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Gold Page #7
ACOSTA:
We get the deal. We don’t insult. We
don’t talk. We listen, we get our
permit and we get out. Are we clear?
WELLS:
...yeah. Got it.
ACOSTA:
Now go wash it off.
Wells stands there for a moment like a humiliated child. Then
goes back into the bathroom. Off Acosta, WE GO:
INT. JAKARTA PALACE RESTAURANT - DAY
A formal room with a Chinese theme. Seated at the table is the
MINISTER OF MINING. A cadre of security and yes-men flanking.
The Minister speaks with a cultured Indonesian accent.
MINISTER:
...I have reviewed your permit request
for the Kensana property...
As a waiter pours hot liquid into small bowls at each setting,
we find Wells perspiring in his bad suit. He picks up his bowl
and starts to sip his “tea.” Acosta clears his throat -- Wells
sees the Minister dipping his fingers into his bowl.
MINISTER (CONT’D)
(to Acosta)
There is a conspicuous lack of
documentation.
WELLS:
Hey, we’ve got the paperwork -
The Minister ignores him as Acosta jumps in.
34aA.
ACOSTA:
Yes, excellency. We have reports from
previous attempts, but judged it best
not to waste your valuable time.
The Minister accepts this, but still ignores Wells.
MINISTER:
(beat, to Acosta)
What makes you think you will find
what others before you could not?
ACOSTA:
They were looking in the wrong place.
The underlying geology is sound.
GIANT PRAWNS are placed in front of them. Wells can’t help it-
34A.
WELLS:
Hey, can I get a fork?
The waiters don’t move. Acosta and the Minister ignore Wells.
35.
ACOSTA:
There’s gold there, Excellency. And
with your blessing, we will find it.
A long beat. Wells gets uncomfortable. Realizes his arms are
crossed. Uncrosses them. And sells.
WELLS:
Mike really knows his stuff. There’s
no one better...
The Minister doesn’t even look at Wells, addressing Acosta.
MINISTER:
As you know, our natural resources are
a divine inheritance of all the
people.
ACOSTA:
As is your capable stewardship,
Excellency.
MINISTER:
A heavy responsibility to be sure.
Wells fidgets, then barks to a waiter -
WELLS:
Hey! Who’s a guy gotta bang to get a
drink around here?
Wells definitely has the Minister’s attention now.
MINISTER:
I am a Muslim, sir. I do not drink.
WELLS:
I’m an American and I do. And last
time I checked, I’m hosting this
little shindig, so you might want to
at least acknowledge I’m sitting here.
MINISTER:
You are most definitely an American.
WELLS:
What’s that mean?
MINISTER:
It’s the belief that paying for lunch
is a substitute for manners.
36.
WELLS:
You’re right. And I apologize. I can
see I’ve offended your delicate moral
sensibilities. But I may have just the
thing to help you get over it.
And with that, he pulls out a THICK WAD OF CASH from his
jacket, sets it down on the lazy Susan with a THUD. And then
spins it -- the cash rotates around the large table toward the
Minister. The Minister stares at Wells with contempt.
WELLS (CONT’D)
Now that you mention it, I’ve been
thinking of converting to Muslim.
ACOSTA:
That’s enough.
WELLS:
Even if we don’t find any gold, at
least I still get the forty virgins-
ACOSTA:
Wells --!
WELLS:
I’m not greedy. I’ll go half--twenty’s
a windfall. Hell, if they’re really
virgins, two would probably kill me.
The cash slowly stops revolving. The Minister never looks at
it. He stands, throws down his napkin, and, entourage in tow,
sweeps imperiously from the restaurant.
Acosta looks at Wells, his anger and disbelief palpable. Then
he grabs up the cash and goes. Wells is alone, his face
flushed with embarrassment. He sees a patron staring at him.
WELLS (CONT’D)
What the f*** are you looking at?
Wells pours himself a cup of tea, hand shaking as he drinks.
Then he looks up and sees Acosta coming back. Wells stands,
about to apologize, but before he can speak -- CRACK!
Acosta decks him. Wells falls backwards over the chair,
hitting the floor. He looks up at Acosta standing over him
and, in a flash, recognizes just how much this matters to him,
that much of his poise is a kind of cover.
WELLS (CONT’D)
You gonna tell me what happened?
Wells gets up, brushing himself off. Acosta takes his time.
37.
WELLS (CONT’D)
I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you.
ACOSTA:
He took the money.
A smile spreads across Wells's face.
WELLS:
Of course he took the money. It’s
money.
INFINITE JUNGLE in an anamorphic frame. Every leaf and blade
of grass swaying in the wind. Then Acosta appears. This is
Wells’s POV. He hurries to stay close.
ACOSTA stops moving. He looks at Wells. He looks down. Wells
approaches cautiously and also looks down. Acosta makes an X
in the soil.
Now reveal a small army of NATIVE WORKERS waiting. A FOREMAN
shrieks and they break into motion... clearing the “giant’s
footstep” for the first drill position at the “Washoe site.”
The sky is blue, dotted with white clouds; the river sparkles
gold surrounded by the limestone cliffs.
Tight shots of assembly, metal to metal. Acosta busy. Wells,
in his Loman suit slapping at Mosquitos, jungle pressing in.
EXT. WASHOE SITE - VARIOUS - DAY
A METAL SCAFFOLD lyrically sways above the grass, framed
against the limestone cliffs. A break in the grass suddenly
reveals a WATER BUFFALO pulling the first drill.
The drill is positioned. Jungle has been beaten back.
A GIRL leads a goat out of a watchful crowd to the drill where
a Dayak “BORETN” waits. He murmurs prayers in his language.
Then pulls a knife and, without hesitation or sentimentality,
draws it across the goat’s neck -
AN ARM YANKS THE PULL-CORD on the drill, ROARING to life --
Panning NATIVE FACES to find WELLS as a gentle SUN SHOWER
begins to rain down.
38.
WELLS:
See, ahh... That’s beautiful! The sky
is blessing us.
Acosta stares up at the sky with a different perspective.
ACOSTA:
Monsoon’s coming early.
WELLS:
Monsoon?
CRACK! FLASHES OF LIGHTING. Wells's face realizing the
seriousness. THUNDER RUMBLES. Rain falls harder. The DRILL
SPINS down into the earth...
Vinyl spinning on a record player. Something lofty, obscure.
WELLS:
A record player? Am I paying for that?
But you can tell the whole thing makes Wells happy. He’s got a
whiskey. The native foreman is there. And through the flaps
two distant drills glow under colored tarpaulins.
ACOSTA:
(re:
the map)We’re here. And now we step out in a
semi-circular pattern. Six man crews,
twelve hour shifts, around the clock.
Tomorrow I’ll start looking at core
samples. We’ll send the most promising
down river to the assay lab. When we
get a hit we’ll drop holes to chart
the contour of the vein.
EXT. WASHOE SITE - VARIOUS - DAY
Three foot ROCK CORES laid out in a wooden box... Pull back to
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"Gold" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 1 Sep. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/gold_1054>.
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