A documentary filmmaker’s uncovers a world-shattering secret the Catholic Church has sup-pressed for nearly a century. Her quest to find out the truth leads to a pilgrimage of self-discovery and fulfillment with unforeseen and terrible consequences for both her and the Church itself.
The Last Secret
Copyright by Lynwood Shiva.
Windswept (Suspense & Thriller, Screenplay Award 2023)
Temporary Insanity (Comedy & Humour, Screenplay Award 2023)
Genre
Award Category
Where appropriate, DIALOGUE is in original language and subtitled.
EXT. CARDINAL OF LISBON'S PALACE - NIGHT
OS, wind HOWLS. Rain smashes against a-
-wooden door upon which a mace pounds.
SUPER: LISBON, 1958
Carved on the mace is the INQUISITION EMBLEM (shield, olive branches, Cross and sword, and the motto: "Exsungte, Domine! Judica causam tuam, Capite nobis vulpes.")
A slot in the door opens. A DOORMAN glimpses the Inquisition Emblem on the mace and the identical emblem on a silver ring worn by-
-the mace wielder, TOMAS KRATKY (late 20s). His precocious maturity reeks of steely ambition. His left eye weeps when he is stressed, and he often dabs it with a handkerchief.
Two muscular CLERICS, cassocks visible beneath drenched raincoats, another Priest, VASCO (late 20s) - who holds a large silver BOX - flank Kratky.
KRATKY
Open! In the name of the Holy Office!
The door opens. The Clerics, followed by Kratky and Vasco, push their way into an-
OAK-PANELED FOYER
KRATKY
(to Doorman)
Where is the Cardinal?
The Doorman involuntarily looks up. Kratky nods. He, the Clerics and Vasco rush up a magnificent staircase to enter the-
CARDINAL'S PRIVATE CHAPEL
where CARDINAL CEREJEIRA (60s) kneels, clutching LUCIA'S ENVELOPE, blue, with faded writing.
Before him is an altar with a crucifix. Lit candles B&W 1917 PHOTOS of three Portuguese SHEPHERD CHILDREN, CROWDS at the miracle of Fatima, and contemporary photos of Fatima, including the Hill of the Angels.
Cardinal Cerejeira rises stiffly.
CARDINAL CEREJEIRA
Who are you to enter-
Kratky breaks the seals on a ribbon bedecked-scroll. He unrolls it To Reveal black and red lettering.
KRATKY
(reading)
"Cardinal Cerejeira, you are hereby ordered to surrender Lucia's letter. Should you divulge a single word, you will be excommunicated and your place in paradise forfeit. Furthermore-
CARDINAL CEREJEIRA
By what authority do you-
The Clerics flash fists with Inquisition Rings.
VASCO
The Church will declare anathema unto you.
CARDINAL CEREJEIRA
"That day and hour knoweth no man, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only. For as the lightning cometh out of the East, and shineth even unto the West; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."
The Clerics scoop up the photos. Kratky seizes the letter from Cardinal Cerejeira. Vasco opens the Box. Kratky deposits the letter inside. He takes a silver padlock with the Inquisition Emblem from his cassock and locks the Box.
CRAWL:
In 1542, in order to exterminate heresy (the sin of thinking for one's self), the Catholic Church established the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Universal Inquisition.
During centuries of terror, the Inquisition imprisoned hundreds of thousands of people, the majority women, for daring to question the Church. Many were burnt alive, many more tortured; huge numbers died in prison.
In 1958, the Inquisition, now renamed the Sancto Oficio (Holy Office), seized the Last Secret of Fatima ...
EXT. ROME - PALACE OF THE HOLY OFFICE - GARDEN - SUNSET
BG, the imposing Palace of the Holy Office - the Baroque meets the Soviet Politburo.
A VIXEN (female fox) wanders through a row of foxgloves, then past an ornate fountain.
SUPER: TWENTY YEARS LATER
ROME
SEPTEMBER 1978
INTERCUT: Elderly fingers handle the FATIMA CROWD PHOTOS.
The Vixen circles a baited trap. She flips it over with her paw. The jaws spring shut, releasing the meat and propelling the trap into the air.
The trap descends past the Prisoners Entrance - a stone archway, overgrown with vines, with steps leading into the earth. Above the arch is the Inquisition Emblem.
The fingers pick up the SHEPHERD CHILDREN PHOTOGRAPH.
