TORTILLA MOON by Reid Perkins-Buzo o.p. FADE IN: EXT. RIVER RUNNING THROUGH A DESERT VALLEY - DAY WIDE SHOT. Camera dollies back on landscape to reveal the dry land surrounding the river, the hills and ravines, and the mountains in the distance. VOICE Once upon a time there lived a people beside a little river. CRANE SHOT of a village with its houses, adobe church, and central plaza, which people move around in. It is built around a central well. A woman draws water from the well, children run across the plaza. The sounds of the people are heard as if from far away. CRANE SHOT of Three Shepherds with a Flock of Sheep on the side of a ravine. The sheep slowly graze. Sounds of Shepherds and Sheep. MEDIUM SHOT of a Shepherd playing the flute. Yaqui indian flute music is heard. WIDE SHOT of Desert Floor sloping down to the River. The Sheep can be seen in the distance. MEDIUM SHOT of a small adobe house. A small girl, Maria-Sewa, runs into the open door, then walks back out with her Mother walking behind her. Father walks into the frame towards the door. VOICE (CONT'D) Maria-Sewa lived with her Father and Mother in a small village. EXT. MARIA-SEWA'S HOME - DAY CLOSE UP as Maria holds a chicken. Angle on the interior of the chicken pen, up to Maria and chicken. Maria drops the chicken it spreads its stubby wings and glides to the earth right in front of the camera.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 2. EXT. VILLAGE PLAZA - DAY LONG SHOT. Camera pans across the plaza as Maria runs across it with three other small girls, dressed similarly to her. INT. MARIA-SEWA'S HOME - DAY CLOSE UP FROM BELOW Grandmother, with Maria's face in background, slightly out of focus. Grandmother shows Maria how to weave from a rack. RACK FOCUS to show Maria watching attentively. CLOSE UP TO Mother showing Maria how to paint a pot. RACK FOCUS to show again Maria watching attentively. EXT. MARIA-SEWA'S HOME - AFTERNOON WIDE SHOT FROM BEHIND as Maria stands on the rail of a corral fence. Her father is inside the corral with a small flock of sheep. He turns to Maria and smiles, she waves to him. EXT. MARIA-SEWA'S HOME - NIGHT MEDIUM SHOT. Father, Mother, Grandmother and Maria sit around a small fire. They listen as each one speaks, then they laugh together. MEDIUM CLOSE UP on the family as they share the laughter. CUT TO: INT. OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT OF MEXICO - MORNING CLOSE UP of an official-looking document titled, "El Pueblo Yaqui y su Tierra." Title changes to English "The Yaqui Indians and their Land." VOICE Far away lived the rulers of Mexico. The page turns. The words "Cada ao nuestros rancheros necesitan mas tierra. Necesitamos la tierra del pueblo Yaqui." The words change to English "Our ranchers need more land every year. We should take the land of the Yaqui indian people."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 3. CONT'D CAMERA DOLLIES BACK to show an OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT of a man dressed in a Black suit sitting at a desk. A man in a Mexican Army uniform is standing in front. He is standing at attention. The man in the suit writes on the page. His shoulder blocks the camera as he writes, then when he is done, the words "Mate los indios. Tome su tierra" are seen. The words change to English, "Kill the indians. Take their land." VOICE (CONT'D) So they took the land of the river people. CUT TO: CRANE SHOT of Mexican soldiers marching over the hills and looking down into the Yaqui River valley. (Matches the opening crane shot). CRANE SHOT of the deserted village. Only soldiers move through the streets. (Matches second opening crane shot). CRANE SHOT. Ninety Yaqui women and children and fifteen men stand inside a corral guarded by soldiers. VOICE (CONT'D) "What will we do with the rest of these people?" asked the rulers. "Send them far away, to the south, away from their river, their dry land, their sheep. Send them to the jungle," said the Generals. "There they will bother us no longer!" MEDIUM CLOSE UP. Camera slowly pans past the faces of the people in the corral. Maria, her mother and grandmother are in the crowd. Depth of Field effect allows some faces to be seen more clearly than others. CRANE SHOT. All the people march over the hills out of their river valley. A band of soldiers is with them. (Matches the shot of soldiers marching in). DISSOLVE TO:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 4. EXT. WESTERN FOOT OF MOUNTAINS - DAY CRANE SHOT. The people come up to the foot of the high mountains. Soldiers are still with them. MEDIUM CLOSE UP. The people climb past the camera into the mountains. Depth of Field effect allows some faces to be seen more clearly than others. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. EASTERN FOOT OF MOUNTAINS - DAY CRANE SHOT. The people and the soldiers march out onto the central plains of Mexico. MEDIUM CLOSE UP on the Sun. Its light pours down in rings of white, yellow and orange. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. CENTRAL PLAINS OF MEXICO CLOSE UP of Maria's mother pouring the last drop of water from her water bag onto Maria's waiting tongue. MEDIUM SHOT of Maria's grandmother collapsing on ground as a soldier walks by. CRANE SHOT. Yaqui people march across the dry plains. MEDIUM SHOT. Maria cups her hands to gather rain water as it falls ... CLOSE UP ... and drinks it. MEDIUM SHOT. Maria catches a grasshopper ... CLOSE UP ... and eats it. