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Just Like a Woman (2012)
(silence)
(Woman) Give them some time. You cannot rush things. Your time is not God's time. The Lord works in very mysterious ways. You can get up now. I've left some herbs now this evening. Yes. You are to boil those herbs. Yes. She has to drink it right before she goes to be with her husband, okay? This is very important... okay? $150, God willing, you'll be a grandmother soon, Nishalla. (man) Oh, no. (man) Oh, it's just kids. Let's get inside. Hey... (woman shouting) Okay, okay, it's clean. Hey. Morning. If that was my mother-in-law... Do it for me. (music playing) Stop it. (woman) $6.00 Bye. Bye. Bye! (woman) Bye. (music playing) (phone ringing) Hello? Just a second please. Frank? (Frank) What can I do for you? Line two. What line? Two. Okay, I got it. (jingling) (phone ringing) Hello? (man) And up, around and chest two, three and four. And hips two, three and four around and... and four. And hips two, three and four, good. And one and four. Now hips, one... four, shimmy and one. four shimmy again. One, four, shimmy, good. One and four, now one. All right, not bad you guys, not bad. What do you think I'm gonna say? What do you think I'm gonna say? Brains... what am I gonna say about brains. Stop using them. Dance with your body, with your soul, okay? Efficiency has no place in dance especially belly dance, okay. Enjoy yourselves, enjoy your hips. I need much more hips out of all of you, okay? All right, just work on it for a second. I just need to talk to Marilyn for a second, if you don't mind. Sure. Did you talk to Harvey yet? No. Why? Look, you're the only one I have here that has any chance of getting in that dance company in Santa Fe. Now I told them about you. Are you gonna audition? Look, I can't talk to Harvey... you know, he... Why not, he's not doing anything right now. Well, exactly. I know what he'll say. I just wanna spare myself the disappointment of not... and you need this for yourself, all right? Promise me you'll talk to him? Yes. Okay. Okay. You might just get this. (TV chatter) Baby, don't eat that, your cholesterol. Well, shame on me. Maybe if you were here sooner I wouldn't have to have chips for dinner. Well, it's Tuesday, I have my class. Right. Belly dancing. How could I forget? What's that supposed to mean? Nothing, hey... I think it's great that you believe you can still be a dancer at your age. I wish I had that positive attitude. So did you find anything? Why would you even ask me that? Because I have a right to know. You think I'm not trying? You think I'm purposefully not trying to find a job? You think... I like this? Sitting at home watching... shit TV and getting fat? Harvey, I'm sorry. Hey, sweet bird. I'm sorry. I'm an asshole, okay? I'm sorry... I'm sorry to make you think that I thought you weren't trying. You wanna start over... Hmm? How was your day? It was okay. How was your class? Class was great. Actually, I wanna... Did you get paid today? Why did... I'm gonna... I'm gonna need a little cash. What for? I'm just gonna go out and blow off some steam. Well, baby, I just got home. Come on. I wanna make appearances. What if something opens up. I want people to know I'm alive. So this is like a job search? Yeah. You know, this is how people make connections. Where are you gonna make these connections, Harvey, some bar? Where's your purse? Where's your goddamn purse, Marilyn? Where it always is. Don't wait up. (door closing) Never do. When we're lying in bed what do you think about? Nothing. You're lying. I'm not. Don't you think... what am I doing with her? She cannot even give me a child? No. I never think that way. We could adopt. (chuckles) Leila is going to be very happy. (scoffing) You want to know what I'm thinking when we lie in bed together? I wish my mother would disappear. You mean die? That's horrible, Mourad. I know. She's your mother. I'm the one that should disappear. (Marilyn) Hi, Frank. Good morning. (scoffing) (phone ringing) Ron? Ron. Who put my stuff in the trash bag? It's not funny. I did it, I packed your stuff. Why? Well, because business isn't good. It's the recession. And you don't give me any notice? What... I don't get an explanation? You're