|
Birdland (2018)
(whooshing)
(introspective music) (train rattling) (intense music) (woman screams) (indistinct radio chatter) Okay. You want to show us where the rest of the cameras are? What do you have to hide? Test. You're watching a detective. Yeah, that's right. I see you. Yeah, I mean you. What? I need your badge. Off the record, how long you been taking police equipment? I'm sorry, Hood, they asked me to take your badge. It wasn't my idea. (pats chair) (breathing heavily) That's interesting. Don't really know what to say. - You know that we're here to talk about Tom, and why he is in jail under suspicion of two murders, Merle James and Ray Starling. (man grunts) - I know when it comes to murder, everyone is a suspect. - When did things start to go off the rails, Hood? - My life is perfect, isn't yours? Tom. Hi. What'd you get up to today? (woman moaning) (introspective music) (footsteps echoing) (ladder rattles) - When you put in master cameras at your husband's work and your own home, I mean you must have some idea what you were chasing after in all this. - At first, it was just an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. - So why didn't you just confront Tom about Merle? - Until then, I'd never heard of Merle. At the time, I really didn't know what I was looking for. (footsteps echoing) (man laughs) Now I think you all can see how this will benefit the entire community. - You're destroying everything I care about! Starling. Merle, come on, let's go. Merle, please, come on. - Starling, will you talk some sense into your girl? I'm nobody's girl. - [Calvin] What was the most striking thing you learned about her? - She was blonde, is that what you want to know? You claim. - She was very different from me. How so? - I guess I admired her strong moral principles. - And that's why she slept with your husband. Maybe. Don't feel so bad. Most marriages are based in denial. (introspective music) Was working for Merle's dad the first time you started moonlighting? [Sheila] Guess so. You have a thing for the Medieval era? - Give me back the Knights of the Round Table and the search of the San Graal. Sounds so noble. What would we women do without you? Hmm. Who are they? - This is my daughter Merle and my daughter Hazel. Have you ever tried archery, Miss Hood? - It's not exactly my weapon of choice. - Of course Merle's the crack shot in the family. You must try it sometime. - I always worry when I see my dad alone with a beautiful woman. This is my daughter Hazel. This is Sheila Hood. Hi. Be nice to my father now. - Your father strikes me as a man who knows how to look after himself. (Hazel chuckles) (inaudible whispering) - So, how can I help you, Miss Hood? - I'd like to help you, Mr. James. - Oh really, well how are you going to help me? - I'd like to get to the bottom of your sabotage problem. And what's in it for you? Are you in debt, or something? Or is this personal? Of course I deal with a lot of people but, I've a hunch this is something to do with my daughter Merle. You see Merle is one of those people who blames everything in the world on global warming. - You're too beautiful to be a cop. So, what gives? By the way, what do you think of my father, the silver fox? - I'm not really sure what to think of your father. - Hmm, he's a man of grand appetites and passions. Merle inherited his stubbornness. You're lucky he likes you. Watch out for Starling, though, he's a pretty dangerous guy. How so? He's not the kind of guy who's particularly interested in your nice ass. He's more interested in taking advantage of your wounds. So what do you like about him? He lets me sing at his bar, and he likes to touch women inappropriately. (chuckles) Aren't you going to ask me about my sister? Of course. If I could say anything, I admire her sense of purpose. How she became so different remains a mystery to me. How do you mean? She believes in something. Compared to Merle, I'm pretty crass and materialistic. ("Lullaby of Birdland") Ladies and gentlemen, my sister, Merle James. Lullaby of Birdland, that's what I Always hear when you say Never in my wordland could there be ways to reveal In a phrase how I feel Have you ever heard two turtle doves Bill and coo when they love That's the kind of magic music we make with our lips When we kiss No peeking. (inhaling deeply) Smells like Cubans. Mm hmm. That's part of the story. Louisiana whiskey, no less. You can open your eyes now. The ivory-billed woodpecker. How? This is a museum piece. The cigar box is antique. It's made from the trees they cut down in Louisiana. The cigar is from Cuba where they did the same. I remember you telling