Original subtitles

SONG: I sing the song of Electra.

A tale of terrible crimes.

Don't blame them on me.

Don't blame the director.

It happened in ancient times.

Electra came from a fine family.

Her life was going to turn out great.

Except she didn't count on the customs of society,

or the twisting strings of fate.

Oh, Electra.

Her burning cheeks are wet.

Oh, Electra.

Your torment we will never forget.

They sent this story not to upset you, or to make you sad.

They sent it to instruct you the difficulties

of telling good from bad.

And while catastrophes will mend,

it helps to hear it from a friend.

So let the tragedy be shown, and follow her fate to the end.

Oh, Electra.

Her burning cheeks are wet.

Oh, Electra.

Your torment we will never forget.

[SPLASH]

CLYTEMNESTRA: If you want to interview Electra,

as soon as she gets back from her vacation we'll call you.

POLICE OFFICER: That's not necessary.

We have everything we need.

Again, my condolences, and thank you for your cooperation.

CLYTEMNESTRA: It's nothing.

This is for your own good.

They take me away, and you'll end up in an orphanage.

They don't treat you so sweet in an orphanage.

You get one meal, and the only toys you get

is the broken garbage some other kids threw away.

But if you are a good girl, you're

going to have everything.

You're going to be a princess.

You're going to have money, and jewels, and clothes,

and men are going to lick your feet.

So you sit there, young lady, and you think about that.

And you think long and hard, and then you decide if you

really want to tell anybody.

Somebody will do something.

Orestes!

He was a general, a real soldier.

Whenever there was fighting, he always

rushed to the battlefield alongside his men.

Did he die in the war?

No, he wasn't lucky enough to die in the war.

His death was much worse.

PYLADES (VOICEOVER): Orestes had sworn

never to cut his hair until he had seen his father's grave.

We found it that miserable morning.

ORESTES: Excuse me, have you ever seen this woman before?

Excuse me, ma'am, have you ever... Excuse me,

have you ever seen this woman before?

Regular price.

Excuse me, can you tell me if you've ever seen her?

Sir, can you tell me where I might find... Can you tell me

where I might find this girl?

Orestes, there is a possibility she doesn't live here anymore.

And if she does, our chances of finding her

are like finding one leaf in a forest.

Excuse me, have you ever seen this woman before?

There people don't have time for you.

This is the age of cybernetics, microchips, technology.

They're all just robots now.

Get out of my way, you fool.

You see that?

You brought me to a land of savages!

When my father was alive, and real men like him ran things,

the streets were clean.

People lived in harmony and respect.

And now, chaos rules.

Whoever rules this place should be replaced.

This place is dismal.

Orestes, please, let's go back to my village.

It's peaceful, and friendly, and everybody likes each other.

Here we don't fit.

Pylades, this place is my destiny.

And destiny, it's like this wall. [BANGING]

You can't fight destiny.

What's to be is to be, and that's it.

Don't touch me, don't touch me.

Come on, come on.

[SCREAMING]

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

What's that?

For protection.

What do you have to protect?

This.

[LAUGHTER]

Hey, daddy.

No time, not today.

Come on.

Hey!

Get off of me!

Stupid motherfucker cocksucker!

Eat shit and die, and come back out and crack your face,

you ugly little rat bastard!

Poor girl.

Poor Electra!

I mean, it's not even noon, and she's

already hooking and stoned.

How's my babies?

Get out of here, Farmer.

Farmer, have you seen Electra today?

I mean, it's not even 10:30, and she's already high as the sky

and hustling the johns.

God, she is fucking up again.

Look, you've got to do something.

Can't you control her?

She's difficult.

She's giving the whole neighborhood a bad reputation.

I mean, nobody's gonna want to come

around here to be hassled by some disgusting little junkie

ass.

Say something before she ruins our neighborhood.

She's really out of it.

She's always stoned.

What's her problem?

Who cares what her problem is?

Just send her away.

Electra's had a hard life.

Who didn't?

Hard hard.

And I was born with my mom in jail,

so don't tell me about hard.

NIKI: My worthless father ran off

while my mother worked two jobs on her knees,

so don't tell me about hard.

My middle name is hard.

Yeah, and she couldn't have been any poorer than us,

that's for sure.

She wasn't poor, she was rich, very rich.

Mother was a beauty queen.

Father was famous too, a general.

One of the most important leaders in the country.

Oh, well, poor, rich Electra.

Yeah, why don't you tell her to go back

to her famous and rich daddy instead

of dancing in the streets.

She doesn't like to talk about it much,

but it was on the news.

He was murdered when she was 12 years old,

but they never found the killer.

[SHOUTING]

[LAUGHTER]

Well, that's too bad, but it's not just the upper class

that have domestic tragedies.

Well, I don't know.

It seems to me that when you're born poor,

it's like a great weight on your shoulders.

It weighs you down, but it makes you strong.

But when you're born rich, and suddenly become poor,

it's like falling from a great height.

You get smashed.

I'd like to smash her, and you, too.

Yeah, you just like her better 'cause she

brings in more money than us.

ASPASIA: Yeah, and she's willing to do

more degrading things than us.

That's unfair.

I never ask anybody to do anything.

Yeah, but there's ways of asking without really asking.

[BELLS]

[BELLS]

[LAUGHTER]

See, there are ways of asking without really asking.

I hate cruelty.

I hate myself when I'm cruel more than anything

else on this planet.

Whatever her problems, Electra's our comrade,

and we should help her.

Voice of reason.

I think that if we look into her past,

we might find the secret to her actions,

and maybe we can even help straighten her out.

Yeah, but since when did you get

your psychologist's license?

Niki, you don't need a license to help people.

Cori, you're being kind again.

You know that when a woman starts to be kind,

it gets her into all sorts of trouble.

I know, but it's our inner nature and we can't resist.

OK, well let's go find out mad Electra's sad story

from our own sweet lips.

