["Strangelove" playing]
[kissing, breathing heavily]
[cell phone ringing]
[sighs] Let me see if it's an emergency,
or if my grandmother forgot the time difference again.
-Hello. -[caller, in Russian] Hey, it's me.
You won't believe it, but they came through.
Finally. My papers!
Wait, what, really?
[caller] Holy shit, we did it.
I'm buying a ticket to New York Tuesday.
Maksim?
You're joking. Tuesday is the day after tomorrow!
[in English] Hey, is everything okay?
Uh. [in Russian] Wait a second,
I'll call you back and tell me everything.
Two minutes. I promise.
[in English] You've gotta go.
[sighs] Shit.
[groans]
[announcer] JFK International Airport is…
Yana! [groans]
Mmm.
[Yana] Mmm.
[both chuckle]
-[both groan] -[Yana] Oi!
[in Russian] It would be easier if you put me down, Maksim.
I haven't seen you in two years,
I'm not letting you go.
[both chuckle]
So here is where you live.
[groans]
They don't pick up dog poop here?
The neighborhood's industrial, lots of artists.
-Artists? -Yes.
Why can't artists pick up dog poop?
[in English] Okay, strong man. [chuckles]
-[in Russian] We're home. -Finally.
[in English] Mr. Yana, hi! [chuckles]
-Oh. [chuckles] -Ah, I can't believe you're actually here.
All those years waiting for your visa
and just, like, watching her go through it,
I-- I feel like I'm watching the real-life Notebook or something.
All right. Well, um… [clicks tongue] …I'll be home late so, uh, have fun!
-[chuckles] Bye. -[Yana] Mmm.
Bye.
-[door closes] -[sighs]
[in Russian] What's with the hug?
-[chuckles] -An American.
[electronic dance music playing]
Is this an original pressing?
Yes.
I found it buried at a flea market.
Remember?
You sampled it the first time I saw you play.
In '99? Seriously?
-You did. -I would never sample a hit from 1993
that samples a bigger hit from 1978.
[chuckles]
"Actually, Yana,
sampling anything after 1901
-is so derivative." -[groans]
-Oh yeah, smart ass? -[chuckles]
You're a DJ now?
-I just do it for myself. -For yourself.
Then why the record bag?
Are you gonna wear a bikini and a belly chain?
Show me what you got.
[in English] I'm not in the mood, okay?
[in Russian] Okay.
Okay. [in English] DJ Not-In-The-Mood.
-[laughs] -I like it.
I'm married, you know.
[Scottie] Will you tell me something?
You want me to pause?
[Madeleine] What?
[Scottie] Falling into San Francisco Bay.
-[in Russian] Do you want me to pause? -Mm-mmm. [speaks Russian]
[in English] I've fallen into lakes out of rowboats when I was a little girl.
I even fell into the river once trying to leap from one stone to another.
But I've never fallen into San Francisco Bay.
[sighs deeply]
[electronic dance music playing faintly]
Hello?
[electronic dance music continues]
DJ Spaceside.
[in Russian] Amazing, right?
I can't believe he's playing this live!
I know. He's the only one making his own music in Minsk.
He's like our own Frankie Knuckles.
[chuckles]
[in English] Hey, crazy dancer.
[in Russian] You remember me.
I couldn't find you after my set.
-[chuckles] -Tell me everything about you.
-Right now? -Yes.
[pedestrian] Watch where you're going!
I've spent the past three years at school in America.
I forgot how rude people are here.
New York? Chicago?
I wish.
I'm going to Boston in the fall.
So far, I've lived in Missouri.
[chuckles, in English] We called it Misery, if you understand English.
Yeah, I know. I study English and my vocabulary is excellent, actually.
-Listen. -[chuckles] Uh-huh?
Beautiful. Effervescent. Luminous.
-Bravo! [chuckles] -[chuckles, panting]
[in Russian] You know,
I don't know how long I can keep this up.
-Maybe you could give me your number? -Of course.
Oh no, I don't have a pen.
I'll memorize it. Go ahead.
