Under the Silver Lake 2018 quotes, page 2

Stay quiet.

Sam

What?

It means; "stay quiet". It's a Hobo Code.

Sam

Really?

Hobos and railriders used it a lot in the 1930's. Yeah, [Gets pamphlet to Sam] look. They let people know whose cool. Who wasn't. Which houses offer food. If there was a doctor in town that might be sympathetic to travellers. That sort of thing.

Sam

Okay, so, why is it in Sarah's room? And who were they telling me to be quiet?

I don't know. Maybe you. There's been this rash of lost-and-found signs for dogs, humans, musical instruments, over the past two years. Something really big is going on. I know it.

Sam

And you think any of this could be connected to Sarah.

Of course, I mean, it could be a lot of things. Sex and drug trafficking. The cult of the whale. The dog killer. I mean, lately, I just assumed that, the Owl's Kiss, has something to do with everything.

Sam

I'm not so sure about that.

Do you have a dollar bill on you?

Sam

I might. [Produces one and the comic-man circles on it with a pen and holds a magnifying glass]

Here. Take a look. That's the sign of the Owl's Kiss. Right there. On every dollar bill in this country. With every transaction, we enter a pact to live by her law. Any household that eats, lives or trades under her eyes is subject to her jurisdiction. Our world is filled with codes, pacts, user agreements, subliminal messages. [Runs and gets vintage magazines] Here. Here. Words and symbols hidden in print. Advertising. Sexual innuendo. Connected with corporations. Ideologies you assume you adopted through freewill but actually are a result of hidden messages.

Sam

Okay, so what if there were messages that aren't subliminal? But are only meant for certain people?

Of course. That's as common as tits and hamburgers.

"Only I know the secrets of Silver Lake, in time I will reveal the truth behind the mysterious crimes, murders, and disappearances within this cursed community. I have the answers, I will reveal all, under the Silver Lake." Jesus.

Sam

Yeah. [Chuckles] Yeah, do you know who writes that?

Yeah, a local guy. Strange. But nice.

Sam

Does he come in here, ever?

Sure. I see him.

Sam

If I gave you like, five bucks, would you pass my number on to him?

I don't know.

Sam

Come on. I like his work and would like to meet him. It's... you're just passing on a number. It's not...

Okay, sure. But I don't need your five dollars.

Sam

Hey man, you really think you're gonna find a hidden message in a pop song?

I don't know.

Sam

I just remember being in my room when I was like, ten, and coming up with all these weird, little codes and secret languages.

It's an entire generation of men obsessed with video games, secret codes,

Sam

Yeah.

Space aliens.

Sam

Yeah.

****. Used to be, a hundred years ago, y'know, any moron could kinda wander into the woods and look behind a rock or some shit and discover some cool new thing, y'know? Not anymore. Where's the mystery that makes everything worthwhile? We crave mystery, 'cause there's none left.

Sam

What's with all these cameras?

I'm trying to protect myself. You know how many people have died from the owl's kiss?

Sam

No, I don't.

Well, I got the place all wired up. Nobody gets in here without me knowing, right? [Comic-man rummages in far corner] Ah, here it is! Here it is! I got it, I got it... [Produces a cereal box of "Spacestones"] I bought this from another collector five years ago. [Turns box around and hands it to Sam] I'm convinced that map is the key to everything I've been searching for my whole life.

Sam

Seriously?

Seriously.

Sam

Well, I think all you had to do was mark down where the characters are hiding, and then send in this contest card right here.

Nah, it's not about the Space Stone toys. It's the map. It's geographically to scale. From Silverlake to the Hollywood Hills. It is guiding me somewhere important, and one of these days, I will crack it.

Is that patchouli? [Hums in pleasure]

Sam

No. What is the bird saying?

I don't know. Honestly, I always wondered, but I have no idea.

Goddamn it! What- What is that! Look at this!

Are you crazy, you big idiot?!

