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EXT. HEIME -- HONGKOW -- DAY Anna walks toward the Heime and stops at the gate. INT. CORRIDOR -- HEIME -- DAY Anna opens her handbag, takes out a check and hands it to the MANAGER of the Refugee Committee. MANAGER Thank you, Madam. We, the Refugee Committee and the poor refugee families in the Heime, are so grateful to your charitable organizations. ANNA It's our pleasure and social responsibility. Uh, excuse me, Sir, may I ask you something? MANAGER Sure, please. ANNA Do you know someone named Hans, Hans Kreiser, someone who may have come here recently from Germany? MANAGER Who? What's the name? ANNA Hans, Hans Kreiser. MANAGER Hans? Hans Clauzer? No, I'm sorry. I've never heard that name. ANNA He may be coming soon. Please keep an eye out for him. MANAGER I want to be of help to you. As soon as I hear about a new comer named Hans, I'll call you. ANNA I appreciate it. Here's my phone number. Thank you. Anna writes down her phone number on a piece of paper and gives it to the manager. INT. LIVING ROOM -- HEIME -- DAY The manager leads Anna to meet some refugees who greet her with smile. Maria enters and shows a package of medicine to her father who lies on the sofa. MARIA Papa, look, penicillin. you'll be treated. You'll be saved, Papa. OLD MAN How did you get the money? How? The old man coughs, gets angry and struggles to get up from the sofa. Maria can hardly hide her embarrassment. ANNA Don't get up, Sir. Calm down, please. OLD MAN What did you do? You shameless girl. ANNA Don't blame her. We're all doing the best we can. Anna holds Maria's shoulder. Maria cries in desperation. EXT. STREETS -- HONGKOW -- DAY Anna walks on the street. She stops to wait at a BUS STATION near BROADWAY MANSION. Hans pulls the rickshaw through a commercial area. He stops in front of a store to let a lady get down his carriage. The lady pays Hans and steps into the store. Hans looks around to solicit for new customers. An old man waves to Hans from across the street. Hans nods to the old man and tries to cross the street, but he has to let a bus go first. Hans pulls the rickshaw behind the bus. The bus approaches the station and stops. Anna follows a line of PASSENGERS to board the bus. Hans pulls the rickshaw closer to the stopped bus. At the moment, Hans catches sight of Anna just as she steps onto the bus. Hans is surprised and excited, and runs as fast as he can. HANS Anna, Anna... The bus door closes. The bus drives away. Hans chases the bus, pulling the rickshaw faster and faster. INT. BUS -- DAY While looking for a seat on the crowded bus, Anna catches sight of Hans from the rear window of the bus. She rushes to the rear seats and waves to Hans who lags farther and farther from the bus. ANNA Hans, Hans... When the bus turns right, Anna rushes to the side of the bus and pulls down a window. She pokes her head out. ANNA (CONT'D) Hans, Hans, wait for me. Anna rushes to the bus driver, while the other passengers look at her like she's crazy. ANNA (CONT'D) Stop, stop the bus, please, stop, I beg you, stop. The BUS DRIVER ignores her. He doesn't stop until the bus crosses the border and reaches the next bus stop in the International Settlement. The door opens and Anna gets off. EXT. STREETS -- INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENT -- DAY Anna runs as fast as she can toward Hans in Hongkow. Hans is no longer in sight. EXT. STREETS -- HONGKOW -- DAY Anti-Japanese DEMONSTRATORS parade on the border of Hongkow and the International Settlement. Some STUDENTS leaflet, among the crowd, printed Anti-Japanese articles. OTHERS paste posters and written slogans on walls. Demonstrators wave little paper flags or carry cartoon paintings. Marching ahead is JIEMIN CHEN, the leading student in his early twenties, wearing his black student uniform and cap. He shouts out slogans in Chinese, followed by the aroused demonstrators. JIEMIN Down with the Japanese militarism! DEMONSTRATORS (in unison) Down with the Japanese militarism! JIEMIN Go home, Japanese invaders! DEMONSTRATORS (in unison) Go home, Japanese invaders! JIEMIN We unite to resist Japan! DEMONSTRATORS (in unison) We unite to resist Japan! Among the demonstrators is a GIRL STUDENT around twenty, dressed in blue qipao (Chinese traditional garment), with a white scarf around her neck. She conducts a CHORUS singing anti-Japanese songs. CHORUS (roaring) Hold up the scythe, chop off the heads of the Japanese monsters... A squad of Japanese SOLDIERS rushes out to shoot at the demonstrators with machine guns. Roads are blocked. Hans is detained to chase the bus further. Bullets, whistling through the throng, wound and kill many demonstrators and passers-by. Stray bullets damage buildings, knocking off brick and plaster. Jiemin is shot and collapses, blood oozing from his uniform. The girl student rushes to Jiemin's rescue. She kneels down and, with her white scarf, binds his leg to staunch the flow of blood. BLOOD dyes the WHITE scarf RED. As another series of machine-gunshots sweeps through the crowd, the girl student is hit by bullets and falls to the ground dead. More demonstrators are injured and killed. The wounded are transported by ambulances. SIRENS WAILS. EXT. BRIDGE ON THE BORDER -- DAY Anna runs on the border toward the Broadway Mansion, the eighteen-floor apartment building standing across the GARDEN BRIDGE from the International Settlement. Anna arrives at the bridge. Japanese SOLDIERS, armed with rifles fixed with bayonets, stand guard in the middle of the bridge. PASSERS-BY must salute these soldiers by taking off their hats and bowing. A SENIOR CHINESE LADY, with tiny bound feet, hobbles along the bridge, reciting the Buddhist Bible and counting her beads. A Japanese soldier motions her to quicken her pace, and loses patience when she fails to follow his instruction. The rough soldier hails and stabs the senior Chinese lady to death. She collapses, her eyes open wide, her hand still clutching a string of Buddhist rosary, and her blood splashing to the shocked and horrified passers-by. A young CHINESE COUPLE passes by with their BABY wrapped in swaddling clothes. The baby suddenly cries. In panic, the MOTHER holds her hand over the baby's mouth. A short Japanese soldier steps forward, pricks the baby with his bayonet and smashes the baby onto the bridge. The MOTHER screams and crawls to protect her dying baby. A fat Japanese soldier hits the mother's head with the butt of his gun. The FATHER, infuriated, jumps the fat Japanese soldier and strangles him. Other Japanese soldiers, aiming their guns at the Chinese couple, shoot them dead instantly, along with their baby. Blood flows down the slanted surface of the bridge. Anna and other passers-by, shivering or sweating, walk across the bridge, silently, without looking at the soldiers. EXT. STREETS -- HONGKOW -- DAY Anna jostles against pedestrians on the crowded sidewalks to look for Hans in vain. A car screeches and skids to a halt before hitting Anna. Anna leans against a wall, gasping and crying in despair. EXT. STREETS -- HONGKOW -- DAY The four Jewish musicians play a funeral melody as a cart carrying COFFINS is wheeled by. CHINESE PEOPLE, wearing white robes and hats, weep and wail in the funeral procession. (CONTINUING) |
