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(alarm blaring in far distance)
(bells ringing softly)
- [Stephanie] Life is an immobile, locked,
three-handed struggle between your wants,
the world's for you, and worse.
The unbeatable slow machine,
that brings what you'll get.
Blocked, they strain round a hollow stasis
of havings-to, fear, faces.
Days sift down it constantly.
Years.
(motor whirring)
(woman laughing)
- No, it's in a movie! (laughing)
It's a little boy! (giggling)
No, he's behind the curtain! (laughing)
(fabric rustling)
It's a little boy ghost. (laughing)
(phone ringing) (dog barking)
- It's my bet, he's so (laughing), I love her so much.
- [Stephanie] Yeah, I'll be right out!
- I really, I really love her. (laughing)
(bag zipping closed)
You didn't know, you didn't know you were like-
- [Stephanie] (sighs) Hello.
- He was like me. (laughing)
(keys jingling)
My whole body's swollen. (laughing)
(gate creaking)
(door closing)
(woman laughing)
(door opening) (traffic rumbling quietly)
(door closing)
- Hey, this you?
- Yeah, yeah.
That's all you got?
- It's all I have in the world, man in a van.
Let's go.
(car door closing)
- I just think it's weird.
- Since when are you so particular about who crashes here
for a few days? - We're supposed
to be working.
- She's not gonna be in the way.
She has nowhere to go.
These roommates of hers are really terrible.
She said she was afraid of retribution.
- What?
- That was the word she used, that's heavy shit, Eleanor.
- Retribution? Hey, Danielle.
- [Stephanie] Hey.
- Hey, ah, what kind of retribution?
- Oh, well, actual physical.
See, they know I was the one who called (clears throat)
Brittany's mom about the cocaine.
After my bag got stolen right out of the apartment,
they have all sorts coming in and out lately.
People who aren't exactly part of my demo, you know?
Woke up in bed the other night
with a big Latin guy standing over me, high as hell.
Said he was looking for the bathroom,
but, felt like a warning.
Had to get out, had to get out today,
and I'm awfully sorry. - Your demo?
- I'm sorry, was that...
- You don't think they followed us, do you?
(bass guitar music)
- Um, I don't have any advice to give you guys,
just play it better.
Okay?
- [Band Member] Yeah, I know, let's drink some water.
(mellow melodic music)
♪ She came to me in deep distress ♪
♪ Torn with jealousy and rage ♪
♪ He said he'd never love her ♪
♪ Wouldn't marry someone her age ♪
♪ You don't love him, no, you hate him ♪
♪ Then she called me a fool ♪
♪ You know nothing about cruelty ♪
♪ Then he ceases being cruel ♪
(muffled mellow music)
♪ What you see is the air ♪
♪ Your breath is the bond, oh no ♪
♪ Your word isn't there ♪
♪ Your word is your ♪
(eerie tense music)
(door closing)
(traffic rumbling quietly)
(alarm blaring in distance)
(traffic rumbling quietly)
- I know it's not interesting,
but pencils are a thing that we need.
So somebody's gotta go.
I can't, I've got company.
Alright.
Well, send Barry out for them, what's he doing?
- Excuse me.
- Oh, hello.
My name's Gerard.
You were really full of beans last night.
Oh, don't worry, you're unviolated. (laughs softly)
Where were you afraid you were when you woke up?
- In a stranger's apartment?
Where's my phone?
- Ah, well, it won't work in here,
but your bag's on the floor beside the bed.
Yeah, you know, you were, (laughs softly)
you were trying to hail a cab,
but you were kind of alienating all the drivers.
- I don't remember anything. - I was worried, you know,
because you're teetering all over the road
and terrible things happen to drunk women in this city.
I told you it's not gonna work in here.
- Yours did, hey, who are you anyway?
- Gerard, I work in law enforcement.
You wanna have some breakfast?
- I don't, this is your place?
- [Gerard] Hm, it belongs to the department.
- And where did you sleep last night?
- Oh, I didn't.
(Stephanie groaning) Ooh!
Yeah, still muzzy, I bet. - Oh, God.
- Come on, let me get you a bite to eat downstairs.
You wouldn't know how to find your way home
from here anyway.
(motor whirring in distance)
- Show me your badge.
Which borough are we in?
- Queens technically.
- And you're in law enforcement?
- Yep, NYPD Intel, not to be confused with those jokers
over at the Joint Terrorism Taskforce,
those guys are all deputized
and I will not be so crass as to tell you what I, think,
that is a cinnamon, oh, that was quick.
(plates clattering quietly)
- And you do what exactly?
- Well, let's see, you know those uniformed, PD thugs,
who are always accidentally killing people?
- [Stephanie] Ah-huh.
- Well, when I eliminate someone,
the action is always sanctioned and covert.
- You're sort of whimsical?
- [Gerard] Yeah, well, you gotta be,
if you're gonna do the big work.
- Oh and if I raise the slightest objection to that work,
you're gonna tell me the world's a dangerous place
and that I don't understand anything.
- Understand isn't the word I'd use.
You're an actress?
- How do you know what I do?
Have I a file?
- Maybe, no, I've seen you on stage.
Yeah, really, in a Richard Foreman show
back when he was still down on St. Mark's.
(Stephanie laughs) There was a lot of um, wire
and, and, sledgehammers, chalkboards.
Yeah, my fiancee, Lysette is a big aficionado
of you know, so called downtown theater,
although lately she say I watch too much video.
But you were really great in the play,
even if I don't know exactly what I mean by that.
But what you were doing was so strenuous.
- How does Lysette feel about you being out all night?
