All language subtitles for Dreaming.Walls.Inside.the.Chelsea.Hotel.2022.1080p.Webrip.X265.AAC-AOC

(boat horn blaring)

(helicopter blades whirring)

(traffic rumbling)

- (car horns blaring)
- (indistinct chatter)

(mid-tempo music playing)

Patti: This is the first place
I came to in New York,

was the Chelsea Hotel,

because Dylan Thomas, like,
was one of my big heroes.

And so, like, Dylan Thomas
used to hang out

on this very roof.

And I'm sure, like, he threw up
a couple... (chuckles)

...one too many rums
or something off this roof,

looked at the old

Empire State Building
right here.

And I've always liked to be

where the big guys were,
you know?

(tense music playing)

(chuckles)

(tense music continues)

(siren wailing)

(horn blaring)

(car engine revving)

Man: I am lost in the Chelsea.

I forgot the stairs
were over here.

(girl laughing in distance)

(indistinct chatter over radio)

(telephone ringing)

(indistinct chatter)

Man: Holy, holy, holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy, holy...

Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy.
The world is...

Woman 1: And on this floor,
at one time,

Oscar Wilde stayed here. Now,
he didn't live here, of course,

he just stayed here
when he was visiting.

So all the immortals
of the 20th century

at one time or another

have probably stayed
at the Chelsea.

Woman 2: Are there any messages
or anything for me?

(telephone ringing)

Okay, Stefan Brecht, room 1010.

Another international letter
for the son of Bertolt Brecht.

Wunderbar, wunderbar.

Woman: Hello? Can someone help?

Man: I told you
this kid's worth big bucks.

You drop, you're dead.

Don't touch.
Jerry, the elevator is stuck.

(elevator bell dings)

Merle: Hey, I've got...

I'm wondering,
I got a rent check.

-Do you want to handle it, or...
-I can't.

Merle: Okay.

I'm going to put this on.

(phone rings)

(elevator bell dings)

- Merle: Hi, John.
- John: How are you doing?

I'm here, how are you feeling?

- Terrible, terrible.
- Well...

(indistinct chatter)

- Merle: Who's that?
- Timothy.

- Merle: Timothy?
- Yes.

Merle: Okay, I could not...
Oh, are you wearing...

Oh, yeah I...
Once I lay it down,

you'll recognize me.

Merle: You work today?
What'd you do?

- What are they doing today?
- I was on the roof.

Merle: Doing,
what are they doing?

- A lot.
- They do... Like what?

They're finishing up
the sheetrock up there,

they're doing the fire safety,

they are running
the fire safety wires.

Yeah, and that's why they
were doing that on our floor.

Actually, I was on the eighth
and ninth floor today,

cutting out holes, two by two...

For the fire safety?

Are they making a spa
on the roof or something?

- That's what I heard.
- Merle: Okay.

(whirring)

(thudding)

(whirring)

Zoe: You see that one,
the golden one,

you can put together
with the Victorian ones.

(whimsical music playing)

Zoe:
Where is the Murano red one?

- It fell by chance?
- Nick: It's possible.

Zoe: You know, we had...
Oh, no, it's here, it's here.

Nick: All right,
so we should start cutting.

Yeah, I think so. (chuckles)

(phone line trilling)

- Gerald: Hello?
- Zoe: Hello, Gerald.

This is Zoe, how are you?

Gerald: Hi, Zoe,
I'm still kind of in bed...

Zoe: Oh, I'm very sorry.
So you probably won't be

at the tenants
association meeting

because of that.

Gerald: No, I probably won't,
I'm sorry.

After the meeting is over,

you are going
to be happy because...

Let me ask you something.

You would like the building
to be finalized, would you?

Gerald: Yes, I would.

Woman: The hotel needs
to be finished.

- Absolutely.
- Woman: You know,

I love my apartment,
but it's a mess.

Most of the decent people
in this building

want to have the building done.

Woman: You know,
it's a personal attack,

- you know, in a sense...
- It is.

Woman: ...to have this last
for such a long time.

- Nothing is ever possible.
- It is, it's a personal attack.

Woman: Nothing
is ever completed, nothing...

- We are in the ninth year.
- Nick: Hudson Yards.

So, the Hudson Yards was built,

I mean, that's 1.8 million
square feet. I mean, come on.

We want to cry
or to scream, really.

I think that the second part
is better.

Nick: You know, these tenants
that are making misery...

and preventing the landlords
from finishing up the work.

Those people are gonna benefit
from the beauty,

but they are the ones
that are slowing things

up terribly.
It's practically extortion.

Zoe: Nick, would you make
a little bit less noise maybe?

You can put it in, but just
because I'm trying to talk to...

- (whirring)
- (thudding)

(indistinct chatter)

(indistinct chatter)

Merle: How are you doing?

Man: I'm okay, ma'am.
How's everything?

- Merle: You like working here?
- Man: Yes, of course.

Merle: What do you like
about it?

Oh, there's a lot of history
in this building.

And...

There's a lot of ghosts going on
around here.

- Merle: Did you feel anything?
- Yeah.

- Merle: In what way?
- Well, some ghosts,

they just died here.
You know what I mean?

They're just here. Some ghosts,
they're really lost.

