(film projector rolling)
- (indistinct chatter) - (muffled music playing)
- (rewinding) - (muffled explosions)
Captain: This is the last moment for some time
that I remember with any clarity.
I'll forge ahead, but be forewarned,
there will be lapses.
- (explosion) - (tense music playing)
Nicos Damianos (over megaphone): Cut. Fan-fucking-tastic!
We got that, people. We got it.
(muffled) Hey! Who is this fucker?
♪
(siren wailing)
(machine beeping)
(light, tense music playing)
(thunder rumbling)
(groans)
(siren wailing)
♪
(thunder crashes)
♪
(groans)
(panting)
(boys speaking Vietnamese)
♪
(chanting continues)
(yells)
♪
(thundering)
♪
(music fades out)
(speaking Vietnamese)
(Capitan speaking Vietnamese)
(Bon speaking Vietnamese)
(Bon sighs)
(crying)
♪
(grunting)
- (indistinct yelling) - (grunting)
(ambient nature sounds)
(screaming)
(all screaming)
(chuckles)
(ambient nature sounds)
(spits)
Hey.
(chuckles)
Hey.
(friends chanting)
- (soft gasp) - (chanting continues)
Sir, there's no smoking in here.
Yes, yes.
- (lights click on) - (heavy breathing)
(sighs)
(Bon speaking Vietnamese)
(siren wailing)
(ambient hospital noise)
How do you feel?
- Yeah. - studio lawyer: Hm.
What a shame.
Sorry, who are you?
Uh, I represent the studio
a-as Violet's just explained.
- Oh. - Uh, first off,
we want you to know that the studio
will be paying for your stay here.
Nicos sent me in his place.
He couldn't make it,
but he sends his well wishes.
Uh, according to your medical report,
you suffered, uh, smoke inhalation,
uh, bruising, uh, second-degree burns.
But, um, the computerized tomography scan was clean,
so we're not liable,
but the studio does offer
a flat rate for compensation of...
intangible, nonmedical injuries, such as your, uh,
as-yet-undefined psychological disturbance.
Is that supposed to be an apology?
No. No, it's supposed to be $3,000.
A very generous amount.
lawyer: Of course, we would love to offer you more,
but frankly, it's difficult to make a case for compensation,
uh, unless there's tangible loss.
Tangible?
Well, uh, like an eyeball or a toe.
But I have lost something tangible.
- lawyer: What? - Captain: I-I don't know, I--
I've lost my way, uh...
- lawyer: Uh-huh. - I-I don't know who I am anymore, I--
I don't think I can go on like this.
You sound like my ex-wife. (laughs)
Captain: I've lost myself. That's tangible.
- This isn't me. - lawyer: Unfortunately,
sense of self is immaterial
- in the eyes of the law. - Law?
I'm, I'm sorry. Who are you exactly?
- Well, I-- - He's the lawyer for the studio.
(softly) They said he might get confused.
Captain: He didn't say he was a lawyer.
I don't want your check.
I want an apology from Nicos.
I can certainly try.
And $30,000.
- $5,000. - If I was only thinking about myself,
then $5,000 would suffice, but as an Asian, I--
- Familial obligations. - Exactly.
For you people, family is everything.
I get that. I'm Italian.
- $7,000. - And when word gets around that I've been compensated,
they'll come out of the woodwork.
$50 for an aunt, $100 for an uncle.
So, for their sake,
I can't accept anything less than... $20,000.
You lose a finger, that's 15 grand.
For $20,000, you'd have to lose a whole hand.
Or, or a foot.
Or the internal equivalent.
Maybe one vital organ.
Or-or one or two of your five senses. No, no, no. No.
$10,000. That is the best I can do.
I'm sorry. What was that?
I think I lost my sense of hearing.
$15,000, final offer.
(suspenseful music playing)
In cash.
♪
And an apology from Nicos.
15,000 bucks.
Plus the world's first apology from Nicos Damianos.
