Limbo (1999) - full transcript

Narrator: Welcome to America's
last frontier

where the final lumbering
remnants of the ice age

the massive and
awe-inspiring glaciers

cast cathedral-sized icebergs
into the sea.

Where nature's bounty unfolds
in a panoply of
flora and fauna

the like of which is seen
nowhere else on the planet.

From the ocean depths
plumbed by ageless cetaceans

to azure skies, where the
mighty eagle soars

this land abounds with
creatures great and small

strange and majestic.

It is a land steeped
in tradition.



It's mists redolent of the
hearty souls of men
who have gone to sea.

Tlingit and Haida

Inuit and Aluit

Russian and Norwegian.

Their languages and deeds
lingering on in the names of

our countless islands
and passageways.

A land that, for centuries,
has lifted its siren call to
the bold and adventurous.

To men and women willing
to risk their lives for the
promise of untold fortune

be it from fur or fin

from the heaven-pointing
spires of old growth spruce

or from the buried treasures
of yellow gold

or black,
energy-rich petroleum.

A land visited each year by
the relentless and
mysterious salmon.

Each river and stream
welcoming home the
king and sockeye.



The coho and dog, pink
or humpback

which is smashed into
cans and quick-cooked

to give the colorful local
folks something to do

other than play cards and
scratch their nuts all day.

The land where that nice old
lady from Fort Lauderdale

who had the stroke three
cabins down was probably
parked next to the

thawed-out halibut you're
eating on board tonight.

While your floating hotel
chugs through the Hecate
Strait to deliver its precious

load of geriatrics to the
hungry, Visa-card
accepting denizens

of our northernmost and most
mosquito-infested state.

So?

What's redolent?

Having or emitting an odor.

You mean people are gonna want
to come to this place because
of the smell?

-Pleasantly fragrant.
-Not talking about this place.

Damn right they're not.

Soon as they close this
place down

they'll turn it into a
tourist attraction.

They'll disinfect the joint
and you can get a job in
one of those uh...

cases, like in a museum.
One of those displays, uh...

Dioramas.

Yeah, dioramas!

In that diorama, they'll hang
fake fish guts all over ya

and put a label underneath
that says, "Typical Filipino
Cannery Worker."

Probably pay better than this.

I'll be out on the water
in my boat

and every time I make a set
there'll be one of those

floating nursing homes with
500 sons of bitches and
their cameras

capturing the moment.

And what boat is this?

My boat.

You don't have a boat, honey.
Remember?

Oh, yes I do.

I'm getting it back. Today.

Hi, would you like
some hors d'oeuvres?

-Excuse me, would you like
some hors d'oeuvres?
-Thank you.

-Hi, would you like
some hors d'oeuvres?
-Thank you.

-Nice uniform.
-The bride's parents
wanted uniforms

so Frankie and Lou
rented these. I look stupid.

You look like an angel.

I look like a little
white maggot.

-Hi, would you like one?
-Yeah. Thank you.

How come you don't have
to wear one?

This is the official
unemployed pulp mill
workers uniform.

Right.

Excuse me, would you like
some hors d'oeuvres?

-Uh, no thanks, darlin'.
-I'll have one.

What I'm saying is, you've got
to look at the big picture.

You clear cut the trees,
what do you have?

-Hundreds of thousands of
dollars worth of timber.
-But it's ugly!

The point is to try to get the
trees down without spending
a fortune.

No, you're thinking short
term, Phil.
Like my mother always told me

"You don't shit in your
front yard."

-Your mother said that?
-Constantly.

Look, our people
cruise by an island.

They've got their binoculars
out, the ones that can still
see, God bless 'em.

What do we show them?

We show them a little
Indian fish camp

some totem poles, maybe.

We show them a black bear
foraging for breakfast in the
early morning mist.

We do not show them deforested
hillsides and logging
equipment, Phil.

Heavy machinery they can
see in New Jersey.

The timber industry has just
as much right to make a living
as anybody else does.

We all have to make our
living. I'm not arguing that.

Cut the trees in the interior,
turn it into a parking lot.

Just quit with the chainsaws
when you get to where people
can see.

We're trying to develop themes
for each area up here.

The Whale's Causeway.

Island of the Raven People.

Kingdom of the Salmon.

-Lumber Land.
-That's us.

That's a turn-of-the-century
sawmill with a little
water-powered generator

and a gift shop.

That's history, Phil.
Not industry.
History is our future here.

Not our past.

Would you look at her?
She looks like a million bucks
doesn't she?

Would you like some more,
gentlemen?

No thanks, could you find the
little girl with the shrimp
and send her over this way?

It's like with these kayak
outfitters, Phil...
(MEN CONTINUE TALKING SHOP)

¶ C'est la vie
say the old folks
It goes to show you never

Thank you!
Thank you all very much.

Today is kind of a special day
for me. I know it's a special
one for all of you, too.

This is my last appearance
with Randy Mason and
the Pipeline.

I'll be continuing my run as a
solo performer at the
Golden Nugget

while Randy, will be rapidly
sinking back into the
relative obscurity

he so richly deserves.

The time we've spent together
has seemed much longer
than it probably was.

And with that in mind,
I'd like to dedicate this next
song to him. Fellas.

¶ Room 16, the Palms Motel

¶ I can rest behind that door

¶ My life with you has become
a living hell

¶ Don't wanna live like that
no more

¶ And whatever it will take

¶ I will do to make this
final break
Yeah

¶ Better off without you

¶ Better off without you

¶ Better off without you
in my life ¶

You're not gonna take that
attitude if I show up
with a lawyer.

-A lawyer? Are you
threatening us with a lawyer?
-Yeah!

In schools now, when they
teach contracts, you know
who they use?

Francine here, that's who.
She wrote the fucking book.

It's not exactly a textbook,
Louise.

I, on the other hand,
am a criminal attorney.

Some of the business practices
you engaged in...

That's bullshit!

You see a couple of dykes
wander up here from Seattle
and you figure

"here's easy pickings."

When we bought these
properties which you had run
into the ground...

That is not true!

When we bought them from you
promises were made about

plumbing, about dry rot,
about roofing materials.

-I had a cash flow situation.
-Promises which you
did not keep.

-I gave you my boat.
-As collateral.

That boat's worth a lot more
than those repairs.

That boat is worth relatively
little, we had it appraised.

-I gave you my license...
-Hey but HarmOn, the problem
is we're not fishermen.

Exactly.

So I take my boat

I go out, I make my limit

I give you the money.

-I get my boat back...
-Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Wait a minute.

We paid the docking fees
all winter.

We had the engine overhauled.

And now that there's fish
again you think you can
waltz in here and take

our boat? Harmon, our boat.
As if you still owned it.

As if you never defaulted on
any of this stuff.

You're worse than the
fucking bank

Harmon, if we let you treat us
like this what does that say
to everybody in Port Henry?

-It says, "Hey, don't take
these women seriously."
-You come up here

-you bust people's balls...
-If your balls are being
busted that's because you

put them in a vice and you
yanked the handle.

The screw.

-What?
-The jaws of a vice are moved
by a screw or a lever.

They don't call it a handle.

Thank you, Louise.

The point being, Mr. King

if you are feeling pressure on
your testicles you have no one
but yourself to blame.

So you're just going
to take the hit?

You're going to let my boat
rot in the harbor.

You misrepresented the
properties to us, Harmon.

You tried to swindle us
into keeping your boat from
being repossessed by the bank.

By assigning the title to it.

You gals already said you're
not fishermen.

Yeah but, from what we hear
there's no shortage of guys
moping around town

willing to work for a piece.

For a share.

What?

On a boat, you know,
in nautical terms it's called
working for a share.

Thank you.

Francine, if we're gonna do
this we have to get our
terminology right.

You think that you're going to
get anybody in this town to
take my boat out

and fish on my license?

You're both fuckin' crazy.

¶ Better off without you

¶ In my life ¶

(AUDIENCE CLAPPING)

Is this your truck?

Uh-huh.

You're working here?

Well I gotta load this wine
off, gotta help tear things
down after.

Could you give me a ride?

Yeah, I guess.