- Merle: They're lost.
- They're lost.

They're trying to find
a way out,

but they can't find it

because at the time
they was...

Some ghosts in here,
they was killed.

Merle: Yeah.

Some of them took their life.

Merle: Which ones?
Do you remember?

I don't know,

but since I started feeling
a lot of stuff in here, like,

I went to the internet
and I googled Chelsea Hotel.

- Merle: Right.
- And it says everything,

that a girl has been killed
on the first floor.

In the lobby,
a guy committed suicide.

And there's a lot
of interesting people here.

A lot of musicians,
a lot of art people, painters.

When I was a kid,
I wanted to be an architect,

you know what I mean?
That's my dream.

- You never know.
- Man: Right?

You still got a whole life
ahead of you.

Yeah, I like to read a lot
about Da Vinci.

- I think Da Vinci was...
- Merle: Fabulous.

He was not in this planet.
I think Da Vinci's mind

is coming
from a different planet.

You know what I mean?
His mind, it was too...

- Merle: Very quick.
- Yeah.

- Merle: Yeah.
- Yeah, yeah.

Well, art takes you out anyways.

Man: Of course, art puts you
where you want to be.

So the dances I did

was kind of a lot of artistic
kind of things.

- Are we gonna dance? (chuckles)
- Merle: We can do it.

But I dance differently.
(imitates music)

I've done that too.
I've done that also.

- Man: Yeah?
- Yes, I have.

♪♪ Yeah, mambo, mambo Italian
Go, go, go ♪♪

♪♪ Yeah, mambo, mambo Italian
Go, go, go ♪♪

(imitates music)

- So I see you soon, miss.
- Merle: You shall, you shall.

- Man: My beautiful lady.
- Merle: Will you come to...

- Okay.
- Man: All right.

(tense music playing)

(indistinct chatter)

Guide 1: And on this floor,
this is where Andy Warhol

made his immortal classic,
The Chelsea Girls.

Okay, now we're going
to work our way down

and we'll talk about the people
on the floor.

(speaks indistinctly)

(tense music playing)

Guide 2: Now we're gonna go in
to see the manager's office.

Now I'm going to
walk over here.

Here's Stanley Bard,
the manager.

Stanley: My job never ends.

I have an open line connection
to the hotel 24 hours,

so I know what's happening.

How are you, Larry?

Larry: I'm all right, Stanley.
Are you gonna fill out the form?

Stanley: I'm going to fill out
this form

and the reason I asked you
down in the office

is because I'm having
great difficulty.

You know, I never knew

the actual title
of the painting.

The title of the one
in the lobby? The title is,

Dutch Masters and Cigars,
Shaped, 1.

Right there.

I finally got you to sign this.

- Yeah.
- After all these years.

All right, Larry.

You know, now I sign
with two names.

At that time,
I would have signed it "Rivers."

I don't know what got into me,
but somewhere along the line

I think Peter Beard got on me
and said...

- Put 1964.
- Should I put '64?

- Okay.
- Larry: There it is, Stanley.

Now it's official.
This proves I really did it.

- Okay.
- Here in the Chelsea Hotel.

- You know, I could...
- My home away from home.

Why do you think
it all took place?

Because of cheap rooms, no?

- Cheap rooms, fun people.
- You were a liberal.

- Flexible management.
- That's what I meant.

(rock music playing)

♪♪ Here's Room 546 ♪♪

♪♪ It's enough to
make you sick ♪♪

♪♪ Bridget's all wrapped up
In foil ♪♪

♪♪ You wonder
If she'd get uncoiled ♪♪

♪♪ Here they come now
See them run now ♪♪

♪♪ Here they come now ♪♪

♪♪ Chelsea girls ♪♪

Rose: My name is Rose Cory,

and I'm living in the Chelsea
since 1987.

My nights are days,
my days are nights.

I go to bed in the morning,
I get up in the evening.

And...

Just, I live
a very unusual life here.

I have such a history
with the place,

from anorexia,
gender transition,

marriage, drugs, careers...

I've had six
or eight lives here.

I don't want to say
that there was a pressure

to be unique
or to express yourself, but...

certainly there was no pressure
to not.

The Chelsea right now
is a kind of,

I don't know what
you would say.

Holdouts.

People who have lived here
for many years.

And for whatever reason...

whatever reason,
hard to imagine,

want to continue to live here.

There's not necessarily

any strong connection
between people,

but each have their reason
for wanting to stay.

There are people here
who really are

the remnants of another time
in New York.

When Manhattan
was a bohemian...

and avant-garde center
of activity.

When the art world was

really lively and vibrant
and juicy,

and art was being made
here in Manhattan.

Now I think that time is gone.

The Chelsea is in a moment
where...

It's kind of like
a grand old tree

that's been chopped down.

But the roots are deep,

and there's life still coming
from it.

So we don't really know
where it's going yet.

To all appearances,

they will, in time,
put us all out.

(thudding)

Man: This is where I lived
for sixteen years,

it had four rooms.

Sam and I lived here

and entertained and so forth.

But my first years
at the Chelsea were spent here.

- (grunts) Hello.
- (chuckles)

But what they've done is,

they made little rooms
instead of keeping big spaces.

They calculated that people
wouldn't pay a lot

for one big open space.