firing me as if I was some fuckin' loser? This is your chance to... a chance to move on. Do something different. You are really sweet. I think you're really talented. Don't. Just pay me what you owe me. Well, I'll... I can write you a recommendation letter. And say that I'm good at answering the phone and stacking boxes? Do you think you're good people? Is this how you behave? who's been in the company for seven years? Aside from everything else, this is fucking illegal. Well, then you can take me to court. (phone ringing) Harvey, call me. (music playing) Marilyn? Everything is all right? I got fired. I'm sorry. You'll find something else. With a 20% unemployment rate? Know her? She's Samia Gamal. She was the best dancer in Egypt. They didn't even give me a reason. Do you have a bag? Sure. How much? Take it. (distant horns honking) (woman grunting) Peter? (Peter) What's going on? (sniffling) Honey, talk to me. Well, I got fired... first. Sorry. Do you need a place to stay? Is there something I can do? No, Harvey's... Harvey's cheating on me. Oh, that shit. I just saw him, Peter, with another woman in our bed. I'm so sorry. I feel so sick... No, it's not your fault... and stupid. Is there anything I can do? I think I'm gonna go. I think I'm gonna go to Santa Fe. Can you sign me up? Yes. I don't know how I'm gonna... I haven't got any money or... Don't worry about that. dancing in bars and restaurants along the way. Peter, I can't dance in a restaurant. Yes, you can. I did it for years. Besides, it'll give you a chance to work in front of an audience. That's what you need anyway. Look, I know of a really good place along the way to Santa Fe. It's a, uh... they're friends of mine. and then I'll text you with their information, okay? It's gonna be all right. I promise. (laughing) What? You look ridiculous. I know I look ridiculous. Well, I was doing a facial. You shouldn't bother people when they're doing fac... don't smoke, it's bad for you. Oh, uh, the green one. Yes, yes. I'm calling my parents. I'm calling my parents. Right now. Mona, Mona, what's going on here? Ma, please, enough. Mona! (sobbing) Nowadays, things are different. You don't need to have children. Mona! Mona! Mona! I'm coming, I'm coming! I love her. Eh, love. (crashing) Mona! Mona! I'm coming, I'm coming! (water running) I'm here. (knocking) Ma. Ma. Ma, wake up, Ma. Ma? Ma. Ma! Mona! What? Call 911. Ma, Ma! Is she dead? Call an ambulance, now! Ma! Hello? Yes, I need an ambulance. Yes, uh... (panting) It's my mother-in-law. (ambulance door closes) Shit. Oh. (panting) (sobbing) (rattling) (man) Where are you going, missus? Uh... Bus station? Which one? Uh... I don't know. North, south? Um... the closer one? All right. (cell phone ringing) Peter? Hey, Marilyn, how you doing? I'm Okay. Good, listen, I've got a gig for you, it's tonight. You do? Yeah, it's in Belleville, Illinois. The name is... it's the Casbah Restaurant. Wait, let me get a pen. Belleville? The Casbah, C-a-s-b-a-h. It's on Lebanon Avenue, 155 North. All right, good luck. Love you, goodbye. Good, you guys. Marilyn! Marilyn! Marilyn. (Marilyn) Mona? What are you doing here? Are you by yourself? No, I'm... What's the matter? Why are you crying. Shh... (sobbing) What? Huh? I left... I left. Me too. Good for you. Where you headed? I don't even know where we are right now. And you? Santa Fe. There's a dance company, they're having auditions and... I had to do something. (sobbing) Mona? Will you come with me? Okay. Hey, I need to dial this Moroccan restaurant in Belleville. Will you dial it for me? It's under Tarek. What's that... Tarek? T-a-r-e-k, Tarek. Here, it's ringing. Yes, can I speak to Tarek? Tarek, this is Marilyn, I'm a friend of Peter. Yeah, he told me you're looking for a dancer for tonight? You need two? Yeah, there's two of us. Dinner and a room plus a hundred each... great. All right, we'll be there. Thank you. Can you find Belleville? Sure. It's somewhere out there. Will you do it with me? Marilyn... I don't dance in restaurants. You think I do? First time for everything, right? I get it, but... I need the money. I'm guessing you do too. Think about it... you'd be doing me a favor. This fucking car is a gas guzzler. Think about it? Sure. Did you find