Scene Two
From CongoKitabu
| ext - East African bush | day |
JEAN-PIERRE drives an old pickup truck through partially-overgrown roads to a village bordering Lake Tanganyika. In the truck cab are axes, machetes, a fifty-foot roll of fuse cord, and detonators; a massive wooden box labeled "dynamite" is in the bed.
| ext - Lake Tanganyika village | day |
- Jean-Pierre
- Four pirogues with six men! Everyone else -- bring baskets into the truck!
The boats are launched into the lake, with JEAN-PIERRE gesturing to a point down the lake. 15 other men and women VILLAGERS jump into the bed of the truck on top of the dynamite box, with their large woven baskets..
| ext - East African bush | day |
JEAN-PIERRE drives the old pickup truck through densely-overgrown roads, with MEN hacking brush with machetes, until they reach a secluded cove of the lake. The pirogues are waiting at the cove.
| ext - Lake Tanganyika cove | day |
A white sandy beach with dense overgrown vines around the edge.
- Jean-Pierre
JEAN-PIERRE opens the dynamite box, tapes two sticks together with tape, and crimps a one-foot fuse to a detonator with his teeth. The detonator is pushed into one end of the dynamite. He loads several of these charges into one of the pirogues.
He paddles into the lake in one pirogue, gesturing for the other three pirogues to follow. The three surrounding pirogues are 100 yards from his. He lights a stick of dynamite, throws it into the lake; it detonates and small silvery fish rise to the surface. VILLAGERS cheer. The FISHERMAN in the other pirogues collect the fish in nets and paddle to the beach, where they are put in baskets and loaded on the truck.
After 3 loads, JEAN-PIERRE drives the fish-loaded truck towards the overgrown road, with VILLAGERS waving.
| ext - Mosso Village in East Africa | day |
A crowd of Mosso pygmies surrounds the truck filled with fish parked near the village market with a table and two POLICI nearby. The well-dressed Mosso clerk MUNDUVE, seated at the table with a ledger, stares at the crowd.
- Jean-Pierre
- What's the matter?
- Munduve
- They have no money to buy your fish.
- Jean-Pierre
- You think I want to sell the fish? And they think so?
- Munduve
- Sure, isn’t that why you chased the men with the beans? So that people would have to buy from you?
- Jean-Pierre
- I don’t want to sell them, Munduve. I’ve brought these fish from the great lake to give them to the Bamosso.
- Munduve
- Give them? That isn’t good business, Bwana.
- Jean-Pierre
- Free fish! Free fish for the Bamosso! Spread the word to all of the itongo! The head of every family who has his identification book will receive five kilos of fish. You must have your books, and a basket. Quickly, and you’ll all be able to eat dinner tonight.”
- Mosso villagers
- Agahuza! Fish! Agahuza! Agahuza!
- Munduve
- Bwana, do these people get fish?
- Jean-Pierre
- Sure they do. Just stamp the paper instead of the holes.
- Munduve
- I know enough not to stamp the holes..."
- Munduve
- Look at this! He says that it is a book!
- Mosso man
- My hut burned down... I lost all my things, even my book, but I found this piece in the ashes.
- Jean-Pierre
- Stamp it!
- Polici 1
- I caught him trying to sell his fish. For two bottles of beer!
- Old Mosso Man
- It’s my fish! Nobody else has anything to say about it! I’ll do whatever I want with it — trade it, sell it, or even throw it away!
- Jean-Pierre
- Inyana y’imbgwa! You son of a bitch! You have a family waiting to eat that fish! What do you think will happen to them if you sell it for beer? What do you think will happen to you?
- Old Mosso Man
- He insulted me! He called me a son of a bitch! All the bazungu are like that. They hate us and try to keep us down!
- Jean-Pierre
- Oh, let him go.
The old man hurries off, fuming, the basket of fish balanced on his head.
