Witness in the War Zone (1987) - full transcript
Don Stevens is an ace reporter sent to Beirut, Lebanon to report on the Lebanese civil war. There he befriends English journalist Mike Jessop, who's staying at the same hotel as him. Stevens' downfall begins when he manages to get an exclusive interview with the head of one of the main factions in the war, the Palestine Liberation Organization headed by Yassin Abu-Riadd. When he sends the taped interview in, he learns that the man he spoke with was in fact not Abu-Riadd but an impersonator. In an attempt to salvage his reputation and save his career, Stevens goes back to find out who set him up and why. However, all three sides in the war try to stop his investigation and his life comes into danger. Stevens comes to realize that he's a pawn in a huge deadly conspiracy and if he fails to uncover it, many innocent people will die. He finally gets a breakthrough, when he meets Linda Larsen, a Scandinavian doctor who might be able to take him to the real Abu-Riadd.
(birds chirping)
(mellow pop music)
(engine rumbling)
(horn honking)
(tires squealing)
(goats bleating)
(booming)
- [Don] Hello, hello.
- Yeah.
- Beirut.
(speaking foreign language)
Okay, thanks.
(tires squealing)
(mellow pop music)
(engine zooming)
(chattering)
Double Stolichnaya, please.
- ABS?
What happened to old Snyder?
- Got beat by an ulcer.
Can't get back here fast enough for me.
- Mike Jessop, EuroVision News.
- Don Stevens.
- Well, I think you'll find
Beirut's got its charm.
So, where'd they find you?
- I was in Paris,
doing a fashion show.
- So, what's it gonna
be then, next autumn?
Hemlines up, hemlines down?
- Sideways.
(chuckling)
- Well, since it's your maiden voyage,
let me introduce you to a
couple of Beirut's VIPs.
These are the PLOs Hamdi and Salim.
Mr. Stevens, here, is a new boy in town.
Every time Hamdi blows something up,
Salim's on hand to explain why.
Join us if you want.
You'll be lonely all by yourself.
- Don't worry about me.
Any luck, I'm seein' double in no time.
- Fashion show.
Bollocks.
(missiles booming)
(gunfire popping)
(booming)
♪ Take me back ♪
♪ Take me back ♪
♪ Take me back to Bartertown ♪
♪ Take me back ♪
- Where do you want to (mumbling)?
♪ Take me back ♪
♪ Take me back ♪
♪ Take me back ♪
Don?
♪ Because you're mine ♪
About the story, Don.
- All right.
(humming)
(yelling on TV)
Tears won't help this child.
The odds of him living to see
his next birthday are slim.
On this day alone, 250
civilians were killed
in the heaviest Israeli
bombardment to date.
From land, sea and in
air, an estimated 380 tons
of bombs were dropped,
lighting up the Beirut sky
like a Fourth of July celebration,
but there is nothing to celebrate.
No peace, no hope, no end
to this barbarous nightmare.
Tomorrow, there will be more
victims and more carnage
and the burnt out city
will resound with more
righteous cries for revenge,
and when the night comes,
the city will glow again
like a Roman candle over this
murderous holiday from sanity.
What was once the Paris of the Mideast
is now the closest thing to hell on Earth
and this is Don Stevens, ABS News, Beirut.
- [Announcer] When you
drink a beer that's strong,
yet smooth because
matured over beech wood...
(dice clicking)
- See?
(mumbling)
- [Abdul] Knew I would find you here.
- Abdul.
You get anything?
- I almost got killed in a crossfire.
- Can we get two minutes out of it?
- Don, I just ran the hell out of there.
I didn't get one fucking shot.
I don't even know who was shooting at who.
- Hmm.
Can't tell the plays without a scorecard.
Okay, nevermind, we'll do something.
Yesterday's stuff, I'll verb it up.
Fabulous, it'll be fabulous.
- You make me laugh.
All you do is sleep and get drunk.
- Hey.
- You haven't put your
ass outside this hotel
since you got here.
You do it.
- You're talking to a pro.
(bell dinging)
In a few days, your
friend, what's-his-name,
Snyder, will be back
and you two can go out
and play war games.
In the meantime, you know, just work up
a tasty story about Beirut
and flames, okay, please?
- Never.
Forget about it.
I quit.
Find yourself another gopher.
- Abdul, wait.
I take it back.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, can we make up?
(footsteps clacking)
(phone ringing)
(knocking)
Mike.
(woman giggling)
(knocking)
Mike, I know you're in there.
- Oh, it's you, what's up?
- [Don] I need a favor.
Are you busy?
- Oh, don't worry, this is my um...
Interpreter.
- Hi, I'm Don Stevens, ace
reporter, and a nice person.
- Yeah, don't bother.
She doesn't understand a word of English.
(speaking foreign language)
Ever see Lawrence of Arabia?
- Yeah, I just saw him outside.
- That's how he used to
get rid of his camel.
- My cameraman, he abandoned me,
thinks I'm too dedicated.
- Mmm, can't say I blame him.
Playing cool's one thing,
playing dead's another.
- Well, I lost my taste for all this,
but, the thing is, I could
use some of your old footage,
you know, outtakes, anything.
- Be my guest.
Just one thing.
Why are you here?
Come on, I've seen some of your stuff.
This isn't your first war.
- [Don] That's true.
- So?
- I don't know.
- Here.
It's got one execution,
scores of broken limbs
and more burned faces than you can count.
Boffo footage, I believe,
is how your trade papers
would put it.
They'll love it.
- Yum, yum.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Piss off.
- [Man] Hey guys, want you to take...
(chattering)
I want you to try this.
Hello, Mr. Stevens.
Aren't you coming?
This is a big event.
- Have a nice day.
- You crazy?
You can't miss this story.
(mumbling)
This is the grand finale.
Arafat and the PLO are leaving Beirut.
- Well, give my regards to Big A
and tell him I don't play crowd scenes.
It's against my religion.
- Hope you got a good
excuse lined up for ABS.
- Mr. Stevens?
I have a message for you.
You know the name Yassin Abu-Riadd?
- He's a PLO, big shot, right?
- You like to meet him, get interview?
He will say something
important, make you famous.
- How come he's not leaving Beirut?
- He not leave.
(mumbling) leave.
Not 'til end.
- Why me?
- You're new.
You're not (mumbling).
We trust you.
Tonight.
Come to this place, alone.
Wait, they will take you.
- Want have a drink, sandwich?
(faint pop music)
(paper rustling)
(mumbling on TV)
(phone ringing)
Hello?
Yeah.
Jerry!
How's everything?
You bet I'm high, the air is wine.
Dancing girls, hot
peppers, the whole thing.
I just got here, think I'm jetlagged.
(stammering)
Do I not have to adjust?
Pull the plug on me?
Of course I'm filing, Jerry.
Really?
Transfer me there Bahrain?
That's the large font of
the Middle East, Jerry.
Bahrain, you can't get a drink.
Get off my ca, everybody in
the world has got Arafat.
I'm working on something, I tell you,
I tell you,
I'm working on something.
World exclusive, world, world!
Boffo!
It's boffo, boffo, profundo footage.
Yes.
That's right.
Tomorrow.
I promise.
Promise.
As God as my judge, don't worry, be happy.
(tense beat music)
Hi.
(booming)
You old enough to drive?
- [Habib] I'm 15.
I drive since I was 12.
- I'm in a hurry.
- [Habib] No problem.
(tense beat music)
(mumbling)
Yeah.
- [Habib] Whiskey?
- No.
- Cassettes, cigarettes?
I have American cigarettes.
Vodka, Smirnoff, best vodka you can get.
Dirty pictures, hashish?
- Where you get all this stuff?
This town's supposed to be under siege.
- I can come and go when I want.
When you're out of women, out of gas,
call for Habib.
- Okay.
Habib.
(gunfire popping)
Okay, watch out, watch out.
What's this?
(crowd yelling)
Back up, back up.
(yelling)
(gunfire popping)
(booming)
(tense music)
- [Habib] Okay, here we are.
(tense music)
- [Don] Thanks for the show.
- [Habib] Thank you.
Call when you need me.
(tense music)
(gunfire popping)
(booming)
- [Man] Mr. Stevens?
Come on.
(tense music)
(gunfire popping)
(engine zooming)
(doors thudding)
(footsteps clacking)
Wait here.
(gunfire popping)
- Mr. Stevens.
Thank you for coming.
I'm Yassin Abu-Riadd.
Have you ever been to
Palestine, Mr. Stevens?
I see.
You are okay with your camera?
- Go ahead.
- You need anything?
- [Don] No, no.
- Maybe a coffee?
Okay, so let's get on with it.
Mr. Stevens, I would like
to ask you a question.
What do you think of us, of the PLO?
- I'm not sure.
- Well, you see, I'm about to give you
the story of your reporting life.
I want to get to know you better.
Go ahead, come on, tell me.
- I think you're in trouble.
- Yes, I'm afraid you are right.
Our organization has suffered
the most serious blow
in all its history, but you know,
I foresaw all this a few years ago
when we ceased to be a small
group of freedom fighters
and became a political movement.
To my opinion, we should have abandoned
terrorism then totally
and moved to diplomacy.
(gunfire popping)
Does that surprise you?
- I'm knocked out, really.
None of you people have said that.
(booming)
- True, we have not.
Until today.
You and I, Mr. Stevens,
are going to put an end
to this tradition in a historic interview.
- Not afraid?
- Yes, I am, but I'm doing
it for a worthwhile cause.
But please, Mr. Stevens, you
must not disclose my identity.
You know, one doesn't make
a revolution in one day.
- I'll refer to you as a
well-known PLO leader, okay?