After I uh... How far is it?

Just into town.

Well, let me know
when you're ready.

Oh, I'm ready now.

-Oh aren't you the singer?
-Well I was.

-Uh, you're really good.
-Thanks. Listen.

I just broke up with a guy and
he's here and if I'm going to
keep my shit together and

not make a scene, I need
to go now.

Okay.

I'll wait here.

Yeah, I'll just uh...

I meant what I said before.

You're really good.
At singing.

Thanks.

Especially since I've never
heard of you or anything.

Do you watch sports?

Basketball.

Well there must be basketball
players who are really good
that you've never heard of.

Nope.

No?

No, if they're professionals
and they're really good,
everybody's heard of them.

Singing is different.

It's a matter of taste.

Luck. Whatever.

Oh.

You okay?

Couldn't be better.

Your boyfriend was the guy in
the band, Randy...?

Mason.

Oh, I never heard of
him either.

Good.

Take a left here.

When we came up to this
country 15 years ago

Margie was eight years old and
convinced we would all be
eaten by grizzlies.

(GUESTS LAUGH)

I'd like to say that so far
none of us has lost

anything but the
occasional backpack
to the bears

and that this has been for us

like for so many people
before, a land of opportunity.

A land...

There's just a couple
more things.

I thought this was your house.

See if he can survive without
the fucking microwave.

You taking his stuff?

My stuff. My daughter's stuff.

You sure?

Hey, you look around you.
You see everything that looks
like shit?

That looks like

somebody with no taste
and bad personal hygiene
would have it in his house?

That's his stuff. The rest is
out of here. Would you grab
the other end of that?

How long did you live here?

Three weeks.

(WEDDING GUESTS CHATTING)

PHOTOGRAPHER: Would
you give me a smile?

WOMAN: Smile! Come on!

I used to gig with him
in Spokane. He had this

anorexic girl singer who'd get
too shaky to go on, so I'd
fill in.

My booker talks me into doing
a year up here

you know, "The money's real
good, blah blah blah."

And I bump into Randy in Sitka
and we hit it off.

So you move in?

No!

No, I told him, keep
your distance.

I got a kid.
I'm older than you are.

I don't smoke as much dope
as you do.

Don't think I'm movin' in
or anything.

So how does your stuff end up
in his place?

-Unforeseen circumstances.
-Oh.

You married?

No.

Live with somebody?

Nope.

Sorry.

You work for those two?

Franny and Zooey?

Frankie and Lou? Yeah.

What'd you do before this?

Pulp mill.

-Till it closed.
-And before that?

This and that. Like everybody.

Fisherman.

Yeah, I was.

-You like it?
-While it lasted.

You don't go out anymore?

Nope.

Why not?

Unforeseen circumstances.

I should get back.

Let's just move it
off the truck.

And then the guys inside'll
help me.

-You're gonna stay here?
-We were before.

This is my regular gig for the
next month or so.

I'll come see you then. Sing.

Great.

My kid is gonna kill me.

(MUTTERING)

-You outta here?
-Time off for good behavior.

Saw all the groom's buddies
checkin' you out.

Right.

I'm serious.

Bunch of preppie thugs.

You're a hard woman to please.

Catch you tomorrow.

Need a ride?

Know what they wanna
bring up here?
Frankie and Lou?

-What?
-Alpacas.

-For sweaters?
-No.

For hiking trips.

They wanna take people out on
hiking trips for a week or so

and have the alpacas
carry all the gear.

-They do it down in the
Amazon or something.
-The Andes.

Huh?

The Amazon is a jungle river,
it'd be too hot. It's probably
a mountain range, the Andes.

Whatever.

They get 'em up here, no way
I'm cleaning their cages.

These are some strange people
we work with.

I dunno.

We got the lesbo trail guides
running the place.

-We got the human pin cushion
in the kitchen there.
-Rusty.

He looks like he took a staple
gun to his eyebrows.

We got Eunice, the cashier,
26 years old and still lives
with her mother.

We got the handyman there,
killed two people.

He what?

Joe Gastineau.
Mr. Dark-and-Moody.

-He killed people?
-Got 'em killed. Same thing.

Took him out on his fishing
boat and they both drowned.

How'd you like to carry
that around with you?

I'm sorry you got stuck
at work. I just had to get out
of there.

I'm used to getting home
on my own.

Just like to know where it is.

Half of my clothes
are missing.

Well, I grabbed everything
I could see.

-I had a load in the dryer.
-We'll get it back.

Why'd you want to move over
there in the first place?

I know. It was a dumb idea
and I'm sorry.

He wasn't that bad.

-Compared to what?
-Compared to Lyle.

He whose name
must not be spoken.

Now look, I made a mistake
with Randy, and I'm sorry.
I'll help you get your stuff.

You're the mistake.

Your ladies did a really nice
job with that reception.

I didn't eat, but it looked
really good.

So is the cute boy that likes
you the one with
the shrimp things?

With the hair in his eyes?

I didn't say he likes me
I said I thought he
was good-looking.

And no, that's not him.

That's Perry.

Perry wants to be a
break dancer when he grows up.

-Thought that was over.
-Disco hasn't made it up
here yet.

Oh, come on.

How could you think I think
Perry is cute?

Well I don't know.
You're a high school kid.
What do I know what you like?

Right. You don't.

Are you mad at me about Randy?

Did you like him?

It's hard enough to keep their
names straight, I'm supposed
to like them?

Don't be that way!

I feel like shit, I could
use a little support.

That's what therapy's for.

We're gonna have to rent a
VCR again.

(COUNTRY MUSIC)

He's back.

There's nothing we can
do about it.

He's gonna make a feud out of
this thing with his boat.

Our boat.
Doesn't he have a job?

If the temperature in the
water changes

couple of degrees

becomes slightly more or less
acid, any little change

it can mean the salmon won't
return there.

Where do they go?

Oh, probably just keep looking
along the coast until...

So, the whole run disappears?

Yeah, it's been known
to happen.

Pretty hard-wired, fish.
Not many options.

People though, got
bigger brains.

They can guess at the future,
make decisions.

They just do a real lousy
job of it.

I hate it when they're
stranded out in the air and

their gills are working and
they have that desperate look
on their face.

Well, they're drowning

in air.

What do you think it feels
like to drown?

I dunno.

Never had the experience.

AEROBICS INSTRUCTOR:
Blow it out!

Five more! (COUNTING DOWN)

Keep those knees going!

(COUNTING DOWN)

Well

that's all she wrote.

They say the Chinese might
buy it.

Pack it all up. Ship it over.

They can have it.

Who wants a drink?

TOUR GUIDE: This is the
Golden Nugget saloon.
Founded back in 1881

when Port Henry was the gold
mining center of the
Northern Territories.

Prospectors, mining
engineers...

They say nobody eats canned
salmon anymore.

Do you eat it?

Why would I want canned when
I can get fresh?

People in Peoria are saying
the exact same thing.

And the only recorded bout
between a domesticated wolf
and a black bear...

He's in that little
de Havilland of his

comin' in with the wind steady
and the water's like glass.

Doin' his usual rap,

about the wilderness
and the wildlife
and the glaciers.

What am I gonna do?

Think you're the only person
up here out of a job?

Tryin' to impress these
two girls.

He's still got his
wheels down...

So I drop these people off
the boat, right. He's a big-
time time corporate executive.

He's with his second wife,
two kids from the
first marriage.

Wham! His wheels dig in.

Flips tail over head.

They got heated tents,
freeze-dried gourmet dinners.

Wearing about $4000 worth
of Gortex.

Whack! One's lying belly-up in
the channel.

The two girls are unconscious.

He's hanging upside down,
hooked in by his belt

with water coming
in from all sides.

Two hours they lasted.

Two hours and the exec gets me
on the radio sayin'...

Wham-o! Head on into some
other bozo in a Piper Cub

whose eyes are also down
on the water.

It's so cold that your spit's
frozen solid before it even
hits the ground

and the metal on the truck has
that tinny sound

when you slam the door, like
the whole thing's
gonna shatter.

No, I don't believe there have
been any shootings in
here recently.