Man

Look, you fools, you're in danger! Can't you see?! They're after you! They're after all of us! Our wives, our children, everyone! They're already here, already! You're next!

Sam

Oh, ****.

Hi, I'm here to inform you that you evacuate the premises immediately.

Sam

Oh... this is about my rent.

Yeah, you haven't paid. It's...

Criminally overdue, is what it is.

Sam

Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. Could I just please just get a couple more days?

No, I don't think so.

Sam

Please? I'm... I don't have anywhere else to go, and I'm... I'm really close to getting the money. I promise.

Listen, I don't like this either. Worst part of my job, okay?

Sam

Yeah, I understand.

I can give you one more day, but that is it.

Sam

Thank you.

If you can't pay, I will not be the nice girl you see right now.

No, no... I want him out now!

Hey, I am handling this. Don't be greedy.

What do you do?

Sam

Nothing. [Chuckles]

I mean, for work

Sam

Oh, God. All I'm ever hearing is what do I do for work or; "how's work"? Where's- "where do you work"? [Chuckles] Work- "work good"? "You working good"?

People have to work.

Sam

What about you? You- You're in movies. Why are- why are you, uh, y'know, doing this?

Yeah, I made one little indie movie and barely. Do you know how expensive it is to live here?

Sam

Yeah, I do. [Chuckles]

Do you want a blowjob from the supporting actress Academy Award nominee last year? [She starts taking off dress] Shooting Star. [Sam chuckles] Do you wanna go down on the girlfriend of the lead in your favorite sitcom? Call Shooting Star. Wanna **** an "IT" girl? It's not that hard. You are a patron of the arts, and I can pay my bills. [She gets on top of Sam] You gave 'em your credit card, right?

Sam

Uh-huh. [She starts kissing him] Can I ask you something?

Sure.

Sam

I was wondering last night at the cemetery, who was that pirate-looking guy in the limo?

No idea.

Sam

You don't know his name?

No, he's anonymous.

Sam

You don't know anything about him?

Mmm-hmm.

Sam

Oh. Okay.

You got any food? [Reaches for pizza and spots Sarah's polaroid, holding it up] I know this girl.

Sam

Really?

Mmm-hmm. [Throws pizza slice on coffee table and gets back on Sam]

Sam

How do you know her?

Saw her at this party a couple years ago.

Sam

Oh, yeah?

Mmm-hmm.

Sam

Did you talk to her?

No. that would have been impossible. [Chuckles]

Sam

Why?

She was in this glass cube in the middle of the living room. Was, like, some bad performance art, I guess.

Sam

Hmm.

And she was just sitting there, wearing a Dalmatian bathing suit, not moving, not making eye contact, and all these drunk old men tapping on the glass, and she wouldn't budge. [They chuckle]

Sam

Who took there?

Oh, some asshole producer, you know, he brought me and some girls as his dates.

Sam

Oh, what was his name?

I don't remember. He makes these big action films based on household cleaning products.

Sam

Yeah, I know who you're talking about.

Yeah. So we get there, we go through the gate, and they check our IDs, and [sighs] we're just free to roam around this luxury neighborhood, to go in any house we want, any room we want. There's food everywhere, music, dancers, craziness.

Sam

Hmm.

It's this big open party right out of Gatsby.

Sam

Wow. [Chuckles] So whose place was it?

No one ever really said. It was weird. But there was this one house, the biggest house on the block, this big stone mansion, and we weren't allowed to go near it. It's the only place off-limits.

Sam

Hmm.

And I heard some girls in the bathroom talking about how it belonged to some songwriter

Sam

Must have been some song.

Hmm. No shit.

Homeless King

I saw you rubbing the statue's head.

Sam

Uh-uh.

Homeless King

Here. [Throws a cloth to Sam] Put that over your eyes and I'll take you where you're looking to go.

Sam

Who are you?

Homeless King

I'm the Homeless King.

Sam

Really?

Homeless King

Yeah.

Final man

Hello, can I help you?

Sam

Yeah, my friend Sarah was killed. These three girls know something about it.