- Okay, all right.
It's all right with me.
What should the PLO do now?
We must stop dreaming,
stop dreaming about Acre,
about Haifa, about Ramla, about Jaffa.
We must get what we can
or we lose everything.
We lose our homeland forever and become
a second Armenian nation, with a flag,
a national anthem, but nowhere to go.
- Stand by, Paris.
Satellite to Paris.
(speaking foreign language)
Satellite to Tokyo.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Yassin] Can we afford to ignore Israel?
It's been there for more than 50 years.
What should we do instead?
Commit mass suicide as Colonel
Gaddafi is urging us to do?
Go on dreaming?
We'll wake up in five
years and all of Palestine,
the West Bank, the Gaza Strip,
everything will be inhabited by Jews.
It will all be de facto a part of Israel.
- This report just in in Beirut.
A PLO leader hiding somewhere
in the besieged city
issued a sensational statement
to ABS correspondent Don Stevens.
This is the first time such a declaration
has come from a man in this...
- [Yassin] We cannot rely
on our Arab brothers.
The terror weapon has been exhausted.
It's a boomerang.
(engine grumbling)
- Mr. Stevens.
Mr. Stevens.
It's about your interview.
The man you interviewed, who was it?
- Who are you?
- Oh, excuse, I'm Linda Larsen.
I'm a nurse here in the hospital.
I need to know.
It's very important.
Please.
Was is Yassin?
Yassin Abu-Riadd?
It was Yassin, right?
- Hey, Stevens, you really cornholed us.
Good work.
It's always a thrill when a bushleaguer
gets a chance at the big time.
- Bob, do me a favor.
Don't piss on my shoes
and tell me it's raining.
(mumbling)
Not just a pretty face.
- Come on, Don, give.
Who's the well-known PLO leader, huh?
Well, I reckon I can guess it anyway.
There aren't that many possibilities.
- I wanna show you something.
The fruits of victory.
- [Mike] Ah, come on, give us a break.
- Only an irresponsible and
headline hungry reporter
would possibly believe
that any Palestinian leader
could utter such treasonous words.
We wish to repeat, here and
now, before the international
media, which we respect very much,
be extremely careful of
the type of deception
that embarrassed your gullible colleague.
The man Mr. Stevens
interviewed was a fake.
- [Reporter] What do you mean, fake?
(excited chattering)
- [Don] How do you know?
How do you know that?
You people came to me.
- Mr. Stevens.
You seem better informed than we are
as to what is going on
in our organization.
- Mr. Salim, some of your leaders
have recently given off the record views
concerning changes in
the Palestinian covenant,
even possible recognition with Israel.
- I cannot comment on gossip
spread by the Zionist press.
- I know the difference
between news and gossip.
My report was accurate.
That's all there is to it, you know.
- Why do you hide the
identity of the man, then?
(crowd laughing)
Tell us who it was.
- Oh, you know why.
We all know we're talking
about ethics and (stammering)
if I don't protect him,
he's dead, that's why.
(excited chattering)
- Gentlemen.
I think we can accept
that Mr. Stevens was duped
and his denial should be
immediately forthcoming.
- Why would I do that?
Absolutely not.
Why would I do that?
- Mr. Salim, with respect, we all know
it can only be one of four or five people
and my sources tell me that the gentlemen
Mr. Stevens claims to have interviewed
was Yassin Abu-Riadd.
(excited chattering)
- [Reporter] Sir, will you come forward
and deny the truth of this statement?
- I think it will interest you to learn
that Yassin Abu-Riadd
left Beirut two weeks ago.
(excited chattering)
No more questions, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you very much.
(excited chattering)
- We gotta saying in Fleet Street,
you can't make the news, fake it.
You lucky sod.
Now all you gotta do is produce the guy,
you got another scoop.
Just make sure he stays alive, eh?
On second thought, if he
doesn't it'll be bloody magic.
You can say what you like
and claim a world exclusive.
- [Man] Mr. Stevens.
Somebody is waiting for you outside.
- I don't know what this
is, but I'm gonna find out.
(footsteps clacking)
Me?
(tense music)
- Just get in.
(engine rumbling)
(tense music)
(gunfire popping)
This is Lebanon.
This is not Disneyland.
(speaking foreign language)
(tense music)
(gunfire popping)
(excited chattering)
(gunfire popping)
(speaking foreign language)
(footsteps clacking)
(tense music)
(gunfire popping)
- What is all this?
You people,
you peep, you murd,
you shoot kids in the back.
You're fuckin' murderers, you know that?
(gunfire popping)
- [Soldier] Whatever.
This will stop in a minute Mr. Stevens.
Please, sit down.
- [Don] I don't wanna sit down.
- [Soldier] You want to sit down.
Sit down.
- [Don] He pointed a gun at me,
took me from the hotel.
- I want to tell you about
the Palestinians, Mr. Stevens.
When no one else wanted them,
they came to our country,
destroyed our homes, killed our
brothers, raped our sisters.
My own young brother they
killed in Tyre in 1976.
(gunfire popping)
Four shots in the stomach.
A slow death, huh?
You see?
I have a dream each night.
I'm on the hilltop behind my village
and I see them coming, bunches of them,
and I raise my iron fist and
destroy them, crush them.
- Look, I'm just a journalist, you know?
- You are an agent, Mr. Stevens.
Be thankful that up to now, you have been
permitted to act freely, but uh,
do not take us for fools.
We, the Christian Phalange,
rule this country.
(airplane whistling)
You fucking journalists are
interested only in the PLO.
Don't you know that we
banished them from Lebanon?
- Really?
I coulda sworn I'd seen a couple.
- Their time will also come.
Where is that bastard Yassin?
- Even if I knew, you know
I couldn't tell you that.
(tense music)
(thudding)
(grunting)
(speaking foreign language)
(chuckling)
- Now take us to him.
- They blindfolded me.
I mean, I didn't know where I was.
I don't--
- Don't lie to us, Mr. Stevens.
- Please, you know, I
don't want, I don't want
any trouble.
I don't wanna get hurt, okay?
- Okay.
- I'm no hero.
If I knew, I would tell you, okay?
- I believe you.
- No.
(tense music)
- Be careful, Mr. Stevens.
Try to be more objective.
Don't fool around too much
with those Palestinians.
(speaking foreign language)
Wait a minute.
I can supply you with stories
that will keep you busy for a whole year.
Understand?
- Okay.
(speaking foreign language)
- Good day, Mr. Stevens.
(speaking foreign language)
(gunfire popping)
(tense music)
(gunfire blasting)
- What?
Now what?
(speaking foreign language)
- This is a war, Mr. Stevens.
This time we take the camera.
Next time we take you.
- I need that stuff.
Let's talk.
- [Man] You remember, the
PLO is still in Beirut.
(tires squealing)
- Hello, journalist.
(speaking foreign language)
They know me here, Hamdi,
Salim, he knows me.
(speaking foreign language)
Hamdi, Hamdi, Salim.
(speaking foreign language)
Thank you.
(chanting in foreign language)
- Look at them, Mr. Stevens.
Only yesterday, they were
clutching their mother's apron,
and today they are the fighters.
For every PLO fighter who left Beirut,
we have another to take his place.
We never surrender, Mr. Stevens.
Never.
- Last night, I had a visit
from a couple of your guys.
They took my equipment.
I can't work without the camera.
Can I have it back, please?
- That interview with Yassin.
Do you still insist it took place?
- Yeah, I do.
- The only one who can
prove it is Yassin, right?
- I'm gonna find him.
- Ah, you are a stable man, Mr. Stevens.
I like that.
Don't worry about your equipment.
It will be returned today.
- Thanks.
- I worry about Yassin.
You know he is a good
friend and a wise man,
but he is wrong.
(horn honking)
(siren blaring)
(child crying)
It's not time for our talk yet.
Still time for the gun.
Find Yassin, Mr. Stevens.
It's your duty now.
(children chanting)
(tense music)
(horn honking)
(chattering)
- I have to talk to you.
I have to talk to you.
Wait, wait, wait one second.
Wait one second.
It's about your friend.
Yassin, I want you to help me find him.
- [Linda] Go outside.
- I feel like a one-legged
man in an ass-kicking contest.
- [Linda] No, not funny.
(mumbling)
- [Don] I can start
looking for another job.
- [Linda] Get lost.
Just get out of here.
- [Don] Just trying to make a living.
- Hush, you.
(muffled mumbling on P.A.)
(excited chattering)
(yelling)
- Fuckin' bloodsucker.
- What's up?
Okay?
(muffled vocalizing on P.A.)
(jet engine squealing)
You okay?
- No.
I can't even throw up.
- Stick your finger in your throat.
- Done.
Get me some matches, quick.
- Why?
- I want to burn my passport.
These are fascists.
- Do it later, when you feel better.
- Refuse entry to a poor, Palestinian girl
and they claim to be a
government of the left,
spouting off about the rights
of the Palestinian people.
- Who?
What girl?
- I sent her to Paris.
Now, she's back again.
What is it all about?
The photos, the millions
of meters of film,
the beautiful words.
If we cannot save one miserable soul
in this God-forsaken hell.
What's it all about, tell me.
- Show business, Bernard.
Movin' pictures.
- There must be something more to it.
- I don't think so.
I been in just about
every armpit there is.
I've seen it,
reported it, nothing changes.
It's one big TV hoo hah.
Keeps us glued to our seats.
We watch the glass tip.
I feel glad to be alive
and well, at least I do.
- You must be wrong.
There must be something we can do.
- I can't think what it is.
We're not activists, Bernard.
We're tranquilizers.