- I don't know, it happens, Lysette, look,
Lysette gets me for the most part.
So things aren't going so well career wise, huh?
- A girl can have a drink for any old reason.
You're intel work?
- Yeah, you know, I shouldn't have said anything,
but I feel comfortable with you, you know,
there's something about easing a woman's shoes off for her.
- Counter terrorism?
- Yeah, and all that that word entails.
My department has international reach,
I travel frequently. (laughing)
I know, I know, I'm the devil, right?
This is where you reach for your revolver.
- It just seems like a grand misadventure to me.
- You read that phrase somewhere.
No, grand isn't the right word, too much blood.
But hey, think what you want, you know,
you'll be back to your demographic soon enough.
- My demographic? - Hm-mm, Brooklyn.
Christ, what is Brooklyn anymore?
Brooklyn is a white toddler in a Run DMC T-shirt.
(both laughing)
I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna defend myself to you,
I'm just gonna continue to feel good about the fact
that I have helped to prevent things,
that might have hurt you. - Like what?
- I can't go into details, but it would've been painful
and it would've been slow
and it would've happened to a crowd.
You would've had to watch everybody else suffering,
even while you, you know, because it's, it's funny,
everybody's afraid of kicking it alone,
but I for one can't think of anything worse
than a deliberately paced, collective perishing,
be it like you're all dying in front of me or...
- I don't believe you.
- You gonna eat that?
We can, we can meet again if you want to.
- [Stephanie] I don't think so.
- Ah, if it'd help you professionally, you know.
See, I've already,
I've already developed a sort of affection for you.
- How does meeting you again professionally help me?
- But that's my curse, you know,
I'm emotionally promiscuous.
I like to think it comes from a sort of,
well, what I hope is a healthy curiosity.
You know, I couldn't do the work I do, if I wasn't curious.
But there are, there are risks, you know, to be sure.
(brakes screeching)
Hey, hey, hey, wait. - Bye.
- Hey, hey.
Here.
Take it.
(traffic rumbling quietly)
- Hey, did you really ever kill anyone?
- I've felt like it though.
(mellow melodic music)
(muffled jamming music)
(people chattering outside)
(bell ringing softly)
(door opening)
- Did we wake you? (door closing)
- I was already awake.
Couldn't sleep for all the quiet last night.
- [Jim] Totally. (breathing heavily)
You wanna play?
- No, thanks.
Never been for me, never liked the sounds,
all that crashing and grunting.
- [Jim] This is touch.
- 10 pounds of extra clothes just to play a Goddamn game,
never made sense to me, none of it.
(Jim breathing heavily)
Y'all get a newspaper up here?
- [Jim] Get a paper, a paper, no.
What are you reading?
- I just found it on the shelf.
- "Children dissipate the longing for immorality."
- No, immortality.
- "Which is the compensation of the childless writer's work,
but it is not only a question of children or children,
there is a moment when the cult of home and happiness
becomes harmful on domestic happiness."
- You know what? - Damn.
- I think I will play.
- Alright.
(door opening)
Come on, guys, we can do this, just go long,
we're gonna go head that way. - I just throw it, right?
- Yeah, I'm gonna throw it right, ready? Hut!
Hut!
Hike!
Go, go, go, go, go! - Ah!
- Back, back! (bodies thudding)
(Jim laughing) - Fuck, fuck!
Fuck!
- I'm fine, I'm fine. - Why didn't you catch it?
- Jim, you know what? - I'm a mess
at this football nonsense. - It's not nonsense.
(birds chirping)
(motor whirring)
- Hmm! (breathing heavily)
Hmm!
- Of course Sweden is a vastly different country
in terms of its relationship to addiction.
The state provides treatment
just like it would any other disease, but you know what,
I've found something and I don't know how this sounds
or if this is the right place to say this,
but I like the shame.
It has benefited me to feel embarrassed.
No, but that's how we grow, right?
Not just the self care, but the intense self laceration.
I mean, based on standards that are not even ours,
I mean, why are we here right now by and large?
Because we embarrassed ourselves at a wedding or a picnic.
- Yeah. - Right?
- Picnic.
- Because we did something horrible
in spectacularly public fashion in broad daylight
and someone took us aside and said,
"You should be ashamed of yourself."
Because we hadn't been and they were right.
You know, part of me wishes
that this wasn't such a safe place,
I wouldn't mind relying on a little bit more judgment
from you people.
You know, other people then maybe you, Jeffrey,
what is your deal anyway, Jeffrey?
Is it just me or is the rage general?
Because I wasn't the one who gave you
your first drink, buddy.
- Stephanie. - No,
but it feels like it's just with me.
- It's not just you,
he's already told us he hates all of us.
(Stephanie sighing)
- Alright, where was I?
- Shame. - Right, yes, shame.
Vital, galvanizing
and I,
yeah, that's pretty much it.
The week was uneventful.
(Stephanie sighing)
- Hello. - Are you kidding me?
Does the word anonymous mean nothing to you?
- Oh, come on, we both know you're just doing this
for research or something. - How do we both know that?
Look, I didn't call you. - Hey, hey, hey, listen.
Don't ride the subway today, do me a favor.
- Why not?
Oh, you have some information, is that it?
- Oh, yeah, much too much,
it's a wonder I manage to stay so even keel.
Look, it's probably nothing
and the stations are all crawling with JTTF jerk offs,
but just as a precaution, let me give you a lift.
(footsteps descending stairs)
- You know, I've been wondering for a long time
when the subway's gonna get blown up.
I mean, why hasn't it already? It seems really easy.