They wanted a lot
of little rooms. (chuckles)

Maybe they think

they can charge more
by the room or something.

Oh, a net.

(both chuckle)

Man 1: I don't think
it will catch you.

Man 2: Yeah,
it wouldn't catch me,

it's not big enough.

Hiroya: A-yooh. A-yooh.

A-yoooh.

(speaks in Japanese)

Man 2:
There was a Japanese artist

who painted a mural
on that wall.

And then he got stoned

and jumped into the pit
and killed himself.

Look at my paintings.

My painting
almost everything dead.

This is a casket.

Sometimes I came
to the Chelsea Hotel.

Actually I am staying
in a casket too, you know?

Like, you know?

Like I always feel
like I'm dead, you know?

So I think Chelsea Hotel,
I think a ghost brought me here.

And so, yeah, there used to be
a lot of...

drugging and craziness here

in those days. (chuckles)
But not me. (chuckles)

And me too, of course.
I don't know.

Well, they created
that elevator down there.

That's a brand-new creation.

And we slowly... And of course,
it's for everybody

and for the workers
and everybody.

But we suddenly realized
that really

was intended to be for us,
old tenants.

That's where
we're supposed to...

Because when the hotel opens,

it's going to be very fancy
and expensive.

And so they don't really want us
going through the lobby.

Like, people like Merle,
or me... (chuckles)

...or Bettina.

So they gave us that elevator,
the servants' elevator.

(chuckles)

They never said that,

but it became pretty clear
what that was for.

And it sucked as well.

They're trying to move
all the residents

to the first floor.

They wanted us all to move,
but I

was successful in staying here,
I preferred that.

- All right, sixth floor.
- Mm-hmm.

Merle: So good to see...

Oh, so you're going
to be alternating?

Someone else and you
and that's it, right?

- That's it. Only two of us.
- Merle: Okay.

(elevator bell dings)

Man 1: All right, I'll see you.

Merle: All right. Okay.

- How are you doing, good?
- Man 2: Yeah, really good.

Merle: Wow.

(indistinct chatter)

Merle: I see things,
I have to...

I have to work with shapes.
I have to see shapes. Yeah...

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

(soft music playing)

(birds chirping)

Susan: It's a long time.

Half a lifetime.

Can you see this
from where you are, Joe?

- Joe: Huh?
- Susan: Can you see this...

transparent yellow there
from where you are?

Joe: I love you. I love Susan K.

Susan: You call me Susan K.
(chuckling)

- (birds chirping)
- (soft music playing)

Susan: We built the garden

and I had mostly wildflowers
and animals, plants,

those are all the things
that I love.

(birds squawking)

- Joe: Where is Leander?
- Susan: Up over there.

(soft music playing)

Susan: It's a fantasy land

where people go
to find pleasure,

and get away from reality.
Is that right?

Joe: (chuckling)
Susan, I have brain damage.

(thunder rumbling,
rain pattering)

Susan: We lost the apartment
with the garden,

I gave away the trees,

and we had to move down
to the first floor.

Joe: The rent now
is like 317 dollars.

Susan: So it will go up
about 200 dollars more.

Joe: You mean when they finish?

I mean, we both agree

that we hope they
never finish...

(chuckles) Because...

...because we couldn't afford...

what the rent would be...

in the heart of Manhattan,
in this space.

Which I have...
And I've said this to you...

I've turned this whole place
over to you.

And so that's why I expect you
to work.

Yes.

Joe: This was sold to someone
in the building.

They offered me
less than what I wanted.

So I asked
for another 50 dollars

and they said, "Oh, fine."

I think they might have
even paid more,

but they paid a good price.

- Yeah, they would have.
- A very good price.

And that was my first sale.

To say your "first sale"
is like,

you know, you're a beginner,
and everybody...

You, you're... This is the big
art hotel, place, and this...

Susan Kleinsinger,
aka Susan K

is really one of the few people
who do art in this building.

What do you think?
I mean, who else does?

- Your neighbor, I won't say...
- I'd be a painter.

A couple of people still paint.

What?

A couple of people still paint.

I mean, there are a lot
of people going around...

saying they're artists,
but they don't do art.

And then comes the question
of "What is art?"

(bell tolling)

Man: Mr. Cole, what do you
think of modern art?

Yes. Modern art is gone.

No more modern art.

Man: What's wrong
with modern art?

What's wrong with modern art?

Everything. (chuckles)

(electronic music playing)

Merle: See now,
we're going faster.

That's what happens,
you keep going.

Training, training.
That's what my work is about.

Keeping at it, going faster.
It's the same down here.

(electronic music playing)

Eighteen, nineteen, twenty...
Faster it becomes.

It becomes faster, faster,
faster. Faster.

(electronic music playing)

Skye: Of the hotel that isn't
and is in Chelsea,

the residents say to me
on the stairs,

"How long do you think
you'll stay?"

I say, I couldn't say.

The old ones rarely look me
in the eye, but I am seen.

And they will answer me
the same,

as if it had been scripted,
"You know, you'll never leave."

I do.

- (door knocking)
- Merle: Skye?

(pop music playing)

- Skye: It's never locked.
- I didn't see the number. Okay.