Belleville? (dishes clanking) (man) Okay, listen. You dance with the customer. You have good time in the club of mine. Okay... Come on, come on. (applause) (man shouting) (music begins) (clapping in unison) (whistling) $120 in tips plus $100 each? To think I spent seven years doing a fucked up job when I could've been dancing every night? (knocking) Hey. Hey. You guys did fantastic job. But there's one thing that my customer doesn't like blonde woman to dance, so black wig... cool? Dye it black? Sure. Okay. What's up? Here's a hundred for you. Go have some drink and leave me with your friend here. She's not interested. How about you? Listen to me, Mister. We had a deal, we kept our end of it. Leave us alone or I'm calling the cops. What the fuck you think you're talking about. Do you think I'd be afraid of cop? This is my fucking house. Easy, or I fuck you up! (door slams) Marilyn, Marilyn, don't call the cops. We need to get out of here. Get your stuff. (cell phone ringing) (birds chirping) (grunting) My mother never prepared her medication herself. Who did then? My wife. Did she prepare it that evening? I guess, yes. Like every evening. (man) The autopsy reports were conclusive. Your mother died of an overdose of digoxin... her heart medication? Did your mother have any reason to increase her dosage? Where is your wife, Mr. Suni? I don't know, she's gone. When? Just after my mother died. Did she tell you where she was going? No. Do you have any reason to believe that she increased the dosage on purpose? No, no-no, she's not a killer, no. Did she have anything against your mother? There was a lot of tense between them. We... we couldn't have children. Did your mother beat her? What? Did your mother beat her? What kind of question is this? What do you mean? I don't understand your question. It's a question. Do your mother beat your wife? Relax. Yes or no, did your mother beat your wife? You beat your wife? Do you beat your wife? (woman) Can you please excuse us? I'd like to see you outside. Hey, what time is it? Why are you pushing him so hard? What? Why are you pushing him so hard? It's gonna seem prejudicial in court. Well, it's our word against his. It doesn't help us. I don't like him. Mr. Suni? Do you have any clue of your wife's whereabouts? Could she be with her family? She has nobody here, I'm worried. She never been out of Chicago before. Not even out of her neighborhood. Five years, she's never been out of the neighborhood? Is that normal? Um... C'est la vie. Are you finished with me? Yeah. We'll be in touch. (percussive music playing) (music stops) (sighing) I should have started ten years ago. Samia Gamal, she danced until she was 55. Really? Um-hm. And did you know that she was married to a Texan billionaire? When? In the '50s, in Egypt. Their marriage didn't last long. They divorced. (chuckling) I don't know if I'm gonna get in. You will. Your choreography should be special and different. (cell phone ringing) (shouting) Marilyn! (gasping) (coughing) You can't swim? No. Why'd you do it? I don't know. You gonna file for a divorce? I don't know. Mourad never stand up for me in front of his mother. I see my Mother-in-law, three maybe four times a year? I can't believe you actually live with her. He was so kind to me. He never hurt me. I would've killed myself without him. Were you in love with him when you married him? I didn't know him then. God. What difference does it make? I was crazy about Harvey, look where it got me. He was cheating on me. Are you gonna divorce him? I don't know. I don't know how to forgive him. (cell phone ringing) We got another gig for tonight. Let's do it. Let's do it. Oh! (man) Ladies, on stage! (man) At this time, in this place I want y'all to give it up for two... belly dancers. For the one and only Miss Mona and Miss Marilyn! (cheering) (music plays) (cheering) (man shouting) Come on, girl! All right, girl. Let me help you out here. All right. (cheering and applause) (man) Yeah, go, girl! (cheering) Give it up for Mona and Marilyn! Give it up, Mona and Marilyn! (cheering and whistling) (man) All right. (humming) Well, little darling. Hey. That's quite a dance y'all got going on. You do any, uh, private dancing? Just thought I'd ask, you know. What is