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.

EXT. KENSANA VALLEY - DAY

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...

INT. MAIN TENT - NIGHT

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

reveal ten boxes... then twenty... Moving INSIDE -

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote