The Production GuideScript To Screen: Black Sun
by Martin Willey
The Production Guide
Bergman is electrocuted in the Main Power Unit, just before the commercial break. When we return, Bergman wakes up in Medical. The sequence seems like a false cliffhanger to serve the advert break, and is immediately forgotten. A short additional scene was filmed on 19th February
In the original Weir script, Bergman is electrocuted while working on a forcefield tower on the lunar surface. We then see Bergman in Medical. The state of Alpha is much worse in Weir's script- there is no power, or even artificial gravity. In another scene we see Catani (Alan Carter) chopping ice from equipment in the control centre with an axe, the ice chips floating weightlessly in the air.
Here's the original Weir scene when Bergman wakes. There is some foreshadowing of the intelligence inside the black sun, and more of the computer sub-plot. Below is the revised version that was filmed.
49
HELENA stands over BERGMAN, watched by KOENIG. Both are
in suits, but without helmets. SHE holds a hypodermic that
looks like a gun (works by high-pressure spray, not needle)
so we are not sure what is happening at first.
HELENA
Are you sure this is necessary?
KOENIG
Will it hurt him?
HELENA
No, but...
KOENIG
Do it.
HELENA turns BERGMAN's head, and injects the spray at the
base of his skull, wipes it with lint. THEY watch, wait.
HELENA
I changed the batteries - they were drained -
And they're supposed to be inexhaustible.
KOENIG
How long?
HELENA
Give it time. He'd be dead, but for his
mechanical heart. He may not talk sense.
KOENIG
We're running out of time. I have to know
why those screens blew. I can't wait. We'll
freeze before we're crushed without power,
and I don't want to restore power until I
know it won't blow again.
HELENA
Turn off the screens.
KOENIG
He knew - and Central Computer knew - how.
If it blows again, there won't be time to
fix it.
HELENA
He's stirring. He... may not talk sense.
Faintly, BERGMAN begins to rock his head, as if to relieve
pressure on the back of his neck. When his lips move, THEY
bend to hear any words.
BERGMAN
(Very faintly)
Help.
KOENIG
What did he say?
HELENA
(Dryly)
He said help.
BERGMAN
(Just audibly)
Help us. Please help us. Please.
KOENIG
Victor? Can you hear .me?
BERGMAN
(Louder)
No.
KOENIG
Do you remember the accident? What made
the screens blow? How do I turn them off?
Can you understand me? Victor?
BERGMAN
I think I understand... Otherwise we could
not have survived. I'm not a religious man.
The only explanation. Perhaps - Perhaps
inside... we can make some sort of contact.
Intelligence of that order. Communicate...
Inside... the black sun.
HELENA
I'm sorry. You're getting his thoughts at
the time of the accident. Why it happened
isn't a memory.
KOENIG
Victor, hear me. This is important, listen.
Can I risk restoring the power?
BERGMAN
Inside the black sun... anything's possible.
We have to go inside to... talk. I wonder...
Yes, I wonder.
KOENIG
Can we turn-on the power again?
BERGMAN
Ask... Ask the Computer?
HE falls silent; again unconscious.
HELENA
He's gone. Did that make sense? About
the computer?
KOENIG
Maybe he's right, but with the power off,
the computer's not working.
HELENA
Well...
MOVING INTO
EXTREME C.U. KOENIG.
KOENIG
... Yeah.
The scene was revised multiple times; this is the final version written by Christopher Penfold. It's much shorter, but contains many of the same elements, including Bergman's line foreshadowing the intelligence in the black sun, now more subtle. This scene was filmed on 19th February 1974.
34
ACT THREE
FADE IN:
75 INT. INTENSIVE CARE UNIT (AUXILLIARY LIGHT)
ON TV MONITOR AND LIFE LINE SCREEN
We see BERGMAN's face. The life lines are flat.
CAMERA pans down to reveal BERGMAN with the monitor
unit around his chest, the lights off; as HELENA and
KOENIG look on.
HELENA
I had to replace his energy
cells. They were supposed to
be inexhaustible.
KOENIG
It doesn't seem to have made
any difference.
Suddenly there is a slight bleep from the brain life
line. HELENA and KOENIG look hopefully at the life
line screen. After a few moments, all three life
lines respond, becoming stronger. Likewise with
the lights on the monitor unit. The two friends are
relieved.
HELENA
If it wasn't for his mechanical heart,
he'd be dead.
Faintly, BERGMAN's face comes to life, his lips move.
HELENA leans closer.
BERGMAN
(barely audible)
Help... Please help us...
please...
HELENA reacts, straightens, then looks at KOENIG.
HELENA
(quite taken)
I think he's praying.
KOENIG is just as surprised.
ANOTHER ANGLE
KOENIG starts out. HELENA stops him.
HELENA
Where do we stand now?
KOENIG
I don't know.
76) DELETED
77)
'BLACK SUN'. 24.1.74.