me that's why the ivory-bill went extinct. Don't you like it? That was very touching, Hood. I mean, I thought you'd be angry enough to kill a guy and you, you just give him a present? - It was like if I could just create something that I knew he loved, maybe I could still somehow hold onto what we had. Do you have any evidence yet that it is sabotage? None. Other than damage from the fires. But I also have this. Life is full of inexplicable things. Someone sent these to you? - Now I should tell you Merle was having an affair which led to her breaking off her engagement with Raymond Starling. (woman breathing heavily) Go ahead, shoot me. (dramatic music) (introspective music) Now point it up just a little. Good. Now release the arrow. Let it go. Not bad for a first try. Only with your help. - I'm just gonna go make a phone call, why don't you go get the arrows, I'll be right back. (crossbow fires) (Sheila gasps) (introspective music) (shutter clicks) (shutter clicks) [Sheila] Poor thing. Ah, he looks so peaceful, but he died so violently. Mm hmm, mm hmm. Yeah? Yeah, it's good. What? Let's go. What? Nothing, it's... (sighs) Your pictures, it's like you're photographic a crime scene, you know? (shutter clicks) Oh, for real then? Hey, come here. This one's still breathing. - (sighs) Birds don't understand windows. We should put it out of its misery. No! No, we need to take him to the wildlife center. - [Calvin] What was going on with this whole dead bird thing? - We were bird rescue volunteers, looking for stunned or injured birds that had collided with buildings. I tagged along, documenting the deaths because it was something we could do together. Hmm, sounds intimate. (unsettled music) - They say the spirit of King Arthur is alive in any old crow that flies back. - [Calvin] You always get that worked up over dead birds? Thought that was more of a Tom thing. - I was brought up to believe in the sanctity of life. If you say so. So what was going on in your marriage before all this started to happen? (Tom breathing heavily) (Tom shushing) What's wrong? Wait. What's that noise? (introspective music) (intense music) (gasping and breathing heavily) (intense music) [Sheila] Tom? Yeah. [Sheila] Baby? I'm in the kitchen. Hey. Hey hey hey hey hey. You gotta see this. Check it out. Oh my God, you're bleeding. No (shushing). You gotta see this. You're bleeding. Wait wait wait. Look at this, I got it right here. Look at me, look at me. - Wait, wait. - Look at me! - Just hang on, you gotta see this. Okay. See this riot cop hits me with his baton. - What the fuck are you doing hitting a cop? You should have been there. We were protesting Futron Energy. The same assholes sponsoring your exhibit produce the oil equivalent of a quarter of a million tons of carbon dioxide a day. Baby, we've been living with our heads in the sand. You're blonde. - At first she seemed to be strictly interested in Starling. Maybe the word stalker is too strong? But she had a pretty unhealthy preoccupation with my sister, Merle. - I have no idea what she wanted from me. But to be honest, I think she may have wanted to blackmail me. They're lying. We'll get to that later. When did you first come across the guy in the cowboy hat, what's his name? Bob McIntyre. - So as part of your investigation for Mr. James, he had you follow Tom and Merle to his fracking operations, right? Yeah. (introspective music) - [Calvin] And the guy in the cowboy hat, that, that's Bob McIntyre? [Sheila] Bob McIntyre. Right. What do you think? Do you think Tom and Merle were doing the sabotaging? (tense music) (liquid sloshing) (sniffing deeply) You know when that was taken? Sure. Yeah, not really. I don't know, obviously before Merle died. You know, you just always seem like you're enjoying your job. - Do you know they say that men and women think about sex every seven seconds, it's just like (tongue popping). 12,000 times a day. - What is that, your new favorite pickup line? No, just, an interesting statistic. (breathing heavily) (woman moaning) Everyone has a breaking point. Me for instance, I don't think I could handle watching my wife do lines off some naked dude in my bed. Get the fuck out of here. - Tom is suspected of committing two murders, but if I didn't know you, I'd say you'd be a prime suspect. (intense music) Did you ever meet her? No. I just surveilled her. - Hey. - Hey. Top up? Hmm, yeah. What are you looking at? Is this a new ring? No. No, it was my great-aunt's. I don't usually wear it, but are you sure you've never seen it before? Aren't we supposed to be married? - It was familiar, I just didn't recognize it. - I guess