INT. VATICAN - APOSTOLIC PALACE - BEDROOM - DUSK
Pope John Paul I, in bed, wearing a nightgown studies the SHEPHERD CHILDREN PHOTOGRAPHS.
He sets them aside and knocks back a cup of espresso.
He GASPS, clutches his chest. His eyes roll backward.
He slumps, dropping the cup.
BG, BLANCA DACOSTA (late 20s) peers through a crack in the door. Her offhand beauty is the sort that inspires forgiveness for the basest treachery. She eases the door shut. On her finger is an Inquisition Ring.
SFX. FLASHES
FLASH/CAMERA SHUTTER CLICK: Snapshot of a smiling Pope John Paul I waving to adoring crowds. Handwriting: "John Paul I / Sept. 1978."
NOTE: Whenever this effect is used, the PREVIOUSLY SEEN Snapshots flash by, almost subliminally.
DRONE SHOT - NIGHT
Rome sprawls below in sparkling glory. We Descend to See-
A limousine with blacked-out windows bumping along.
Two embalmers, IGNAZIO, his brother, UGO (both 50s) sit in back. Between them is a fat leather briefcase.
IGNAZIO
Who is it? The Prime Minster?
UGO
Next month's rent. If we're lucky, next year's.
ignazio
Can't be the new Pope! Only been a month since the last one.
UGO
Si, he's strong as an ox.
Ignazio rolls down the window.
The divider panel opens TO REVEAL the driver, Tony CHAPMAN (40s), robust bordering on rotund, a shock of red hair, leans back. His eyes are dead calm, and his smile is that of an insatiable shark. On his finger is the Inquisition Ring.
Blanca smiles at them from the passenger seat.
CHAPMAN
(in Italian with American accent)
Please close that window.
IGNAZIO
It's stuffy-
CHAPMAN
Now!
Ignazio almost breaks the handle in his haste to roll up the window. The divider panel slides shut.
UGO
You packed everything?
Ignazio holds up a canvas sack. He swings it. The glass and metal vessels inside CLANK.
IGNAZIO
And you?
Ugo opens the briefcase lid - tubing, stainless steel instruments - tools of the embalmer's art.
INT. APOSTOLIC PALACE – PAPAL STUDY - NIGHT
A yellow glow as Kratky, now nearly 50 and Vice-Prefect of the Holy Office, lights a candle. He wears fashionable spectacles. A gold cross rests on his beautifully tailored cassock.
The flickering light creates an air of a chiaroscuro painting. Ornate furniture, book-lined shelves. A desk with an appointment book, the padlocked Box and a picture of Pope John Paul I embracing NIKODIM (the Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Leningrad).
Kratky holds up the candle for his superior, CARDINAL GUISEPPE ANGELO, Prefect of the Holy Office (late 70s), white-haired. Even more elegantly dressed than Kratky, he has the sinister inscrutability of a parchment dragon. On his finger is a gold Inquisition Ring.
KRATKY
Your Eminence.
Angelo takes a gold necklace with a key from his cassock. He unlocks the padlock and indicates the photograph.
FLASHBACK - PAPAL STUDY - DAY
Nikodim, gasping for breath, collapses into the arms of John Paul I.
ANGELO (VO)
Alas, poor Nikodim. He should have stayed at home.
SFX. FLASHES
Snapshot of Nikodim blessing old women. Handwriting: "Nikodim, Patriarch of Leningrad, September 1978."
BACK TO SCENE:
Kratky opens the Box. Empty.
Angelo
They wouldn't risk leaving it there.
He indicates a wall painting. Kratky tilts the painting and holds the candle for Angelo to twirl the dial of a safe.
ANGELO
E vedi!
Kratky pulls out papers, folders bound in red ribbon and sealed with sealing wax.
KRATKY
Not there.
ANGELO
It's not in his room.
KRATKY
Could he have released the Secret to the papers?
ANGELO
Not yet.
KRATKY
Given it to that damned Russian?
ANGELO
Chapman searched Nikodim's office most carefully.
Kratky rapidly opens desk drawers.
ANGELO
Don't let that village idiot grin fool you. John Paul was cunning in a peasant sort of way. Besides Nikodim had a protégé, Macarius.
KRATKY
Please, Eminence. They'll be here any second.
ANGELO
Which of these books will never be read?
