The Sunlit Night (2019) - full transcript

Mm.

Hm.

- Yeah, it's lazy.
- It's not lazy,

it just... it just doesn't work.

- Mhm.
- That's so pedestrian,

- the whole thing.
- Yeah.

It sort of just reminds me
of like a basic

primary color wheel, frankly.

- In a hotel.
- It is the problem.

The background
needs more complexity and...

It's just... it's leaving me cold.



It's not... I don't know anything
about the artist, I don't...

- Yeah, yeah.
- Peter made that comment

last month about controlling
competing forms

in order to head off
awkward readings

and she's done that by stripping
away everything interesting.

- I'm... I'm done.
- Yeah.

It's making
me a little bit angry.

- I can see that.
- Yeah, yeah.

- I think that's all for now.
- That's all we have to say.

You know, better luck next time.

- Any questions for us?
- No.

I don't have any questions,
thank you.

No, no, no, whoa!

Okay,
so maybe I'm not an artist.



Maybe I'm just the daughter
of two other artists.

- What?
- You don't need to know...

Frances,
will you get in here please?

My father
started drawing animals

in the style of Albrecht Dürer,

then he drew flowers
for a vintage poster company,

and finally trained
as a medical illustrator.

He's illustrated
16 technical textbooks.

Then you tell him to draw his
own fucking mitochondria. Fuck!

But all he really wants

is to draw an owl as convincing
as Albrecht Dürer's.

My mother designs
upholstery textiles

for three-story
Connecticut mansions

but lives in a one-bedroom
Manhattan apartment

where she sleeps with my father
on a pull-out sofa bed.

Maybe success isn't really
an option for any of us.

My family's apartment looks like
a Mondrian of claustrophobia.

My parents' sofa bed
is the red rectangle,

my sister and my old bunk beds
are the blue rectangle,

and the fire escape
is the yellow,

which is the only rectangle
where anybody can breathe.

Ah-ha.

Hey, hi.

Fran, I've had such a crazy day.

- Yeah, me too.
- Come here.

Aren't you supposed
to be at Robert's?

- Yes.
- Well, what are you doing home?

Did something happen?

We broke up.

Mh, I'm sorry.

Your mother's driving me crazy.

Levi, don't talk about me!

- Really crazy.
- Hey, Dad.

What happened to you?

That's a really nice way
to say hello to somebody.

I thought you were
at Robert's lake house.

Yeah, well, when you
break up with someone,

it's not really very fun to go
swimming with them anymore.

What, he dumped you?

- How was your time?
- They broke up.

- And look at this here.
- He dumped you?

Why is that the assumption here

with both of you right away?

I assumed that you dumped him.

That's kind, thank you, Gaby.

- You knew about this?
- Ow, ow, hey, fuck!

Just relax, your energy is...

You can't live in
this apartment anymore.

- Now what are you gonna do?
- Well, actually

I'm still waiting on
the Tokyo residency, so...

Well,
I told you you should've done that

from the beginning, you know?

Can you get out
of the way, please?

There isn't
anywhere for me to go.

- Go over here, I mean.
- Stop it, don't move.

- What is that?
- Me?

- You have a leech.
- No.

You have a leech,
you have a leech, come, come.

Come here, all right,
go right to the sink.

What did I tell you
about that lake?

That's disgusting.

Tokyo will never work
out, Fran.

Levi,
stop being so hard on Frances.

All right, all right,
forget I said anything.

- Get the blanket, please.
- What's gonna happen?

Someone should
sleep on this thing.

- Yeah.
- You wanna do it, do it.

Oh!

I'm feeling
mildly optimistic, Fran.

I'm sure Tokyo will work out.

Okay. Oh, Frances,

they picked the nicest tush
in New York.

You're done, beauty.

You can pull them up.

- What did I tell you?
- So sorry, hon.

Yeah, well,
you wanna see something really tragic?

Look at this piece of crap.

- Oh, did you draw that?
- Did I dr...

Of course I didn't
draw that, how can you

even fucking think that?

It looks like
a fucking rigatoni.

I should never
have suggested it.

Well, here,
here, let me show you.

This is mine.

- It's gorgeous.
- What is that?

What do you have on your hand?

- What are you doing?
- Nothing.

