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10. EXT: EARLY MORNING
BIANCA'S own REFLECTION glimmers in black hood of her MERCEDES. CIRCUS THEME
(OFF) continues, proximate now. REFLECTED BIANCA averts her eyes.
BIANCA
It's not a man, it's a — cop... She scans her North American audience. REPORTERS VOICES, mostly OFF, rise, wane, drown one another out. MALE REPORTER (mostly VO) ...and at Rockefeller Center, Madame Peralta will give an important speech on the subject of US-San Federal Friendship. Then the Motorcade will proceed down the Avenue, finishing at Washington Square, 102 blocks away. From there, Bianca Peralta will travel directly to Camp David where she will meet with the President and Secretary of State. She is expected to sign a Mutual Defense Treaty. Congressional polls indicate that after the signing, her quarter-billion dollar Loan will be assured... BIANCA stands beside LIMOUSINE. TWIN FANIONS fly from fenders: US FLAG, that of San Federal. On her FLAG, stars surround an atom. FEMALE REPORTER (mostly VO) ...Operation Big Star, our military intervention in San Federal last May, destroyed Mountain bases of subversive drug lords who ran international narco-terrorist operations. However, it appears that there has been a resurgence of narco-terrorism in that embattled land, particularly in so-called Liberated Territories. The Major Ron Stepp Incident last July showed how deadly these narco-terrorists can be. Now, with US military and financial aid, Madame Peralta will be able, at last, to crush the insurgency in her country, and restore stability to the region... Her own FLAG reassures her. US FLAG evokes her bemused contempt. BLACK MALE REPORTER (mostly VO) ...Senator Bart, present in lead cortège of the Motorcade, recently returned from a successful fact-finding mission in San Federal. His Human Rights Commission verified that so-called Death Squads are now virtually inactive, and the body-count is down. Senator Bart, an emblematic Liberal, is Democratic sponsor of bipartisan bill requesting Madame Peralta's quarter-billion dollar Loan. But it's not only Senators that give Madame Peralta the support she needs. The American people are rallying behind her, too. As you can see, enthusiastic crowds are already gathering, all the way down the Avenue, as far as the eye can see... POV BIANCA — She scans AMERICAN FACES in CROWD, choosing crudest, most pitiful specimens. Among them, OLDER MALE "COMMENTATOR," his CREW outfitted with VIDEO CAMERA, LIGHTS. OLDER MALE "COMMENTATOR"
...It is probable that in return for the Loan, San Federal will offer itself as site of a military installation oriented toward space technology. Search for a willing host nation was a difficult task, but San Federal fits the bill both geographically and politically... Some SPECTATORS wear BIANCA PERALTA MASKS. OLDER MALE "COMMENTATOR" (mostly VO) ...For awhile, depressed economic conditions at home seemed to distract us from further development of high-tech weaponry. But now, after our triumph in the Middle East, we have learned the importance of eternal vigilance. Our scientists, military brass, and far-sighted industrialists have been working together all the while, never forgetting that The Enemy is always in more than one place. Yes, Eastern European nations have finally said "good riddance" to Communism. Yes, an Arab madman has been scorched in his own desert. But as we have seen, there are always new challenges for the USA, and New Enemies of the New World Order with whom we must do battle. Of course we still face that Old Enemy, the wily Enemy Within: The threat of internal anarchy, of which drugs and moral permissiveness are the thin edge... OLDER BLACK MAN boldly meets BIANCA'S regard. Is he a threat? Displacing him, FASHION REPORTER elbows to the fore. FASHION REPORTER ...a beautiful silken gown designed by Renzo DiCristi. Madame Peralta is radiant in its rainbow of gorgeous colour. Apparently there is only one other dress in the world that's exactly like this one, and Renzo won't tell us who owns it! Apparently he's been sworn to secrecy, but word has leaked out that it may be owned by an American movie star! Madame Peralta's hairstyle was sculpted by...
BIANCA PERALTA MASK comes off, revealing VULGAR WOMAN. She YAWNS, mouth
agape.
UNDERLING Senator Bart?
UNDERLING opens DOOR to CADILLAC LIMOUSINE, SENATOR BART enters. It's place
in cortege is behind BIANCA'S LIMOUSINE, and SECRET SERVICE ESCORT.
CUT TO: 11. EXT: EARLY MORNING — 110/5
CRANE ANGLE — Motorcade is underway. SECURITY VEHICLES lead, followed
by BIANCA'S LIMOUSINE and more SECURITY VEHICLES, SECRET SERVICE MEN with SUB-MACHINE GUNS at
windows. SENATOR BART'S LIMOUSINE is next. BIKER, HORSE, and FOOT POLICE are stationed throughout,
as are many PHOTOGRAPHERS. At the rear, large "NBI" TRACTOR-TRAILER trundles along,
apparently a TV Mobile Unit.
HARD CUT TO: 12. EXT: [SECOND FLASHBACK TO: JULY 7] UNA and BIANCA, seated at POOLSIDE, cast first shadows of afternoon. Sun is still harsh. CIRCUS THEME (OFF) fades out. UNA What about that man? The one who pointed at the stars...