Skye: Here, let me help you
with that.

Merle: Thanks. Okay.

Is it cool in here?
A little heavier.

Skye: I can cool you down.

Merle: Oh. Let me see. Can you?

Oh, shit.
Can I get through here?

Yeah. Just.

Here, let me help you.

Merle: Oh, damn,
it's complicated.

Skye: Have you
ever choreographed slapstick?

Merle: No. I don't...
I can't deal with the heat.

Skye: Look at me. Perfect,
perfect.

Don't worry about the hands.
It's going to be from here up.

- Chin down.
- Okay. Okay.

- Oh, really, from here up?
- Skye: From here up.

Do you want me
to sculpt your breasts?

- I can sculpt your breasts.
- (chuckles)

Skye: But I was going
to do it from here up.

Oh, sorry. I sculpt the breast.
That's fine.

Skye: Okay, put your chin down
and turn like that.

Skye: I pay the rent
with my performances

of making art
instead of art itself.

I'm very good
at making flourishes

and gestures of the arm.

Unwinding to a flick, a twist,
a scissoring of the wrist.

My pliers squeak.
I do not oil them on purpose.

- I know you can take direction.
- Oh, yeah.

Skye: (chuckles) I mean,

you're a dancer,
you should be able to.

I have directed, yes.

Skye: I think there
was scientific study

that if you look
in someone's eyes

for four minutes,

you'll fall in love
like a stranger,

you'll fall in love
with a stranger.

Is it still art
if no one sees it?

Or just potential art
until it's owned?

"It's just
junk until it sells,"
said my father once.

It's a wonder I haven't managed
to lose everything.

A few missed payments,
and there it goes.

I'm only alive when I pay.

Would New York disappear
if we stopped paying rent?

To breathe?

One day, I may stop paying.
For just long enough.

So were you lucky enough

to have good dancers
in your companies?

- Fantastic.
- Skye: Yeah?

I had one man, as I said,
Keith Lee,

he was with
the American Ballet Theatre.

Skye: Yeah.

- I had my own style, of course.
- Skye: Yes.

But I was interested in dancers
that had varied backgrounds.

- Skye: That had what?
- Varied backgrounds.

- Skye: Okay.
- Ballet dance and jazz.

Skye: Yeah.

Because I wanted
to be very open in working,

you know, but when I started
the dance thing,

there wasn't that much...

- Skye: Yep.
- ...connection.

Ballet and modern,
it was sort of like division.

- Now, everybody is together.
- Skye: Right.

I always felt
that the best modern dancers

have a ballet background.

- That's right. Give structure.
- Skye: A foundation.

I'm just getting
into your hair now.

This is the point
in the sculpture

where it's abstraction.

I always like that part

when there's an abstract moment
in the figurative.

The known lines
and the unknown lines.

I may have shaved a couple
of years off.

Wire can only capture
so many lines.

- You mean in my face?
- Skye: Yes.

- (chuckles)
- Skye: But I got your tooth.

Oh.

(mid-tempo music playing)

Gina: Hello?

Merle: Hi, Gina, it's Merle,
how are you?

Where are you working
these days,

what are you doing?

(Gina speaks indistinctly
through phone)

Merle: Anyhow, I may try it out,

because, you know, I'm trying
to get some new things going.

Oh, look at this. Wow.

Exciting.

Yeah, I've been looking
at some of our old pictures.

You know that?
You're still on some photos

- that I have. Yeah.
- Gina: Oh, yeah?

Merle: Because you were
in my old pieces,

remember?

Yes, I'm coming along,

I'm even thinking of eventually
maybe doing some dance thing.

I don't know, I'm working
on something. You know?

Get my body good.

You think
Givenchy might be interested?

- (fan whirring)
- (soft music playing)

Zoe: Stop. Hey.

Oh, you play
that you don't hear?

Anyway, I will make you hear.

(scoffs)

Nine to 17, it's eight hours.

They shouldn't be on the hoist,
I don't care.

Enough is enough.

I don't think
it has anything to do

except with common sense.

And if people don't have
common sense,

you cannot give it to them.

It's... you know,
it doesn't matter.

You don't need to be a PhD
to have common sense.

Stop. Stop. Stop.

Come on.

"Please show respect."

At five o'clock,
I want to be sure

that nobody is bothering me.

Yeah, well, there's not much
you can do about it.

Zoe: Enough is enough, right?
For eight hours.

Unless you make a big noise,

there's nothing you can do
about it.

Zoe: The truth is that I like
when the hoist is moving

because we need to finish
this building. Don't we?

What do you think, my darling?

Nick: We need to finish
the building.

(chuckles)
And what is your prognosis?

- Nick: Two more years.
- No.

I hope not.

That's good.
That's a nice amount.

- All right, here it is.
- All right. Thanks.

Oh, the people who own it now,
they took on a big project.

(piano music playing)

Not only did they take
on a big project,

but they took on project
with a personality

that's like... (clears throat)
...a dragon sometimes.

Really, just dealing
with lawsuits

and nasty people...

I know that I told a tenant
who insulted me in the lobby

and who lives
somewhere up there,

when he told us
that our settlement is garbage,

and I don't want to say
the other word.

- Nick: Right.
- And our lawyer is, I mean,

this type of people,
how dare they?

