THANK GOD FOR BASKETBALL - EXCERPT OF A SCREENPLAY
IN BLACK:
MUSIC CUE: (“WELCOME” BY THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE CHOIR)
BEGIN OPENING TITLES
FADE IN:
EXT. GUYANA – DAWN - ESTABLISHING
There are two white houses, a big pavilion with a white roof and two longer pavilions with green roofs all surrounded by tire tracks and bodies lying facedown in the grass. The camera slowly drags around the scene as if shot from a helicopter.
Rows of dark green body bags are lined up on an airstrip; they are full. Tracking shot backward over one row of body bags; as the camera reaches the last bag, two men in army-green uniforms pick it up and move it off screen.
END TITLES
CUT TO:
INT. SMALL HOUSE - DAY
A scrawny man with thick dark hair and a moustache sits hunched on a plain wooden bench. Behind him is wooden panelling. His hands are in his lap and he has handcuffs on his wrists. He is wearing a dirty white undershirt and tan slacks. This is 19-year-old STEPHAN JONES.
STEPHAN (V.O.)
I never hated my father.
(beat)
I never liked him much either.
A Guyanese policeman walks slowly in front of Stephan. You can hear his boots hitting the floor and the jingle of keys.
STEPHAN (CONT’D)
I guess I was the only one.
CUT TO:
INT. CHURCH.
The church is filled with people, mostly black, all standing and listening to JIM JONES preaching at the front of the room. He is wearing a white cassock and black clerical collar. His black hair is pushed away from his forehead. He is wearing sunglasses and holding a microphone.
JIM
Don’t need to worry if they throw you out of church, I’ll get you on that Greyhound bus. You don’t have a penny, and I’ll give you the finest room you ever saw. You don’t need to worry.
His voice rises.
JIM (CONT’D)
Let that preacher go! Just get on my bus, and I’ll take you on to the Promised Land. Hey!
The crowd cheers.
JIM (CONT’D)
The Spirit! God!
MUSIC CUE: (“SOMETHING GOT A HOLD OF ME” BY THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE CHOIR)
EXT. STRETCH OF HIGHWAY/MOVING – DAY
The cheering dies away as we see seven Greyhound busses driving down a highway. The busses are filled with mostly women, laughing and talking and hanging out the windows like children on a school bus.
CUT TO:
EXT. GUYANA – MID-DAY
A pick-up truck with an attached wooden bed carries a bunch of women on a dirt road through tall leafy plants and trees. The truck kicks up clouds of dirt and you can hear the crackle of gravel under the tires. As the truck passes a sign hung above the road, the camera stops following it and focuses on the sign that says “WELCOME TO JONESTOWN”.
About six young men are casually playing basketball on an outdoor court; one of them is Stephan Jones. When the truck rolls into the area, Stephan stops playing and stands by the edge of the court with the basketball under one arm.
STEPHAN (V.O.)
Almost a thousand people followed him to Jonestown. It was a whole city named after him, run by him...
Stephan looks suddenly to his right. The camera races over to Jim standing near a pavilion, smiling and waving at the truck full of people. He is wearing a red button up with two buttons undone at the top, black slacks and his usual sunglasses.
STEPHAN (CONT’D)
I bet he loved it.
The camera races back to Stephan as he turns his head back to face the truck. The other players around him are now looking at him, gesturing to him, and talking inaudibly in the background. One of them, Stephan’s adopted brother TIM JONES, 19, walks up behind Stephan and grabs the ball from under his arm. Stephan quickly turns around and his attention is back on the game; he regains possession of the basketball and shoots it into the basket.
As soon as the basketball hits the pavement, the screen cuts to black. The sound of just the basketball is all that can be heard, bouncing on its own a few times, losing height and then finally stopping.
INT. SMALL HOUSE – MORNING.
Stephan’s eyes open. He is lying down sideways on the same wooden bench he was seen sitting on previously; the shot only shows his face as if he was upright. He sits up; the shot arcs up, keeping his face framed the same way as he moves.
Tim – looking tired, his short blonde curls are golden in the sunlight - and two Guyanese policemen are standing on the other side of the small room. The door leading outside is open; it is so bright outside that no details of the landscape can be seen.
TIM
We can leave now.
Stephan stands up. He no longer has handcuffs on. He looks a bit bewildered and unsteady. He steps towards the door as he talks.
STEPHAN
Really?
TIM
Yeah, they don’t have anything against us, so...
(a beat)
Do you wanna go home?
STEPHAN
Home?
TIM
Well, they want us to go back to help identify bodies... but after that, I think we can go back to California.
STEPHAN
Okay.
They are silent as they move out the door and onto a gravel road, where a dark green pickup truck sits. The policemen follow them and get into the cab while Tim and Stephan climb into the bed and sit down with their backs against the walls, facing each other. The truck starts and drives down the road.
TIM
So you heard about Dad?
STEPHAN
Yeah.
Tim nods and looks over his shoulder, over the side of the bed. He taps his foot. Stephan is looking down at his own feet.
TIM
Someone asked me how I felt.
He smiles and laughs once. Stephan looks up at him.
TIM
I don’t even know.
STEPHAN
I don’t care. He was dead to me long before any of this happened. Why should I feel bad about it?
(getting upset)
He didn’t care about any of those people who died.
(a beat)
Who he killed.
Tim gently kicks at Stephan’s shoe to make him look up.
TIM
It’s okay...
Stephan shakes his head. The truck kicks up dirt as it drives away from the camera.
CUT TO:
EXT. EDGE OF JONESTOWN - DAY
End of excerpt.
