Back to 1942 Page #5
I'm on a tight schedule.
It's urgent.
I have to go to the airport to pick up
the president's special envoy.
Five minutes.
Give me five minutes. Okay?
Please.
Fine. Five minutes.
Your story
sounds made up.
No one is going to believe you.
If I hadn't run into several
Chinese communications troops,
I'd have starved to death along with
the rest of those poor people.
If you report this in Time Magazine,
it will be explosive news.
I want to tell the Chinese government about
what's happening in Henan.
Please.
But this is China's war.
For God's sake.
It's out of my hands.
Troublemaker.
Before I went to Henan,
it was easy for me to meet with
government officials.
I don't know, now that I have returned,
it's like I have a contagious disease.
I can no longer meet
with Minister Song Ziwen
I can not longer meet with
Minister Zhang Daofan,
and Ambassador Gaus can't help either.
With the assistance of Xie Weisi
at the U.S. Embassy
I was able to see the Chairman of
Sichuan Province.
He told me he has no control over Henan.
He introduced me to Sun Ke,
president of the Court.
He told me that only General Chiang
can make any changes.
Lastly I met with Yu Youren.
He says I had to sit with you
and that perhaps you can help me
meet with Generalissimo Chiang.
Well, I understand.
He is very busy.
But don't worry.
I Will call him.
How long shall I wait?
Five days,
or ten days.
Or maybe you won't see him at all.
What?
Want some?
Give me a kiss.
After this is over.
I can't wait any longer!
Didn't work?
I'm telling you,
a girl gets a little education and
she thinks she's special.
I'll sleep with you for the crackers.
I don't have any crackers.
- Give them to me.
- I don't have any!
Give it to me!
You and Master Fan got Xialu killed.
You've got to make that right!
One life
is worth two crackers.
Good!
There's the head!
Good!
Push.
I'm dying.
I don't have the strength.
Push.
Keep on pushing.
There it comes!
Here, the scissors.
She did it.
L't'S a boy!
Alive!
Hurry! Hurry! Faster!
Ancestors bless us.
Ancestors be praised.
Master Fan!
Come give the boy a name!
With a name, he'll have a
better chance of living.
Sure.
Call him Liucheng - a
good, auspicious name.
Just kill him.
Back on the road,
I won't have any milk for him.
He won't make it.
Don't say that!
Kill a healthy baby like this one?
We can't kill him!
Look,
I'll sell my coat
and make a nice hot soup for you.
Sweetheart,
I'm sorry.
You brought that cat all this way
and today we had to
kill it.
Dad...
I want some soup too.
Lisheng.
You are in charge of the
press, are you not?
Yes.
This is an editorial about
the situation in Henan.
Readit.
Our readers will have
seen yesterday's report
about the disaster in Henan.
Who could have imagined
were doomed to the hellish
fate of starvation?
This is all my fault.
I just got back from Guangxi yesterday.
This Wang Yunsheng,
he's the editor of Ta Kung Pao?
Yes.
Poisoning people's minds.
Shut his paper down!
Shut his paper down!
But.
Wang Yunsheng
has been invited by
the U.S. Office of Strategic Services.
He will leave for America in a few days.
At this...
Even more people
are talking about the war in Henan.
They're say we're abandoning Henan
and leaving the refugees to the Japanese.
It's an open secret.
When did we say we were giving up on Henan?
Set the record straight with an editorial.
Set the record straight with an editorial
Yes sir.
Right away.
The Generalissimo will see
Mr. Wilkie off at the airport.
You only have fifteen minutes.
You understand Chinese, right?
Yes.
Then I won't have to translate for you.
But I am going to have
to speak English, okay?
Okay.
Generalissimo,
This is Mr. White.
Mr. White,
I've heard of you.
Nice to see you.
Honorable Generalissimo,
It grieves me to report to you
that thirty million people in Henan
don't have enough food to eat.
Each day an increasing number of refugees
are starving to death.
He is reporting on the situation in Henan.
He says many people are starving.
It's been explained to me by some officials
it is because there is a war going on,
but I was there
and it appears as if the Japanese
haven't started an attack on Henan.
He says the government must not
know what's happening.
Officials say it's because of the war,
but the Japanese haven't
started attacking Henan.
There is indeed a famine,
but it's not as severe as you say.
With all due respect, Generalissimo,
I've heard that people are now
resorted to eating each other.
He heard there's been cannibalism.
Impossible.
Something like that could
never happen in China.
I've seen dogs eating people.
I've seen it.
I've seen it, Sir.
He saw it himself.
I've seen it, Sir.
Please.
I never imagined
things could be so bad.
If the famine is indeed
as severe as you say
then the government
will surely take action!
These self-satisfied Americans.
They're nothing but trouble!
If those pictures get published,
they'll call me the Generalissimo
who sat by while his people suffered.
A heartless despot.
Farewell!
Farewell!
Farewell!
Farewell!
White's article about the Henan famine
has been published in Time.
Should I confiscate
all the copies of Time in China?
No.
Buy as many copies as possible.
Have the Foreign Ministry
translate it into Chinese.
Send a copy to every minister
and provincial governor.
Add Li Peiji's reports at the end.
We need to send relief
as soon as the Japanese leave.
Otherwise, what will the
rest of the world think?
We'd be as corrupt as they say we are.
Contact Yan Xishan.
Have them immediately send supplies
to the disaster area.
Then,
tell Zhang Lisheng
to mobilize all of China to raise
relief funds for the refugees.
There are times
when I miss the old
Northern Expedition days.
All I had to do was give the order,
and my men would leap into action.
I had no burdens
keeping me from standing with the people.
How is she?
She lost a lot of blood, and with the cold
her pulse is very weak.
You've got to do something.
If you save her,
I'll give you two acres of
land when this is over.
Master Fan,
the cure is very simple.
Just give her some food.
If you want to know,
my mother and my grandchildren
died of hunger on the
road these past two days.
I'm so hungry I can't walk straight.
Master Fan!
Master Fan, hurry!
What is it?
She stopped breathing.
She was a good daughter-in-law.
I don't know what I'll tell her family,
letting her die like this.
What are you doing?
Give the baby some milk
while her body is still warm.
My god!
What?
She hasn't eaten in five days!
She is as thin as a stick.
How can she have milk?
Gentlemen,
the provincial government,
the central government has started
providing relief aid to Henan.
Starting this month,
the central government
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"Back to 1942" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 17 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/back_to_1942_23823>.
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