King of the Gypsies (1978) - full transcript

Maybe my life would
have turned out different

in the olden days before private property.

There was always a farmer
to lend a field to camp in.

Gypsies were free to roam.

They didn't pay taxes,

their name wasn't in some damn computer.

Hell, you couldn't even find them.

One-fifty. One-sixty.

One-seventy. Four-eighty.

One-ninety. Four-eighty.

Two-hundred. Four-eighty.



Two-twenty-five.

It was better.

Maybe I was born too late.

But who gets to pick when they're born?

Or pick their mother and father?

The biggest decision in your life,

and nobody even gets
to say anything about it.

But all the rest of
your life you live with it.

Or fight it.

Hey, how much is that?

My mother.

Get her out of sight.

Go on, Rose, hide. You're not here.

Get the kids out of the way.



What's going on?

Well, good afternoon.

And whose, whose
Gypsies are these here?

He don't get out of that car. You're a kid.

Don't even wanna talk?

You don't wanna try to work this thing out?

I paid you 4,500 dollars.

And I never said a word even
though no woman is worth that.

Rose is.

Yeah.

Yeah, Rose is special.

You want your money back?

You made a bargain.

A bargain?

I must have been drunk!

I probably was drunk.

Rose stays here. She ain't ready to marry.

All right then, I want a trial.

She hates him.

Since when did "like or not like"

have anything to do with marriage?

Did I say "like"?

I said she hates him.

All right, we let the old men decide.

So, Spiro Giorgio here says that

because his daughter don't like my son

he's gonna dump on 2,000
years like it was so much dog shit,

then I say you've got
to rule him out of order.

All right. Tell him.

Show it to him. Sure.

This Zharko Stepanowicz,

he likes to talk like he's a big man.

He's just taking our
money like it's tribute.

He got no respect for Gypsies.

The Stepanowicz's give Gypsies a bad name.

Yeah. Come on.

I'll give him back half the price he paid.

Now, isn't that fair?

Stepanowicz, I'm talking to you.

Twenty-five hundred I give you back.

And you stay out of New
York and Eastern Pennsylvania.

Spiro sold her to us. That's right.

He sold her to us and now he wants her back

so he can sell her again. Yeah.

That's why you keep her
where she's still a virgin.

Tell me if I'm wrong.

You should tremble in your
soul for telling lies like that!

Your son is a pig.

Your wife is a pig.

And my daughter's gonna marry better.

I told my son that if he beats up on her

I will personally kill him.

You can't ask fairer than that.

We'll drain your blood little by little,

and end all this talk about you being king

and trying to conquer all our tribes.

Hey, kid.

Stop worrying, we'll get her.

She don't like me.

How does she know what she likes?

How do you know what you
like? These things take years.

Her father says she hates...

Don't interrupt your father.

You act like a 6-year-old.

Breaking into the conversation,
saying any goddamned thing

comes into your head.

She doesn't like me.
What am I supposed to do?

- What are you supposed to do?
- What am I?

You're supposed to work
together and make a life.

The rest comes later.

All right, she's got a
great little ass on her,

dances like a doll.

Kid talks like, "I die for love."

Life ain't like that.

She don't like me.

We thought it over very careful,

and we bended over to be fair to you.

Giorgi gonna pay you back 2,500 dollars,

you stay out of his territory,
New York, Eastern Pennsylvania,

and stop calling yourself
king of all the Gypsies.

You're the king of Stepanowicz.

That's all.

Right. That's right.

I wanna thank you very, very much.

Well, ain't this just great?

I'm a man of my words.

I'm a man who believes in the old ways.

You got a right to your opinion.

But let me say one thing, one thing.

If you start putting the feelings of a girl

ahead of the law,

then you're in for one
hell of a lot of trouble.

And the day will come when you're gonna say

that King Zharko Stepanowicz,
he was one goddamn fine man.

And he put his faith in our judgment,

and what did we do? We fucked him

like a three-dollar whore
and he never yelled once.

Now you've done it, you made him mad.

Animal!

What's the matter with you?

You're still the king, we
know you're still the king.

Get going.

Oh, my God, you ran over
Rui Ilanovitch. I saw you do it.

Everything's gonna be all
right. You know, you're a fine girl.

You're a credit to our family.

So even before I was born,
I was already in trouble.

Amen.

Amen.

Look at that boy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hey, look at that boy.

Hey, listen to that yell.
Like a bear. Like a king.

Zharko Stepanowicz,

king of New York and Eastern Pennsylvania

had a grandson, so the Gypsies had a party.

My mother, now that she
had a son in the line of kings,

didn't have to take no more
crap from Queen Rachel.

The Gypsies celebrated anything.

Any excuse for a party,
dance, have a few laughs,

get drunk and fight.

My father was always going too far.

But with Zharko always
treating him like a fool,

he'd get drunk and
crazy and act like a fool.

We kept moving, living
the independent life,

like Gypsies have for a
couple of thousand years.

Taking care of ourselves.

We didn't need nobody else.

We didn't need doctors,

not for the simple things
like the birth of a child.

Hey, Groffo, where are we?

Outside Chicago.

He says Chicago.

We'd just pull over and wait.

So you got no birth certificate,

which ain't bad when there's a war on,

because then you only got Gypsies to swear

to when and where you was born.

It's a girl.

You wanna see her?

A Gypsy kid, if by the time he's five,

he don't know when his
parents are telling him lies,

they figure he's a retard.

They want their kids smart and tough.

And they loved girl kids.

Girls are the money makers.

We had a yearly route on the road,

starting spring in New Jersey.

The Gypsies visit the
spirits of their families

in the cemeteries there.

Then we move on through the Midwest,

where the people was ignorant

and believed in fortune telling.

Tried to hit Florida for
the winter racing season.

But things was changing for the Gypsies.

Before they would have traded horses

and fixed copper pots.

But not a lady gets a hole in her pot,

she heaves it out the window.

When they invented aluminum,

they should have had a
Gypsy funeral right there.

Welfare was putting
pressure on the settled Gypsies

to get the kids in school.

