TRUTH MARATHON - 1

This is the new opening to my screenplay-novel, Truth Marathon:

EXT. A STREET IN PRE-WORLD WAR TWO TOKYO. MID-DAY.

TITLE: TOKYO, JANUARY 26, 1941.

The street in front of the Japanese branch of the National City Bank of New York. The street is covered with a thin film of snow. Crowds move back and forth quickly: Japanese men, mostly, dressed in sober dark suits, but also the occasional vendor pulling a large wagon or, with her head bowed, a woman.

Sometimes the women are young and officious and also dressed in dark, business-like fashions. But once in a while, they are wearing bright kimonos.

The overall visual effect is of a series of monochromes, from the black of window frames and wrought iron fences, to the dark grey of stone walls, to the steadily dirtying white of the snow -- but all this dotted by an infrequent bob of colour.

A car pulls up in front of the bank. A WELL-DRESSED WESTERN MAN emerges from it. He enters the bank.

INTERIOR. THE BANK. A MOMENT LATER.

The WELL-DRESSED WESTERN MAN stands in line. After a moment, he reaches the front.

JAPANESE MALE TELLER: [with an accent] Hello. May I helping you?

WELL-DRESSED WESTERN MAN: [speaking in a well-educated accent, Ivy League-inflected accent. His manner is friendly; clearly, he is trying to be genial] Konichiwa. Yes, I’d like to convert some yen to U. S. dollars.

JAPANESE MALE TELLER: How much?

WELL-DRESSED WESTERN MAN: [reaching into his jacket and pulling out a big envelope] Well, it’s rather a large amount….

JUMP-CUT. JUST BEHIND THE WELL-DRESSED WESTERN MAN.

ANOTHER WESTERN MAN, also well dressed, taps the first on the shoulder.

OTHER WESTERN MAN: [with a Latin-American accent] Mr. Bishop.

BISHOP (FIRST WELL-DRESSED WESTERN MAN): [startled] Oh, Dr. Schreiber. You surprised me.

DR. SCHRIEBER: [somewhat anxiously] I’m sorry. May I have a word with you?

BISHOP: Shoot.

DR. SCHRIEBER: No. A private word.

BISHOP: [friendly] Sure. Just a moment.

Bishop turns back to the teller, finishes his business, then turns back to Schreiber who is clearly agitated.

SCHREIBER: [whispering] What I have to say is of paramount importance.

BISHOP: Oh. All right, then.

The two walk to an alcove.

INTERIOR. A CLOSE-UP OF THE TWO MEN. THE BUSINESS OF THE BANK CONTINUES IN THE BACKGROUND.

SCHREIBER: What do you know about Japanese foreign policy toward your country?

BISHOP: [in a rather hale tone] Well, it’s complex, isn’t it? [Trying to be witty] That’s what the Japanese do so well. Make things complex.

SCHREIBER: Well, of course. There is complex. But there is also hostile.

BISHOP: Good god, why should the Japanese be hostile?

SCHREIBER: You are interfering with their aims.

BISHOP: What? In China?

SCHREIBER: Well, yes. In China. But also --. [Schreiber turns his head and does a quick nervous scan of the bank. Then he turns back to Bishop] Well, it would seem that since they signed agreement with Germany and Italy….

BISHOP: [shaking his head] Oh, yes, a foolish business, that. Very bad form.

SCHREIBER: Well, since they have allied into an axis, they --. There seems to be a change in your government’s attitude toward them.

BISHOP: [bluffly] I should hope so!

SCHREIBER: But why? You don’t fight in Europe’s war.

BISHOP: No, no. But we thoroughly disapprove of it. We disapprove of fascism.

SCHREIBER: But that is a European movement. Not Asian.

BISHOP: No. But in Japan it might turn into something close enough. And what Tojo’s people are doing in China right now. It’s very shameful.

SCHREIBER: Mr. Bishop. We are both diplomats. We know countries do not pick fights with each other because they think one country’s actions are shameful.

BISHOP: No, no. That’s true. But we can express disapproval.

SCHREIBER: At the diplomatic level, surely. But not the policy level.

BISHOP: What are you driving at?

SCHREIBER: The Japanese have noticed a change in your government’s policy toward them since they signed their agreement. They view this change as a provocation,

BISHOP: [a little pugnaciously] Well, they can view our policies any way they want. Maybe they might take it as a sign they should change some of their own policies.

SCHREIBER: Mr. Bishop. I have to speak more plainly. [Again, he scans the room.] ...

cont'd

[If you're an industry professional and would like to read this in its entirety, please email me at fharvor AT yahoo DOT com.]

To read more about the project, click here.