Give Yourself to Me

Fourth Draft

2.1.2010

c 2009

Written on Scripped

INT. DONNA'S APARTMENT

DONNA GUNN sits in a chair, fidgeting. She is dressed to

impress--and for someone with her looks, that's easy to do.

She's barely out of her teens, with a body that manages to

somehow look sultry and innocent at the same time. But right

now, she's not using her sex appeal. Instead, as the CREDITS

roll, she looks at her watch, looks at the door, stands up,

paces, looks at the door again, sits down, looks at her watch

again, and looks over at the clock to make sure her watch

still works. Then she looks at the door again.

The doorbell rings.

DONNA:

Come in!

She jumps to her feet again, but before she can get to it, the

door opens. DOCTOR KELLER stands framed in the doorway for a

long moment, staring down at Donna. Emphasis on "down"--he

towers over the young woman, his lined face and

salt-and-pepper hair giving him an air of stern paternal

authority that makes his charismatic gaze even more powerful.

Underneath his dark gray suit, he has the look of a stern

teacher, a judge and a high priest, all rolled into one.

DOCTOR KELLER:

Miss Gunn. The screen does not do

you justice. May I come in?

DONNA:

I--thank you, Doctor Keller.

Please, yes, come in! Sit down! I

mean, feel free to sit down. If you

want.

She sits back down, gesturing to a chair across from her.

DONNA:

I'm so glad you could come. When I

sent my assistant to talk to you,

she said--

Doctor Keller enters the room, closing the door behind him,

and sits down. Even seated, he has a significant height

advantage over her.

DOCTOR KELLER:

I apologize. I'm afraid I may have

rather intimidated your young

assistant. In truth, I found Miss

Blake to be both charming and

accommodating. She did her job

well...as evidenced by the fact

that I am here.

DONNA:

I wasn't sure--I mean, I know you

said you would be, but she said

that you didn't like the idea.

She looks down shyly.

DONNA:

I thought you might have changed

your mind.

DOCTOR KELLER:

I will admit, I am of somewhat

mixed feelings on the matter. On

the one hand, I rather detest the

character of Svengali, and the

thought of yet another adaptation

of that odious book irritates me to

no end.

He gestures expansively. Donna looks up a bit, but she still

can't bring herself to meet his gaze directly.

DOCTOR KELLER:

Do you know how many people know

nothing of hypnotism beyond the

book 'Trilby'? Or, to be more

precise, beyond their third-hand

understanding of the events of the

book, which they probably think is

actually called 'Svengali' like you

plan to call your film. Everyone

seems to think that all hypnotists

have some sort of sinister scheme

to enslave the will of young women,

thanks to that novel. du Maurier

has practically ruined the

reputation of my profession, and to

actively participate in furthering

the slander against it by helping,

even indirectly, with another

sensationalist film about a

"sinister hypnotist"...it was

highly tempting to refuse.

Donna looks up, frightened. Doctor Keller smiles crookedly,

his first smile since entering the room.

DOCTOR KELLER:

On the other hand, Miss Gunn, I

confess that I am a tremendous fan

of yours.

Donna relaxes visibly, breathing a sigh of relief. She smiles

back at him like a student who's just gotten a compliment from

a difficult-to-please teacher.

DONNA:

Oh, thank you! And please, call me

Donna.

DOCTOR KELLER:

I would be delighted...Donna. Now,

before we begin, I need to ask you

a few questions.

Donna begins to tense up again.

DOCTOR KELLER:

Don't worry, Donna, this isn't a

test. I simply need to know what

you want to get out of our sessions

together, and your time under

hypnosis.

Donna bites her lip, her face a mask of uncertainty.

DONNA:

I...it's just, well, this is my

first movie. They cast me

because...

She laughs nervously.

DONNA:

To be honest, they cast me because

I'm famous and my name sells

tickets. That's not what they said,

though. They told me they cast me

because of my singing voice. But I

don't want to be like Mariah Carey,

one of those pop stars who does a

movie and it turns out she should

have stuck to music. I want to be

good, really good. I want people to

really believe I'm Trilby

O'Ferrall, not Donna Gunn.

Doctor Keller's smile fades.

DOCTOR KELLER:

I'm afraid that you might have

over-estimated my talents. I'm no

sorcerer, Donna. I can't simply

snap my fingers and make you

believe you're a 19th-century

Irishwoman--

DONNA:

(somewhat assertive for

the first time)

And I wouldn't want you to. As I

said, I want to prove that it

wasn't a mistake to cast me. I want

to show people that I can really

act. If it's you hypnotizing me,

then it'd feel...empty, somehow, if

I did a good job. Like it wasn't me

at all.