Can't see the front of my own
damn plane this fogs
so thick...

Harvesting goddamn resources
my ass.

A man goes out, he makes a set

and he catches fish goddammit
he's not a goddamn farmer.

I know that there's mountain
peaks all around me.

There's Russians and Japanese
out there scoopin' up
all our crab...

but the Golden Nugget has been
the setting for many
a desperate confrontation...

JOHANSSON: Hey, Joe!

Long time no see.

Smilin' Jack.

What brings you down to
this altitude?

Flew some medical supplies
salesman in from Cordova.

There's a thousand of the them
over at the convention center.

Where are you living
these days?

Two steps ahead of the
finance company.

I'll see ya later.

(ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC)

Jumpin' Joe Gastineau.

Friend of yours?

Not exactly.

¶ You gassed her up

¶ You're behind the wheel

¶ With your arm around your
sweet one

¶ In your Oldsmobile

¶ Barreling down the boulevard

¶ Looking for the heart of
Saturday night

¶ Got paid on Friday

¶ Your pockets are jinglin'
And then you see the lights

¶ You get all tinglin'

¶ Cause you're cruisin'
with a six

¶ Lookin' for the heart of
Saturday night

¶ And you combed your hair...
¶

(MUFFLED MUSIC FROM BAR)

(AUDIENCE CLAPPING)

Mind if I sit?

-No, please.
-Thanks.

So.

You're terrific.

Who do I remind you of?

Remind me of?

Singers.

Most people go, "You remind me
of, uh

"Judy Collins, but your voice
is deeper.

"Emmy Lou Harris, but your
hair is curlier."

Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

(LAUGHS)

Really?

No.

No, I think he usually wore
a bone in his nose.

So, can you make a living
doing this?

Sort of. Sort of.

You make a living working for
the lodge ladies?

Sort of.

It can be nice.

One summer, I did

a cruise ship in
the Caribbean.
I got to take my daughter.

-Oh, you take her with you?
-Yeah, pretty much. Yeah.

-Her father is?
-Out of the picture.

Was his choice.

So you've sung in a lot
of places?

Thirty-six states and the
territory of Puerto Rico.

Whoa. Wow.

How about you?

Oh, I've been to Seattle a
couple of times

and Canada along the coast.

-You must like it?
-Oh, I don't think I'd do so
well down south.

You know, cities.

How come you're not married?

-You know...
-Sorry!

It's all right if you don't
want to say.

Probably the same reason
you're not married.

Because such a high percentage
of men are jerks?

No.

Because women are scarce and
winters are long?

That's true. But...

Because you're looking for
someone fun to be with who
understands your bullshit

but is still crazy about
you anyway?

That's a bit much to ask for.

No, it's not.

So, have you like,
recorded songs?

Um, I've made demos.

Uh, and I'm not exactly up
here to try to be discovered
or anything.

At my age.

Doesn't make a lot of sense,
my so-called career.

So, why do you still do it?

Oh, almost every night.

Doesn't matter where I am or
what song I'm singing.

All of a sudden I'll hook
into it.

I'll be feeling whatever it is
the song is about.

And I can hear it.
I can feel it in my voice.

And I know that I'm putting
it across.

Moments of grace.

Do you know what I'm saying?

I do.

I put my kid through
a lot, though.

Moving all the time.

But when I take a straight job

bank teller, waitressing,
whatever

I feel so defeated, I don't
even want her to look at me.

Would you like to

do something?

Something?

Uh, it's real pretty country
here, I could take you uh...

I gotta warn you

um

what's the thing with the long
skinny boats and the paddles?

-Kayaking.
-Yeah, I don't do that one.

Or anything, where if the

spike comes out of the cliff
you plunge to your death.

-Climbing.
-Climbing.

In general, things where you
wear gear instead of clothing

I don't do.

Good to know.

What do you do, uh

during the day, when you're
not working?

I read a lot. A lot, yeah.

I go to the gym.

Punish myself on
the treadmill.

If I'm involved with a guy, I
make pathetic attempts at
ingratiating myself

often involving cooking and
cleaning activities.

When my daughter was little,
I would do stuff with her.

You don't anymore?

Uh, no.

So.

If you're willing

let's work on this doing
stuff idea.

You think of stuff and I'll
think of something.

But keep trying, really. Okay?

I will.

Okay.

You know where to find me.

Two shows a night. Bye.

TOUR GUIDE: And in 1897, the
first wave of fortune seekers
swept through Port Henry

on their way to Skagway, the
Chilkoot pass and the Yukon
gold fields.

They were desperate men, men
willing to perish in search of
the one big strike

every prospector dreamed of...

It could be the entire cruise
yes, or we may have you work
just one leg

and layover at one of our
stops and work the next leg on
a different ship.

How much time would I spend
at home?

We like to think of our
vessels as a kind of home.

Not much, huh?

We have this job for you.

-It's kinda different.
-We have this ship.

-Boat.
-We have this boat.

The Raven, yeah.

We had the engine overhauled,
put a new gillnet drum on it.

Harmon King's boat.

It's our boat now.

-Uh huh.
-And he gave us his license.
-His entry permit.

Just to make up for some of
the money he still owes us.

We want you to go out.

To go out?

Go out and fish.

I'm not a fisherman.

Well, you used to be, right?

I mean, you know what you're
doing on a boat.

I suppose.

So you could if you wanted to.

Yeah, if I wanted to.

Well, we could figure out
some kind of percentage deal.

We don't know if this is an
asset we want to
keep ourselves

but with the season almost
over and that license
so expensive.

You're not like, tight with
Harmon King are you?

Not especially, no.

Look, if you could just go
down to the marina,
look it over.

Check it out, tell us if there
is anything you need to make
it operational.

I haven't been commercial
fishing for 25 years.

Has it changed that much?

More technology, but I just...

You'd be really bailing us out
on this one.

It's a matter of credibility.

If we just let people walk all
over us...

I have to think about it.

Think about it.

Go down, look at the ship,
the boat.

Think about who you'd like
to have for your crew.

You think people would
do that?

Knowing that it's
Harmon's boat?

Well, you can always
get somebody.

Uh, listen, if there are any
calls for me, anybody comes by
asking if I'm here

just say I'm not
registered, okay?

I'm trying to surprise
somebody, I don't want word to
get around.

Could you do that for me?

(SEAGULLS CAWING)

Well, you get points
for originality.

(LAUGHS)

You're the first guy that's
ever asked me to come watch
fish thrash around and die.

-Well it's...
-No, no, no.
I'm not complaining.

I think it's cool.

I've seen it on TV.

But in person like
this it's...

They're so beat-up looking.

Well, they stop eating when
they head in.

My daughter did that
for a while.

Had to put an IV in her.

Jesus, it's relentless,
isn't it?

Yeah.

They don't stop.

Well, some of them do, they

wear out and give up.

I'd make it.

-Yeah?
-Yeah, no sweat.

Do this much at the gym
every day.

I'm gonna be gone for a
couple of days

as sort of a job,
sort of a favor and

when I get back, it'd be great
to see you again.

Okay.

-Yeah?
-Yeah.

That's all?

A boat like yours,
Mr. GastinEau, is a very
unusual property.

Look, I don't wanna sell it.

I just want a mortgage.

Yes, but in view of your
past financial difficulties...

That was San Diego.

A poor credit rating is
a poor credit rating.

It's going to follow you
wherever you go.

BARTENDER: Just out
there waitin'.

Waitin' for the chance to fuck
you over.

-Me personally?
-Whoever.

One second, you're skimming
along the surface, not a
care in the world

then one little thing
goes wrong.

-Yeah, like Rudy Bannister.
-Rudy Bannister?

He's up in the fjord long
linin' when the whole front
of the glacier breaks off.

Makes this wave

four, five stories high by
the time it hits his boat.

Gone.

-And Sonny McCarthy.
-Sonny.

Gets caught in the riptides
trying to shortcut through
Rimsky channel.

They hit the rocks, two guys
stay on board, two guys jump.

Sonny and the other guy
stayed on board and bought it.

-Luck.
-Luck nothing.

The ocean wanted them.