- Well, you could do it if you want to. (laughs softly)
- It's not really gonna happen, is it?
- Probably not, but you know,
butterfly flaps its wings in Syria and boom!
Hey, doesn't it mean anything to you that I'm here?
- I don't think I know anyone,
who's taking the subway right now.
Hey, Jeffrey.
- What?
- [Stephanie] You're riding your bike, right?
- What's it to you?
- Alright, but I don't wanna go home,
they're all there right now.
- Well, I was just thinking we'd, you know.
(footsteps descending stairs) (Stephanie sighing)
Oh, she's at home, Lysette's always at home
working on her thesis, anthropology.
- What's it about?
- [Gerard] Well, you know pornography?
- Yes.
- [Gerard] Well, Lysette is interested in what she calls
the narrative couching of the sex act,
you know, like the preliminaries,
the proverbial pizza boy who gets lucky with the housewife,
the plumber, you know.
- Does porn even still have those things?
- Oh yeah, still has everything.
But she's not just talking about ostensible plots,
she's also interested in the way internet clips
are captioned, the names given things, you know,
a velvet afternoon or a game of chess.
- (laughs) Chess.
- Yeah, no, indeed, they're playing chess for some reason
and then all of a sudden, you know.
But I mean, it could be just as simple as, you know,
Johnny goes down, but the point is that
it can never ever be just anonymous people having sex,
it always has to be contextualized in some way
and Lysette's argument is that, you know,
pornography's not reactionary just because,
because of, ah, misogyny or because of industrial practices
or whatever, but that it turns out
that even the most aberrant sexual fantasy
requires some sort of narrative buffer zone, you know.
It's kind of depressing when you think about it.
(clears throat) Or at least she says, I don't know,
I'm glossing over a lot, you watch porn, right?
- [Stephanie] You might have just ruined it for me.
- Oh, well.
- [Stephanie] Why aren't you with her now?
- Ah, I'm a distraction.
- [Stephanie] You talk a lot.
- Well, how else are you gonna get to know me?
- I didn't say I wanted to.
What are you doing?
- Ah, just making sure the last guest
cleaned up after himself.
- You know, I am glad to see you again,
I mean, look at you, you're for fucking real.
- You know, sometimes I worry about the effect
of all those images, you know, but what am I, her father?
I mean, if she says it's fine.
Okay, all clear probably.
- Are you looking for bugs?
- [Gerard] You pepper me with questions.
- Is someone listening?
- [Gerard] Probably not.
(faucet running)
- I can't imagine you're supposed to have me here.
- [Gerard] I don't ask you so many questions.
- That's because you know everything.
- Ah, it'd be a mistake to assume we know everything,
a woman is not her search history.
Lysette would be the first person to tell you that.
So, anything coming up acting wise?
- Audition for a film.
It's a low budget thing, I play a girl from Texas.
- [Gerard] Oh yeah, what's her deal?
- She's addled, on the run.
- And how does a Swedish woman get inside a girl from Texas?
- (sighs) The voice first.
Hey, isn't rush hour just about over?
- Almost, it ends at eight now, so you can't be too safe.
Well, let's hear the voice, wait.
See, I'm from Georgia originally, different lilt, cadence,
but you know, might be helpful.
- I don't think so.
- Well, we're kind of stuck here for the time being.
- Are we?
- Might as well make it productive.
It'd be an honor. - (sighs) Oh, my God.
- And like I said, I've already developed
a kind of affection for you.
- Why don't you just shut up?
- [Gerard] There you go.
- I can't sleep.
Can't.
Thinking about mankind being made in God's image,
thinking about him probably being the ugliest,
pockmarked motherfucker that ever made a world.
- [Gerard] Pass.
- Shit isn't even north or it's south anymore.
No point to anything.
Maybe that's why I did what I did.
- What did you do?
- None of your business, stopped confessing a long time ago.
Doesn't mean I feel bad,
maybe just means I've come to like it.
Nice kind of heat comes off the wrong thing.
Kind of heat makes you rethink the definitions.
- Ha, addled was right. (face slapping)
- You don't know me, motherfucker.
We're just killing time till it runs out.
You're pretty enough.
- Oh, yeah?
- Enough.
My men are all just pretty enough now,
that's my pay grade, enough.
After what I've done.
- Tell me.
- (scoffs) You'd just get turned on.
Goddammit, the only person I like talking to anymore
is my kid, she just wants me to tell her what to do.
Too young to wonder about most things,
just wants to follow the rules better than most.
- [Gerard] You shouldn't hit me.
- Named her Jenga, after the game,
'cause she's always gonna get back up.
Little baby Jenga, plays horsey, likes pink shit,
had a fancy macaroon once,
now she begs for them all the time,
the fancy ones are hard to find
and they don't come cheap, but, you got kids?
- No. - Well, that's a shame,
they're a pip.
I hated to leave my Jenga behind, but what you gonna do?
If I'd had my druthers,
I would've blasted her off to another planet, yeah,
'cause Lord knows, (laughs softly)
nothing anyway, nothing.
He's telling us to help us out down here,
He's probably busy knocking up another virgin.
People seem awfully convinced He's coming back
in some form or another, but I don't guess
that's gonna happen till they come for us.
- [Gerard] Alright, I get the idea.
- Sorry to get you caught up in all this.
- I don't think it's really-
- But you should've known better.
- My type of thing.
- The pretty girl's hitching a ride alone,
there's always somebody chasing her.
- Okay.
Alright.
- And sometimes that somebody's even worse than her daddy.
- Alright.
- (laughs) Don't even get me started on Daddy.