CORI: We know your reputation.

CUSTOMER: My reputation for leaving

big tips when I'm satisfied.

CORI: No, your reputation for leaving other things.

We aren't gonna do what you want,

so you might as well leave.

CUSTOMER: I'm paying.

I'm sure my money can buy me some consolation somewhere.

CORI: Well, I guess some things even money isn't worth.

Where are you going, Honey?

CORI: Electra, go back to sleep.

ASPASIA: Yeah, you were up all night.

You need to get some more rest.

I can't sleep.

I'm sure this kind gentleman will help me sleep.

Yes, I'll put you to sleep.

Strip and wear this.

You're in the military now.

You will learn discipline.

You will learn to obey orders without question.

Yours is to do or die, not to question why.

Come over here!

Stand at attention.

You ain't a soldier, you're a fucking mama's boy.

How'd you ever get into this army?

Stand up when I address you, soldier!

Do you think any physical pain you

cause me today can match the mental pain I suffer every day?

You need more discipline, soldier.

[SCREAM]

We should do something.

Why?

She chose him.

Just like she chose her path in life.

Free will is a myth.

I didn't want to become this.

I wanted to be a philosopher.

Mm.

I wanted to be a poet.

Well, I wanted to play baseball.

We should still do something.

I would if I thought you were behind me.

[SCREAM]

Save her.

We'll stop this.

Was everything to your satisfaction, sir?

I won't be back.

Oh, pity us.

The harder he hit, the more I laughed.

I got to.

Well, you got his money, and that's

the most important thing.

Yeah, money is so important.

Have fun.

Come out with us.

Yeah, let's go Elysian Fields.

They don't let me in anymore.

We'll be with you.

I have nothing to wear.

What are you talking...

We always have a good time at Elysian Fields.

I'm too sweaty.

Come on, take a breath.

It'll make you feel better.

Yeah.

Why suddenly this change of heart towards me?

Well, we heard about your sad childhood.

We felt sorry for you.

If you knew the whole truth, you'd feel more sorrow for me.

Well, tell us!

No.

Well, are you afraid that we'll use

the information against you?

What can you do to me?

How can life add to my pain?

As you may know, my father was a general,

a fighter in the war.

Dad!

Dad!

ORESTES: Tell us about the war, Daddy!

AGAMEMNON: It's like a game.

You get one of these when you kill enough people.

Darling.

My friend.

How can I ever thank you?

I was so glad to have my daddy home safe for the first time

since I was born.

Then that bloody night fell.

At first, the dope made me forget

for days, and then for hours, and now it

hardly helps me forget at all.

My daddy.

What a warm, hero's welcome you received from your loving wife

and best friend.

We were told she comes here.

Electra?

Did she kill somebody?

I thought she would.

Does she come here often?

She did, but she verbally abuses the customers.

We threw her out the last two times.

She ain't been here for months.

Who did she kill?

We're just looking for her.

Bad choice.

Tell me where I can find her, please.

Try a street corner.

Well, which one?

Any one.

The local police keep the whores moving around quite a bit.

I think you're confused.

Chum, I know all the whores in this neighborhood.

Electra is number one.

Take my word on that.

It's gossip!

It's gossip!

Just like the wind carrying a bad odor from house to house.

It's best to just close your door and let it pass by.

[SINGING]

Hey everybody, I'm back!

Isn't there a lamppost you should be holding up?

Just thirsty, Max.

Electra, are you going to behave yourself this time?

[SPEAKING SPANISH]

I wish there was a way to tell where money came from.

That way money like this wouldn't

be worth as much as decent money that people work for.

Wait!

After all this time, why wait?

I'm interfering with her life.

You dreamed about this reunion for years.

Yes, but I didn't think it would ever happen.

I mean, you keep people in your imagination,

and they never grow old or change.

Then you see them, and it isn't the same.

People only change in appearance, not deep inside.

You go talk to her first.

What should I say?

Find out if she still remembers me.

I'm feeling so good.

Sure, this is just what you needed.

It's fun, and a change is always nice.

Yeah, and now you don't have to think about your family and all

that jive.

What's wrong?

It's fading already.

Why do I remember the dead so easily?

I know this is going to sound funny, but whenever I get down,

I say a prayer.

ELECTRA: Will prayers help my poor father?

He was a very religious man.

Could a God exist who would be so cruel he could watch

my mother and her lover living in high society

with my dead father's money?

Well, Electra, I find that thinking

positive thoughts can help one achieve

almost anything in life.

Then how come you're still stuck in the same hole as me?

PYLADES: Excuse me.

Go away, Jack.

I... I wanted to speak with you.

ELECTRA: I don't want to talk. Go away.

NICKI: Yeah, we're not bothering you.

ASPASIA: We don't work here tonight.

CORI: This is a private party.

If we could speak alone for a moment?

Please, get him away from me.

NICKI: Hey Mac, you're out of bounds.

ASPASIA: Yeah, we're dykes.

Please leave.

I wanted to speak with you about your brother.

Who?

Your brother, Orestes.

ASPASIA: You never told us what happened to your brother.

They sent him away a long time ago.

They were afraid of him.

CORI: Your mother?

Yes, mother and boyfriend.

They sent him away to a prep school.

ASPASIA: Well, what happened to him?

He stopped answering my letters.

They said he died, but I'm sure they killed him.

Maybe they didn't kill him.

Maybe he ran away.

No, I think he's dead.

He promised one day he would come and see me.

He never came.

I think he's dead.

That was a child's promise, and children

can't always keep their promises, no matter

how much they may want to.

Neither do fathers, or mothers, or the world.

Nobody keeps their fucking promises.

Did you know her brother well?

Yes.

Where'd you meet him?

We attended the same military school,

and he became my closest friend.

One time my father visited, and he said we were like twins

and he couldn't tell us apart.

You're lying.

He's dead.

No, he's alive.

If you're telling the truth, I'll love you

better than anyone ever has.