MUSIC CUE: (“WELCOME” BY THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE CHOIR)
BEGIN OPENING TITLES
FADE IN:
EXT. GUYANA – DAWN - ESTABLISHING
There are two white houses, a big pavilion with a white roof and two longer pavilions with green roofs all surrounded by tire tracks and bodies lying facedown in the grass. The camera slowly drags around the scene as if shot from a helicopter.
Rows of dark green body bags are lined up on an airstrip; they are full. Tracking shot backward over one row of body bags; as the camera reaches the last bag, two men in army-green uniforms pick it up and move it off screen.
END TITLES
CUT TO:
INT. SMALL HOUSE - DAY
A scrawny man with thick dark hair and a moustache sits hunched on a plain wooden bench. Behind him is wooden panelling. His hands are in his lap and he has handcuffs on his wrists. He is wearing a dirty white undershirt and tan slacks. This is 19-year-old STEPHAN JONES.
STEPHAN (V.O.)
I never hated my father.
(beat)
I never liked him much either.
A Guyanese policeman walks slowly in front of Stephan. You can hear his boots hitting the floor and the jingle of keys.
STEPHAN (CONT’D)
I guess I was the only one.
CUT TO:
INT. CHURCH.
The church is filled with people, mostly black, all standing and listening to JIM JONES preaching at the front of the room. He is wearing a white cassock and black clerical collar. His black hair is pushed away from his forehead. He is wearing sunglasses and holding a microphone.
JIM
Don’t need to worry if they throw you out of church, I’ll get you on that Greyhound bus. You don’t have a penny, and I’ll give you the finest room you ever saw. You don’t need to worry.
His voice rises.
JIM (CONT’D)
Let that preacher go! Just get on my bus, and I’ll take you on to the Promised Land. Hey!
The crowd cheers.
JIM (CONT’D)
The Spirit! God!
MUSIC CUE: (“SOMETHING GOT A HOLD OF ME” BY THE PEOPLE’S TEMPLE CHOIR)
EXT. STRETCH OF HIGHWAY/MOVING – DAY
The cheering dies away as we see seven Greyhound busses driving down a highway. The busses are filled with mostly women, laughing and talking and hanging out the windows like children on a school bus.
CUT TO:
EXT. GUYANA – MID-DAY
A pick-up truck with an attached wooden bed carries a bunch of women on a dirt road through tall leafy plants and trees. The truck kicks up clouds of dirt and you can hear the crackle of gravel under the tires. As the truck passes a sign hung above the road, the camera stops following it and focuses on the sign that says “WELCOME TO JONESTOWN”.
About six young men are casually playing basketball on an outdoor court; one of them is Stephan Jones. When the truck rolls into the area, Stephan stops playing and stands by the edge of the court with the basketball under one arm.
STEPHAN (V.O.)
Almost a thousand people followed him to Jonestown. It was a whole city named after him, run by him...
Stephan looks suddenly to his right. The camera races over to Jim standing near a pavilion, smiling and waving at the truck full of people. He is wearing a red button up with two buttons undone at the top, black slacks and his usual sunglasses.
STEPHAN (CONT’D)
I bet he loved it.
The camera races back to Stephan as he turns his head back to face the truck. The other players around him are now looking at him, gesturing to him, and talking inaudibly in the background. One of them, Stephan’s adopted brother TIM JONES, 19, walks up behind Stephan and grabs the ball from under his arm. Stephan quickly turns around and his attention is back on the game; he regains possession of the basketball and shoots it into the basket.
As soon as the basketball hits the pavement, the screen cuts to black. The sound of just the basketball is all that can be heard, bouncing on its own a few times, losing height and then finally stopping.
INT. SMALL HOUSE – MORNING.
Stephan’s eyes open. He is lying down sideways on the same wooden bench he was seen sitting on previously; the shot only shows his face as if he was upright. He sits up; the shot arcs up, keeping his face framed the same way as he moves.
Tim – looking tired, his short blonde curls are golden in the sunlight - and two Guyanese policemen are standing on the other side of the small room. The door leading outside is open; it is so bright outside that no details of the landscape can be seen.
TIM
We can leave now.
Stephan stands up. He no longer has handcuffs on. He looks a bit bewildered and unsteady. He steps towards the door as he talks.
STEPHAN
Really?
TIM
Yeah, they don’t have anything against us, so...
(a beat)
Do you wanna go home?
STEPHAN
Home?
TIM
Well, they want us to go back to help identify bodies... but after that, I think we can go back to California.
STEPHAN
Okay.
They are silent as they move out the door and onto a gravel road, where a dark green pickup truck sits. The policemen follow them and get into the cab while Tim and Stephan climb into the bed and sit down with their backs against the walls, facing each other. The truck starts and drives down the road.
TIM
So you heard about Dad?
STEPHAN
Yeah.
Tim nods and looks over his shoulder, over the side of the bed. He taps his foot. Stephan is looking down at his own feet.
TIM
Someone asked me how I felt.
He smiles and laughs once. Stephan looks up at him.
TIM
I don’t even know.
STEPHAN
I don’t care. He was dead to me long before any of this happened. Why should I feel bad about it?
(getting upset)
He didn’t care about any of those people who died.
(a beat)
Who he killed.
Tim gently kicks at Stephan’s shoe to make him look up.
TIM
It’s okay...
Stephan shakes his head. The truck kicks up dirt as it drives away from the camera.
CUT TO:
EXT. EDGE OF JONESTOWN - DAY
End of excerpt.