there's a lot we don't know about each other. Sorry, what? Hmm? What? - See, you're not even listening. Always busy working late with your dinosaurs and your birds. I heard you. It's your great-aunt's ring. I like it. Thank you. (introspective music) (ring clattering) "Forget me not." - Maybe this is all a case of cherchez la femme. Look, you know Tom. He's a mild-mannered ornithologist. - Yeah, but I think that maybe Tom started to feel protective over Merle. Maybe it was a jealous rage, or a, a sudden dose of testosterone just kicking in. [Tom] Hey! - His motive, if you can categorize it as such, was self-defense. - If Tom killed Starling in self-defense, why wouldn't you just call the police right away? I don't know! Panic? Embarrassment? Maybe we just needed a little time to process what had just happened. We? You know what I mean. - This is more like a case of I will repay you. - You know that the average person is caught on camera over 300 times a day. It doesn't mean the whole truth about their lives is exposed. - Doesn't explain Tom's behavior. I'm gonna fucking kill him! Baby. - It's like watching the hour a dog turns into a wolf. This isn't a black hole, Hood. If that isn't motivation, I don't know what is. This is over. You know, I'm mystified as to how you can defend somebody who betrayed you so deeply. If it was me, I'd be calling my lawyer right now. - I'm not sure it's really possible for you to fully understand what happened here. - Remind me again why you have all this weird creepy dead stuff in your house. (Sheila laughs) You'd have to ask Tom. Tom, babe, why do we have so much creepy dead stuff in our house? [Tom] It's my job, asshole. - I don't know, when we first started dating, we spent oh half our time looking at dead things. Now we have a freezer full of birds. Here you go. Hey guys, give me a second, I forgot something. - Cheers. - Cheers. You guys ready? The piece de resistance. (murmurs of admiration) What are those? These are roasted beetle larvae. Right? - Yeah, you know I hear that beetle protein is going to save the world. Yeah. Sheila? Come on, you gotta try one. Aw, you two should have kids. (Tom laughs) - No, I would never bring a child into the world in its current state. Uh, okay. You've never said that before. - I've certainly voiced my reservations, my reluctance. - Yeah, I know, but you've never said it like that before, like you'd never do it. - Well, I just don't to bring kids for not doing what I want in life. Okay, you know what? (dance club music) Come on. - No, no, I don't dance. - Dance with me, come on. I don't dance. Oh, God. - Come on, detective, on your feet. See? Check this out. (Sheila laughs) - [Calvin] Oh, what are you doing? Shh. Why are you up there? (Sheila shushing) What are you doing? - Let's see what these puppies can do. You can rewind and pause it. Sorry you gotta see this. I was just so, showing him some new cameras. See? Bird's eye view. (dance club music) (introspective music) (woman breathing heavily) (tense music) Hmm. Your wife, yes? You remember me, don't you Tom? John James. Yes of course, Mr. James. How can I help you? - I hear my daughter has been speaking with you lately, Tom. Don't worry, I understand. I was married once myself. You know, Futron Energy has a lot invested in this exhibit. - I'm just an ornithologist, doing my job. Are you sure ornithology is all you've been doing lately, Tom? - Bet some weird things just started to appear when you turned on that camera of yours. End of times, I guess. Did Tom ever make mention of Mr. James coming to visit him? Yeah. He was upset, shaken really. What did he say exactly? - I remember he went on about how the oil industry represented the end of civilization, how we should all just leave fossil fuels in the ground. And he talked about pulling the plug on Mr. James' sponsorship. - Well, Merle must have had a lot of faith in Tom. I mean, do you think Tom had that kind of power at the museum? - Oh, he was well-regarded there. And they had to be seen as not sanitizing dirty oil money. - I can't help but think it's something more than that. What makes you say that? The body count. (whipping) When did you first have a hunch she was hiding things from you? I have to ask this. Were you guys into any kinky S and M types stuff? Because there are pictures that suggest... [Sheila] No. - How do you just keep it to yourself? I mean, how does a happily married man like Tom succumb to a woman like Merle? I don't know. Why do birds sing? I guess they found a common cause. - I know, we are the fucking world, I get it, thanks. - Do you know everything that's going on inside of your