Difference between pages "The Old Man and the Sea" and "Shatila by Night"

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'''OUTLINE'''
 
'''OUTLINE'''
  
−
''Jouni meets John in Helsinki to deal with a local communication company.
+
''As the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Defense_Forces IDF] secures southern Beirut with the help of local Christian militias, [[Carla]], 7, is flown in from Switzerland to the deathbed of her HIV infected father in NYC, then stays for the funerals.
  
−
''Trying to dig into her past, Jouni hears about the legend of a U-boat that disappeared at the bottom of the Baltic Sea  carrying a loads of German gold bars on board. The legend comes from a now deceased drunken Estonian fishing trawler Captain who used to tell a tale to bar acquaintances in Sompasaari after the war. He was claiming to have sold stolen Russian diesel to a drifting German U-Boat at the end of the war and of having been paid in gold bars.
+
[[Swedish Rhapsody|<< PREVIOUS EPISODE]] - [[The Kreuzberg Veil|NEXT EPISODE >>]]
  
−
'' John and Jouni take a helicopter ride to Tallinn where they track a surviving crewmen of the Estonian trawler who claims to having been shown a gold bar bearing an engraved Swastika. The fisherman, now in his 80s, confirms that a woman and her infant were on board.
+
{{
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#display_map: 40.76059,-73.8999; 33.86285, 35.498381
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|zoom=3
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}}
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 +
 
 +
====NIGHT, SHATILA REFUGEE CAMP, SOUTH BEIRUT, LEBANON, 1982====
  
−
[[Hangar One|<< PREVIOUS EPISODE]] - [[CCTV|NEXT EPISODE >>]]
+
[[Moshe]] Yatom's AH-1 Cobra helicopter is circling around the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shatila_refugee_camp Shatila refugee camp]. Through the use of night vision technology, Moshe monitors the advance of several groups of armed men gathering people from house to house and systematically lining them up before opening fire upon them. Occasional flares light up the sky.
  
−
{{
+
Moshe<br/>
−
#display_map:60.1695273, 24.8302406; 59.47633, 25.01550
+
(in Hebrew through his helmet's microphone)<br/>
−
| service=openlayers
+
Visual on several separate groups of men entering houses and extracting its occupants... looks like civilians... Scope is blurry but looks like rounds are being shot.
−
| layers=osm-mapnik, osm-cyclemap
 
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|zoom=6
 
−
}}
 
  
 +
Radio Voice<br/>
 +
Any response from the Palestinians?
  
−
====GULF OF FINLAND, BALTIC SEA====
+
Moshe<br/>
 +
Not from what we can see on this flight path. Someone is shooting flares from inside the perimeter. We're staying above 500 meters along the coast to avoid [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPG-7 RPGs] from the West.
  
−
A white & blue AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter glides across the Gulf of Finland. [[Jouni]]'s looking at the horizon through the large square window. She thinks of her mother. [[John]] is on the phone, speaking Chinese.
+
Radio Voice<br/>
 +
Don't worry about the flares. That's us. They know your flight path. Continue monitoring. Give me a Sitrep in 30 minutes.
  
−
====APARTMENT COMPLEX, MAARDU, TALLINN, ESTONIA====
+
Moshe turns towards the pilot.
  
−
-You have those in China, right?
+
Pilot<br/>
 +
(to Moshe)<br/>
 +
Who's down there shooting?
  
−
Asks Jouni as both John and herself walk along rows of eight storey buildings.
+
Moshe<br/>
 +
Some [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachir_Gemayel Gemayel] units most likely... But we're providing the daylight it seems.
  
−
-In Mainland yes but not really in Taiwan.
+
Pilot<br/>
 +
That's nuts! What's the plan.
  
−
-Right.
+
Moshe<br/>
 +
Observe and report.
  
