All language subtitles for Chimerica - 01x02 - Gray Areas

Don't shoot.

It's two shots, we'll splice them
together.

We're done, son. You've made all
of us look dirty,

right at the moment we need more
than ever to be immaculate.

Zhang Lin.
Oh, man. I missed you.

You the famous photograph?
No, I took one pretty famous photo.

Do you know what happened to him?
No, I wish.

In news, you don't have anything
except your credibility

and you don't have that anymore.

You know this isn't just about
the Tank Man.

Zhang Lin, he lost his wife.
She was shot in the street

and nobody remembered.

Look, I'm sorry you lost your job,
but don't take it out on me.

If I get a photo of the Tank Man
alive and well...

This is extracurricular, OK?

Tank Man, Tank Man. What did he do?
He stood in the road.

Do you have his name?
Wang Pengfei.

He painted a perfect copy of
van Gogh's Sunflowers.

REPORTER ON TV: As the peaceful
protest

in Tiananmen Square continues,

the hunger strikers are hoping
for nothing less

than a democratic revolution.

TRANSLATION

Excuse me, do you speak English?

Er, I do, but my wife doesn't.

Are you hunger striking?

TRANSLATION

That was great. That was really...

Can we check that for sound?
Liuli!

Liuli!

TRANSLATION

HE GROANS

HE COUGHS

HE GASPS

We've got the immigration searches
back.

Nothing for a Wang Pengfei.
Right age, any time, '89 to '95.

If he came into the country,
he didn't do it legally.

Well, I talked to the Beijing Art
School,

guess when they have him on file
till. December, '89.

That's right. Then he just
disappears.

Hey, by the way, what happened with
Margaret Thatcher?

Oh, nothing. I just thought it was
a... Vile mistake?

Yeah.

I hope you used a condom!

You know you can't photoshop one in
later.

That's going to get old real quick.

I don't think so!

Here.

Here we go.
SHE BUZZES INTERCOM

I don't want to take up too much of
your time. We're reporters

and we're trying to track down a man
called Wang Pengfei.

Probably came over from China
around 1989.

Sorry, that's before my time.

You should ask around, someone might
know him.

Do you speak Mandarin?
No. Cantonese? Nah-uh.

Oh, well. Good luck.

I know a Wang Chung.

Wang Kao.

SHE SPEAKS CHINESE

They came in... Oh, I don't know...

2006.

SHE SPEAKS CHINESE

Do you know who this man is?

SHE LAUGHS

Hey, excuse me. Do you speak
English? Yes.

Can I show you a picture? Do you
know who that is? Tank Man?

TRANSLATION

Hey. Zhang Lin, how you doing?

Hey, my brother said you haven't
called Benny yet.

You remember? My nephew, he moved
to New York.

Oh, shit.

I'm so sorry, man. I'll do it today.
I've been kind of busy.

We're looking for him.
Who?

Wang Pengfei.

What are you going to do when you
find him, Lee?

Put him on the cover of Time
magazine? Person of the Year.

30 years ago, you and Liuli sat
in that square

with 1,000 other people and it's
been forgotten.

It's completely erased from
the history books.

FRIDGE RATTLES

You don't want people to remember
it?

You don't want people to remember
her?

Just call Benny.

COUGHING FROM OUTSIDE

HE LAUGHS

So, Benny. You're at Harvard?

I graduated last summer. I work for
the Koch Brothers now.

You heard of them?
Uh-huh.

Yeah, I know they're like the devil,
but they helped me get a Green Card.

It's just data analysis.

So, how do you know Zhang Lin?

I spent some time in Beijing.

After Tiananmen I was trying to
track down the Tank Man.

Oh, right. The dude with the...with
the bags, right?

Yeah, the dude with the bags.
Yeah, that was crazy.

But you know there was, like, a
whole protest before that, right?

Yeah. Yeah, I was there. I saw
the hunger strike, all of it.

What? They weren't hunger striking.
There were people fainting.

I have pictures.
Sure you do. That was the point.

Kids fainting, it's a better
story.

But people were coming home, having
dinner, coming back,

sneaking in food. Come on, you think
Nixon invented fake news?

We're the fucking masters of that
shit, man.

Let me get this.
No, no.

You enjoy your greenbacks while
you can, dude.

All going to be Yuan soon.

