Manhattan Reborn 1978

sunset.

new York.

Manhattan.

An old apartment building on Thompson Street near New York University.

The crew of the movie "Taxi Driver" set up a production office here in a very low-key manner.

Director Martin Scorsese, one of the people in charge of the office, conjured a bottle of champagne out of nowhere, held it up to the crew who had been busy for most of the day, and smiled.

"Hey~ guys, let's celebrate briefly~"

"Hahaha~ good!"

The dozen or so staff members who were "cheated" into the crew by Martin using various reasons and excuses all felt that they finally got a real "human word" from this "big liar". .

Sitting quietly in the corner, the second brother Lavis, who had been forced to come over by Martin to help in the past two days, glanced around and murmured in a low voice.

"A bottle of champagne... just bribed someone?"

"fxxx!"

. . .

Since Martin Scorsese signed a formal contract with Paramount, he has exploded with a work enthusiasm that even he himself often marvels at.

He reads the script "Taxi Driver" several times every day before going to bed~

Every time he carefully reads the script, all kinds of strange "inspirations" will pop up in Martin's mind, as well as many shots and pictures that cannot be expressed in words~

It seems that every line and every shot in the script allows him to automatically generate the shooting scene in his mind, and he can find many "good ideas" for using lenses to capture and shoot!

For example: in the dark and dense night outside the car, a fire hydrant suddenly burst open on the side of the road, causing Ravis, who was driving, to tiptoe unconsciously and slow down the car.

Among the neon lights on the street shop signs, the water jets sprayed from the fire hydrants were like artificial rainbows, spreading countless "purities" and short-term "peace" to Lavis who was driving slowly by. body.

Emm. .

When Martin Scorsese told Lavis about these excellent shooting "good ideas" full of artistic sense, such as "color contrast", "alternating movement and stillness", "conversion between color and black and white", etc. hour.

Lavis. .I don’t understand this at all~

Wasn't it just that one night when he was searching for passengers on the street, a fire hydrant on the street was suddenly blown up by a few children?

this. .To have a shitty artistic sense! ?

hehe~

Martin also suffered from toothache due to his stupid behavior. .

. . .

in the office.

It was said that everyone used only a few glasses to "enjoy" what Martin called "celebratory" champagne~

Lavis was sitting alone in the corner, scratching the back of his head with his hand. Suddenly he missed the "good old days" where he didn't have to think about anything every day and just ate with David.

The other side~

In fact, Martin in the crowd has always been paying attention to Lavis, who seems to be a bit out of touch.

The more he understands Lavis's story, the more he can understand what kind of shit Lavis has experienced~

Martin walked up to Lavis, found a big box for himself to sit on, and said with a smile.

"I have an acquaintance, and I want him... to play you~"

"Will you meet tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? Are you coming again?"

"No!"

"We agreed, it's only two days!"

"I won't come for one more day!"

Martin opened his mouth, paused for a few seconds, and smiled: "ok~"

"Let's go get something to eat first. How about I treat you to a drink at the Wildfire Bar tonight?"

Lavis stared at Martin for a while, and his intuition told him that this guy was holding back his water again. .

He stood up, patted his butt, waved his hands and said, "When you finish filming this film... I'll buy you a drink~"

"gone!"

"Oh, right!"

"Martin, it seems I haven't told you yet, right?"

"..say what?"

"You're such a fucking bastard!"

"..."

"Hahaha~"

. . .

Lavis, let’s go~

Martin stood at the door of the office, looked at the direction in which the car disappeared, and smiled silently.

Although, Martin can clearly feel that Lavis's mental state has become more depressed, irritable, and irritable in the past two days as the details of the script become more complete. .

But Martin thinks Lavis. .He is a person with an extremely strong heart!

Because not everyone can bravely recall and face themselves like Lavis. .The past is like shit~

If it were another ordinary person, and he and Lavis were to change places and do it all over again, what would happen to him?

Suffering from mental illness?

become. .Neurotic?

hehe~

He will definitely die!

Maybe it’s physical death~

Maybe it’s the collapse of the spiritual world ~

Anyway, there is no difference between the two of them ~

. . .