Police was cracking
down on fortune telling.

And the little towns wasn't friendly.

My mother got a storefront in New York,

where the people was
ignorant but had more money.

She purified it of the gadjos
that might've slept there.

She wasn't looking for
no two-dollar fortunes.

You don't get rich doing that.

You look for the big score.

I know, dear, I can see.

It's like you forget how to breathe.

You think if you don't
stop and think every breath,

if you let yourself go and you fall asleep,

you're gonna stop
breathing and never wake up.

Is that right?

My God, you know how it is.

And your heart, your
heart's pounding inside

of your ribs like some
kind of bird dying in a cage

and you're scared.

You think you're gonna die this minute,

and nobody's even gonna
know. Now, is that right?

I got no one at home now, they're all away.

Told you.

I feel like I got this
thing growing inside me.

And it's gonna grow
and it's gonna choke you

unless we stop what's causing it.

Now, is that right? That's right.

Now, I told you what it's about.

I told you that it's the curse
on your ex-husband's money

in the bank. He put it on to poison you.

Now, we've been all
through this, Ivy, haven't we?

How many times you been
coming? How many weeks I see you?

How do I get rid of it?

Okay. You gotta take a shovel
to the graveyard at midnight

and then you bury the money with him.

That's the curse.

Usually you got to be naked.

I have to be naked?

Usually, yes.

I couldn't do that.

Look, it don't make no difference to me,

I don't got nothing growing inside of me,

but you come here with your problems,

and you ask for my help
and then you don't take it.

Now, do you believe the spirits

are trying to help you through me?

Do you believe I'm trying to do you good?

Are you going to listen to what I tell you?

Did you bring me an egg from your house?

Is this an egg that you
brought from your own home?

An egg that is wrapped
in your own kerchief?

All right, give it to me now,
I'm gonna explain this to you.

If this evil, God forbid,
is the evil of the spirits,

then there's nothing I can
do about it, you understand?

You can't hold this against me

because it is bigger than all of us

and I can't help you.

But, now excuse me for saying this,

if it is from somewhere else,
through jealousy through hatred,

through something like this,

then with the spirit's
help, I can help you.

So what we are going to do now,

I'm going to rub this egg
on you. Come here. Here.

I'm going to make a sign,
and any good or any evil

that is inside you will be in this egg.

Rub it on your stomach.

That's it. Now you take this egg,

hold it in your hand and
you say what I tell you to say.

I destroy my bad luck.

I destroy my bad luck.

I bury my bad luck.

I bury my bad luck.

I break my bad luck.

I break my bad luck.

Now break the egg.

Break it.

Break the egg.

Now let me see what is in there.

Spit on it, Ivy.

What is it? Your bad luck.

This's the curse on
you. Spit on it, spit on it.

Go ahead. I cannot help you, Ivy,

if you're not gonna do what I say.

Get this evil. Spit on it.

Again.

We're very lucky. This means
that I can help you now, Ivy,

with the spirits' help.

All you have to do is do what I say.

You're gonna take your money
and bury it at the graveyard?

Will you do it for me?

Oh, I don't know if I can do that.

I don't know. I have children.
I have to protect my children.

This is very bad evil I've seen here, Ivy.

This is very strong. I
don't know if I can do that.

I'll bring the money, but
can't go to the graveyard.

You poor thing.

You bring me the money.
With God's help I will go

and I will bury it for you.

My mother was a famous

bajour woman admired in Gypsy circles.

But my father just drove
her here, there, wherever.

Like a chauffeur.

May I help you, madam? Madam?

Hi. Madam?

Madam?

Madam?

Mr. Kessler. Mr. Tomlin, please.

Yes.

May I, May I help you, please?

Yes. I'm looking for something
to bring back to my mother

in Argentina. A present.

Something in gold? Or perhaps

a lovely pearl bracelet? Or some earrings?

A diamond.

This solitaire is an older
stone and has never been recut.

It is brilliant, but it
won't have its true fire

until it's, recut in a popular fashion.

That's why it seems less
bright next to this one here.

Thank you, Mr. Tomlin.

At, at 65, at $65,000,
this is very fairly priced.

The other, I would...

I would suggest having it
recut before you bought it.

Unless of course you like
it because its old fashioned,

in which case it's a good buy too.

I don't know, I,

Would you like some coffee?

Do you have some Columbian
or Viennese blend in a café filter?

No, I'm afraid we have only Maxwell House.

I could not drink it.
Dave, my love, sit still.

But I have to go to the bathroom.

Oh, Dave, always at the wrong time.

I can't help it.

Dave.

I want a drink of water.

Oh, Dave, all right...

No fair, you get whatever you want.

All right, perhaps you could get him...

I wanna go home.

Mr. Tomlin, would you
fetch a glass of water?

Please, now, Dave. No,
no, no, come with mama.

Oh, my goodness, Dave.

Please. Please now. Wait a minute.

Darling.

Madam, madam!

He's very strong, no? Mr. Tomlin!

Oh, please. Davy, my dove, my sweetheart.

Don't get so excited, you're
making the man very upset.

Dave, don't kick there. You mustn't.

Oh, look what the nice man brought you.

Here. Look, look, look.

Thank you very much.

Here. That's it.

Come this way. Very slowly.

That's it. Slowly, slowly.

That's good now.

Remember what the doctor
told us, not to get so excited.

There.

Is all right?

Good. Then we'll go home now.

Mama can come back another day.

Thank you so much. Excuse me.

Did you notice the solitaire?

Perhaps, it fell on the
floor when you got up?

Oh, no.

Oh, my heavens, you mean it's not here?

Are you sure? Have you gone through these?

Yes, I have... Thank you. We'll do that.

Thank you. Well, all right.

Very well, then we'll go. Come on, my love.

Madam.

Madam. You said your
name was Gomez-Kenonez?

Kenonez.

I'm afraid I have to ask you to stay

until we can get some identification.

You want what?

It's too late.

I told you.

Call the police.

Now we're gonna find
what the hell's going on.

Now you got her in here some place.