with this newspaper? What the fuck is wrong with you? Well, you see I like to look at them guys eyes. The all got... different eyes. You're fucked up. We're all different. (crowd chanting "more") Mona. (man) Okay, ladies, back on! On stage! Come, come, let's go. I didn't want to kill her. It was an accident, I mean, the pills got mixed up. How am I supposed to know it was dangerous. And you weren't planning on telling me? I was. When? When, Mona? After we get arrested? Marilyn, Marilyn, wait! You gotta go to the cops. You gotta tell 'em what happened. They won't believe me. I mean, you don't believe me. I'm... so scared. I'm... so scared to go to jail. I don't want to spend the rest of my life in jail. You think I wanna spend the rest of my life in jail? You think I'm not involved now? You think this isn't the getaway car, Mona? We're talkin' about a murder. I got enough fuckin' problems. Shit. You're sympathetic to her because she was forced to marry that guy. Yes. Taken from her family and humiliated because she can't bear him children, I get that. But you seem to think I'm out to get her. I think you are out to get her. What if it was an accident? Well, then why is she running away? Look, I just wanna enforce the law. Enforce law, I know. 15 years ago you got a divorce. You left your country. 'Cause of the laws of this country you were able to start a new life... And that is sacred to me. And I get that. I just also think that you're out to get her. (woman) George? Yep. This gentlemen here wants to report his wife is missing. Thank you... come on in. Uh, I'm sorry, we don't have any, uh, here, have a seat, please. Is this your wife? Yeah, like she said. How... how long ago did she go missing? She... went to work two days ago and she hasn't been back since. Oh, and what's her name? Marilyn. Yeah, Marilyn what? O'Connor. Did you guys get into a fight? No more than usual. Do you know what you're gonna do? 30 bucks. Is there a bus that goes through here? In two hours heading south. (car door shuts) Hey. It's what you made last night, $160. No one's gonna look for you on an Indian reservation. (car starts) (cell phone ringing) Marilyn, it's Harvey. I'm listening. Where the hell are you? Jesus Christ, I'm calling and calling and calling. I'm freakin' out. I saw you with her. I loved you, I trusted you. In our bed Harvey? I fucked up, I fucked up, okay, it was... It was stupid, it was a one-time thing. It won't happen again. I'm sorry, okay? You hurt me. You don't respect me. I can't do this any more, it's over. We never did anything together. Ten years, not even a child. Ten years wasted. Sweet bird... I'm sorry. We can work this out. Just come back. We can work this out. You can keep the house if you can afford the rent. Keep everything in it. Goodbye, Harvey. Don't say that, don't hang up... Marilyn... Marilyn, don't okay... Don't, don't hang up... (phone disconnects) (sobbing) (cell phone ringing) (ringing stops) I'm so sorry. Come on. (music playing) (laughing) (Singing in foreign language) You want children? Yeah. Three, maybe four. I better hurry up. Nearly 30, single. You? Me, I can't become a mother. I... tried for five years. Did you see a doctor? Not really, no. So how do you know it's you? Maybe it's your husband who can't... (scoffing) Men in my country they always can. Yeah, my Mother-in-law used to say that. Maybe you should try with somebody else. (chuckling) You're crazy. I know. You look like you could be a mother. You think so? For sure. You'll be a mother before I am. If I don't spend the rest of my life in jail. Hello. Hello. Hey. Hi, I'm Tribal Security. Is there a problem? Yes, this is an Indian reservation. You can't be camping here. Oh, we didn't know, I'm sorry. We can leave right away. There's no camping allowed on Indian reservations. Oh, we didn't know, I'm sorry. There is a place where you can camp. It's off the reservation. It has actual facilities on there. Okay, great, thanks Okay? Hi, what's your name? Mona? Mona, where you from Mona? From Chicago. Okay, where y'all headed to? We just drove down from Chicago. We're just on a trip, a road trip. Okay, okay, that's fine. I can show you where the campground is. Thanks, that's great, okay. Yeah, we'll just pack up