Nick: I have to say that some
of these very cruel tenants,

they may be winning
their individual battles,

but in the long run,

they're going to lose
their wars.

Zoe: I don't know what they
are winning really.

Well, they extend the misery.

Zoe: The harassment?
I never thought...

They don't care, they don't care

that they walk through
a gruesome lobby

with plywood floors and dust

and corridors that look
like hell

because their apartment
was renovated.

So they just put it behind them.

They don't care,
and they have an abatement.

And the longer it takes,

the longer they have
an abatement.

Zoe: I was thinking about
something else, it's about...

This thing of living
in your own mind

and being important.

I think that some people
like to say,

"Oh, I live
in the famous Chelsea."

"But you know, the building
is still... Oh, it's terrible!"

"But we, the artists,
we still live there."

"And you can see,
but look how it looks."

And this becomes live theatre
and important.

And instead of talking
about something important,

we are talking about
what we shouldn't be talking

because the building
should be done.

(chuckles) Oh, God.

When it opens,
it remains to be seen

what the reality will be
of the Association, but...

Zoe: I think that in reality,

I should receive
a generic little diploma

in which to say,
"Thank you very much

for all your work of eight years
or nine years."

Of course, it won't happen.

When everything is done
and the building is open

and the restaurants are open,

you are going to invite me
downstairs

- for a glass of wine.
- Nick: Oh, yeah.

Man: I don't wanna think
about it.

Woman: (laughs) You're not
the first to say that.

- Cheers. Yay.
- Skye: To art.

- To art.
- To art.

Skye: There is a myth

I'm at once conscious
of perpetuating,

perhaps as the son
of an ad man

as well as being hell-bent
on dispelling it.

This is the gap between
the artist and the viewer,

the audience, the collector.

They want the artist
to be serious,

to have a reason
or to assign one.

They want intent,
intent to have a future.

(mid-tempo music playing)

Skye: I loved Yaelle,
because in spite

of all my contrary arguments
to this point,

she forces me to live the myth.

If only for a few short hours
that I'm with her,

I almost never want to sculpt
before we start.

And with Yaelle,
l have often wondered

if it's just the spool
that lay between us.

But the spool is there,
and so I work, that's the play.

And she's an actress,
but moreover knows

that I'm a sucker
for a good story.

She understands
I'd rather write than sculpt,

and so she feeds me
what I want the most.

Intention is irrelevant,
passion comes and goes.

Portrait of Christine.

We made our first portrait
in a cheap hotel room.

She arrived
and I was too exhausted

to pick up my pliers.

She was already undressed
and she didn't
have the strength

to put her clothes back on.

There was massage, my hands,
her body...

I asked about her bruises
on her knees.

"It's a booty club,"
she repeated.

"All we do is twerk."

I knew she was a dancer,
but I assumed a stage,

a pole and a bar like all
the others I knew

and liked and sculpted
from time to time.

I only have the scene

that they describe to me
to go by...

and the pose we choose
becomes an answer.

(soft music playing)

(thudding)

(whirring)

(Zoe playing piano)

Merle: I'm coming through.
Can they move, please?

Can he move?
I have to go to the elevator.

- Okay.
- Merle: Thank you very much.

There is something
on the floor, be careful.

I don't know
if I can get through. Okay.

Push that over here.
Thanks very much.

(man talking indistinctly)

(elevator bell dings)

- Stanley: Good morning, John.
- Hello, Stanley.

- What is it again? The rollers?
- The rollers went out.

I'm going to take over your job.

I already know it's the rollers
when that happens.

- My pleasure, go right ahead.
- All right.

The story about these elevators,

when I first came here
as a baby,

we had manual lifts.

They were old with gates,
the old elevators.

And we had a bell captain

that worked for my father
for 30 years

that used to do the elevators,

and he told me I was such
a pain when I was a kid.

My greatest pleasure
was to have him ride me

up and down,
up and down all day.

Otherwise, I wouldn't
stay still. (chuckles)

Photographers love this view,
you know. And we had Madonna,

Mariah Carey also
on these stairs doing video.

(indistinct clamoring)

- (horn blaring in distance)
- (metals clanking)

(tires screeching)

(indistinct chatter)

(dog barking)

- Okay, come in.
- (barking)

Steve: I'm Steve Willis.
I've lived in the Hotel Chelsea

since 1994.

You know, Stanley always
had stars in his eyes

when it came to celebrities
in the building.

And because I was associated

with bringing
Mariah Carey in here,

I think he attached
a little stardust to me,

and asked if I wanted
to have an apartment.

We landed on this apartment.

At the time,
it was a one bedroom,

currently
it's a studio apartment.

That happened recently.

I don't know
what you want to call it,

but since
all the changes started,

and Stanley was, you know,
taken from his position,

ousted. We've had lawyers,
it has been a court battle.

But for a long time,
I felt like I was witnessing

a slow-motion rape
of this building.

Like something brutal like
a rape that is upsetting.

And now I'm like,
yeah, you raped her.

I'm not watching it anymore,
I'm not participating.

I'll show up in court and say
I saw it happen, but that's it.

The last straw was giving up
a big chunk

of my apartment here,
Janis Joplin's suite, 411.

