In the heart of New York, Max spins around searching for his foe.
His frustration mounts until out of the corner of his eye he sees a strange reflection. Not knowing what it is of, he turns around to see the source. The reflection is from a giant brilliant stock ticker — fifty yards long and luminous.
Max stares at the quotes. They are hypnotizing and Max is suddenly calm.
Then, Max has a premonition. He turns and spots the Photographer in front of a porn shop on 8th and 42nd.
CUT TO:
Max whacks the Photographer against a backlit image of a Hustler Centerfold. The man screams.
|
MAX Who are you working for? |
|
PHOTOGRAPHER Here, here.
— [69] —
The Photographer hands Max his wallet. |
|
MAX I don’t want your wallet. Who sent you? Max grabs the kid’s camera. Who the hell sent you!? |
|
PHOTOGRAPHER Wha . . . I’m sorry . . . |
|
PHOTOGRAPHER I’m . . . a . . . student. I’ve got an assignment for class. The Photographer pulls out his student ID. Max looks at it. Then, he rips out the film — exposing it. |
|
MAX Leave me alone, damn it. Leave me alone. Max hands the man back his camera and leaves.
CUT TO: |
Max heads home in a furious state. Suddenly, he sees two of Marcy’s men blocking his path. It’s Brad and Jake and they don’t look happy. Max spins around and sees Marcy Dawson blocking his exit.
|
MAX Marcy? What’s the matter? Max retreats. |
|
MARCY DAWSON Let’s take a ride, Max. |
— [70] —
|
MAX I can’t, I got work . . . Max looks back at the tough guys who are almost on top of him. |
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MARCY DAWSON We had a deal! Now get in the car! Marcy releases a vicious slap that nearly knocks Max down. Max whimpers: |
|
MAX Don’t ever hit . . . He pushes Marcy aside and darts.
EXT. CITY STREETS — NIGHT
Max flees. Jake and Brad charge after him. They’re right on him — he has a meter or so on them. Max screams for help.
He scurries through a construction site and over a footbridge.
Then, he runs into an all-night —
— BODEGA.
The tough guys chase after him and he gets a bit of a lead in the narrow aisles. He pleads with the owners for help — nothing doing.
Jake heads him off and uses his body to block the aisle. But Max grabs a can of beans and slams it down on the tough guy’s nose. The guy goes down and Max shoots out the exit.
CUT TO: |
Max dives under a car and crawls for terror. He sees two sets of feet run by. Max starts to relax when he notices a pair of heels on the other side of the car. Marcy bends down and looks at him.
— [71] —
|
MARCY DAWSON Max. Enough is enough . . . |
|
MAX Leave me alone. I don’t know anything. Max retreats in the opposite direction. Suddenly, Jake and Brad grab him and drag him out. Hey! Hey! Help me!
They search him, taking his wallet, keys, everything.
Marcy looks at the guys who shake their heads. She walks over to Max and shows him the front page of the Wall Street Journal. It reads, `MARKET CRASHING’. |
|
MARCY DAWSON Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to play with matches? The market is going to crash, Max. |
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MAX I didn’t do anything. I didn’t play the market. |
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MARCY DAWSON But we did. Marcy pulls out a folded, worn piece of paper. She opens it. It’s Max’s stock pick that he threw out. Part of THE number is on the page. You have to be careful where you throw out your trash. |
|
MAX How could you do that? |
|
MARCY DAWSON You gave us faulty information. You dangled the carrot, the right picks, but then you only gave us part of the code. |
— [72] —
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MAX You selfish, irresponsible cretins. How could you be so stupid!? Marcy jabs Max in his stomach. Max falls to the ground. The tough guys sit on him. |
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MARCY DAWSON C’mon, Max. This isn’t a game anymore. We’re playing on a global scale. We used your code. Foolish . . . I admit. But we can fix things if we make some careful picks. Give us the rest of the code so we can set things right. |
|
MAX C’mon! I know who you are. You’re not gonna save the world. |
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MARCY DAWSON Look, Max . . . Marcy nods to Jake who pulls out a gun and points it at Max’s head. |
|
MAX My God, what are you doing? |
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MARCY DAWSON Information is the private language of capital. We tried to establish a symbiotic relationship but if you choose to compete and enter our niche we are forced to comply with the laws of nature. Max thinks for a second. Max thinks hard. He realizes he can’t give them the number. |
|
MARCY DAWSON C’mon, Max. You don’t get it. I don’t give a shit
— [73] — about you. I only care about what’s in your fucking head. If you won’t help us help yourself then I’ll have only one choice. Destroy the competition. I’ll take you out of the game. Survival of the fittest, Max. And we’ve got the fuckin’ gun.