Hell, I'm glad I'm not going
out there no more.

I mean it could be quick like
that deadhead that
Tommy Grogan hit.

Punched through his bow and
sunk him in five minutes.

Or it could sneak up on you

when you're not even looking.

Like Joe Gastineau.

Fuck.

Ever a guy had the world by
the balls, it's Joey.

This is the basketball
player, right?

Yeah, he was headed for a full
scholarship at some

university in California.

Senior year he blows out his
knee and (SNAPS)
kiss that goodbye.

Had a jump shot that'd
make you weep.

So he gets on one of
Torbitson's crab boats
up north

back when that was a
fucking goldmine.

Makes enough in one season
to put a down payment on this
little gillnetter.

The Arctic Dawn.

Get's a couple of friends
of his.

Lester Pope, that used to work
with his father, and this kid,
Olli.

Jack Johansson's
little brother.

Yeah, he'd never been out
fishin'. Like a high
school buddy.

Played hoop with Joe.

They were gonna go out with
Joe and make a big score.

I was crewin' on the
Cape Fox then.

We hooked into this run.

We were barely movin'.
It was flat calm, no tide.

We were pickin' fishes fast as
we could just so we could
keep the net wet.

So by nightfall, we were all
plugged, waitin' in line
for tender.

'Bout six boats ahead of us,
maybe eight behind,
Joey's on the end.

It was party time. Everybody
that wasn't unloading

drops anchor and
they start boat hopping.

So about one, two,
in the morning

Joe gets back on his outfit.
Him and the Johansson kid

they go below to sleep it off

and Lester, he wrecks
out on deck.

It was going to be morning
before the tender could get
to 'em anyway.

Maybe the boat was out of the
water too long.

I mean, you get cracks, things
dry up.

Maybe they were
just so plugged

that the water line rose up
to where it'd never
been before.

Whatever.

Without a sound, the boat
fills like a sponge and sinks
in about 30 seconds.

Yeah, so Joey wakes up

it's pitch black, he's under
water, right.

He's upside down,
completely disoriented.

Swims out through the galley.

Yells loud enough to wake me
up on the Cape Fox.

We fished him out okay
but the other two, not
a trace.

Lost.

Yeah, he lost his friends.

Lost the catch. There's no
insurance on the boat.
That's gone.

And Joe

Joe's not the same guy.

(STUDENTS CHATTING)

(INAUDIBLE)

(INAUDIBLE)

¶ Why don't you come and

¶ Ease your mind with me

¶ I'm living for the night

¶ We steal away

¶ I need you at the dimming

¶ Of the day

¶ I need you at the dimming

¶ Of the day ¶

(APPLAUSE)

I already got you one.

How did you guess?

I've been keeping
my eye on you.

I like your singing.

Thanks.

You really
class up this joint.

Oh, I've played worse.

Jack Johansson.

-I've been warned.
-Uh oh!

A lot of formerly
married women took
flying lessons from you.

Yeah, well a lot of formerly
married women are
suing me for alimony.

I'm thinking of getting out of
the bush pilot game.

Find something more lucrative.

Let's see, fast food service?
Camp counselor?

You live around here?

One year tour
of the frozen north.

Out on your own?

No.
No, I'm hooked up with a guy.

Musician?

He's a fisherman.

All right!

(GUNSHOT)

Oh, my God!

Frankie!

Frankie, he shot a fish.

Shot it?

A halibut, it was like a
gangland execution.

We could use some halibut.
When's Joe getting in?

(KNOCKING AT THE DOOR)

Joe, are you home?

Joey!

(MAN) But he still works here?

On and off. He's out on a
fishing boat right now.

Fishing? Joe?

Uh huh! Can I tell you
about our specials?
Our special this aft...

(MAN) When you get on the
road again. Without risk.

There's nobody but fringe
consumers who want that
but the illusion of risk.

Being hurled to the edge of
danger but knowing that
you'll never have to cross it.

Now Mr. Disney's innovation
was to put these carnival
rides and attractions

into a story context,
where you could imagine
yourself as a character

in of one of his cartoon epics
as you floated through a
plaster of Paris jungle.

The obvious next step,
and this is at the core
of our proposal

is not bigger and better
facsimiles of nature

but nature itself.

Think of Alaska
as one big theme park.

How did we do?

Got a couple of boatloads.

In three days?

They were running pretty good.

Kept a few out
for the restaurant.

Oh, my God!

That's gorgeous.

Oh Joe, that's great!

-Bobby!
-Jesus!

Look at this. You're all
right where I left you
six years ago.

Same bar stools
and everything.

Hey Harmon!
Aren't you looking good!

Somebody come in here
and dust you off once a week?

How's the charter business,
Bobby?

Can't complain. Thinking of
bringing my Glacier Bay
clients in here.

See Port Henry's wax museum.
Incredibly lifelike figures

pose in various stages
of drunken stupor.

Hey, why don't you
set up a round
for these characters, Vic.

Just come up from Baja,
chit-chat the clients,
slinging the cerveza .

-Harass a couple of whales.
-You like that?

I like not freezing
my nuggets off here,
all winter waiting to see

who goes shacky-whacky and
blows their brains out first.

Know Roscoe Carnes?

Roscoe, with the voice box?

Blew his brains out, February.

I rest my case.

Hey, Vic, I heard my
brother's been coming in here.

Fucking sellout!

He's over in the corner there,
Bobby.

Hey, Jumpin' Joe,
the man himself.

Hey, bro!

Bobby.

Heard they shut
the pulp mill down.

Town smells better.

They told me you were working
for a couple of butt nibblers

over at Harmon King's
old lodge.

Yeah.

How you been?

Terrific! Just terrific. I, uh

just, uh

took a National Geographic
crew out to do a

piece on the sea lion rookery
before I come up.

Get a lot of repeat customers.
Computerized my navigation.

Theresa?

Theresa and the kids are cool.

Joachim starts kindergarten
over at the Montessori
this year.

Great!

Listen, someone said
that you were out fishing.

Frankie and Lou got a boat.
They got a license.

Asked me to go out.

Back in the saddle again.

So to speak.

Sorry I couldn't make it out
for the old man.

Ah, no problem.

I had these clients.
Hollywood real-estate honchos.

Yeah, well,
you couldn't make it.

I didn't have
a ceremony, or anything.
I just did some paperwork.

Put up a headstone.

-You got my check.
-Yeah, thanks.

I called my mom.
Told her about it.

How did she take it?

Change the subject.

Well, he was who he was.

Died in bed, man.
You know I always figured he'd

freeze to death
in the parking lot
outside of some joint.

You know the laundromat
over at the Wrangle?

Where you can take a shower?

Yeah, the guys
coming in off the boats.

Two, three years ago
I was in there.

Got my soap, got my towel.

Back in the steam
I see this old guy.

I say, that's one beat-to-hell
human being.

Guy looks up,
and it's the old man.

It's the last time I saw him.

The old salt.
The old prospector.

You know I tell my clients
stories about the old man.

You know, the colorful shit.
You know, the tour guide
part of the job.

How he lost those fingers,
and how he

survived the earthquake,
and all those tidal waves,
and that tender.

Yeah, you heard 'em all.

The guy I was scared shitless
of when I was little, nobody
wants to hear about that guy.

Nope.

Joe, I gotta ask you a favor.

Me?

Yeah, have I ever
asked you for anything?

What is it?

Well, I got a situation.
It's a

finesse thing with a client.
I've got to pick him up
in Skagway.

Need somebody to crew for me,
bring him back down.

You always run
your operation on your own.

It's just for appearances.

It's a business deal.

I've got to impress the guy,
so I've got to look less like
a captain and more...

-Like an admiral.
-Exactly.

It's a milk run, and since
you're on the water again.

Well I've only gone out once.

I can trust you.

I mean, this deal,
this business deal, it's

it's sensitive.
Word can't get out.

When would we go?

Day after tomorrow.
I've just gotta put
a couple things in motion.

Hmmm!

Yeah! I'll see if
I can get off work.

You save my ass on this, bro.
I really appreciate it.

-Hey, you and me we're...
-Practically strangers.