Okay.
-22, -22,
-37, -37,
-44. -44.
22, 37, 44.
44 or 45?
[sighs]
Okay.
-We are here. -[sighs]
On the L train.
You need "Manhattan Bound."
Here's A-1 Records
and you should check out Generation, too.
The Tech-House selection is top-notch.
Where do you work?
Uh… [stammers] …Midtown.
-There's just… -Mmm.
…nothing to do there.
It's all office buildings.
I can meet you for lunch.
No need.
It's so soulless there.
Oh, I almost forgot to give you keys.
Do you need anything?
If you need to change money,
-go to the bank-- -Yana!
You know I have been outside alone before.
-I'll be fine. -[chuckles]
[coworker, in English] These investment opportunities
are gonna make your portfolio beg you for more.
I don't know. That's what I tell everybody, I know.
What do we do?
We are dressing B-minus hookers like triple-A escorts
and these pension funds are like, "Ride me, bitch!"
[chuckles] I know you know what I mean.
Hey, where are you coming from… [mimicking Russian accent] …Saturday Night Fever?
Oh! Hey, uh, Gaswami wants to see you.
Right now?
Well, he wanted you at 7:30, but I guess 8:30 will have to do.
Yeah, you still there?
Uh, I had some train issues so--
You're not pulling adequate weight on your team, Yana.
Okay.
I understand what it's like to be on your own in a new country,
but you can't get away with doing just enough.
Competent is a dirty word. It simply means you're not exceptional.
So why did you come here in the first place?
I guess I wanted the opportunity to make something that's never existed.
Something that's raw and alive.
Does that make sense?
No. Be exceptional, or find another line of work.
Understood.
I will work on that.
[in Russian] I promise nothing is going on.
I've just been busy.
-Why are you up so early? -I was worried about you.
Mom--
-Mom! I have to go. -Hi, Irina!
-Who was that? -That's-- That's no one.
Juliana's friend.
-I'll call you later. -Love you.
I haven't told her you're here.
She'll have opinions.
-Uh-huh. -I've spent enough time working today.
You were at work this whole time?
This is how late people work on Wall Street.
You should quit.
Uh-huh. I'll quit,
I'll have to leave the country,
you'll have to leave the country.
Have you been outside today?
I couldn't understand your map,
then I got sidetracked.
This is crazy.
It's your first day in America, and you haven't left the house!
Mm-hmm.
Let's go out now.
There's a party.
You can meet my friends.
Great.
I can't wait for your friends to judge me.
[in English] I hear the situation in Chechnya is horrifying.
Well, that's Russia. I'm from Belarus. That's a different country.
[friend] Hey, Yana.
Martin! Hey, how are you?
-Exhausted. Flew in from LA this morning. -Oh! Poor baby. [chuckles]
Uh, this is Maksim.
Oh. I've heard so much about you. Welcome!
Yana tells me you're a musician as well?
Uh, he is an incredible DJ. And he does computer animation.
-She's exaggerating. -Hmm.
Oh, the stuff he was doing back in Minsk.
Y-You have to hear his first album, it's based solely on samples.
What? Like DJ Shadow?
-Yes, exactly. -Not like DJ Shadow.
It was before DJ Shadow. [chuckles]
[in Russian] I'm going to the bathroom.
[in English] Oh, my God. [chuckles] Black Devil Disco Club?
I got this bootleg in London.
Ah. Thank God for P.P. Roy.
Someone knows her shit. Where you spin at, record nerd?
Oh, no. I'm just a-a bedroom DJ. Total hobby.
-That's a waste of a good ear. -[chuckles] What about you?
I spin at APT. Meatpacking District.
Yeah, I've-- I've heard of it. [chuckles]
You should come by. I'm there every Friday.
Uh, yeah. I'd love to.
[guest] Yana?
Is everything okay with your friend?
[stammers] Why? Did he say something?
No, he's just been sitting in the stairwell for, like, an hour.
[in Russian] Martin played Coachella last year.
He's a good person to know.
Yana,
I don't like being paraded around for your friends.