−
On either sides of the street, Soviet era apartment buildings lay derelict amidst new cars driving on freshly pave bitumen. State of the art intelligent street lights turn on as dusk engulfs the neighborhood.
+
====BETH ISRAEL HOSPITAL, MANHATTAN, NYC, 1982====
  
−
-Not that the architecture is comparable, but it reminds of this time I visited an art district in Beijing, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/798_Art_Zone District 747] or whatever. Anyways, we were walking through this revamped industrial complex probably build in the fifties. The buildings were like one of two storeys high made out of brick and there were these pipes sticking out and running from one building to another, even crossing the street. So this guy who was showing us around, I think he was chair of some local university department, told us that the complex had been conceived and build by East-German engineers and he said that without blinking. I didn't have much to do with anything there. I was just accompanying my girlfriend who was preparing some kind of art school exchange program and she was traveling with the head of her school who was obviously Jewish. The Chinese guy kept going on and on about the ingenuity of the Germans. I guess he thought that because we were westerners, we would be flattered. The Jewish guy kept nodding. I have never been there, but from picture I've seen and movies, it was like we were walking downtown Auschwitz. Anyways, I don't know why I'm telling you that.
+
[[File:Haring1982.jpg|thumb|right|480px|K. Haring, 1982]]
  
−
-Here, number 7, That's the address we're looking for right? Asks John, interrupting Jouni.
+
[[Pat]] wakes up to find his daughter [[Carla]], 7, by his side. She just flew in from Switzerland after long discussions between the Xanthis and Beerli families.
  
−
-Yeah, 7, that's it, answers Jouni as she looks up at the apartment building.
+
Carla stands still as Pat opens his eyes. He extends his arms but his mouth is too dry for him to talk. Carla doesn't move and Pat smiles at her. He reaches a piece of paper and a pen on the side table and writes a note which he then hands to Carla. Carla stiffly extends her arm to get the note and reads it. "I will always love you".
  
−
====CORRIDOR, APARTMENT BUILDING, MAARDU, TALLINN====
+
A tear drops on Carla's frozen cheek.
  
−
John and Jouni look at name plates in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillic_script Cyrillic] as they reach the third floor of the apartment building. Buzzing "Made in USSR" T12 fluorescent tubes give to the corridor an eery atmosphere. Jouni, on a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrilineality matrilineal] quest, wonders what is it that she shares with this man, so far from her culture, whatever culture she clings to. A young girl runs past them and reaches the last door. She knocks frantically as her bodily language shows an urgent need to pee. A woman opens the door and wonders who are those two strangers standing behind her daughter who disappears under her arm.
+
====IDF ADVANCED POST, SOUTHERN LEBANON====
  
−
Jouni smiles and salutes the woman using one of the few Finnish expressions she knows, "hei", hoping that this Estonian woman will appreciate the gesture and understand the English which will inevitably follow.
+
Moshe has been raised as a Zionist idealist by his [[Yatom|Moshavim father]]. On the other hand, his mother, [[Isabella]], infused him a sense of justice and discernment. Nonetheless, his harsher military/conservative side always protruded in public, until this day.
  
−
-Hi my name is Jouni Wilson. We are looking for Mr. Laja, Erik Laja.
+
After 48 hours of non-stop missions over Beirut and now back at an IAF FOB near Jezzine, Moshe is being debriefed by his unit's commander. Black and White aerial shots and a map are laid out on the table. Two Aman ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Intelligence_Directorate_%28Israel%29 Military Intelligence]) officers are also present.
  
−
The woman looks at Jouni, then at John, then at Jouni again and answers in Estonian then in Russian. Jouni smiles and remains speechless for a moment.
+
-So Yatom, could you confirm the unfolding of events, starting from Mission IAFUZ45X 16091982UTC15:00:00
  
−
-Erik Laja, we're looking for Mr. Erik Laja, an elderly man.
+
Moshe pulls his observation log pad and flips back a few pages. He clears his throat and starts the debriefing.
  