(phone ringing)
Hello?
- [Yassin] Hello, Mr. Stevens?
Hello, Mr. Stevens?
- Speaking.
- [Yassin] I am Yassin Abu-Riadd.
- Really?
- [Yassin] Listen.
Hello, are you there?
- One second please.
I can't hear you very well.
- [Yassin] Hello?
- I say I can't hear you.
- [Yassin] Mr. Stevens?
- Could you repeat that?
- [Yassin] I am Yassin Abu-Riadd.
Can you hear me now?
- Yes, I hear you.
What is it, Mr. Abu-Riadd?
- [Yassin] Mr. Stevens.
Have we ever met?
Do you recognize my voice?
- That's not so easy over the phone.
Are you in Beirut?
- [Yassin] Yes.
I don't know who you
interviewed, but it was not me.
- Whatever your name is, I
didn't ask for that interview.
- [Yassin] You must issue a denial.
- You understand?
- [Yassin] Listen--
- I don't like bein' jerked around!
- [Yassin] Mr. Stevens, please.
- Made to look like a dope.
- [Yassin] For you, it
is a matter of pride.
For me, it is my life.
You must issue a denial.
- Why should I believe you?
Why don't we meet, face to
face or forget about it?
- [Yassin] Okay, I will meet you.
- Tell me where and when.
(Yassin mumbling)
Uh huh.
- [Yassin] Bring your camera
and you will deny on television.
- I'll be there.
(tense music)
(engine zooming)
(horn honking)
(tense music)
(jet engine screeching)
(thudding)
(tense music)
(footsteps crunching)
(wind whooshing)
- Hello.
Let me help you.
Am I the man you interviewed?
- No.
- It is good for your
camera if I sit here?
- Now, wait a minute.
I got set up once
and I wanna know who,
why?
- It is not you they are
playing the trick on.
It is me.
- Who's they?
- Please.
There are a lot of people out there
who would like to silence me.
You see, all those
things they had me saying
in the interview are, in fact, things
in which I strongly believe.
I believe that the time
has come for dialogue.
- Why don't you say that on TV?
- You had the scoop.
Palestinian leader
advocates abandoning terror.
(mumbling)
You say I should get up, cry out.
Look at me, I'm a moderate.
Talk to me.
Do you really think I should do that?
- Sounds good, for a start.
- Believe me, if I say to the world
that I recognize the state of Israel,
that will not change anything.
I will die as a martyr.
Let me do it my own way.
It will happen one day, it must.
We and Israelis stand on
the brink of an abyss,
clinging to one another.
We must stand or fall together.
- [Boy] Baba!
- Excuse me, my son.
(speaking foreign language)
Mr. Stevens, where do you intend to go
when you finish your job in Beirut?
- Home, I guess.
- That is what I want to be
able to say one day, home.
In the meantime, I am hiding,
keeping my mouth shut.
All my life I have been packing my bags.
Where to this time?
Who knows.
We have become the world's
new wandering Jews.
I'm tired of hiding,
keeping my mouth shut.
You know what, Mr. Stevens?
I will give you an interview, a real one.
Let's start before I change my mind.
- I am.
It's your turn.
Hoping you know what you're doing.
- Okay.
- [Don] Three, two, one.
- My name is Yassin Abu-Riadd.
(gunfire blasting)
(tense music)
- Stay back, stay back.
(tires squealing)
(tense uptempo music)
He's been shot.
Let's go, hurry up!
(speaking foreign language)
(excited chattering)
(tense uptempo music)
(excited chattering)
(footsteps shuffling)
(speaking foreign language)
(whooshing)
(chanting in foreign language)
(speaking foreign language)
He called, asked me to come.
(stammering)
I interviewed him just,
as he requested.
- Oh, yes.
That's how they found him.
The fake interview wasn't enough.
Yassin had to pay with his life
to make the whole story complete.
- I didn't do anything to him.
- I know.
You didn't pull the trigger.
(chanting in foreign language)
(engine zooming)
(speaking foreign language)
- What is this?
- Somebody got hurt.
It's blood.
- Out.
- [Don] What's the matter?
- Out.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Don] You know how it goes.
I'm a journalist
on my way to Damascus.
That's TV.
- Okay, you can go now.
This stays here.
- That stays there?
That's my story.
I need that.
I have to send it by satellite today.
That story, I have to
send it by satellite.
- I tell you the world will manage
without your (mumbling) propaganda.
- You know, you can't do that.
I'm a foreign correspondent.
- You are a PLO spy.
- Foreign, foreign correspondent.
Who's in charge here?
- I'm in charge and now move.
- Okay, okay, that's my work!
(engine grumbling)
Okay.
(child speaking foreign language)
- Tell her to stop
grinning, for Christ's sake.
Doesn't she know she's a tragic figure?
Right.
Ask her how old she is.
(speaking foreign language on TV)
Hello, Don.
Jesus, what happened?
Cut yourself shaving?
- I'm a stooge.
Now he's dead.
- What?
- Yassin.
They shot him.
Right in front of me,
on camera.
- Jesus.
Lucky sod.
Have you got the tape?
- I wish I did.
They took it from me at the checkpoint.
- Ah, well.
It's only a bloody Palestinian, huh?
- Who shot him?
These people have got me so confused.
- This is Beirut.
No one needs a reason to kill anyone.
Here you don't kill who you want,
you kill who you can.
You sure you're in the right profession?
- I don't know.
It's okay, it's not my blood.
Who's this?
- This is Sohil, my wife,
the girl I told you about.
- I didn't know you were engaged.
(faint music)
(knocking)
Hello?
(mumbling)
- Thrown me out.
I have nowhere to go.
- The girl from the pool.
What do you want?
- Bassam say I must leave.
Must disappear, not stay (mumbling).
- Who's Bassam?
- Bassam.
He sent me to you.
- This Bassam, the man I interviewed.
I do not know they want to kill Yassin.
Swear it by my life, it is true.
But some say (mumbling), that is all.
I do not know they want to kill him.
- Where can I find this Bassam?
- I don't know.
When I go back to camp they say go, too.
They said they look for both of us.
- Who's they?
- I don't know.
What they do to me?
(booming)
- Don't worry.
Tell me more about this Bassam.
- He's (mumbling).
All he think about is cause, kills.
Much time he tried to make
me, but I not want him.
I must take care of my brothers.
One day says soon we'll have much money.
Che will help us.
We'll get married and go to Kuwait.
He have family there.
- Who's Che?
- I don't know.
I don't know nothing.
They will kill me.
- [Don] What's the family name of Bassam?
(booming)
- Caniphante.
Bassam Caniphante.
- All right.
You can stay here.
On the couch.
(faint music)
What's your name?
- Samira.
- [Clerk] Hello Mr. Snyder.
- Did you miss me?
- 'Course.
(phone ringing)
- [Snyder] Don.
Well, there you are.
- How's the ulcer?
You got back in a hurry.
- Well, I had to, didn't I?
I've got your plane ticket.
You leave tomorrow.
- No thanks.
- What do you mean, no?
- Use it yourself.
- Don, I'm not gonna argue.
Stay if you like.
Cry on Jerry's shoulder, but tomorrow,
I'm takin' back my room,
my desk and my assignment.
And Don, fuck with the
bull, you'll get the horns.
- This is Beirut, not Disneyland.
(tense music)
(faint vocalizing on P.A.)
- Mr. Stevens, a telephone call for you.
Is Mr. Stevens still here?
- [Snyder] I'll take it.
- Yes, yes, Mr. Snyder.
- Thanks.
Hello?
- [Bassam] Mr. Stevens?
- Who's this?
- [Bassam] I'm the man you interviewed,
the man you thought was Yassin Abu-Riadd.
Hello, Mr. Stevens?
- Yes, go on.
- [Bassam] I want you to
know that I had no idea
that Yassin would be assassinated.
- Hey, hey, take it easy, now.
- [Bassam] They didn't
tell me anything about it.
They said it was just propaganda.
I never--
- One moment.
Who do you work for?
- [Bassam] I cannot talk now.
I must see you.
I need your help.
- Okay.
Where, when?
- [Bassam] On the beach.
The yacht club, six o'clock.
I shall wait for you for a few minutes.
(engine zooming)
(dog barking)
(chattering)
(horn honking)
- Do you know Bassam Caniphante?
No?
(dog barking)
(goats bleating)
(horn honking)
(thudding)
Excuse me, I'm looking for Caniphante.
Do you know Caniphante?
Bassam Caniphante, he lives um...
- [Woman] Bassam, Bassam--
- He lives here someplace.
(speaking foreign language)
Thank you.
Hey,
hey, hey.
Wait.
(children chattering)
(faint vocalizing on P.A.)
- [Man] What do you want?
- I'm lookin' for somebody.
A friend has come--
- [Man] Go away.
- [Don] Okay.
- [Man] And don't come back here.
- Don't get nervous.
- [Man] Go away.
- Okay.
(engine revving)
(goat bleating)
(speaking foreign language)
(gunfire popping)
Look at this, this is crazy.
(speaking foreign language)
(thudding)
(grunting)
(tense music)
- [Bassam] Mr. Stevens?
- Well, I uh...
Let me explain.
(faint vocalizing on P.A.)
- Linda, Linda (speaking
foreign language).
- Is he awake?
You feel better now?
Daoud found you.
You're still in the camp.
(booming)
- You shouldn't have
come here, Mr. Stevens.
- Everything I wanna know is here.
Why Yassin died.
- So, have you found anything?
- Everybody tries to stop me.
(engine zooming)
I don't understand.
You know, after all
this, I hit a dead end.