We're coming for you, bitches!
HE MAKES GUNSHOT SOUND

HE LAUGHS

It's a joke. Satire.

I'm in this improv group...
Actually, can I ask you a favour?

It's about Tiananmen.
Sure.

SHE STRUGGLES FOR BREATH

TRANSLATION

SHE COUGHS WHEEZILY

SHE STRUGGLES FOR BREATH

PHONE BEEPS

My phone's being weird.

I think someone's turning on
my microphone.

You think you're that interesting,
do you?

SHE LAUGHS

They won't bother you if you don't
do anything wrong.

PHONE BEEPS

TRANSLATION

I really appreciate this.
No worries, man.

Is it always this...empty in here?

Yeah.

We're doing some cost-cutting.

Right. Hannah, hey. This is my
friend Benny. Benny, this is Hannah.

She's going to show you how
the archive works. Hi. Hi.

Let's get this keyboard setup here,

with the Chinese characters
on it.

MEN TALK AS THEY EXIT MEETING

Ad revenues are down 8%.

Steve told me he heard their meeting
with Murdoch.

OK. So, the name is Wang Pengfei.

But we're also looking for
references to the Unknown Hero,

Tank Man, June 4th, maybe.
Right.

We've already done a search through
the Western media,

but we need to do the same for
the Chinese press

and my Mandarin is kind of basic,
so...

Do you mind? I'll pay you.

No, man. Happy to help.

OK, let's get you logged in.

Thanks.

Shit. Lee, come see this.

So that says, "In memory of
the mothers who lost on 6/4."

6/4 is June 4th.
That was Tiananmen. So?

So, that's insane. This is
the China Weekly Herald.

There's no way that that should have
gotten through the sensors.

Wait, this is better.

Hang on a sec. Mel!

What does it say?

"A message to Wang Pengfei,
the unknown hero of the Square."

"We remember."

Frank's going to want more
than that.

My dad has friends at that
newspaper.

We've got to find out who placed
that ad.

TRUMP ON TV: We will build a great
wall along the southern border...

TRANSLATION

PHONE RINGS

Hey, girl. Did you see it?

Did you love it? I want to get it.

TRANSLATION

TRUMP ON TV: Anyone who has entered
the United States illegally

is subject to deportation.

That is what it means to have walls
and to have a country.

CAR BLARES HORN

CAR BLARES HORN

Fucking arsehole! Look where you're
going!

Dude, are you OK?
CAR HORN BEEPS

You want me to call the cops on
that guy? No. No, no.

No police. No police.

So, what have you got?
In June of last year, a woman makes

a long-distance call to China from
Manhattan. Places two personal ads

in the China Weekly Herald.
"Mothers who lost on 6/4."

The girl on the desk takes the copy,
the woman pays by credit card.

A middle-aged Chinese guy yells,
"Go to print."

Wait. She didn't censor it?

No, the girl wasn't even born when
Tiananmen happened.

It's been completely erased from
the history books.

So when some lady calls with a bunch
of messages

about one of the worst atrocities
in her country's history,

the girl doesn't think anything
but how long until lunch?

Didn't the party pick it up?
Sure.

The editor gets fired, the girl
gets fired,

can't get a reference, doesn't even
know what she's done wrong.

So, when a friend of a friend says
I can get you to New York...

Well, great. But she has no
qualifications, no work permit,

ends up in the garment district

sleeping in the dressing room
of a fucking strip club.

So, what are you waiting for?

Lee. You can't keep coming back
to the office.

If Lou sees you...
She won't see me.

I know she won't, because you won't
be there.

Are we copacetic?

MUSIC: Work
by Rihanna

# You see me I be work, work
work, work, work

# You see me do me dirt, dirt
dirt, dirt, dirt

# There's something 'bout that work
work, work, work, work

# When you a gon' learn
learn, learn, learn, learn

# Me na care if me tired
tired, tired, tired, tired

# Join me I deserved it

# No time to have you lurking

# If I got right then
you might like it

# You know I dealt with... #

I only have like five minutes, they
don't like guests back here.

We only want a minute of your time.

You work for a newspaper?

Yeah.
So I can get a job?

Because I used to work for a Chinese
newspaper, you know?

Yeah, we're sorry to hear about
what happened there.

Mary?

Jessie? Two minutes.

Listen, Mary. We know this is kind
of a long shot,

but you don't happen to remember
the name of the woman

who placed the advertisement,
do you?