Final man

Why do you assume that?

Sam

I don't assume it. I saw her taking things from Sarah's apartment, and I found a... hidden code in their friend's music and I've been in the tunnels.

Final man

All right. Please sit down. Have some tea.

Sam

I found a- I found a shelter down there. It's some- some kind of bunker in case of a nuclear war.

It's not a shelter.

Sam

So what is it?

Final man

It's a tomb.

Was it ours?

Final man

They're tombs for kings... like me... and Jefferson Sevence.

Sam

Why would Jefferson Sevence need a tomb underneath the city? Cemetery not- not good enough for him?

Final man

It's not about burial. It's about ascension. Not dying, being transported to another world, somewhere better than this.

Sam

Are you talking about heaven?

Final man

No. I'm talking about exclusive, and real. Our souls are going to be pulled from our bodies and carried through this amniotic sac. We will be beyond this universe living like kings without limitation. The pharoahs did it. Great men throughout history have done the same.

Sam

Are you dying?

Final man

I'm about to be sealed in a tomb with my beautiful brides, and all of my worldly possessions, and we are going to have delicious meals, and wine, and television, and sex, enough to last six months.

Sam

And then you die?

Final man

No. We wait to be ascended. Only the richest of men can afford this ceremony.

Sam

Oh. Oh.

Final man

It's expensive to build a tunnel system and keep it hidden. But is costs much more to murder people without being harassed about it.

Sam

Did you kill Sarah?

Final man

No one will found our chamber for a thousand years. Future men will understand, we were the modern kings, rulers without statues or effigies.

Sam

She was here. Oh, ****. Is Sarah alive?

Final man

She may have ascended already. I don't know.

Sam

She's down there in one of those things, one of those tombs? With Jefferson Sevence?

Final man

Yes.

Sam

They found his body.

Final man

They found another man's bones mixed with most of Jefferson's teeth, some of his skin, and all of the organs he can live without. [Sam pounds ground in frustration and brides jump]

Mae

That was such an angry thing to do.

Final man

What are you upset about?

Sam

I just want to see Sarah.

Final man

Well, why don't we see if we can get her on the phone?

Sam

They have a phone?

Final man

Incoming calls only. We've had trouble in the past, people getting scared, trying to get out.

Sam

She's trapped down there? [Mae and Fannie place a coffee table with a briefcase that is a phone terminal]

Final man

We wouldn't want to lose out on eternal life just because we might have a normal physical aversion to being buried underneath the earth. We're only human.

Sam

Ah, ****.

Come inside.

Sam

You wrote the song; Turning Teeth for Jesus and the Brides of Dracula? And the codes in music? I found the tunnels and the bomb shelter.

Okay.

Sam

So, what does it all mean?

Come and sit down. Here.

Sam

Is that... Kurt Cobain's Fender Mustang guitar?

Oh. I don't know. Probably. I don't remember. I have so many things.

Sam

Can I pick it up?

Well... I don't always worry what the message is. I just pass it along. I slip it between the notes, hide it away, for people that know it's there.

Sam

You're saying you've done this before, codes?

I wrote the music your dad grew up to, half of what you sang along to as a kid, and I'm still doing it. Theses teenagers are dancing to my music. [Sings] I want it that way, tell me why..."

Sam

You're telling me there's hidden messages in old pop songs?

Movies, television shows, everything you know.

Sam

Why?

That's pop culture isn't it? Floats away like tissue paper. I blow my nose, I find a used kleenex, I recycle it, and there is your wedding song. Here it comes. [Sings] I wanna know what love is, and I want you to show me.

Sam

What are the tunnels for? Is there gonna be a war?

Oh hell, I don't know. I'm just trying to make a living. Earn a few dollars.

Sam

But you have everything.

No.

Sam

You know this girl?

Well, isn't she pretty? [Sings] Earth angel, earth angel...

Sam

She was killed.
[Sings] Won't you be mine?

