The Interpreter
She wouldn't tell me her husband's name.
She wouldn't even write it.
She knows not to speak
the names of the dead.
Zuwanie's murdered half the town.
How could it get any worse?
With Zuwanie, he could murder the other half.
No. Just us, they said.
Xola's right, Philippe.
You've done well, my friend, but just us.
I'll do the talking.
[Native African dialect - Ku]
They're Ku.
[Boy calls in Ku]
[Shouts]
It's OK. It's OK.
The Teacher says good day to you.
[Gunshot]
[Hubbub of voices in various languages]
The United Nations was born in a hope
that survived world war...
[speaking Spanish]
[Continues in Spanish]
[Translator] We must not allow the peace
of the world to be jeopardized.
[Various languages in translation]
[Translator] Not only is this a negation
of democracy and its principles,
it constitutes interference
in the internal affairs of sovereign states.
We are presently in the throes
of a great transition
in humankind's affairs.
Modern technology is altering our world
in ways that would have been
impossible to fathom
when the United Nations Charter was signed.
- Could you take your jacket off?
- Go ahead.
- Next.
- Ma'am?
What?
- Put it in the drawer, please.
- Step forward, please.
- Step through.
- Oh, man.
[Female translator]
Peace, security and freedom
are not finite commodities
like land, oil or gold,
which one state can acquire
at another's expense.
Get the GA President into the safe room.
Inform him.
Clear out the tourists,
get the Prime Minister on his way out.
[Continues in Spanish]
While globalization has benefited
portions of the world...
While there are now 191 nations represented,
you'll only have to learn to say "peace"
in the six languages of the General Assembly.
- Do we get a pin?
- Folks, you need to follow me.
Ladies and gentlemen,
we need to take a 15-minute recess now.
We will advise you further
at the end of that time.
We can't use the stairs.
- I know a short-cut.
- What, did you design the building?
- I still get lost every other day.
- Silvia?
I'll be right back.
- What is that?
- Come on, Roland, it's my flutes.
I have a lesson.
Don't make me drag it around.
I let you do this,
I'll get coats and hats and yogi mats...
I had a beauty. "Pie in the sky".
- Isn't it like "castles in Spain"?
- Exactly. Les chateaux en Espagne.
Stay away from both doors.
We'll unlock when it's all clear, sir.
Delegates' entrance clear.
Delegates' lounge clear.
Visitors' lobby clear.
Protectee is back in America.
Want to wait this out at Oz?
We can grab a sandwich.
- I've got to get back in to get my stuff.
- Merde, how long is this going to take?
[Indistinct whispered conversation in Ku]
[Conversation in Ku continues]
[Conversation in Ku becomes agitated]
[# Moby Grape:
Hey Grandma][Background chatter]
[Jukebox stops - conversations halt]
[# Lyle Lovett:
If I Had a Boat][Conversations resume]
[Woman] Hey, you got the Kellers. We're out
having a good time, so leave a message.
Hey, you got the Kellers. We're out
having a good time, so leave a message.
[Phone]
[Machine] Silvia? Rudy thought he had
a flute lesson tonight.
Will you call me when you get in?
- You know, they make new ones now.
- Yeah, I know.
[Car horn]
[Car horn]
[She shrieks, he apologizes in Portuguese]
Portuguese.
[Hum of conversations in variety of languages]
[Translation]
Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen,
the situation in Matobo
has now become critical.
With Ajene Xola in hiding
and Kuman-Kuman in exile,
Edmond Zuwanie has few domestic obstacles
to his policy of ethnic cleansing.
The Security Council therefore
must press for his immediate referral
to the International Criminal Court
in The Hague.
Miss Broome.
I'm Jonathan Williams, Ambassador Harris's
adviser. We need you for a few minutes.
- Which language?
- The Matoban ambassador. He'll speak Ku.
- Ku?
- You speak the language, don't you?
- Let's be clear, Mr. Ambassador.
- [Silvia translates into Ku]
The United States may not recognize the ICC
as a legitimate court,
but we do not condone the methods
President Zuwanie uses against his people.
[Speaks Ku]
Dr Zuwanie is an educator.
He is... our teacher.
But his opponents
engage in ever more ferocious acts.
The partisans of both Kuman-Kuman
and Ajene Xola have become...
terrorists.
The French proposal
is a diplomatic headache for both of us.
- What a predicament.
- It doesn't have to be.
Dr Zuwanie wouldn't have to appear
before the International Criminal Court.
Not if he were somewhere else.
- Do you want him to resign?
- Tell him this.
If he goes voluntarily, we're confident
the French proposal will be vetoed.
[Speaks English] You can tell him yourself.
He will be here next Friday,
exercising his right
to speak before the General Assembly,
where he will announce
a new programme of democratic reform.
Perhaps then there will be no vote
and your predicament will disappear.
[Silvia] It will end here.
The Teacher will never leave this room alive.
That's it.
"The Teacher will never leave this room alive. "
Word for word.
- And what language did you say?
- Ku.
It's a tribal dialect of Matoban, spoken
throughout the south central African belt.
- Did you see anyone?
- No, but I think that they saw me.
Why didn't you report this last night?
It didn't mean anything to me at the time.
- Rather, I didn't know what it meant.
- But now you do.
I heard something today.
I don't know if I'm permitted.
- It was in a closed...
- You are.
In fact, you're obligated,
as you were last night when you didn't.
I think they were talking
about Edmond Zuwanie.
He's planning to come here
to address the GA.
Can you see her?
Turn on the light.
Call the Secret Service.
[# Zenvox:
Bump]Bet you really miss this. Welcome back.
Ma'am? Excuse me.
Please don't touch the Prime Minister.
- [cell phone rings]
- I need you to step back, please.
Woods.
[Raised voices]
The first of the demonstrators.
They're here to protest the appearance
later this week by Edmond Zuwanie.
Not just his political future
but any future for him
hinges on that speech
to the General Assembly.
Dr Zuwanie is accused of genocide,
but he's expected to argue that his actions
were a defensive response to terrorism
and not acts of aggression, as some
Security Council members have charged.
- Secret Service.
- Just a moment, please.
We're with Foreign Dignitary Protection.
- It's a branch of the US government.
- Dot.
This is international territory.
I need you to wait for an escort.
Zuwanie lands at 8.45 hours.
State Department says no meet-and-greet,
no shopping, no Lion King.
He leaves your podium,
his plane has two hours to clear US airspace,
unless the UN cancels the visit
and Tobin and I can get back
to the important work we were doing.
That's up to the GA President.
We just present a threat assessment.
- Why is he coming?
- To make a speech.
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"The Interpreter" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_interpreter_10881>.
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