Those people are so fake.
[in English] I was networking for you.
[in Russian] I didn't ask you to!
[sighs]
[Maksim] C'mon, let's go out just the two of us, like we used to.
Okay, I'll go by myself.
[water running]
[knock at door]
I thought you were going.
I changed my mind.
Listen,
I'm sorry. I'm just feeling really weird. I'm gonna go to bed.
I've missed you so much.
Get in.
Everything is so different here from how I imagined it.
[sighs]
The noise. The smells.
Even you.
Your body. It's softer.
-Is that a problem? -No, no.
-I could get out if-- -No, no, Yana.
You stay. I'll go.
[door closes]
[sighs]
[Maksim] Don't worry, your mom didn't see me.
[chuckles]
[water splashes]
Get in.
[chuckles]
Come on!
You didn't say please.
Get in, please?
-[chuckling] -[groans] Pretty please?
[chuckles]
Mmm.
Your hands are ridiculously soft.
Excuse me?
-[chuckles] -My hands are strong and manly.
[grunts]
Did you get a manicure?
-Manicure? [growls] -[laughs]
[knocking at door]
-[Irina] Yana! -[gasps]
It's almost midnight.
-I'm trying to sleep! -Sorry, mom!
Yana, tomorrow--
[clears throat] Um…
Okay, kids,
the party is over.
-[chuckling] -Okay?
[clears throat] Maksim?
Time to go home.
Mmm.
I'll talk to her.
Don't you dare!
Everything will be fine.
She loves me. [chuckles]
[chuckles]
He has nowhere else to go.
-I'm the only person he knows here. -[Irina] Slow down, slow down.
We are talking about Maksim?
Yes, he came to stay with me.
Wait, how did he get a visa?
I married him.
What?
When?
Two years ago.
[sighs] Yana.
Mom, please! Don't get mad.
I was afraid to tell you.
I can't go on like this.
I can't take care of him.
I know you always liked him.
My sweet girl.
Maksim is a wonderful first love.
But you know what I always thought about you two?
You're the kind of person who goes places.
He's the kind that sits still.
Mom,
I wish you were here right now.
So, why are you here?
Uh-huh.
It says here you got permission for an expedited wedding…
because you're pregnant?
That's right.
Eight months pregnant.
Yes.
Okay, what's the rush?
I'm pregnant.
She's pregnant obviously.
[Yana] The paperwork says so.
Today,
on June 10th, 2001,
I'm registering the marriage of Maksim Olegovich Pomerantsev
and Yana Viktorovna Vinatovskaya.
[sighing]
[door closes]
[in English] Hello?
[cell phone ringing]
Hello?
[in Russian] Mom, is something wrong?
[Irina] No, I just wanted to hear your voice.
I'll call you back.
Okay.
[chuckles] What's going on?
I did your laundry.
You left the house?
Mm-hmm. Yes. And I didn't even use a map.
To do my laundry?
[sighs] You do nice things for me all the time.
-[sighs] -I wanted to do something nice for you.
No, no, no, don't get too excited.
There was an accident.
[both chuckle]
Looks like it would fit you now.
Yes.
-Let's see. -[chuckles]
Mm-hmm.
[in English] It's nice, it's nice.
[in Russian] You know,
it's kind of sexy.
That makes sense.
I am
sexy.
[laughs]
["West End Girls" playing]
♪ Sometimes you're better off dead ♪
♪ There's a gun in your hand And it's pointing at your head ♪
♪ You think you're mad, too unstable ♪
♪ Kicking in chairs And knocking down tables ♪
♪ In a restaurant in a West End town ♪
♪ Call the police There's a mad man around ♪
♪ Running down underground to a dive bar ♪
♪ In a West End town ♪
♪ In a West End town, a dead end world ♪
♪ The East End boys and West End girls ♪
♪ In a West End town, a dead end world ♪
♪ The East End boys and West End girls ♪
♪ West End girls ♪
[in English] Yana, you have a guest.
[in Russian] Are you ready?
What are you wearing?
You said you liked it.