Well, where is he?

Let's dance.

I don't want the world to know my private things.

You'd laugh if you knew how modest I really am.

No, I wouldn't laugh.

Where is he?

He's a vagabond.

He travels from country to country.

Is he destitute like me?

No.

My father adopted him as my brother, and before he died,

he left us a bit of money.

But it's almost all gone now.

When will he come?

He wants to know how you are first.

Well, he can see.

I look like I'm 40 although I'm only in my 20s.

But you're still fair.

I look like a freak.

I thought that was your style.

My style is to do anything to forget certain past events.

So, you loved your father.

Yes.

I loved him more than anything.

And your brother felt the same way.

How else could we feel?

What kind of work do you do?

She's an escort.

She's a model.

She's a telephone operator.

I'm a whore.

But at least I don't spy in on other people's

private conversations.

Doesn't your mother care?

She loves her new husband, not her old children.

And her new husband, isn't he concerned?

He made me this way when I was 13.

He didn't want me to reveal what I'd seen,

and he knew no one would believe a dope-addicted street

stroller.

Is there no possibility of justice from the legal system?

My mother makes large contributions to the judge's

re-election committee.

The legal system laughs at me.

And if your brother did return, what could he do?

Who are you?

This is a friend of mine.

What could your brother possibly do?

He could avenge me!

You're my brother's friend.

And your friend too.

Tell Orestes about me.

What should we say?

I want you to tell him what I've become.

A disowned, needlehead street walker.

I want you to tell him about my poverty,

and how my mother sits like a queen on a throne

spending my father's money.

Tell him how she has drunken orgies in the very pool

where his life's blood ran out.

Tell him how my stepfather now rules in my father's estate.

And tell him how he tore up my father's letters to me,

and when I cried he laughed, and fed me drugs,

and made me do unspeakable things.

And when I told him Orestes would come and get him,

he called Orestes a weak little bastard and a coward.

And he boasted that if Orestes ever dared come back,

he could kick his ass like a dog.

I will tell him.

Yes, you must tell him, for it is terrible

that my father killed hundreds to defend a country that didn't

even care, while his son will not fight with one man

to defend the honor of his family,

and his sister who loves him so much.

I will tell him.

Sleep gently, little darling.

These bad times will pass like a bad storm.

And when you awake, things will be clean and fresh.

Like a new spring day.

You know who that is out there?

Yes.

You know that they're gonna kill

her mother and her stepfather.

I don't think we should talk about it.

It's not our business.

I think it's a terrible thing.

Well, it's gonna get Electra into a lot of trouble.

We'll stop them.

But how?

We'll keep the oil from the fire.

We'll keep them separated.

Hey guys, food's here.

Farmer, I told you these guys were hungry!

NICKI: Couldn't we have gotten some decent food?

Nothing else was open.

You're just cheap.

FARMER: If I didn't watch every penny,

we'd be out on the street.

We already are on the street.

It's fun being out on the street when you're younger.

It's not so nice when you're old.

That's why I watch your money.

I think you watch our money too closely.

I don't like that insinuation.

You can look at the account records any time you want.

I take only my 10%, not a penny more.

My name's Farmer.

I'm Pylades.

You can call me Phil.

All right, Phil.

Who are you?

He's a stranger with no name.

Oh.

As you like it.

Farmer, what do you do here?

I'm a business manager.

I thought you were a pimp.

I don't like that term.

You want to know what I think?

What?

I think men who live off the money women make

through prostitution are scum.

Well, don't judge what you don't know.

I think they're parasites who should

be eliminated from society.

My friend's a bit upset.

I share the philosophy of my father.

Some men are no better than spiders.

And spiders should be crushed.

Well, you're young, and the young like simple

labels to explain things.

They don't see that people's lives

are filled with their own peculiar problems.

When I was your age, I thought living with three or four women

was glamorous.

I guess the gods hated me.

Because they granted my wish.

You don't seem so bad off.

Don't let it fool you.

All day I worry.

I worry about big problems.

Who's going to get sick.

Who's going to be arrested.

Who's going to get beat up or shot.

I worry about small things, too.

Whose birthday did I forget?

Or, what should I cook for dinner tonight?

Fish?

No.

Cori doesn't like fish.

Hamburgers?

Niki is a vegetarian.

Who's depressed?

Who's going to holler at me today?

Constant jealousy and fighting.

Life is a living hell for me.

I don't even have sex anymore.

Every day I want to run away.

But I don't know anything else.

For 10 years, I cleaned floors and stocked shelves.

10 years.

I can't do that now.

Do you know who washes dishes every night around here?

I do.

And you call me scum.

I'm leaving.

Wait, Farmer.

Farmer, take it easy.

Come on, come on.

Mac here is young.

He believes the world is like he sees on TV,

only made up of good guys and bad guys.

He doesn't realize real life has no good guys and bad guys.

It only has survivors.

Yeah.

If you leave us, baby, the one bright candle in our dark lives

will dematerialize into the infinity of non-being.

Yeah.

Thank you.

You're very kind.

I'm sorry I got so upset.

Stress can be very harmful, as they say in all the magazines.

Cowardice is harmful.

You are a brave man?

ORESTES: Yes.

Then come with me, Mac, I have a little test for you.

Why do you call men either Mac or Jack?

Well, Jacks are the men that give us money.

We jack them off, thus, we call them Jack.

But Macs don't give us money.

Macs, MACS.

Male, arrogant, cocksuckers.

So all men either give us money and they're Jacks,

or they don't give us money and they're Macs.

That doesn't sound very fair to men.

Men are not fair to us.

Look, we hate men, and men hate us.

That's why we get along so well.

Are you a Mac or a Jack?

Oh, Honey, you look awful.

Let's go get you a cup of coffee.

But I made coffee in the kitchen.

We need the fresh air.

Why have you come?

For justice.

Oh.

You're going to kill someone.

Yes.

Who?

My enemies.