I gave up the bedroom,
the bathroom,

and the kitchen and entry hall.

This is what makes me saddest,

is to see the blue color that
I painted in my old bedroom.

That's the last,
that's the last of it.

This door led
into the living room.

This door led into the bathroom.

This is where the stove was.

You can see I did not bother
to move

the stove to paint this color,

but you can still see
the grease.

This is the burner
I used the most.

So I was able to save these.

Toothbrush, soap dish,
they were up next to the sink,

the bathroom was right here.

Janis Joplin may have
put a toothbrush in here,

used the soap.

No, she probably
didn't use the soap,

from what I know
about Janis Joplin.

One of the things
that really kept me

fighting for the apartment

was sort of the fight that
I have for the whole building

which is to preserve
original features.

You know, I wanted
this apartment to be

an island of, you know,
something that

stayed true to the history
of the Chelsea, as I knew it.

There's one apartment

that is in the building
that is original from
the 1890s.

And I've seen it,
and it's so gorgeous.

And it really, like,
makes you think,

what happened? Why? Why?
When was this ever not okay?

When did we think there was
something we needed to do

to change this beautiful work
some architect did, you know?

(classical music playing)

We are now on the ninth floor
of the Chelsea Hotel.

If I were to choose one floor...

which represents probably
the longest residing tenants

in the hotel, I would probably
choose the ninth floor.

On the other side
of the hallway, the corridor,

we have Virgil Thomson.

Virgil: A hotel is not a club.

You see people in the elevator,
and you bow,

you have no idea who they are.

And later, somebody tells you
that this was Miss Janis Joplin,

or the authors of Hair,

or somebody very famous
like that.

I have no way of knowing
who they are

- and I can't ask them.
- Interviewer: Do you like

- the idea of living in a hotel?
- What?

Interviewer: Do you like
the idea of living in a hotel?

What do you mean
"The idea of living in a hotel"?

- Interviewer: Well, I mean...
- Is living in a hotel an idea?

Good afternoon and welcome.

My name is Bernard Lias.
Room 822, Chelsea Hotel.

- (indistinct chatter)
- (guitar music playing)

♪♪ I'm caught by
Your golden chains ♪♪

♪♪ They've taken my world away ♪♪

♪♪ I'm living in a castle
But I can't breathe ♪♪

♪♪ Surrounded by pearls
And a watch I don't need ♪♪

♪♪ Oh, my honey
Oh, my honey ♪♪

♪♪ Love me as hard as you can
Buy me with your money ♪♪

♪♪ You're such a fool ♪♪

♪♪ A perfect tool
A fool, a fool! ♪♪

- (crowd cheer)
- (indistinct chatter)

I will still be a sec.

Tell Michael
I'll be up in a few minutes.

Woman: I found them in
the waiting rooms.

Man 1: They're waiting for you.

We gonna get beer and food.

- See you on up there.
- (Woman speaks indistinctly)

(band vocalizing)

♪♪ I'm just a little bit
Tired of it, baby ♪♪

Hello? Hi. You're downstairs?
Okay. Come on up.

- (soft music playing)
- (indistinct chatter)

- (girls talking indistinctly)
- (chuckles)

Woman: Once there was
a little bunny.

He was all alone.

One day, he found an egg.

He could hear something moving
inside the egg.

What was it?

Maybe a little boy?

Maybe another bunny?

Maybe an elephant.

Who could tell
what he would find?

And how would
a little bunny know?

But there was something
inside that egg.

Open your eyes.

Then the bunny pushed the egg
with his foot.

He jumped on top of the egg

and he climbed a tree
and threw nuts at it.

But still, it didn't break,
and whatever was in the egg

didn't come out.

(sighs)

The egg was very quiet.

Inside the egg, said the duck,

I thought I was all alone
in a small, dark world.

And now I find myself alone
with a bunny

in a big, bright world.

Such beautiful illustrations.

(man inhales deeply)

(exhales)

Woman: I don't want to be alone.

Love you.

Love you, love you.

Leave you, love you, leave you,
love you, leave you, love you.

Merle: You know,
I hate this monster.

I'm going to put this over here.

I don't wanna see it, I hate it.
What do you remember?

Go up and show me
what you remember.

Okay. Yeah. Now come back down.

You see, when people walk
and you'll see ghosts,

when they walk, they're sort
of being mesmerized.

They're being pulled.

Moving just like
you're in space, you know?

That's nice. That's great.

Just take your time,
you're just like...

(exhales) You know.
Ah, take me back.

Just do what you have to, okay?

Float more, don't step so much.
I mean, step, but kinda...

Okay, I can show you.
Here we go. Here, I can walk up.

I've spent
all those physiotherapy, I...

Watch, just a minute,
I'll show you what I did.

Okay, it was beautiful.

Okay, you sort of went
like this.

You kind of moved
like this, right?

And then you sort of...

You could... Oh, I know what,

you were coming down
with your hand.

- Uh-huh.
- Do you remember that?

(dramatic music playing)

(indistinct chatter)

- (child squealing)
- (indistinct chatter)

Hi, there. Who are you?

Man: We're in the middle of
a dance performance here, so...

(indistinct chatter)

- (eerie music playing)
- (woman shushing)

(dramatic music playing)

We're not people, we are ghosts.