Jake cocks the gun. Max starts to cry. |
|
MAX You bastards! You stupid bastards! Suddenly, Jake is whacked with a sawn-off baseball bat. He smashes into the sidewalk. It is Lenny Meyer.
Just then, a station wagon screeches up to the curb. Ephraim and a bunch of other burly Jews jump out. |
|
LENNY MEYER Max! Max looks at Lenny. Ephraim grabs Max and pulls him towards the station wagon. C’mon! C’mon! C’mon! . . .
Ephraim helps Max into the back seat of the wagon and climbs in after him.
Lenny Meyer jumps into the passenger seat and the graybearded Yisrael slams on the gas pedal. |
Yisrael yanks the steering wheel to the left, the old station wagon skids around a corner.
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LENNY MEYER Stay down! Ephraim pushes Max’s head down. Yisrael takes another corner sharply.
— [74] — We’ve been looking for you. |
|
LENNY MEYER Do you have the number? |
|
LENNY MEYER Do you have the number? |
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LENNY MEYER You have it! Where is it, Max? Where is the number?! You have it written down? |
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MAX What is it? Lenny nods to Ephraim who starts scavenging through Max’s pockets. Max resists. The other guys hold him down. What are you doing!? What the hell are you doing!? |
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LENNY MEYER We’re not joking around, Max? Where’s the number? |
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MAX (pushes Ephraim away) It’s not on me. It’s in my head. |
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LENNY MEYER You memorized it. Did you give it to them? |
— [75] —
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LENNY MEYER Who!? Those Wall Street bastards. |
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LENNY MEYER Just answer me! |
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LENNY MEYER (in Hebrew) Hit him!
Ephraim pounds Max in the ribs hard — really fucking hard.
(in Hebrew to the driver) Stop the car! |
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MAX What are you doing? Let me go. Yisrael screeches the car to a halt. Lenny spins around in his seat and looks Max in the face. |
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LENNY MEYER C’mere. You listen to me! You’re dealing with something really big now, Max. I don’t want to hurt you, so answer me. Did you give it to them? |
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MAX They’ve got part of it. Now, get off me! |
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LENNY MEYER Damn it! Damn it! They’re using it. |
— [76] —
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MAX Let go! Max chews into Ephraim’s hand which is pinning him. Ephraim screams and lets loose a punch to Max’s jaw. |
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LENNY MEYER No, don’t! But Lenny is late, and Max’s world — as well as ours — goes black.
CUT TO: |
[Section details]
Max stares suspiciously at the bathroom. He slowly picks up his drill. Wielding it like a hammer, he carefully advances into the —
BATHROOM
— where he looks into the sink. He almost vomits when he sees a piece of human brain sitting above the drain. Ants swarm across its surface.
Max becomes furious. He whacks it with the drill. Blood flies up into his face. In a wild rage, he smashes it and punches it.
Then, he drops the drill and uses his bare hands to shove the brain down the drain. Screaming like a madman, he jams it until it is gone.
CUT TO:
A wise-looking, bearded Hasidic man with benevolent, piercing
— [77] — eyes stands tenderly over Max. He wears traditional black clothes. Lenny Meyer paces nervously in the background.
As Max comes through, Rav Cohen speaks.
|
RABBI COHEN Max, Max. You’re all right. I’m Rabbi Cohen. Cohen like you. I’m sorry for what Lenny did, he’s been reprimanded. It is not our way. Are you OK? |
|
RABBI COHEN Everything will be fine, Max. You need to give us the number. Do you have it? |
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LENNY MEYER (charging over) I told you we don’t know. |
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MAX You wouldn’t be so flipped out if you didn’t know. What’s happening to me? |
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LENNY MEYER Give us the number! |
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RABBI COHEN OK, OK! Lenny, easy! Max, I’ll tell you what’s going on. Just calm down. (deep breath) The Talmud tells us it began two thousand years ago, when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple. |
— [78] —
|
RABBI COHEN Just, give me a chance. You’ll understand everything if you listen. Max takes out his pills and starts feeding himself some.The Romans also murdered all of our priesthood — the Cohanim — the Cohens, and with their deaths they destroyed our greatest secret. In the center of the great Temple was the holy of holies which was the heart of Jewish life. This was the earthly residence for our God. The one God. It contained the Ark of the Tabernacle which stored the original Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses. Only one man could enter this space once a year on the holiest day of the year — Yom Kippur. On the Day of Atonement all of Israel would descend upon Jerusalem to witness the High Cohen’s trip into the
— [79] — holy of holies. If the holy man was pure he would re-emerge a few moments later and Israel was secured a prosperous year. It meant that we were one year closer to the Messianic Age. Closer to the return of the Garden of Eden. But if he was impure he would die instantly and it meant that we were doomed. The High Cohen had a single ritual to perform in the holy of holies. He had to intone a single word.
