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Mojave (2015)
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You know, people talk as if it's all suddenly just this, but you gotta remember that I've been famous in one way or another since I was 19, and you get tired. You wanna be like Byron and you wanna go to Greece, you wanna run guns in Africa. When you get what you want... What do you want? Apparently, you've broken your phone again. You do have a family. Do you care? Buddy, there's your usual off radar and then there's off radar. If you're dead, will you let me know? I'm getting a lot of calls. If there's something going on, you have to tell me. We are coming. Hey, you forgot your change. Come on. Come on! Come on! Come on! What are you waiting for?! Come on! Good. Hello, the camp. If your problems the rifle, well, I definitely understand that. I'd kill for some milk. Who are you? The great questions, brother, the essentials. Where are you from? Where you going? Who are you? - No one in particular. - Anybody in general? That's the crux of it, brother. You're not a talker- I like that. You know, you meet people out here and they just... well, they tell you what they want you to think they are, which is bad enough, or what they really think they are, which is worse. Where they think they're from, where they think they're going, or... where they meant to go. I mean, you meet a guy, and he tells you... "I have a child. I have a beautiful home." And he tells you that, right? And maybe he believes it's true, but I think, in what sense does he have a house and child? I mean, these basics. Bank has a house. Wife has a child. You see if she doesn't. Bank has a house, brother. You pay the bank, don't pay your taxes, you see who owns your house. You rent it from the government. So this happened to you? Oh, man, nothings that easy, brother. No, no, nothings that easy. That's Ahab's leg, brother. That's some story conference shit. Mars a fine work of ambiguity. You know, I'd believe Ahab if he had two legs and wanted the whale for reasons he couldn't explain, but the whole... missing leg as motivation, man, that's... it's like the executive's wife thought of that shit. - You know something about that'? - No. I'm into motiveless malignity. I'm a Shakespeare man. Well, congratulations. Let's talk about the desert. Talk about what you want to. Jesus came out here. The desert. Not this one. Another one. "Kiln of religions, the desert. T.E. Lawrence said that. Look at where the world is because of solitary dudes going mental in the desert. Jesus came out, had an existential conversation with himself. Famously, you know. "Here I am. I'm apparently Jesus. Is it worth it to be what I am?" To be or not to be. Oh, it always comes down to that, doesn't it? To be or not to be. And where else to think about it but where there's... nothing? In Jesus' case... he had a conversation with an aspect of himself that, for argument's sake, we'll call the devil. "You can have the world," the devil said. "King of the world. Or you can do some good. Useless personally until the future, definitely involving a Roman execution, which is gonna fucking hurt." That's what he thought about in the desert. Which brings us to what are you thinking about in the desert? I'm thinking some guy with a gun who doesn't like the government just walked in pretending to be the devil. - You like the government? - No. - You wanna sell your soul? - What do you got? Women, money, fame? Oh, I've got poverty and obscurity, brother, if you want that. Yeah, I've got plenty of that. I have a surplus, brother. What do you do out here? I fall upon travelers. People come out to the desert, they gel fallen upon by thieves. It's very traditional. In fact, ifs most of the Bible. That and war. I'm only fucking with your head, man. No, I'm only trying it on. It's just ideas. It's just conversation. I tend towards the fantastical. Should I thank you for the coffee and get my rifle and go? Well, I'm gonna thank you for my coffee and get my rifle and go. If I wanted to kill you, brother, I would have laid out there and shot you by your fire. Well, then you couldn't have pretended to be the devil. Okay- We have a situation. I understand it. I appreciate it. I'll give you the cartridges. You keep them. I'll take the rifle. No. Well... in that case. The desert's no place to be cut, brother. You walked into the wrong fucking camp, brother. Brother, is it too late to say you got it wrong? Fuck. Whoops! You're fucked, brother! You're fucked! Seven. Never been out here. Me neither. Game on, brother. Game on. Yeah, I wouldn't have picked me up either. Client number one. What happens in court is a story. It isn't what's true. What prevails in court is whichever of two fictional narratives makes the