You can't meet me at my work with your belly hanging out!
[scoffs] Really?
[coworker, in English] What an idiot. You're looking good, hon. [laughs]
[in Russian] I don't get why you care what those corporate losers think of you.
[in English] Because these are my coworkers.
This is my actual job, it's not a joke.
Not all of us get to sit around in our underwear all day.
[in Russian] I don't have a work visa.
[in English] You don't need a visa to be making music.
[in Russian] I haven't been inspired in New York! What am I supposed to do?
[in English] You have all the time in the world.
And what are you doing? Nothing.
You're wasting your life.
[in Russian] Maybe you should stop putting all your problems on to me.
Hmm?
Admit it.
[sighs]
[Yana] So cool.
What am I looking at?
-They're space doors. -[chuckles] What the hell's a space door?
It's a door
that takes you to another dimension.
Through space and time.
Oh, of course.
-A space door. -Mm-hmm.
You should add doorknobs.
Even space doors need doorknobs.
[chuckles]
Show me how you do that.
You want to learn how to spin?
How else can I keep up with your talents?
You're the one going to Harvard in the fall.
I'm serious.
Well, look here.
This is a mixer.
You can listen to one record,
while the other plays
by muting this channel.
-You hear the strong beat? -Mmm.
One, two, three, four…
[both chuckle]
Good.
Now,
you look for…
a place to match it to the other record.
-Mmm. [chuckles] -[laughs]
[sighing]
[groans]
I'm tired.
You're tired because you went out drinking.
[in English] I was stressed.
We're always arguing. I work all the time and I hate my job.
[in Russian] And that's my fault?
-[in English] I don't wanna fight anymore. -[in Russian] Yeah,
you say that, but then you twist the knife.
"I do all the work.
All you do is sit on your ass."
[in English] It's true, isn't it?
[in Russian] See?
Everything's my fault.
[scoffs]
[in English] You know,
I hadn't seen you in two years, but I took you in.
I supported us. I tried to make this work.
-You tried? -[in Russian] Yes.
You picked me up from the airport with a goddamn hickey!
[Yana groans, in English] I can't do this anymore!
[in Russian] Now you're going to lock yourself in the bathroom.
[breathing heavily]
[Maksim] Yana!
[knocking at door]
Yana! This isn't fair! Don't accuse me and walk away! Yana!
-[knocking at door] -[Juliana, in English] What's going on?
[Maksim] Nothing. We're talking.
[Juliana knocks at door] Yana?
Yana, do you need help?
Do you want me to come in?
-You two are always fighting. -[Maksim] Mind your own business, okay?
[Juliana] This is my business. I live here too.
You're making her miserable.
[breathing heavily, sniffles]
I'm okay. You can go back to bed.
[door closes]
[in Russian] Yana, let's talk, please.
[in English] You need to leave tomorrow.
[in Russian] Are you joking?
[in English] I'll help you find some place.
-I'll lend you money until you find a job. -I got frustrated.
-I'm sorry about that, okay? -We can't do this anymore.
And I'm not going to try. You need to leave, or I will.
[in Russian] Where are you going?
[in English] I need some air. I can't be with you right now.
[in Russian] Yana, please!
I love you.
[sighs] I love you, too.
But it's not enough.
[cell phone ringing]
["Never the Same" playing]
♪ Soft hands my drug ♪
♪ You taste like home to me ♪
♪ Echoing, reverberating ♪
♪ I am now remembering Your kiss is a dream ♪
♪ Elations extreme ♪
GOODBYE
SPACE DOORKNOB
♪ And now I'm never the same ♪
♪ Never the same girl twice ♪
♪ Oh no, I'm never the same now ♪
♪ Never the same ♪
[record skips]
♪ Never the same, never the same ♪
[electronic dance music playing]
[in English] Don't be nervous.
-[chuckles] -You're gonna be great.
Thanks so much for this.
No worries. I wanted to dance to some good shit tonight.
-Well, you got the right girl. -[chuckles]
[electronic dance music continues]
[crowd cheering]