電影劇本：SHANGHAI JEWS（28）

(28)

 

INT. FRONT CHAMBER -- ANNA'S HOUSE -- HONGKOW -- DAY

Hans enters the room, which he has rented for Anna's family, and now has been separated into two chambers by a thin plywood wall, one for the parents and the other for Anna. Hans puts a basket of fruit on the table and looks at Mark. Mark wakes up, lying in bed. Anna and Emilia are at his side.

HANS

Mr. Rosenfeld, are you okay now?

MARK

I'm fine. Sit down please.

Hans sits on a chair beside Mark's bed.

EMILIA

Hans, you're so considerate to rent this place for us.

Anna leans Mark's head up on the pillow and feeds him spoonfuls of soup. Emilia wipes Mark's mouth with a napkin.

INT. REAR CHAMBER -- ANNA'S HOUSE -- HONGKOW -- DAY

Hans and Anna embrace and kiss. Anna shows Hans' his portrait brought here from Germany.

HANS

It's the portrait you drew for me in Berlin.

ANNA

I found it on the floor at your place.

HANS

(holding Anna closely)

Anna, we'll never be separated again. We'll be together forever, I promise.

EXT. DR. BEHR'S HOUSE -- HONGKOW -- NIGHT

The house looks shabby, located in the restricted area of Jewish ghetto in Hongkow.

INT. CORRIDOR -- DR. BEHR'S HOUSE -- NIGHT

The house is so crowded that some of the refugees have to sleep in the hallway. Mina, with her son Lawrence, has to wake up the refugees in order to get through to her husband's room.

INT. DR. BEHR'S ROOM -- NIGHT

Mina and Lawrence enter. Dr. Behr is delighted to meet his wife and son. Lawrence covers his face with a paper mask portrayed of the Chinese drama character Monkey King.

LAWRENCE

Daddy, look, Daddy, look, I'm the Monkey King.

(chuckling)

Hey, I'm the Monkey King.

Mina unwraps a bag of Shanghai crabs and opens a bottle of French wine. The family enjoys their meal. Lawrence never stops moving. His Dad smiles at him but his Mom is impatient and annoyed.

MINA

Lawrence, bed time.

LAWRENCE

Daddy, Daddy, tell me a story. Tell me about Tarzan.

Dr. Behr tucks his son into bed and puts a blanket on him.

DR. BEHR

(reading a story)

A long time ago, in the jungle, there lived a boy whose name was Tarzan...

Lawrence falls asleep in the only single-sized bed in the room. Mina places sheets, blankets and pillows on the bare floor. She and Dr. Behr make love on the floor, giggling as they try to be quiet so as not to wake their neighbors, whose SNORES can be heard through the thin plywood wall.

INT. JAPANESE OFFICE -- HONGKOW -- DAY

Rose, Petr, Jacob and Catalina are in the queue of REFUGEES waiting their turn to apply for permissions to leave the ghetto. A JAPANESE OFFICER reviews their applications.

OFFICER

What's your reason for leaving the ghetto?

ROSE

I've got a job in the French concession.

The Japanese officer stamps Rose's paper and hands her a pass and a round metal pin.

OFFICER

Wear the pin on your coat when you go outside the ghetto.

The officer then makes a gesture for silence to the crowd.

OFFICER (CONT'D)

(announcing)

Attention please. You're allowed a one-day leave, a one-week leave, or a one-month leave.

The officer picks up some pins and show them to the applicants.

OFFICER (CONT'D)

You shall wear pins with different colors to signify the amount of time you are permitted to leave the ghetto. Persons who disobey shall be punished.

(calling)

Next.

JACOB

I need to buy medicine for my daughter.

OFFICER

Damned fool. There's a pharmacy in the ghetto. Denied. Go away.

(calling)

Next.

Refugees wearing pins with different colors file out of the crowded office, while new applicants push their way in.

EXT. BUS STOP -- STREET -- GHETTO -- HONGKOW -- DAY

Rose, wearing a yellow pin, walks with Petr toward a bus stop, followed by Jacob and Catalina.

ROSE

Well, I'm gonna work now.

JACOB

You still teach ballet there, in Natasha's studio?

ROSE

Yeah. Since she's been in Shanghai for more than twenty years as a Russian Jew fleeing Bolshevik Soviet, she's allowed to stay where she is.

JACOB

I know some Sephardic Jews and many other wealthy Jews living in Shanghai for quite a long time. They don't need to comply with the Japanese order. Only the Jewish refugees fleeing European Holocaust in recent years are enforced to move into the ghetto.

ROSE

Some Jewish refugees are urged to convert to Christianity or Catholicism to evade being forced to move into the ghetto.

JACOB

Look, the bus is coming.

ROSE

Well, I'd buy medicines for Catalina. You don't worry.

JACOB

Thank you very much.

The bus stops. Rose and Petr get on the bus.

ROSE/PETR

Goodbye, goodbye.

JACOB/CATALINA

Goodbye, goodbye.

(CONTINUING)