- Oh my God.
- What's going on? Mirela?

- He asked you?
- He did.

- What's going on?
- Oh my God.

I'm engaged!

I am engaged.

To Scott Glenny.

We were on the
Staten Island Ferry

to go meet up with
his parents for dinner.

And I was kind of posing

like the Statue of Liberty,

just like as a joke,
and I turn around

and he had this little box out

and he just asked.

And we're getting married.

Well, that's good because
your mother and I are separating.

- What?
- It's good,

because you'll be
out of the house...

well, actually,
there won't be a house,

and, Frances,
the same goes for you.

- Levi!
- Well...

- Mom?
- You know, the cat's out.

- Mom?
- Congratulations.

Where are they gonna go?

I can't really tell

how much of a plan there is,

more than all of the feelings.

I didn't think they were
actually gonna do it, Fran.

I bet there was a time
where he really blew her away.

Do you...
do you think that love can last?

Fran?

Yeah, and how is Scott
Glenny gonna support her?

She's in law school,
Dad, she's gonna support herself.

Yeah, well,
she clearly doesn't see his essence.

Scott Glenny is a schmuck.

Okay? I know about this
and I know how it's gonna end.

Man, I've missed this place.

Yeah, it's gonna be nice
having you here this summer.

Oh, and look, this whole wall,
that's all for you.

It's very nice light.

Well, it... well, you know.

We'll adjust.

There we go, we'll move it...
we'll just move it a little.

Okay, I don't need my bed yet.

What? Our bed.

I'm gonna be staying in
the studio for a little while.

Which side do you want?

- Norway.
- Norway?

Actual Norway?

Well, it's not
exactly Tokyo, but...

it doesn't sound so bad.

Norway is not the problem.

What is the problem?

- Nils Auermann.
- Nils Auermann.

I thought he was dead.

Only to the people that matter.

He just fired
his last assistant,

now he needs someone
to paint a barn

using only the color yellow.

Okay, that's fine.

I would just like
to get out of here.

Do you think I'll have time
to do my own work in Oslo...

Not Oslo, Lofoten.

Lofoten.

Islands in the far north.

How far north?

Mr. Auermann?

- I'm Frances.
- Nils.

Hey, thank you.

I'm so happy to meet you.

I'm very eager
to see what you've done

in this project so far.

Everyone here seems
really friendly.

It's so beautiful,
it's almost like a bad painting.

What I mean is...
is that it's so beautiful,

that it looks like a painting
that you would make...

Not you, but... certainly
not you at all.

But if you tried
to make a painting of it,

it would almost be like cheesy?

So magical that
the sun never sets.

The light is astounding.

Oh, look at that.

I have never seen
a landscape so powerful.

Yet you've never
really done landscapes,

and I also just wanna say
I loved your early work.

It's like everything is such a...

Such a miracle to have
so many different colors,

I would want to write them down.

I really would, because
it seems like they're...

Don't step in the middle.

The wood is rotten.

What's with all the trash?

It's not trash, I recycle.

Toilet.

Shower.

Clean bedsheets, towels.

The rest of the house
is off limits.

Understand?

Yes.

It used to be
an old fish factory,

now it's for artists.

- How many artists live here?
- Me.

So...

this is yours.

Sleeping, cooking,
everything you need.

- Well...
- It's an honor to be here.

It's an honor
to be here with you!

Nils Auermann's
work has been called

the same bad names
as mine:

lazy, cold, not working.

So this is where you go
when you're exiled.

To the edge of the earth.

You go to Arctic detention.

To some buried asleep
in the sun detention.

Ugh.

We're leaving in ten minutes!

Hi, um, sorry,
that trailer of yours

could really use
some thicker curtains.

Please do not ask me
about the sleeping, okay?

It's very bright
at night for sleeping.

Can you work?

I can.

- What?
- The Viking Museum.

Oh, okay, here we go.

Your official
title will be apprentice.

It's amazing to be
your apprentice.

Do not use... do not..

Do not use
the word "amazing", okay?

This is just hard work,
you're gonna hate it.

Cool.

So you will be responsible

for the interior.

You can use this wall
as an example, okay?

Here you have buckets,
also with numbers.

So use that bucket
for that beam and so on, okay?

- Yeah.
- You got that?