Martin, did not turn around in a hurry.

He reached into his pocket and took out a pile of change, counted it, and felt it. .It should be enough to pay for the drinks tonight~

hehe~

That's right!

He had no intention of letting Lavis go so easily. .

"Taxi Driver", it's Lavis!

Martin will use all his abilities and everything to make this film a success!

Perhaps, it can make more people pay more attention to the "Lavis" around them!

This is Martin. .The best way I can think of to thank "Lavis"~

----

As night falls, dazzling neon lights flash.

The Queen.

In front of old Malkin's house.

David got out of the car and smiled at the driver Mike Bai: "Let's go~ It's not your first time here, what are you afraid of!?"

"I'm not afraid~"

"I... I have an appointment~ You go ahead!"

"Eh!?~"

David stopped and looked at White Mike with a frown and confusion on his face: "Giovanni, Black Mike, are you three hiding something from me?"

"Cut~"

"There's a fart!"

"The two of them want to take care of their children and spend time with their girlfriends..."

"I... made an appointment with an old friend to talk business!"

"Who did you date?"

"Mengo the steel-toothed dog!"

David felt like he had heard this name somewhere, it sounded familiar~

"Haha~ don't think about it!"

"His teeth were replaced with steel teeth after I knocked them out~"

"Ah~ I remembered. He was in the Bronx, hanging out with Sinney?"

"Well... I won't follow you now~"

"What? Xinni retired. Did he switch to legitimate business?"

Mike Bai rolled his eyes, shook his head, took out a cigarette, and lit it for himself: "He was hit by a car, several ribs were broken, and his leg was broken~"

David choked, scratched his head with his hand, took out his wallet from his pocket, took out all the money, handed it to Mike Bai and said.

"Heywood in our apartment is too old and can't do many jobs~"

"If Mengo is willing to come and do general work in the apartment, I'm always welcome!"

Mike Bai’s right hand holding the cigarette was put to his mouth and stopped~

He looked at David's sincere eyes for a while, then lowered his head slightly, focused his eyes on the money handed over, and said in a low voice.

"His legs are disabled and he will never be able to walk again..."

"Hey~ I used to be a nobody~"

"I was worse than Mengo, man!"

"Do you dislike me?"

"Is he your friend?"

"Then he's my friend too!"

David gently put the money in Mike Bai's hand, looked directly into his eyes, and asked.

"Tell Mengo what we say and let him make his own choice, okay?"

"...I will~"

"Ok!"

"I'll ask Sena to pack some delicious food for me later and put it on the bar when I get back~"

"If you are hungry at night, remember to go find Old Red!"

"Ha~ OK!" Mike Bai flicked the cigarette butt in his hand, waved to David and nodded.

David smiled and put his wallet in his pocket: "I'll go in first~ Andres and the others will take me back!"

"..Um!"

. . .

Mike Bai stood there, holding on to the roof of the car with both hands, watching David walk into the door of old Malkin's house.

He turned his head and looked at the one-eyed Andres not far behind the car, who was also standing beside the car. He took a deep breath and said loudly: "Leave it to you!"

"Ok!"

----

Manhattan, East 19th Street.

p. which is fully booked. j．Inside Clark's Restaurant.

Mag Ludwig introduced his friend, Mayor Lynch Olson to Janet~

Lynch seemed to be exuding energy from his whole body tonight. .High-spirited momentum~

He threw an ambiguous and teasing look at Mag, and smiled at "Mrs. Patrick" whom Mag had just introduced.

"Excuse me for being rude, but can I call you Janet?"

"Haha~ Of course!"

Janet, who dressed herself up to look at least five years younger, glanced at Mager with roving eyes and smiled at Mayor Lynch.

"Ma Ge promised me today..."

"Only when he meets you will he tell me the little secret between you two!?"

"Hahaha~"

"Janet, you were deceived by him!"

"There are never any secrets between us!"

"Tell me, what do you want to know? I will tell you everything I know~"

"Haha~ Really, Mag!?"

Mag took the menu from the waiter, tilted his head and looked at Lynch, with a disdainful smile on his lips.

