TRUTH MARATHON -- screenplay-novel trailer
VOICE-OVER: We live our lives and look for happiness. That's the degree of truth that we care and know about. But sometimes truth is deeper than this. Sometimes truth is not only buried in our personal past, but the past of all the world. Sometimes the truth we have to face is that of history itself.
INTERIOR. A BEDROOM.
A young couple is kissing ardently. The male is Western: slim, intelligent-looking, but with blemished skin and a somewhat awkward and self-conscious manner. The female is Asian: flowing dark hair, high cheekbones, tawny beautiful skin. Yet while she's far more attractive than the male, there is a mute sadness to her, as if she, not he, is the one who finds day-to-day life -- the simple actions of fitting in and being "normal" -- hardest.
PAUL: [whispering] I love you.
SARAH: [not looking at him directly] Just hold me.
INTERIOR. A LANGUAGE SCHOOL.
Paul is teaching.
PAUL: [friendly in a rah-rah sort of way] Hi, everyone! Today we're going to talk about vacations. Where would you like to go on vacation?
A CHINESE STUDENT: New York.
PAUL: [turning to another student, this time Korean] Great! Good! How about you, Hyun-sook? Would you like to go to New York also?
HYUN-SOOK: I hate New York.
PAUL: Oh. Okay.
HYUN-SOOK: [with deranged venom] I hate New York because I hate America! America destroyed Korea!
PAUL: [trying to make light of it and be ironic] Oh. Well, guess you'll have to stick to travelling in Canada, eh?
HYUN-SOOK: No! I just here for English! I hate Canada, too! I hate all Western countries!
JUMP-CUT. A LIVING ROOM IN A SHABBY HOUSE.
PAUL'S FATHER: [with a manic gleam in his eye] Sure, they tell you that it was all a surprise ... Pearl Harbor and all that. It wasn't a surprise! They knew! Roosevelt knew and he kept it a secret! And the Korean war, too. That was foreseen also by Truman. It was how they operated!
PAUL: [upset] That's just conspiracy theory stuff, dad.
PAUL'S FATHER: Look at the facts.
PAUL: What facts? If the facts were there, everybody would know them.
PAUL'S FATHER: Bullshit. People are sheep. That's the biggest fact of all.
PAUL: Dad, you're sick. That's why you believe these things. Because of the ... chemistry in your head.
PAUL'S FATHER: [getting angry] Bullshit times two!
PAUL: [pleading] It's not, dad. You've got to stop believing these things. They're not true.
PAUL'S FATHER: They are true! For both Pearl Harbor and the Korean War, there were government coverups on a massive scale.
PAUL: [almost in tears] No, Dad. You can't keep secrets that big.
PAUL'S FATHER: Then check it out. Talk to the same professor I met.
[He hands Paul a card.]
INTERIOR. A UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR'S OFFICE.
Paul and Prof. Demsky are talking.
PROF. DEMSKY: Your father may not be quite the same as the rest of us ... but that doesn't mean he's delusional.
PAUL: What? You're saying there were coverups?
PROF. DEMSKY: I'm not saying anything categorically. I'm saying that when you look at the evidence objectively -- when you look at what government records and what trained scholars already can demonstrate is factually verifiable -- then you ask an entirely new set of questions.
PAUL: So what's the bottom line? Is my dad onto something? Or just delusional?
[beat]
PROF. DEMSKY: [quietly] Your father is in some ways a perceptive man.
PAUL: So the Roosevelt administration did know about Pearl Harbor? And Truman did know the North Koreans were going to attack?
PROF. DEMSKY: Let's just say the weight of evidence suggests a situation that was far more complex than the official story.
INTERIOR. THE LANGUAGE SCHOOL.
Paul and Sarah are meeting. They're clearly in the first blush of love.
PAUL: Hi.
SARAH: [smiling shyly] Hi.
Then Paul simply smiles. The ardor that he feels is plain.
PAUL: Let's go somewhere.
SARAH: [sadly] I can't. I have to help --.
She turns away.
PAUL: What?
SARAH: Nothing.
EXTERIOR. A CITY STREET.
The young man PAUL is chasing the young woman SARAH. She is clearly upset.
PAUL: Please, Sarah! I wanna talk to you!
SARAH: You can't talk to me! You have nothing to say!
A BEDROOM.
Paul and Sarah are making love.
PAUL: [beside himself] You have no idea how much I love you.
SARAH: [weeping quietly] I love you too.
beat.
SARAH: Excuse me.
She stands to go the washroom. She quickly puts on her clothes.
PAUL lies on the bed, a contented look on his face.
SFX: A door slamming.
PAUL runs to the door. It's ajar. Wind blows against. No Sarah.
Paul is shocked.
EXTERIOR. A HOUSE AT NIGHT.
PAUL is drunk. He's outside Sarah's house.
PAUL: Sarah!! Sa-raaaaaaaaahhh!
A light comes on on the second floor.
INTERIOR. A HOUSE.
Paul confronted by Sarah's mother, Ms. Bak.
