RONIN Page #4

LARRY:

Who the f*** died and appointed you food

czar?

SWEDE:

I'm just worried about your health,

Larry. You could stand to shed a few

pounds.

LARRY:

(sensitive about his weight)

And you could stand to get a little

smarter, ain't that right you dumb blonde

f***?

SWEDE:

(sensitive about the dumb

blonde thing)

Who you calling dumb, dickless?

Both men eyeball one another, and then suddenly Larry reaches

for his piece, and as soon as he does this Swede does the

same thing, but before they can do anything - DEIRDRE'S GUN

swings INTO FRAME, smashing Swede in the face and dropping

him to the floor. Larry's mouth drops open in surprise, but

it's too late:
Deirdre kicks him in the stomach and then

rabbit punches him in the back of the neck, driving him to

the ground.

DEIRDRE:

(standing above them)

Next one of you f***ers plays this game

I'm going to do for you myself. I won't

say it again:
we don't have time for this

sh*t! There's a clock running on this

job, gentlemen, and I mean to be on

schedule.

A TENSE MOMENT as Deirdre stares down at these tough guys --

letting them know who's in charge. A SOUND from OFF SCREEN

interrupts this moment: a DOOR opening, as we see - Vincent,

who stands in the door, wearing his coat and hat.

He's been out somewhere, and he looks first at the squabbling

men, and then at - Deirdre. She gives Vincent a little nod --

a silent command that makes Vincent turn to Sam.

VINCENT:

Let's go for a ride.

Vincent and Sam start off, moving towards the door, while Swede

and larry slowly pick themselves up off the ground.

SAM:

Where to?

VINCENT:

To see a man about a thing.

SAM:

I can do that.

EXT. THE WAREHOUSE - SUNSET

A DESOLATE URBAN LANDSCAPE - Sam and Vincent walking away

from the warehouse, which is housed in what looks to be the

toughest neighborhood in the city, filled with CHEAP CONCRETE

PUBLIC HOUSING and INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS.

THE SETTING SUN throws a red glow on the street, giving the

raw concrete buildings a blood-colored tint, as Sam and

Vincent approach a FIAT, a car neither too old nor too new.

Before they can reach the car, the two men are intercepted by

FOUR TOUGHS, young guys in their early twenties. The LEADER

of the Toughs apporaches Vincent.

LEADER:

(subtitled French)

Who gave you permission to park here?

SAM:

(to Vincent)

What's he saying?

VINCENT:

Pretty much what you'd expect.

SAM:

(with a sigh)

That's what I thought.

LEADER:

(in French)

There's a charge for parking on our

block.

The other Toughs add lib a few tough guy remarks (in French,

of course).

VINCENT:

(to Sam)

He says this is their block.

SAM:

As in, they own it?

VINCENT:

Something like that...

SAM:

And I suppose he's saying that we oughta

give them something for using it, huh?

VINCENT:

I didn't know that you spoke French.

SAM:

I don't. But the language he's speaking

is universal.

ANGLE ON THE LEADER - Who's smirking at Vincent and Sam.

Sam's words make a great deal of sense: the Leader is

speaking the universal language of "give me some money or

I'll kick your ass."

SAM (O.S.)

I guess we oughta give them something...

CUT BACK TO:
Vincent and Sam.

VINCENT:

If you think we should.

Vincent backfists the Leader in the nose -- hitting him so

hard that the Leader skitters back on unsteady feet and then

sits down on his ass. This blow hurt, but the real damage is

to the Leader's pride. Now - One of the Toughs rushes at

Sam, only to have Sam perform what looks like a jujitsu throw

which savagely jerks the Tough off his feet and flattens him.

SAM:

(as if it were an accident)

Oh man, I am sorry about that...

(he sticks his hand out)

Let me give you a hand.

Sam reaches down as if to help the Tough, who ignores the

hand and totters to his feet. As soon as he's up he turns

and runs away, followed by the other Toughs. Now only the

leader is left behind. He looks for a second at Vincent and

Sam, and then turns and runs after his friends. Vincent

calls after him in French, but whatever he says isn't

translated. Vincent turns to unlock the car.

SAM:

What'd you say to him?

VINCENT:

I asked if we could give him anything

else.

By now the two men are in the car, which starts up and drives

off, as it does we -

CUT TO:

INT. THE FIAT - SAME TIME

VINCENT:

That was a nice move you did on our young

friend. Judo?

SAM:

Jujitsu.

VINCENT:

Same thing, isn't it?

SAM:

Not at all. Similar, but not the same.

VINCENT:

What's the difference?

SAM:

One's a lot more painful than the other.

Vincent laughs, and Sam looks out the window at the city of

Paris as we MOVE THROUGH to the outside world of -

EXT. PARIS DRIVING MONTAGE - TWILIGHT

A SERIES OF QUICK CUTS of the car driving through Paris at

night. We don't see familiar sights like the Eiffel Tower or

the Arc de Triomph, but instead - We travel through the LEFT

BANK, down a series of Mazy Alleys which twist and turn,

filled with bistros, bars and falafel joints. NEON SIGNS

line the streets for as far as the eye can see. Near the end

of this trip we hear the SOUND OF A MATCH FLARING, followed

by -

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