American Shaolin Page #5

Bodhidharma, etc.

No one is around.

Drew continues to explore, looking for someone to talk to. He wanders into another hall, following the O.S. sounds of CHANTING.

Once inside this hall, he sees a group of monks, amid hanging incense burners and paper lanterns, sitting down on the floor chanting in rhythm. No one notices that Drew is standing there. The monks eyes are open, but they don't seem to see him.

He stands there for a moment, then shrugs and walks out of that hall. He goes into a corridor, then passes the "Wooden Man Chamber".

HE STICKS HIS HEAD IN, AND SEES ALL KINDS OF WOODEN STATUES LINED UP. HE ALMOST STARTS IN, BUT IS DISTRACTED BY THE SOUNDS OF TRAINING OUTSIDE (O.S.). HE WALKS OUT IN SEARCH OF THE SOUNDS.

EXT. TRAINING AREA – SAME DAY

ESTABLISHING SHOT OF TRAINING AREA.

All manner of training equipment is standing outside (wooden men, posts, hanging targets, heavy bags, iron palm jugs, balance beams, etc.).

A monk, the DRILL SERGEANT (hereafter D.S.), is standing in front of a wooden post, driving his hand into the wood.

The post TREMBLES with every strike.

Drew stands next to the monk, watching him intently. Again, the monk takes no notice of him.

DREW:

Excuse me, Master.

No answer.

DREW (CONT'D)

Hello? Busy, huh?

Still no answer. The man is just slamming his hand into the post, over and over.

Drew sighs and walks on. He goes down a path, and flowering bushes are on either side of him. He can see the "pagoda forest" in the distance. At the end of the path, a monk, SAN DE, is sweeping up the path.

Drew walks up to the monk and bows.

DREW (CONT'D)

Master, may I ask you a question?

No answer nor response. Drew's kind of tired of this treatment.

DREW (CONT'D)

What's the deal here? Is everybody deaf in this temple? Even if you heard me, you wouldn't understand, would you? Huh, baldy? Shine your head for a quarter?

He walks off frustrated, wondering what he has to do to get noticed. He walks back into the chanting chamber.

INT. TEMPLE – SAME DAY

The monks are still chanting. Drew stands there, listening some more, moving with the beat, until they stop chanting.

Drew, thinking it was some kind of performance, claps his hands.

DREW:

That was great! Great!

The monks finally take notice of him, and they are shocked.

MONK 1

No tourists! Temple closed!

DREW:

So you can see me?!?

Several monks rush up and start herding Drew towards the exit.

MONK 1

(very agitated)

No tourists! No tourists!

Drew stops their progress and makes sure he has the monk's attention.

DREW (CONT'D)

I'm not a tourist! I want to be a monk!

The monk stops, his face a mask of shock. He calls to another monk, and they have a short conversation in Chinese.

ADMISSIONS MONK:

That's not possible.

DREW:

What do you mean, sir?

ADMISSIONS MONK:

The training is too difficult. Besides, Shaolin policy is no foreigners.

DREW:

I didn't come all this way, from America, to get turned away. I want in. I want to become a Shaolin monk.

ADMISSIONS MONK:

What people want and what they can have are often not the same.

DREW:

Not in this case.

MONK:

Oh, yes, especially in this case.

DREW:

I'm not leaving.

Drew starts to sit down, intent on staying, almost like a kid who is going to hold his breath until he turns blue.

MONK:

You give me no choice.

(to other monks)

Remove him.

He continues in a stream of Chinese, and the other monks grab Drew and physically force him to stand up and start moving him towards the door.

DREW:

I just want to be a monk!

Drew is forced through the courtyard to the front door.

They pass the monk who was sweeping up in the back of the temple. He watches with interest as they open the door and force Drew through it, out of the temple.

He smiles.

CUT TO:

EXT. SHAOLIN COURTYARD – SAME DAY

ESTABLISHING SHOT OF DREW LANDING ON THE FLAGSTONES OF THE COURTYARD WITH A THUMP!

A group of people stop and watch the foreigner. The temple door closes with a solid boom.

DREW:

Hey! What about my...

The temple door opens again, and out comes Drew's backpack.

It lands next to him, but spews out a couple of pairs of underwear, and some socks.

The people standing around laugh.

Drew gathers up the clothing and stuffs it back into his pack. He sits there for a moment, then gets up and heads for the small shops and stands ringing the courtyard.

He walks past a couple of the stalls, looking at the people running them. He doesn't see Ashema. He passes a tea stall, where one old man is sitting down sipping his tea.

The old man looks at Drew and smiles, and Drew is about to walk on, when Ashema stands up from where she was squatting behind her stall.

ASHEMA:

Drew?

DREW:

Hi.

Drew sits down heavily, putting his pack down next to him.

Ashema places a cup of tea down in front of him, the steam rising from it.

DREW (CONT'D)

Make it a double. Rough day.

ASHEMA:

What happened?

DREW:

They kicked me out...

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. TEMPLE STAND – EVENING

ESTABLISHING SHOT OF DREW, ASHEMA AND OLD MAN, STILL SITTING AT THE TABLE, NOW LIT BY CANDLES AND A LANTERN.

A bunch of tea bowls are scattered in front of Drew, as if he's been drinking heavily. He points to his teacup, and Ashema shakes her head.

ASHEMA:

You've had enough.

Drew's shoulders slump even more.

ASHEMA (CONT'D)

Maybe it's for the best, Drew. You belong in America. New York.

DREW:

I have to do this. I can't go home, not until I'm a monk. I'd be even more of a disgrace...

The old man talks to Ashema for the first time. He chatters in Chinese, motioning towards Drew.

ASHEMA:

Not now, Bau Bau.

DREW:

Bau Bau?

ASHEMA:

My nickname for him. He wants to tell you a story about the temple.

The grandfather keeps talking, even though Ashema and Drew really don't want to listen.

ASHEMA (CONT'D)

He is telling a story about a monk who was refused admission into the temple. It broke his heart not to be allowed to be a monk.

DREW:

What did he do?

Ashema says something to him, and he continues in Chinese.

ASHEMA:

He decided not to leave. He stayed in the courtyard until they let him in.

DREW:

How long?

ASHEMA:

A long time – through the worst weather. He just sat there, unmoving, through rain, sleet, snow.

DREW:

Did they let him in?

ASHEMA:

No.

(beat)

Of course they did – what kind of story do you think my Bau Bau would tell? He stayed in front of the temple until they could no longer say no. He went on to become one of the most famous monks in the history of the temple.

Drew sits there, thinking, letting it all soak in. He then gets up and smiles.

DREW:

Please tell your grandfather, your Bau Bau, he is a wise man. And that he tells a good story.

The grandfather smiles at him, nodding his head.

ASHEMA:

What are you going to do? Are you going home?

Drew shakes his head.

DREW:

I'm camping out.

He starts away from the stand.

DREW (CONT'D)

In front of the temple.

He walks off into the Chinese night.

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