−
Jouni mimics an old man holding a cane.
+
-Upon reaching the designated perimeter, at around UTC 15:45 that night, we were first surprised by constant launches of flares from what I initially wrote as within the perimeter but later learned and observed were from outside, from our own positions around it.
  
−
-Old man... You know.
+
One of the Aman officer interferes, cutting off Moshe.
  
−
The woman repeats that she doesn't understand her when John steps forward and introduces himself in Russian with a tick Chinese accent.
+
-That has not been confirmed, so please Captain, just stick to the observations... What we are interested in knowing is where exactly did you see the first flashes.
  
−
-My friend here is looking for an old man for whom we were given this address.
+
-You mean the gun fire?
  
−
Both the woman and Jouni look at John in disbelief. The woman answers.
+
-Yes, the gun fire.
  
−
-You mean Vanaisa? My husband's father. What do you want from him?
+
Moshes looks back at his pad then points at the map.
  
−
She looks at Jouni as if she was wondering if she could be an illegitimate daughter. John continues.
+
-First northbound pass, maybe a five minutes after the our flares, I mean the flares, started lighting up the sky. Pretty much simultaneously here, here and here.
  
−
-We have reasons to believe that Mr. Laja might have been on board a ship along with my friend's mother and grandmother during the last days of the war.
+
-And what exactly did you see.
  
−
-What war? asks the woman.
+
-Well, I have to say the night vision goggles where somehow affected by the constant change of light from the flares so I only got sporadic flashes of clear view.
  
−
-The second world war. In 1945.
+
-And?
  
−
-Hah, the submarine story, replies the woman. He's a crazy old man.
+
-Well... Moshe hesitates a moment, then continues, his voice a little less confident. -What appeared to be armed men, divided into squads of maybe 8 to 12 men pulled what appeared to be unarmed civilians, including what appeared to be women and children, from houses and after rounding up enough of them, lined them up, and... open fire.
  
−
Jouni asks John to translate as she notices that the woman seems to know something.
+
-How many groups or squads could you confidently say were operating at the same time?
  
−
-She's mentioning a submarine story.
+
Moshe looks back at his log pad then at the map.
  
−
Jouni looks at the woman while asking John.
+
-From the frequency of the rounds and the distance between each location, I'd say at least 5.
  
−
-But is he here? Is he alive?
+
-So between 40 and 60 men total.
  
−
John asks the woman in Russian.
+
-No, more, much more. At another 50 to a 100 men were stationed at each entrance, here, here, here and...
  
−
-Is Mr. Erik Laja still alive?
+
-And how do you know they were with the same group.
  
−
-Yes, he's in his room. Come in. Why would I care, who would want to talk to him anyways.
+
-I don't but they also were shooting at civilians trying to run away....
  
−
====ERIK LAJA'S ROOM, MAARDU====
+
====ST-MICHAEL'S CEMETARY CEMETERY, ASTORIA, NYC====
  
−
Back from rushed visit to the washroom, the little girl now sits on her grandfather's lap as he cleans his glasses to get a better glimpse at the two unexpected visitors.
+
An Orthodox priest is reciting a prayer while a cold autumn rain pours on the mourners. Carla, tightly holds her [[Anastasio|grand-father's]] hand as Pat's coffin is lowered into the ground. Although she's caught between the solemness of the moment and the mixed emotions of knowing that her long awaited father is now  nailed into this wooden box, she is captivated by the gallery of characters attending the ceremony. Most of the men wear suits and ties but she can't help but notice the colored hair, the lack of socks, the multiple piercings and yes, this woman dressed with a long black plastic raincoat who really looks like a man.
  