Not bad for losing your way.
♪
(thunder rumbling)
(ambient nature sounds)
Hey.
(spraying sound)
Hm?
(birds chirping)
Hm?
Howdy.
- Huh. - Claude: You look like shit, kid.
Like a morning glory ravaged by Aphidoidea.
(groans) How long have you been here?
Long enough.
And you've just been watching me?
Well, what the fuck else am I gonna do?
- Just like you've been doing for the past 11 years. - (chuckles)
You pluck me out of my village
and send me south to school
and watch me, mold me, push me.
Ah, sometimes you need a little push.
I'm sorry. I'm just a little shell-shocked.
- Literally. - Ah, give me a break.
Doctor says your burns have almost healed.
Captain: Meaning you want me to suit up and get back in the game?
Claude: The General's been busy. Let's put it that way.
He hasn't been to visit.
- How is he? - The General?
Oh, General's fine, generally.
Except that, generally speaking,
he's proving somewhat erratic.
- And you want me to check in? - No, I want you to check out.
This invalid routine just plain doesn't suit you.
Wait.
And I hear you've been homesick, hm?
Here you go. Comes with a complimentary bottle of champagne.
And I hear rumors there might be some surprises on the program.
So, congrats on your early discharge.
(light applause)
...FantASIA!
...the city of stars.
Ladies and gentlemen...
(applause, cheering)
(soft piano music playing)
- Captain: Wait, I was distracted. - (pauses, rewinds)
I skipped a whole section.
My mind may have been damaged, but I assure you,
that when I was released from the hospital,
I had more pressing things on my conscience.
I didn't feel guilty for doing my duty for the cause,
but I felt I could ease the consequences with a, uh,
redistribution of wealth.
(Bon speaking Vietnamese)
(babies crying)
(speaking Vietnamese)
(babies crying)
(Crapulent Major's mother crying)
Oh...
Ah.
(sighs)
(softly) Uh... (sighs)
(clock ticking)
Captain: Like I told you,
I have a bad association with those French...
biscuits.
(indistinct chatter)
- (car engine starts) - (bicycle bell rings)
(slurping)
(Madame speaking Vietnamese)
We have business to discuss.
(Madame speaking)
Our countrymen are starving
for a taste of home.
How much money are you making?
Enough. It will be enough.
- Enough for... - (door opens)
(door closes)
Who knows about this?
Everyone in there, I suspect.
Our people keep mistresses
better than they keep (laughs) secrets.
Do-Do-Do you think that's wise?
I mean, letting this be an open secret?
General: Ah, people come here because their soup is spiced
with the excitement that they're aiding the revolution.
I'm giving them hope.
And is everyone aware of the fact
that this revolution to reclaim the homeland
is, in fact, a military operation?
No, to them, for now, it's just a campaign
for awareness and agitation.
Is Claude aware of this?
Claude?
Well, he came by the hospital,
told me I should check in on you.
To spy on me?
Well, he didn't put it like that.
Tell him you won't do any spying for free.
And if he pays, bring the money to me,
so we can use it to fund my operation.
(laughs)
(sighs) I'm sure you were disappointed that I did not visit,
especially when Claude did.
Frankly... I did not because...
- (softly cries) - Oh!
S-Sir, I told Lana to go home.
I swear, I did not in my--
(cries)
I'm so sorry, sir.
(Captain sighs)
I offered the compensation
that I received from the studio
to the Major's wife, but she, uh...
she wanted me to donate to your great cause.
What?
Why would you give that woman the money
you almost paid for with your own life?
Ahh...
you saying you feel sorry for her?
I'm sorry for feeling sorry.
(Captain speaking)
Such a cowardly move.
I always knew you had that streak of weakness.
But no matter, I'll make the best use of it.
Your life's ransom has landed
in the right place.
(light, tense music playing)
Think your clock's set to the wrong time.
Off you go then.