No, we're the
Gastineau brothers, man.

Half-brothers.

Right.

Listen, I gotta run, bro.

I'm on a schedule, here.
I'm down at the south marina.

Yeah! The Orca Princess.

Sunday morning. Seven sharp.
We catch the tide.

It'll be a blast.

Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen

I'm Donna De Angelo
and this is the Golden Nugget.

I, eh, well I see
some familiar faces out there.

Welcome back.

Where's the tide?

Is it with you?
Are you plowing into it?
Is it slack?

Where's the moon in its cycle?

There's wind.

Which can jump around on you
when you're ducking
in and out of these islands.

There's the size of the
channel you're going through.

Configuration of the bottom.

You still know all this stuff?

Yeah, yeah!
As much as you can know it.

This isn't what I expected.

What did you expect?

Well, I don't know.

Some guys that live alone,
it can get, eh...

I had the Health Department
over this morning.
They sprayed the walls down.

You listen to
a lot of different stuff.

-Yeah!
-That's good.

You see a whole wall of the
Butthole Surfers...

-And you read books.
-Yeah!

So, you're either
a nice quiet guy

who lives alone, or you're a

serial killer.

I mean, my track record for

consciously choosing men
is so horrendous that I

if I

ever hooked up
with somebody good,
it would be pure luck.

I'm being careful, okay?

Okay.

-Me, too.
-Okay.

(TIMIDLY) The Water Baby

The midwife knew at first look
it wasn't a normal delivery.

The newborn was cold
as it struggled and gasped...

(TEACHER) A little louder.

(CONFIDENTLY)
The midwife knew at first look
it wasn't a normal delivery.

The newborn was cold
as it struggled and gasped
in her arms.

Wet and cold with a bluish
pallor that did not change

when she cleared its throat
with her finger.

It fought for air
but did not open its mouth.

The mother, sweat-soaked
in her bed sheets.

The father, video camera
dropping away from his
apprehensive face.

Her assistant already
on the phone to the
life support unit.

All seemed to move in a
heavy slow-motion

as if under water.

The midwife was halfway down
the hall with the newborn
before she noticed them.

A tiny half-moon slit
below each ear

lined with a
deep-crimson membrane.

Gills.

I've never
slept with a drummer.

Is that good?

Probably.

Probably indicates

some level of self-respect
I've never fallen below.

So, ex-

fishermen

rate higher than drummers.

There are certain types of
fungus that rate higher
than drummers.

What brings this up?

I don't know if
my daughter's a virgin or not.

She going out with a drummer?

No, no.

No, it's just

I don't know, just thinking.

Have you asked her?

I don't want to know
that badly.

Hmmm!

I ask her if
she needs underwear,
and she considers it invasive.

She's been a major babysitter
since she was 13.

She wants her own money,
her own room.

Independent.

Ah!

You don't have any children,
do you?

No.

But you were married.

Yeah.

I knew that.

It's a good thing you didn't
have kids to fight over.

Uh huh!

So.

When's the last time you were
involved with someone?

Oh, about a year ago.

Someone from the pulp mill?

An aerobics instructor.

Not Corky!

You know her?

(LAUGHS) Yes!

She works at my gym.

So?

Who dumped who?

She thought I was
too downbeat.

(LAUGHS)

-She used that word?
-Among others.

Well, she's a real spark plug,
that Corky.

Joe, I have to
tell you something.

Yeah?

I'm allergic to wool.

Oh.

Like in a carpet, even
a blend.

So the blankets and clothes...

I can get rid of whatever...

Oh no, you don't have to.
It's just, if you
see me itching.

It's no big deal.

I bought new sheets.

In case you came over.

-Really?
-Yeah.

Uh-oh!

Maybe this is a terrible idea.
You can veto it, if you want.

Some guy.

He's really nice.

They're all very nice,
right up until you say they're

scum and shouldn't be allowed
walking the streets.

This will be fun.
It's like a nature thing.

Please.

You like him,
you don't like him. Whichever.

You don't really have to
deal with him again.
It's totally my business.

The why do I
have to go on a trip?

Consider it a favor to me.

It's important he know
you're more than a rumor.

I'd rather stay a rumor.

Anyhow, you already know him.
You work with him.

Joe Gastineau.

Is there some problem with
him? He seems really nice.

Is there something
I should know about?

He's fine.

He's not the guy
you like out there?

Oh, Noelle.

Honey, honey, he's my age.
He's older.

What did you think
could happen?

Nothing did happen, did it?

Oh, give me a break.

Maybe this is good, huh?
Maybe it's a sign.

We don't usually
like the same type of guys.

Oh, sweetheart, if I knew
you were interested in him.

But I didn't. Did I?

So you can be mad at me.
But not that mad, okay.

This isn't a willful boyfriend
swiping type of thing.

It's something different.

Hey.

You do this for me.
I'll love you forever.

-She's a good kid.
-Yeah.

It's a...

She's funny.

Really?

In a morbid kind of way, yeah.

So do you find her attractive?

I never thought about it much.

She's a kid.

Noelle!

Am I sharing sleeping quarters
with you or with her?

It's up to you.

Hi!

You two know each other.

I'm gonna go down below
and get things squared away.

Some coincidence, huh?

Yeah.

So, you like boats?

I don't know.
I've never been on them much.

Well, we're gonna
cruise up north a ways

maybe see some whales,
and seals, sea lions.

My mother hates boats.

Anything you do outdoors
that's fun, she hates it.

Yeah.

And she's allergic to wool.

Yeah, she told me.

You allergic to anything?

My mother's boyfriends.

Hey! It's terrific down there.

Yeah, Bobby's got a
real nice operation going.

I love boats.

Bobby!

Hey, Joe!
Terrific, you made it.

Yeah.

Bobby this is Donna De Angelo
and her daughter, Noelle.

-Hi.
-Hi.

Hello.

They're gonna come along
for the first leg of the trip.

Ah.

Great! Terrific!
We'll take the scenic route.

(INAUDIBLE)

The first night

you maybe slap
some water on your face

take your clothes off,
crawl under the sheets.

Seems like minutes before they
yank you out of bed.

You pick the money fish
out of the web, ice 'em down,
make another set.

Second night, you maybe take
your jacket off

sleep with your boots on,
on top of the rack.

Third night,
you might not make it below.

By the end of the week,
you just look for some place
safe to lean on

and close your eyes
for a few minutes.

-I've slept on fish.
-Ha!

Sounds like hell.

People get hooked on it.

God knows why.

It's the thing itself,
you know?

You go out.

You find the fish.

You pull 'em out of the ocean.

You're right there with it.

Everything else
is second hand.

People work in canneries.

People sell
real-estate, T-shirts.

What if you
couldn't sing anymore?

What if you had to work, like,
in a record store?

So you liked it.

Yeah.

And it was dangerous,
and you got off on it.

Yeah, I guess I did.

Noelle is studying to be
a nuclear physicist.

Very funny.

You could if you wanted to.
You're smart enough.

Right.

She's been in a new school
system almost every year.

But she's
a really good writer.

How would you know?

I've read your stories.

When I was 12.

You still write, don't you?

Hey, everybody.
Weather Service says we've got
a gale coming down on us.

We're not gonna
make it to the narrows.

Is that bad?

If we put it back around here,
the mountains will knock down
a lot of the wind.

-It's not a good anchorage.
-You been in there?

No, but...

Well, if we stay out here,
we're gonna get hammered.

How's the kid?

Do you want some water?
To rinse out your mouth.

No? We could try
another one of those pills.

No.

What are these cuts?

They're just cuts.

Just cuts?
How did they get there, honey?

Oh God!
Maybe I got 'em at work.

Sweetheart people don't...

We're going to this inlet
and drop anchor for the night.

When it calms down, I'll
throw on a couple of steaks.

You all right?

Frosh phenom, cans 30
in overtime upset.

Soft Sensation leads
St. K to the state finals.

He's got those scars
on his knees.

This is Jumpin' Joe Gastineau
we're talking here.

The Houdini of the hardwood.
The Beethoven of the
bank shot.

He was good, huh?

