of Donals arm,emulating running him through. He places his boot on

Donals chest.

The battle having commenced around them, George leans in.

GEORGENow stay down you little cunt.

George pulls his sword out, raises it above his head andlets out a shrill war-cry.

As George moves past him, Donal mechanically lets himselffall to the ground.

TIME-JUMP:

Donal opens his eyes. His face is in the mud.

He watches from the ground as the fight winds down aroundhim. All he can see are legs moving about.

George is fighting off the last of the soldiers fromDonals side, with great flourish. He stands triumphant.

GEORGEThats how its done.

(CONTINUED)


10/10

CONTINUED: 9.

Brian, on the ground playing dead, opens his eyes. He seessomething.

BRIANOh no. Fuck off.

George looks down at Brian. As he does, he hears theclinking of metal on metal.

George wheels around and sees Donal standing upright,sword at his side.

Donal raises his sword.

TIM(from the ground)

Donal! What are you doing?

Donal says nothing. He lowers his visor and moves forward.

George backs up. Donal gains pace. Tim runs up to stophim.

TIMDonal! Stop it!

Donal back-hands Tim, sending him to the ground. He thenruns up to George and cuts him down mercilessly. He turnsto the rest of the battlefield.

The re-enacters start to scramble to their feet. They know

whats coming. Some stand to fight, others turn and run.

Donal hacks, slashes and stabs. He knocks them over andcuts them down. He breaks his replica sword, picks upanother. Some cry out in pain - he doesnt hear them.Those that try to run, he catches. All end up in the dirt.

Donal stands still, removes his helmet and lets his swordfall to his side. The small crowd stare in horror.

Donal laughs.

knighthood - 4th draft

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