BIRD (OFF) lets out strident SHRIEK. UNA jumps; BIANCA isn't at all
startled. A riot of gaudy hues, BIRD sits atop a GIACOMETTI.
BIANCA
We were thirteen. He and I, we swam toward each other from the opposite
shores of a mountain lake. And met, midway. As we embraced, we locked in a tight defiant grip, until
we started foundering, losing air and life, but still facing each other, proud and unyielding like
mirrors of divinity. Until we were no longer man nor woman but one mythic Being. Blended together,
beyond death.
Distorted WALKIE-TALKIE BABBLE (OFF) includes intelligible words: "Major Stepp." End OCEAN THEME. UNA'S REFLECTION appears in water beside BIANCA'S. UNA And why did you — surface? BIANCA
We didn't. A local fisherman played hero. We were —
"rescued." Since then...
BIANCA seems transfixed by some faraway wager. UNA Where is he now? BIANCA What? Oh. He. He is alive. But he has lost his head — in the Mountains. Their eyes meet in their REFLECTIONS. Then they confront each other, live face to live face, water of the POOL behind them. FREEZE FRAME. Then, FLASH of WHITE LIGHT seizes Image. HOLD. CIRCUS THEME (OFF) rises OVER — HARD CUT TO: 13. EXT: EARLY MORNING — 110/5
BIANCA stands in LIMOUSINE BUBBLETOP. Her sfumato smile turns almost joyful. CIRCUS THEME is loud, proximate. BIANCA'S LIMOUSINE rides THUMP THUMP over a MANHOLE COVER. CIRCUS THEME continues OVER — CUT TO: 14. EXT: MORNING — 110/5
ENTIRE SCENE IN COLOUR VIDEO: ("NBI" SECURITY MONITOR IN EXTREME
CU). CIRCUS THEME is distant, filtered. REPORTERS' VOICES (mostly OFF) overlap, drown one another
out. (MONTAGE is much briefer than cumulative length of speeches read end to end.)
FEMALE REPORTER (mostly VO) ...Peralta will receive quantity of weaponry sufficient to safeguard the democratically-elected government of her country and to fight drug traffickers and narco-terrorists who use San Federal as base for the cultivation and processing of cocaine, marijuana, and apparently of late, the opium poppy... SECURITY MEN acknowledge roving eye of their "NBI" boss. Some "HIPPIES" and "HOMELESS" show same complicity: One such INFILTRATOR WINKS. SOUTHERN MALE REPORTER (mostly VO) ...And Operation Big Star, our quick-strike military operation in San Federal last May, put drug-lords and their subversive allies out of business. In June, San Federal held what US observers verified were democratic elections. Madame Peralta's husband, Hannibal Peralta, was elected President, and his wife was elected Vice-President. Our two countries have been closely linked ever since, and it is no secret that if tyranny of drug-lords had been allowed to continue, those free elections would never have occurred... UNA is adrift in CROWD. Caught in "NBI" lens, she turns cheerful, vacant. Then turns away. NEW YORK FEMALE REPORTER (mostly VO) ...tens of thousands of refu — uh, emigrés from San Federal now reside illegally in the USA. According to Emigration spokespersons, most of these citizens of San Federal will be returning to their homeland very soon. The US is even willing to provide free transportation... ELDERLY BLACK HURDY-GURDY PLAYER has been following Motorcade. We leave him behind; CIRCUS THEME fades out. FOREIGN REPORTER (mostly VO) ...protests and demonstrations of all sorts have occurred in every major European nation and many Third World nations. In contrast, the American people have not presented any visible protest in response to their government's forthcoming military aid to the dictatorship in San Federal. If Peralta signs Mutual Defense Pact, San Federal will receive more than enough weaponry to crush the insurgent movement in that country — what's left of the insurgency, that is, after quick but brutal US invasion of San Federal last May. The strike was made under the pretense of attacking bases of several so-called drug lords. These bases, of course, happened to be located in guerrilla-held mountain territory. A serious American Left could have stood up now, but short of a few media-boycotted marches, there has been virtual silence from those quarters — just as at the time of "Big Star" invasion of San Federal, "Desert Storm" operation in Middle East, and other recent North American military interventions. An umbrella organization called "Committee in Solidarity with the People of San Federal" did call a protest rally for today, but nothing is in evidence yet, at least on the surface of things... CALLOW MALE REPORTER stands in whirlpool of shoving PEOPLE. JERKS wave to Mama in TV-land. CALLOW MALE REPORTER ...Happy Halloween! New York City has put on a happy face! Citizens of this once-great city welcome Madame Peralta with all they've got! They've put aside budget-cut worries, shelved racial tension that's been so much in vogue of late, and Black and white, young and old, rich and poor, blond and brunette, Oriental and uh, not Oriental — they've all turned out today to embrace this great lady! Yes, they love her! She's right up there with Maggie Thatcher, Golda Meier, uh — HOLD TO: |
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