(patrons chattering)
I stopped by the hospital...
only to be told you'd already been discharged.
Fortunately, every Vietnamese refugee can now be found here.
You stopped by the hospital? W-Why?
Just to pay me a friendly visit?
Why shouldn't I visit you in the hospital?
Because I was in the hospital for three weeks
and you didn't visit me.
People in the community... they've been talkin'.
- Vietnamese people? Gossiping? (chuckles) - Yeah.
Word is that the General has been formulating
some kind of ridiculous
secret operation... to take back Vietnam.
Well, that's news to me.
Don't play dumb. You're the General's man.
Well, the General's man has been in the hospital for three weeks.
Besides, even if I did know something,
why would I tell a communist?
- Who said I'm a communist? - You're not a communist?
I only ask because I'm writing a story.
Is the General cooking something up?
Well, if he was, I'm sure you're the last person
- he'd ever tell. - He's giving these men false hope.
Setting the clock to Saigon time,
what a pathetic gesture.
The war's over.
It's done. There's nothing left to reclaim.
Even the Americans couldn't defeat the communists.
Wars never really die. They just hold their breath.
Wow.
I'm not your enemy.
Wish you could see that.
Sonny, I've never considered you my enemy.
Why would you-- (chuckles)
(sighs)
(light piano music playing)
(Emcee speaking Vietnamese)
- (applause, cheering) - (singing in Vietnamese)
♪
(pours drink)
(Lana continues singing)
- (song concludes) - (applause)
- (instrumental piano continues) - (applause, cheering)
Ladies and gentlemen... I am pleased to announce
we have a special guest in the house today.
It's your first time, right?
He's very special to me,
but I suspect the rest of you feel the same.
A kind, generous guy
who's experienced discrimination like all of us,
but has endured it with grace and dignity.
Ladies and gentlemen...
- Jamie Johnson! - (applause, cheering)
Yeah, come on.
♪
(speaking Vietnamese)
- (audience exclaims) - (applause)
Forgive me, Que-Linh has been teaching me,
but, uh, I know my Vietnamese is still terrible.
Probably 'cause I have such
a distractingly beautiful teacher.
Hopefully one day, I'll be able to sing you a song in Vietnamese,
but until then, I hope this will suffice.
- (singing) ♪ Every night together ♪ - (applause)
♪ Now, just me alone ♪
♪ When we're happy, the moon's bright ♪
♪ Sadness makes it dark ♪
both (singing): ♪ See the city of stars ♪
♪ So many memories we've made ♪
♪ Love in the heart of the city ♪
♪ It's gone, I'm sad to say ♪
- ♪ See the city of... ♪ - Wow.
♪ So many memories we've made ♪
♪ Love in the heart of the city ♪
♪ It's gone ♪
- ♪ I'm sad ♪ - ♪ I'm sad ♪
♪ To say ♪
(audience murmuring)
(song concludes)
(applause, cheering)
Lana, uh, look, about the movie, uh...
- I never should've-- - Been responsible
for the most embarrassing day of my life?
Yeah, yeah, uh...
- Well, I think we can agree you got your comeuppance. - (scoffs)
Well, I'm sorry too...
for never visiting you in the hospital.
Let's call it even.
Yeah. (chuckles)
You know, our stint in the movies
made you a grown-up and me a kid.
Monique's "Hamlet" set.
That place, it brought me back
to my childhood village...
to my mother.
(sighs)
I'm sorry.
I needed a stage name so Mom and Dad couldn't trace me.
Uh, it had nothing to do with your mother.
I only used it 'cause it was my character
in my first professional acting job.
Jamie's out front.
You wanna join us for dinner?
Oh, really? What, you want me around as a third wheel?
(scoffs) Third wheel?
Come on. Me and Jamie?
(chuckles)
I'll let you two have your fun.
Uh, someone's expecting me.