As if you were in a dream
or something.

(dramatic music intensifies)

(dramatic music continues)

Rose: Come back. Come back.

My dear, my only friend,
come back.

We'll forget the whole thing.

Be brave. Nothing is lost.

Come back. Come back.

Aren't we ever going
to live together again?

Yours for the rest
of my life, Rimbaud.

For me, the question
of why to make art

is a big
and challenging question.

Because it comes
from a desire to share,

and to give something
that's free.

If you want to make art,
you make art.

If you want to create,
you create.

You find your way.
It doesn't depend on how much

or how little money you have.

And also, you know,
I've spent years doing this,

finding my way to be free
within my restrictions.

So now, many years later,
having a way to talk about this

and having lived through it,
I wanted to re-engage with it

and to share it
with a new generation.

So I must stay
and fight for a while.

- (indistinct chatter)
- (swords clanking)

- There.
- Man: Try again.

What did you have for breakfast?

- Woman: A bagel with butter...
- Man: I had the egg.

- Woman: ...and jam.
- Man: You didn't have the egg.

Okay.

This is your
great grandmother's recipe.

- Really?
- Mm-hmm.

- Mm. Sappho?
- Woman: Yes, Sappho.

Man: Oh, yeah.
Oh, that's from the Met.

Woman: Yes.

- I know that sculpture.
- I don't know,

that's... Rodin did it.

Well, you did that.
But who did that,

that was Rodin's piece?

That's pretty.

- That's not...
- Is that all from the MET?

That's Rodin.

Man: Okay.

Also, create movement.

Woman: Mama is returning late
tomorrow.

Oh, really? Okay.

Woman: Yeah,
she's returning at...

- What time?
- Woman: Nine or ten.

Man: That's fine.
More time with you then.

- What?
- Man: We have more time

to spend together.

Woman: Mm-hmm.

Man: Okay. All right.

The fields...

Woman: I would like
to go to Normandy.

Man: It's really beautiful,
near Honfleur.

Who lived there?
Baudelaire lived there,

Satie, Erik Satie lived there.
Um...

- Woman: Did Rimbaud live there?
- I don't know about Rimbaud.

It's a backscratcher.

Not to me, it ain't. (chuckles)

Yeah.

'52 was when this was edited.

He died in '53.

These are all the poems
that they wrote?

This is many of the poems,
but these...

These are all the poems,
this is the table of contents.

"Do Not Go Gentle
into That Good Night."

- What page?
- One-twenty-nine.

Let's find that.
It'd be nice to read it here.

I wonder what room he lived in.

"Do not go gentle
into that good night,

old age should burn
and rave at close of day."

- "Rage, rage against..."
-Man: "Rage, rage against..."

-the dying of the light."
-...the dying of the light."

Man: ♪♪ ...Though wise men at
Their end know dark is right ♪♪

♪♪ Because their words
Had forked no lightning they ♪♪

♪♪ Do not go gentle
Into that good night ♪♪

♪♪ Good men, the last wave by
Crying how bright ♪♪

♪♪ Their frail deeds might
Have danced in a green bay ♪♪

♪♪ Rage, rage against
The dying of the light ♪♪

♪♪ Wild men who caught
And sang the sun in flight ♪♪

♪♪ And learn, too late
They grieved it on its way ♪♪

♪♪ Do not go gentle
Into that good night ♪♪

- Woman: What is the password?
- Merle: Hello.

Woman: "Oh, hello"
could be anybody.

- (opera song plays in distance)
- Woman: Okay.

Madame, you took
a long time to arrive.

Merle: I wanna ask
you something.

Woman: Okay, ask me something.

Merle: Gorgeous.
You're so gorgeous.

- Woman: Well, I dress for...
- I wanted to bring a plant.

Would you tell me what you like
and I'll get a plant for you.

- You'll get a plant for me.
- For New Year's.

- All right?
- Woman: Okay.

- I wanted to do that.
- Woman: Okay.

- You want to do that. Okay.
- I want to do that, yes.

- All right, come on.
- Come on.

- Come on. I'll greet you.
- Let's go. Let's go.

- Woman: Hello. Welcome.
- Hello.

- Okay. Welcome, my dear.
- Woman: Welcome.

- Okay, keep on going.
- Keep on going.

- Just a moment. I guess...
- Man: Do I hear Merle?

I guess you got a...

Man: Come on in, Merle.

- Roll over.
- You got a gift.

- Oh, okay.
- Man: I'm loving that jacket.

You like it?
It's pretty cool, right?

Woman: And you were angry
and you were screaming and...

Yes. Well, not quite, almost.
But I did, you know, a drama.

Drama, yes, you are
a drama queen. Yes, and?

They realized that.

We have a lot of drama queens
in the Chelsea.

(chuckles)

- Well, the whole building...
- Welcome...

- ...is a drama.
- ...to the club. Oh, I like it.

Oh, I love it.

- May I give you this?
- Merle: Yes, you may.

Thank you, madame.

Woman: I will give you
some more and...

- Beautiful.
- Woman: You see there is more,

you can have more,
but I want to be sure

- that you eat everything, okay?
- Merle: Yes. That's right.