most material sense to the lowest common denominator. I'm not really asking. I already know. Are there any other rhetorical questions you need for me to answer? All I'm saying is if something was too complicated to explain, you would advise not explaining it? Absolutely. I'll call you later. Hey, urn, would you like some coffee? I wrecked the truck. Have somebody get it. It's in the desert. Coordinates are on the back. Welcome back, sir. How's the new house? I know you're busy, but have you had time to read my script? No. Yes, I wrecked the fucking car. I know it's a production car. It was wrapped out three months ago. No, I don't want your notes. You're fucking illiterate, Norman. You had them written by a 21-year-old. If you give me any notes, I will come and fucking... Oh, now he's gonna kill me if I have an idea. You know what he'd say if I said that? He said that means you're gonna live forever. Fuck him. - Fuck him, boss. - Cock. Hey, read back what we wrote. The only thing worth doing is the impossible, ' is a line I do not feel the audience will understand. Also, the audience will not accept that a rich person can be unhappy." Can I suggest "conflicted"? No. Don't send it. Hey, why is the lawn all fucked up? You gotta cut it in straight fucking lines, Manuel. Well, what, are you on mescaline or something? - What an asshole. - You see this shit? The client is like... The client is like he... he won't let my company help him. What am I supposed to do? You don't have a company, Norman. This is your company. And this is your personal life. That is low. That is fucking low. I lose my first look and my funding, temporarily, mind you, in a misunderstanding, and you do this to me? That's fucked up. I got another issue with your boy. - He's banging the talent. - Is that a problem? Well, not financially, no. But what if I leak it, huh? I'm gonna leak it. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna fucking leak it. You know how to get out of here, right? You take a left, and you fuck yourself, see you later. Take a left, take a right. We're all fucked anyway. Rifle! Forty-four, forty. Killed everybody else we got dead. Piece is missing. You new in town? Yes, brother. Just fell off a turnip truck. Are you a social worker? Yes. I'll get my things. You did not expect your day to end this way, did you, brother? What do you mean you don't know where you live? Well, you shouldn't drink, brother, trust me. You'll black out. Next time you go to try to change a tire, there's a severed head in the trunk, and nine times out often you don't know whose it is. It's no way to be. Ah. Los An-ga-lees. Oh, safety first. Let's go see a better district, brother. You wanna talk, you don't want to talk, I'm here. I get 15 percent all day long. Does this have anything to do with your, um... domestic? Look, you're entitled to be happy, but in the state of California, you're just not entitled to have any money left-. Well, that's not why we're here. Why are we here? Say this. Say you hit someone with your car, no one was there, no one saw, but maybe someone did see, but they can't say anything because if they did, they and not you would be found guilty... because they were the wrong kind of witness. Absolutely the wrong kind of witness. Hmm. You don't know see too many of those around these days, do you, brother'? In some circumstances..- one would consider that ideal. I should've caught a bigger one. Alright, where's your buddy? Yeah, this more like it. What happened in the desert? Nothing. Yoo-hoo. Mister is somewhere? No est en casa. He's in France. Okay- Ah... we're all in France. I need to pee. Did you tell your wife? Did you expect this? Yeah, I did. Let's see here. Password? What could this man have to hide? What do you think, brother? Oh! I think I found something. Come here. Three... seven... five... Mm-hmm. I'm the man who broke the bank, brother. Run along. Yes. The Internet is a pain in the ass, brother. One can't give it too large a place in one's life. It is merely a tool. Oh, brother, what have we here? You're famous, brother? You know, people talk as if it's all suddenly just this, but you got to realize that I've been famous in one way or another since I was 19. - And you get tired. - And you get tired. You wanna be like Byron and you wanna go to Greece, - you wanna run guns in Africa... - Like Byron, go to Greece. When you get what you want, what do you want'? When you get what you want, what do you want? To be or not to be, brother. Didn't I get it? Ambition is a funny way of driving you towards things that you never wanted to win because you're just a man, you're just a bag of dangerous chemicals, and you can'! stop. You can't stop. So you go to the desert to find out what you want - and what you are. - What you are. What you are. If anything at all. I have to make other arrangements, brother. I trust you understand. Thou hast slept well. Awake! The strangeness of your story put a heaviness in me. Shake if off. Come on. We'll visit Caliban, my slave, who never yields us kind answer. 