電影劇本：SHANGHAI JEWS（24）

(24)

 

EXT. HARBOR -- HONGKOW -- WINTER OF 1941 -- DAY

Around twelve hundred new ARRIVALS stream into Shanghai, making the harbour a bustling place. Among them are rabbinical students from Poland who, wearing skullcaps, appear pale, shabby, exhausted and confused. Some Chassidim are dressed in traditional dark pants and caftans, their heads covered by black hats.    

A RABBI leads his students toward a line of waiting trucks where Hans, Anna, Mark and other volunteers are ready for transporting these newcomers.

MARK

Look, those yeshiva students, they're so young, but look so melancholy.

ANNA

Yes, they must have experienced much hardships and setbacks, migrating from one place to another.

HANS/ANNA/MARK

Hello, welcome, welcome.

RABBI

Thank you. Thank you very much. We're transplanted from the Polish city of Mir.

HANS

So, these are Mirrer Yeshiva students. How was your journey?

RABBI

Very long and tedious. We escaped from Poland just ahead of the German invasion. We arrived in Lithuania, thinking it was a safe place for us. But soon we realized we were wrong since the Germans would capture Lithuania as well, and, moreover, the Russian Red Army was so hostile and anti-religious that we felt it threatened our existence.

MARK

So you had to flee Lithuania. 

RABBI

Yes, just before the Nazis overran it. In desperation, we had no choice but to seek shelter in Shanghai. 

MARK

So, you travelled east via the Soviet Union.

RABBI

Yes, with transit visas. We crossed Siberia by train, and finally reached Vladivostok.

ANNA

Where?

MARK

(to Anna)

Vladivostok, a Russian port, in the Far East.

RABBI

From there, we boarded a Japanese ship to Kobe. Then, we're deported from Kobe to Shanghai.

MARK

Well, now you've finally resettled.

RABBI

I hope the students will be safe and continue their studies here.

ANNA

Thank God, you will. Now, twelve hundred more lives have been saved.

HANS

Come on, let's get on the trucks. This way please.

Anna and other volunteers steer the new refugees and load them onto the trucks. Hans and Mark are in the driver's seats, ready to transport the newcomers to Hongkow.

INT. MAIN HALL -- SYNAGOGUE -- HONGKOW -- DAY

Mark, Hans and the four musicians remove seats from the main hall and set up cots for the new refugees, who will temporarily reside in the Synagogue. Emilia, Anna and Rose serve food and coffee. The four musicians play Jewish music to cheer up the new refugees.

EXT. COURTYARD -- SYNAGOGUE -- DAY

Dr. Behr and a couple of NURSES examine the newcomers with stethoscope and prescribe for them.

EXT. HARBOR -- INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENT -- NIGHT

SUPEROVER: DECEMBER 7, 1941

Japanese SOLDIERS in Hongkow open fire on American and British NAVY SHIPS anchored in the Harbor near the International Settlement. Ships sink. SAILORS and CREWMEN are detained.

EXT. STREETS -- HONGKOW -- NIGHT

Thunderous explosions light up the night, rattling buildings and waking up people. Frightened people look outside through  windows.

EXT. STREETS -- BUND -- DAY

Japanese troops march on the streets of Shanghai. Hans buys a copy of the SHANGHAI JEWISH CHRONICLE.

The HEADLINE reads: JAPANESE ACTIONS AFTER PEARL HARBOR.

HANS (O.S.)

(reading)

The Japanese authorities declared victory at Pearl Harbor.  The Japanese army marched across Hongkow, taking control of the International Settlement and the French concession.  The whole Shanghai is now under Japanese rule.

On the streets, Japanese soldiers strut around to round up Americans, British citizens and other Allied nationals.

U.S., U.K. and French flags are ripped from buildings and red Sun flags of Japan flutter ubiquitously.

Crowds of people read Japanese proclamations and decrees pasted on walls across the city.

INT. JAIL -- DAY

The Japanese soldiers bustle about, with bayonets fixed to their rifles, imprisoning the British and American civilians, as well as sailors and crewmen from the sunken navy ships.

Red armbands encircle the prisoners' upper arms. AMERICAN CITIZENS wear the sort adorned with the Stars and Stripes; BRITISH CITIZENS wear the sort identified with the Union Jack. They are roughly pushed into the squalid cells.

(CONTINUING)