Liked to get drunk,
used to put his hands in all the wrong places saying,
"Hey, I had a hand in the manufacture,
so why can't I get a little tickle in once in a while?"
At least he was kinda up front.
- [Gerard] Hm, low rent what's his name, Sam Sheppard.
- Had a beautiful singing voice though.
Why is it that broken ass, weak ass bastards
always sing like Goddamn angels, when they've had a few?
You know any songs?
Be honest, it's my thing, my yardstick,
see, if you know how to sing,
I'll be able to tell you're a son of a bitch for sure.
- You already think I'm a son of a bitch.
- Oh, but I need proof.
- Lysette is wondering where I am.
- But you're trapped, aren't you?
- Hmm. (breathing heavily)
Hmm!
- Are you okay?
- Let's just sit here
quietly for a little while,
until I get the all clear.
Hmm!
- What are you doing? - Shut up.
Hmm!
(light melodic music)
Hmm!
(Gerard breathing heavily)
Hmm.
- [Man] Come with me.
- [Woman] No!
- Are you ever afraid that your nose
is gonna get pushed up inside your brain?
- Hm, knew a guy it happened to once.
Well, maybe that's what it was.
He got into a fight in the oil fields.
No surprise, those guys can get rough.
Mostly itinerant, lots of Mexicans,
but this was a father of a friend, a foreman.
A buddy of his came to work plastered,
my friend's dad tells him to go home, sleep it off,
he goes crazy, maybe it wasn't just booze in him.
Got a lot of meth down there too, speed,
all that cheap, small town shit.
Tells my friend's dad he's got to work to support his kids,
he's got one from the current wife
and one from the last, both little girls.
My friend's dad tried to stay real calm
and everybody's holding this guy back
and the dude just Hulk's the fuck out,
throws them off, rushes my friend's dad, Tim was his name.
Comes at Tim like a crazy, bloodshot-eyed freight train,
throws him one punch, just one, lands it perfectly.
Damn, I feel bad saying perfectly,
but at just the right angle, you know
and I guess it was like he knew what he'd done right off.
There was this cracking sound and Tim's just standing there,
blood flowing down his shirt and he doesn't fall right away.
His eyes just go crazy wide
and he's looking around like somebody can help him
and then there's this terrible silence
for a few long seconds
and then Tim drops like a stone,
dead, nose pushed right up into his brain.
The other guy's doing 10 for involuntary.
Not much help to his little girls now, is he?
- (sniffs) Thanks.
- Hm.
- I don't believe you.
- What did you say?
- That story, all of it.
But it's, it's okay.
(head thudding) - Ow!
- Hi. - Hi.
- I was just about to turn the light out.
- [Jim] Yeah, no, I just wanted to make sure that-
- I have everything.
- No, not that.
I wanna make sure that you knew the people here are good.
- I wasn't afraid they weren't. (laughs softly)
- No, I mean, maybe good's the wrong word,
it sounds like a bunch of squares,
but like they're, they're preoccupied.
No one's gonna pay you much attention,
no one's gonna ask you a lot of questions
and even if they do, nobody's gonna listen to what you say,
so I'm trying to say you're safe.
- Didn't think I wasn't.
- Good.
Good.
Sorry, I'm a little drunk.
- Sure you are.
- [Jim] Can I just sit for a second?
(Stephanie clearing throat)
(muffled melodic music)
- What am I waiting for you to do?
- Are you waiting for me to do something?
- No, I mean what are you gonna do?
Are you coming at me?
- Can I?
- Am I allowed to stay if I don't let you?
- No, just, (gulps)
I'd really like to fuck you.
(Stephanie laughs) You know, I'm being honest.
- Like a good person.
- I'm sorry, I'm going about this badly, but I'm just,
I would really love to go down on you,
you know, I really like to do that
and we could just do that, if you wanted me to,
I mean, if that would give you some relief.
- From the pressure of sitting here
listening to you talk about it?
- No, I mean, I know you're in trouble
and I know you're scared and I just,
the only thing I can give you is this place
and I just wanna help you forget about all that
and if that would help alleviate, you know,
in whatever way I can.
- Why didn't you just come in here and pounce?
I could've fucked you up, if I felt like it
and now we're just sitting here chatting about it,
how does that, yeah, okay.
- [Jim] Okay.
(eerie tense music)
- And the evidence of my aging isn't just in the mirror,
it's in everywhere around me, it's in the fact
that when I go to people's houses for dinner nowadays,
they have to be reminded to put on the music.
- Right. - It's in the fact
that actually half the couples I know
are getting a divorce or should be.
- Time.
- Already I am starting to relate to the people,
who fall asleep on the train, to envy them.
- The big wheel.
- Excuse me, don't mean to interrupt,
but could I get a photo? - People say excuse me
in order to interrupt
and you must see I'm talking to someone I already know.
Don't look at me like that, don't give me that power,
I don't have it, I'm a very small part of your life,
be fair to me.
- And you know, it's not really aging
that I'm worried about at all, it's dying of course,
I don't want you to think this is just about my career.
Are you familiar with the work of Philip Larkin?
- Vaguely.
- The great poet of banal foreboding,
the unsudden comprehension of death,
not the kind that makes you sit up at night
gasping for breath, but the kind
that just sort of niggles at you all day, every day,
oh right, there's that, an end to all of this.
- If you don't wanna feel that way,
why don't you just stop reading him?
- Well, I didn't say I didn't wanna feel this way.
- 'Cause I can never tell if you're complaining.
Maybe that's a virtue, maybe and I can never tell
if you're actually recommending books to me
or if you're just advertising the fact
that you've read them.