John Wooden sent one of his
scouts to look at him.

Is that someone I should know?

In basketball, it's like God
sending the Angel Gabriel down
to check out your moves.

When Joey graduated,
they retired his number,
retired his locker

bronzed all his old
jock-straps, stuck 'em
in the trophy case.

High school.

The game's changed
a lot since then.
Now I'd just be another guy.

Right.

This tofu burger thing,
how does she like it?

Mealy, medium mealy
or black and crispy.

I don't think
she's very hungry.

When this was still
a territory, there would
have a hanging

if you tried to eat anything
made out of bean curd.

She is picky about food.

At home if I scramble her an
egg in the morning, she makes
me feel like a criminal.

(BOBBY) If your own kid can't
make you feel like shit,
what's the point!

No meat?

No meat, no fish, no dairy.

Oh, food Nazi.

I could scrape some green
stuff off the anchor chain and
heat that up for her.

Listen.

You hear anything?

No.

Nobody comes back here.

I thought I heard a motor.

Listen, Joe, we got a problem.

I'm sorry,
I should have asked.

Don't get me wrong. They're
nice, they're terrific, but
this guy I'm meeting.

Guys, actually.

What's going on?

It's complicated.

Tell me.

I was in a situation.

I invested in some real estate
that didn't turn out quite the
way I'd hoped.

There was a cash flow squeeze.

These clients owned
an organic food business.

I took 'em all the way up from
Baja to Glacier Bay

and they're high the whole
time. But nice, you know.

At the end, we get along
pretty good and

they gave me a bonus.
A pound of hash, right?

-Bobby.
-Primo stuff.

They said how, if I wanted to,
if I was that kind of guy

how easy it would be
for me to, you know...

Oh, Christ!

They connected me
with someone who connected me
with someone else.

I brought up a couple loads
over the last few years.

It's a piece of cake, right?

The money gets me
out of a jam.

It's just hash.

It's not crack or heroin.

Are you carrying
drugs on board?

No, Joe.

I'm not.

That's the problem.

Last time I'm up
off Cape Caution

a Canadian patrol boat comes
racing out after me.

I get paranoid,
I dump the whole batch.

Hundreds of thousands
of dollars. I get nervous,
and it's fish food.

Turns out they had me confused
with some other boat.

Somebody reported 'em
running too close
to a pile of humpbacks.

These guys, Joey, I don't know
that much about them.

But they don't fuck around.

They think I sold it on the
side, that I'm holding out.

They arranged a meet in Baja.

I get nervous again,
I smell a setup, I don't show.

I come up here, my home turf.

I contact them,
arrange another meeting.

Tell 'em we'll work it out.

That's where we're headed?

Yeah, I got it all worked out.
A payment schedule.

Get a mortgage on the boat,
mortgage on the house.

I figure they'd rather get
their money back, right?
These are businessmen.

What am I supposed to do?

Huh?

I told Theresa, Joey.
She left me.

She took the kids, went across
to Tijuana to her sister's.

You gotta help me out of this.

You bring me on board,
and you don't tell me shit.

I can't do this thing alone.
I gotta have somebody
backing me up.

Just for them to see
I got somebody behind me,
I got family, whatever.

I mean, who else can I trust?

But the women.

We go by Tenakee Springs
first thing tomorrow.
We drop 'em off there.

They were gonna fly back
anyway. Have a plane
pick 'em up there.

Joe!

You stay up here for a bit.
I'll figure out something to
tell them.

You save my ass on this, man.

You don't deserve it.

I don't know,
I just feel funny.

Not as funny as I'm gonna feel
sleeping in the same bed
with you.

Come on, you used to all the
time, it wasn't that long ago.

It was that long ago.

It was in another lifetime.

It could be kinda fun.

Look. If we weren't trying
to impress some guy,
we wouldn't even be here.

What do you mean "we"?

-You know what I mean.
-I'm just...

(KNOCKING) Hey!

Hey, there's no room
but come on in.

How you feeling?

A little better.

Good, the wind's gone down
so it should be pretty calm.

Tomorrow we're gonna swing
over to Tenakee and

drop you off there.

-What's that?
-It's a little town...

No, that, upstairs?

(VOICES)

Did somebody come on board?

No.

(GUNSHOT)

What's that? What's happening?

(GUNSHOTS)

All right, follow me.
Whatever happens, follow me.

(WHISPERING) Swim for shore.

(SHOUTING)

(GUNSHOT)

Keep swimming.

(GUNSHOT)

(GUNSHOT)

(GUNSHOT)

Keep going.

Keep going.

Are you all right? Come on.

Go up. Up!

Up here.

Come on.

What the fuck is going on?

Somebody shot Bobby.

What? Who shot him? And why?

I don't know.

He told me he was in trouble,
just now.

What are we gonna do?

Take your clothes off.

What?

You gotta get your wet things
off of you're gonna freeze.

-Hurry up.
-You have to go get help.

There's nobody on this island.
Nobody. Now help Noelle.

I'm cold.

If they come after us,
we're gonna have to move.
Put your shoes back on.

I don't have any.

I can't believe
this is fucking happening.

Night doesn't last too long
this time of year.
We're gonna be all right.

Turn around,
get your shirt off.

Scrunch down, scrunch down.

All right.

Rub her, rub her.

I can't breathe.

Shh!

Shh! Shh!

They're coming in.

Here. Get on my back.

(WHISPERING) Get the clothes.

(JOE) Hurry up.

The boats are gone.

Both of them.

Do you think
they'll come back?

There's no way to know.

Look, I'm sorry.

I didn't have any idea
until last night that
something was wrong.

Do you think they killed him?

Yeah.

Where are we?

It's a little inlet

on the

backside of the big island.

Is that like up Shit Creek
without a paddle?

Yeah, pretty much.

Now, I think we should head
towards the channel.

While it's still light,
and hope we run into a stream.

We'll be okay for a few days
without food, but

water is...

Here, try this.

What are you going to use?

Don't worry about it, I'll
just be careful where I step.

This is not happening to us.

Well, it could be worse.

It's not that cold yet.

And I've got my knife.

Christ, wait a minute.

We can have a fire.

I'm not sure. Smoke.
They might not...

I'm not gonna let her
freeze like that, not again.

Yeah for white folks to leave
the mainland, well

they usually had some
kind of scheme.

People used to raise foxes

for the pelts, you know.

It was a big deal for a while.
Watch yourself.

Why come out here?

Well, land was
available, I guess.

They would hunt and fish,
try to grow some things.

Over here!

Somebody lived here.

Tomorrow they'll miss us.

Noelle won't be in class.

Nobody will miss me in school.

Well they'll miss you at your
job. And Joe, and I'm supposed
to sing at the Nugget.

It'll be a few days before
people are likely to start
calling around for us.

Bobby wasn't keeping radio
contact, so nobody knows we
cut in over here.

How long does it take
you to starve?

I don't know.

Depends on, you know, what
shape you're in

and what else you're doing.

You remember that fast that
I did in Idaho?
How many days was that?

-You cheated.
-I did not!

-All right I had some
tomato juice.
-Then it isn't a fast.

Well, I'm starving now.

How long will it take us
to get to the channel?

A couple of days. Maybe more.

Days?

I think we should hang here
where we've got shelter for
a while and

make sure those guys
don't come back.

And then we can start a
signal fire on the shore.

And people come here to fish?

No.

Nobody does anything on
this island.

What about this stuff?

No, I don't think so.

That batch there that you've
got, that's good.

-And you can look under the
rocks for crabs.
-All right.

But when are we gonna light
the signal fire?

I think we could
risk it tomorrow

and we find a place that
doesn't go under when the
tide comes in.

"My diary."

-So are we gonna eat
that thing, too?
-Sea cucumber.

-Lots of protein.
-Can you hand me some
of that algae?

-Sea lettuce.
-Okay. Thank you.

It tastes like rubber.

Frankie steams them in
white wine and ginger

with a bit of
saffron couscous.

It's one of the appetizers,
I memorized them.

Well, if we're here
for a while I'll rig
something up for cooking.

(SPITS)

Sorry.

Here, chew this, real slow.