KRATKY
Gelasius?
ANGELO
Too much precedent.
KRATKY
Encyclicals of Pius the XII?
ANGELO
Very good.
Angelo examines a set of bound volumes. He opens the front board of one. The book has been hollowed out, and he removes Lucia's Envelope.
KRATKY
Is it the real one?
Angelo removes LUCIA'S LETTER (about 20 handwritten lines) from the envelope. He hands it to Kratky, who scans it, nods.
KRATKY
The Last Secret. If this were released, the explosion would be ...
He spreads his hands.
ANGELO
Bigger than a nuclear holocaust.
Lucia's Letter has disappeared from Kratky's hand!
KRATKY
Better that it disappears!
Angelo glares. Kratky waves his right hand over his left. Lucia's Letter reappears.
Light floods the room. Angelo's CHAMBERLAIN (late 50s) hatchet-faced, carrying a walkie-talkie, enters.
CHAMBERLAIN
The Secretary of State is on his way, Eminence.
Angelo returns Lucia's Letter to Lucia's Envelope.
KRATKY
They'll notice it missing.
From his cassock, Angelo pulls out a OFFICIAL ENVELOPE, almost identical to the first but thicker and covered with seals.
ANGELO
Our jobs, our posterity, our lives, even the very future of the Church, even depend on this letter. We cannot afford to be clumsy.
He places the Official Envelope in the Box and locks the padlock.
INT. APOSTOLIC PALACE - BASEMENT CORRIDOR - NIGHT
By the light of a penlight, Chapman hustles Ugo (carrying the briefcase) and Ignazio (carrying the canvas sack). They enter a-
MORGUE
where the CAMERLENGO (60s) taps John Paul I's white-fringed forehead with a silver mallet.
CAMERLENGO
John Paul, dormisne?
He removes the papal ring from John Paul I's waxen finger.
A CRASH as Ignazio drops the canvas sack. He throws himself, sobbing, onto the body. Ugo tries to comfort him.
UGO
He loved this Pope very much.
CAMERLENGO
So did the world.
UGO
(to Ignazio)
Come on. Chin up. Let us begin.
He opens the briefcase and unpacks cannulae, tubing and vessels. Angelo enters.
ANGELO
(to Ugo and Ignazio)
Naturally, there's no need for an autopsy.
UGO
Naturally.
KRATKY
Three embalmings in two months. A very good year for you, gentlemen.
DISSOLVE TO:
FLASHBACK – SOLDAU, POLAND - LABOR CAMP - 1944 - NIGHT
Young Kratky, (5, in a Hitler Youth uniform. He peers through the gently whirling brass blades of TINKLING ANGEL CHIMES. They twinkle by candlelight.
SUPER: SOLDAU ARBEITSLAGER
POLAND, 1944
Kratky places his head in his hands and SOBS. The TINKLING is gradually drowned out by a HOWLING wind.
FADE TO WHITE:
FLASHBACK - POV. SNOW-SWEPT FOREST
We Are Running beneath ancient, gnarled trees. Wind whips snow into flurries that sting our face. Thorny branches clutch at Us.
We Rise over the crest of the hill and pause, gasping for breath. We Hurry On and Stumble down the slope.
We Break out of a snowbank into a clearing and Glimpse our small, bare, foot cracking the snow crust. On a skinny forearm numbers have been tatooed.
We Reach the other side of a clearing and stagger against a tree. We Try To Dodge the tree as it crashes. Snow and branches avalanche on us. We Struggle To Free Ourselves.
A pair of humps approach Us through the snow.
BG, two SS Guards rise over the crest of the hill. Young Kratky, hand over his left eye, bloodstains on his cheek, huffs up behind, SHOUTING. Guard #1 raises his binoculars.
FLASHBACK - SFX. BINOCULARS
A LITTLE GIRL, 11, in concentration camp pajamas. A triangle of yellow cloth with the letter "R" overlaps a red one on her pajama top, the only color in a monochromatic wilderness.
A look of terror crosses the Little Girl's face as the snowy humps explode upward: two Rottweilers! One seizes the Little Girl's arm in its teeth.
She SCREAMS.
TOM (O.S.)
Jessie! Jessie!
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. BROOKLYN - JESSIE'S BEDROOM - DAY
SCREAMS continue, but in a Jessie's voice.