"You...are really not afraid of embarrassment!"

"What am I afraid of!?" Lin Qi replied without any guilt.

Janet held up the menu in her hand, and wisely did not continue to speak, quietly looking for her favorite dishes.

Mag held the menu in his hand, pointed at a few casually, returned the menu to the waiter, and said to Lynch.

"The results will be announced the day after tomorrow?"

"..right!"

"What about you? Are you sure?"

"Hmm... less than [-]%~"

Mag frowned, took the menu from Lynch's hand, and signaled to the waiter to wait a moment.

After the waiter left, he asked in a low voice.

"Too low! Aren't you going to do something else?"

Lynch glanced at Janet, who was still immersed in the menu, exhaled, and smiled easily.

"I've done everything I should do and everything I can do!"

"Maybe...God will help me~"

"If God helps you... you should be having a headache, how can you end the Cold War!"

"...Hahahaha~"

Lynch laughed out loud in agreement with his friend Mag's comments~

Like Mag, he has never been favored by God~

In this gubernatorial election, even if Lynch uses all the connections and power he can muster, he still only has a [-]% chance of being elected~

Seeing Lynch laughing, Ma Ge frowned more tightly. As if thinking of something, he leaned forward a little and asked in a low voice.

"The biggest uncertainty about your election, in New York?"

"Uh... yes!" Lin Qi nodded calmly.

"who is it!?"

"a lot of.."

"It's not one person, but...many small groups~"

"What do they want?"

"Hehe~"

Lin Qi raised his head with an exaggerated expression and said with a smile: "There are all kinds of strange conditions and requirements~"

"I'm not God!"

"fxxx!"

Magmoran~

In New York, where all parties are mixed, Lynch wants to use his promise to win votes. .

Just one mouth is still the mouth of a politician. .

Okay~

Mag turned to look at Janet, closed the menu in front of her, and whispered: "Can you... help?"

Janet looked back and forth between their faces, nodded slightly and said with a smile: "I can try!"

"But... I need some money!"

"How many!?"

"Of course... the more, the merrier!"

Mag didn't say anything, leaned back and gave up his "position" to Janet~

Lynch seemed to have seen something from their words and small actions. .hope? ?

He adjusted his sitting posture, leaned forward, and asked Janet softly: "Time is running out, money... there is not much left~"

"Even so, are you willing to help me?"

"Of course!"

"If you are willing to attend our wedding early and be the best man!"

"Me?...as the best man??"

"Hahahaha~"

"Hahaha~cough cough cough~"

Lynch pointed at Mag, who looked astonished, and laughed so hard that his face turned red and he almost choked to death on his own saliva. .

Mag also opened his mouth wide, looking at the triumphant Janet, and was speechless for a long time~

. . .

After a while.

The waiter served delicious dishes to the three of them.

They all stopped joking and got down to business!

"Janet, do you have a rough number? I can think of something~"

"We have to gather a lot of sisters to come to New York at the last minute, and the air tickets cost a lot of money~"

"In addition, their various living expenses and publicity expenses in New York, etc.~"

"Hmm...it should cost at least 8 dollars~"

"8? Is that enough?" Lin Qi put a small piece of fish into his mouth and asked with a frown.

Janet wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin, put away her smile, and explained.

"Lynch, we are different from the businessmen and politicians you know!"

"Our goals are the same!"

"We are fighting a just war that involves all women!"

"This is also a war that belongs to us, a group of unknown people!"

"It's just like the fight for voting rights 50 years ago~"

Janet paused for a moment, took a breath, and said in a slightly lower voice.

"Some people say that women are like... tea bags that are easy to brew~"

"If you don't soak them in boiling water, you will never know their strength!"

"Silence has cost us dearly time and time again!"

"When some people in Washington take away the rights of wives by using a simple word in the amendment, sex."

"We know that we must stand up bravely and resist!"

"And we know that we will eventually win the final victory!"

"We want everyone to know that if the United States wants to be called a great country by the people of the world, it must have the participation of women in order to continue to win!"

. . .

Lynch listened to Janet with twinkling eyes. . After "Declaration of Freedom and Equal Rights", he blinked, looked at Mag, and gave him a gentle kick.