"My name is Anne Marie Hooke
and this is my diary.

"Papa and Mother and I have
come here to make a go at the
fox farming trade.

"If this pans out, says Papa,
next year I can go back to
finish with school.

"I offered to get on at the
cannery to help out when we
were in town

"but Papa says there's too
much trash working there.

"He was a logger but

"fell while he was chopping
and now has headaches and
dizziness that prevent him

"from any of the trades
other men pursue.

"This way, he says, we can
live in the great outdoors and

"operate our own business at
the same time

"which is every
man's true desire.
Mother doesn't care for it.

"We have transported a dozen
breeding pairs of blue pelt
foxes and

"put them in their pens.
They are lovely to look at but
nervous, and I need

"to mind my fingers when
I am near them. When the
vixens are ready to bear

"we will separate them to be
alone with their litter. Papa
is building a fish trap in the

"stream, as he hopes to catch
the returning chum
for fox food.

"I expect it will be a hard
life but work is scarce back
in town and

"Papa's spirit was getting
low. Mother goes on about how
she will miss female company

"and that I will have to be
her special friend.

"I know that Papa thinks he
has been a disappointment
to her and sometimes

"she doesn't do much to
hide it. I will be lonely
here, I can tell, but

"it should be a great
adventure like Caddie in
Caddie Woodlawn .

"I will try to be a faithful
writer, dear diary, and tell
you my innermost thoughts."

Read some more.

Tomorrow night.

We may not be here tomorrow.

I found it.
I'll read it when I want to.

Well, we'll have something to
look forward to then

like a soap opera.

Sounds like we're movin' in.

Well, there is no telling how
long it's gonna be.

Well, we're gonna be all
right, aren't we?

We're gonna be fine.

(SHOUTING)

(SHOUTING)

Help!

Help!

Help somebody, please!

Somebody help me!

Help!

Help!

Help me! Help! Help!

Who the fuck is that?

(INAUDIBLE)
Are they on the boat?

What boat?

(GASPS)

Are you okay?

Yeah.

What's the matter?

How you can't
always save people.

We're gonna need to feed this
a couple of times a day, okay?

When the sky's like this

it won't be easy to spot, but
on a clear day...

So, what if it rains?

Well if it rains or the tide
comes in too high, well

we'll start from scratch.

And we hope that somebody sees
this and wonders what
the story is?

Somebody who doesn't
want to kill us.

It's a possibility.

Gee, you two are
a perfect match.

Doom and gloom.

-There's no use pretending.
-Yes there is!

We're on a camping trip!

We're on a survival school
camping trip!

I mean, this is what they call
quality time, isn't it?

This is what they mean.

No distractions, no media
stuff we just

we just get to know each
other, we gnaw the bark off
a few trees.

I mean, people pay money to
come on trips like this!

You know, if you assume that
bad shit's gonna happen,
bad shit happens.

I just don't see the point.

Well, the fish go in
through here

then they can't turn around
and get out.

That's the idea, anyway.

All this wire's kinda
brittle though.

Where'd you learn
all this stuff?

Oh, my old man taught me.

You did lots of
stuff with him?

Well, when he had something to
do, and he needed someone to
swear at, he took me along.

My father's a composer.
My real father.

Good.

How long did you
live with him?

I didn't.

She split up with him,
you know, before.

Oh.

Bobby was your half brother?

Yeah.

Did you ever live together?

No.

We'd see each other around.

He was a lot younger.

Different friends.
Different life.

I've got two half sisters
and a half brother.

Oh yeah, what are they like?

I never met them.

They're pretty little still.
I saw them in a picture.

He was in People magazine...
my father.

So you don't visit?

She doesn't want me to.

So you just write letters
and phone calls, huh?

No.

You don't think we're gonna
get rescued, do you?

"The house is small, but cozy
now that we have cleaned it up
and made it our own.

"I have my own room and at
night I can hear the owls
calling back in the woods

"and our foxes yipping when
something wild comes by.

"There are
blueberries everywhere.

"My fingers are stained purple
with them, though Mother
insists I will be attacked

"by bears if I stray too far
from the house.

"Papa's headaches are better
and I help him clear the
fish trap and prepare

"the food for the animals.

"It is unpleasant, sticky work
but must be done.

"I have gotten stronger
handling the skiff and Mother
chides Papa

"for making a boy of me

"but I don't mind."

"The days it doesn't rain
are God's glory

"and most of our vixens are
close to giving birth.

"Some days I will go for hours
without speaking

"and feel I am changing

"perhaps possessed by the soul
of some long dead Indian girl

"or perhaps the spirit
of a she-wolf.

"This morning I snuck up
on Papa felling a spruce for
the fireplace and

"watched him for a long time
without him seeing me.

"Perhaps I shall learn to
become invisible.

"I made blueberry pancakes.

"Mother says, if she eats
any more fish, she will grow
fins and swim back to town.

"At night she has me kneel
with her to pray."

You gonna read us some more?

(WHISPERS) Yeah.

"The terrible birthing
has begun.

"We think one of the vixens
ate her litter.

"The kits, the ones
that survived

"are lovely ones, their
eyes are open.

"Papa told me not to handle
them but when he is gone I do.

"Their heads are
squarish and fluffy."

Fox babies?

Isn't that enough?

Don't want the bears
to dig him up.

Sorry you had to see this.

Killing somebody for money.

Yeah well by the middle of the
winter here people kill each
other just 'cause their bored.

Bobby took a risk

it didn't work out for him,
that's all.

Winter has locked us in
its icy embrace.

The pelts of the animals are
thick and bluish

and our home is
blanketed with snow.

Papa calls it "Limbo"

because it sure isn't heaven
and it's too cold to be hell.

Mother wondered about
purgatory, but he said no.

Purgatory has an end to it.

"Don't torture me so,"
said Mother.

The salmon we dried up
has run out.

The kids are eating solid food
now and it's hard to
keep up with them.

Papa went to the other side
of the island and shot a pair
of sea lions

but he could only bring one
back without tipping
over in the skiff.

I had to help him with the
crosscut saw, breaking it
down to pieces

that we keep in the shed.

Papa said it's just meat,
but I tried not to look at
what I was doing.

When Papa rode back, the other
sea lion had been gotten
to by a bear.

We put a piece of the frozen
meat in each of the pens

and the foxes fight over it
and gnaw at it

and the outside melts from
the heat of their
little tongues.

Mother won't deal with
them anymore.

She has grown silent with
the shorter, darker days

and only now and again will
she break out into one of
her Bible songs.

She asked me to join her, but
we don't harmonize well.

"I have a dream about Fox.

"He is a young man who comes
to me on snowshoes

"dressed in blue pelts.

"His skin and hair are dark.
But his eyes are ice blue.

"All the others here are
paired he says:
Papa and Mother

"the sires and the vixens

"but I am alone

"and you can't
let that continue.

"Sometimes in the dream
he stays with us

"but usually he picks me up
and carries me to
his own island.

"Papa

"says, if we can get the
animals through the winter,
they are a gold mine.

"He says fortunes have been
started on less.

"He says that, if he keeps
having this dizziness, I will
have to go hunting with him

"the next time.

"The burns from where Mother
hit him with the bacon grease

"are only pink now. Healing

"though the hair doesn't grow
on that part of his jaw."

"I am sewing a sampler."

You don't have to worry about
it burning up this way, just
flip it over after a minute.

-Did you put the trap back?
-Yeah.

Great.

Good day for planes.

Nobody's coming.

Don't be negative.

In two weeks, how many
planes have we seen?

Zero.

We heard that one.

Oh, there'd be more if they
were looking for us here.

What's that supposed to mean?

Bobby probably told people at
the dock that we were headed
in a different direction.

He thought people
were after him.

-People were after him.
-Yeah.

-Stupid.
-Noelle.

Trying to impress
your boyfriend, drag us out
on a boat...

Look, I am cold

I am hungry,
I am dirty and I am scared
shitless just like you are

but I'm trying to help us
get through this thing.

I shouldn't be here!
I shouldn't be in this state!
I shouldn't...

Nobody is to blame for this!

Yeah, right.