- Jesus H. Christ, you're dead.
- [Don] So, what else is new?
- I'm serious!
I was going to identify your dead body.
Still, since you're here, might as well
do it your fucking self, huh?
- Wait, wait.
I'm dead?
(mumbling)
(engine zooming)
(flies buzzing)
(coughing)
(footsteps crunching)
It's Snyder.
(tense music)
Bassam.
The guy who posed as Yassin.
- You had better stay away
from the hotel for a while.
Whatever got rid of
this Snyder wanted you.
- You know a man name Che?
- [Linda] At least a dozen.
- Maybe one of those dozen killed Yassin.
Got rid of Bassam and
Snyder, now he's after me.
(engine zooming)
- [Linda] Ah!
- [Don] Jeez, I'm sorry.
I thought you were getting
out on the other side.
- [Linda] No, I can't.
(faint vocalizing on P.A.)
- [Don] It's great.
How long you been here?
- Hmm, couple of years.
Anything to drink?
- Sure.
- [Linda] Beer?
- Yeah.
- If that's the way
you'll only go for a day,
I'm surprised you're still around.
- Keeps me off the street.
- Sorry?
- Uh, it's a joke.
Was he the reason you came here, Yassin?
- Yeah.
- Well, why'd you come to me to find him?
- Oh, we hadn't seen
each other for some time
before he was killed.
But,
what about you?
Where's your home?
- My home's in a suitcase.
- No family?
- I had a wife.
Sporty type, thinks
love is a tennis court.
What about you?
What are you gonna do now?
- I don't know.
Hopefully take Daoud, find a safe place.
- Do that, let me know.
- Doesn't all this ever get to you?
- Sure.
(tense music)
This craziness is for kids.
I'm old.
- Yeah, very old.
(laughing)
- Pretty old.
How'd you meet him, Yassin?
- We met in Europe, then we came here.
Now, I wish I had
convinced him not to come.
- Oh, it's not your fault.
If I blamed myself for
everything I report,
I'd end up covering
fashion shows in Paris.
- Paris?
(chuckling)
Shh.
(knocking)
- Who's that?
(knocking)
- [Linda] Karim.
- [Karim] Linda.
(mumbling)
- [Linda] I must go.
- Where?
- I can't tell you.
Something happened.
I must leave Beirut.
- [Don] Leave Beirut?
- [Linda] Yeah.
- [Don] What'd it leave?
- [Linda] Karim will help.
(mumbling) for you to leave, too.
(speaking foreign language)
- What is it?
What's happening?
- Just leave right away, I'm sorry.
(engine zooming)
(footsteps crunching)
(mumbling)
(gunshots blasting)
- Mr. Stevens.
(crashing)
(speaking foreign language)
(jet engine squealing)
- Where is she?
- Shit.
Don't tell me I'm too late.
- She's gone, but we managed
to get the (mumbling).
- What's he doing here?
- Mr. Stevens.
Mr. Stevens is going to help us find her.
Right?
- Nope.
(thudding)
- I want to show you something.
Did you know that Linda
had lived in Israel?
These are
classified PLO documents.
They were found in an electrical
meter box in the city.
- What are you getting at?
- They were smuggled out by an agent
planted here a couple of years ago.
The agent's code name is Sarah.
It was only tonight we
discovered the whole plot
but it was unfortunately too late.
Sarah escaped.
Who do you think is
behind Yassin's murder?
Who organized the fake interview
in order to expose him?
Think, my friend.
- A little slow on the uptake, sunshine.
- The Mossad, the Israeli Secret Service
used you like a small child.
Yes, your Linda nurse is an Israeli agent.
(chuckling)
Mr. Stevens, won't you
please take us to Linda?
- What's in it for me?
- What do you mean?
- I don't wanna get stuck again.
- A story, is that what you want?
- Make it a good one.
- It couldn't be more sensational.
- So, what?
- Linda first.
- Well,
what are you gonna do to her?
- Oh, no, no, you don't kill her.
Israeli agents like gold dust.
We could get an exchange from the Zionist
a few hundred of our fighters.
- Okay, I'll take you to her.
- I told you he's a nice guy.
Thank you.
- You won't regret it.
We'll leave now, best
deal you've ever made.
Oh, don't do anything stupid, eh?
God's sake, grow up.
- 32 Rue Masra.
(doors thudding)
(engine zooming)
(lively music)
It's no good for us all
to bust in like that.
If you want her, lemme go
in, talk her into coming out.
- Okay.
Two minutes, and then we'll come.
(soldiers speaking foreign language)
- [Don] Hello?
(lively music)
(mumbling)
- The American.
Father, father, come in.
(talking over each other)
- [Don] Thank you, I can't stay.
- Come in, (mumbling).
- Is your cab back here?
Is your cab outside?
Yeah, please.
(speaking foreign language)
(tense music)
(engine zooming)
(speaking foreign language)
(gunshots blasting)
(tense music)
- We made it, huh?
(booming)
- [Linda] Don, what are you doing here?
I'm waiting for Karim.
I don't know where he is.
- He's dead.
(missile squealing)
Where's Daoud?
- The boy's here.
- You can't go anywhere.
Hamdi's looking for you all over town.
- Yes, we've got to get out of here.
Will you help me?
- I want to hear it from,
before I turn you over.
Are you an Israeli agent, huh?
- What are you talking about?
You don't understand.
- I would love to understand, tell me.
- I'm not an Israeli agent, not any more.
- [Don] Not any more?
- Look, I was a student,
a volunteer in a kibbutz.
There I met this man, Danny.
He was one of Mossad's Secret Service.
They offered me a job.
- Are you saying it was money?
- [Linda] No.
- [Don] It was love.
- I just wanted to help.
- So, they send you to
Europe to set up Yassin?
- Yes.
I was the expecting the enemy,
but I discovered a wonderful man.
After a while, I just left the Mossad.
- That's fine, but the
Mossad killed Yassin.
- It was Hamdi.
Hamdi murdered Yassin.
Hamdi's Che, top man.
- Why would the PLO get
rid of their own guy?
- Oh, you met Yassin.
You know what he believed in.
You want more proof?
Tomorrow, the whole town will be on fire.
Hamdi and his men are going to blow up
the Phalange's headquarters.
I was going to east Beirut
to tell the Israelis,
but now Karim is dead.
Will you help me?
(melancholy music)
- Come on.
- Okay, what now?
- [Linda] East Beirut.
- [Habib] It is not as easy as you think.
- Step on it, Habib.
I'll buy your whole supermarket.
Just get us there quick, no stops.
- [Habib] Okay.
(engine grumbling)
(clattering)
(booming)
(tense beat music)
- Who's gonna believe you?
The next agent back,
nobody'll believe you.
- [Linda] I hope Danny's over there--
(gunshots popping)
- [Don And Linda] Get down.
(booming)
(gunfire popping)
- We gotta stop meeting like this.
Oh.
(engine zooming)
- [Linda] Okay.
Thanks for your help.
(mumbling)
Bye.
(mumbling)
(booming)
(doors thudding)
(footsteps crunching)
(gunfire popping)
- [Don] Get 'em out of Beirut.
Damascus Road.
(gunfire popping)
This is no good.
Just take the boy and leave Beirut.
Believe me, I'll do this, it's okay.
- [Linda] But your business--
- [Don] I need the exercise.
- [Linda] You're crazy.
Don.
Don't get yourself killed.
Good luck.
(gunfire popping)
Go.
(gunfire popping)
- [Don] Don't shoot!
Don't shoot!
- [Soldier] Hands up.
- [Don] Journalist, journalist!
All right, all right, don't shoot.
American.
- [Soldier] Hands up.
- [Don] I have I.D.
It's in the bag, it's in the bag.
- [Soldier] Hands on the car.
- I have I.D.
It's right back there.
I'm a journalist, American, ABS TV, TV.
(speaking foreign language)
- Get to the other Jeep.
- [Don] Okay, okay.
- [Soldier] Hands up.
(engine grumbling)
(speaking foreign language)
- [Yoram] Hello.
I'm Yoram.
- [Don] Don.
- [Yoram] What can I do for you?
- [Don] I have some important information.
- What is it?
- It's very important.
Can I (mumbling)?
- Wait a minute.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Don] Excuse me.
(speaking foreign language)
- Tell him what you have to say.
- I have information that
the Phalange headquarters
is gonna be destroyed, today, now.
(speaking foreign language)
- Where did you get this information?
- I have it from a...
One of your agents,
her code name is Sarah.
Her contact is a Mossad
man, name of Danny.
(speaking foreign language)
- Okay, okay, we shall check it out.
Okay.
(speaking foreign language)
- Follow me, please.
Mr. Stevens (mumbling).
(speaking foreign language)
(booming)
(sirens blaring)
(excited chattering)
- Mr. Stevens.
I'm Danny.
- Hi.
- So, your tip was right.
- They blew it up.
- With everybody in it,
including the President.
We move again, let's go.
(booming)
(speaking foreign language)
- Excuse me.
(mumbling) is very complicated now.
The whole country can explode any minute.
You know that.
What we don't need right now is more heat.
Please.
- You askin' me to forget it?
I never came here, talked to anybody?
- It's better for everybody, believe me.
- No.
No way.
- You know what you can do?
Okay, Mr. Stevens, okay, go.
Go tell the whole world
we are not giving up.
We didn't come to Lebanon for a picnic.
There was a reason for this war.
And what we started now,
we should finish next time.
Next time,
(speaking foreign language)
we want to be just like you
and the rest of the world,
not perfect, but alive.
Alive, that's all.
Say that on your television.
(engine grumbling)
- We don't have much time.