That's not a virtue.
- I am trying to bring my reading to bear on my life.
- It's just you have this thing, that death thing
and I'm not sure if it's something,
that actually weighs on you
or if it's something you like aspire to,
instead of worrying about what to wear to auditions.
It's all the same pitch lately.
- Well, excuse me for still having to audition.
- I have to audition, I had an audition the other day.
- Well then, excuse me for having to worry
about what to wear,
people don't just send me clothes for free.
- Hm, trained people aren't the only ones you envy.
- Why do we keep meeting? - Because we like each other.
You want? - Hm-hm.
- Don't worry, I'm buying.
(birds chirping)
I need to tell you about this audition,
I think you'll appreciate it, I know you will.
- [Stephanie] Who was it for?
- I don't know, even my agent doesn't know about it.
Last week a messenger dropped a package off at my house.
- [Stephanie] A messenger?
- It was a thin envelope, no return address,
just my name on the front.
Inside there were a few pages from a script,
three or four, a monologue.
My character's name was Katerina.
- Sounds Spanish.
- She wasn't, Stephanie, focus.
These were the three most exquisite pages I've ever read,
script wise.
- Really, what was the story?
- It wasn't about the story and I have no idea
what the story was, it was about the words.
It was, it wasn't just dialogue, it was incantation,
like this Katerina was a high priestess
at some sort of black mass,
only better, less, I don't know, problematic.
I mean, she was simply saying things
that had never been said before,
she was bringing something new into existence.
She was calling some shit down.
- You don't still have the script?
- Hold on, so I'm reading this totally superb text
and when I get to the end, there's no writer's credit,
no personalized, little director's note,
just an address and a date and time
typed dead center on the page. - Where was the address?
- Deep Brooklyn somewhere, it doesn't matter,
what was clear was that I was being summoned
and after what I've read, believe me, I was flattered.
So for the next two days I dug in, sunk into the words,
did whatever I did to internalize this Katerina,
such as she was and at the appointed time,
I took a car to the address. - What was the street?
- I'm telling you, I can't remember,
it was a warehouse near the water,
the kind of place people go to be killed really,
but I had no apprehensions,
because I knew I was gonna nail it.
I mean, I had it down, I was truly prepared to crush.
The car drops me off, pulls away, I go and knock on the door
and this little, tweaky guy answers, he's wearing a T-shirt,
he seems kind of fucked up,
like he's waiting for his connection.
But he recognizes me and motions me in
down this long hallway
and then I start to worry a little bit,
there's all this ominous water dripping from the rafters.
- How did the messenger know
how to find your house in the first place?
- Finally we stop outside of this big, steel door,
somewhere in the depths of this place
and the kid turns to me and there's something in his eyes
and suddenly he's not so tweaky anymore,
he's almost commanding, he holds out his hands
and he tells me in a sort of clipped voice
to hand over the script,
which I do like I'm in a fucking trance
and he pulls out some matches, lights it on fire,
holds it up in front of me,
I can see the words burning off the page
and it was only a matter of seconds
before the whole thing is just a pile of ash.
He slides open the door and motions me in
and as it closes behind me, I realize it's all gone.
- What? - Everything, Katerina,
everything I've been working on for the past two days,
poof, gone up in smoke.
- I don't believe you.
- Oh, I'm casting about like crazy,
I mean, there's nothing.
I'm so panicked that for a second, I can't even see
what's in front of me. - Which is what?
- I'm telling you, at first I thought they were mannequins.
When I finally got my bearings and greeted them,
introduced myself like an idiot,
one of them nodded slowly as if to say proceed
and I'm not even sure what sex they were.
- [Stephanie] Are you sure they could see you?
- I'm not sure of anything other than in that moment,
I knew I was gonna disappoint them,
I mean, they'd chosen me
and I was gonna show them they'd chosen poorly.
- [Stephanie] Anonymous, bescarved people.
- And then suddenly it occurred to me
I was never gonna leave that room,
not because I was afraid
they were gonna hurt me or anything,
but because there wasn't any place to go outside.
The world had dissolved around us, not dissolved, no,
died the moment the tweaky boy had shut the door
and this was it now and this was the world,
this room, these people in it.
I felt this deeply and I knew it was the case.
Instead of warning you all
or being bummed out about everything,
an incredible feeling of relief descended
and suddenly the stakes just felt so low.
(soft tense music)
Then Katerina reemerged,
just a trickle at first,
then came the flood and pretty soon,
she was just pouring out of me.
And the moment I finished, it was all gone again forever.
- And did you get a call back?
- There isn't gonna be any call backs.
- Excuse me, I don't mean to alarm you guys,
but we have just had a bomb threat called in.
- Was it a young woman, the voice on the phone?
- Yeah.
- We're fine.
- I think the police are gonna come and make you leave.
- Well, we'll wait for them, I'd like to finish my drink.
(motor whirring)
(both laughing)
(motor whirring)
(muffled dance music)
(background people chattering)
- Well, hello, sir, nice suit.
- You didn't say it was a party.
- Would you have come if I had?
- You know, people used to dance at parties.
- So I'll get a cotillion going for you.
What would you like to drink?
- Oh, it's been a hard day.
- What, did we kill some kids
in a drone strike or something?
- No, it's personal.
Oh, Jesus, what the hell's he doing here?
- If the schools didn't have so much money,
we'd have the resources we need
to really fucking deal with this.
- You know someone? - But as it is now, you know.
Gerard! - He's one of those JTTF,
horrible guys, the worst one.
Who invited him? - I don't know.
- Give me her name.
- He said his name was Max.
- Well, it isn't.