−
-So what's your name cutie, asks Jouni.
+
====TIMES SQUARE MANHATTAN, NYC====
  
−
The little girl's eyes widen and her mouth remains shut as she looks at her grandfather with amusement. Jouni turns to John.
+
Anastasio is holding Carla's hand as he shows her around Times Square. This is another world from her homy [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Plateau Mittelland]. She has never seen son many people, cars, buildings and billboards. But even when she closes her eyes, the sensory flow persists. Engines, whistles, horns; the smell of hot pretzels, gas and vapor blowing out from underground. Is this hell? Definitely not paradise, but little Carla is more intrigued the scared.
  
−
-Guess you're gonna have to continue with the translation.
+
====EVENING, 8TH AVENUE DINER, MANHATTAN, NYC====
  
−
-Ok, what would you want me to ask? Don't make it too complicated though.
+
Anastasio<br/>
 +
You're a big girl now.  
  
−
Jouni looks at the old man trying to create a bond. The old man remains perplex.
+
Carla sits still in her booth sipping on a milk shake.
  
−
-Well, I guess you can start by introducing then tell him that we got his name from old log books in the Helsinki Port archives and that we were then able to trace him back to this address.
+
Anastasio (con't)<br/>
 +
A very long time ago, way before your daddy was born, way before I married yiayia, I lost what at that time was the most important person in the world. I lost her to save her life and to follow the mission my father had given me. I never saw her again, and I never saw my father neither. But since then, they've always been with me. In my dreams, when life was difficult and when beautiful things happened to me. Like when you were born...
  
−
''Once Jouni starts asking questions about a woman passenger and a baby, the old man's face lights up as if this detail triggers a domino effect of reminiscence.
+
Carla sips through the bottom of her glass making noise with her straw.
  
−
====OUTSIDE THE APARTMENT COMPLEX, NIGHT, MAARDU====
+
Anastasio<br/>
 +
(gently smiling)<br/>
 +
You want another one Koukla?
  
−
John and Jouni walk out of the apartment building.
+
Carla<br/>
 +
(in English with a Swiss German accent)<br/>
 +
No... I want a sandwich with orange cheese.
  
−
-Guess the poor man must have been pretty freaked out. After telling incredulous listeners for over sixty years that his fishing trawler was once boarded by a mysterious U-boat at the end of the war, now shows up a Russian speaking China-man along with an American woman interrogating him about it. Anyways, you never told me you spoke Russian. Thanks.
+
Anastasio<br/>
 +
A grill cheese?
  
−
Jouni grabs John's hand who plays it mysterious.
+
Carla nods yes with a smile.
  
−
-There are lots you don't know about me.
+
Anastasio<br/>
 +
(to the waitress in Greek)<br/>
 +
A grill cheese and a Coke... Please.
  
−
The couple strolls into the Estonian night.
+
Anastasio<br/>
 +
Anyways... You're a big girl but for me, you'll always be my Koukla. You're father also had a happy life, even if it was short and I'm sure that he was happy to see you near him at the end, to see that life continues through you.
  
−
****
+
Anastasio grabs her cheek across the table as Carla gives him a smile. The CBS Evening News theme emanates from a television set near the cash counter.
  
−
''Back from Estonia, Jouni and John go separate ways as John is due back in Beijing to follow up on the Vegas/Valley mission.
+
Anastasio<br/>
 +
(somewhat paying attention to the newscast)<br/>
 +
Time to go. We don't want to miss the plane. We'll get the grill cheese to go, Ok.
  
−
''Staying behind, Jouni follow her mothers/grand-mother's trail across the Baltic until she's called back to the Pentagon to get instructions for her new mission: China.
+
====CBS EVENING NEWS WITH BOB SCHIEFFER, 25 SEPTEMBER 1982====
  
 +
*400,000 people march in the streets of Tel Aviv to protest against the Sabra & Shatila massacres.<br/>
 +
*Penn prison guard George Banks kills 13 (5 were his own children)<br/>
 +
*USSR performs an underground nuclear test<br/>
 +
*CDC announces the spread of new infectious disease named AIDS and also known as "gay cancer" amongst the male homosexual population in NYC, SF and LA.
  