Rav Cohen takes a dramatic pause. Max is anxious to hear the end of the story. |
|
RABBI COHEN That word was the true name of God. |
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RABBI COHEN The true name, which only the Cohanim knew, was two hundred and sixteen letters long. A long beat. |
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MAX (incredulous) You’re telling me that the number in my head is the name of God!?
Wondrously, Max rubs the scar on his head. |
|
RABBI COHEN (passion building) Yes . . . it’s the key into the Messianic Age. As the Romans burnt the Temple, the Talmud says, the High Cohen walked into the flames. He took his secret to the top of the burning building. The heavens
— [80] — opened up and took the key from the priest’s outstretched hand. We’ve been searching for the key ever since. And you may have found it. Now let us find out. |
|
MAX That’s what happened. I saw God. |
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RABBI COHEN No, no, Max. You’re not pure. You can’t see God unless you’re pure. |
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MAX It’s more than God . . . it’s everything. It’s math and science and nature . . . the universe. I saw the universe’s DNA. |
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RABBI COHEN You saw nothing. Only a glimpse. |
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RABBI COHEN There’s much more. We can unlock the door with the key. It will show God that we are pure again. He will return us to the Garden. |
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MAX Garden? You’re not pure. How are you pure? I found it. I’m the one who has the number. |
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RABBI COHEN Who do you think you are? You are a vessel from our God. You are carrying a delivery that was meant for us. |
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MAX It was given to me. It’s inside of me. It’s changing me. |
— [81] —
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RABBI COHEN It’s killing you. Because you are not ready to receive it. |
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LENNY MEYER It will kill you! |
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MAX And what will it do to you? |
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LENNY MEYER We’re pure. Give us the number! |
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MAX The number is nothing. You know that! |
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RABBI COHEN We can use it. We can wield it. |
|
MAX It’s just a number. I’m sure you’ve written down every two hundred sixteen number. You’ve translated all of them. You’ve intoned them all. Haven’t you? But what’s it gotten you? The number is nothing. It’s the meaning. It’s the syntax. It’s what’s between the numbers. If you could understand you would. But it’s not for you! I’ve got it. I understand it. I’m going to see it! (whispers to Rav Cohen) Rabbi . . . I was chosen.
CUT TO: |
Max races through the streets of New York. He is wide-eyed.
|
MAX (voice-over) 17.13. Personal note: Getting faster, something in the
— [82] — story within the story, if you stare into space like that, you could go blind, because what can the eye see without the brain? Nothing . . . if the brain can’t make a picture and image of what it’s seeing . . . it sees nothing . . . it must be just beyond the edge of what I can see, because my brain — my brain is too far behind . . . but my eyes can feel it, and I know that when It happens I will be ready to see past this edge . . . because that’s why I came here, and I think, I even think that these headaches, with each drop that has fallen on my brain, the drops that hit so goddamn hard, what if, maybe, they may have been, somehow, a distillation of that . . . ability to see. A little further . . . and I will . . . already I am beginning to see . . .
People fly by Max in a spiraling whirlwind. |
[Section details]
A pumped and excited Max paces the hall as he rings the bell.
The door opens. But it isn’t Sol. It’s a young beautiful woman wearing a simple black dress. Her name is Jenny Robeson and she is Sol’s niece.
|
JENNY ROBESON Can I help you? |
|
JENNY ROBESON Were you a friend? |
|
JENNY ROBESON He had a second stroke. |
— [83] —
|
MAX Where is he? Jenny’s eyes drop. No.
Max rushes into Sol’s study. The room is covered with Sol’s Pi research books. It seems Sol had recently come out of retirement. Max looks at a few of Sol’s books. Then, he finds a piece of paper with Sol’s handwriting on it. On the paper is THE number. Max slides it into his pocket.
Max looks at the Go board. The pieces are arranged in a giant spiral across the board.