- Hey, buddy, what a surprise. - Your name isn't Max.
- Yeah, it is.
- [Gerard] What are you doing here?
- Gerard, there are people in the world,
who go out in the evening and live their lives
like people in a world.
Why the fuck are you wearing a suit?
(Stephanie laughing) - You little, deputized-
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Piece of-
- Whatever, whatever, it's good to see you.
How did you two meet? - On the street.
- I dig the street, nice, who approached first?
- He did.
- Not true entirely.
- Nice, Gerard, nice.
That's the New York City I grew up in,
people approaching each other, speaking to each other,
having a drink and then, (claps hands) boom!
(Stephanie laughing)
Sorry if that makes me sound like an old man.
- No. - Hey, don't like him.
- Don't worry, she's not gonna like me, I can tell.
I'm not one of those guys who goes around
saying I'm not here to make friends,
which is pretty much Gerard's refrain at work.
- Oh yeah, work,
like you're some kind of insurance salesman.
- Yeah, it's correlative of what I do.
Hey, have you met the lovely Lysette yet?
- Okay, excuse us.
- [Stephanie] Did you invite that guy, Max?
(muffled dance music)
(background people chattering)
- Hey, are you pregnant? - Look, I told you-
- Yes. - Is this,
this is proof, isn't it? - It is proof.
- Can I call you a hillbilly, is that the same?
- You can call me a hillbilly. - Is that the same shit?
- Please do call me a hillbilly.
- What are you then? - I'm a real person.
So what would I be according to you?
- A prophesy.
- I don't know, man, I don't bring this shit around,
I just wanna know what it is.
- Motherfucker!
- Dude. - Hack motherfucker!
- Relax, man, you know we're both here just to break off
a piece of boho strains. - No, no, no.
- Come on, relax, man. - No, you listen to me.
- We don't have a problem. - Listen,
let's talk about May 2013. - Oh, words, words, words.
- And your immense fuck up.
You guys are so fucking stupid, you don't,
I don't even know how you can live.
- Gerard's pussy- - Oh, you know exactly
what I'm talking about. - Didn't file his forms
correctly this morning. - What is your problem?
- You fucking- - Hey.
- I think we should end it.
- [Stephanie] (scoffs) End what?
- This charade.
- (laughs) No reason to end it.
See, I've developed a kind of affection for you.
- Stop it. - No, but really.
(sighs) What was it that happened today,
that was so personal?
- [Gerard] Not your business.
- Roger, Max, they both suit him.
- [Gerard] Well, like I said, Roger's the real one.
- It suits him.
Is it Lysette?
- I'm not comfortable with you saying her name.
- Look, you've made me this weird, little nexus
for your interpersonal professional problems
and I know where this place is now and I can find it again,
so you might as well tell me.
- [Gerard] I want you to stop being interested in me.
- (laughs) That's not your choice.
It's Lysette, right?
Where did you two meet anyway?
Has she been here?
Do you take other women here?
I'm not sure if I should feel honored or what,
no, I know I shouldn't feel honored.
I'll admit I'm flattered, but Jesus, Gerard,
what did you think?
Your work is despicable, you're despicable.
I mean, yeah, from what I can glean, you're not a catch,
long hours, behavior, what did you expect, loyalty?
Where did you two meet anyway?
Okay.
Well, my advice is that you take her out for dinner
tomorrow, that's how easy it can be.
There's nothing better than someone taking you out
for dinner, when it's a nice surprise, somewhere elegant,
not too much, like a nice, high end barbecue joint
or good tacos or something.
A good dinner can really seal the deal, seriously,
a lot can be forgiven, if you have the right ambience,
good wine and if you're present,
you just have to be present.
Oh, and ah, mindful, don't forget that, mindful and present
and low camp lights and some shit hanging from the rafters,
then you're golden.
- [Gerard] Get out.
- Oh, you wanna go? Come on, man.
- Get out. (bottle thudding to floor)
Please.
- Oh, please, where am I gonna go?
- Why won't you ever shut up? (laughing nastily)
- (groaning in pain) You fucker!
Ah! (Gerard groaning in pain)
(head thudding) - Ow!
- Jesus, shit, Jesus Christ.
(Gerard choking)
Gerard.
Hey, hey, shit.
(Gerard choking)
Um, think.
(Gerard choking)
(phone ringing)
Hello.
- [Man] Hello.
- Who is this?
- [Man] Who is this?
- There's been an accident.
- Who am I speaking to? - There's a man bleeding here
and I think he's in serious trouble.
(Gerard choking)
- Which man? - Gerard is his name.
- [Man] I see, what kind of trouble?
- Oh, he fell, he hit his head,
he's bleeding and he can't speak.
(Gerard choking) - Oh, that sounds pretty bad.
- I think you should send someone.
- [Man] Right, and you are who again?
Strange- - Don't worry about me,
just send someone.
- [Man] You stay there, you stay right where you-
(Gerard choking)
(eerie tense music)
- [Jim] Okay, are you ready?
Remember it's not the final version.
(mellow melodic music)
♪ She came to me in deep distress ♪
♪ Torn with jealousy and rage ♪
♪ He said he'd never love her ♪
♪ Wouldn't marry someone her age ♪
♪ You don't love him, no, you hate him ♪
♪ Then she called me a fool ♪
♪ You know nothing about cruelty ♪
♪ Then he ceases being cruel ♪
♪ What you see is the air ♪
♪ Your breath is the bond, oh, no ♪
♪ Your word isn't there ♪
♪ Your word is your ♪
(mellow melodic music)
♪ She dreamt she took off both her ears ♪
♪ Put them in the sand and walked away ♪
♪ Up rose a seven-story cactus ♪
♪ Cast in gold and said to weigh ♪
♪ A million pounds of pure beauty ♪
♪ Measured only by those who see ♪
(mellow melodic music)
♪ What you see is the air ♪
♪ Your breath is the bond, oh no ♪
(gentle keyboard music)
(gentle guitar jamming music)
- This is your guitar, right?
