The Last Best Hope

THE LAST BEST HOPE a screenplay by JACK SHOLL WGA and LOC Registered 1558 Grande Cull Way Jupiter, FL 33458 717-877-9376   FADE IN: EXT. WOODS OUTSIDE OF VILLAGE OF TEVKA - DAY Heavily armed SOLDIERS move through the woods. The soldiers are in combat fatigues bearing the emblem of the 42nd Vukograd division; many have bushy beards. EXT. VILLAGE OF TEVKA - DAY CAMERA moves, exploring the village. It reveals a SCHOOL, the TEACHER RINGING the SCHOOL BELL. CHILDREN walk through the Village Square carrying books. An OLD WOMAN carries pails of water on a yoke over her shoulders. An OLD MAN feeds slops to pigs in a pen beside his house. A YOUNG WOMAN washes clothes with a washing board and pail in the front of her house. A BABY crawls on the ground at the woman’s feet. A PRIEST walks by the homes. EXPLOSIONS from mortar rounds rock the air. Machine gun and light weapons FIRE. SOLDIERS emerge from the edge of the woods. Many of the VILLAGERS scatter. Some run for the woods on the opposite side of the village. Others run into their homes. A MAN emerges from one home with a gun and fires at the advancing soldiers. The man is shot dead through the chest. Soldiers burst into a home. A MAN swings at the soldiers with a board. The soldiers shoot the man. In the basement, the WIFE shields her THREE CHILDREN. The soldiers shoot the YOUNG BOY. The soldiers rape the wife and the daughter. On their way out, the soldiers set fire to the house. VILLAGERS are corralled into the Village Square. Several VILLAGERS step forward and point accusing fingers at their NEIGHBORS. ONE of the men singled out attempts to attack the ACCUSER. A SOLDIER smashes the man in the face with a rifle. The man falls to his knees and is stabbed to death. The soldiers force the villagers toward the woods, shooting some indiscriminately. More WOMEN are dragged off and raped. Houses are set on fire. The accusers encourage the soldiers and jeer at their neighbors. Villagers flee into the woods. The CAPTAIN of the 42nd holds the hand of one of the accusers in a victory salute. The soldiers move on, back into the woods. Some houses are in flames. The street is littered with debris, fallen bodies, dropped schoolbooks. A child’s body is nailed to a tree, a sign in the Brackan alphabet with the emblem of the 42nd at the bottom. EXT. MANHATTAN SKYLINE – DAY The United Nations Building. Citicorp Center. Chrysler Building. Empire State Building. EXT. PLAZA HOTEL - DAY Black stretch limousines line the street in front of the hotel. INT. PLAZA HOTEL – LOBBY - DAY A SIGN READS: "Meteor Pharmaceuticals Corporation Annual Meeting Today, 2 p.m. Victorian Room." INT. VICTORIAN ROOM - DAY The grand ballroom of the of the hotel is packed with Meteor Corporation SHAREHOLDERS. Hundreds of shareholders sit in rows of chairs that face a large upraised platform with a podium. Behind the podium is a wall-to-wall BANNER that READS: "Meteor Pharmaceuticals." A large screen stands beside the podium. Two large AMERICAN FLAGS stand at each end of the riser. At the podium is JOSEPH ZAKA, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Meteor Pharmaceuticals. As Zaka speaks, CAMERA PANS the AUDIENCE: MEN and WOMEN; many middle-aged or elderly. Here and there a YOUNGER MAN or WOMAN, in one instance a CHILD. In the front rows, close to the riser, are the TWELVE MEMBERS of the BOARD OF DIRECTORS, all men; CORPORATE ASSISTANTS AND OFFICERS, and METEOR PRESIDENT LEYLAND HAGGARD, ZAKA's confidant. ZAKA (O.S.) ... We expect the new Rockingham plant to be on line on schedule in the next two months. That will ensure capacity for the introduction of our new antiulcer drug Blazon. As you know, this is our revolutionary new treatment for severe gastric ulcers. We expect this remarkable new therapy to clear the Food and Drug Administration within the next several months. CAMERA MOVES to VIVIAN ZAKA, Zaka’s wife, a svelte woman with black hair in a red dress and gold jewelry; members of the BOARD; to the assistants, a YOUNG MAN and WOMAN in professional business attire; and then to a back row to RADMAR KLUTCHNIK, a short, barrel-chested, swarthy, balding man in his 50's. Klutchnik reads a newspaper. INSET SHOT: Newspaper headline: "No End to Balkan War. Ethnic Cleansing Continues. World Community Charges Bracka With Genocide." PODIUM Zaka continues to read his speech at the podium. ZAKA (contd.) And so ladies and gentlemen, in summary, we are extremely pleased with our results this year.