A documentary filmmaker's lair: scripts, storyboards, etc. Angel Chimes similar to Young Kratky's TINKLE as they spin on the windowsill.
SUPER: BROOKLYN
TUESDAY, MAY 5, 1981
TOM CLINE (30s) shakes JESSIE MAGUIRE (late 30s) awake.
Jessie is a tough but vulnerable Joan-of-Arc-like figure, whose impulsive life choices have not been for the best. Tom is an expert DP with tousled hair and a cheerfully cynical demeanor. He wears a Chicago Cubs cap and a T-shirt reading, "Nuke the Whales."
Tom speaks into Jessie's left ear - she is deaf in her right - and often twists her head to hear people better.
TOM
You're having nightmares again.
JESSIE
I'm not!
TOM
"Kevlar Jessie." Nothing penetrates you.
JESSIE
You do.
TOM
Just let it go. Past lives are past.
JESSIE
That proposal is best one to cross Helena's desk-
The clock radio PLAYS the news.
RADIO
...IRA hunger-striker Tommy Sands died this morning ...
JESSIE
Seen my Marlboros?
TOM
You told me you quit.
JESSIE
I TOLD you I quit. Doesn't mean I did quit.
TOM
They'll cost you
RADIO
... after 66 days without food. The 27-year-old IRA member spent his last days on a water bed to protect his fragile bones.
Jessie opens her nightgown, grins.
EXT. PROSPECT PARK - DAY
Jessie, smoking, and Tom, roller skate.
TOM
I want you to see this therapist.
JESSIE
I've spent thirty-thousand dollars on shrinks. Only made my Catholic guilt worse.
TOM
I've heard he works miracles.
JESSIE
Church propaganda at its most brilliant.
Comments
The Last Secret: A Dan Brown-type Religious Thriller / Synopsis
What exactly does the Third Secret of Fatima contain?
Three Portuguese peasant children claimed the Virgin Mary gave them this revelation in 1917. Ever since, many people associated with the Secret, from the Archbishop of Leningrad to John Paul I, have died mysterious, untimely deaths.
In 1981, documentary filmmaker JESSIE MAGUIRE, late 30s, a Joan-of-Arc figure, finds herself at an unhappy crossroads.
She has always struck off on her determined direction, but her impulsive life choices have not necessarily been for the best. She is troubled by nightmares of being a young girl incarcerated in a Nazi labor camp. Her proposed TV series on reincarnation has been pre-empted. Her alternate project, on The Last Secret of Fatima, has been nixed as being too obscure. Jessie’s relationship with her wryly ironic boyfriend, cameraman BOB KLINE, mid-30s, is rocky.
Worst of all, her shattered faith in the Catholic Church is compounded by deep guilt over her daughter, fathered by a priest and given away at birth for adoption.
Then Pope John Paul II is almost assassinated. When he attributes his survival to Our Lady of Fatima, Jessie’s moribund project suddenly has a greenlight. Jessie and Bob take off to the Vatican to film their documentary.
Like most people, Jessie assumed the Inquisition ceased its ruthless suppression of freethinkers several hundred years ago. She soon finds out that the Inquisition (now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or the Holy Office) continues its mission from its Vatican headquarters, although more covertly. In 1957, the organization had confiscated the only known copy of The Last Secret and permitted no access to it.
What began as a straightforward film project becomes an increasingly perilous quest for Jessie to find out the contents of the Last Secret. The lengths to which the Church has gone to conceal it indicate the Secret might well threaten the foundation of the Church itself.
She and Bob travel from Rome to Russia (where Jessie has a near-death experience caused by an infection) and Portugal. Navigating an ever shifting world of deception, they face adversaries who have centuries of experience concealing the truth by whatever means necessary. The cover-up extends all the way to the head of the Inquisition himself, the deceptively demure CARDINAL GUISSEPE ANGELO and his right-hand man, the troubled ARCHBISHOP TOMAS KRATKY.
As Jesse also searches for her long-lost daughter, her daughter is simultaneously searching for her. Immediately after a fleeting reunion with her long-lost daughter, Jessie confronts the conspiratorial pair of Cardinal and Archbishop.. She will not only realize the cause of her troubling dreams, but find out the truth of the Last Secret.
Although she pays a terrible price for these discoveries, the inner peace that Jessie finds as a result will at last bring the fulfillment for which she had desperately sought her entire life.