I don't know, we're gonna find out.

Go this way.

Down this hall. Come on.

You guys make up your mind
yet? You gonna file charges?

Did you see her take it?

No, but I'm sure that she did.

Did you do a body search?

Yeah, you bastards,
what about my rights?

Hey, Mr. K, you know Julius Levy,

lawyer, 33rd Street and Lexington Avenue?

He's gonna sue your ass
every diamond you got.

You stink. It's okay, honey,

we're gonna go home
soon, don't worry about it.

What is she doing coming into my store

pretending to be someone
else if she isn't stealing?

Did you actually see her take anything?

Oh, there's Dad. There's
your daddy, coming.

Hey, Daddy.

That's it. Hey.

How was it?

Oh, you're wet.

And you, little lady tries to
make five bucks reading cards,

you put five goddamn
detectives on her with guns.

Giving her a bad time.

It ain't us. It's them other Gypsies.

Can't even read the goddamn language.

Zharko, please, let me handle this.

Handle it.

Guys, I got nothing. Absolutely nothing.

And I've already got my quota
of false arrests for this year.

And, I didn't see no diamond.

They got nothing. They got nothing.

I have to press charges.

What happens if I press charges?

Look, you prove she took it or
she can sue you for the store.

I gotta tell you this, maybe it's not fair,

but it's the law.

And if I don't?

I gotta let them go.

Where's my diamond?

I don't know. It's another Gypsy mystery.

Come on, my dove, my sweet. That's it.

My God, you were good today.

You're special like your grandfather?

That's it. You eat this
and I'll tell you a story.

Come on.

The good Jesus, when they
were nailing him to the cross,

the soldiers had four nails.

They had one big long
nail that was for the heart.

But a Gypsy that was there,
he stole the one for the heart,

and everybody, they're looking all around,

they can't find it anywhere

because they can't see what Jesus can see,

that the Gypsy has the nail hid.

So from that day on,
Jesus promised the Gypsies

that they could roam the
world and they could steal.

That was out of his
gratitude for the Gypsies.

Now you eat this, okay? Chew. That's it.

You're special in the line of kings.

I bet you you could wrestle
the devil for his hat?

Mama, no.

Hey, Zharko.

Yeah, look at him, my son.

Has he got the heart of a thief?

Yeah. And that little dingus?

Is that a Stepanowicz?

They're gonna be numb with
fear when they see that swinging

in the wind.

Who got you? Yeah.

No, no.

Davy, Davy, Davy, no. Davy, no, no, no.

Enough's enough, for
Christ's sake, you know?

What do you think
you're doing with the kid?

I loved my mother,

but she couldn't keep him
from knocking us all over

when he was mad or drunk.

And she was scared to leave him.

He got crazy, slapped us around.

My sister and me were
supposed to go out on the street

and sell flowers.

For the American Indians, is what we said.

But sometimes we just
watched the Gadjo kids playing

in their schools and wondered.

Wanna play some basketball?
Come on. Play some basketball.

Hey, don't go away.

Come on, where you going?
Hey, don't go away. Come on.

Where the hell you think you're going?

Gadjo school?

Come on, get across the street.

Get in the car. Get in the car, I said.

Come on, you in the back.

Those kids should be in school.

You mind your own business.

Goddamn son of a bitch,
what the hell you wanna do?

You wanna go to a Gadjo school.

What are you gonna learn in there?

They're gonna beat the hell out of you.

You wanna learn something?
I'll give you a lesson.

Here. Get in here.

Learn how to drive.

You can drive me around
so I can keep my eye on you.

Close the door.

Go on, drive. Put that lever in there.

What is says over here. What is that?

Put it in there. Put it in there!

No, in the next one. In the next one.

Now drive. Go on, drive.

Drive. Smooth. You gotta go smooth.

What the hell you gonna
learn in that school there?

Where the hell you going?
What are you, crazy?

No, no, wait a minute. Go through there.

What are you gonna learn
at school, learn narcotics?

Is that what you want? Be a fucking junkie.

Gypsies don't want no junkie.

Hey, what are you doing?

For crying out loud, stay on the road.

No, red light.

You don't go through the red light.

You slow down for red lights.

Narcotics?

You'll get mixed up in there.

The Gypsies, they ain't mixed up.

Maybe everything goes today.

Would you watch the road there?

The Gypsies still got some pride left.

You understand what I'm
talking to you about?

Pop, please. Do you understand?

It's for your own good. Please.

Jesus Christ. Now look what you did?

Why don't you watch
where you're going?

All right. Goddamn.

What are you talking about?

What do you park your car over here for?

What are you, drunk? Who's drunk?

I'm drunk?

Come on, let's get out of here.

He got a bad name,

and the Gypsies wouldn't talk to him.

Back it up.

There was half that thought
that when the old man died

and he was king, he wouldn't be crazy.

He'd start beating on us.

Even this here.

And the other half,

they thought it was only
gonna be a big disaster.

One thousand, two hundred
and forty three parking tickets.

These are warrants for your arrest.

Now how did you do it?

Parking tickets?

I don't know no parking tickets.

Oh, come on.

You must have seen some
of them on the windshield.

What did you do with them?

Oh, you mean those? Those things there?

I thought they was advertisements.

Yeah, they look a lot like
advertisements, you know.

We all thought they was, handbills,

like you get for...

You pass out for car washes.

Car washes and,

massage parlors and things like that.

I mean, I don't read or write.

Yeah. So I don't know

what they say.

Well, you're gonna have to pay up

before I let you go.

What does that mean? He's
gotta come up with the money?

How much does he want? Ask him.

He can't read.

He can't read. How much is that?

Six thousand, four hundred
and forty eight dollars.

Now, quiet.

Jesus Christ, 6,000 dollars?

My God! What do they think

that we carry around
with us that kind of money?

Or you can do six months in the city jail.

Quiet, let's have quiet.

I'm not kidding.

Well, you can't send him to jail, be...

All right, shut up, will you? Oh.

I ain't got it.

Judge, excuse me for saying this,

but, there's something
you don't understand.

