Original subtitles

SINGAPORE SLING

THE MAN WHO LOVED A CORPSE

Written by Nikos Nikolaidis

Directed by Nikos Nikolaidis

Subtitles: mitbrille Karagarga@2014

Take some water. Here mom.

It was late at night. I was leaning on a car,..

Conversing with the leftovers of a bottle...

that was coming from the north.

I figured in the state I was in things couldn´t get any worse.

I was the broke, homeless and friendless sort of guy...

who chases after lost causes with female names, which lead nowhere.

Mine was called Laura, and I met her many years ago.

My world was a sick and pitiful world...

where trouble from a girl like that had to happen.

It´s been three years since I lost her.

Every time I smell jasmine on a passing girl...

I think of her and start looking for trouble again.

That´s how I got here.

Only "here" is a bit strange...

two women are doing things which would have stirred me once.

But with a bullet in one´s shoulder, one can´t do much.

Especially on nights like this one appreciates them even more.

Let alone the rain beating down on the hood.

It lulls you away, until you see Laura once more.

It was these things, as well as the hunch...

that made me put off my entrance, get in the car,..

And pass out in peace.

A night in the garden...

the burial of our chauffeur.

A night by the fireplace.

We just finished with our chauffeur and now I'll talk about him,

father, and the old days.

It was more difficult than I'd imagined.

Mother had made everything sound easy.

But the chauffeur was incredibly strong.

He had to be stabbed five times.

In the end he ran screaming with the knife in his belly,

and spread his blood all over our house.

When we buried him he was still alive.

The first time that mommy and I killed, was three years ago.

She was a young girl employed as a secretary.

It happened one weekend father was away hunting.

They called her Laura.

With her everything was easy.

A strange girl.

Like she was hiding from someone or something.

Now that I think of Laura I really loved her.

Mommy and I often played the game of the young secretary,

which always begins with Laura

setting foot in our house for the very-first time.

I make my apperience dressed as a young secretary

and holding a small suitcase.

I walk along the dark corridor and enter the living room.

I'm anxious. My knees are trembling.

Will they employ me?

I'm afraid of something and maybe this is the perfect place to hide.

The lady recieves me sitting in the living room.

What is your name, my child?

Allow me my Lady, to keep secret my name.

My poor child.

Then give me some name to call you.

Laura, if you do not mind.

Laura... how strange.

- Were you always a good girl? - My Lady if I...

if I hadn't been a good girl, I wouldn't be so poor,

nor a secretary.

Honesty is the first virtue I demand in this house.

Honesty, you understand?

Come closer!

- How long has it been since you confessed? - Since I what?

Come closer!

I mean, how old are you, Laura?

- 20 and a few days. - Oh, fine.

Continue my child.

- Are you still a virgin? - Oh, indeed, I give you my word.

You must be a virgin to be excepted here.

And for that I need some proof.

I want proof! Proof!

It's up to you to prove.

"On a long path..."

"I see a little rabbit, running."

"I want to catch it with my hands, but..."

"it is too far, too far!"

And now Laura, be so good as...

Oh, you are squeezing the shit out of my hand.

What are the servents two basic rules?

First rule: the servent may not enda...

What are you doing down there?

...may not endure its master.

Or through an action allow his master to come to harm.

Very good.

Second rule: the servent must protect its own...

distance as long as such protection does not interfer with the first rule.

And now, let me seal your mouth.

- Do not hurt me, mommy. - Don't be afraid, my darling.

The last time you hurt me a lot.

In the old days, before father died we didn't have such problems.

Then he'd kill the servents and

mother and I only had to plant decorative

and aromatic flowers on the graves.

Pelargonium, pansies,

and verbena.

Father was very proud of our garden.

He used to say that corpses are the best fertilizer for the soil.

And our gardenias had become as tall as trees.

Since father died our garden has been totally neglected.

I remember the day that father took my virginity.

I was very young then.

11 years old.

How cruel father! How cruel!

Heaven will punish us.