Beat the drum, sound the bugle.

The enemy must be destroyed.

I've heard that one.

That's no joke.

I'll tell you a joke.

I knew this guy once, and he believed

in the concept of the enemy.

And he was going to be married.

And then one night he listened to the president

speak on television.

The enemy is evil.

The enemy commits atrocities against his peaceful neighbor.

We must rush to the aid of the peaceful neighbor.

Defend peace, defend freedom, defend

your God, your home, your kitty cats, your trash cans.

And he believed him.

And now he's dead, and his fiancee is a whore.

That's the joke.

Laugh!

ORESTES: He was a brave man and you mock his memory.

Maybe it's for the best.

He was stupid, and I would've made a miserable wife.

I'm not going to war.

My fight is with one individual.

Fighting is generally bad, whether it's

alone or in large groups.

This fight isn't bad.

This fight fate has ordained for me.

You're free to do what you like.

To not do what fate has ordained for you,

that's treason.

Treason?

I am treason.

You're just a whore.

I make love as gently as the morning mist,

and you speak of killing like a vengeful shark.

Who is the traitor and who is the whore?

You're a traitor to your senses and a whore to your hate.

What must be, must be.

Then do what you have to do, but promise me

Electra won't be involved.

That's not up to me.

It is.

Excuse me, I'm a bit of a mess tonight.

Don't worry about it.

It's the lives we lead.

It's rough.

NICKI: It's not that rough.

Most of the time we have fun, and we make a lot of money.

Yeah, but sometimes there's nothing worse.

I mean, when you're really tired, and you're not into it,

and you're working hard, getting no cooperation,

I mean, it's... it's painful.

Well, that's being a professional.

Sometimes you have to work even though you don't want to.

Well, I don't go for that definition.

DINING WOMAN: Watch it!

Excuse me.

I'm just dreaming tonight.

Just relax and enjoy the scenery.

I had a dream.

Somebody came and gave me a message about my brother.

Forget the dreams.

You've got to learn to deal with reality.

Wait, that wasn't a dream.

It was a hallucination.

No, it happened.

Hang loose, cupcake.

Where are they?

Who?

They we went away, didn't they?

Electra, it's not good for you to think about that.

That's all I can think about!

Why did you let them go?

Forget the past.

Deal with the real situation.

What are you telling me?

Don't tell me they went away!

Why would you take me here?

We're just drinking coffee.

Will you calm down?

If they're gone, I'm dead.

Do you understand me?

I'm dead. Dead!

No, you're not.

You're a lot better off.

No.

I can't take it.

You've got to get them back.

Please!

Will you just be reasonable?

Revenge for the past isn't good.

You were my best friends, and you did this to me.

To help you.

You hate me.

Everybody always hated me.

Calm down.

Please.

What are you doing to me?

You're all such fucking phonies.

You hate me, and you hate that you're all

just trying to fuck each other.

Why do you pretend?

Why not just admit that you... just admit it.

You hate me, and you hate each other!

If you can not control her, you can take her out, OK?

I don't believe this.

Everybody's against me in the whole fucking world!

Come on, Electra, let's go.

No, I'm OK.

OK, OK.

Baby, what's going to happen to you?

I'm here, general.

They all forgot, but I remembered.

We fought well together, didn't we?

You know, general, you were so brave.

You shouldn't have died this way.

I don't know why you were taken from us.

Orestes!

You've come back.

PYLADES: All this time, and all these years,

and you're not going to tell her who you are?

I shouldn't have come.

But aren't you going to tell her who you are?

No.

It's best that she remembers the little brother who adored her,

not the man who wouldn't help her.

Yes, go now.

Go quickly!

[KNOCKING]

May I help you?

Where's Electra?

You're him.

Me?

I didn't serve by your father's side for 10 years not

to recognize his son.

ORESTES: You shouldn't have taken that, old man.

SOLDIER: Orestes, welcome back.

Orestes?

Orestes, my brother!

So many things I want to say.

So many things I've kept inside of me

that I've been saving for you.

I feel my life is real again.

I've written about you many times.

My brother's best friend is my best friend too.

The three of us together shall do great things.

We shall be famous together.

There are some moments so beautiful,

words can't describe them.

That's the only one I've ever had.

Me too.

Except for the day Daddy came home.

Don't think about that day.

Why not?

Because that day leads into the night.

You don't want to do it, do you?

Do what?

What you swore you'd do.

One doesn't have to stick to the promises

one made as a child.

The promises you make as a child

are the ones you must keep.

Life's full of alternatives.

Not for us.

Electra, this is a bad business,

revenge against a man.

Not a man.

A human beast who killed our father.

And even if we did kill him, would it

bring our father back to life?

No, but it would give him peace.

And give me peace.

It would be murder!

It would be justice.

-He wasn't the only one. -Yes.

She deserves the same.

How do you expect... to kill him would be crazy.

But my own mother!

Not our mother.

Would a mother have done this to me?

Would a mother have sent you away?

Would a mother have done such a thing to our father?

She is a creature in human form.

She is not human.

I swear, she is not human.

Life puts us into places we'd never imagine we'd be.

Then you'll do it with her?

With or without her, it really doesn't matter.

Fate has ordained it.

You can choose not to.

Who's free from fate?

ORESTES: From the richest man to this poor creature,

we all must do what is ordained for us.

You don't want to give me money, you don't have to,

but don't blame it on fate.

You have to take the money.

Fate made you a beggar, and by begging

you're just carrying out your fate.

Oh, really?

I do this because I enjoy it.

ORESTES: You can't.

Oh, I can and I do.

See, I used to be a corporate monkey.

And I decided to be free and beholden to no man.

And now, if a man does me an injustice,

I can simply turn and walk away.

Well, he's a free man.

He seems happy.

If he can do it, why can't I?

That's right.

I don't need to let revenge motivate me.

I don't need to kill anyone.

And I can be free from the past.