'Tis a villain, sir. I do not love to look on. But as 'tis, we cannot miss him. He does make our fire, fetch in our wood and serves in offices... - Tell her I had to leave, all right? - Yeah, all right. Ii was you that walked into the wrong camp, brother. It was you! Come on. Come on. If you're there, get out of the fucking house now. Cali me. Hey. Norman, you all right? Yeah. Why wouldn't I be all right? I had somebody on my property. Does that mean I have somebody on mine? Look, I'm into something right now, all right? We'll talk later, buddy. Oh, fu... What are you doing to the television? How long have you been here? Hours. Are you doing blow? What the fuck is wrong with you? Why do you want a piece? Because I live in the Hollywood Hills and I don't need the Manson family dropping by for dinner,. Did you get your fucking Land Cruiser back? Yeah. And it's all fucked up as advertised, and the registration is gone so because you lost that, the assholes down at the place are gonna make me go through all sorts of fucking... fucking hoops and ladders and shit. And what'd you do with the registration, asshole? Hey, I'm sorry I said that. All right? You know me. I'm all about talent relationships. Nothing. It was there. I didn't touch it. I'm into something right now, buddy, I gotta go. Fuck. Got all this stress in my neck. Do you want a massage, baby? All I want is Chinese food. Then I want a blowjob. Look, I'm not into feet, okay? You're killing my fucking vibe. Was anyone here? You have to go to the Chateau. Your house, it isn't safe. What if I just pick what I want to do and do that? There's a guy. I have a stalker. I have 27, discounting the ones in jail. Don't tell me what to do. Fuck. Does all this go in the house? Put it in the garage. But then we'll put it in the house when your family comes. You. Get me Norman on the phone. Cool. He's not even talking to me- Look. I'm listening to his fucking house. Hey, buddy. I know you said get you a gun. What do you mean? Get you a fucking gun gun? You could get fucking drunk and use it on me and my fucking publicist. Why do you think I know who can get you a fucking gun? What sort of associations in your mind do you think I have? Well, I was a coke dealer, yeah. All right, I'll make a call, okay? You know, it appears the more things change, Mal, the more they stay the fucking same. - Ain't that (he fucking truth'? - Fucking phone rings, guy you owe money to needs a gun. It's like a fucking wheel or something. It's like a wheel, boss. Hey, you work for me as some sort of cybernetic fucking organism with your fucking phone, come on. You know what? The next thing you know, you're back in East Boston working at Jiffy Lube, I don't give a shit. - You can lake this Hollywood bullshit. - It's all bullshit, boss. You can stick it up your ass, right up your bum. Right up your fucking asses, all of you. You know who I am, huh? I own half a Clam Shack in Harwich Port! I collect because of my background as a fucking teamster! I don't fucking need any of you! Pieces of shit! Shut the fuck up! Uh, it's, uh, from Norman. I saw your Miranda, The Tempest. I'm Jack. Sorry, Jack. I'm already in a sufficiently disturbing relationship. Can I join you for a minute? No. - I'm a producer. - Congratulations. - I have a part for you. - That is just physiology. Look, you're waiting for me to exhibit interest of a kind I don't have or to make a mistake of the kind I don't make. Well... - Can I at least get a picture? - They don't allow photography. Where's Tom? Your, uh... friend. Fuck off. I'll see myself out. She's a keeper. A man, he bothered me at lunch. What'd he do? What'd he look like? He came up to my table and talked shit. Security took him out. Listen... this place is dangerous. Yeah? Everyone says Hollywood is dangerous. You are the one who said what was wrong with Fitzgerald is that he couldn't write screenplays. That's not what I'm talking about. You have to go somewhere safe. What happened in the desert? There was a... situation. I survived. Someone else didn't. I hope you don't think this sort of thing makes a man less attractive. You have to go. Jumpin' tonight. Not one of my better investments. Let's have a drink, brother. You'll have to buy. They might know the owner of the cards I've got. I'm saving my cash for exigencies, brother. Is it on you? What? Is it on you? No idea, brother, what you might mean. Hi! My name is Tarquin. I'll be your server. Oh, I'm sure that some entity other than yourself, Tarquin, will be the judge of that. But