You see, after what's happened,
the Phalanges will revenge.
They're going to enter the refugee camps.
- What are you saying?
- There will be a massacre.
No Palestinian will survive
and there'll be no one.
Kids, everybody.
I'm going to do what I can,
but I'm taking you back.
You must call your station and report it.
Maybe that's the only way.
(tense music)
(booming)
- This is Stevens, Don Stevens.
I'm calling from Beirut.
Is he there?
Well, move it, please.
Yeah, it's very important.
(tense music)
Jerry, have I got a story for you!
You gotta believe me.
I know about last, as God as my judge.
A lot of people are gonna die
if you don't listen, okay?
You got a pencil?
Here it is.
The Phalange are about to,
what, don't tell me that!
What are you, a moron?
I'm giving you a gift!
No, you shut up!
Get a brain operation!
Look, listen, I won't do that!
No, listen, don't do that!
I'm telling you the Phalange are about,
don't hang up, don't hang up!
(tense music)
Hello?
(phone clicking)
(tense music)
(excited chattering)
Do you speak any English?
Do you--
(yelling)
(speaking foreign language)
Do you speak any English?
Do you speak English?
(stammering)
Do you speak any English?
(excited chattering)
Do you speak any English?
Does anybody here speak English?
Do you know the (speaking
foreign language) ?
The Phalange, the Phalange!
(excited chattering)
The Phalange!
(speaking foreign language)
You know what I'm saying?
Do you know what I'm saying?
All right, look,
I'm saying that you have
to take everybody out.
Is there a boss, anybody?
A hoard, an authority?
(mumbling) calls the police.
(excited chattering)
Oh, I'm so glad to see you.
Can you communicate to
these people, can you tell,
the (speaking foreign language),
the Phalange, they're coming.
In a few hours, this place'll
be crawling with militia men.
You gotta tell these people
to take their families,
their children, just get out of here.
I'm telling you, I don't know
what the hell I'm doing here, myself.
- Who told you that?
- I been to East Beirut.
- And why should I believe you?
- The Mossad told me, okay?
What do you want me to do?
Stand on my head?
Everybody, the (speaking foreign
language), they're coming.
Take your families, your children.
You gotta go.
- Where?
- I don't know, anyplace.
Just get out.
You're gonna die, do you understand?
You're gonna die.
(speaking foreign language)
- Where do you want us to go?
To the end of the world?
We are freedom fighter, we
gonna stay here and fight.
- You stay here, it's on your head.
These people are gonna die.
Get these people outta here!
- [Hamdi] Okay, okay, no more.
- Don't tell me!
- [Hamdi] Stop the panic and go away.
- [Don] Mother fucker!
- [Hamdi] Go.
(yelling)
- [Don] You are responsible!
It's on your head!
(tense music)
You asked for this!
(speaking foreign language)
(chanting)
(gunfire popping)
(yelling in foreign language)
(booming)
No, wait, don't be crazy!
Come back to me.
(booming)
(yelling)
(flies buzzing)
(woman screaming)
(footsteps crunching)
(women yelling in foreign language)
(speaking foreign language)
- [Soldier] No entrance, no entrance!
No entrance!
(horn honking)
Go back to your...
(excited chattering)
(horn honking)
All of you go back to your cars.
No entrance.
Nobody can go in.
(excited chattering)
- [Mike] You son of a bitch.
You had to scoop this.
- [Don] Read 'em and weep.
- [Mike] You germy bastard!
- [Don] Drunks don't
ever get hurt, do they?
(goats bleating)
(tense music)
(horn honking)
(chattering)
(children yelling)
(tense music)
(mellow pop music)
(engine rumbling)
(horn honking)
(tires squealing)
(goats bleating)
(booming)
- [Don] Hello, hello.
- Yeah.
- Beirut.
(speaking foreign language)
Okay, thanks.
(tires squealing)
(mellow pop music)
(engine zooming)
(chattering)
Double Stolichnaya, please.
- ABS?
What happened to old Snyder?
- Got beat by an ulcer.
Can't get back here fast enough for me.
- Mike Jessop, EuroVision News.
- Don Stevens.
- Well, I think you'll find
Beirut's got its charm.
So, where'd they find you?
- I was in Paris,
doing a fashion show.
- So, what's it gonna
be then, next autumn?
Hemlines up, hemlines down?
- Sideways.
(chuckling)
- Well, since it's your maiden voyage,
let me introduce you to a
couple of Beirut's VIPs.
These are the PLOs Hamdi and Salim.
Mr. Stevens, here, is a new boy in town.
Every time Hamdi blows something up,
Salim's on hand to explain why.
Join us if you want.
You'll be lonely all by yourself.
- Don't worry about me.
Any luck, I'm seein' double in no time.
- Fashion show.
Bollocks.
(missiles booming)
(gunfire popping)
(booming)
♪ Take me back ♪
♪ Take me back ♪
♪ Take me back to Bartertown ♪
♪ Take me back ♪
- Where do you want to (mumbling)?
♪ Take me back ♪
♪ Take me back ♪
♪ Take me back ♪
Don?
♪ Because you're mine ♪
About the story, Don.
- All right.
(humming)
(yelling on TV)
Tears won't help this child.
The odds of him living to see
his next birthday are slim.
On this day alone, 250
civilians were killed
in the heaviest Israeli
bombardment to date.
From land, sea and in
air, an estimated 380 tons
of bombs were dropped,
lighting up the Beirut sky
like a Fourth of July celebration,
but there is nothing to celebrate.
No peace, no hope, no end
to this barbarous nightmare.
Tomorrow, there will be more
victims and more carnage
and the burnt out city
will resound with more
righteous cries for revenge,
and when the night comes,
the city will glow again
like a Roman candle over this
murderous holiday from sanity.
What was once the Paris of the Mideast
is now the closest thing to hell on Earth
and this is Don Stevens, ABS News, Beirut.
- [Announcer] When you
drink a beer that's strong,
yet smooth because
matured over beech wood...
(dice clicking)
- See?
(mumbling)
- [Abdul] Knew I would find you here.
- Abdul.
You get anything?
- I almost got killed in a crossfire.
- Can we get two minutes out of it?
- Don, I just ran the hell out of there.
I didn't get one fucking shot.
I don't even know who was shooting at who.
- Hmm.
Can't tell the plays without a scorecard.
Okay, nevermind, we'll do something.
Yesterday's stuff, I'll verb it up.
Fabulous, it'll be fabulous.
- You make me laugh.
All you do is sleep and get drunk.
- Hey.
- You haven't put your
ass outside this hotel
since you got here.
You do it.
- You're talking to a pro.
(bell dinging)
In a few days, your
friend, what's-his-name,
Snyder, will be back
and you two can go out
and play war games.
In the meantime, you know, just work up
a tasty story about Beirut
and flames, okay, please?
- Never.
Forget about it.
I quit.
Find yourself another gopher.
- Abdul, wait.
I take it back.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, can we make up?
(footsteps clacking)
(phone ringing)
(knocking)
Mike.
(woman giggling)
(knocking)
Mike, I know you're in there.
- Oh, it's you, what's up?
- [Don] I need a favor.
Are you busy?
- Oh, don't worry, this is my um...
Interpreter.
- Hi, I'm Don Stevens, ace
reporter, and a nice person.
- Yeah, don't bother.
She doesn't understand a word of English.
(speaking foreign language)
Ever see Lawrence of Arabia?
- Yeah, I just saw him outside.
- That's how he used to
get rid of his camel.
- My cameraman, he abandoned me,
thinks I'm too dedicated.
- Mmm, can't say I blame him.
Playing cool's one thing,
playing dead's another.
- Well, I lost my taste for all this,
but, the thing is, I could
use some of your old footage,
you know, outtakes, anything.
- Be my guest.
Just one thing.
Why are you here?
Come on, I've seen some of your stuff.
This isn't your first war.
- [Don] That's true.
- So?
- I don't know.
- Here.
It's got one execution,
scores of broken limbs
and more burned faces than you can count.
Boffo footage, I believe,
is how your trade papers
would put it.
They'll love it.
- Yum, yum.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Piss off.
- [Man] Hey guys, want you to take...
(chattering)
I want you to try this.
Hello, Mr. Stevens.
Aren't you coming?
This is a big event.
- Have a nice day.
- You crazy?
You can't miss this story.
(mumbling)
This is the grand finale.
Arafat and the PLO are leaving Beirut.
- Well, give my regards to Big A
and tell him I don't play crowd scenes.
It's against my religion.
- Hope you got a good
excuse lined up for ABS.
- Mr. Stevens?
I have a message for you.
You know the name Yassin Abu-Riadd?
- He's a PLO, big shot, right?
- You like to meet him, get interview?
He will say something
important, make you famous.
- How come he's not leaving Beirut?
- He not leave.
(mumbling) leave.
Not 'til end.
- Why me?
- You're new.
You're not (mumbling).
We trust you.
Tonight.
Come to this place, alone.
Wait, they will take you.
- Want have a drink, sandwich?
(faint pop music)
(paper rustling)
(mumbling on TV)
(phone ringing)
Hello?
Yeah.
Jerry!
How's everything?
You bet I'm high, the air is wine.
Dancing girls, hot
peppers, the whole thing.
I just got here, think I'm jetlagged.
(stammering)
Do I not have to adjust?
Pull the plug on me?
Of course I'm filing, Jerry.
Really?
Transfer me there Bahrain?
That's the large font of
the Middle East, Jerry.
Bahrain, you can't get a drink.
Get off my ca, everybody in
the world has got Arafat.
I'm working on something, I tell you,
I tell you,
I'm working on something.