Yes, you can!

Well, let's just get out of here.

What about Electra?

Yeah, what about Electra?

Vengeance is a fire that burns inside her.

You're right.

She won't be satisfied without bloodshed.

Tell her we're not the men for the job.

She can do what she wants alone.

It's best if we just leave without saying anything.

PYLADES: She'll cry.

Well, she'll cry anyway.

Back with the snacks.

Good.

I'm, how do you say it, uh, hungry as a tiger.

As a tiger?

No.

I think you're a pussycat.

Or maybe even a mouse.

Get away!

Can't you see we're enjoying ourselves?

ELECTRA: He's up there.

Top floor.

It'll be easy.

They know I'm his stepdaughter.

Um, I'll introduce you as two fundraisers for charity.

He's into that kind of stuff.

With a knife, it'll only take 30 seconds.

Electra, this is happening a little fast.

I want to enjoy some time with you.

We'll have our whole lives together after it's done.

But we should think this out a bit.

I've been thinking for 12 years.

This is a matter for doing, not for thinking.

Somebody will do something.

If nobody does?

Somebody will punish them.

If nobody does?

We'll do it.

When?

When we grow up.

You'll change your mind.

I won't!

Swear.

I swear.

I will always hold you to that promise.

They'll leave.

My only hope will leave tonight, and there's nothing I can do.

Things will be as they were.

They'll be as they were.

Only now without hope, which means they'll

be worse than they were.

I can't take that.

That was a stupid move.

Oh, can I take it back?

No.

You lost your queen.

Finally, I'm going to beat you at this game.

I don't need the queen anymore.

Checkmate.

I don't believe it.

You tricked me.

Even the queen can be sacrificed to save the game.

Uhh!

I don't know how an idiot like you can beat a genius like me.

Well, it's simple.

Every game has its tricks, and if you know them,

you can beat someone that doesn't know them.

Genius has nothing to do with it.

What's the trick?

Well, each game's different.

What trick did you use here?

Divide and conquer.

I got the pieces protecting the king away from him,

and when the king was alone, I attacked.

Yes, yes, that's it.

You'll help, then?

Help you what?

Just say you'll help me.

All right.

You'll help too?

No.

Come on.

OK, OK I'll help!

No.

I'll help.

How?

Divide and conquer.

Well, what do we do now?

Well, we do nothing.

Orestes leaves and everything's fine again.

I don't think so.

Electra is obsessed.

If Orestes leaves now, she's gonna be more mad than ever.

CORY: She'll kill her stepfather herself, or... or suicide.

NICKI: All right, then what do we do?

We must persuade Orestes to stay.

But I thought we've been trying to get him to leave.

When we find we've been going in the wrong direction,

we must have the courage to stop and reverse ourselves.

For Electra's own good, we've got to get her brother to stay.

I tried to sleep on the cold prison bed,

forget what I'd seen and just think about my boyfriend

on the outside.

And as I dozed off to sleep, I was awakened by the sharp pain

of a billy stick in my back.

I'm going to show you what women's prison

is all about, my little sweet!

Hold please.

Her rich breasts covered Michael's face.

He bit the nipples.

She let Michael kiss her between the legs and insert his penis,

and she let me kiss her breasts and caress them.

She had wonderful firm, round buttocks.

And Michael kept pushing her legs

apart, and biting into her soft flesh, until she began to moan.

And began to play.

Oh, yes!

Oh, can you hear that darling?

It feels so good.

Hold now.

Where you going, guys?

Uh, tell Electra we're going to visit some friends

and we'll be back in a few days.

Well, why don't you just leave your stuff here?

PYLADES: No, we feel safer with it.

Well, couldn't you wait just a minute?

I mean, Electra will be done.

She never takes that much time.

PYLADES: No, we're in a rush.

Believe me, it's better this way.

Um, I have something for you.

Just come with me.

I want to tell you a secret.

Hey, what about me.

I was here first!

Yeah, I'm sorry.

Why don't you just go be with Nicki?

She's occupied.

I know.

Her fantasy is two men at once.

She really loves it.

Oh yes, I really do want that.

How do you men always guess a little girl's deepest desires?

Is that all? I've got to go.

No.

I have something for you.

What?

I want to recite you a poem.

Between dirty cement streets and tall concrete buildings,

I smell dirty car exhaust as I sit my bottom

on cold, granite bus stops.

And I wade through piles of aluminum cans of garbage,

and I hide my face behind closed iron factory gates.

But yet, I exist.

I'm alive.

I strive.

Between moments of moaning, and prepossessive periods of pain,

between monstrous men and piles of pornography.

Between mornings of madness, and the paranoia of the apathetic,

still I exist.

I'm alive, I strive.

Between the opening of mother's birth

and the clothing casket of death.

Between the slightest atom and the grandest stars.

Between teardrops of truth and friction on friction, I exist.

I'm alive, I strive.

And those who do not see me do not know

the happiness they have missed.

How was she?

A waste of money and time.

Yeah, it was charming for me too, Sport.

Where's Orestes?

Uh, he'll be back in a minute.

Come to my room.

We have to talk.

Hey, I'm next.

Niki!

Seems like in our country, only the top 1% of 1%

can make a living at the arts.

The rest of us just do what we can to get by.

Our childhood talents dissipate and get blown away by the winds

of disappointment and time.

I sometimes think that all of us are artists that never were.

Then do something for the artists who never were.

Do the great and inspiring thing that Electra needs you to do.

The man who murdered my father took control

of a number of his companies.

These are their financial reports.

Political economy is an exciting field for many,

but I've only skimmed the surface.

These companies have business holdings in your country.

They bribed your government to throw people off the land,

and then tricked and forced them into working for low wages.

My stepfather and his colleagues made super profits

off of their exploitation.

Is this not the American way?

It's the way of a savage beast!

It is up to my countrymen to decide what is to be done.

Where's Pylades?

Uh, he'll be back in a minute.