in my present mood, which is just terrific, my friend and I unconditionally accept service as your intention. We'll have water, brother. We're parched. We've been in the desert. Still water or sparkling'? Gas, brother. Con gas. The bubbles. Yeah, I was a little bit different in the desert admittedly. Mm-hmm. Change sets you up. How you been, brother? Apart from killing Mexican-American fathers of six and leaving me to take the fall for it. I'm not your brother. I've been doing all right. I haven't. I'm the 99 percent. It's tough out there. Only financially, of course. IQ, brother, that remains John Stuart Mill level. Seriously, I was tested. Just before I didn't go into the Army. Congratulations. Yeah, it's complicated. I didn't do a lot of things, brother. Look... There isn't a man out there who wouldn't have shot that poor fucking federale. Nut a person alive with half a brain would have reported it, either, in your situation. You were being followed by me. I mean, obviously, it could have been me at the mouth of that cave, if that parky hadn't come by, it would have been me, and I would have killed you. You should understand. And I am going to kill you. And you need it. Justice, brother, needs to be sewed. You shot a poor bastard in the desert, but, no, you can't tell anybody because you've got to be Elvis Beatle. You gotta control your own biography. You can'! be confused or conflated or co-mingled with the facts, brother, by certain disastrous facts, certain realities. That's bad press for the show. So you cover it up at expense of the human life. What do you want, 100 grand? A fucking ticket to Greenland? Brother, in a negotiation, never be the first man to mention a number. What do I want'? I want... what you want. But what neither of us are gonna get... my life. My ability to do things, to be things. I don't want to be defined by that sequence of accidents any more than you do. I want to move on, but only one of us is gonna get to do that. You're thinking you should we killed me in the desert, brother, yes, you should have. Oh, I can always go to the cops and tell them everything. No. No. That's no can do. It's too late, brother. You've done felonies. You have covered up an act for which you should've presented yourself to the nearest constable. You'd do time. You're not gonna do that. You show what you are, everything you've got. All done. You'd have to say you were psychologically unequal. Unequal, brother, to your duties as a good citizen. You'd have to go apologize on the public shame tour. "Whoops. I shot a fucking cop. Sorry. Please still let me make 10 million a year irrespective of residuals and royalties." You would have lo admit to deficiencies, this is the really funny part, deficiencies that you don't really have. I mean, I don't think you could admit to the ones you do have, but I really try to imagine you going anywhere and saying that you're a normal human being that makes a normal human fucking being mistake, and I just know that's not gonna happen. So which one of us is the sociopath, brother? Hmm? How many people did you kill or leave behind to get on your hill? All those people rotting in your past. Those teachers and alcoholic wrecks you used to befriends with or be in bands with. Are you still in touch with anybody not useful? It's not my fault that I can do things as an artist that you can't. Are you saying I can't? Oh, I don't even know if you exist as I understand existence. Let's talk story, brother. I had an idea about the denouement when I found the revolver, dead guy's revolver. I had an idea. But we'll talk about that later. Thank you for your service. Put it on my chit. If you're so clever... why'd you take the gun? What? I'll say it to you very carefully because you're only John Stuart Mill level. You have the pistol belonging to the dead parky and the broken piece of the rifle, and I can reasonably maintain that I never met you before this very minute. - Oh, really? - Yeah. If I'm the Mojave murderer, which there is a question about, why am I here if you weren't in the Mojave? Oh, I was in the Mojave. You found the registration of the Land Cruiser I wrecked. Yeah. Scenario one: I never met you before in my life. And I could go with that. I did meet you before. You came to my camp to kill me because that's what you do but I got the better of you then, brother, which is the truth. But when I left the camp, I left the rifle. - Bullshit you did! - Oh, I did. And the last I saw you, you were tracking me with the rifle. And I got to the road. I may have heard a couple shots off in the distance. Find I thought it was a hunter, so I caught a truck. Never saw you again until now. I didn't know anything about seven murders in the Mojave. I'm a very busy man. See, it plays, doesn't it? It would