Mag, of course, knew what Lynch was thinking, and put his hand on Janet's leg, smiling.

"The food is cold~"

"Let's go back and talk after we finish eating?"

"ok~!"

Janet put away her emotions in an instant. She smiled gently at Mayor Lynch, picked up the tableware gracefully, and enjoyed the delicious dinner~

Emm. .

Lynch felt his toes begin to scratch the ground. .

He finally understood why his old friend Mag Ludwig had a soft spot for this Mrs. "Patrick" ~

If Janet is given more opportunities and a bigger stage~

This woman is definitely not just a woman. .Nobody!

----

The Queen.

Old Malkin's house.

David, who wanted to help serve the food and arrange the table, was pushed directly onto the chair by Polly and coaxed: "Be good~"

"Stop making trouble, the more you help, the more trouble will become~!"

"Oh~"

David curled his lips and asked in a low voice to Manqi, the eldest sister opposite who was taking care of the children's meals.

"What happened to her today?"

"Hmph~ How do I know!"

"...Oh~"

David pursed his lips, looked at the smiling old Malkin who was sitting at the head of the dining table, holding a newspaper in his hand, and asked.

"Is it me...did I miss something?"

"Haha~It's okay!"

"It's just...that bastard little Malkin called back and made me pregnant and owed some gambling debts."

"what?"

"you.."

David almost couldn't hold back and said what he said next: As a father, you can still laugh when you hear such a thing! ?

Manqi, who was sitting opposite him, gritted her teeth and put down the spoon in her hand, staring directly at David. Just as she was about to say something, Polly held her shoulder down when she came back.

Polly put down the dishes in her hand, glanced at David, glanced at her mother Sena, who was busy with her hands, but Hun'er had already flown to nowhere, and smiled.

"Let's eat first~"

"..OK!"

. . .

This dinner with a weird atmosphere ended hastily due to Sena's constant distraction and Manqi's suppressed anger~

after dinner.

Polly comforted her sister Manqi and asked her to go out for a walk with her mother Sena first to relax~

Then he came to the living room, crossed his arms and looked at his father Malkin and asked.

"Ludy, no news yet?"

"It should be soon~ right?"

"..."

Polly turned to look at David and asked, "Did you find him?"

"I...uh...can?"

David's eyes squinted at old Malkin, his mouth was crooked, and he didn't give any accurate words~

Old Malkin expressed that he was also very helpless and said: "Hey ~ That bastard, every time something happens, he will not stay in New York anymore..."

"He is not doing his job properly and is a bad gambler...but he is not a retard or a fool!"

"It's normal for Ludy to not be able to find him~"

"Forget it, let's not talk about him anymore."

"David, did you just say you were leaving tomorrow?"

"Hmm~ Probably the flight is tomorrow night."

"What about the company? Have everything been arranged?"

David shrugged and said with a smile: "The wish I have always wanted to be a shopkeeper can almost come true~"

"Hahahaha~"

Old Malkin smiled happily~

From his demeanor, David could not tell that he was worried about his only son Malkin. .

Polly, feeling angry and helpless, sat next to David, holding his arm and asked.

"How many days are you going this time? Are your luggage ready? I still need..."

"Ah~ don't worry about these!"

David scratched Polly's nose with his finger, turned to old Malkin and smiled.

"Actually, I came here this time because I have always had a question in my mind that I wanted to ask you..."

"Oh? You said~"

"Although...I know your favorite has always been Sophia Loren~"

“But I’m going to London this time!”

"You...can you like a female star instead?"

"For example: Audrey Hepburn? Or Elizabeth Taylor?"

"They are also very beautiful and charming~"

"If there is a chance, I will definitely help you get their signed photos, or...signed newspapers or postcards! How about that?"

"..."

"That's the question?"

"Yes~"

David raised his neck and answered confidently~

Polly was so angry that she rolled her eyes wildly and gritted her teeth~

Old Malkin pointed at David dumbfounded, and when he was about to speak, his mouth was filled with tears: "You ****#$%..."

"Hahahaha~"