- Mhm.
- Good.

I will do the exterior.

In one month the piece
will be inspected by NKI,

that's the Norwegian
Art Institute.

If they like the piece,
they put me on the map.

- Put ya on the map.
- Yeah, they put me on the map.

Oh, like an actual map.

I need you to paint full time.

I'd like to do a little
of my own work this summer.

Not what I hired you for.

Well, it's what I came here for.

Look, this is not
some kind of residency, okay?

From seven to seven, we work.

Is there a place where
I can paint at eight?

Nils' project was
essentially a giant color-by-numbers.

It was a coloring book
and I, of course,

was always more
of a finger painter.

So this would be Nils'
work and Nils' battle,

not mine.

Fine, I can be a soldier.

Hi.

Go that way.

Go down, go down.

Oh, and the light
must be beautiful all the time.

It is constant all the time.

And are you lonely?

I'm closed for business.

You're very attractive to men.

That's not
even a useful statement.

Oh, come on, enjoy yourself.

- Really?
- This is when your body

- is really at its best.
- This is not what I want

- to talk about.
- Don't shy away from that, Fran.

I want you to feel good
about yourself.

You look like
you've changed a little.

What are you eating,
you look very thin.

I eat a lot of brown cheese,

and you put it on a little...
like a cracker, like a...

- That sounds so unappealing.
- It's just what it is.

A kitten named "Rambo"
rescued another kitten

on a farm near Tangstad.

- That's what it says?
- Yeah.

His name is Rambo.

What is that?

Yeah, yeah, that's super fine.

Thanks for the wine.

Fuck.

- Can we pick him up?
- Pick who up?

- The...
- You're severely behind

today's work, you're a disaster.

You know, we can go to town
for supplies later.

Tonight, I'm cooking
the secret recipe of my mother.

Good for you.

You may join me

in the upstairs kitchen.

Oh, wow!

Sarcasm doesn't suit you.

Oh! Hi.

You work in here?

She looked like
the all-powerful angel

who ruled the Renaissance

and she lived in
the most wide-open place

I'd ever imagined or been to.

But somehow,
she worked in a black cube

as cramped as
my father's studio.

Did she feel like
she was in detention too?

Or maybe I was
just seeing it that way

because I was looking for
a partner in punishment.

You have the wrong cheese.

This one is wrong.

How is that wrong?

I want the green milk, yeah.

I wouldn't be close
to finishing this in time

if you weren't here, you know.

Yeah, that's right,
you wouldn't.

Can you tell me
a little bit about

your work in New York?

Wrong.

Beautiful colors.

Sorry, just English.

Oh, you're the New Yorker?

I must be.

That's a big barn
to paint in a short time.

- Yeah.
- I've been excited to meet you.

- Haldor says...
- Haldor says what?

This is Haldor,
he plays the chief.

- I am the chief.
- Sorry.

Where are you from?

Cincinnati.

And you
prefer life as a Viking?

Well,
I can tell by your attitude

you wouldn't understand.

What is this here?

- What is it?
- That's urine.

- Gosh, it really is.
- The Vikings used this

mushroom mix as tinder

when it's dry.

Ah, I see.

Have you inspected our grounds?

They're quite remarkable.

It's a relief
to be inside of a place

that really knows what it is.

Like, there's a lot of, um,

there's a lot of here, here.

A place?

This is history.

Oh, I'm... thank you so much.

See you.

I am the chief.

- Sorry.
- I've devoted my life

to all this.

I don't call you Chuck.

Haldor looked
like the Dutch postmen

who are more beard than face.

Sigbjorn looked like
a newborn baby.

I wanted to tell him, at least,
the words I had learned.

This project is too important
to just walk away like that.

You have to learn to take
your art seriously, Frances.

The museum is just there, okay?

It's a neighbor.

I cannot afford to find
you over there.

This barn is like
a cathedral to me.

If you cannot respect
that simple premise then...

No, no, no, this is not
how I showed you!

Follow the grain!

I am following the grain.

Minor painter,
you have buckets,

you have numbers.

An idiot could do this.

- You have to taper.
- I'm tapering.

You're not tapering, okay?
Come on.

- Ow!
- This is tapering.

- Let go, let go!
- You are not following

- clear directions.
- Don't touch me!