prevail. It's the fictional narrative that makes the most sense. Whereas the real narrative is a very hard sell. For example, genius, you try and tell a cop that you found that dead parky's pistol in the base of my fucking television, try. You can't sell a story, brother, in which someone else is the villain. You don't worry about what is but what seems to be, and what seems to be is what I've been making a living at since I was 18 years old. You worry about what seems to be and not reality, because reality is what I fucking say it is. You're carrying, brother? So are you. How do you explain yours? Well, yours is a bit more hot than mine, wouldn't you say? Mine's a misdemeanor. Or you came in with it. You want to play'? - Two hundred grand. - No. Just get the fuck out of Los Angeles. Use the gun on yourself. I don't care what you do. Whatever you do or say, I'm gonna get out of it, and I'm almost sorry about that, brother, but that's the way it is. Get some sleep. You look like shit. Game on, brother. Hey. Look, if. If you're from those Korean guys, this is not the way to do business. Relax, brother. It's just a little sleep. Urn... it's the cops. I'm Detective Beaumont. This is Detective Fletcher. Nice house. Thanks. I haven't really moved in yet. Are you married, sir? No. Yes. My wife and child, they're in England. Why are they in England? They're English. Okay- Your people were working late and verified that you were on the property all night - after the arrival of Ms. Leoni. - Yes. Ms. Leoni has an Italian name but she's... French. Why is everyone in Los Angeles a foreigner? Money. So... because you were here and there's verification, we're not going to beat around the bush, and I will tell you, as Detective Fletcher and myself look at you for your reaction, (he unfortunate news that your partner, Mr. Davenport, is dead. - Dead? - Murdered. At about, urn... 10:00 pm last night according to his cell records. Mr. Davenport ordered a delivery of Chinese food and a prostitute. A sex worker. Prostitute arrived before the Chinese food, and when the prostitute arrived, she found the front door of the residence to be open and Mr. Davenport just inside the door, dead of what appears to be massive blunt force trauma. It seems that Mr. Davenport answered the door in a towel. Our people seem to think that Mr. Davenport didn't suffer any defense wounds because he was trying to hold up his towel. Protecting yourself naked can be a little problematic. There's a whole concept of girding your loins. A naked man tends to protect his unit rather than, as in this case, his head. Coffee. Mr. Davenport's house was ransacked, and his safe was found to be opened. Do you know if Mr. Davenport kept large amounts of cash'? I, uh... I have no knowledge. No, I... I think... that I wouldn't be surprised if he did. Firearms or drugs? Never saw him with either. Um... you should understand that I never knew him socially. Did you ever say to Mr. Davenport, um, "I will kill you, you fucking cocksucker"? Yes, I did. Why? - He was a producer. - Did you hate him? No. I liked him. I have to shut down post? The estate's position is they want to shut down, yes. Who are his heirs? He has one brother. But he disappeared at Burning Man, and no one has seen him for about five months. So that's who owns my movie, a disappeared burner? Essentially, yes. I have to be absolutely sure that you do not have a out nor any footage whatsoever of the film. I do not have anything of the kind. If this property was searched, if I have seized your personal hard drives? You know what I want you to do is pay a lot of money and find out I don't have anything. I'll take that on your word. Oh, I would. Not the head, brother. Not the head. Well, not too much in the head. What we say we are, is what we are. Now what we do. What we do is, as you know very well, is accidents. It's all a bunch of mistakes, brother. Fuck, if I would have known who you were, I would have asked you for a job. When you're working as an artist, I mean, you know what I mean, you only have blurs of realizations that you have an exterior life that will be judged. When you're working, everything is cobwebs. People are cobwebs. What did Shaw say? Shaw said a true artist will make his grandmother drudge for his living at 70. Ninety. Now is not the time to one-up me on the quotes, brother. Now let's talk about what seems to be. Hair, blood. Maybe I already put some around the place, on your clothes, maybe I didn't. There's a gun somewhere that I beat your buddy to death with. Everything you need from mitochondrial DNA. Brains, brother. Brains. So you're taken care of. You killed him if I say so. But you know I wouldn't have killed him if he hadn't said something. - What did he say? - Well, I'll tell you. He said the most