Can I talk to you?

Oh, menage a cinq.

I will not betray him.

I would never ask you to.

He's like a brother to me.

He is my brother.

Then let this thing drop!

It can never be dropped until it's done.

I could never be part of it!

Are you such a civilized man that your soul

can't be touched?

It can be touched, but not by such wickedness.

You'd be surprised by the number of things that

seem wicked from the outside but are really

quite nice when you do them.

I am not interested.

That wasn't wicked, was it?

No.

It was nice, wasn't it?

And if I were to do it again a little longer,

it might be nicer.

And I can do nicer things.

Why do you do this to me?

I want to show you that I can be nice.

I really am a nice person.

German philosopher Georg Hegel started

his book on logic by trying to seek nothingness from being.

I've always had the opposite problem.

I've always tried to seek being from nothingness.

You see, at an early age, I fell under the spell of philosophy.

And under this magical spell, one seeks only truth.

No matter where it leads, one must follow it.

Have you found truth?

Yes.

That is my curse.

I have found too much truth.

Then why are you living in this underworld?

How else am I to live?

Oh, people talk a lot about truth,

but they won't pay a penny for it.

Lies, they'll pay millions for.

But the truth about this bloody life, nobody wants to hear it.

Well, then tell me the truth, Miss Philosopher.

Am I free to do what I wish?

You want to know what the philosophers say about freedom?

The ancients, like Socrates, believed mostly in fate.

Men were not free, but merely playthings

of the gods, who manipulated them like puppets.

The Christian philosophers, like St. Augustine, realizing

that the concept of sin and hell became ridiculous

without freedom, said that God granted man

freedom because he was just.

Hegel said that freedom was the understanding of necessity.

Karl Marx said that freedom was the victory of the working

class and world communism.

Jean-Paul Sartre said that man is free to determine

his own meaning in life.

Shall I continue?

No.

I should follow my heart.

What is your heart's truth?

What would you want it to be?

Oh, Hamlet, my too thoughtful prince.

The reason for my argument is to get you

to follow Electra's desires.

In plain English, why don't you have

the guts to murder the bastard who killed your father?

Don't you see the world expects it of you?

They're all waiting for you to do it.

I'm leaving.

Where's my friend?

Oh well, you're next.

So, what do you want to play?

ORESTES: Nothing.

Well, that's not fair.

You gave the others their chance.

Now give me mine.

ORESTES: The others didn't persuade me,

and you won't succeed either.

Oh, come on, you want to bet?

ORESTES: I'm certain.

Well then, a little game won't hurt.

Whenever I was a kid, I used to hang out with the guys

and play games all the time.

You must have been popular.

Yeah, I was.

I thought I was one of the guys.

That was until I was 13.

The guys were picking sides for a baseball game.

They said I couldn't play unless I showed them my breasts.

So I went home that day and I cried.

But then I went back to that field.

I had a double and two singles.

At some point we outgrow games.

Well, I mean, not really.

Life's just a game.

It's just a bit more complicated.

I've gotta go.

Come on, one hand.

What are we playing for?

...If I win, you do what Electra wants for you to do.

And if I win?

I'll show you my breasts.

I'm not a 13-year-old boy.

Oh, come on.

What are you afraid of?

If fate is going to release you from your vow, then you'll win.

OK.

I'll leave it up to fate.

Well, I'm gonna win.

ORESTES: You're sure.

Yep.

ORESTES: Why?

Because I've played this game many times before

and I know all the tricks.

What've you got?

Full house.

Heh.

Why, did you win?

If you have an ace of diamonds, then you have a royal flush

and you won.

But anything else and I win.

I win!

Now you must follow your fate.

No.

I'm a free man.

I determine the meaning of this game,

and it means nothing to me.

For your protection.

There is no protection in life.

That's lesson number one.

Cops don't protect you.

Insurance agents don't protect you.

Your deodorant doesn't protect you,

and your magic charms really don't protect you.

This isn't magic.

I don't want protection.

I have nothing.

I have no talent in poetry.

I have no knowledge of great ideas.

I'm not good at games.

I have nothing.

You have a brother who loves you.

If he loves me, he'll keep his promises.

But it will destroy both of you.

Oh, baby.

The gods destroyed us long ago.

Every rational thought in me says it's wrong.

But I shall ask him to stay.

For you.

It's time.

We have to go.

Right now?

Yes.

There's no hurry.

Listen, Orestes.

What is a man if he does not seek justice.

He is not a man, but a beast.

What are you saying?

You've been trying to persuade me to leave since we arrived.

It was you who thought this vendetta was sick.

I didn't see things clearly.

Now you do?

Yes.

Where have you been?

Nowhere.

You've been with my sister.

If her cause was not just, nothing in the world

could make me listen to her.

What a fool you are.

She used her tricks on you.

She has no tricks.

She's as simple and clear as the water.

I won't fall for it.

I'm leaving.

Come if you like.

Stay if you don't.

You can't leave.

It's not your fate.

I'm getting out.

Wait!

Brother, we're free, let's keep going.

You've beaten your fate.

Fuck fate.

We're free!

Unnh!

Unnh!

Ow!

Goodbye, fool.

Oh!

Excuse me, I didn't see you.

Ung.

Nobody does.

What happened to you?

Sometimes it's the police, sometimes

it's the other jokers.

They think it's fun.

I thought you were happy begging.

[LAUGHTER]

It's a miserable life out on the street.

And I had no choice.

I was born a poor son of a bitch,

and I've been that way ever since.

No, you had a fortune.

You gave it up because you wanted to be a free man.

You... you cheated fate.

No, I never had a chance.

There was no choice.

There was nothing I could do about it.

I thought you chose it.

Who chooses this life?

Those of us who just declare ourselves free?

We're just fools.

We think if we don't recognize our slavery, it isn't there.

But it is.

This is my role model.

My future.

What a mockery I made of my father's honor.

I have to go back and say goodbye.