−
[[Hangar One|<< PREVIOUS EPISODE]] - [[CCTV|NEXT EPISODE >>]]
+
[[Swedish Rhapsody|<< PREVIOUS EPISODE]] - [[The Kreuzberg Veil|NEXT EPISODE >>]]
  
 
[[Category:Episodes]]
 
[[Category:Episodes]]
−
[[Category:The Venetian Cell|1.007]]
+
[[Category:The Passengers|2.009]]
−
[[Category:Follow the Money|1.007]]
+
[[Category:The Clan|2.009]]
−
[[Category:The Age of Nujood (2010- )]]
+
[[Category:The Age of Christiane (1979-1983)]]

Latest revision as of 16:58, 22 December 2023

OUTLINE

As the IDF secures southern Beirut with the help of local Christian militias, Carla, 7, is flown in from Switzerland to the deathbed of her HIV infected father in NYC, then stays for the funerals.

<< PREVIOUS EPISODE - NEXT EPISODE >>

Loading map...


NIGHT, SHATILA REFUGEE CAMP, SOUTH BEIRUT, LEBANON, 1982

Moshe Yatom's AH-1 Cobra helicopter is circling around the Shatila refugee camp. Through the use of night vision technology, Moshe monitors the advance of several groups of armed men gathering people from house to house and systematically lining them up before opening fire upon them. Occasional flares light up the sky.

Moshe
(in Hebrew through his helmet's microphone)
Visual on several separate groups of men entering houses and extracting its occupants... looks like civilians... Scope is blurry but looks like rounds are being shot.

Radio Voice
Any response from the Palestinians?

Moshe
Not from what we can see on this flight path. Someone is shooting flares from inside the perimeter. We're staying above 500 meters along the coast to avoid RPGs from the West.

Radio Voice
Don't worry about the flares. That's us. They know your flight path. Continue monitoring. Give me a Sitrep in 30 minutes.

Moshe turns towards the pilot.

Pilot
(to Moshe)
Who's down there shooting?

Moshe
Some Gemayel units most likely... But we're providing the daylight it seems.

Pilot
That's nuts! What's the plan.

Moshe
Observe and report.

BETH ISRAEL HOSPITAL, MANHATTAN, NYC, 1982

K. Haring, 1982

Pat wakes up to find his daughter Carla, 7, by his side. She just flew in from Switzerland after long discussions between the Xanthis and Beerli families.

Carla stands still as Pat opens his eyes. He extends his arms but his mouth is too dry for him to talk. Carla doesn't move and Pat smiles at her. He reaches a piece of paper and a pen on the side table and writes a note which he then hands to Carla. Carla stiffly extends her arm to get the note and reads it. "I will always love you".

A tear drops on Carla's frozen cheek.

IDF ADVANCED POST, SOUTHERN LEBANON

Moshe has been raised as a Zionist idealist by his Moshavim father. On the other hand, his mother, Isabella, infused him a sense of justice and discernment. Nonetheless, his harsher military/conservative side always protruded in public, until this day.

After 48 hours of non-stop missions over Beirut and now back at an IAF FOB near Jezzine, Moshe is being debriefed by his unit's commander. Black and White aerial shots and a map are laid out on the table. Two Aman (Military Intelligence) officers are also present.

-So Yatom, could you confirm the unfolding of events, starting from Mission IAFUZ45X 16091982UTC15:00:00

Moshe pulls his observation log pad and flips back a few pages. He clears his throat and starts the debriefing.

-Upon reaching the designated perimeter, at around UTC 15:45 that night, we were first surprised by constant launches of flares from what I initially wrote as within the perimeter but later learned and observed were from outside, from our own positions around it.

One of the Aman officer interferes, cutting off Moshe.

-That has not been confirmed, so please Captain, just stick to the observations... What we are interested in knowing is where exactly did you see the first flashes.

-You mean the gun fire?

-Yes, the gun fire.