World exclusive, world, world!
Boffo!
It's boffo, boffo, profundo footage.
Yes.
That's right.
Tomorrow.
I promise.
Promise.
As God as my judge, don't worry, be happy.
(tense beat music)
Hi.
(booming)
You old enough to drive?
- [Habib] I'm 15.
I drive since I was 12.
- I'm in a hurry.
- [Habib] No problem.
(tense beat music)
(mumbling)
Yeah.
- [Habib] Whiskey?
- No.
- Cassettes, cigarettes?
I have American cigarettes.
Vodka, Smirnoff, best vodka you can get.
Dirty pictures, hashish?
- Where you get all this stuff?
This town's supposed to be under siege.
- I can come and go when I want.
When you're out of women, out of gas,
call for Habib.
- Okay.
Habib.
(gunfire popping)
Okay, watch out, watch out.
What's this?
(crowd yelling)
Back up, back up.
(yelling)
(gunfire popping)
(booming)
(tense music)
- [Habib] Okay, here we are.
(tense music)
- [Don] Thanks for the show.
- [Habib] Thank you.
Call when you need me.
(tense music)
(gunfire popping)
(booming)
- [Man] Mr. Stevens?
Come on.
(tense music)
(gunfire popping)
(engine zooming)
(doors thudding)
(footsteps clacking)
Wait here.
(gunfire popping)
- Mr. Stevens.
Thank you for coming.
I'm Yassin Abu-Riadd.
Have you ever been to
Palestine, Mr. Stevens?
I see.
You are okay with your camera?
- Go ahead.
- You need anything?
- [Don] No, no.
- Maybe a coffee?
Okay, so let's get on with it.
Mr. Stevens, I would like
to ask you a question.
What do you think of us, of the PLO?
- I'm not sure.
- Well, you see, I'm about to give you
the story of your reporting life.
I want to get to know you better.
Go ahead, come on, tell me.
- I think you're in trouble.
- Yes, I'm afraid you are right.
Our organization has suffered
the most serious blow
in all its history, but you know,
I foresaw all this a few years ago
when we ceased to be a small
group of freedom fighters
and became a political movement.
To my opinion, we should have abandoned
terrorism then totally
and moved to diplomacy.
(gunfire popping)
Does that surprise you?
- I'm knocked out, really.
None of you people have said that.
(booming)
- True, we have not.
Until today.
You and I, Mr. Stevens,
are going to put an end
to this tradition in a historic interview.
- Not afraid?
- Yes, I am, but I'm doing
it for a worthwhile cause.
But please, Mr. Stevens, you
must not disclose my identity.
You know, one doesn't make
a revolution in one day.
- I'll refer to you as a
well-known PLO leader, okay?
- Okay, all right.
It's all right with me.
What should the PLO do now?
We must stop dreaming,
stop dreaming about Acre,
about Haifa, about Ramla, about Jaffa.
We must get what we can
or we lose everything.
We lose our homeland forever and become
a second Armenian nation, with a flag,
a national anthem, but nowhere to go.
- Stand by, Paris.
Satellite to Paris.
(speaking foreign language)
Satellite to Tokyo.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Yassin] Can we afford to ignore Israel?
It's been there for more than 50 years.
What should we do instead?
Commit mass suicide as Colonel
Gaddafi is urging us to do?
Go on dreaming?
We'll wake up in five
years and all of Palestine,
the West Bank, the Gaza Strip,
everything will be inhabited by Jews.
It will all be de facto a part of Israel.
- This report just in in Beirut.
A PLO leader hiding somewhere
in the besieged city
issued a sensational statement
to ABS correspondent Don Stevens.
This is the first time such a declaration
has come from a man in this...
- [Yassin] We cannot rely
on our Arab brothers.
The terror weapon has been exhausted.
It's a boomerang.
(engine grumbling)
- Mr. Stevens.
Mr. Stevens.
It's about your interview.
The man you interviewed, who was it?
- Who are you?
- Oh, excuse, I'm Linda Larsen.
I'm a nurse here in the hospital.
I need to know.
It's very important.
Please.
Was is Yassin?
Yassin Abu-Riadd?
It was Yassin, right?
- Hey, Stevens, you really cornholed us.
Good work.
It's always a thrill when a bushleaguer
gets a chance at the big time.
- Bob, do me a favor.
Don't piss on my shoes
and tell me it's raining.
(mumbling)
Not just a pretty face.
- Come on, Don, give.
Who's the well-known PLO leader, huh?
Well, I reckon I can guess it anyway.
There aren't that many possibilities.
- I wanna show you something.
The fruits of victory.
- [Mike] Ah, come on, give us a break.
- Only an irresponsible and
headline hungry reporter
would possibly believe
that any Palestinian leader
could utter such treasonous words.
We wish to repeat, here and
now, before the international
media, which we respect very much,
be extremely careful of
the type of deception
that embarrassed your gullible colleague.
The man Mr. Stevens
interviewed was a fake.
- [Reporter] What do you mean, fake?
(excited chattering)
- [Don] How do you know?
How do you know that?
You people came to me.
- Mr. Stevens.
You seem better informed than we are
as to what is going on
in our organization.
- Mr. Salim, some of your leaders
have recently given off the record views
concerning changes in
the Palestinian covenant,
even possible recognition with Israel.
- I cannot comment on gossip
spread by the Zionist press.
- I know the difference
between news and gossip.
My report was accurate.
That's all there is to it, you know.
- Why do you hide the
identity of the man, then?
(crowd laughing)
Tell us who it was.
- Oh, you know why.
We all know we're talking
about ethics and (stammering)
if I don't protect him,
he's dead, that's why.
(excited chattering)
- Gentlemen.
I think we can accept
that Mr. Stevens was duped
and his denial should be
immediately forthcoming.
- Why would I do that?
Absolutely not.
Why would I do that?
- Mr. Salim, with respect, we all know
it can only be one of four or five people
and my sources tell me that the gentlemen
Mr. Stevens claims to have interviewed
was Yassin Abu-Riadd.
(excited chattering)
- [Reporter] Sir, will you come forward
and deny the truth of this statement?
- I think it will interest you to learn
that Yassin Abu-Riadd
left Beirut two weeks ago.
(excited chattering)
No more questions, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you very much.
(excited chattering)
- We gotta saying in Fleet Street,
you can't make the news, fake it.
You lucky sod.
Now all you gotta do is produce the guy,
you got another scoop.
Just make sure he stays alive, eh?
On second thought, if he
doesn't it'll be bloody magic.
You can say what you like
and claim a world exclusive.
- [Man] Mr. Stevens.
Somebody is waiting for you outside.
- I don't know what this
is, but I'm gonna find out.
(footsteps clacking)
Me?
(tense music)
- Just get in.
(engine rumbling)
(tense music)
(gunfire popping)
This is Lebanon.
This is not Disneyland.
(speaking foreign language)
(tense music)
(gunfire popping)
(excited chattering)
(gunfire popping)
(speaking foreign language)
(footsteps clacking)
(tense music)
(gunfire popping)
- What is all this?
You people,
you peep, you murd,
you shoot kids in the back.
You're fuckin' murderers, you know that?
(gunfire popping)
- [Soldier] Whatever.
This will stop in a minute Mr. Stevens.
Please, sit down.
- [Don] I don't wanna sit down.
- [Soldier] You want to sit down.
Sit down.
- [Don] He pointed a gun at me,
took me from the hotel.
- I want to tell you about
the Palestinians, Mr. Stevens.
When no one else wanted them,
they came to our country,
destroyed our homes, killed our
brothers, raped our sisters.
My own young brother they
killed in Tyre in 1976.
(gunfire popping)
Four shots in the stomach.
A slow death, huh?
You see?
I have a dream each night.
I'm on the hilltop behind my village
and I see them coming, bunches of them,
and I raise my iron fist and
destroy them, crush them.
- Look, I'm just a journalist, you know?
- You are an agent, Mr. Stevens.
Be thankful that up to now, you have been
permitted to act freely, but uh,
do not take us for fools.
We, the Christian Phalange,
rule this country.
(airplane whistling)
You fucking journalists are
interested only in the PLO.
Don't you know that we
banished them from Lebanon?
- Really?
I coulda sworn I'd seen a couple.
- Their time will also come.
Where is that bastard Yassin?
- Even if I knew, you know
I couldn't tell you that.
(tense music)
(thudding)
(grunting)
(speaking foreign language)
(chuckling)
- Now take us to him.
- They blindfolded me.
I mean, I didn't know where I was.
I don't--
- Don't lie to us, Mr. Stevens.
- Please, you know, I
don't want, I don't want
any trouble.
I don't wanna get hurt, okay?
- Okay.
- I'm no hero.
If I knew, I would tell you, okay?
- I believe you.
- No.
(tense music)
- Be careful, Mr. Stevens.
Try to be more objective.
Don't fool around too much
with those Palestinians.
(speaking foreign language)
Wait a minute.
I can supply you with stories
that will keep you busy for a whole year.
Understand?
- Okay.
(speaking foreign language)
- Good day, Mr. Stevens.
(speaking foreign language)
(gunfire popping)
(tense music)
(gunfire blasting)
- What?
Now what?
(speaking foreign language)
- This is a war, Mr. Stevens.
This time we take the camera.
Next time we take you.
- I need that stuff.
Let's talk.
- [Man] You remember, the
PLO is still in Beirut.
(tires squealing)
- Hello, journalist.
(speaking foreign language)
They know me here, Hamdi,
Salim, he knows me.
(speaking foreign language)
Hamdi, Hamdi, Salim.
(speaking foreign language)
Thank you.