You see, if you send a Gypsy to jail,

I want you to understand, God forbid,

but you could be killing him.

Because a Gypsy, they can't stand

the steam heat. They can't take the food.

You understand? He could get very sick.

It's a much bigger deal than what

you're thinking I'm talking about.

He's the father of these two kids.

So when you send this
man to jail for parking tickets,

you're taking his life
and... I'll pay for him.

I say I'll pay for him.
We'll all pay for him.

Take off your hat.

Who are you?

Zharko Stepanowicz, king of the Gypsies.

I'll make you a deal.

What have you to do with this case?

That's my son. Make you a deal.

You see, judge,

we Gypsies take care of our people.

Now, you got, what?

You got a Gypsy who's got maybe 100,

couple of 100 parking tickets.

Come on. Careful.

Hey, hey. Who are these kids?

Bailiff, quick. They're our kids.

They're our kids. My God.

They're our kids.

Now, you've got how many...

You had a 1,000, 2,000
licensed Gypsies in New York.

I'll make them all pay up their fines.

Bring in thousands and thousands.

Otherwise, how you gonna collect?

You can make them pay up? Yes, sir.

How do you do that?

They do what I tell them to do.

Or he breaks all their legs.

Well, you should see.

You're gonna start with paying
one half of your son's fine.

He goes on probation for the rest.

You have $3,000 worth
of outstanding warrants

paid up within a month's
time, or he goes to jail.

All right, all right, all right.

Judge, I wanna thank you.

You're a good man.

And I'd like to shake your hand.

You got a deal.

Hey, king, can we ask you a few questions?

King, where you going to?

Me and Rachel is going down to Miami.

Get the Gypsies there to
start sending in their money.

That right? MAN 2: Right.

And I wanna tell you,

when me and Rachel
starts to get the Gypsies

to send in their money,
they send in their money.

Smile, please. Over here, smile.

No, I ain't gonna smile no more.

No pictures, it's against his religion.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

Thank you. Oh, Jesus. Jesus.

Let me talk to Dave.

The rest of you wait outside.

Come on, boy.

Don't look at these two.
Do what the king says.

Oh, God.

Make a cat laugh, what you see in New York.

They tried to take it away from me.

This and eastern Pennsylvania.

I love this fucking city.

Everyday an adventure.

Let me tell you something.

Your old man is a fool. I know that.

You're a smart kid.

You're 12, and you think 50.

Maybe we ought to think
about getting you a wife.

A money maker. Maybe Persa.

Hussein Helmut's daughter.

You send her to the store for milk,

and she comes back with
a couple of hundred dollars.

I'll talk to him.

Hey, Dave. What are you running away for?

Come back, boy. Come back.

Just trying to make you feel better.

I went to a priest.

And I asked him, I said,
"Father, what do I do?

"I don't wanna get married.

My whole life is ahead of me."

He goes, "Be a good kid.
Go home to your family."

He wasn't listening.

Thank you, Father.

Goodbye and amen.

I couldn't read. I couldn't write.

I couldn't go to school,
or they'd send me home.

I sure as hell wasn't going home.

I wasn't even gonna be a Gypsy no more.

Without a birth certificate,

and not reading and writing,
you can't get in the union.

And without the union, you can't get a job.

Without a job to get fired from,

you can't get unemployment.

It's a goddamn conspiracy.

Insurance fraud was my survival tactics.

At least you wasn't stealing from the poor.

Out of eight million people in New York,

I gotta pick that bastard, whoever he was.

Probably a Gypsy.

Mr. Rose, check okay, aisle three, please.

Oh, God! Oh! I'm hurt.

My back. My back. I'm
hurt, I'm hurt. My back is hurt.

I'm gonna lift your leg,
you tell me when it hurts.

Oh, it hurts. It does. Okay, okay.

Oh, God. I'm gonna try the other one.

Just relax. It won't be very high.

Oh, God. Okay, okay.

It's all right.

A spinal tap, what's that?

Well, we,

we take a sample of fluid from your spine.

Oh. Okay.

And then we, analyze it and see

if there is any sign of bleeding.

It will help us find out
what's wrong with you.

How do you do that? With a needle.

I'll give you a local anaesthetic.

You won't even feel it. Is it a big needle?

It's a long needle.

But it's not really painful.

Have you ever had one? No.

But I've given lots of them.

We give you a pain killer
before it goes in, Dave.

Is it gonna hurt? Yeah, it's gonna hurt.

Look, I'm not taking anymore.

I've been letting you stick me and poke me

all day long, you know.

And another thing, if you fuck this up,

I'll be on dope the rest of my life.

Now, your nurse told me that.

I'm not taking anymore.
That's it. I'm through.

We're a friendly company
built on cases like this.

Let me tell you something.

I examined that young man
and he is seriously injured.

This is something that's been
wrong for years and years.

You're getting off cheaply, believe me.

I'm not saying he's not sick.

I'm not saying... But I am
saying he's a young boy

who slipped on an egg in the supermarket.

How convenient. Doctor, come on.

Listen, I'll tell you what.
Do me a favor. Just sign this.

He's gonna be a very
happy boy. Very, very happy.

I'll see you, doctor. Good day.

With a score like that, you live high.

Party with the rich and famous.

There was rich women, even hookers,

when you tell them you're a Gypsy,

they gotta find out what it's like.

They'd throw you on the floor right there.

The easy life.

Yeah, all right.

What am I supposed to do? I mean...

This is so cool, you know?

What are you doing to him?

He wants to see you. Easy, easy.

King wants to see you. The king wants to...

Hey, buddy, you want a cop?

Call the cops.

Get your fucking hands off me.

Get away from me. Open my own door.

You're fucking garbage.

Adolf.

Go take a walk?

About 10 minutes.

How'd you find me?

I knew where you were.

What do you do for a living?

You know, whatever.

Whatever.

Why didn't you come to me for help?

What's the point?

What's the point?

What do you think when you see this?

What do you think?

I see the hand of a king. It's real soft.

Hand of a man never
done an honest day's work.

But I live like a millionaire. Millionaire!