Moshes looks back at his pad then points at the map.

-First northbound pass, maybe a five minutes after the our flares, I mean the flares, started lighting up the sky. Pretty much simultaneously here, here and here.

-And what exactly did you see.

-Well, I have to say the night vision goggles where somehow affected by the constant change of light from the flares so I only got sporadic flashes of clear view.

-And?

-Well... Moshe hesitates a moment, then continues, his voice a little less confident. -What appeared to be armed men, divided into squads of maybe 8 to 12 men pulled what appeared to be unarmed civilians, including what appeared to be women and children, from houses and after rounding up enough of them, lined them up, and... open fire.

-How many groups or squads could you confidently say were operating at the same time?

Moshe looks back at his log pad then at the map.

-From the frequency of the rounds and the distance between each location, I'd say at least 5.

-So between 40 and 60 men total.

-No, more, much more. At another 50 to a 100 men were stationed at each entrance, here, here, here and...

-And how do you know they were with the same group.

-I don't but they also were shooting at civilians trying to run away....

ST-MICHAEL'S CEMETARY CEMETERY, ASTORIA, NYC

An Orthodox priest is reciting a prayer while a cold autumn rain pours on the mourners. Carla, tightly holds her grand-father's hand as Pat's coffin is lowered into the ground. Although she's caught between the solemness of the moment and the mixed emotions of knowing that her long awaited father is now nailed into this wooden box, she is captivated by the gallery of characters attending the ceremony. Most of the men wear suits and ties but she can't help but notice the colored hair, the lack of socks, the multiple piercings and yes, this woman dressed with a long black plastic raincoat who really looks like a man.

TIMES SQUARE MANHATTAN, NYC

Anastasio is holding Carla's hand as he shows her around Times Square. This is another world from her homy Mittelland. She has never seen son many people, cars, buildings and billboards. But even when she closes her eyes, the sensory flow persists. Engines, whistles, horns; the smell of hot pretzels, gas and vapor blowing out from underground. Is this hell? Definitely not paradise, but little Carla is more intrigued the scared.

EVENING, 8TH AVENUE DINER, MANHATTAN, NYC

Anastasio
You're a big girl now.

Carla sits still in her booth sipping on a milk shake.

Anastasio (con't)
A very long time ago, way before your daddy was born, way before I married yiayia, I lost what at that time was the most important person in the world. I lost her to save her life and to follow the mission my father had given me. I never saw her again, and I never saw my father neither. But since then, they've always been with me. In my dreams, when life was difficult and when beautiful things happened to me. Like when you were born...

Carla sips through the bottom of her glass making noise with her straw.

Anastasio
(gently smiling)
You want another one Koukla?

Carla
(in English with a Swiss German accent)
No... I want a sandwich with orange cheese.

Anastasio
A grill cheese?

Carla nods yes with a smile.

Anastasio
(to the waitress in Greek)
A grill cheese and a Coke... Please.

Anastasio
Anyways... You're a big girl but for me, you'll always be my Koukla. You're father also had a happy life, even if it was short and I'm sure that he was happy to see you near him at the end, to see that life continues through you.

Anastasio grabs her cheek across the table as Carla gives him a smile. The CBS Evening News theme emanates from a television set near the cash counter.

Anastasio
(somewhat paying attention to the newscast)
Time to go. We don't want to miss the plane. We'll get the grill cheese to go, Ok.

CBS EVENING NEWS WITH BOB SCHIEFFER, 25 SEPTEMBER 1982

  • 400,000 people march in the streets of Tel Aviv to protest against the Sabra & Shatila massacres.
  • Penn prison guard George Banks kills 13 (5 were his own children)
  • USSR performs an underground nuclear test
  • CDC announces the spread of new infectious disease named AIDS and also known as "gay cancer" amongst the male homosexual population in NYC, SF and LA.

<< PREVIOUS EPISODE - NEXT EPISODE >>

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