(TV playing)
I know it's improper for a dialectic materialist
to set an altar for the departed, I do...
but I am telling you everything with full disclosure
so that you can understand just how fragile
I'd become by this time.
(sighs)
- (ambient street noise) - (birds chirping)
(knocks on door)
- Mr. Hollywood. - Oh.
(Captain sniffs)
- Sofia Mori: Why didn't you call? - That smell. (sniffs)
- Oh, your skin. - A cactus?
What was that bullshit, huh?
It doesn't care if it's watered or not.
Oh, jeez.
What a surprise, uh. You could've called.
Sofia: Relax, Sonny. Our friend has returned,
older and presumably wiser.
I haven't heard from you in half a year.
You can build a skyscraper in less time.
It wasn't six months.
It was five months and one week.
And if you'd visited me in the hospital,
it would've been four months and two weeks.
So, what kinda skyscraper could you build in four months and two weeks, huh?
(chuckles) Hell, you couldn't even build this, uh,
this romper room.
Romper room?
Wow.
Shall we?
(skillful guitar playing)
- Sofia: It's my family. - Sonny: That's Judith, Sofia's mother.
Here's her brothers, George and Abe, when they first arrived.
Poor Abe.
Did you say he, uh, died in the war?
No. No, he was imprisoned
with the rest of us in the camp.
Well, it's been 30 years and the war still consumes my brother,
even though he never fought it.
No, he, he fought it, all right.
No, but just so much anger and resentment
just for being Japanese.
And the irony is--
- W-W-We don't know for sure. - No, no, no, but you did find
those gaps in my family tree. Intentional gaps.
Yeah, yeah. Like her mother was hiding something.
- Some injustice. That's my hunch. - Sofia: Mm-hmm.
- We, uh, we wanna go to Japan to get to the bottom of it. - (Sofia chuckles)
Oh, this is what happens when you date
- an investigative journalist, huh? - I guess so.
- (chuckles) Is that right? - Sofia: Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I mean, back in college,
Sonny was great at getting to the bottom of things.
He made great speeches, Sofia.
Should've heard him railing against the war.
Oh, I wish I had.
- I really do. - Mm, but if you had heard him,
you might've asked yourself why didn't he go back
and fight for the revolution himself? (chuckles)
So, why are you still here, Sonny?
Why don't you go back and help rebuild the homeland?
Is it because you're... so in love with Miss Mori, huh?
Or is it because you're afraid?
Afraid to lose the comfort of America.
His home is here.
No, not this... "romper room."
Not yet, but his home is here in L.A.
His people are here too.
- Refugees like you. - Refugees like me?
- Mm-hmm. - Captain: I'm his people?
You know who made me a refugee?
Communists like him.
But he's got important work to do for me?
Okay. And what kinda work is that, Sonny?
Sofia, he's, he's right.
I came here, like you, to study.
I promised my parents one day I would come back
and help our country with my American degree.
I'd, I'd use that knowledge to liberate our people from the Americans.
I am a coward and a hypocrite...
and you're a better man than me.
I-I don't agree with your politics.
I-I despise 'em, but...
you went back to your homeland and fought for your cause...
your people... and for that, I respect you.
I take back what I said before.
You are more Vietnamese than I am.
Sofia: What am I?
A secretary for some white man who thinks
"Miss Butterfly" is a compliment.
Do I ever tell him to "fuck off and go to hell"?
I smile, say nothing, and type, type away.
I am far worse than you, Sonny.
- I respect you. - (scoffs)
Captain: Looks like your cynical edge got dulled while I was away, Sofia.
I always had a softer side.
You never stuck around to see it.
(melancholy music playing)
(sighs)
(water splashing)
(tense music playing)
- (alligator grumbles) - (gasps, exclaims)
♪
(Nicos panicking)
Sit.
Seems to be enjoying its newfound freedom.
- Nicos: Did you try to kill me? - Did you try and kill me?
Even if I told you the truth,
you wouldn't believe it.
parrot: (squawks) Don't fuck up my movie.
