The Power of One

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 dressed

in 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.

3 BACK TO SCENE 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,

who fought both the Boers and

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.

5 DREAM - EXT. WATERFALL 5

The Boy and the old man are standing above a great

waterfall. In the swirling pool far below are ten

stepping stones linking one bank to the other.

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