unreasonable thing. He said that we could work it out. Come on. Aren't you gonna tell me like everybody else does that you're a married man? Huh? You have kids? People that love you, that you love? Aren't you gonna say any of that'? Offer me money? I've already done everything I need to be remembered. How are you doing, brother? I read when I was two, man! I read when I was two! And what the fuck did they do for me, huh? My mother was a whore, married to my uncle. This motherfucking castle is like a fucking jungle. Hamlet, man. He couldn't do it. He couldn't kill the king with his sins on his head. He couldn't kill him at his prayers. But I can. Now I could kill you right here, and that would be one end, but this started in the desert. And it's gonna end there, brother, you understand? This has to play out. It's never gonna be the cops, brother. They can't do the math. Just you and me in the desert. I'll be there. I know you will. If you can make it. We 're just into the car. Here 's someone who wants to talk to you. Hi, Dad. I'm bringing my turtle to the pool, and his name is Coco. We 'I! be at California so soon. You're armed, brother, I know that. So give me some truth. Do you know yet which one of us is the bad guy? Why'd you come'? Because you won't stop. No, I will not. Have naming m. And how do you know I won't get biblical and visit under the generations, reincarnations, whatever else is yours? You're taking your chance with a pistol. Get walking over the ridge, down into the camp. I don't wanna have to kill you here, and then drag you somewhere else, and then go kill your family, but I will. Public life's an afterlife. Who said that'? I did. Then you're already dead. Relax, brother. You haven't been yourself in years. - That's your problem. - Mm-hmm. That's why you went out to the desert. Ain't it? Every psychoanalyst should have one of these, don't you think? Slop! I know you're lethal, brother. You're a man in full. The courtier's eye, the scholar's tongue, the very glass of fashion. It's like bagging a fucking tiger, man. And you and I are gonna do something we should have done from the start. Oh, yeah? What's that? We're gonna have a drink. The television stand! Wow. Brother, you're a natural. I used to hide my weed in the television stand at my mother's house. Before I killed her. I'll let you decide if that's true or not. I don't give a shit. Brand-new. Sealed and bonded. It ain't poison. - To the great adventure. - What's that? Death. Death and its raven wing. There's a fucker walking around here with a hook and a hourglass... the gentleman himself. At least he doesn't have a fistful of cancer. Gold, brother. Found that at the bottom of a wash. It was just there. Lucky coin on a lucky day. How many lucky days you think I've had in my life'? Seven. You're not gonna tell me about your fucked-up childhood, are you? I was a good kid. I was. Didn't cheat. I never stole. I never told a lie. Then what happened? Women and the weather. What happens to anybody, brother? Women and the weather. Are you open to some intellectual bullshit? Well, if you gotta get it out of you. You believe in the duality of man? No. I believe in infinite complexity. Oh. How many more is that than duality? A lot. You said... that I was a failure as an artist. I was a failure. I need you to understand this. I was a failure... through capacity, not incapacity. I have too much stuff going on in here. I... I went through to other languages, uncommunicable things, and there was no point. In other words, the devil came to me, and I said yes. But he was lying. Look at the coin. That coin lands on this table, heads or tails, that's the man that goes first. - You'll do it? - You know I'll fucking do it. - Heads or tails? - Tails. This coin lands eagle side up, you'll pick up that gun, point it at your head, - and pull the trigger? - Don't fucking ask me how. - What'd the coin say'? - Doesn't matter. You would have never gotten the gun. I would have picked it up to hand it to you. I would have shot you in the face, brother, and burned you in the desert. What are you gonna do? I'm gonna burn you in the desert. Could I have a drink of water? No. My mother was a whore Married to my uncle This motherfucking castle Is like a fuckin' jungle Jesus Christ and Socrates Are standing at the door Sorry, brother. When I was a boy I thought it was forever And I would be all right In any sort of weather What I am is what I say Just that and nothing more Ah, well Here we are At Elsinore Well Here we are At Elsinore Yeah Yeah At Elsinore I haven't seen you for so many days. I know. So the villagers pushed, and the monster fell screaming into the fire. And the last anyone heard from him... "What about my good qualities?" |
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