The Sarajevo Incident
FADE IN:
INT. STUDY - DAY
The TV is on. ANCHORMAN#1 reports. PETER watches on and off from his desk.
ANCHORMAN#1
November 11, 2018 marks the
100th anniversary of the end of
WWI.
Working on his computer, Peter pauses.
PETER (V.O)
Those who fought in the war,
if not untimely died are all gone
now. What was the grand total
of casualties?
Peter researches.
PETER (Cont'd) (V.O.)
Oh My God! 37,508,686!
Remembering something, Peter researches again.
PETER (Cont'd)(V.O.)
Yes, the Sarajevo Incident 1914
is relevant. The heir of the
Austro-Hungarian throne and
his wife were assassinated on
June 28. I visited the Latin
Bridge scene in July 2017.
Searching his computer files, Peter finds a bridge photo. He makes it the feature photo of a blog post.
PETER (Cont'd) (V.O.)
I studied history and only
knew it triggered WWI. I
couldn't grasp the details
from boring texts. Europe
was very foreign to me then.
Peter surfs the web. We see texts with illustrations and video clips.
PETER (Cont'd) (V.O.)
When I was a kid, I heard
and read Hong Kong war
hero stories during WWII.
I felt blessed that I needed
not join the military. And
I prayed for world peace.
Pausing.
PETER (Cont'd) (V.O.)
Did China fight in WWI?
Peter does further research. We see some black-and-white photos of Asians digging trenches and working in arsenals.
PETER (Cont'd )(V.O.)
China was officially neutral.
It didn't send any combat
troops to fight Germany.
But about 140,000 Chinese
workers were recruited to
support the Allied war
effort.
Pausing a while.
PETER (Cont'd)(V.O.)
The victorious Big Four were
France, United Kingdom, Italy,
and United States. China's
May Fourth Movement was
students' response of China
not getting sovereign equality
and fair treatment during the
Paris Peace Conferences.
China didn't sign the Treaty of
Versailles.
After a little while.
PETER (Cont'd)(V.O.)
Yes, May Fourth is a symbolic
anniversary date for the
Chinese destiny.
ANCHORMAN #2 reports about how do those born after WWII in defeated countries keep their sorrows in private. We see black-and-white movies of somebody. An OLD GENTLEMAN on TV speaks.
OLD GENTLEMAN
That's my grandfather. Days
after the filming, he went
down before a firing squad...
He cannot control his tears anymore.
PETER (V.O.)
That's how he faces history
and himself. How sad! Can
peace be kept by force? Do
countries understand each
other?
Pausing.
PETER (Cont'd) (V.O.)
Similarly, at the private individual
level, can people avoid conflicts?
No prosecutions, no litigation,
and no arbitration too?
Peter sighs.
PETER (Cont'd) (V.O.)
Jurisprudentially, that's possible,
if individuals or countries have
the opinion to be legally bound
by the rule of law. But when
will humans become civilized?
We hear an anti-war song: "...The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind."
FADE OUT.
The End