- So, that's why you're here? Some kinda sick revenge? - (scoffs) I've imagined
- about a thousand ways to kill you. - Really? Such as?
Landmines. You step on one, your head rolls off.
I kick it like a soccer ball,
it rolls into a second landmine.
You know, that sorta thing?
Well, I hope you're feelin' better.
I hear you've been generously compensated.
Not in full.
There's still something owing.
Oh, Christ. That's why you're here.
He wants an apology. Very well.
I am truly, deeply sorry.
No, no, no, no, no. I want something else.
An apology from you isn't worth shit.
You keep all the Vietnamese lines in the movie.
(Nicos scoffs)
Brother, even the studio doesn't tell me
what to do with my final cut.
Captain: Do you want my blood on your hands?
Nicos: Come on, don't even joke about it.
I just need to know that all those months
away from L.A. weren't all in vain.
Nicos: Get the fuck over here!
You don't know how fast Dorothy can move
when she puts her mind to it.
Look, I get where you're comin' from...
but it's undermined by the sacred mystery of the editing process.
I'm tellin' you, one day you love a shot, ya throw it in, right?
And the next day, it doesn't work. You rip it out.
Nobody knows what'll be in the final cut. Not even me.
Hell, we might even lose that multi-million dollar explosion for all I know.
So, I'll tell ya what.
I'll try. Honestly, I will try
to keep the Vietnamese in the movie, for you,
but the thing is, I can't predict the journey
in my own mind, let alone the movie.
You see, editing... (sighs)
it isn't about clarifying the story
or hammering home the theme.
It's about rhythm, impulse, sex.
Better yet, jazz.
It's like that alligator. Primal instinct.
Just talkin' about all this shit makes me wanna improvise.
I'm like Dizzy. (imitates trumpet)
I'm like Miles. (imitates trumpet)
(continues trumpet scatting)
(funky pop music playing)
(singing) ♪ Go sister, soul sister ♪
- vocalists: ♪ Hey, tell it ♪ - ♪ Soul sister ♪
♪ Go sister, soul sister ♪
♪ Tell it, tell it, tell it, sister ♪
- vocalists: ♪ Gitchi, ya, ya, ya ♪ - ♪ Mm, yeah ♪
vocalists: ♪ Gitchi, ya, ya, ya ♪
♪ Come on, come on, come on ♪
(singing "Lady Marmalade" in Vietnamese)
(music distorts, rewinds)
(muffled song plays)
(chuckles)
♪
(chuckles)
(slight chuckle)
♪
(gasps)
- Jeez, what's up with you? - (vocalist singing on stage)
(indistinct chatter)
That song got me through my teen years.
Oh, so not The Isley Brothers?
That was your thing, not mine.
You liked The Isley Brothers
and Steve McQueen and Diane Arbus.
- I can enumerate your interests at length. - Hm.
What do you know about mine?
Uh, well, uh, now's your chance to tell me anything
and everything about you, then.
Sounds like a dare.
I don't know anything and everything,
but whatever I am, no one can stop it.
(chuckles)
Tell that to my mom and dad.
Why don't you tell them yourself?
- Isn't that what I'm doing? - Mm.
- Hm? - You're their wiretap, right?
I'm not a spy. That's insulting. (chuckles)
(quietly) Mom, Dad, can you hear me?
Miss Que-Linh...
have you seen Lana around?
- Lana? - Mm.
Never heard of her.
- Oh, really? - Mm.
Because you two share a strong resemblance.
She's very much more immature than you.
She's a...
a girl who cried to me...
- (chuckles) - ...because she was scared of America
and said she didn't wanna leave Saigon.
You're one to talk about crying.
(mockingly) I'm so scared of the General.
- (chuckles) - Boo-hoo.
- That's you sniveling into your girlfriend's shoulder. - Oh, really?
Well, you know, she's not my girlfriend anymore.
- Hm? - We broke up.