- Yeah, you like that one?
- Yeah, what is the aluminum piece?
- Ah, it's a buzzing bridge,
it's what gives it that overtone
and undertone.
- Cool.
- Yeah, there's a Indian word for it,
but I can't remember.
(beer hissing)
- I understand, I'd probably quit too.
- Well, I didn't quit yet.
- Yeah, I don't know how I'll do in nursing school, but.
- Did you play it?
- No, I didn't.
- So you went to their house and cried
like in front of them or?
- I'm not gonna attack you tonight. (laughs softly)
It took me a long time to work up the courage to say that.
So I saw your Larkin book, I love him.
So bleak.
A little crab for my taste, I prefer the ecstatic poets
like Whitman, mostly Blake though,
Blake was my man in college,
always had Blake at the ready, you know.
Those fucking illustrations, you know he did those?
- Hm-mm.
- Yeah.
Anyway, look, you're gonna be fine
and I know when we leave here,
we're not ever gonna see each other again,
I'm not naive about that shit.
I just want you to know that
I'm already wishing that we were a bigger part
of each other's lives, not that we are now, but...
So in the fucking future, when we'll never see each other,
I'll be thinking of you
and just wishing you well.
'Cause I've been watching you
and I'm just gonna miss that.
But my guess is
you're not gonna be thinking about me at all.
(gentle guitar music)
- I should go back to the city tomorrow.
- Who's ready? - Right.
- Dylan's ready. (Dylan laughing)
(all speaking at once)
- Oh, my God, oh, God. - Oh, that's too-
- Yep, ah-huh. (all laughing)
- You all take it. - Soft and rookie.
- I'll take one.
(all laughing) - It's not easy to pour.
- That is so funny. - Come on.
- Taste that. - Drink.
- That's kind of a generosity. - That tastes good.
- [Band Member] You both pour with his generosity.
- [Band Member] It's not that you could ruin mixing
and make some kind of sophisticated thing with it.
- Go ahead, have the last bit. - Alright.
- Can I have a cigarette? - Go for it.
- [Band Member] I'm willing to share my chaser.
- You gotta put the bottom up. - Ah!
- It's up. - Yeah.
- Whoo!
That's disgusting.
(Eleanor laughing)
- But now you're one of us. - Aw!
- [Band Member] Does anyone have a cigarette I can bum?
- Sure. - Bong, bong, bong, bong.
- Sorry. - Now don't be sorry please.
- More? - Help yourself, right.
- We like that stuff. - Really?
- Yeah, we do.
- [Band Member] We found a sucker.
- [Band Member] Ah, here you are.
- [Band Member] Wish we had the bongos in here.
- How about you, a shot, another shot?
- I'm good.
- Come on. - No.
- Leave her alone, Jim.
(singing in Swedish)
- [Eleanor] Careful now.
(singing in Swedish)
Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.
(Stephanie singing in Swedish)
You didn't tell me she could sing, I mean. (laughing)
Wow.
(door opening)
(door closing)
Hey!
- Hey!
(door closing)
I didn't wanna wake you.
- You didn't.
- Thanks.
- I didn't do anything.
Good luck.
(car door opening)
(car doors closing)
(car engine starting)
(car rumbling)
(door closing)
(AC unit whirring quietly)
- [Stephanie] Sorry,
I don't even know if I'm in the right apartment.
- For what? - For a, I, um.
Did you, do you work for Gerard?
Well, I understand we have to be discreet,
but I wanted to make sure- - Gerard?
- [Stephanie] Yes, the last time we were here,
he, we had an altercation,
he was hurt badly and I wanted to see if-
- He's dead.
I mean, probably,
hurt badly is almost always a euphemism, isn't it?
It's what you tell a kid about a car accident,
Daddy was hurt badly and now he's with the angels.
What do I know though, I'm just a realtor.
You shouldn't be here. - Wait, he's not-
- We're not officially showing until tomorrow,
but since you came all this way, white wine?
- [Stephanie] No.
- Are you sure? It's a good one, it's dry minerally.
I'll drink it with beef, I don't give a shit.
You say you've been in this apartment before with er?
- He used to work here. - Gerard was his name.
- Look, I get wanting to mess with me.
- Whoa, the last thing I'd do
would be alienating a potential buyer,
but I'm not sure that's what you are,
you look like you rent.
Do you have a car?
There's nothing within walking distance.
This isn't even technically a neighborhood,
between you and me, I wouldn't actually live here,
for the time being, but let some other poor sucker
be the one to sit in the desert
and wait for the yoga shop to open.
Maybe throw down a mattress somewhere
for the occasional, sad, little assignation,
but that's only if you're too cheap to get a hotel room.
- Look, I didn't even like the guy.
- He shouldn't have been working here,
this place is not zoned for commercial use.
- What's your name?
Is it Lysette?
Do you have a card? - Didn't bring them.
We're not showing until tomorrow like I said.
You shouldn't be here.
At any rate, all trace of former occupants
has been completely eradicated,
the management company was very clear, clean slate.
(laughs) Altercation,
Christ, why can't you people just say what you mean.
Must have really fucked him up.
- Look, I just need to know if he's alive,
or sentient, he hit his head.
