Birdland
- Year:
- 2018
- 89 min
- 56 Views
(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
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
- She was blonde, is that
what you want to know?
You claim.
- She was very
different from me.
How so?
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
- 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.
Watch out for Starling, though,
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.
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)
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"Birdland" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/birdland_4121>.
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