To be more accurate, she, uh, she replaced me.
Oh? Well, then does that mean
you need a new shoulder to cry on?
(footsteps approach)
Bon: He can cry on mine.
Uh, uh.
(applause in theater)
Not a spy, huh?
(tense music playing)
Captain: "Ma chère tante,
"I apologize for not writing sooner.
"I'm happy to report that for the first time since the accident,
"I'm finally feeling myself again.
"The General is planting the seeds of a military campaign.
"I pray that this precious seed
will bloom into a genuine victory because..."
Anyway, that's what I wrote as an anti-communist
in the open letter to my Parisian aunt.
♪
(camera clicking)
But as a communist, I encoded my words to Man.
This is what I wrote:
"These pathetic refugees cannot see this campaign
"of the General's for what it actually is:
a fool's errand."
♪
The prints were awkward to hide,
so I sent a film of the General's plans to Hanoi.
The photographs went somewhere else.
♪
And that's why I signed my coded missive as follows:
"Don't worry. I'm taking care of it."
(blows)
♪
I hope your Parisian aunt's doin' well.
- Oh, yes. - What, are ya headed off somewhere?
The General. He-He needs a lift.
- Huh. - Hm.
- (dog barking) - God, you are really not
an animal person, are you?
Congressman called, who in turn had a chat
with our rogue director friend.
Happened to mention that you dropped by
despite my explicit instructions to the contrary.
- Right. - Whatever you said to that ingrate, it worked.
His mojo's back full force.
We'll see a cut next month.
I don't get it.
- What? - W-Why do you and the Congressman
care about some crass
Viet-sploitation flick so much?
Because movies are important, right?
Especially if made by a significant director.
It's imperative for us to keep an eye on these artist types.
They need reassurance that they're subversives,
but we can't allow them to flip all the way.
Long as we can keep them within the nebulous bounds of humanism,
but with no actionable political ideology,
they're completely harmless.
Take "The Hamlet."
Our guys, they slip up every once in a while.
But in the end, all it takes is one morally upstanding,
heroic American soldier to straighten everything out.
That's the true strength of this country.
A country that lives and dies by its conscience.
(laughs)
That girlfriend of yours, Mori?
- What's her name? Mori-- - She's not my girlfriend.
Yeah, yeah, whatever. Oh, free love and all that.
The woman that you do or don't occasionally
or not so occasionally hump?
(sniffs) Yeah. Aspire to better.
Kid, trust me. You know she's been
sleepin' with that liberal mudslinger, Sonny?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
Do I need to remind you to watch your mouth when you're with her?
Do I?
Those two are intimate, and I mean that
in the most dangerous sense.
They actually talk.
You never know what might leak out. (clicks tongue)
(dog barking)
- (tense music playing) - (dog barking)
How the fuck does Sonny know all of this?
♪
(chuckles)
Someone's been feeding information to this scumbag.
Well, do we need to push the timeline back, sir?
No, no. Now that this treacherous scoundrel
has published this shameful article,
we must expedite everything.
Uh, do we have enough volunteers?
How are you doing with the training?
Sir, from what little plans I've seen,
I don't think we're ready.
Wait. Sir, I think someone's following us.
General: How do we know he's really a newsman?
Half the newsmen in Saigon were sympathizers.
How do we know the communists didn't send them here to undermine us?
Well, in college, some may have referred to him
as a left-wing radical.
That has always been your problem.
You're too sympathetic,
too kind to spot a communist sleeper agent right under our nose.
Hm?
Pull up over here.
(tires screech)
Something must be done, Captain.
Don't you agree?
Yes. Something must be done.
(engine stops)
♪
(ambient nature sounds)
♪
(army shouting, grunting)
(shouting, grunting)
(dramatic music playing)
(Young Bon grunting)
(muffled shouting)
(shouting, grunting)
♪
(grunting)
(panting)
♪
(percussive music playing)
♪
(music fades out)