Jeez, you ain't no millionaire.

I mean, you know, with due respect,

you know, you may have
spent a million dollars,

but you sure as hell never
kept no million dollars.

You don't have to have a million dollars

to live like a millionaire.

Don't you understand, you see?

You got to spread the money around.

You got to take care of your friends.

You gotta take care of the family.

You got to keep on the move with life.

So... What?

What's this got to do with me?

Your old man will make
a mess of everything.

You know that as well
as I do, maybe better.

Somebody's gotta take care

of everybody. Not me, no.

You owe. I don't owe nobody a thing.

What about yourself?

You owe yourself something.

You can't keep on living like this.

You got the tribe. You got the family.

You got a certain amount
of strength, they got strength.

You share your strength.

The strength to what?

Over a bunch of card sharps and buju women?

And a bunch of carny show fortune tellers

and insurance fraud specialists?

You know, pickpocketers and slum hustlers?

I mean, like, I got ideas
of my own, you know.

You know, my brain is just full of ideas.

Things I could do.

Like...

I'd like to be surgeon.

You know, maybe save people's lives.

But you know, where are
all the Gypsy surgeons, right?

Where are all the Gypsy astronauts?

I'm never gonna be...

Got three doctors.

All say the same thing.

"Old Zharko.

Heart's gone. Lung's gone. Liver's gone."

So like I said, you ain't
gonna have no choice.

You're my strength, you know.

You're my hope.

I want you home. It's where your place is.

Why did I have to be his hope?

When was I gonna be my hope?

But I loved the old bastard,
so what am I supposed to do?

He looked so weak and old,
but he wasn't even scared.

And I miss Gypsies, you want the truth.

And maybe things could be different.

Davey. Davey?

Davey, yeah, wait till you see him.

My Davey? I didn't even know who he was.

Davey. David? Oh, David.

Look at him.

Look at your big boy and how he...

Davey, you look
terrific. Are you all right?

Come inside, David. We're
gonna make some coffee.

God, look how gorgeous.

Oh, Davey. God.

What's he want?

Tell him I'm home. Oh,
He don't want nothing.

He's just home, Groffo.

This ain't his home. He
ain't got no respect for it.

What's he want?

A couple of things around
here are gonna change.

Tita, I told you, go make some coffee.

Change?

We ain't seen him how many years?

He walks in here full of
change like he owns the place.

What's he want?

Turn off the TV, I wanna talk.

Go ahead, turn off the TV.
He just wants to talk to you.

Surprised?

I wanna tell you something.

As long as I'm here,

you ain't never gonna hit
me or my mother or Tita again.

Do you understand? No, Davey.

Or what?

Or what?

Or what? Or I'm gonna kill you.

No, Davey. You're gonna kill me?

Don't you...

Don't you tell me. Groffo, don't!

Don't!

I'll carve up his face Don't, don't, don't.

And make him beautiful.

You're crazy, you'll go to jail. Don't.

Yeah? It'll be worth it.

You crazy Gypsy, you think like a Gadjo.

You got their habits. I wish to God I was.

You ain't no Gypsy. Nothing matters to you.

No rules, no nothing. You're crazy.

Dave, you my son? No.

Then fuck her.

Oh.

Go on, show me what a man you are.

Fuck you. You ain't no Gypsy.

There ain't nothing you want, though.

Here, go fuck her. Come
here. Let me go! Don't.

Leave him alone! You ain't my son.

Go on. Go. Go on. No.

Let him off. No.

Come on.

Go on. No!

I'm gonna kill you.

I'm gonna kill you.

I'm gonna kill you.

I'm gonna kill you.

Get out of here.

Here. Get out of the way.
You wanna kill me?

Kill me? No, no.

No!

Hey, man, que paso? You shoot somebody?

The same thing all over.

Always the same. For all time. Not for me.

Mama Leone's special
tonight is veal maison.

That is tender young veal
served with fresh mushrooms,

sherry and a cream sauce.

We also have osso buco. Very nice.

I have some fresh salmon tonight.

One anchovy.

Give me one sole, hold the potatoes.

That's an extra large pie.

Hey, Tim.

Let the Gypsies dance to their own tune.

I got a job as a singer. They said waiter.

I thought of myself as a singer
and dreamed of Hollywood.

And dated blondes and redheads

with names like Susan
and Debbie and Sharon.

You're going to have to
clear out and make room.

Where's Groffo? Where's Groffo now?

They're going to have
to clear that corridor.

I'll get him.

What's this? It's some herbs and stuff.

You leave it alone.

Listen, you all have to leave.

I'm gonna go get a doctor.

He needs to be left alone. No.

Now he needs to be with us.

This is the time he needs to be with us.

Where's Dave? Dave?

He wants Dave.

What Dave? What Dave? What Dave?

Rose's Dave.

He ran away a long time ago. Remember?

Get somebody up here
and clear this room out.

We've got a very sick man here.

A very sick man.

Okay, you ready?

Oh, don't look so miserable.

I am what I am.

That's why I look this way.

I'm cold. Skate.

It'll warm you up. Skate.

Skate till you're warm?

Okay, you ready? I guess I'm ready.

Here we go. Skate.

Oh, God.

You're doing good.

Am I looking good or
what? You're looking great.

Okay, here we go. Oh, I've got that.

Go fast. Come on. Show me fast.

So, what am I doing out here?

Oh, Jesus Christ.

Okay, come on. Be careful.

Be careful. I'm gonna fall.

Now skating's like riding a bicycle,

because the faster
you go, the easier it is.

Jesus. What?

This is a terrible sport.

Where is Dave? He's coming.

Rose has sent for him.

I'll wait.

California? When? Friday.

So when can you get
the top fixed on this car?

Who's gonna care in California?

John says, it's gonna fall apart.

Collapse is what he said.

Who's John? The guy at the Shell station.

You can't believe that.

That's what they pay him to tell you.

Well, it won't go over 40.

Hey, has this guy asked
you about your sex fantasies?

Where the hell you been?

We've been waiting for
you, we've been worried.