wife's head, Calvin? - I know that if you put a piece of raw sirloin in front of my dog, he can't resist it. Fuck you. - [Calvin] When were you first made aware of Merle's death? - We were at home when the phone rang. (phone ringing) Is everything okay? What? He told me an ex-girlfriend had died. - [Calvin] I guess by then Tom was accustomed to avoiding the truth. (introspective music) Listen to this. Look what I found. (bird calling) This is a definitive recording of an ivory-billed woodpecker take at close range in 1935 in Louisiana. (imitating bird call) You should record me. If I died, wouldn't you go to my funeral? You're not her. I don't care about her. It's like I said, I don't want the past tainting our marriage. Right. - Is this really why you're saying it like that? No, just I really don't understand why you wouldn't go. [Tom] It's embarrassing. It's embarrassing? What, what's embarrassing, I am? Death is embarrassing. (introspective music) You know what these are? These are tiny bits of Merle's body found at one of the crime scenes. In this case, the museum. - Tom always says our DNA is like a scrapbook of our history as a species. We've got everything from avian flu and ancient sex viruses, non-human beings, even bug shit, right in our blood stream. Is that what Tom says? - Four billion years of death product in our DNA. Our mortality is mapped out. We're programmed to die. - Welcome to the human race, hon. - I think sometime soon we'll be able to change our physical makeup and live a lot longer, you know, like God does in the Bible with his hands in clay. - Well, I sure the fuck hope you're right and that one day you get to come back as a sponge or some blue fucking algae and live to be a thousand years old, but right now, I'm interested in knowing if we're to scan Tom's DNA, will we be able to tell future generations that he killed someone in a fit of rage? I mean, the jury is still out on Starling's murder but Tom is implicated in Merle's death as well. God. Oh fuck. - I don't get how you can still cover for him. (ring clatters to floor) Did Tom say anything when he came home from dinner that night like "don't worry your pretty little head, hon, "but I stuck my mistress in a freezer "with a bunch of dead fucking birds." (Sheila laughs) Hey. For fuck's sake, Hood, come on, we're cops. How the fuck do you explain part of Merle's body ending up in Tom's fridge at work? Can you at least explain to me these fucking flesh eating bugs? - They're called dermestid beetles. They're useful in cleaning bones in full skeletons for scientific preparations. - Well, that's good for getting rid of evidence, right? You went to an archery range with Hazel. Not bad for a first try. - [Calvin] Why do they call it a bull's eye? - [Sheila] If you hit a charging bull in the eye, the arrow goes right through the eye socket and into the brain without hitting bone. - You put Merle in the golden bullseye. How many points do you get for that? - I still think it's obvious someone had it in for Tom. - Now you're starting to sound like a conspiracy theorist. No, I believe Oswald did it. - [Calvin] Where were you the night that Merle died? - I was at home watching TV, detective. - Oh, good, so you have someone who can corroborate your alibi. So, we got this footage from Starling's camera. You didn't tell us that this was the last night you saw Merle before she died. - I tracked down images of Merle's movements that day. It seemed like just another fairly ordinary day in someone's life. - [PA] Arriving at Flosdale, Flosdale station. (loud thump and scream) - [Calvin] When did Starling come into the picture? - I first really noticed him at Merle's memorial. (smooth jazz music) - Aren't you going to sing Lullaby of Birdland? [Hazel] You're drunk. Aw, come on, Hazel. Sing it for Merle! Who the hell invited you here? You're dead. Roy, get him out of here. Oh please. Don't touch me. Don't touch me! Stop it. I see you! I'll have a whiskey neat. (slow jazz music) - You look familiar, have I seen you somewhere before? I don't think so. Keep your voice down. Why? You think we're being watched. - Well, I learned how to spot a cop in a crowd when I was very young. Oh, is that right? What's the secret? - The olive stripes in their pants. Who's your friend? - I'm not sure, we only just met. Sheila Hood. My husband knew your sister Merle. How did you know Merle? - Well, I didn't really know Merle, but like I said my husband did. And who's your husband? Tom Kale. He used to go out with her. - Don't worry, he doesn't know our little secret. You've have to excuse her. She's not deal with Merle's death very well. So