I screamed at him while he forced me on my knees

and remded in from behind.

"My little darling

"heaven's the last thing that concerns us in this world" father said.

I wish you were here now.

Do not be sad.

Tomorrow, we will plant the garden like in the old days.

And now, after every crisis,

she locks herself in the attic.

The poor child believes her father's still alive.

She thinks her father is still alive. She is crazy!

I often come here to smoke.

My mommy doesn't allow me to smoke.

"Mustn't ever smoke."

You know my mommy

has a little thing between her legs.

And you touch it, it goes up, and up, and up...

It gets big.

Everybody, everybody, even my mommy thinks

my father died.

It's not true.

Someday, he will be back and commit such horrible things

that the world will never forget them.

My daddy...

my daddy has a thing here, too.

And he pees...

Secret. "Mustn't smoke."

When I came to, I was lying on my stomach...

in the backseat of a car,

I had no idea how long I´d been there.

My bones ached and I was in a wretched state.

Laura had not shown up...

I was a complete fool...

No one would ever call me again.

So I could see where the hell I was.

Everything indicated that Laura passed by here.

L´ve been collecting evidence for the past three years.

I was very good at this job once. That´s what everyone said.

Then, my mind became tangled...

so, they grew tired of me and I was fired.

And to think it was a routine case.

"In a few days, you´ll forget it, like so many other cases."

I said to myself.

But things don´t always turn out as expected.

I was coming from the past and I knew I was almost dead.

But I had to get into this house, if only to find out...

who I sold my life to, while paying the price, once more.

So I reached for the phone...

and passed out again.

A night in the house.

Mommy caught a bad cold and I'm cupping her.

She must have caught it on the rainy night we buried our chauffeur.

I'm all right now. My crisis has passed.

Only have a premonition that something bad is going to happen to us.

Poor mommy.

Deep down she is very sad we killed our chauffeur.

A tear is running down her cheek.

Now we are all alone again.

I want to cry but that'll only make things worse.

We planned on having a quiet evening.

When all of the sudden we were startled by the sharp ring of the door.

"Who could it be at this time of night?" mother asked me.

Who could it be at this time of night?

I thought it might be the new chauffeur from the personal office.

But it can't, this hour? It seemed unlikely.

Mommy thought the same because she asked me immediately,

"where father's gun it was."

- Where is the gun? - Stupid...

In the table next to you.

What are you waiting for? Get it and see if it's loaded.

It's loaded. The door...

Find out who it is before you open.

Woops, my little tits!

And do not forget. Nothing happened yesterday.

Nothing happened yesterday.

Oh shit, mommy!

She was standing before me...

a pair of earrings which reminded me of something...

and an old Luger in her hand.

It felt like I was slipping on something hot and wet.

With a little luck, I could get her out of here.

But luck isn´t always enough.

Mother!

Up! Up!

Mom, is a man.

Surely, there was a better way to show me...

how unwelcome I was in this house.

Now I had to convince her of my good intentions...

and play for time.

So I began to fiddle with my shoelaces.

This seemed to make a good impression on her...

because she tried to help me.

I thought of speaking to her,..

Besides, who said I was able to utter even a single word.

Something tells me that I´ve come to the right place.

Besides, this girl was worth a blow on my head with a Luger,..

...and even more.

Help a little bit.

Come on. Try to make a good impression on her.

Did you secure the door?

Who is that?

It's a man.

Who is that?

I found him outside our door.

What's wrong with him?

I do not know. That's how I found him.

In any case, the way he is dressed

he doesn't look like a chauffeur.

Did he say anything?

I told you, I found him lying on our doorstep.

Well, what do we do now?

We must call the police.

Stay here and watch him.

Man!

A new game?

Not feeling? Didn't like it?

Mother, didn't like the new man?

It's the new game, ah?

Secret.

Very well.

Mother is dead?

Dead?

It's okay now.

First rule: the servent...

the servent may not endure its master, right?

Excuse me.

It's okay now, mother. Please, wake up.

Mother, wake up.