I don't care,
do not touch me ever.

Where are you going?

Out. I'm done.

Uhh...

Uh, may I have
the blueberry one?

Next.

- Uh, one pancake.
- Toppings?

- No.
- Okay.

Are you from around here?

Do I know you?

What?

Oh, I'm sorry.

He looked like Caravaggio's
Boy with a Basket of Fruit.

Heavy eyes, heavy arms

just no fruit.

You know,
you and I are opposites, Frances.

I'm not used to people.

Especially not teaching.

But you know,

we complement one another.

My orange to your blue.

Blue and orange
are complementary colors.

If you look at something orange,
a piece of paper

for like 15 seconds and
then look at a white paper,

your eye makes blue.

It's the same with
yellow and violet.

I use yellow and red
when I want violet,

you know?

So it is living.

It is living.

At this rate,
we definitely make our schedule.

Your schedule is for
wimps, I'm gonna finish this

one a week early.

- What?
- It's the accent.

- What...
- I cook you anything you like.

No more brown cheese.

Okay.

Stop.

Stop.

- We need to work.
- I have to see something,

but I'll be right behind you.

Hey there.

Hey.

Hello?

I think I realized
where I met you.

I'm pretty good with faces,
I'd say,

and I'm feeling very confident

that you sold me
a sandwich in Brooklyn.

I doubt it.

- What are you doing here?
- What are you doing here?

I'm painting a barn.

Oh,
I see the two of you have met.

Who is this lovely person?

He's here
because he understands the...

the real value
of a Viking funeral

for his father.

I'm sorry.

I'm really sorry.

I didn't realize.

- Yeah.
- Perhaps Frances can help us

with your father's ceremony.

No, she doesn't need to help.

Well, we're all here to help
in any way.

Also, another member
of your party

has just arrived.

There are no other members.

Was your father Norwegian?

No, he was Russian.

Just wanted to die here.

I mean, he...

he wanted to rest here.

These all go back.

You're at the wrong funeral.

I wish that were true.

The family of the deceased
isn't expecting any more guests.

Okay?

You're such a strong man.

How high can you jump?

Pretty, uh... pretty high.

Show me.

Bravo.

Go tell my son I am here.

His name is Yakov.

I think your
dad is going to find it

to be really quite peaceful
all the way up here.

It's a really nice place to be.

- To be?
- Mm.

Yeah.

Thanks.

Have you seen
the rest of this museum?

There's more?

So what brings you
all the way up here?

Can't really be a barn.

It's mostly the barn.

And a breakup.

And my sister getting married
to a man

that my parents hate
and my parents splitting up.

So just general mess.

So painting
is an escape mechanism.

No.

Painting is focus.

I think the love stuff
was an escape

from the painting.

I get that.

I'm sorry about your dad.

I'm sorry about your mess.

Yakov.

Listen.

- Yes?
- Uh, could you please...

What? What is it?

Your mother.

You froze him?

No, I chilled him.

Vassily Grigoriev.

His heart went out.

He's free.

Here lies a free, dead man.

Let us go.

His eyes fell somewhere
new on the blue spectrum,

a kind of alien, cosmos,
deep sea, gas flame blue

I'd never seen before.

I asked him what he did.

He'd grown up working
in his father's bakery.

Every day, he'd woken up earlier

and completed more craft
than any artist I'd ever met.

He knew what he was doing.

His work was his calling.

I envied that.

He said his father
had raised him,

first in Russia,
then in Brighton Beach.

They'd waited ten years
for his mother to join them

and she never did.

He said that losing his father

was like losing his own life.

Hi.

I would like to paint you.

Okay.

- Really?
- Let's go.

Maybe we start by the bed?

So... okay...

- On the bed?
- Yeah.

Not now, after. Hey!

Shh! Not now.

Vassily Andreyevich Grigoriev

asked to be given
to the top of the world

after death.

"Then spake Gangleri,

'Shall any of the gods
live then,

or shall there be then
any earth...'"

- Haldor, could we just...
- "'or heaven...'"

- Please, allow me.
- What are you doing?

I'm actually the
only Norwegian person here.

You are the
person to play the flute.

- And you are a tour guide.
- My dad...

My dad was the only family
I ever had.

It was good to be with him.