tell me, um, what would an attractive woman like you be doing with a guy with a name like Tom Kale? - You know what, I think I gotta go. No. You stay. Another time. - [Calvin] As a cop, why do you get involved with a known criminal like Starling? - I thought he would lead me to a solution. Starling did have an unhealthy preoccupation with Tom. - Make sure you wear that kimono when you see Tom. - Starling hired you, right, to do what? Investigate Merle's death. - Okay, but don't you find that crazy, because what Mr. James had already hired you. Did Starling know that? - Starling never really mentioned Mr. James. I think I was trying to see where all this was going. I think he just wanted to use me to fuck with Tom. How so? - Maybe he thought that Tom and Merle shared something that he and she never did. Maybe he felt like he lost control over her. - I'm sorry, I shouldn't drop in on you like this. You were one of the few people Merle ever trusted. - Merle never really trusted anyone. - So this is what all the fuss was about. Yeah. I'm trying to show that birds didn't descent directly from the theropod dinosaurs but likely the small, reptilian thecodonts that roamed the earth 250 million years ago. Wow, is that like the, arc, archaeopteryx? Archaeopteryx. - That's all I can remember from my natural science class. That's not bad. - I think my sister's intentions were good. My dad as much as he loved Merle thought she had lost her way and perhaps was a bad influence on you. He really likes you, by the way. He thinks you're doing important work here. (sensuous music) Hmm. Are you an actress? - Well, that's a tawdry pickup line. - I only meant there's something superficial and insincere about you. Oh. You're not who you seem to be. - Well, you already know I'm a cop but sometimes I like to moonlight as a private eye. - You know, I never guessed you'd be back so soon. Hazel exudes a certain seductive quality, wouldn't you agree? She is a very beautiful girl. You got that right. ("Lullaby of Birdland") Lullaby by birdland that's what I Always hear, when you sigh Never in my wordland could there be ways to reveal In a phrase how I feel - How did you get into the crime fighting business? - To be perfectly honest, crime bores me. I'd rather be photographing nature. When we kiss And there's a weepy old willow Crime is nature. That's how I'd cry in my pillow If you should tell me farewell and goodbye So, you get off watching people's deep dark secrets. Watching is my line of work. What do you see? 'Cause um, you know what I think? I think you been thinking about me a lot since we last met. Touch my dick. (Sheila scoffs) Seriously. Touch my dick. (laughs) Relax, I just wanted to see we could work together. Now. Let's find out who killed Merle. - You never told me you'd been to Japan. Were you in love with her? She's very beautiful. - It's really not that important, it It's before I met you. Where'd you find this? I went to her memorial. I thought someone should represent the family. I thought we talked about not having secrets in this marriage. What's worse than anything is you've been keeping yourself secret. (smooth jazz music) [Woman] Come on. - [Ray] What is his fucking problem? Who? Bird boy. - Don't worry about it, I'm taking care of him. I fucking hope so. If it wasn't for him, Merle would still be alive. Do you like to tango, Tom? I can show you the secret. All the mystery that lives below our waists. - I feel like I need to tell you that I have to turn down your father's sponsorship offer. - Mm, babe, is that the only reason you came to see me? In a way, I feel like I'm honoring Merle's last wishes, but I think it's even bigger than Merle. I know what you did, you know. Boom. You've been a bad boy, Tom. I can make you feel better. I did nothing. I know. I know. I know. - I think this is what you're looking for. Next time you should just ask. Now nothing happens for 48 minutes. Which is a little bit impressive, I didn't think he had it in him. See, the next thing you know, Merle is dead. - [Calvin] What else did you find out about the cowboy? - Bob McIntyre either had scruples, or he was just dumb. Other ranchers had been bribed into allowing Futron Energy to frack on their land. The cowboy was under considerable pressure. Tom and Merle had convinced him it was wrong. Then Starling threw in Hazel to sweeten the deal, and she turned out to be an even bigger influence. Oh, and I found out that fracking causes earthquakes. (explosion) (introspective music) Geez, what do you get out of such a ideological rigid agenda? Have you ever heard of ethical oil? People need oil, they demand