And when you are of age,
Noelle, you are free to fuck
up your own life, but until

that time I'm afraid it's my
job to do it for you.

You could help me with this.

-Ah! He's not my father!
-Yeah, thank God for that!

Oh, what's that mean?

Your father would have gone
off picking berries
or something

-and that's the last we would
have seen of him.
-That's not true!

How do you know? You were
maybe in the same room
with him twice!

-Because you wouldn't let him!
-Ah honey, come on, if he
thinks of you once a year

-I'd be surprised.
-Every Christmas he sent me
a bike! He sent me a watch!

-He sent me a doll house...
-I sent the bike!

I sent the watch. All of it.

When you were little I figured
you had...

You have the Easter bunny,
you have Santa Claus

you should have a father
in California that
sends you stuff.

(SNIFFING)
I hated that doll house.

I know you did, sweetheart.

But you wouldn't let me
exchange it because it was
from him.

"I was the one who found them.

"It was time to clean the scat
from the pens, so I had the
buckets and the shovels

"and then there was blood
everywhere in the snow.

"All of them torn and smashed,
even the little kits.

"'A bear', says Papa but when
has a bear gone into a half a
dozen different pens

"without breaking the gates?

"Mother says nothing

"but she's only a black spot
these days and refused to
celebrate Christmas.

"I dreamed that Fox came and
was angry for what we
let happen.

"Then he held me down on the
snow and I felt his hot breath
on my face.

"Felt it bitter in my throat

"and felt his ice eyes
cutting into me.

"I wish...

"I wish he would come soon.

"Mother

"sleeps with me now and it
is cramped and tense.

"You would think that

"another body

"under the covers
would bring warmth.

"But I awake feeling drained,
like she has pulled
all the heat from me.

"I am doing the cooking now
and my eyes are always red
from the smoke.

"The wood is too big for the
cook stove but the ax has
gone missing and

"we can't break it down.

"Mother says Hell
is a cold place.

"Maybe

"I am the soul, not
of a she-wolf

"but of a soaring bird

"that flies south every winter

"and my heart

"is so sick

"because I am not supposed to
be here in this cold

"this dark, this wet.

"Maybe I am like the air
in this house.

"The air that does not move
when Papa and Mother
pass in silence.

"That smoky air that

"smells of wood or bacon.

"We threw the animals on the
rocks for the tide
to deal with.

"Papa cried."

(SOUND IN THE DISTANCE)

They're coming!

They're coming!

(SOUND OF AIRPLANE)
(UPBEAT MUSIC)

Donna!

Careful!

You folks picked a hell of a
place for a clam bake.

We've been stuck here forever.
We've been stranded.

-Any more of you?
-No, no, it's just us.

We were on Bobby's boat,
that's Joe's brother, and he
was murdered.

I'm not sure who did it.
We jumped off at night.

Couple of fellas came in
looking, and we hid.

And then they pulled anchor.

Damn.

How long you been here?

Week and a half.

We've been living in what we
found of an old house, we've
been holing up there at night

I was hoping you people
could help me.

My radio's shot.
I'm low on fuel and

it's getting into bad weather.

Your radio's gone.

Crapped out on me
a half hour ago.
Not even static.

Tide's going out fast. I wanna
have turned this thing around,
try to get outta here.

Send help.

Well would you take my
daughter then, she's sick?

I'd love to but I can't
handle the weight.

No no no, she barely
weighs a thing.

I barely got a fighting
chance as it is.

Sorry ladies.

Here.

You wanna help me
with this thing?

I've got a first aid
kit in here.

No food, though.

I'm really sorry to hear about
Bobby, man. I used to party
with him up in Haines.

-So what's the story, Jack?
-What's what story?

Who sent you?

Just have to spend one more
night out here, honey, okay?

And then he'll come
back and get us.

Couple of guys, Mr. Smith
and Mr. Brown.

Never seen 'em before, but I
don't think they're up here to
save the whales.

They laid some serious money
on me to poke around and see
if I could spot three people

-roughing it in the Boonies.
-And if you saw 'em?

Go back and tell 'em where.

So why'd you land?

I'm on the level about the
radio and the rest of it, Joe.

I was hoping to find some
sport fishermen with a radio
and a cooler full of brew.

If I'd have known the
deal about Bobby, I'd have
turned 'em in.

You have to trust me
on that one.

Hang in there, ladies!
I'll be back with the
cavalry tomorrow.

(SOUND OF PLANE ENGINE)

We're gonna make it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, last time I heard he was
flying out of Anchorage

kicking square halibut
out of a cargo plane.

-What's that?
-Marijuana bales.

You fly over a spot in the
water and somebody signals
you with lights

or they give you a code
over the radio and you dump
your load and

people down below fish the
bales out and take them
on to the next stage.

-He's a drug dealer.
-He's whatever pays best and
what he can get away with.

He hit on me a couple
of times at the bar. He seemed
like a really nice guy.

I'm not saying people don't
like him, I'm just saying I
don't trust him.

You think he might tell those
men and bring them back here?

I don't know.

I don't believe him
about the radio.

And uh...

we've got some
personal history.

Like what?

His brother drowned on a
fishing boat, and
it was my fault.

He wouldn't do that to us.

-He's not a killer.
-How do you know?

I've looked in his eyes.
I can tell some things
about a person.

Look, we don't
have any choice!

You are sick, it's getting
colder, we can't stay here!

Well, nobody's gonna show up
for a while if it keeps
up like this.

Not in a plane. Not in a boat.

It's got to stop some time.

Sooner or later.

Humor me, okay?

All right, it was worse
yesterday and the day before.

The signal fire's
probably out.

-Well, as soon as it clears,
we'll get it going again.
-Okay.

Hmm.

-Joe.
-Umm hmm.

It's blank.

What is?

It's blank.

Look, to the first
few entries.

(MUMBLES)

The foxes haven't even had
their babies yet.

We won't bury her
on the island. (SNIFFS)

She made me promise.

She whispered it...
she hissed it

in my ear one night when she
laid hot beside me in bed.

"Promise me."

She wouldn't listen
to anything else.

We had come back from looking
for deer, Papa and me

we saw signs at the salt lake
but nothing to shoot at.

I was putting his rifle back
where he hid it
in the shed roof

when I heard him cry out.

He wouldn't

he wouldn't let me in at first

though I hollered and struck
at the door.

He opened up

when he'd got her
down on the table

but

I still saw the black mark
around her neck

where the cord was.

The fire had gone out

so our breath was showing.

Papa and me

white, long sighs of grief

and her mouth open

and hair crispy to the touch.

We wrapped her in her afghan
and then I

I got the fire going
while Papa just sat.

Nothing to say.

Later, we found a note and she
told how

the animals were Satan's
hand maidens

and how their sharp
little eyes

would not give her peace

so she killed them

and then threw the
ax in the woods.

"We have looked into
ourselves," she wrote

"and what is there
condemns us."

We'll take her off the island
come first thaw.

If Fox comes

padding through the trees

he will find us gone.

That's it?

(SNIFFS)
That's it. The last entry.

-Poor thing.
-Who?

Little Anne Marie, there.

Her mother didn't love her
enough to stick around.

She was crazy.

But still

she left her daughter.

I would never do that.

No matter what.

(DONNA HUMMING A TUNE)

Kinda look forward to
her being sick.

It's the only time she lets me
hold her anymore.

That's some kind of fever.

It's in her lungs.

We have to get her out
of here.

You really think he might
bring people back to kills us?

I hope I'm wrong.

If...

When we get back

I still have some
dates up north.

-And I'll only be gone for...
-She could stay with me.

And so could you.

You're not sick of us?

You're not sick of me?

There's nobody in the world
I'd rather be stranded in
desperate circumstances with.

We should take our time with
the furniture moving part.

You know, she pretends not to

but she gets her hope us for
me and then when it
doesn't work out...

I'll take care of her.

(WHISPERS) All right.

(SOUND OF AIRPLANE
IN THE DISTANCE)

There it is.

Looks bigger.

-Room for all of us.
-Or those men.

To hell with it.
I'm not staying here.

Donna!