Babel

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Written by Guillermo Arriaga (April 9, 2005)

EXT. YUSSEF AND AHMED'S HOUSE -- MORNING

Day breaks. Hassan (50) arrives at a solitary house made of

adobe, in the southern deserts of Morocco, carrying a satchel

and a large bundle wrapped in cloth.

He walks past a corral made out of branches, where several

goats bleat, and knocks on the front door.

2 EXT. YUSSEF AND AHMED'S HOUSE -- CONTINUOUS

Abdullah (40), opens.

HASSAN:

(In Arabic)

Good morning Abdullah... I brought

you this...

He holds up the bundle.

3 INT. YUSSEF AND AHMED'S HOUSE -- MOMENTS LATER

Abdullah's family is inside the house. There is a room, a

small table and a simple kitchen. Yasira (38) is roasting

some goat meat assisted by Yamil (16) and Zora (17), her

daughters.

Abdullah and his sons, Yussef (13) and Ahmed (14), are sitting

on the floor around the small table, looking at a well-

conserved .270 caliber Winchester 60 rifle.

HASSAN:

(To Abdullah)

It's almost new.

He takes out several boxes of cartridges from his satchel.

HASSAN (CONT'D)

Three hundred cartridges...

He opens a box and shows them one of the golden bullets.

HASSAN (CONT'D)

The hunter who gave it to me said

you can hit up to three kilometers

away.

ABDULLAH:

How much do you want for everything?

HASSAN:

One thousand dirhams.

2.

ABDULLAH:

One thousand dirhams? I'll give you

one thousand and a goat.

Abdullah and Hassan exchange a look and Hassan smiles.

EXT. YUSSEF AND AHMED'S HOUSE -- DAY

Hassan and Abdullah's family are behind the house. Hassan

stands with the rifle in front of a rock some twenty yards

away and he turns toward Abdullah.

HASSAN:

With this rifle, your sons will be

able to kill plenty of jackals.

He aims at the rock and pulls the trigger without holding

the rifle properly. It is clear that he doesn't know how to

fire a weapon, and the shot cracks loudly. The rifle kicks

and hits him roughly in the shoulder. The bullet flies far

wide of the rock. The women laugh nervously.

Rubbing his shoulder, Hassan turns to Abdullah.

HASSAN (CONT'D)

Let one of your sons shoot.

Abdullah looks at his boys and points at the younger one.

ABDULLAH:

Let Yussef shoot.

When Hassan is about to hand Yussef the rifle, Ahmed cuts

him off, upset.

AHMED:

I want to shoot first.

Father and son exchange an angry glance. Hassan, without

realizing it, turns and gives the rifle to Ahmed. The boy

grabs the gun:
it is heavier than he thought.

HASSAN:

Look, load it like this.

Hassan opens the chamber, inserts the bullet and then closes

it. Once it is loaded, he points at the safety.

HASSAN (CONT'D)

This is the safety. Push it in when

you're ready.

Ahmed nods. Unsure of himself, he raises the rifle and,

almost without aiming, fires. The shot kicks up dust far

from the rock. His sisters laugh.

3.

HASSAN (CONT'D)

If he doesn't hit the jackals, at

least he'll scare the sh*t out of

them.

Ahmed lowers the rifle. His father grabs it and gives it to

Yussef enthusiastically.

ABDULLAH:

Your turn.

Yussef grabs the rifle and loads it confidently. He lifts

the rifle with ease and takes his time aiming. He seems

innately skilled at the maneuver. He shoots and the bullet

hits just below the rock.

Abdullah celebrates the shot and mockingly turns to Hassan.

ABDULLAH (CONT'D)

Now this kid shoots a hell of a lot

better than you.

5 EXT. GOAT CORRAL -- LATER

Yussef takes one of the goats out, ties and ropes it and

gives it to Hassan. Abdullah supervises. Yasira approaches

and gives Abdullah a bag.

YASIRA:

Your lunch.

Abdullah takes it and turns to his sons.

ABDULLAH:

You better kill at least three

jackals.

HASSAN:

And make sure no one sees you with

the rifle, hide it if you see someone

approach you.

Ahmed nods. Abdullah and Hassan go on their way.

6 EXT. YUSSEF AND AHMED'S HOUSE -- LATER

Yasira and Yamil are far from the house, cleaning some

goatskins stretched out on some branches.

Ahmed, with the rifle in his hands, opens the corral gate

and enters to herd them out. He calls his brother.

AHMED:

Yussef, Yussef...

4.

7 EXT. SIDE WALL, YUSSEF AND AHMED'S HOUSE -- CONTINUOUS

Yussef is squatting on the other side of the house, spying

through a crack, breathing excitedly.

8 INT. YUSSEF AND AHMED'S HOUSE -- CONTINUOUS

Zora is inside, undressing. She has a long body and her

cinnamon skin is soft and clean. Every now and then she

aims a complicit glance at the crack through which Yussef is

spying.

AHMED (O.S.)

Yussef...

Zora turns around toward where the voice is coming from.

9 EXT. YUSSEF AND AHMED'S HOUSE -- DAY

Yussef is still spying. Ahmed approaches.

AHMED:

What are you doing?

Yussef turns around and signals for him to lower his voice.

AHMED (CONT'D)

I told you not to spy on her again.

Yussef pays no attention and keeps spying. Ahmed pulls him

by the shoulder and makes him lose his balance. Yussef falls

on his ass.

AHMED (CONT'D)

I said don't spy on her.

Yussef gets up and dusts himself off.

YUSSEF:

What the hell do you care?

AHMED:

Come on, let's go.

He turns around and leaves.

10 EXT. DESERT -- DAY

The goats graze. Yussef and Ahmed watch them sitting on the

side of a hill. They look hot and bored. They both throw

stones at a small rusty can. Yussef throws one and misses.

Ahmed throws his and does. He draws a line in the ground.

AHMED:

Five to two.

A jackal is stalking the goats. Yussef spots it.

5.

YUSSEF:

There's a jackal over there.

Ahmed raises his head but cannot see it. Yussef points at

it, but Ahmed still cannot locate it. Yussef despairs.

YUSSEF (CONT'D)

Over there.

Ahmed finally spots it. He loads the rifle, but when he is

about to aim, the rifle fires. The shot hits amidst the

goats, lifting up a small cloud of dust.

YUSSEF (CONT'D)

What are you doing, you idiot?

The jackal flees, terrified, while the goats scamper in

different directions.

11 EXT. DESERT -- LATER

Both brothers are sitting under a tree, eating bread and

drinking water from a goatskin canteen.

YUSSEF:

Zora doesn't mind.

Ahmed keeps eating without turning to look at his brother.

AHMED:

She doesn't, but I do.

YUSSEF:

This is between her and me.

AHMED:

You're both pigs. Next time I'm

going to tell my dad.

YUSSEF:

Stay out of this.

AHMED:

If you want me to stay out of it,

don't do it.

Yussef gets annoyed, stand up and leaves.

12 EXT. DESERT -- DAY

The brothers are sitting apart from each other. Ahmed guards

the goats with the rifle on his lap.

After a while, Yussef goes to sit behind a large rock. He

makes sure his brother isn't watching and he pulls his pants

down to start masturbating.

6.

When he is at his most concentrated, a shot rings out and

startles him. He quickly pulls his pants up and another

shot rings out. Yussef gets up to see what his brother is

doing.

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