That's the woman who ruined my life.
Yeah, I remember.

Feng Meihui. I have my notebooks,
though. We can check.

Feng Meihui?
Do you think that's her real name?

Unless she used a fake credit card.

You look for her, yeah? You find
her, tell her thanks for nothing.

Mary Chang says fuck you.

This is a one time thing, OK?

OK. So, we have three Feng Meihuis
on record in Manhattan.

One, she died last year.

Second's in Penn state.
Nice lady...

attacked a real estate agent
with a fire iron.

Last one lives in Chinatown
on Mott Street.

Clean record, except for a speeding
ticket up in Maine, 2002.

It's a fish stall. Feng's Seafood
Market.

But listen, if I get a report of a
Chinese businesswoman being harassed

by a prick with a camera, I will
find you and throw away the key.

Remind me why we broke up!

Because you were cheating on me
with Chechnya.

No photo!
Sorry.

You got the money?
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Here you go.

So, we wanted to speak with you
about two ads that you placed

with the China Weekly Herald,
last year.

The first one, "Mothers of 6/4."

I'm sorry to ask this, but did you
lose someone? In Tiananmen?

Twins.

Very small.

Babies.

The apartment, bullet come through
the window

into the kitchen, into the crib.

When I have twins, I think I am so
lucky, right?

I beat the one-child policy.

Yeah, they get you in the end.

The second ad, "The unknown hero."

I don't know nothing about that.

I do it for someone else, he don't
have a credit card.

Could you tell us his name?

Oh.

Er... Hey, maybe, erm...

Could this help?

He call himself Jimmy Wang.
And don't hassle him, OK?

Is it possible that his Chinese name
might be Wang Pengfei?

I don't know.

Do you know who that person is?

Yeah. He's famous.

Did you bring him to New York?

No. OK, but the ad that you placed

for Jimmy Wang, was that a favour?

Like guanxi.

Not guanxi. Just money.

So, how do you know him?

I help him come into the country.
And when was this?

October, 1989.

Where is he now? He worked
restaurant, then some flower shop.

Which flower shop?

Glorious City, Flushing.

Thank you, thank you.

Here...

..pollock. Similar to cod.

Xie xie.

TRANSLATION

SHE COUGHS

SHE COUGHS AND WHEEZES

SHE GROANS

SHE LAUGHS

SHE WHEEZES

SHOP BELL DINGS

Hi, there.
Hi.

Hi.

Oh, what a beautiful shop.

What are those? Are they dahlias?

Chrysanthemums.
Oh, my mum loved those.

I never can remember the name.

I'm Mel Kincaid, I'm a reporter,
and this is Lee Berger.

I don't know if you can help us out.
We're looking for someone

called Jimmy Wang or Wang Pengfei.

Sorry.
No one by that name working here?

Maybe worked here sometime
in the past?

No. I can't help you.

They're apartments upstairs, right?
I saw the AC units outside.

No, he doesn't live there.

We're not cops.
He knows that, Lee.

OK, well thank you so much
for your time.

I'm just going to leave my card
here, OK?

And if you think of anything, you
can just call that number.

Can I just show you something here?
I promise, we're not cops.

Have you ever seen this photo
before? Do you know who that man is?

TRANSLATION

Erm...

I don't know this man.

Excuse me. OK, well thanks so much
for your time.

Lee, come on.

You want to buy something?

Oh, yeah, yeah. OK.

Erm, sure. I'll take some of those
sunflowers, thank you.

PHONE BEEPS

PHONE BUZZES

Hey, Zhang Lin.
What's wrong with you?

You don't put those words in
an email to me.

Wait, wait. What are you talking
about?

Do you think an email like that from
an American journalist

gets past the censors?

Oh, shit. I'm such a fucking moron.

I'm sorry. Are you OK?

No.

I kissed Joy.
What, who?

What, who, why? Do you ever stop
being a journalist for one minute?

My next door neighbour's daughter.

It was awful, I have to move.

Why, what did she say?

Nothing. I don't know, I ran away.

It's OK. It's been a while, right?

I'm sure it wasn't that bad, just...

..give her call and apologise.

Yeah. OK. Bye.

Hey, Zhang Lin. I'm sorry.

Did you get a chance to look at that
picture that I just sent?

Yeah.