Just goodbye?

Just goodbye.

[HEAVY BREATHING]

We used to measure time in days and months and years.

And now we measure it by centuries and light years.

Little by little we grow closer together.

Somebody will do something.

You promised.

WOMAN ON INTERCOM: The men from the hunger charity

are still waiting.

Send them in, and send in the lunch.

I am Aegistus.

Just call me Eddie.

I'm brother Euripides, and this is brother Sophocles.

Good meeting you.

I hope you don't mind if I eat while we talk.

As you can imagine, I'm busy as a call

girl on St. Valentine's Day.

Please, go right ahead.

Fish again.

Get out.

Can I order you gentlemen anything?

PYLADES: We did not come for food for ourselves.

It is food for other people that we seek.

Yes, I've seen pictures of the famine.

People in your country are ghastly thin.

PYLADES: For those of us who live in such prosperity

and ease, It must be hard to imagine the sufferings

of so many less fortunate.

Ha.

You needn't tell me about going hungry.

I've experienced it enough as a child.

Just give me the facts of how much you need,

and what it will be used for.

PYLADES: We need a great deal.

But any contribution would help the poor thousands

of children who have nothing.

Look, you came without even an appointment.

I'm busy, but I didn't turn you away.

Tell me how much you want.

If it's not impossible, you'll get it.

You're very generous.

I've suffered.

I know what suffering is.

Have you really suffered?

Yes.

I can't believe that somehow.

Don't be fooled by the external symbols of success.

I will give living testimony that wealth

brings only unhappiness.

How interesting.

Tell me about your unhappiness.

Oh, brother, I'm sure we are of different fates.

ORESTES: No matter.

Confession is always good for the soul.

All right.

Hear my confession, then.

In my childhood, I was extremely poor.

For myself I didn't mind, but for my family and friends,

I couldn't tolerate it.

To watch people close to you die when

a few dollars could've saved them... it's

a horrible experience.

So I swore to my personal god that I would make any sacrifice

to get out of poverty.

I worked, and I worked, and I worked, and with God's help

I made it.

But I've never forgotten those who did not make it.

There's not a man on the world who gives more to charity

than me.

ORESTES: Yes, I'm sure you worked very hard.

But I've heard rumors that it was a fortunate marriage

that put you in this position.

I don't deny that.

And this wealth you give, did it not belong to another

before it fell into your hands?

I see you've been researching me.

Well done.

Let me make a true confession, then.

In my youth, I fell in love... passionately,

desperately in love.

But she was older and married, so it was a hopeless love.

Then the war came, and her husband

went overseas for many years.

I did some work at her house.

We talked.

At first, just about the work, but soon,

it was about everything.

She told me she was so alone.

At first, she just needed me to talk to.

And then she felt my love and returned it.

We became lovers.

Have you ever been in love?

No.

Let me tell you, it is heaven and hell.

It is sublime, and it is terrible.

What about her husband?

When you are in love, whatever brings you together is right,

and whatever keeps you apart is wrong.

Do you understand that?

ORESTES: What did you do about her husband?

She told me he was a bastard who mistreated her.

It was true.

ORESTES: What did you do?

I've tried to live a good life.

Every day I help people.

What else can I do?

The mistakes one makes in youth out of love

can never be corrected.

I know, but we go on living and we try to help.

Help!

I'm Orestes, and you murdered my father!

[GROANING]

Did it happen?

It happened.

How do you feel?

Peaceful.

[LAUGHTER]

Describe it to me.

I want to hear every detail.

ORESTES: It's not worth describing.

Then just tell me if the dog screamed.

He screamed.

Good.

A toast to justice.

For one day she was not blind.

I'm just glad it's over.

It's not over yet.

One of our father's murderers is dead,

but the other one still lives.

I won't.

It must be done.

I won't.

Don't you see... to kill one and let the other one off,

that's worse than doing nothing.

You saw them.

They did it together.

I will not live in an unjust world.

ORESTES: No!

It's 40-love.

Clytemnestra, remember me?

I told you years ago not to come around here anymore.

Why?

I know the charges you made against me.

I'm no fool.

I served with your husband for many years.

That's the past.

The war is over.

The fighting is ended, but the echoes of bombs

keep screaming inside my head.

See a psychiatrist or a social worker.

Just stop bugging me!

I know, you're too busy to think about me.

It's 40-love.

Off the court or you'll be thrown out!

I have information about your daughter.

I don't care what she does anymore.

Take your information and...

She's dying.

What?

She caught a disease quite common to someone

in her profession.

She's dying.

No, it's not true.

Come see for yourself.

Come on.

Or do you want to finish your tennis game first?

Who are you?

Electra's mother.

Where is she?

Why haven't you ever been here before?

I was always afraid before.

She was your daughter.

Didn't you know what Electra was doing?

Yes.

But it was her decision.

I couldn't interfere.

She was your daughter.

Didn't you care?

I suffered terribly every time I thought of it.

Many nights I woke up... nightmares.

But I couldn't do anything except pray she was safe.

Couldn't you have called?

I mean, we're call girls.

We get calls all day long.

If just one of them had been from you,

don't you know how happy that would've made her?

I didn't know the number.

You could've found out.

CLYTEMNESTRA: I thought she didn't want to hear from me!

You don't know.

She was an impossible child.

We never communicated.

If I said blue, she would say orange.

Yeah, but a mother should love their child,

no matter what kind of disagreements.

I did love her.

CORI: Ha!

Your actions betray your words.

I didn't come here to be accused.

I don't care what you think of me.

I just want to see Electra.

Where is she?

She's in her room.

Don't go in.

Turn around.

Stop it.

I want to see my daughter.

Please, trust me.

It's for the best.

Just leave.

I will not.

I will see my daughter.

You don't understand!

He's right!

Leave!

Yeah, you'll be better off not seeing her.

I want to see my daughter!

Mother.

I didn't think you would come.