- What happened to the police? - In this storm nothing works.

Oh, behave now!

What do we do with him?

One idea is...

throw him in the garden.

Another idea would be to...

Did he say anything?

Did you say anything?

- Did you find anything on him? - I didn't search him.

Let's do it.

Stop, be quiet.

Blood...

Where's he bleeding from?

It seems to be a cut on his shoulder.

- What do we do now? - Nothing. Search him.

- What is that? - I do not know.

- "What happened to Laura?" - Laura?

"Who killed Laura?"

Do you think he is from the police?

Do not forget!

No one died in this house.

We'll keep him here.

So we can find out who told him to start digging into Laura's story.

Here.

He has a diagram of the house.

- What house? - Our house.

- And a recipe for Singapore... - Singapore Sling?

What´s that?

A cocktail we used to drink in the old days.

Singapore Sling.

My sleep is restless.

I have the prisoner on my mind.

He smelled the blood, sweat and fear.

He excited me.

A man!

Are you alright?

This is my house and...

my mother is sleeping in the other room.

You are in pain.

I found you lying on our doorstep.

Mom and I tied you up because you said some strange things

about some Laura and we were afraid.

Look. Look here.

Do you want?

Shall I bring you something to eat?

Who sent you here?

You'd wondering what I am doing here at this time of night.

I came to warn you.

Tomorrow, mommy will question you

and if you do not answer nicely, she'll torture you.

My mommy won't let me smoke.

"You mustn't ever smoke."

Do you like it? Me too.

You better tell her you're the new chauffeur

who got lost in the storm.

Well, this Laura...

this Laura you are looking for is only an illusion.

Laura is a face in the misty light,

Footsteps that you hear down the hall.

The love that floats on a summer night

and you can never recall.

And you see Laura on the train

that is passing through.

Those eyes, are familiar they seem.

She gave her very first kiss to you.

That was Laura, but she is only a dream.

Forget her, Singapore Sling!

Forget her!

That little whore.

That little whore.

I'm talking about that bitch, daughter of mine.

She thinks that I have no idea of what happened

while I heard it all.

And tomorrow, we will have it out.

I'm planting flowers on the chauffeur's grave.

These are pansies, right?

What happened to our prisoner? Is he up yet?

How should I know?

I thought since you work earlier you went by his room.

No. I dressed, drink me tea and came straight here.

Well, when you are finished, come and find me

so we can visit him together.

And I advise you stop planting right now

because we might have to re-open the grave.

Stupid bitch.

Honestly, some day I'll kill her and I won't have anybody over my head.

My father was alive, together we would have killed that bitch.

I am the owner of this house.

Last night, in the storm, you rang our doorbell and

because of your condition

we decided to offer you our hospitality.

Very kind of us.

Now we want to know which train did Laura take?

How long did she stay at the lake house?

Who broke the radio,

and why didn't she hear the news of her death?

These are my questions and I think that yours as well.

Who is Laura and why are you looking for her here?

And anyway, who are you?

I have a feeling that you are not very fond of the policemen.

So you better start talking because sooner or later everyone talks.

But by that time they are already...

half dead!

My daughter told me you are the new chauffeur

we have been expecting.

Be good enough to recall the sevent's two basic rules.

Fuck you, mommy! He knows them.

First rule is... he already told them to me.

First rule: the servent may not endure its master, right?

Or through an action allow his master to come to harm and...

You see, he knows them.

Who sent you here?

He can't understand you. He doesn't know a word of French.

Ask him who killed Laura.

Who Killed...

Laura?

What do you want from us?

Are you ready?

I'd like to pee like that, too.

Having her feeling very well...

down in the cake...

Scales...

Everywhere scales.

He's filled the house with his scam.

It runs all the way down from the attic into the hole.

That means...

he is not afraid anymore.

While I'm sleeping at night

with the help of...

of that bitch, daughter of mine,

he moves around freely in the house

leaving his scales everywhere.

It was only a routine case for me back then.

One I thought I´d forget soon.

Like so many other cases.