DISSOLVE TO: |
Max sits on his bed staring at Sol’s handwritten number. Then, he notices that his thumb is twitching. He drops Sol’s note.
|
MAX Stop it, please! He dumps the contents of the bottle of pills into his hand.
Max stops as he prepares to shove the pills down his throat. He looks at the pills. Then, he looks at Euclid around him. He throws the pills and the bottle to the floor. They fall to earth in slow motion.
The room rushes in on Max and so does the pain. It throws him to the ground and he bashes his head against the floor.
(courageously) No. No. I’m ready. I’m ready! Show me!
Max recites THE number and uses it to get to his feet. The pain rips apart his voice.
— [84] — Max’s pain and anger transform into violence. He attacks Euclid furiously. He recites the number with rage in his voice. THREE, SEVEN, TWO . . .
He smashes the old computer apart. He tosses his step stool through the mainframe.
Then, he goes to the window and tries to rip off the cardboard covering the glass panes. Nothing doing, so he yanks the entire window wide open.
Sunlight floods the room and throws Max into the —
BLINDING WHITE VOID
— where Max looks around starry-eyed. The pain is gone. Everything is new to Max — even his hands. The stress releases from his brow and his shoulders sag.
Max continues to recite the number. His voice becomes tender and peaceful. As he starts to become part of the void, his voice turns into a whisper and his eyes start to close.
— [85] — Then, he hears Devi. |
|
DEVI (off-screen) Max. No, Max, no. Are you OK!? Oh my God, Max!
Her voice reaches into the void. Stay with me, Max! Breathe, Max. Breathe!
Max looks towards her voice. Yes, Max. Listen to me . . .
CUT TO: |
Devi leans over Max. Max’s eyes are open while he continues to recite the number.
|
DEVI Breathe, Max! Breathe. Focus. Max turns away from Devi and we return to the —
BLINDING WHITE VOID
— where Max continues to recite the number. |
|
DEVI (off-screen) No, Max. No. Stay with me, Max. Stay with me. Touch me, Max.
CUT TO: |
Devi grabs Max’s palm. Max’s fingers wrap around her hand. We return to —
— [86] — BLINDING WHITE VOID
— where Max stops reciting the number. He suddenly opens his fear-filled eyes.
|
MAX No!!! Sol. Sol! Max reaches out into the void.
MATCH CUT TO: |
Max grabs Devi and hugs her. He gasps for air as he collapses into her arms sobbing.
|
MAX Sol! You were right, Sol! He was right. Max sobs. He holds on to her for dear life.
And then, he realizes that Devi is not in his arms. He is holding on to himself.
Then, Max notices Sol’s note on the ground. He looks at THE number. He collects himself and catches his breath.
CUT TO: |
Max looks at Sol’s note. He lights a match and burns it.
Next, he prepares something in the sink.
We hear the whine of a motor. Then, it stops. Max looks at himself in the mirror. He smiles. Then he gets solemn.
|
MAX (voice-over) 17.22. Personal note: When I was a little kid, my mother told me not to stare into the sun. So once, when I was six, I did.
— [87] —
He takes a deep breath. Then, we hear the motor again. Max lifts up his arm. He’s holding a drill. He places the bit against the math section of his scalp.
He applies pressure and drills into his brain.
Max collapses.
QUICK CUT TO: |
TIGHT on a tree branch gently blowing in the wind.
Max watches it with peaceful, understanding eyes. He wears a hat on his head.
He listens to the wind in the trees.
Just then, Jenna surprises him with her Fisher Price calculator on hand.
|
JENNA Max, Max! Look! Jenna hands Max a leaf. Pretty, huh? Can we do one Max, can we?
Max shrugs, not able to say no. How about two hundred and fifty-five times a hundred and eighty-three.
Jenna types in the number.
Max is about to say no to Jenna, but then he decides to give it a shot.
Max thinks, he really thinks.
Jenna presses the equals button. I got it! I got it! What’s the answer?
— [88] —
But Max doesn’t have an answer. For a moment he smiles. |
|
MAX I don’t know. I really don’t know. What is it Jenna? |
|
JENNA Forty-six thousand six hundred and sixty-five. |
|
MAX Oh. Max stares at the beautiful child. |
|
JENNA How about two hundred fifty-five times one hundred eighty-three? I got it! What’s the answer? Max looks up at the tree. It leaves blow gently in the wind. Peacefully, we:
FADE TO BLACK. |
The Floating Library 