You do understand why I need to know this?
- Seems to me all you need to know is whether he's gone
and from where I'm standing,
I can basically assure you that's the case.
Anything else?
- I'll find out from somewhere else,
there's records somewhere, there's, there's Lysette.
- (sighs) Never heard of her.
Look, I'm a practical person,
I'm just here to show the space.
It's up to the buyer to make it a home.
- Stop it, come on, please.
(realtor muttering under breath)
What?
- I said this conversation could be giving you
so much solace, if only you'd let it.
(phone ringing)
They must've decided to do a walkthrough.
You have to go.
I'll be back.
- What if I won't?
- I could lose my job.
(phone ringing)
(door opening)
- There's nothing more you'll tell me?
(traffic rumbling quietly)
- You're going to be just fine.
(door closing)
(phone dialing)
- Hm-mm, yes, I'm here.
Hm-mm.
Good.
(bag thudding on floor)
- [Man] Hi.
- Hello.
- [Man] Olena, you said it was, right?
- Olena.
- Hey there, look what's on.
- Oh, God.
This must be the uninteresting failures channel.
- I think it's good.
- That was a long time ago, I can do better.
- You're always good, what time's your call tomorrow?
- 6:30, but I still have some lines to go over.
- [Man] I got some charcuterie, you want some sopas set?
(phone ringing) - Oh, shit,
that's Elsa and her dad, I slept longer than I wanted to.
Charcuterie in 20, no bread.
Hi.
- Hello.
- Hi.
- Hi, baby, hi, Michael.
- We tried you earlier, not much time though,
she's gotta get to bed.
- I know, I'm sorry, I fell asleep.
I'm so exhausted, this film is frankly killing me.
- Sorry to hear it.
- I saw you on TV last night.
- Oh, you did? - Hm-mm.
- What was I doing?
- Ah, shooting somebody.
- Oh, dear, well, your dad shouldn't have let you see that.
- (laughs) It was the sitter. - May I have a story?
- She can't hear you. - May I have a story?
- Of course, what would you like to hear?
- Spooky.
- Oh, okay, spooky.
Okay, what about spooky and sweet,
like spooky with a good ending?
Yeah? - Hm-mm.
- Great, okay, now make sure you close your eyes,
so you can see what I'm saying,
really feel the pictures, okay?
Okay, good.
Okay, so there was once a young girl, no, a young boy.
- Does it have to be about a kid?
- I'm making a fairytale, Michael,
let me do my thing, let me riff, Christ.
Okay, so this young boy,
he had a pig,
he lived on a farm, you see and he had lots of animals,
cows and chickens, all the farm animals,
but the pig was his best friend, since he was a piglet.
He and the boy had a special bond,
the pig followed the boy everywhere
and the boy's parents, the farmer and the farm, farm wife,
they promised never to make food out of the pig,
they would let him keep the pig always and you know what,
they even let him sleep with the pig in bed.
Yes, and he didn't even care when the pig,
whose name was Bertram,
he didn't care when Bertram got big and fat,
they still slept together
and held each other tight through the whole night.
But then one day,
then one day, the boy woke up
and Bertram was giving him this look that was very serious.
It was a look that Bertram had never given him before
and the boy was worried
and then the pig opened his mouth and said,
"There's something bad in the forest."
But before the boy could ask him what it was,
the pig hopped out of bed and motioned
with his little pig foot for the boy to follow.
The boy creeped down the stairs
and followed Bertram through the front door
passed the cows and the chickens and over to the fence
and the tall trees beyond.
The boy kept asking, "What's in the woods, man?"
And Bertram just kept repeating the same phrase
over and over, "There's something bad,
something bad in the forest."
And as the boy followed Bertram in, the boy kept asking,
"Where is it, what is it, Bertram?"
And Bertram's voice only got deeper and he just kept saying,
"Further in, further in."
And then they were quiet for some time
and Bertram was moving very fast
and the boy couldn't keep up with him
and then finally he said, "We're close,"
and began to slow down and as they came to a clearing,
a very dark clearing with worms and weird creepy crawlies
and the bats still flying overhead, Bertram stopped
and he looked up at the boy, who had stopped behind him
and now he just seemed like a regular old pig,
something in his eyes had changed
and gotten less intense and person-ish
and the boy said,
"Are we here, Bertram, is this where the bad thing is?"
But Bertram looked up at the boy confused
like he didn't know why either of them were there,
like it was the boy who had brought him to the woods
and they paused there looking at one another for a while
and it was so, so quiet,
the boy thought he could hear the worms
crawling up and out of the ground.
(Stephanie sighs)
And then Bertram turned suddenly and began to dig very fast
and the boy was surprised,
because he had never seen Bertram dig before
and here he was digging like a dog
and the boy said his name,
but Bertram ignored him and kept digging,
throwing dirt up into the boy's face,
frantic and intent and before the boy knew it,
Bertram was halfway underground
and he said his name again, "Bertram, Bertram."
Just then, Bertram hit something,
something wet
and as he did, he spoke again finally,
but the boy couldn't hear what he said,
because Bertram's voice was muffled now
and so strange and scared and- - Stephanie.
(Stephanie gasps)
She's asleep.
- Oh, yes, okay.
- Probably a relief,
wasn't sure where you were going with that.
- Right.
(Stephanie sighs heavily)
So same time tomorrow?
- Ah, yeah, sure, or,
or Tuesday.
- Great.
Good.
- [Michael] Good luck with the movie.
- Thank you.
- Right, okay, till soon.
- Yeah.
(soft tense music)
(eerie melodic orchestral music)