| |
Screenplay
- Maria Johnsen's Screenplay
Enduring Freedom
This is a part of my screenplay.
1 NEXT. KANDAHAR SOUTH OF
AFGHANISTAN. DAY
The road looks like a front line of a combat zone. Some Afghan women
are captured by the Taliban that forces them towards a series of holes
called prison.
CUT TO:
2 EXT. SOMEWHERE IN KABUL. DAY
A woman comes out of school. Two Taliban follow her and
beat her up. One of them spit on her.
TOFIGH:
"You should learn to stay at home instead of going to school like a
whore and teaching to those little whores!"
We see a close up of Golzar,32’s, bloody face. Some women are witnessed
to Taliban’s act. Mina, 27 years old is watching while slowly walking
towards the beaten woman.Mina helps her to stand up. One of the Taliban
notices her and kicks on Mina’s back while she is carrying Golzar.
3 EXT. A VILLAGE SOUTH OF Afghanistan
The Taliban insurgents kill civilians who do not cooperate with them
and burn down their houses.
4 EXT. SOUTH OF Afghanistan PRISON. DAY
Canadian and U.S soldiers are captured in the Taliban prison. We pan
the entire Pashmool Afghan Prison. We see the dark holes where
prisoners are captured and chained on the wall. Their tired faces cry
out for food, water and a fresh air. The Taliban guys guard the prison.
5 INT. TORTURE ROOM. DAY
It is a dark room surrounded by the torture objects. We notice
immediately a Canadian officer who is sitting in the center of the room
and has been interrogated by the two afghan Taliban officer is shaking
because of the severe pain all over his body but does not answer to
their question.
6 EXT.MOUNTAIN.DAY
We pan the mountains.
NARRATION:
"The United States Army and Marine Corps have been at war in
Afghanistan since November 2001. The Taliban have been bothering people
of Afghanistan for quite some time. That is why many troops from
various countries went there to help Afghan civilians. 3.200 marines
are heading to southern Afghanistan to provide Canadian forces
additional troop support and help the Afghan civilians. A special
Marine troop has a mission to save Canadian and American officers who
are tortured and imprisoned at the Taliban prison in southern
Afghanistan."
MUSIC. The opening credits roll over a series of shots of Washington DC
and the real people who live and work there, going about their daily
lives. We see Jack. A. Williams in Marine outfit does his usual work at
the Marine headquarters in DC.
7 EXT. WASHINGTON DC, DOWNTOWN. NIGHT
JACK A. WILLIAMS, single, 30’s, Marine ’s combat engineer officer, an
attractive young man, casual clothes, leaves a restaurant and walks
towards a Porsche in the parking lot while talking on his cell phone.
JACK A. WILLIAMS:
"I know mom, don’t worry. How’s dad?"
8 INT. PORSCHE .NIGHT
He starts the car and drives.
JACK:
"I gotta go. Alright don’t worry. Okey..bye."
9 EXT. VIRGINIA, PENTAGON CITY. NIGHT
Jack drives his car and turns to another street where his
apartment is located.
10 INT. APARTMENT.NIGHT
It is a nice well-designed apartment, a big flat screen plasma TV
stands in the middle of the living room. We pan over some pictures of
Jack in his marine outfit, the medallions that he received previously
and his family pictures on the wall. He goes towards the refrigerator
and takes out a bottle of beer, opens it and starts drinking it. He
takes the remote control, turns on TV. The news is on. Without
listening to the news, he goes towards the bathroom,drinks up his beer
and puts the bottle on the table. He takes his clothes off. The scares
on his body have stories to tell.
11 INT. SHOWER.NIGHT
He is under the shower. The water slowly goes down through his
shoulders and his entire body. Jack closes his eyes for a moment under
the shower. He is worried!
