Kundun Page #6

Tenzin Gyatso pulls away from the telescope. He waves to

the prisoners.

EXT. VALLEY OUTSIDE LHASA DAY (SUMMER, 1942)

The boy rides in his palanquin of yellow silk.

He is older now, seven or eight. He peers through the

curtain.

A grand procession carries the Dalai Lama from the Potala to

his summer residence, the Norbulinka.

Monks walk in procession, as do members of the aristocracy,

wearing their finest gowns and jewelry, holding their finest

parasols, and soldiers, wearing ancient uniforms. There are

horses, banners and carriages. Bodyguards carry the Dalai

Lama's possessions - wrapped in yellow silk. A band plays,

"God Save the King."

It is a magnificent display, and along the side of the road,

Tibetans prostrate in the presence of the boy, not daring to

look at him.

EXT. THE NORBULINKA DAY

Establishing shot of this lovely park.

Zt looks like a sweet, summer home compared to the looming

expansiveness of the Potala. It is filled with deer and

antelope, peacocks and nesting birds. An eccentric

collection of trees grow here - some indigenous, some

gifts - bearing flowers and fruit. There are fish ponds and

even a Kyichu river tributary nearby.

We find the young Dalai Lama standing by this tributary

daring to put one foot on a slippery, stepping stone. An

Attendant gently pulls him back.

Beyond the river, a herder leads a small group of braying

sheep towards town. The boy watches. He listens to the

herder's song.

EXT. GARDENS, NORBULINKA DAY

The Dalai Lama drops bits of food into a fish pond. He

calls the huge, lazy fish to come eat.

TENZIN GYATSO:

Little ones first, only

little ones.

The boy pushes the bigger ones away with a stick.

EXT. YELLOW WALL, NORBULINKA DAY

Tenzin Gyatso runs through an open gate in a mustard yellow

wall (which separates the Dalai Lama's residence from the

rest of the Norbulinka), and up the steps leading to a

white, one story, home - his parent's.

INT. PARENT'S HOME, NORBULINKA DAY

A startling, blue room.

The young Dalai Lama leans on the table where is Father sits

eating pork rinds.

Lobsang is there, practicing his writing on a chalk board.

Tenzin Gyatso grabs one pork rind, then another, then a

third.

LOBSANG SAMTEN:

The Dalai Lama is not supposed

to eat pork. It is not good for

your brain.

The Father uses the grease from the roasted lamb on the

table to caress his long mustache and twirl each side into a

point.

The Dalai Lama takes another, and then, suddenly, the boy

reaches up and for no reason, he pulls on his Father's

mustache, obviously hurting the man. The Father slaps the

boy's hand, hard.

The boy sits back, and begins drawing imaginary letters on

the tabletop with his slapped hand.

His Father reaches out and takes the hurt hand. He pulls

the boy into his arms.

FATHER:

I am sorry, Lhamo.

TENZIN GYATSO:

It is alright, Father.

The Master of the Robe knocks at the door. Father and son

look up.

MASTER OF THE ROBE

Kundun, you must come back now.

The young boy sits straight up on his Father's lap and says,

defiantly:

TENZIN GYATSO:

Go away.

The surprised Monk backs away from the door.

FATHER:

Not the way to talk to people.

TENZIN GYATSO:

Can I do anything I want?

FATHER:

No.

TENZIN GYATSO:

But, I am in charge.

FATHER:

Are you? Of whom?

The boy thinks.

TENZIN GYATSO:

Can I save the sheep from going

to the market? So they don't die.

LOBSANG:

You could buy them.

TENZIN GYATSO:

Do I have money?

LOBSANG:

What do you think?

TENZIN GYATSO:

Do you have money?

FATHER:

I do, now.

TENZIN GYATSO:

And you have horses?

You love horses.

FATHER:

I do, beautiful horses.

Thank you, Holiness.

TENZIN GYATSO:

Will you buy the sheep for me?

FATHER:

Where will you keep them?

TENZIN GYATSO:

Here. We'll collect them.

FATHER:

I will buy them for you.

TENZIN GYATSO:

Can I free the prisoners?

FATHER:

Hmmm.

LOBSANG:

You can't do anything real

until you are Dalai Lama.

TENZIN GYATSO:

I am him.

LOBSANG:

Not until you are eighteen.

MOTHER (OC)

You have escaped once more.

The Mother has been in the doorway, listening.

Tenzin Gyatso disengages from his Father's arms and goes to

his Mother. Tenzin reaches into one of her large, apron

pockets and finds nothing. Another. Nothing. He reaches

into her sash and pulls out a special-looking sweet. She

takes the boy's hand and leads him from the house.

LOBSANG:

Go study. I get in trouble if you

do not study.

Lobsang looks at his Father.

LOBSANG:

I do.

FATHER:

Sometimes you strike the goat,

to scare the sheep.

LOBSANG:

I am the goat.

He is a naughty sheep.

FATHER:

He will not be ours much longer.

CLOSE on the Father's face.

EXT. GARDENS, NORBULINKA DAY

The Mother walks the boy back to his residence, through the

gate in the yellow wall.

MOTHER:

I have news. The Regent

has resigned his post.

TENZIN GYATSO:

Is he a bad man? Norbu says

he is "lavish" and "willful".

"How can he give you monk's vows

if he has not kept them

himself?"

MOTHER:

Well, some say.

It's not for you to worry about.

Another will be chosen.

TENZIN GYATSO:

He was always nice to me.

He found me. He saw me in

his dreams.

EXT. DALAI LAMA'S RESIDENCE, NORBULINKA DAY

They have reached the residence. The boy's Mother caresses

his little head.

MOTHER:

I turn you over again, today,

Lhamo. One day, you will not

be able to come running to us.

TENZIN GYATSO:

But you will always be here?

MOTHER:

Me?

TENZIN GYATSO:

You will always!

MOTHER:

I have one more piece of

news. A baby is coming.

Tenzin grabs at her stomach and shrieks with laughter.

TENZIN GYATSO:

Oh, Mama! Who will it be?

The Mother places her hands on Tenzin Gyatso's.

MOTHER:

Oh, no! Who can it be?

A string of old monks, stand, waiting for the naughty boy.

INT. ENTRANCE HALL, DALAI LAMA'S RESIDENCE, NORBULINKA,

DAY:

The boy runs up the stairs and towards the old men, but he

stops and looks at a small cabinet standing, unobtrusively,

in a corner. Tenzin Gyatso goes to the cabinet and rattles

the locked door.

TENZIN GYATSO:

My teeth! My teeth are in here!

A monk takes the boy by the hand and leads him down a

hallway.

TENZIN GYATSO:

My old teeth!

INT. DALAI LAMA'S PRIVATE ROOMS, EVENING

A bell and a dorge are laid out on a small table. Tenzin

Gyatso sits in front of this table.

A monk is chanting in low, deep tones, in the background.

The Dalai Lama's teacher, TAKTRA RINPOCHE, sits on the

floor. (Being the teacher, Taktra Rinpoche sits slightly

higher than the Dalai Lama.) Taktra is an older man, in his

sixties. He is stern, solid, no-nonsense.

Taktra Rinpoche begins a prayer.

TAKTRA RINPOCHE:

"I take refuge in the three jewels,

The Buddha, the Dharma and

the Sangra."

But the boy leaps up from his table and goes to Taktra and

hangs around his neck, shouting:

TENZIN GYATSO:

You recite!

You recite!

Taktra gives the boy just the slightest of looks.

TAKTRA RINPOCHE:

"I take refuge in the three jewels,

The Buddha, the Dharma and the

Sangra."

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