Where you been? Oh,
God. Look how beautiful.

Jesus.

Hi. Hey, Mama.

Mom, this is Sharon.
Sharon, this is my mother.

Don't fight. Okay? No.

Oh, Davey, so much has been going on.

You okay? I mean, what you been doing?

I mean, with your life?

I sing. I'm a singer.

So, what's the point, Mama?

Honey, go make us some coffee.

Are you professional?

This singing, I mean, you get paid?

Now we're talking.

So they wanna know if
I get paid for my singing.

Sharon, maybe you would
make us some coffee?

It's tradition that you serve the guests.

Mama, we don't drink Gypsy coffee,

so it's gonna seem kind
of weak. Hey, Sharon.

Stick in a lot of sugar.

So why don't you sit down?

Thank you.

I thought you could help
us out with a little problem.

So, what do I owe you, in your mind?

Nothing.

I'm not asking for me.
I'm here about your sister.

Your father, he,
fixed up this marriage.

She don't wanna marry
the boy. She run away twice.

He got her back and beat her up.

Jesus Christ.

Nothing ever changes
with you people, does it?

How much?

Six thousand.

Oh. Six thousand?

We never did get a
chance to say hello, did we?

Hello, babe.

I'm gonna call the cops.

What good is that?
Everybody's just gonna lie,

he'll get out of jail right
away and beat her up again.

Do you know the boy? Yeah, he is gross.

Oh, he ain't that bad.

But she thinks she's
in love with Eli Marks.

I told you that in secrecy
and you promised never to tell.

And now you go blabbing it out to anybody.

It's not anybody, he's your brother.

I don't care, it's not your business.

What do you mean? I'm your mother.

You're not to tell my secrets.

So in love with him,
she can't live without him.

You know I hate that.

How much? 6,000?

Has he still got it? No.

He blew it at the races, right?

What a husband you've got.

You know, you're like Robin Hood.

You steal from the rich
and give to the poor Groffo.

Only, Mama,

when you steal from
the rich, you go to jail.

He goes to the track.

You could fix this thing for Tita.

What does that mean?

What I come to tell you
before we got off on all this,

the old man is dying
and he wants to see you.

Baby, he's gonna give the ring

and the medallion to you.

Oh, Jesus.

The old man, he don't wanna
make your father the big man.

Poor Groffo.

Mama.

See, what you don't understand

is we live in a democracy.

There are no kings.

So I want you to go tell the king...

I want you to go tell the old man

to take his ring and his medallion

and give it to anybody with
respect for what you are.

No.

Come on, Tita.

Anyway, it's not gonna make no difference.

His mind's made up. And
when his mind's made up,

there's nothing you can do about it.

Honey, thank you very much for the coffee,

for the hospitality.

Davey, I come here for help

because there's no place else

for me to go, that's all.

Anyway, go see the old man.

You owe it to him.

Are you going?

He's the only one who
ever gave a shit about me.

Your mother was... Don't
worry about my mom.

Did they love each other,
your mother and father?

Love never even entered their lives.

I wonder what you'd make of my parents.

Hello, Mr. and Mrs.
Sharon's mother and father.

You've got a wonderful daughter.

A ball of fire.

Who me?

I sing. See, I'm singer.

There are fortunes to
be made in music, sir,

but I'm in it for the
personal satisfaction.

Look, I wanted to ask
you about your driveway.

How long since you last had it tended to?

Because a man like yourself

should be having a
driveway looks like that.

And I could take care of it

for 10 percent of what a
contractor would charge.

Hey, listen... Don't.

Don't make promises you can't keep.

You'll break my heart.

You all left your families,

you dropped your lives to honor him.

All my people, all races and all tribes,

you respect our father.

You recognize our father as king of kings.

And I appreciate you
came and I'll remember this

till the day I die because
you showed your respect.

I can't talk anymore

because I don't know who's
to be or what's to be up ahead.

Rui Ilanovitch.

Rui Ilanovitch comes 3,000
miles to be here to honor our father.

That's a big thing.

Especially since he broke both my legs.

Hey, can you tell me
how to get to room 302?

Hi, Davey. Hey, baby.

I'm here, okay?

Jesus. He's gorgeous.

Hey, you remember me? Persa?

No, I don't remember you.

But you look good.

After, you, come to my place?

Your mother wants to talk to you

so your father don't know.

Well, I can't stay here.
I gotta be going back.

Hey.

For minute, you can talk to your mother.

Mrs. O'Della. Second floor.

Jesus, look at you.

Who's that?

It's Dave.

Dave?

I came as soon as I heard.

Jesus, you're a triumph

of modern medical science here.

Oh, Dave.

Dave.

Dave, it's sure taking me

a hell of a long time to die, isn't it?

Pray, son.

For good health.

Dave.

Here.

I feel better knowing you got that.

Leaving you the...

Because tribe,

rich, rich at heart and spirit.

And flat-ass broke.

I don't need this.

All you got to do is
take care of the future.

Private property, too
much private property.

Didn't used to be that.

My time, used to be able to camp anywhere.

Oh, Jesus.

Hey.

Hey.

Who...

Who's that? It's David.

I'm still with you.

Yeah, Dave.

Started a goddamn war once

with Spiro Giorgio over your mom

because she was something special.

Do you want Queen Rachel? Do I what?

Queen Rachel's right here.

Do you want her? No, no.

She's an old wreck.

I think I should get you a nurse.

I'm gonna go get a nurse.

I don't want a nurse.

I want a cigarette.

I can't give you a cigarette

because you're hooked up to oxygen.

You got a cigarette?

I can't give you a cigarette.

Yes, you can.

No, don't do that.

Thank you.

You take care of the girls.

Davey.

Got to look out for the girls.

Make sure they don't reject the family.

Make sure they hold to the old ways.

You, you're my...

My only hope.

The only reason I would be king

is just to lead the Gypsies
into the 20th century.

What are you doing here?

Poppy just died.

It just happened.

You should have been in
there with him. I'm sorry.

I got nothing to say to you.

He gave me these.