FLASH BACK:
12 EXT.COMBAT ZONE SOMEWHERE IN IRAQ.DAY
JACK and his men are under the attack of the Iraqis. JACK shoots at the
enemy. One of his men, 21’s gets injured. We see his foot is cut off
and a few inches near to him. He is asking for help.. Another man is
going to help him but gets shot. He shoots at the enemy in the same
direction. One of the marines, Tom, 21 years old, notices a 5 years old
little girl in the mine zone. He puts away his backpack to save her. He
walks slowly towards the mine zone. Jack sees him, but cannot do
anything since he is busy with shooting at the enemy with his machine
gun. We have a long shot of Tom and the girl. She opens her arms asking
for help while crying. Tom can’t wait to get to the girl, grab her and
go back to a safe zone. Jack sees the little girl.
JACK:
"How on earth did she get there? Watch out, marine!"
( worried)
JACK:
"Be careful marine!"
Tom waves his hand to Jack and smiles, suddenly. Explosion.
Tom and the little girl both are killed in mine explosion.
JACK:
"NOOOOOO"
13 INT.SHOWER.NIGHT
Jack opens his eyes under the shower. We see pain , sadness and hatred
in his eyes.
14 INT. BEDROOM.NIGHT
He roles on the right side, then left side but cannot sleep. The insert
of the clock on his night table shows 02:00 AM
FLASH BACK:
15 INT.COMBAT ZONE IRAQ.DAY
Jack is sitting with his team( Sammy, Tommy, Roberto, Kenneth and
Todd.) They get attack and he loses his men and a helicopter. Explosion.
16 INT.MARINE COURT,DC.DAY
We see the marine judges in their marine outfit questioning Jack for
losing a helicopter and his men in Iraq. Jack wounded and is sitting
in the middle of the court and answers to their questions and
defending himself about a book that he is written about the war. We see
his book is as a material in front of them with Jack’s picture and
Iraq’s map. They point the book and question him.
JACK:
"Your Honor, they were not my team but my best
friends:Sammy,Tommy,Roberto, Kenneth and Todd. They carried themselves
with such professional manner! They were humble and i loved them. The
spirit of brotherhood have always been among us, your honor!" (Jack
cries)
JACK:
"I lost my best friends and a helicopter. We have been in many
missions. People speculate about what we do in the war! I wrote that
book to set the record straight. So people get a better picture about
what is really going on in Iraq.We don’t need that politicians tell us
how to do it. We know our job, your honor! The world is changing fast
and we should not take the enemy’s intelligent lightly! They have been
fighting for years. We must change some of our strategies! It is a
tough war. If you do not trust us as special forces, so do not send us.
Please don’t tell us how to do it.We don’t watch news when we are
there. We focus on the mission. We focus on one thing: to stay....
alive!"
We do not hear the rest of the defense. The juries talk to each other.
The insert of the hammer that the judge land on the desk. Jack’s close
up. We pan the entire court. They read the verdict, Jack stands up.
Jack wins the case. Everybody is happy and shake hands with Jack. Jack
thinks of his friends that he lost in war.He ponders again and goes
into his deep thoughts.He looks at the his men’s pictures on the table.
17 INT.BEDROOM.NIGHT
Jack stares at the ceiling with wide eyes open.He cannot sleep. His new
published book is on the night table besides his bed.He takes it and
looks at its contents.
18 EXT. STREET. NIGHT
A long shot of the calm, quite and cleaned street in the night.
19 INT. BEDROOM.DAY
Insert of the clock, 06:00 AM, He opens his eyes and is annoyed by the
clock’s constant ringing. He goes towards the bathroom. After a few
minutes comes out, opens his closet and takes out his Marine outfit. He
looks at the outfit for a second.
FLASH BACK
20 EXT. COMBAT ZONE IN IRAQ.DAY
Several soldiers are killed in the combat field. Jack looks at them and
goes forward. The atmosphere is filled with smoke and dust. Jack looks
at his men’s faces. The explosion.
PRESENT DAY:
21 INT.BEDROOM.DAY
Jack wears his marine outfit. He is about to go out and looks at the
mirror in the bedroom. For a moment he looks at himself.
JACK:
"Let’s do this, marine!"