Sam

Along with Jefferson Sevence, but I think you already knew that, huh?

No, I did not. I don't care what's fashionable or cool. It's all silly and it's all meaningless. I created so many of the things that you care about. The songs that give your life purpose and joy. When you were 15 and rebelling, you were rebelling to my music. [Plays Smells Like Teen Spirit] Uh-oh. There's one you know. And that song was not written on distorted guitar. No, I wrote it on piano somewhere between a blowjob and an omelette. There is no rebellion. There is only me earning a paycheck

Sam

I don't believe you.

Well, good, because the real message was not meant for you. So, it's better if you just smile and you dance and you enjoy the melody, because this ugly old man, me, I am the voice of your generation, your grandparents, your parents, and all the young people that follow you. [Starts playing I Love Rock 'n' Roll and sings] I love rock and roll, So drop another dime in the jukebox, baby. [Talks] Aw, look at you. [Chuckles] Everything that you hopes for, that you dreamed about, being a part of, is a fabrication. Your art, your writing, your culture is the shell of other men's ambitions, ambitions beyond what you will ever understand. [Laughs]

Sam

That's funny to you?

Well, it's a little bit funny, don't you think? [Laughs] because I wrote this. [Plays Ode to Joy] And I wrote this. [Plays Axel F and laughs] And I wrote this. [Plays La Bamba]

Sam

Stop it.

And I wrote this, too! [Plays Pinball Wizard and laughs]

Sam

Stop it! Who's paying you to write these songs?!

Sam

Who's paying you to write these songs?! [Songwriter produces a pistol] Oh shit! [The Songwriter opens fire on Sam]

Thank you everyone for coming. I'd like to dedicate this first song to the man who taught me everything I know. This song is for Jesus. [Sings] Those schoolgirl days, of telling tales and biting nails are gone, but in my mind, I know they will still live and on, but how do you thank someone...

Allen

Hi, how you doing? [Puts hand on Sam's back]

Sam

Work is good. Just floating along.

Allen

Yeah, I get it.

Sam

Can I get Jack and Coke?

Allen

Hey, did you find those girls you were looking for?

Sam

Um, no, not yet.

Allen

Mmm-hmm, I'll keep an eye out. Three hot girls in a rabbit.

Sam

Yeah. Hey, have you noticed anything like, um, strange happening in this circle of friends...

Allen

Well, that's...

Sam

...that's out of the ordinary?

Allen

That's kind of an everyday thing.

Sam

Right, yeah, but I just mean, I guess, mean, like, extra strange?

Allen

Last week, I hooked up with this chick.

Sam

Thank you.

Allen

She was **** up out of her mind but she said some weird stuff about Jesus and the Brides.

Sam

Like what?

Allen

That there's a message in the music.

Sam

A secret message?

Allen

Mmm-hmm.

Sam

So, what did it say?

Allen

I have no clue, dude.

Sam

Who's the girl?

Allen

Just one of the many.

Sam

Right.

Allen

Crazy makes for good sex. You remember that.

Time has come, for closing books, and long last looks must end, and as I leave, I know that I am leaving...

Sam

What?

Sarah

I saw you spying on me earlier.

Sam

No, I wasn't.

Sarah

At the pool. Were you masturbating?

Sam

No. [Sheepishly chuckles] No.

Sarah

Well, it's not strange. I masturbate.

Sam

Me, too, but...

Sarah

Doesn't everybody?

Sam

Yeah. Well, I was just looking.

Sarah

Okay, I believe you. You wanna get stoned?

Sam

Yeah. Sure, yeah.

Sam

I know it's not okay for me to say this but I- I **** hate the homeless. Everybody says we need to take of them, but I think they're **** bullies. Poltergeists.... All they do is float around the edges, on the peripheries and watch people eating delicious food, drinking beer and falling in love. They can't participate so they get jealous, and then they harrass us.

Homeless King

Some people don't realise this about themselves, but, uh, you don't have a good smell about you.

Allen

There's a message in the music..