Later they all realized...

just to keep Laura out of trouble.

I knew that someone had plotted her death.

But who and why?

And if she was innocent, then why did she leave?

And all the other guys in there...

when I told them I had finally found her again...

and that I hadn´t been chasing a dream in vain.

But luck isn´t always enough.

You see, Singapore Sling!

You don't need to love a corpse.

I'm alive now.

I read your notebook and understood that you loved me before...

before you've ever met me.

The time you saw my portrait didn't think I was dead.

But it seems some other girl died in my place.

I left because I was tired.

I wanted to be alone to think things over.

Don't feel you're deserted.

I went to the lake house for three days.

Newspapers aren't delivered there and the radio was broken.

That's why I didn't hear about my death.

But now, we'll finally be together.

You have to help me, Singapore Sling

because that woman out there, won't let me smoke.

I mean she wants to turn you over to the police.

I do not want to lose you again.

I know...

the only thing you can see, were the colours.

I also know that if I free you...

you want me to untie you, don't you?

And you're thirsty.

You want water.

The only thing you have on your mind, just water.

You do not even think about me.

I'm gonna try to get out of here and find help.

I'll come back for you. Hang on.

Hang on for me.

Whenever you hear this song...

remember me, Singapore Sling.

What are you doing here?

- Where are you going? - I want to live.

I have to let my friends know that I'm alive.

- Give me the keys. - Where have you been?

I was in the country, at the lake house.

Give me the keys.

A woman was murdered in this house.

Everyone thought it was you.

I do not know anything. When did this happen?

Three years ago, on a Saturday night.

They also found two glasses.

Guess what was in them?

- Singapore Sling. - Exactly.

- Who was killed instead of me? - You ask too many questions.

Go inside.

Singapore Sling, you have to help me.

Did you hear what she said?

She'll turn us both over to the police if we don't talk by tomorrow.

And I didn't kill anyone.

Water?

That's all you have on your mind?

I have to let my friends know I'm still alive.

Did my daughter pass by? Or maybe Laura?

- Look at me. - What are you trying to do? Force a confession out of me?

Who are you covering up for?

No one. You're trying to protect someone.

Remember, we buried Laura together.

- Your father was there, too. - Leave my father out of this.

I didn't bury anyone.

Why are you doing this in front of him? You'll ruin everything.

You better tell the truth.

What difference does it make what I say?

You've made up your mind I am guilty. You know I did not kill anyone.

Then why did you tell me the radio at the lake house was broken?

Because...

Can you turn off those lights in my face?

Why are you doing this? You ruin everything.

I said, I'll make him talk.

Don't you realize you're involved in a murder?

Don't expect help from anyone.

That one is already dead.

But you promised...

- I'll make him talk by tomorrow night. - All right.

You have just over 24 hours, before you fail.

Singapore Sling! You have to help me.

She'll kill us both.

Some very important things happened late last night.

Some very important things happened late last night.

Some very important things happened late last night.

The police came looking for someone called...

Singapore Sling.

Of course, we said we didn´t know anything.

They believed us and left.

Ah, and something else. Our prisoner talked.

So let's see how that happened.

I see you feel better today.

Were you getting ready for a walk?

My God, you´re heavy!

- Oh, thanks God. - Are you all right?

I thought you had died.

The police just left.

They are looking all over for you and

sooner or later they will get you.

Come on! Try to get up.

Oh my God, he is so heavy,

The truth is, he´s not a child anymore.

Now let's do some exercises.

Some little exercises.

So we can see what shape you are in.

Look at me.

Listen. Listen carefully.

Do you understand? Oh, come on.

Look.

Let's try it to do it together now.

Come on!

Do it by yourself.

Come on, try it.

Oh, yes, that's fine.

Oh, yes, that's nice.

They are torturing someone down in the cells.

It seems to be a woman.

A woman, isn't it? Yes.

It's a woman.

They are torturing her.

Look! I have a little game for you.

It's a nice game.

I have two little birds.

Two pretty sparrows.