He goes out of the bedroom.
22 EXT. STREET. A MILITARY CAR.DAY
Jack comes out of his apartment and goes towards a military vehicle. He
gets in the car.
23 INT. THE CAR. DAY
Jack sits in the car. There are three other marines, sitting in the care
JACK:
"Good morning."
ALL:
"Good morning,sir."
24 EXT. HIGH WAY. DAY
The car drives in the highway. We see the airport sign.
25 EXT. AIRPORT. DAY
The US soldiers and Marine Corps are going to the airplane in one line.
Jack is among them along with a Canadian officer who is accompanying
him.
26 INT. HERCULES. DAY
The US army soldiers, marine Corps sit in their places. A Canadian
officer sits beside Jack. JAMES, early 30’s, US army talks with Matt,
26, (Marine AIR). James is bored and wants to amuse himself by talking
out about everything. He finally finds a topic to talk about.
JAMES:
"Is there any way that we can ensure that the U.S air force stays out
of the area and that the ground support comes from we "Marine Air”?"
MATT:
"Marine Air has always been a great support."
JAMES:
"Should we warn the parents of Afghanistan to keep their daughters away
from Canadian Force members?"
JAMES:
( curiously looks at him. For a moment he hesitates to reply. However
he is thinking about commenting anyway as a sign of being polite.)
"Not as far as I ‘v heard."
MATT:
"If the Canadian forces get help from Marine Aviation assets, there
will be many more casualties."
( Everyone notices their conversation. A Canadian officer, 35’s,
Eric,unhappy with James ’comment)
ERIC:
"Wow ...that’s a pretty low blow coming from you. You know, you fly
boys have had your fair share of friendly casualties too."
JAMES:
"What do you mean?"
ERIC:
"Remember the A-10 pilots that greased a bunch of our AAV units with
grunts attached during the second invasion in Al Nasyriha? Our AAV is
one of a kind and you’d think maybe someone would recognize that, maybe
at a minimum on the 2nd and 3rd attack runs....but too late to change
that’ eh."
JAMES:
"So?!"
ERIC:
"Are you saying that we are indiscriminate killers’ hell bent on
killing anything that breathes, whether it’s a legitimate target or
not? If I remember correctly, the air force practice danger close
training with live ordnance at 1000m when our pilots do it at 500m in
training with Marines on the deck! I would assume they are better
suited for our CAS then your boys. I’m also sure you have capable
pilots as well; I’m not knocking them, but to come in here and insult
us over target selection......ironic." Eric bitterly looks outside the
airplane. The sound of airplane is a little bit high. The atmosphere
becomes dead
silent.
JACK"
"I am not Canadian but well said."
JAMES"
"You missed my point. I never intended to insult marine or Naval
aviation."
JACK:
"Alright guys. We got a long way, just calm down."
ERIC:
"It is a total lack of what close air support means today. As for what
the CF relies on or uses, I imagine they use what is available. They do
rely on ground assets. Of course, peacekeeping missions don’t usually
result in a lot of closing with and destroying the enemy, does it?"
JAMES:
"Anyway! As you know our mission is to help the Canadian forces in
south of Afghanistan! I am sorry for the confusion."
ERIC:
"Apology accepted, I was pissed off at what appeared to be a smack in the
face to our pilots,"
27 EXT. THE SKY. EVENING
The airplane flies in the vast sky towards the ocean.
28 INT. AIRPLANE. NIGHT
Some soldiers and marines are asleep, some listen to music and some
look at various magazines. Jack is in his deep thoughts. He slowly
falls asleep.
FLASH BACK:
29 EXT. VILLAGE IN IRAQ.DAY
It is a village under the attack of the enemy. People are running from
Taliban. Jack is carrying a child. The child’s mother sees them, comes
towards Jack and takes her child. She thanks him and runs away. Suddenly a Taliban guy shoot at them. Jack sees the incident and
shoots back at the Taliban.
This was a part of screenplay. Thank you for reading.
|
|
|
|
|
|