I think Chelsea is the product
of New York City

and the culture.
That's why it is what it is.

Woman: For this reason
you like it so much

that you never decided
to leave it.

Man: It's a stand-alone
example of...

Woman: You fitted perfectly.
Obviously.

Man: It's a stand-alone example
of bohemianism.

Yeah.

So, you want to know why you're
having the issues you're having?

- Woman: No, I don't.
- No, you don't?

Woman: No, I don't,
because I know everybody.

Man: I think we know why.

We have people
who were offered a new bathroom

because they have to go
to the bathroom

down the hall,
and the person said "No."

Suddenly, the landlord said,
"What are you talking about?"

"Don't you want a bathroom
in your apartment?"

And the person said,

"Well, you can put a bathroom
in my new apartment

that I'm not paying for,
as long as you clean it."

(scoffs) The audacity,
the audacity

of some of these people.

So this is why
we're getting back together

because those people
have held us up.

- They've probably held us up...
- Woman: Four years.

- And I wanna tell you...
- Man: We'll leave it at that.

No. The people that came here,
all the druggies

and the whores
and the drug people...

- Man: What about them?
- No. They created this joint.

- Man: Exactly.
- No, and that's why...

Man: And Stanley invited
them in.

And this is how
he based his success.

- Merle: What?
- Woman: They are still the...

The energy will not change
even when they fix this up.

I know directly
from the ownership

that what happened
during Stanley time here

is not going to happen again.

These people
have other buildings.

And I've never heard,
I've never read in any newspaper

that their buildings
are full of drugs

and whores, okay?

- No, I don't think...
- Man: This is the only way

to do it.
You might as well do it right.

I don't think changing
the hotel...

I mean,
it's going to be lovely...

But you're going to attract
the same kind of people.

No, no, no. I think that
we talk different languages.

Someone told me,
a friend of mine, he said,

"The reason the building
isn't being finished..."

He felt the spirits
or the energy that is here.

He's not talking
about people living here.

He talked
about the whole gestalt of it.

They don't want it finished.
There's energy in the building.

- Woman: (chuckles) Really?
- Merle: No?

- You don't think so?
- Woman: No, not at all.

That's Alice in Wonderland,
okay?

That's really
Alice in Wonderland, my dear.

(eerie music playing)

(chuckles)

Woman: ♪♪ Can you hear me? ♪♪

♪♪ Can you see me? ♪♪

♪♪ Are you near me?
Are you near me? ♪♪

♪♪ Please come be near me now ♪♪

Doli: Hey, kid.
It's your little Doli.

I have no idea where you are.
I miss you already.

Love you, love you,
love you and let's talk.

Voice assist: To respond,
press 2. Message saved.

Woman: The day that you died,

you brought over
these three stuffed animals.

And you put them down beside me
and didn't say anything.

I didn't know why or what.
But I just accepted them.

(whispering) They can't hear
what I'm saying, but you can.

Leave you, love you, leave you,
love you, leave you, love you.

My bunny boy.

(chirping)

Woman: (whispering) And no one
was ever alone again.

Thank you, kid.
You are all I got.

I am you, I hope you are me.

Man: I love you.

Always...

Woman: Always and forever.

(somber music playing)

Woman: We're born originals
and die copies.

This is for you, Doli.

This is who you are.

Man: And the survivor,
bound in filial obligation

for some time
to do obsequious sorrow.

To obseq... But to pres...
But to...

These are the wrong glasses,
that's why you can't read this.

These are
those distance glasses.

You need the other glasses.
I just realized.

- Yes. Reading glasses.
- Oh, yeah.

You're such a vital spirit.

(somber music continues)

Can you see it now?
Can you see this work?

My name is Bettina.

I'm the oldest person
in the building.

Everybody else
was paid to leave.

And they did not offer me
any money to go.

So I'm thinking they prefer
maybe to kill me, because...

because they didn't offer me
anything to please go,

therefore...

They do things
to frighten me out.

Capito?

(upbeat music
playing in distance)

Are you coming?

- (distant horn blaring)
- (indistinct clamor)

- (indistinct chatter)
- (dramatic music playing)

Bettina: I walked
all over the city.

With my camera, and...

tripod and tracks,

and that's why I'm so strong,
by the way. I'm pretty strong.

Because I'm working
every second...

therefore
I cannot have children.

But children
were never important.

Because I need one hundred
percent concentration.

If you saw a building
doing this,

would you rather sleep
or shoot it?

I have to prepare
for the next exhibition,

which will be in Hamburg,
Germany.

And after that,
I will be in Paris.

It's better than a man,
I can tell you that.

"Its spirit goes with me
wherever I go."

(elevator bell dings)

Bettina: "To nourish the heart,
replenish the soul."

"It wants to live forever."

"Deep in my mind."

(horn blaring)

Bettina: "...So I may show
the world that
which is divine."

(melancholic music playing)

(melancholic music intensifies)

(soft music playing)

♪♪ Do you know
How long did I plan ♪♪

♪♪ To stay in this room ♪♪

♪♪ I thought I knew ♪♪

♪♪ Chelsea ♪♪

♪♪ Chelsea Hotel ♪♪

♪♪ Chelsea ♪♪

♪♪ Chelsea Hotel ♪♪