But I don't want them. You take them.

How did you get that? I just told you,

he gave this to me.

What, he gave you...?

He made you king? But I don't want them.

Look, he was an old man, you know.

He didn't know what he was doing.

Why?

What did I do to him?

It's just a ring and a medallion.

It don't mean that the Gypsies are gonna do

what you say if you got it.

You gotta earn it, right?

I'm going to California.

I don't want it.

I don't even want to be a Gypsy.

How can you say that?

What does that mean?

He was a great man.

Okay, it's up to you now.

Davey.

My God, you're the talk of the town.

Is my mother here yet?

She'll be here.

You've got a nice place here.

Do you mind if I use your telephone?

It's in the kitchen.

Oh, my God, Davey.

The hullabaloo at the hospital.

Groffo says he's gonna blow
your head off he sees you around.

That's bullshit.

He might beat up a little kid,

but he ain't got the balls to kill nobody.

Tell her to take a look at these cards.

I don't believe in that shit.

Neither do I.

So you got any Cokes?

In the fridge.

I gotta tell you, Davey,
these cards are loaded.

So tell me about Tita's boy.

The only good thing, the
family's got a Betamax.

But the mother, she's the queen bitch.

You gonna call it off?

I'm going to California.

It's your mother.

Come on in.

I brought you some devil dogs,
some other stuff for the kids.

But I can't stay. I gotta
go to the mortuary.

You ought to be there
too. You're lucky I'm here.

I don't wanna start nothing.

After the funeral's over,

he's gonna get on with this wedding,

you understand that? So go to the police.

You know, you don't have
to let him do this to her.

Shit, you act like he was
living in the Middle Ages.

You've got the power to
do this thing for the right.

Goddamn you. Why won't you do it?

What power? You know, you talk about power

like it was some kind of
mystic thing or something.

Persa, you...

No, I'll tell him.

Look.

You don't got the right
to give the ring back.

The old man, he made you his shadow,

walking on the earth. Do you understand?

I mean, you can wear the medallion or not.

It don't make no difference.

You still got it around your neck.

I don't believe in that shit.

It don't matter if you
believe it. It's a fact.

So you go to California,
you go surfing or whatever

with your little red-haired whore.

Mama, you know, you're
making a big thing out of nothing.

Okay, okay.

Don't make no difference
to me. Maybe it's the fate

that you're supposed to
marry this little mama's boy.

I mean, maybe she can take him

and make him into something.

Anyway, you'll be surfing.

Taxi.

Hey, king.

Where are you, king?

I'm okay.

I got some towels. Yeah, 79.

Okay.

The door... The door was open.

What happened?

I came over to make dinner.

The door was open, your coat was there.

I didn't under... I didn't know.

My father hired a couple
guys to try to kill me.

It's just like him to have a
couple fuckups like he is.

Are you all right?

No.

I didn't go looking for this, you know.

This is only temporary.

I know it's ugly.

And it's all trashy.

I just gotta take care of a couple things.

Then it's California, here we come.

For the meantime, I'd rather
you stay over at your place.

In case they come back looking for me.

Are you my girl?

Oh, my God, Davey.

What happened? Don't ask.

Oh.

Another quarter inch,
they would've got your eye.

Come in, come in. Lie down
in the bedroom. Come on.

Go, go get a washcloth.

Go on, go!

Persa.

Where can I get a gun?

You're in way over your head.

You're in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean,

swimming every which way.

I don't know where you are.

Look, you know, what do I
have to tell the son of a bitch?

I say I'm going to California,

I tell him that he can
be the king, whatever.

And he still goes after me.

He ain't gonna believe
you, no matter what you say.

Here, take this.

How was it singing?

Can you give me a B-flat?

Make it live?

Give me a song to wake the world?

Get out of here.

Go on.

Go watch your television.

I just gotta get Tita out of here.

You know, take her away somewhere.

I tell you this out of
concern for you, Davey.

You had a hard fucking life.

You deserve something better.

Like what?

We could have fun.

I saw, I saw in the cards.

I don't believe in that shit.

Neither do I.

But I thought you ought to
know what they say, you know?

Just in case.

Persa, did your old man
leave any clothes here?

I got blood all over this.

Sure.

Hey. What is that?

Junk jewelry.

I'm gonna need a shirt too.

Here. Put it on.

Zharko, exactor.

J.B. in the fifth aqueduct tomorrow.

I know you're tired of hearing this,

but I can't help it.

It's against the law. This food.

Look, just don't think about
it. It's our way, that's all.

And the liquor.

And there's another thing. Yeah.

I don't like having food

or the communist flag on my premises.

Come here for a minute.

Look, my father wanted that flag

because our family comes from Russia.

Now, how the hell am I
gonna find a Russian flag

that ain't communist?

I understand, it isn't you people...

Look, all you gotta do is
clean up afterwards, that's all.

But you understand I have a...

Did you hear me?

Spiro.

Rose. Come inside.

It's a beautiful thing that
Spiro Giorgio can come here

and forget the fights and
the animosities of the past

and pay his respects to my father.

I didn't come here for that.

I just came here to make
sure the man is dead.

You're insulting me!

Get your hands off of me!

Dave is here. Dave is here.

Never mind, you stay away from me.

Get him away from me.

Only Gypsies supposed to be in here.

You sold Tita.

Do you deny it?

This is no business of yours.

She's running around smoking cigarettes,

she talked back to her mother.

She don't do nothing right.

It's time she calmed down
before she gets ruined.

Now, I'm worried about
her, I'm concerned for her.

I found a family who will take care of her.

So why don't you just go
away and leave us alone?

I'll go away.

Listen, I wanna talk
to you... Get out of here.

Oh, my God.

I'm gonna report you sold your kid,

it's gonna be a big mess.

There'll be a lot of crap in the papers.

How many warrants are
out for you anyway?

Are you listening to me? He hears you okay.

Now, look... That's it.

I'm forced to put you in
a very awkward situation

that you're gonna have
to pay back some money

that you don't have.

I'm gonna reimburse you for out of pocket,

you understand?