One flew away.

The other flew away.

One came back,..

And the other did too.

Did you like it?

You are thirsty. You are very thirsty.

Do you want water?

I want water.

Who killed Laura with water?

What are you doing here with water?

And now it's time to see who this woman is

being tortured in the next cell?

You know who it is. Of course, you know.

You see how she is.

And we haven't even started yet.

It's me, Singapore Sling.

Laura. Do you remember?

Do what this woman says. You can get out of here.

We will meet again at the lake house.

Water. Yes.

Water at the lake house.

Pull yourself together, Singapore Sling.

You remember her.

- Whip her! - Hit me.

That's the only way we can stop her.

Tell her what she wants to know.

Do what she says.

Hit me, Singapore Sling!

They tortured me for two days, but I said nothing.

I need you.

Let the others know I'm alive.

Hit me!

Don't leave, Singapore Sling!

Hit me!

Please hit me.

If you don't talk, I'll kill her right now.

I'll blow her belly open. Would you like that?

Do not listen to her!

Yes, that's much better.

You wouldn't like that, would you?

But to prove that I'm not bluffing,

I'm gonna use this, right now,

and make a little hole through her cheeks.

So she can never whistle for you again, Singapore Sling.

So that's how he finally talked. And I stopped torturing Laura.

Of course, he did not say much.

A few years ago a girl was murdered in Laura's apartment.

I told you, I'll make him talk by tonight.

And since she was wearing Laura's clothes,

everyone thought it was Laura.

He took on the case...

and fell in love with her as soon as he saw her picture.

After some time,

Laura reappeared and stayed with him for a while.

Then she fell in love with someone else and went away for good.

Meanwhile, he became an alcoholic and lost his job.

But he never stopped talking for Laura.

As the song says.

"You see Laura on a train when it's passing through."

"Those eyes are familiar they seem."

"She gave her very first kiss to you."

That was Laura, but she is only a dream.

So, forget her. Forget her, Singapore Sling!

Here. Eat some more.

Yeah, good boy.

He doesn't seem to be very hungry.

Some chicken?

A little bit of green vegetables.

He must get you vegetables every day.

Hm... nuggets.

More vegetables... good for you.

Mommy, he is going to puke.

"On a long path ran a little rabbit."

"this one caught him."

"And the poor little thing said, help me!"

You can hear her screams coming from the attic.

He is back again torturing her.

Now she is out in the garden playing with him.

The house is full of his scales.

She seems happy enough.

She wants to glom him from me and I want to do the same with Singapore Sling.

Maybe she's making plans for the future.

But others here are making their own plans.

And I had to make it seem real.

I don´t know why nor is it my job to ask.

My job is to get out of here and take Laura with me.

Which in my state, needs no special effort.

I spend the nights singing to myself...

hoping a crack will open in my cemented mind.

And think about whether someone in here should call the police.

There´s smoke and fog everywhere...

and a bunch of guys looking at me in total amusement.

Maybe the guys are right.

Maybe they were right then.

The truth is, there´s surely something wrong with me.

Come on, get up!

We are in trouble.

I was at the lake house and... I don't know.

I want Singapore Sling!

Wake up! We are in trouble.

Someone stole the knife, the big knife from the attic.

- Father's knife. - Father?

We are in trouble and I'm very upset.

Someone stole the knife. The big knife from the attic.

- Father's knife? - Exactly.

It's lost.

And you think he took it... Singapore Sling.

- Who else could have taken it? - I do not know. You?

- Me? What? - You could have taken it.

Me? What a joke! And why? Why not you?

- Where is he? - I don't know.

Be quiet.

For sometime now we've been hearing strange noises from the garden.

Let's check. And what do you think we saw?

Singapore Sling was there digging a pit in our garden.

"Why are you digging that pit?"

That's what we asked him. And what was his reply?

Nothing. He said nothing. He just looked at us and continue digging.

- He could be digging my grave. - Could also be mine.

Could even be his.

That's the most likely. He might think we are going to kill him.

