First They Killed My Father
- TV-MA
- Year:
- 2017
- 136 min
- 1,177 Views
EXT. PHNOM PENH APARTMENT BALCONY - DAY
April 1975
We are inside a POV. Walking towards a balcony.
We pass a TV where news about the Vietnam war coming to an
end is playing. We see a reflection in the television. We see
our reflection. A little girl. LOUNG. The news then shows the
evacuation of the American embassy in Phnom Penh Cambodia. A
Helicopter takes off from the embassy. The little girl turns
and walks toward a view not dissimilar to the one near the
American embassy on the news.
Little caramel colored legs and feet on a balcony. The edge
of a skirt in the wind identifies the child as a little girl.
She begins to climb to the top of the railing. Her little
hands and feet. The sound of a helicopter coming towards her.
Finally she reaches the top. She watches as a helicopter
almost identical to the one on the television flies low over
her head. This brave free spirited little girl is LOUNG. At
five she stands looking out over city from the third floor.
Her POV of her feet. Toes wiggling. The city below.
The streets are mostly empty except for a few street vendors.
Some shops are closed, some shops are open, there are sand
bags in front of some houses. A few people ride in Cyclos. A
few on motorcycles. Not much movement.
Loung watches the people. (Their clothing and style help us
to know it’s 1975.)
Loung continues to watch.
Military police officers walk the streets.
The front of some shops sandbags covering the glass entrances
making them less than welcoming.
Loung notices FOUR YOUNG MEN (peasant revolutionaries) sit
along a wall staring angrily at well to do couples shopping
in the market. Loung doesn’t understand the look on their
faces but it makes her uncomfortable.
OMITTED:
A billboard for a movie poster across the street catches her
eye.
2.
MA (O.S.)
Loung. Come down.
Loung looks to her mother. MA is admired in Cambodia for her
height, slender build and light skin. She is a very
beautiful, very elegant woman of Chinese decent. Ma has GEAK,
Loung’s three year old sister, in her arms. Luong jumps down
and goes to her.
Cambodian News Years has just past. Red decorations still on
the wall. Happy New Years (in french) hangs on the wall.
Ma puts Geak down and the girls play or share a fruit plate
Ma has put out.
Loung watches as Geak’s fruit drips all over her dress. (This
can be anything from toys to fruit. The point is for the
child to notice sweet things before the war and for the
audience to get used to a child’s view of the world)
OMITTED:
INT. PHNOM PENH APARTMENT - LATE DAY
PA and a COLLEAGUE of his enter the room. Loung jumps into
his arms. Pa is loved for his generous heart. He reminds
Loung of a teddy bear. His eyes are warm and brown and shaped
like the moon. Loung plays with the four stripes on his
uniform. Pa greets her and asks about her day.
Pa’s Colleague seems concerned but remains professional. They
speak in french (no translation as Loung can’t understand as
he intends).
COLLEAGUE COLLEAGUE
Les Am.ricains nous The Americans have abandoned
abandonnent. us. They have all already
Ils sont d.j. tous partis, left, the ambassador and the
ambassadeur, attach. military attache...
militaire…
PA PA.
C'est l. notre grande erreur It was a huge error to
d'avoir cru en eux. believe in them.
3.
COLLEAGUE COLLEAGUE.
Qui aurait cru qu'ils
abandonnent un peuple qui se
bat pour sa libert. ? Les
Khmers rouges sont d.j. .
Takmao et . l'ouest ils sont
en passe de contr.ler
l'a.roport de Pochentong.
48 heures de plus, il
faudrait n.gocier maintenant.
PA:
Il ne faut pas trop
s'inqui.ter.
Hou Youn, Hou Nim, Khieu
Samphan sont des
nationalistes. On trouvera
bien une solution entre
Cambodgiens.
would have abandoned the
people fighting for freedom.
at Takmao and they have
passed the west, controlling
Pochentong airport. Our
forces cannot hold for more
than 48 hours, we have to
negotiate now.
PA.
Don't worry to much. Hou
Youn, Hou Nim, Khieu Samphan
are nationalist. We will find
Cambodians.
Because she can’t understand, Loung looses interest and
crawls out of his arms.
(They could turn on the radio at one point and it could add
to the information about situation.)
INT. PHNOM PENH APARTMENT LIVING ROOM - LATE DAY
Loung walks into the living room where her brother KIM, ten,
listening to music on a record player. His records and comics
are spread out all over the floor. Like all older brothers he
likes to give his little sisters trouble.
Loung reaches for the crickets (or colorful fruit) he is
eating. He chops at her arm kung fu style. He does a huanaman
(monkey king) kick. (Possibly in Pa’s helmet)
CHOU helps with Geak.
Loung looks up at KHOUY and MENG her eldest brothers who have
just walked in the door. Meng greets her with a smile and
musses her hair. He is gentle and soft spoken like Pa. Khouy
is cool with his sunglasses and long hair. (Maybe he brings
something to Kim or tried out a new record.)
INT. PHNOM PENH APARTMENT - EVENING
Everyone sits at the table. Set with elegance. Ma and KEAV
Loung’s beautiful older sister, help serve the food. Loung
watches their hands. So delicate. Their grace and poise is a
mystery to her.
4.
CLOSE UP - Loung’s POV of food. Loung drops two whole peppers
in her soup and Pa looks on approvingly. She crushes the
peppers against the side of her bowl with a spoon.
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"First They Killed My Father" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/first_they_killed_my_father_1436>.
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