MS. BAK: [furious] What can you understand about us? You're just a Westerner!
INTERIOR. A BEDROOM.
A young couple is kissing ardently. The male is Western: slim, intelligent-looking, but with blemished skin and a somewhat awkward and self-conscious manner. The female is Asian: flowing dark hair, high cheekbones, tawny beautiful skin. Yet while she's far more attractive than the male, there is a mute sadness to her, as if she, not he, is the one who finds day-to-day life -- the simple actions of fitting in and being "normal" -- hardest.
PAUL: [whispering] I love you.
SARAH: [not looking at him directly] Just hold me.
INTERIOR. A LANGUAGE SCHOOL.
Paul is teaching.
PAUL: [friendly in a rah-rah sort of way] Hi, everyone! Today we're going to talk about vacations. Where would you like to go on vacation?
A CHINESE STUDENT: New York.
PAUL: [turning to another student, this time Korean] Great! Good! How about you, Hyun-sook? Would you like to go to New York also?
HYUN-SOOK: I hate New York.
PAUL: Oh. Okay.
HYUN-SOOK: [with deranged venom] I hate New York because I hate America! America destroyed Korea!
PAUL: [trying to make light of it and be ironic] Oh. Well, guess you'll have to stick to travelling in Canada, eh?
HYUN-SOOK: No! I just here for English! I hate Canada, too! I hate all Western countries!
JUMP-CUT. A LIVING ROOM IN A SHABBY HOUSE.
PAUL'S FATHER: [with a manic gleam in his eye] Sure, they tell you that it was all a surprise ... Pearl Harbor and all that. It wasn't a surprise! They knew! Roosevelt knew and he kept it a secret! And the Korean war, too. That was foreseen also by Truman. It was how they operated!
PAUL: [upset] That's just conspiracy theory stuff, dad.
PAUL'S FATHER: Look at the facts.
PAUL: What facts? If the facts were there, everybody would know them.
PAUL'S FATHER: Bullshit. People are sheep. That's the biggest fact of all.
PAUL: Dad, you're sick. That's why you believe these things. Because of the ... chemistry in your head.
PAUL'S FATHER: [getting angry] Bullshit times two!
PAUL: [pleading] It's not, dad. You've got to stop believing these things. They're not true.
PAUL'S FATHER: They are true! For both Pearl Harbor and the Korean War, there were government coverups on a massive scale.
PAUL: [almost in tears] No, Dad. You can't keep secrets that big.
PAUL'S FATHER: Then check it out. Talk to the same professor I met.
[He hands Paul a card.]
INTERIOR. A UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR'S OFFICE.
Paul and Prof. Demsky are talking.
PROF. DEMSKY: Your father may not be quite the same as the rest of us ... but that doesn't mean he's delusional.
PAUL: What? You're saying there were coverups?
PROF. DEMSKY: I'm not saying anything categorically. I'm saying that when you look at the evidence objectively -- when you look at what government records and what trained scholars already can demonstrate is factually verifiable -- then you ask an entirely new set of questions.
PAUL: So what's the bottom line? Is my dad onto something? Or just delusional?
[beat]
PROF. DEMSKY: [quietly] Your father is in some ways a perceptive man.
PAUL: So the Roosevelt administration did know about Pearl Harbor? And Truman did know the North Koreans were going to attack?
PROF. DEMSKY: Let's just say the weight of evidence suggests a situation that was far more complex than the official story.
INTERIOR. THE LANGUAGE SCHOOL.
Paul and Sarah are meeting. They're clearly in the first blush of love.
PAUL: Hi.
SARAH: [smiling shyly] Hi.
Then Paul simply smiles. The ardor that he feels is plain.
PAUL: Let's go somewhere.
SARAH: [sadly] I can't. I have to help --.
She turns away.
PAUL: What?
SARAH: Nothing.
EXTERIOR. A CITY STREET.
The young man PAUL is chasing the young woman SARAH. She is clearly upset.
PAUL: Please, Sarah! I wanna talk to you!
SARAH: You can't talk to me! You have nothing to say!
A BEDROOM.
Paul and Sarah are making love.
PAUL: [beside himself] You have no idea how much I love you.
SARAH: [weeping quietly] I love you too.
beat.
SARAH: Excuse me.
She stands to go the washroom. She quickly puts on her clothes.
PAUL lies on the bed, a contented look on his face.
SFX: A door slamming.
PAUL runs to the door. It's ajar. Wind blows against. No Sarah.
Paul is shocked.
EXTERIOR. A HOUSE AT NIGHT.
PAUL is drunk. He's outside Sarah's house.
PAUL: Sarah!! Sa-raaaaaaaaahhh!
A light comes on on the second floor.
INTERIOR. A HOUSE.
Paul confronted by Sarah's mother, Ms. Bak.
MS. BAK: [furious] What can you understand about us? You're just a Westerner!
SFX: Low, foreboding music.
VOICE-OVER: Sometimes if you want to find out what really happened, you have to go the distance.
posted by Finn Harvor at 1:24 PM
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