(chanting in foreign language)
- Look at them, Mr. Stevens.
Only yesterday, they were
clutching their mother's apron,
and today they are the fighters.
For every PLO fighter who left Beirut,
we have another to take his place.
We never surrender, Mr. Stevens.
Never.
- Last night, I had a visit
from a couple of your guys.
They took my equipment.
I can't work without the camera.
Can I have it back, please?
- That interview with Yassin.
Do you still insist it took place?
- Yeah, I do.
- The only one who can
prove it is Yassin, right?
- I'm gonna find him.
- Ah, you are a stable man, Mr. Stevens.
I like that.
Don't worry about your equipment.
It will be returned today.
- Thanks.
- I worry about Yassin.
You know he is a good
friend and a wise man,
but he is wrong.
(horn honking)
(siren blaring)
(child crying)
It's not time for our talk yet.
Still time for the gun.
Find Yassin, Mr. Stevens.
It's your duty now.
(children chanting)
(tense music)
(horn honking)
(chattering)
- I have to talk to you.
I have to talk to you.
Wait, wait, wait one second.
Wait one second.
It's about your friend.
Yassin, I want you to help me find him.
- [Linda] Go outside.
- I feel like a one-legged
man in an ass-kicking contest.
- [Linda] No, not funny.
(mumbling)
- [Don] I can start
looking for another job.
- [Linda] Get lost.
Just get out of here.
- [Don] Just trying to make a living.
- Hush, you.
(muffled mumbling on P.A.)
(excited chattering)
(yelling)
- Fuckin' bloodsucker.
- What's up?
Okay?
(muffled vocalizing on P.A.)
(jet engine squealing)
You okay?
- No.
I can't even throw up.
- Stick your finger in your throat.
- Done.
Get me some matches, quick.
- Why?
- I want to burn my passport.
These are fascists.
- Do it later, when you feel better.
- Refuse entry to a poor, Palestinian girl
and they claim to be a
government of the left,
spouting off about the rights
of the Palestinian people.
- Who?
What girl?
- I sent her to Paris.
Now, she's back again.
What is it all about?
The photos, the millions
of meters of film,
the beautiful words.
If we cannot save one miserable soul
in this God-forsaken hell.
What's it all about, tell me.
- Show business, Bernard.
Movin' pictures.
- There must be something more to it.
- I don't think so.
I been in just about
every armpit there is.
I've seen it,
reported it, nothing changes.
It's one big TV hoo hah.
Keeps us glued to our seats.
We watch the glass tip.
I feel glad to be alive
and well, at least I do.
- You must be wrong.
There must be something we can do.
- I can't think what it is.
We're not activists, Bernard.
We're tranquilizers.
(phone ringing)
Hello?
- [Yassin] Hello, Mr. Stevens?
Hello, Mr. Stevens?
- Speaking.
- [Yassin] I am Yassin Abu-Riadd.
- Really?
- [Yassin] Listen.
Hello, are you there?
- One second please.
I can't hear you very well.
- [Yassin] Hello?
- I say I can't hear you.
- [Yassin] Mr. Stevens?
- Could you repeat that?
- [Yassin] I am Yassin Abu-Riadd.
Can you hear me now?
- Yes, I hear you.
What is it, Mr. Abu-Riadd?
- [Yassin] Mr. Stevens.
Have we ever met?
Do you recognize my voice?
- That's not so easy over the phone.
Are you in Beirut?
- [Yassin] Yes.
I don't know who you
interviewed, but it was not me.
- Whatever your name is, I
didn't ask for that interview.
- [Yassin] You must issue a denial.
- You understand?
- [Yassin] Listen--
- I don't like bein' jerked around!
- [Yassin] Mr. Stevens, please.
- Made to look like a dope.
- [Yassin] For you, it
is a matter of pride.
For me, it is my life.
You must issue a denial.
- Why should I believe you?
Why don't we meet, face to
face or forget about it?
- [Yassin] Okay, I will meet you.
- Tell me where and when.
(Yassin mumbling)
Uh huh.
- [Yassin] Bring your camera
and you will deny on television.
- I'll be there.
(tense music)
(engine zooming)
(horn honking)
(tense music)
(jet engine screeching)
(thudding)
(tense music)
(footsteps crunching)
(wind whooshing)
- Hello.
Let me help you.
Am I the man you interviewed?
- No.
- It is good for your
camera if I sit here?
- Now, wait a minute.
I got set up once
and I wanna know who,
why?
- It is not you they are
playing the trick on.
It is me.
- Who's they?
- Please.
There are a lot of people out there
who would like to silence me.
You see, all those
things they had me saying
in the interview are, in fact, things
in which I strongly believe.
I believe that the time
has come for dialogue.
- Why don't you say that on TV?
- You had the scoop.
Palestinian leader
advocates abandoning terror.
(mumbling)
You say I should get up, cry out.
Look at me, I'm a moderate.
Talk to me.
Do you really think I should do that?
- Sounds good, for a start.
- Believe me, if I say to the world
that I recognize the state of Israel,
that will not change anything.
I will die as a martyr.
Let me do it my own way.
It will happen one day, it must.
We and Israelis stand on
the brink of an abyss,
clinging to one another.
We must stand or fall together.
- [Boy] Baba!
- Excuse me, my son.
(speaking foreign language)
Mr. Stevens, where do you intend to go
when you finish your job in Beirut?
- Home, I guess.
- That is what I want to be
able to say one day, home.
In the meantime, I am hiding,
keeping my mouth shut.
All my life I have been packing my bags.
Where to this time?
Who knows.
We have become the world's
new wandering Jews.
I'm tired of hiding,
keeping my mouth shut.
You know what, Mr. Stevens?
I will give you an interview, a real one.
Let's start before I change my mind.
- I am.
It's your turn.
Hoping you know what you're doing.
- Okay.
- [Don] Three, two, one.
- My name is Yassin Abu-Riadd.
(gunfire blasting)
(tense music)
- Stay back, stay back.
(tires squealing)
(tense uptempo music)
He's been shot.
Let's go, hurry up!
(speaking foreign language)
(excited chattering)
(tense uptempo music)
(excited chattering)
(footsteps shuffling)
(speaking foreign language)
(whooshing)
(chanting in foreign language)
(speaking foreign language)
He called, asked me to come.
(stammering)
I interviewed him just,
as he requested.
- Oh, yes.
That's how they found him.
The fake interview wasn't enough.
Yassin had to pay with his life
to make the whole story complete.
- I didn't do anything to him.
- I know.
You didn't pull the trigger.
(chanting in foreign language)
(engine zooming)
(speaking foreign language)
- What is this?
- Somebody got hurt.
It's blood.
- Out.
- [Don] What's the matter?
- Out.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Don] You know how it goes.
I'm a journalist
on my way to Damascus.
That's TV.
- Okay, you can go now.
This stays here.
- That stays there?
That's my story.
I need that.
I have to send it by satellite today.
That story, I have to
send it by satellite.
- I tell you the world will manage
without your (mumbling) propaganda.
- You know, you can't do that.
I'm a foreign correspondent.
- You are a PLO spy.
- Foreign, foreign correspondent.
Who's in charge here?
- I'm in charge and now move.
- Okay, okay, that's my work!
(engine grumbling)
Okay.
(child speaking foreign language)
- Tell her to stop
grinning, for Christ's sake.
Doesn't she know she's a tragic figure?
Right.
Ask her how old she is.
(speaking foreign language on TV)
Hello, Don.
Jesus, what happened?
Cut yourself shaving?
- I'm a stooge.
Now he's dead.
- What?
- Yassin.
They shot him.
Right in front of me,
on camera.
- Jesus.
Lucky sod.
Have you got the tape?
- I wish I did.
They took it from me at the checkpoint.
- Ah, well.
It's only a bloody Palestinian, huh?
- Who shot him?
These people have got me so confused.
- This is Beirut.
No one needs a reason to kill anyone.
Here you don't kill who you want,
you kill who you can.
You sure you're in the right profession?
- I don't know.
It's okay, it's not my blood.
Who's this?
- This is Sohil, my wife,
the girl I told you about.
- I didn't know you were engaged.
(faint music)
(knocking)
Hello?
(mumbling)
- Thrown me out.
I have nowhere to go.
- The girl from the pool.
What do you want?
- Bassam say I must leave.
Must disappear, not stay (mumbling).
- Who's Bassam?
- Bassam.
He sent me to you.
- This Bassam, the man I interviewed.
I do not know they want to kill Yassin.
Swear it by my life, it is true.
But some say (mumbling), that is all.
I do not know they want to kill him.
- Where can I find this Bassam?
- I don't know.
When I go back to camp they say go, too.
They said they look for both of us.
- Who's they?
- I don't know.
What they do to me?
(booming)
- Don't worry.
Tell me more about this Bassam.
- He's (mumbling).
All he think about is cause, kills.
Much time he tried to make
me, but I not want him.
I must take care of my brothers.
One day says soon we'll have much money.
Che will help us.
We'll get married and go to Kuwait.
He have family there.
- Who's Che?
- I don't know.
I don't know nothing.
They will kill me.
- [Don] What's the family name of Bassam?
(booming)
- Caniphante.
Bassam Caniphante.
- All right.
You can stay here.
On the couch.
(faint music)
What's your name?
- Samira.
- [Clerk] Hello Mr. Snyder.
- Did you miss me?
- 'Course.
(phone ringing)
- [Snyder] Don.
Well, there you are.
- How's the ulcer?
You got back in a hurry.
- Well, I had to, didn't I?
I've got your plane ticket.
You leave tomorrow.
- No thanks.
- What do you mean, no?