That's what I think too.

If he is the one that stole father's knife

then he owns the grave.

Tomorrow, I'll talk to him.

- Better if I do. - All right. We both talk to him.

Look. The gun?

I always carry the gun.

- What will happen to her? - To who?

- Poor Laura. - Laura?

I've got to talk to you. A knife's missing from the house.

A big knife with a bone handle.

Mother says you took it.

I have to talk to you. Laura told me a knife is missing

she said you took it.

She's lying. She took it.

Don't worry. I'm on your side.

She will make us kill each other.

Don't worry. I have the gun.

That's why she told you to dig in the pit. So we'll both fit.

She is planning to leave you, like the first time.

Don't listen to her, Singapore Sling.

Here is what we do. Go and digging.

And when the right time comes we'll kill her.

Scales...

Look what I found this morning.

Scales...

And let me tell you something you don't know.

She is not Laura.

It's not true. Don't listen to her.

Somebody doesn't want me to talk to the police.

The line's being cut.

The phone is dead.

I know that. And the car's fucked up.

I did not know that. What are we waiting for?

Someone wants to isolate us in this house.

And kill us.

And we know very well who it is.

- It could be you. - Or perhaps you.

So, it's for tonight.

Yes, tonight.

Tonight someone will be murdered in this house.

Where did he go?

To dig the pit.

Before we kill him, we´ll torture him a bit.

Before we kill him, shall we torture him a bit?

While he's still alive

we open his belly and fill him with stones.

Stupid bitch!

Don't be afraid!

Mother's dying. Now.

A night by the fireplace.

We jut finished with mother and now I talk about her.

Father, in the old days

It was more difficult than I'd imagined.

Mother had made everything sound easy.

We ripped her belly open so clumsy that...

the house overflouded all kinds of indiscribable shit.

I can smoke now.

Of course, we've stuffed her belly with stones,

but it was impossible to sew her up.

So, we threw her in the pit.

We did not find the missing knife.

I mean father's big knife.

We didn't find it anywhere.

In the old days, before father died we did not have such problems.

Then he'd killed the servents

and mother and I only had to plant decorative

and aromatic flowers on the graves.

Pelargonium,

pansies and verbena.

Mommy and I killed for the first time three years ago.

She was a young secretary

and it happened one weekend father was away hunting.

They called her Laura.

Mommy and I often played the game of the young secretary.

Which always begins with Laura

setting foot in the house for the very first time.

I make my appierence dresses as a young secretary

and holding a small suitcase.

I walk along the dark corridor and enter the living room.

I'm anxious. My knees are trembling.

Will they employ me?

I'm afraid of something and maybe this is the perfect place to hide.

The lady recieves me sitting in the living room.

I moved forward and kneel before her.

When she asks my name I answer, Laura.

Laura, if you do not mind.

Now comes the moment to lift her skirts.

No, that is father's knife!

Oh! Don't hurt me!

This is a game we played it with mommy.

You helped me kill her. Not you!

Stay away!

...we'll be together...

Stay away!

Mother!

Singapore Sling, I was waiting for you.

Singapore Sling.

That's it for me, isn't it?

Let me hang onto you.

Your hand...

You see?

You see who right I was, when I said, you are in love with a corpse.

And now that dad became too...

I'm so scared, Singapore Sling!

Everything is slipping.

Inside me I'm falling...

Do not leave me now

Singapore Sling!

I knew she would die, so I didn´t lie to her,

Besides, she was smart enough to figure it out.

Only she wasn´t Laura.

This routine case wasn´t what I had reckoned after all.

I realized that my boss and the guys laughed at me...

because they could see far ahead.

But not as far as where I´m going now,

You slide inside yourself like falling with a parachute.

Then you hold your breath and go without resisting...

recalling all those who did the same before you.

All those who fell into the void underneath a white parachute.

Who are still chasing a dream with a female name.

I'll be in good company tonight.

THE END

Translated by Elly Petrides and Vicky Harris

Adaptation by Katerina Nikopoulou