I don't know that guy.

TRANSLATION

The Glorious City Flower Shop,
owned since '92

by a Mr Lum, lives in Shanghai.

One employee, same the past 20 years
from the looks of things.

I've got the Social Security number,
he's definitely undocumented.

How do you know?

I don't, but he doesn't look like a
100-year-old black woman to me.

Call it female intuition.

SHE LAUGHS

So, he's been paying taxes on his
stolen Social Security number

since 1989? That doesn't make any
sense.

It's not unusual. Undocumented
immigrants pay millions in taxes.

They think if they ever get caught
it'll look good for them.

I did a whole series on this, do you
actually ever read any of my work?

This man in Shanghai,
I'm calling him.

SHE CLEARS HER THROAT

Hi, this is Mel Kincaid, I'm a
reporter. Do you speak English, sir?

Oh, great. I have some questions
about your employee Wang Pengfei.

Or Jimmy Wang, he runs your store.

I can't say anything about that,
please do not contact me again.

Don't get excited, it could be
he just doesn't want to have

immigration on his ass.
Your refrigerator is a cry for help.

Oh, I know. It's broken.
It's the coils, or something.

We'll go back to the flower shop
tomorrow and try again.

Do you know who Maria Meng is?

Yeah.

Do you know, she's not Maria Meng
anymore? She married a dentist.

She is Senator Dubecki.

You know her?
Why?

Well, she's done a ton of advocacy
work for the Chinese community,

maybe she could help us out?

SHE CLEARS HER THROAT

Our votes don't go straight to
the candidates, you see.

So on election day, we elect
the electors

who then elect the president.
You got it?

And so that's how Electoral Colleges
work. Thank you, Senator.

You're welcome. This has been my
favourite interview ever.

You guys better watch out, huh!

THEY LAUGH

CAMERAS FLASH

Thank you, Tyler. That was great.

Thank you so much. We'll see you
next time.

Excuse me.
Maria?

Mel! Good to see you.

So, that is a great looking pant
suit, Senator!

You been raiding Hillary's closet
again?

I know, I know. It's awful.

It's just Mondays I let my daughter
pick my outfits.

She's nine, she's got terrible
taste!

Where are my manners? This is my
legislative assistant, Dave.

David. David Barker.
David.

We just want to say good luck.

Luck? Honey, it'll be over by Ohio!

Excuse me. Oh, wait just one second,
before you...

We're working on a story and we're
trying to track down a source.

He's Chinese and we think he might
be undocumented.

Erm, you do realise we're pretty
busy here

trying to get a woman into
the White House, right?

He works at the Glorious City Flower
Store, his name is Wang Pengfei

or Jimmy Wang. Do you know him?

Because we all know each other,
right?

You'll have to excuse me, I need
the bathroom.

These pants are cutting me in
half. Nice seeing you guys.

Vote, vote, vote.

TRANSLATION

You know, I slept in this square
for a month when I was 22,

right over there.
You were on the street?

No. God, no. Vietnam.

There were about 500 of us here.
The stink, that's what I remember.

I wore the same pair of jeans
for a straight month.

You protested?
HE LAUGHS

You know, that is not the big
surprise. The big surprise is,

I used to wear jeans!

Sorry. School carpool. Carnage.
Don't ask.

So, what's going on?

I need you to drop the story.

What?

There's some stuff going on
upstairs, it's not a good time.

Is it Murdoch? No, no, no.
The parent company's in trouble,

they're seeking investment capital
and they're seeking it

from the only place in the world
there is any right now.

China?
They're not saying kill it,

they're just saying cool it till
the ink is dry.

Maybe a year.
A year?!

No, no. You can't do that. We're
onto something here.

And this is censorship.

I don't think you can sum up what
this is in just one word.

So you seriously want to work
for a newspaper

with less transparency than
the People's Daily?

You're a guardian of the free
fucking press!

You think this is vanity, publishing
what I do?

This newspaper's some sort of
catalogue of my favourite things?

Do I look like fucking Oprah?

Don't you dare stand there
and suffer at me.

You think I enjoy using the word
multiplatform?

That I like employing the best
writers in the country,

then sticking a comment section
under their articles

because God forbid an opinion should
go unvoiced?

Arseholes Anonymous.

Validating each other in packs
under my banner.

That's not democracy, that's a
national circle jerk for imbeciles.