Well, of course I came.

How are you?

I'm well.

How are you?

Not well.

I'll get you whatever medical care you need.

How can you stand there and lie like that?

I'm not lying.

Mother... acting so sympathetic.

It makes me sick.

Why don't you be honest for once?

Why don't you just say you're glad I'm dying?

Whatever our differences, I never

wanted anything like this.

Liar.

The day you murdered my father you

couldn't wait for me to die.

You're so fucking happy inside now.

Why don't you show it?

I never wanted to hurt you, Electra.

Please believe me.

Then why did you murder my father?

Because he was a bastard who deserved to be slaughtered

like a dog.

He was the best man who ever lived.

That's what everyone thought, but it wasn't true.

ELECTRA: It was.

Do you know what he did to me?

He took you, a dirty little street whore,

and made you his wife.

He was a brutal bastard.

He did the cruelest things to me.

You're lying, mother.

He turned you against me.

But let me tell you what he really was,

and then you can accuse me.

He took my first daughter, Iphigenia, from me.

He brought her with him to the war, and she died there.

An accident.

CLYTEMNESTRA: No accident.

He sacrificed her to his god.

The god of war.

He was no ordinary man who hates war.

He loved war.

He loved the glory, and he loved the power

of moving thousands of men with one command,

and making them kill and destroy.

It was his job.

Was it his job to bring that woman,

Cassandra, home with him, and to sleep with her in my bed?

ELECTRA: What about you?

You were so virtuous with Aegistus.

He was the first man who loved me and didn't

treat me like a slave.

Oh, mother.

You're a beautiful woman.

And because you're beautiful, the

lies that fly out of your mouth even

sound pretty, like the truth.

Only I know better.

I remember.

The very night Daddy left for the war,

you combed your long golden tresses, put on perfume

and makeup, and beautiful dresses,

and you would come home with new man almost every night.

What a wonderful example you set for me, mother!

I learned so much from you, mother.

What a wonderful example you set for me.

It was to kill the pain of being married to a monster.

Why didn't you just divorce him?

I know why.

Because then you wouldn't have gotten anything.

So you murdered him for his money instead.

I really hoped he'd die in the war.

I expected him to die in the war.

What are we going to do?

You'll divorce him.

You'll marry me.

Oh, right.

I'll divorce a returning war hero.

I won't get anything.

I'll be as penniless as you are.

Still, I would do it.

But he would even get the children.

I know he would take the children

and he would never let me see them.

Oh, I... I couldn't stand that.

What are we going to do?

We could... we could...

If you really, really loved me, we could.

He terrorized me.

He would've killed me if I'd asked for a divorce.

ELECTRA: Can't you stop lying, even for a moment?

I am telling the truth.

Even if it is true about my father,

and he mistreated you, what about Orestes, your own son.

You sent him away.

CLYTEMNESTRA: Aegistus was afraid of Orestes.

He made me send him away.

And me?

I heard you telling him it would be better for me to leave.

CLYTEMNESTRA: Everything at home reminded you of your father.

You were miserable.

I couldn't stand seeing you that way.

I thought if you left, you'd forget after a few months.

I can never forget.

CLYTEMNESTRA: Why are we arguing?

I came here to take you back home with me.

So I would die quicker.

No.

I promise things will be better.

If you don't want Aegistus around, I'll send him away.

You'll never see him.

A little late, mother.

The past is gone.

We can go on with a new relationship.

We can begin fresh.

A new day!

The past is here, Mother.

My son!

Kill her.

Orestes, my son.

What are you doing?

Kill the bitch who murdered our father!

No.

Don't.

Please don't!

Yes!

With this breast, I suckled you when you were a baby.

With this breast, I gave you life.

Mother.

My child, come here.

Don't let her get away with it.

Remember our father!

Remember his touch, remember his voice!

Remember how he died.

In the name of justice, kill this thing

that killed our father!

[STABBING]

When I was stabbing her, I only saw

her as the killer of my father.

But when she died, she changed.

And I saw my mother lying dead.

It was temporary madness.

Don't touch me.

I'm a monster.

But it was justice!

ORESTES: Shut up!

I killed my mother!

But it was God's justice for her killing her husband.

You're just God's instrument.

No court would convict you if they knew what she had done!

What she had done?

What have I done?

Oh, mother.

How I wished you dead, and now you're dead.

Now I'd do anything to get you back.

It's true you murdered your husband.

For what reasons... money or love... I don't know.

It makes no difference now.

But what about my life?

What can I do?

Where can I go?

Who can I ever love without fearing

that I'll kill them, too?

I'm as dead as you are.

No!

It's too late for your tears, my brother.

I'm guilty.

I made you do this.

It was my deepest desire to see her dead.

My poor mother.

We should have been truer to each other.

Of all the wrongs I've ever done, this is the worst.

[SOBBING]

No, no, no.

We have to go away.

What's the matter?

I miss my daddy.

Don't worry.

He'll come home soon.

One day your father will come home.

Then things will be better.

You should see him in his uniform.

So brave, and so strong.

Such a handsome man.

He's a hero.

Everyone loves him, Come in now and eat dinner.

Everything will be all right when Daddy gets home,

won't it, Mommy?

I've become my mother, haven't I?

SONG: I sing the song of Electra,

a tale of terrible crimes.

Don't blame them on me.

Don't blame things the director.

It happened in ancient times.

Electra came from a fine family.

Her life was going to turn out great.

Except she didn't count on the customs of society,

or the twisting strings of fate.

Oh, Electra.

Your burning cheeks are wet.

Oh, Electra.

Her torment we will never forget.

They sent this story not to upset you, or to make you sad.

They set it to instruct you the difficulties

of telling good from bad.

And while catastrophes will mend,

it helps to hear it from a friend.

So let the tragedy be shown and follow her fate to the end.

Oh, Electra.

Your burning cheeks are wet.

Oh, Electra.

Her torment we will never forget.