Reimburse he don't understand.

I mean, I pay you out of my own pocket

so you don't stand to lose nothing.

Now, I think that's fair.

So you tell them that Tita
and her boys are incompatible.

You can say that I said
this because I'm king,

so what choice have you got?

Now, Dave, no...

That way they can't blame you.

Look.

Maybe you better leave in a nice way?

Come on.

Okay, I'm leaving.

Come on, let's go. Hey, where you going?

Dave, it's okay. It's okay.

All right, wait a minute. Okay.

I'm taking her out of this
because she don't want it.

Who says so? She says so.

Yeah, that's not what I say! Easy, easy.

Hey, come on, be a nice
boy and put that thing down.

Rose, you tell her to come with me.

Rose!

You tell this dumb son of
a bitch what you told me.

Don't you get the message or something?

Shut up, I'm not talking to you.

You come to New York with that attitude.

You ain't no Gypsy, you don't give a shit!

Yet ever since, everywhere I go,

you're all over the lot! Rose.

Get him out of here or I'm gonna kill him.

Rose! No, it's okay.

You heard her, your sister wants you to go,

so leave in a nice way.

Come on. Dave, do it. Do it now.

Get him. Get him.

Get him.

Who the hell does he think he is?

Dave, come on, no one is gonna do it.

Just give it to us. Come on. Dave, stop.

Dave.

All right, all right. Go ahead, get in.

Go ahead, get in if you wanna get in.

Let her go, Dave. You're gonna go crazy.

You ain't gonna start
this damn thing, Davy.

Davy, let her go, Dave.

Where are you gonna
go? Let her go, come on.

Davy, come on, get out of the car.

Hey, Davy, get out of the car.

You're not gonna be able to go anyplace.

Davy! Come on.

Davy, come on.

Oh, shit.

Come on. Come on. Come on, Davy.

Come on.

Come here. You all right?

It could be worse, you know,
you could be married, right?

Where are we going? California.

Is that where you live?

Yeah.

They're gonna find me. No, they won't.

Anyway, you're under my protection now.

Anybody come near you,
and I'm gonna break their legs.

Tita?

You don't have to take shit all your life.

I don't understand.

You don't have to do what
you don't wanna do, that's all.

And you're doing what you want to do?

That's right.

Oh, sure, you love to be out

in the middle of the night stealing cars

and breaking up Gypsy
funerals and driving around.

Hey, I'm doing what I wanna do, okay?

I'm doing what I wanna do for you.

I gotta do it.

How do you think I'd feel
about myself if I didn't do this?

Jesus Christ.

You know, what choice have I got?

Am I gonna leave you
back there in the dirt?

No, so shut up, you know, get some rest.

Put on the radio or something.

So, what you gonna do
when you catch him anyways?

I'm gonna get her back.

And then I'm gonna kill that son of mine.

Are you crazy?

Are we gonna live on the beach?

Sure.

Tell me what it's gonna be like.

We'll get up every morning
have a swim in the ocean.

Blow by the surf.

I'll buy you your own
surfboard and bikini, how's that?

And then we'll go to breakfast, you know.

Have orange juice, citrus.

Bacon.

Hey. House of Pancakes.

We'll do anything we wanna do.

There they are.

I want you to sit up for a second, okay?

Goddamn it!

Let go of the wheel. Let go of the wheel!

Jesus Christ.

Adolf, where you going, get back in here,

Adolf! Come on. Come on.

Put it down.

What do you want, who are you?

What do you want? Hey, are you all right?

Your windshield wipers, shut them off.

Listen, stay here. I'll go
get a cop and an ambulance.

Just stay.

Bye, Tita.

I don't wanna do this. Work this thing out.

Blushing over here.

I paid you $6,000, Stepanowicz.

Look, it ain't my fault he took her out.

We don't know where she is.

I gave you that money in good faith.

Don't come to me with $6,000, all right?

Mama, please.

Still low here, three eights here.

No help. No help. A bargain's a bargain.

I give you my word. As God as my judge.

We'll find her. Now, you
can't ask for more than that.

Triple eights on board. Adolf,
you got triple eights on board.

You betting?

Adolf, what are you doing?

Crazy bastard. Get out of the way!

The baby!

Don't, the baby! No!

Run, run, and shut the hell up!

No! No! No!

Hey.

Dave, get out of here!

Hey. Hey. Hey. Enough. Hey. Stop.

You drop dead!

It's David, he has a gun, look out.

No. What is he doing?

No, David, no. Gross. No. No. No. No!

No. No. No!

Don't run. Don't run, David. Don't.

You, what happened?

He was, playing cards,

some crazy guy come in,
he start shooting at us,

I don't know, must have been a mistake,

he had the wrong house or something.

He's not still around here now?

No, no, he ran out the
back way, I don't know,

you know, we were scared, we couldn't see,

we were hiding under the furniture.

It all happened very fast.

What did he look like? He was black.

Short, black.

You didn't know him?

No, he wasn't no Gypsy,
Gypsies don't do that.

Alex, get some backup and an ambulance.

I don't wanna go in there without support.

Okay, you out of here.
Everybody out of here.

Get, back, get back, that's it, come on.

Come on, out of here. Come on, you, out.

Everybody out of here.
Come on, it's all over.

Come on, get out of here, everybody out.

Back up, please, come on.

You should know, Gypsies,

Gypsies don't do things like that.

I know. I know.

Where is he? Where's Dave? Where's Dave?

You sure?

Groffo, you won the hand.

There was nothing in the hold. Nothing.

Hey, you know, we talk
rough, but that was just our way.

He's writing a check. Hey, no checks.

Let me go, let me go, let me go.

Groffo.

Here, for you to drink in the next world.

I loved you, baby. My baby, I loved you.

Look at this.

The man's a son of a bitch
all his life and when he dies,

they forgive him for everything he done.

Come on, we go now.

I said you could have it.

I meant it.

Maybe I could lead
them into the 20th century,

but I don't know if anybody
could make them do anything

except what they damn well wanna do.

But they'll go on, the Gypsies.