It's done.

I'm sorry.

Go on, you can hit me, if it makes
you feel better.

Right there.

You fucking liberals.

Too much spilled coffee and not
enough split lips.

You voted for Bill Clinton!

Prove it!

I say we go to a different paper.
And breach my contract?

I have a kid and a mortgage, Lee.
Do you think you'll have trouble

getting hired after a story
like this?

That guy in the flower shop, it's
either him or he knows something.

Sure, but maybe Wang Pengfei
doesn't want to be found.

Did you ever think about that?

The guy's illegal, he's been living
in secret for 30 years.

Do you want to be the person who
shows his picture to the Feds?

The IRS, the Party?

So we help him get asylum, he's a
political refugee.

You know, this is censorship,
what you're endorsing.

Hey, I'm not endorsing anything.
And for what?

To keep your union contract?

Go on churning out your right on
columns

while the right wing shits all
over you?

The right has always been hostile
to the press.

Oh, well, sure, but now they
fucking loathe us.

And of course they do because
Hillary's out there

calling half the country a basket
of deplorables

and we line up to high-five her
like there's no grey areas here.

You know what, Lee?
You're a grey fucking area.

I need a drink.

DOOR SLAMS

PHONE RINGS

VOICEMAIL: You've reached
Tessa Kendrick.

Please leave a message and I'll get
back to you.

Hi, this is... This is Lee.

Erm, can you give me a call back
when you get this?

I just wanted to...

I'd like to apologise.

OK.

Bye.

Joy?

Joy?

Joy?

I'm really sorry how I acted
at dinner.

Oh, no, no.
No, no, no. I-I-I was awful.

Do you want a beer? They're not
cold.

Nah!

Oh, sorry. I'm dripping on your
floor. Oh, dear.

Here, let me deal with that.

Do you do a lot of that then?
Protesting?

Oh, no. Not any more.

Last time I almost got arrested.

So I was thinking about your offer

and I had a look through my China
archive.

You wanted to licence something,
right? For your...

For the credit card?
Oh, you changed your mind!

SHE LAUGHS

I thought I was like Eva Braun
for even asking you.

Well, yeah. But I've been thinking
maybe I was a little fast to...

you know, because it's a credit
card,

it's not Agent Orange or anything
and also...

You're broke?
And also I'm broke, yeah.

THEY LAUGH

Actually, we had to move on.
I'm sorry.

Oh. Oh, right.

Of course, obviously.

HE SIGHS

Was it a lot of money?
No, don't tell me!

SHE CHUCKLES

Are you sure you don't want that
beer?

All right.

Cheers.

Oh, did you find him yet?

My editor killed the story.

So?

Aren't you fired already?

Yeah.

Hey, do you have any plans today?

Oh. No, no, no.

Where did he go?

Oh, shit! Let's go round the back.

Come with me.

HE FORCES DOOR
Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

Go, go, go, go.

Lee, I don't like this.

OK, on a scale of one to ten,
how illegal is this? Erm...

9.5.

Come here, come here. Look over
this stuff

and take pictures of anything that
looks interesting.

I'm going to go upstairs, I'll be
right back. Wait, wait, wait.

I'll be right back.

Lee!

Lee, come on.

That's him, it's the Tank Man.

It's him!

THEY LAUGH

You OK?

SHE LAUGHS

MOBILE PHONE BUZZES

Frank.
Did you send me a fish?

Yeah, it's pollock. Similar to cod.

Is this about the story?
There's shit all over my desk.

You remember who gave me this desk,
Lee?

Henry Kissinger.
Henry fucking Kissinger!

THEY LAUGH

Hello?

Hello, Lee.

I think you and I have been having
the same dream.

Sorry, who is this?
My name is Tom Wenlei,

I'm a very important guy.

My friends tell me you are looking
for the Tank Man.

I think I can help you, but I need
to keep myself safe.

How do we do this? Have the Tank Guy
call me right back?

No, Lee. I will call you.

TRANSLATION

Joy?

TRANSLATION

Joy?

Joy?

Joy?

SHE COUGHS AND STRUGGLES FOR BREATH

SHE WHEEZES

SHE STRUGGLES FOR BREATH

SHE COUGHS

ECHOES OF EXPLOSIONS AND SCREAMS

ECHOES OF GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING

Subtitles by Red Bee Media