Doctor Keller reaches out and rests a hand on her shoulder.

DOCTOR KELLER:

Oh, my dear Donna. That simply

isn't true at all. You've been

reading that dreadful book, haven't

you? Imagining yourself waking up a

few months from now, not even

remembering yourself in front of

the camera? Or perhaps walking down

the red carpet to the premiere,

still wondering what the film is

like?

She looks down again, blushing. After a moment, she nods.

DOCTOR KELLER:

It doesn't work that way at all, my

dear. Hypnosis only does what you

want it to do. I can use my talents

to guide your subconscious and help

you achieve a greater control over

your conscious mind, but in the

end, it all comes from you, not me.

Do you understand?

Donna looks up at him. She nods again.

DOCTOR KELLER:

Excellent. So what do you want to

achieve through hypnosis, Donna?

Why did you ask me to come here

today?

DONNA:

I really just wanted to feel what

it was like to be hypnotized, to be

honest. Trilby gets hypnotized a

lot in the script, and I thought

that it would really help me get

into the role if I knew what that

was like.

(laughs)

If nothing else, it'll give me some

good stories for the press junket.

Doctor Keller stands abruptly, his face an icy mask.

DOCTOR KELLER:

I must say, Miss Gunn, that I

deeply resent the suggestion that

my presence here is a mere

publicity stunt. As I have already

mentioned, I detest the popular

image this film promotes, and have

no wish for my talents to be used

in service to furthering that

image. If you cannot understand

that, then I believe we have

nothing further to discuss. Good

day to you, madam.

He turns with icy precision, and begins to walk rapidly

towards the door.

DONNA:

No, wait!

She stands as well, hurrying to follow him.

DONNA:

Really, I'm very sorry, I didn't

mean to offend you! I promise, I

won't say a word about you to

anyone if you don't want me to, not

one word!

Doctor Keller halts, but does not turn around. Donna starts to

reach out, then freezes where she stands, not daring to move.

DOCTOR KELLER:

Interesting.

Donna stares at him, but he continues to face away from her.

DOCTOR KELLER:

There are hundreds, perhaps

thousands of hypnotists in the Los

Angeles area. You are famous,

wealthy...you could have your pick.

Yet you have courted me, you

anxiously awaited my presence, and

now you practically beg me to stay

when I make demands on you. Why do

you think that is, Donna?

DONNA:

I...I've looked at some of those

other hypnotists. Lots of them!

They're not right for me. I don't

know how I know, but I do. They

won't help me the way you will.

Please, Doctor Keller. You're the

only one who can give me...

She trails off, an anguished expression on her face.

DOCTOR KELLER:

Give you what, Donna?

DONNA:

I don't know!

He turns around swiftly, locking eyes with her. If his gaze

was charismatic before, it's positively magnetic now. His eyes

blaze with hypnotic power.

DOCTOR KELLER:

But I do, Donna. Your subconscious

does too, even if it wasn't ready

to let your conscious mind know

before now. You don't just want to

know what it feels like to be

hypnotized, you want to know what

it feels like to be Trilby

O'Farrall. You want to know--really

know, not just imagine--what it

feels like to be completely in the

power of another. You want to feel

what she feels, when she surrenders

her mind completely to Svengali.

That's why you chose me, Donna. You

looked at me and saw Svengali.

Isn't that it?

Donna stares into his eyes, a frightened expression on her

face. She shakes her head wildly, but her eyes stay locked on

his.

DONNA:

No, I...I didn't mean to...

Doctor Keller takes a step forward, forcing her to look up at

an even steeper angle to meet his gaze.

DOCTOR KELLER:

But you did, Donna. There are no

accidents to the subconscious mind.

You looked at me and thought that I

looked exactly like the "sinister

hypnotist" you've been imagining

ever since you read that script.

Didn't you?

Donna looks at him, unblinking, like a rabbit in the

headlights.

DONNA:

I'm sorry...

DOCTOR KELLER

(icily)

Didn't you?

DONNA:

...yes.

Doctor Keller frowns, but not in anger. His expression is one

of stern, undeniable authority.

DOCTOR KELLER:

That is what you want, Donna. You

couldn't admit it before, because

you didn't know it before, but now

you feel the truth of it. You want

me to be your Svengali. You want to

give yourself to me. That is why

you asked me to come here, because

deep down, you knew that you needed

to learn what it felt like to

surrender your mind and will

completely to me in order to be

able to portray it on film. Nothing

else will convince an audience,

Donna. Only when you have

experienced complete hypnotic

submission can you show others what

it feels like. Doesn't that make