I lived with him
for my whole life

and I worked with him
as long as I can remember.

He was a baker.

And his favorite bagel
was the sesame bagel.

He was made of peace.

And it's good that we're here,

giving him what he wanted.

Which was to find more peace.

I thank you for that.

That's all I wanted to say.

There is a Hebrew
prayer we should say.

I learned it from
my father's funeral.

I do not remember
how to say it.

- You say "amen" now.
- Amen.

- Amen.
- Amen.

Being next to Yasha
in his moment of total feeling,

I could see us there
inside of an image of loss,

an image I hadn't painted.

One that I had
walked right into.

There was no work we could do
to improve anything.

We could only be there.

I don't recognize any of this.

Do you know where we're going?

Sure.

Yeah.

It's, um...

Great.

I've gotta get to work.

Shirt.

Okay.

Your eye is sharpening.

I started to
understand that the barn

was not paint by numbers

but that it was
a whole geometry.

We were using the minor angles
of sundials

and the unit grids
of graphing

to build a kind
of monochrome mosaic.

And it was also my monument
to my detention

to this place that made work
feel worth doing.

Have you been able
to do your own work?

Uh... trying to, a little bit.

I'd like to see
some of your pieces.

After the inspection tomorrow.

Tonight, I have to complete
the paperwork.

You finish up
for the inspection.

Are you kidding?

Like my mother,
I'm never kidding.

Hey.

Hey.

I wanted to
talk to you about, um...

I'm leaving, tomorrow.

Well...

this is amazing.

You have an incredible
sense of... color and air.

Where is Nils tonight?

He's, um... drinking.

Probably, uh,
drinking and praying.

Our inspection is tomorrow

and he got so nervous
that he decided

to leave me in charge.

Unthinkable.

You think it'll pass?

I don't know, what do you think?

Yeah.

It should pass.

- Nils, I'm so sorry.
- We're leaving.

Since when does an
artist like Nils Auermann

give a crap about
what anyone thinks?

Today meant everything to him

and I made a huge mess.

No, I... I... I get it.
You know what a huge mess is?

I don't know, that you
and Mom are splitting up

so that you can now proceed
to die alone?

No.

Your sister's wedding.

Here, look at this.

September 22nd
at the Bowery Hotel.

I RSVP'd no.

I see Scott Glenny clearly.

I've never seen anybody
more clearly in my life.

Yeah.

We're done.

Cool.

Fuck it.

My mother used to say,
"Remember who you are

and fuck it."

What was your mother's name?

Inga Görich.

Sometimes I feel
like I should just go home.

Because I feel so much
like a troll.

I like trolls.

They're so strong
and they're never afraid,

and they work in dark,
cold places.

Like me.

Excuse me.

Oh, hey.

- I'm proud of you, honey.
- I'm glad you came.

In case you don't know
me, I am Levi,

I am Gaby's father.

And... uh...

my Gaby made a decision.

Now, would I pick
what she picked?

Uh, no, I would not.

No, sir, I would not.

- Me neither!
- Oh my God.

You know, most of us,

something picks us
or we pick nothing,

but, Gaby, you picked him
and we said no

and you said, "I pick him
anyway" and you got him!

Yeah.

Nobody picked this except you.

So whatever you have there
is your fault.

Your misery is your fault.

Your happiness,
well, that's up to you.

It's up to you.

You know, the...

the only thing
that ever made me...

less scared of my misery...

was my wife
and she's over there.

Well...

forgive me.

I lost track of things.

Well, let's strike up
the band, huh?

- Can you bring those in?
- I got the last...

I got this one.

And there's so much crap...

Nils had
disappeared into total silence

but one day,
an envelope arrived,

full of foreign postage stamps.

We passed.

I thought I'd ruined everything.

But maybe it was never
really that fragile.

You've gotten
somewhere this summer.

She's getting there.

It's breathtaking.

I know this
woman and we've never met.

Look at this light work.

Her gaze, it's quiet
and it's... radiant.

Yeah, just stay on this path,
this is so good.

Yeah, it is.

Did I run away from my life?

Did I run toward it?

Did I make the most of it?

Did I fuck up?

Did I... get where
I needed to go?

What kind of place was this?

And are you going
to be able to keep this up,

now that you're back?

Two, three.