oil. I tell you, I hate to see my daughters living under some repressive regime in the Middle East. No, I can't quite picture you in burkas. - [Calvin] What was Mr. James like? - He was a captain of industry type. - You're destroying everything I care about. - [Sheila] Inscrutable, Machiavellian, philanthropist. Merle, come on, let's go. Merle please. - It was obvious that he and Merle had had some professional disagreements, but he seemed to adore her, and Hazel. - My dear, those who provide are the anointed. And those who don't appreciate it can go fuck themselves. - Sabotage is just the beginning. - I think it's time to do a little tally on the old mental scorecard here. So, Tom's resume, his biography if you will, he is an ornithologist who works at the natural history museum, who at the time of Merle's death claims he was working on his dino-bird exhibit, right? Did you ever see that show, What's My Line? Kind of. - So, on your episode here, let's call it that, you decide not to ask any questions at all. Instead, detective, you suspect your husband of having an affair and you begin to surveil your marriage. So Tom's mistress Merle, she just, she falls from a bridge and just gets hit by an oncoming train and her body just magically ends up in Tom's possession in a fridge at the museum. Not to mention Tom also bashes in the head of Merle's boyfriend Starling, and this is my favorite part, Tom uses Hazel, Merle's sister, for his blue kimono fetish. - Did you come here to see me, or Merle? - Tom's motivation for murdering Starling was all spelled out. Jealous rage, revenge. Not to mention his connection to Merle's death. And what is your part in all this? By the way, does Tom own a gray sports coat? (bird cawing) (uneasy music) (bottle pops open) (whip cracking) - Don't you just love to fuck tragic women? Makes me kind of hard just thinking about it. So what do you think makes people stick together in marriage like swans? 'Cause personally I don't want people to read in my obituary that I snapped my neck tripping on some fucking baby toy. (Hazel chuckles) (Hazel chuckles) Go on. The boy's an old hand. (dramatic music) Where's your Tom? (tense music) (Ray sighs) - You have had too much to drink. Why don't you go upstairs to my suite. Take her with you and straighten out. (snorting) I like you. You do? What do you like about me? You're smart. You're stunning. Just like me. (both breathing heavily) (uneasy music) Say goodbye to Merle. What about your husband? Tom, does he uh, like to fuck other women? Oh wait, this is payback sex, isn't it? Sauce for the goose and all that. Fuck you and your murdering husband. Where's Merle's ring, you rotten cunt? (Sheila grunts) Tom is a dead man. (intense music) I'm gonna fucking kill him! - We finally tracked down Starling's cameraman. No, no! Merle, wait, come here. Come here! (indistinct shouting) (intense music) (Merle screams) (loud thump) (woman yells) (bell ringing) (zipper opens) (tense music) - Do you have something to tell me? - She came to the museum a few months ago. How many months? How many months? I don't know. A while. She came to convince me to convince the museum to withdraw from her father's sponsorship. And she had some coke. What happened next? You started fucking her. How awkward, I can't even imagine how your parts got stuck together. Just stop it. Why? Tom, why did you? [Tom] Sheila. I was stoned. Why didn't you stop it? What did you do to stop it? I, I couldn't. I couldn't. You couldn't. You couldn't, you couldn't, you couldn't what? What, were you fucking her to save the planet? (rock music) When I first started filming Tom I felt like, by filming my marriage, I could somehow protect it. But the more I capture the things that were going on, the more things appeared that I feared, that I couldn't control. (dramatic music) No! (Ray groans) (Tom grunting) (dramatic music) We're asleep throughout our lives and it's only in death that we wake up, just like we wake up from sleep every morning. This is a wake. For Merle, Starling, and anyone and anything who ever has died or ever will die. Death is not the end. Wakes are for the living. (dramatic music) ("Until I Run Dry" by Laura Barrett) You've loved me forever Until I ran dry Then you said goodbye for another You held me so tightly Until I asked why Then you said goodbye for another And another Goodbye For another When no other would do Goodbye For another But no other Came through Goodbye For another When no other Would do Goodbye For another But no other Came through You've loved me forever Until I ran dry Then you said goodbye for another And another Before I ran dry |
|