
The Power of One
- PG-13
- Year:
- 1992
- 127 min
- 1,143 Views
FADE IN:
1 EXT. SOUTH AFRICAN FARM - DAY (1939)
A white car sits in the yard of the farmhouse. On the
door, a decal:
"CAPETOWN SANITORIUM." Two men dressedin the white uniforms of the sanitorium exit the farmhouse;
one gently guiding a rather frail, troubledwoman toward the car; the other totes her suitcase.
The V.O. of a young man narrates:
YOUNG MAN (V.O.)
There comes a time in everyone'slife when they discover that theonly person you can truly dependon is yourself. That the onlyreal power anyone has to getanything done is the power of one.
With any luck you can make itthrough a lot of years before youever have to face the reality ofthat fact.
(beat)
It was a luxury I never had. I
discovered it the year my motherhad her nervous breakdown.
One attendant holds the rear door of the car open forthe woman. Before entering, she turns one last timetoward the farmhouse.
1
2 HER POV
A young BOY looking one part scared, one part sad, andone part lost stares back at her, his hand held by alarge, amiable black woman with tears rolling down herround cheeks.
YOUNG MAN (V.O.)
I was all of six.
2
3.
The woman enters the car. The car drives off down the
road. The Boy watches it disappear behind a plume of
swirling dust.
YOUNG MAN (V.O.)
My father died before I was born,
and even though I was raised by
my Zulu nanny, with my mother,
depending on her health, in
nominal attendance, it was
decided, with her departure, that
I, too, would depart...
(beat)
... for boarding school.
The dust the Boy has been watching reverses itself.
An unseen vehicle comes up the road.
YOUNG MAN (V.O.)
But before I could be sent out
into the world one very serious
matter had to be dealt with.
(beat)
I was a chronic bedwetter. Since
my nanny was the one responsible
for my well-being, she did what
any responsible Zulu mother would
do. She called on the greatest
medicine man of her tribe --
Inkosi Inkosikazi.
Out of the dust a large black Buick ROADMASTER ROARS up
the road and into the yard, scattering chickens and
geese, stopping in front of the wide-eyed six-year-old
and his tremulous nanny. A huge Zulu jumps out of the
front passenger seat and opens the rear door. A moment
passes, and then two splayed, cracked feet descend from
the car and settle into the dust. INKOSI INKOSIKAZI,
100 years old, small, black, wizened, hair and beard
whiter than cotton, a leopard skin draped over his
shoulders, a beaded fly switch in one hand, a trussed
chicken in the other, exits the car.
CUT TO:
44
EXT. YARD - NIGHT
A fire burns bright in the black African night. The Boy
sits holding the chicken, close by the fire, while Inkosi
Inkosikazi shuffles around him, drawing a circle in the
dust with a stick.
4.
YOUNG MAN (V.O.)
Legend had it that Inkosi
Inkosikazi was the last son of
the great Zulu king, Dingaan,
the British to a standstill
nearly 100 years before, and the
night Inkosi Inkosikazi was
conceived stars fell from the
sky until the sun rose.
The circle complete, the old man sits down opposite the
Boy. From a leather pouch he produces several bones. He
throws the bones on the ground and studies them for a
moment. He begins to wave the fly switch back and forth
in front of the Boy's eyes, chanting low, softly. The
Boy's eyes grow heavy; his lids droop.
The Boy and the old man are standing above a great
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"The Power of One" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2021. Web. 16 Jan. 2021. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_power_of_one_143>.