our stuff and... Okay. It's beautiful. Yes, here we are. Okay, tomorrow we're celebrating a feast day and it is our tradition that we invite a newcomer to our feast. So y'all are welcome to come. Aw, we'd love to, thank you. Okay, great Thanks. Well, I'll be back here tomorrow to pick you up. Great. Don't worry he's not a cop. We closed. I gotta take a piss. No-no, don't pee here, okay? No-no, every day you pee... Go pee somewhere else. Please, enough! Enough, sir! Excuse me, Mr. Mourad. Salam. Question, sir. Do you recognize this woman? Yes, she's a customer. Mona knew her, they were friends. Did they hang out together? No, never, no-no. Mona went out only with me. You know, we'd go buy some clothes. Or go to the movies. That's it. They call each other on the phone? No-no, no-no, here in the shop. Can you tell us anything about her? I told you everything I know. They were just friendly to say hello to each other. Yes, that's it, yes. Okay. All right, thank you. Okay. Good night. As-salam. (music playing) (music stops) What are you doing? You don't wanna try with another song? I can't. You know this one is a bit... I don't know. Mona, I don't have time, it's... Honey, I've never danced to this before. I don't have any steps. Good, just... just try to feel the music. But I just don't time to improvise right now because the audition is in 48 hours. I know. Just feel the music and let your body decide, you know? It's all about sexuality. Just let it go. Are you watching that? Uh-huh. I don't know what that stuff is. Some kind of foreign music. You know you look for a little peace and quiet and you get this. If I get this job my whole life's gonna change, Mona. I get to travel all over the world. You'll get the job. Now you better get some sleep. Tomorrow's a big day. Come on. (woman) Hey, hey, somebody's in here! I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I thought the door is, uh, broken. You can't shake the door like that. You only know how to get on people's nerves. I'm sorry. You and your sand nigger music. What did you just say? Oh, another one. What the fuck did you just say? Don't give me any lip. You bitch. People like you make me sick. Small minds! Small minds. You better do something about that. All right, all right, I will. What happened? She insulted me. (grunting) Stop! Stop it! Marilyn! That'll teach her. (car starts) (screaming) Bastards! (sobbing) It's over, Mona. Excuse me, you have a cell phone? Yes. Can I bring it back to you? Thank you. (cell phone ringing) Yes. Mona. Mona, where are you? Mona, where are you, the police are looking for you. I never wanted to kill Leila It was an accident. I know, I know. I know, I'm the one who wanted to kill her. Please come back, Mona, okay? I post the bail for you. You won't go in jail. I'm not afraid to go to jail, Mourad. I'm selling the store. We'll leave Chicago. And we can adopt children. We should have done that before. I'm not gonna go back to you, Mourad Why, why, Mona? I don't care about children, okay? I don't care. She ruin her life with this. Maybe I'm the one who can't have them. I never had the courage to tell her. And I didn't stand up for you enough. No, you did, I... I loved you, I loved you. So, so, so let's try again, okay, somewhere else? You and me, okay? No Mourad, it's over. We cannot build a new life over your mother's death? Why? Anyway, I'm coming back to Chicago. I'm gonna turn myself in, just... inform the police. No, Mona, don't do that, don't do that, okay, let... (phone disconnects) Mona! Oh. (church bell ringing) (music playing) Okay, thank you. Okay, O'Connor! (woman) Your name please? O'Connor. And where you from? Chicago. You have two minutes. (music playing) This certificate is for Marilyn. Okay. And... would you say goodbye to her for me? Yes. Hello, Jack. Hey. How you doing? Fine, how you doing? She needs a ticket to Chicago. The train leaves in three hours. I'll get it ready. Okay. Okay, Jack's gonna take care of you. Thank you for everything. You're welcome. Take care of yourself. Be safe. Mona! You weren't gonna say goodbye? They'll never believe the dance they saw today was me. Where you going? Chicago. Then I'm going with you. |
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