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. A SMALL HILL IN FRONT OF THE JUNGLE - DAY WIDE SHOT. Camera shoots up toward the top of a small hill. The small band of Yaqui come over the top of the hill and stand looking forward in shock. Moments later the soldiers join them on the hilltop. WIDE SHOT REVERSE ANGLE. The Jungle spreads out before them, dark and impenetrable. Jungle noises are heard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 5. CONT'D WIDE SHOT FROM BEHIND as the captain addresses the Yaqui people. The soldiers are grouped to his right and left, but only their backs are seen. VOICE "This is were you will live," the army captain told the Yaqui people. "Make yourselves home in the jungle. Now, we leave." The soldiers march off to the right, led by their captain who laughs as he leaves. MEDIUM CLOSE UP on the Sun. Its light pours down in rings of white, yellow and orange. The camera tracks it as it settles toward the bottom right side of the frame, turning more deeply red. WIDE SHOT FROM BEHIND-RIGHT of the people as they watch the Sun go down. Their shadows stretch out toward the camera. It disappears behind the jungle canopy. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. CLEARING IN FRONT OF THE JUNGLE - NIGHT WIDE SHOT PANS LEFT TO RIGHT. The Yaqui people lie on the ground in front of the jungle. Depth of Field effect allows some faces to be seen more clearly than others. The pan tracks the Moon as it rises up from the jungle canopy. Its blue light washes over the people lying on the earth. One old man begins to play the flute. CLOSE UP of flute player. The tune is mournful. CLOSE UP of Maria as she watches the Moon rise from the jungle canopy. The flute music ascends higher in pitch and becomes enveloped in great sadness. MEDIUM SHOT. Maria lies down on the ground, pulls her blanket-cloak over herself, and shuts her eyes. CLOSE UP. A tear falls from her closed eyes. She goes to sleep. FADE OUT:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 6. EXT. CLEARING IN FRONT OF THE JUNGLE - NIGHT CLOSE UP. Maria opens her eyes slowly. A glow of bluish-green washes her face from below her chin. She begins to sit up. MEDIUM SHOT (FRONTAL). Maria sits up. The glow comes from beneath her blanket. It lights up her face. She opens her blanket and holds a glowing tortilla in her hands. CLOSE UP. Maria holds the tortilla in front of her face with her eyes peering out in astonishment from behind it. The tortilla lights up her face and hands softly and serenely, but spreads no further. No one else awakens. CLOSE UP REVERSE ANGLE. The tortilla surface shifts and swirls. A wise, old face appears, the face of a person! VOICE (The light pulses as the tortilla speaks) "I am the Spirit of the Moon. I heard the flute and came down to help the people. Sleep in my light tonight, then share me as food tomorrow with all the people. You will eat and be filled." CLOSE UP MARIA (THREE QUARTERS). Maria smiles happily. The edge of the Tortilla Moon is seen in the lower right hand corner of the shot. After two beats her smile disappears, her eyes go wide and sad. VOICE Suddenly Maria felt fear. "Oh thank you Moon Spirit," she said. "We had no food and you have given yourself as food for us. But what of the next day and the day after? Shall we starve then?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 7. CONT'D MEDIUM CLOSE UP OVER THE SHOULDER OF MARIA. The Tortilla Moon begins to grow and glow ever more brightly. Maria moves to set the Tortilla Moon on the ground. MEDIUM SHOT (PROFILE OF MARIA AND TORTILLA MOON). Maria sets the Tortilla Moon down and stands up. The Tortilla Moon continues to grow until it is a thin disk standing almost twice a high as Maria. Its light pulses softly. VOICE (CONT'D) "Maria-Sewa, I will come to you each night, and bless the people with food until they return to their land far away. Tell them to journey home in twos and threes. I will be with them on the way." DISSOLVE TO: EXT. RIVER RUNNING THROUGH A DESERT VALLEY - DAY (Matches the opening shots in the film with some slight variations to indicate a passage of time.) CRANE SHOT. Yaqui people fade into the landscape in twos and threes moving toward their old village. At first it is in ruins, but as more of them appear, the village becomes as it once was, small but well kept and beautiful. VOICE So the people returned to their land. CRANE SHOT of Three Shepherds with a Flock of Sheep on the side of a ravine. The sheep slowly graze. Sounds of Shepherds and Sheep. VOICE (CONT'D) The Mexican government had changed and no longer went to war against them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page 8. EXT. RIVER RUNNING THROUGH A DESERT VALLEY - EVENING MEDIUM SHOT of a Shepherd playing the flute. The shepherd's hat is low so the camera cannot see a face. Yaqui indian flute music is heard. WIDE SHOT of Desert Floor sloping down to the River. The Sheep can be seen in the distance. MEDIUM CLOSE UP FROM BELOW of the Shepherd. Lifting the hat so it falls back, the shepherd is revealed as an older Maria-Sewa. VOICE And whenever the full moon shone, Mara-Sewa remembered that fearful, wonderful night in the jungle. She turns and the camera follows her head as she looks up to the rising Moon. CLOSE UP. She puts the flute back to her mouth and begins to play. A joyful melody, touched with a memory of suffering comes from her flute. VOICE (CONT'D) Long after it left her side, she saw the Moon high in the sky, still giving all the people its blessing. The camera cranes up behind her so that, in turn, she, the village, the river, the hills, ravines, and finally the whole landscape can be seen in the moonlight. The flute music continues as there is a FADE TO BLACK: THE END
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