- Use it yourself.
- Don, I'm not gonna argue.
Stay if you like.
Cry on Jerry's shoulder, but tomorrow,
I'm takin' back my room,
my desk and my assignment.
And Don, fuck with the
bull, you'll get the horns.
- This is Beirut, not Disneyland.
(tense music)
(faint vocalizing on P.A.)
- Mr. Stevens, a telephone call for you.
Is Mr. Stevens still here?
- [Snyder] I'll take it.
- Yes, yes, Mr. Snyder.
- Thanks.
Hello?
- [Bassam] Mr. Stevens?
- Who's this?
- [Bassam] I'm the man you interviewed,
the man you thought was Yassin Abu-Riadd.
Hello, Mr. Stevens?
- Yes, go on.
- [Bassam] I want you to
know that I had no idea
that Yassin would be assassinated.
- Hey, hey, take it easy, now.
- [Bassam] They didn't
tell me anything about it.
They said it was just propaganda.
I never--
- One moment.
Who do you work for?
- [Bassam] I cannot talk now.
I must see you.
I need your help.
- Okay.
Where, when?
- [Bassam] On the beach.
The yacht club, six o'clock.
I shall wait for you for a few minutes.
(engine zooming)
(dog barking)
(chattering)
(horn honking)
- Do you know Bassam Caniphante?
No?
(dog barking)
(goats bleating)
(horn honking)
(thudding)
Excuse me, I'm looking for Caniphante.
Do you know Caniphante?
Bassam Caniphante, he lives um...
- [Woman] Bassam, Bassam--
- He lives here someplace.
(speaking foreign language)
Thank you.
Hey,
hey, hey.
Wait.
(children chattering)
(faint vocalizing on P.A.)
- [Man] What do you want?
- I'm lookin' for somebody.
A friend has come--
- [Man] Go away.
- [Don] Okay.
- [Man] And don't come back here.
- Don't get nervous.
- [Man] Go away.
- Okay.
(engine revving)
(goat bleating)
(speaking foreign language)
(gunfire popping)
Look at this, this is crazy.
(speaking foreign language)
(thudding)
(grunting)
(tense music)
- [Bassam] Mr. Stevens?
- Well, I uh...
Let me explain.
(faint vocalizing on P.A.)
- Linda, Linda (speaking
foreign language).
- Is he awake?
You feel better now?
Daoud found you.
You're still in the camp.
(booming)
- You shouldn't have
come here, Mr. Stevens.
- Everything I wanna know is here.
Why Yassin died.
- So, have you found anything?
- Everybody tries to stop me.
(engine zooming)
I don't understand.
You know, after all
this, I hit a dead end.
- Jesus H. Christ, you're dead.
- [Don] So, what else is new?
- I'm serious!
I was going to identify your dead body.
Still, since you're here, might as well
do it your fucking self, huh?
- Wait, wait.
I'm dead?
(mumbling)
(engine zooming)
(flies buzzing)
(coughing)
(footsteps crunching)
It's Snyder.
(tense music)
Bassam.
The guy who posed as Yassin.
- You had better stay away
from the hotel for a while.
Whatever got rid of
this Snyder wanted you.
- You know a man name Che?
- [Linda] At least a dozen.
- Maybe one of those dozen killed Yassin.
Got rid of Bassam and
Snyder, now he's after me.
(engine zooming)
- [Linda] Ah!
- [Don] Jeez, I'm sorry.
I thought you were getting
out on the other side.
- [Linda] No, I can't.
(faint vocalizing on P.A.)
- [Don] It's great.
How long you been here?
- Hmm, couple of years.
Anything to drink?
- Sure.
- [Linda] Beer?
- Yeah.
- If that's the way
you'll only go for a day,
I'm surprised you're still around.
- Keeps me off the street.
- Sorry?
- Uh, it's a joke.
Was he the reason you came here, Yassin?
- Yeah.
- Well, why'd you come to me to find him?
- Oh, we hadn't seen
each other for some time
before he was killed.
But,
what about you?
Where's your home?
- My home's in a suitcase.
- No family?
- I had a wife.
Sporty type, thinks
love is a tennis court.
What about you?
What are you gonna do now?
- I don't know.
Hopefully take Daoud, find a safe place.
- Do that, let me know.
- Doesn't all this ever get to you?
- Sure.
(tense music)
This craziness is for kids.
I'm old.
- Yeah, very old.
(laughing)
- Pretty old.
How'd you meet him, Yassin?
- We met in Europe, then we came here.
Now, I wish I had
convinced him not to come.
- Oh, it's not your fault.
If I blamed myself for
everything I report,
I'd end up covering
fashion shows in Paris.
- Paris?
(chuckling)
Shh.
(knocking)
- Who's that?
(knocking)
- [Linda] Karim.
- [Karim] Linda.
(mumbling)
- [Linda] I must go.
- Where?
- I can't tell you.
Something happened.
I must leave Beirut.
- [Don] Leave Beirut?
- [Linda] Yeah.
- [Don] What'd it leave?
- [Linda] Karim will help.
(mumbling) for you to leave, too.
(speaking foreign language)
- What is it?
What's happening?
- Just leave right away, I'm sorry.
(engine zooming)
(footsteps crunching)
(mumbling)
(gunshots blasting)
- Mr. Stevens.
(crashing)
(speaking foreign language)
(jet engine squealing)
- Where is she?
- Shit.
Don't tell me I'm too late.
- She's gone, but we managed
to get the (mumbling).
- What's he doing here?
- Mr. Stevens.
Mr. Stevens is going to help us find her.
Right?
- Nope.
(thudding)
- I want to show you something.
Did you know that Linda
had lived in Israel?
These are
classified PLO documents.
They were found in an electrical
meter box in the city.
- What are you getting at?
- They were smuggled out by an agent
planted here a couple of years ago.
The agent's code name is Sarah.
It was only tonight we
discovered the whole plot
but it was unfortunately too late.
Sarah escaped.
Who do you think is
behind Yassin's murder?
Who organized the fake interview
in order to expose him?
Think, my friend.
- A little slow on the uptake, sunshine.
- The Mossad, the Israeli Secret Service
used you like a small child.
Yes, your Linda nurse is an Israeli agent.
(chuckling)
Mr. Stevens, won't you
please take us to Linda?
- What's in it for me?
- What do you mean?
- I don't wanna get stuck again.
- A story, is that what you want?
- Make it a good one.
- It couldn't be more sensational.
- So, what?
- Linda first.
- Well,
what are you gonna do to her?
- Oh, no, no, you don't kill her.
Israeli agents like gold dust.
We could get an exchange from the Zionist
a few hundred of our fighters.
- Okay, I'll take you to her.
- I told you he's a nice guy.
Thank you.
- You won't regret it.
We'll leave now, best
deal you've ever made.
Oh, don't do anything stupid, eh?
God's sake, grow up.
- 32 Rue Masra.
(doors thudding)
(engine zooming)
(lively music)
It's no good for us all
to bust in like that.
If you want her, lemme go
in, talk her into coming out.
- Okay.
Two minutes, and then we'll come.
(soldiers speaking foreign language)
- [Don] Hello?
(lively music)
(mumbling)
- The American.
Father, father, come in.
(talking over each other)
- [Don] Thank you, I can't stay.
- Come in, (mumbling).
- Is your cab back here?
Is your cab outside?
Yeah, please.
(speaking foreign language)
(tense music)
(engine zooming)
(speaking foreign language)
(gunshots blasting)
(tense music)
- We made it, huh?
(booming)
- [Linda] Don, what are you doing here?
I'm waiting for Karim.
I don't know where he is.
- He's dead.
(missile squealing)
Where's Daoud?
- The boy's here.
- You can't go anywhere.
Hamdi's looking for you all over town.
- Yes, we've got to get out of here.
Will you help me?
- I want to hear it from,
before I turn you over.
Are you an Israeli agent, huh?
- What are you talking about?
You don't understand.
- I would love to understand, tell me.
- I'm not an Israeli agent, not any more.
- [Don] Not any more?
- Look, I was a student,
a volunteer in a kibbutz.
There I met this man, Danny.
He was one of Mossad's Secret Service.
They offered me a job.
- Are you saying it was money?
- [Linda] No.
- [Don] It was love.
- I just wanted to help.
- So, they send you to
Europe to set up Yassin?
- Yes.
I was the expecting the enemy,
but I discovered a wonderful man.
After a while, I just left the Mossad.
- That's fine, but the
Mossad killed Yassin.
- It was Hamdi.
Hamdi murdered Yassin.
Hamdi's Che, top man.
- Why would the PLO get
rid of their own guy?
- Oh, you met Yassin.
You know what he believed in.
You want more proof?
Tomorrow, the whole town will be on fire.
Hamdi and his men are going to blow up
the Phalange's headquarters.
I was going to east Beirut
to tell the Israelis,
but now Karim is dead.
Will you help me?
(melancholy music)
- Come on.
- Okay, what now?
- [Linda] East Beirut.
- [Habib] It is not as easy as you think.
- Step on it, Habib.
I'll buy your whole supermarket.
Just get us there quick, no stops.
- [Habib] Okay.
(engine grumbling)
(clattering)
(booming)
(tense beat music)
- Who's gonna believe you?
The next agent back,
nobody'll believe you.
- [Linda] I hope Danny's over there--
(gunshots popping)
- [Don And Linda] Get down.
(booming)
(gunfire popping)
- We gotta stop meeting like this.
Oh.
(engine zooming)
- [Linda] Okay.
Thanks for your help.
(mumbling)
Bye.
(mumbling)
(booming)
(doors thudding)
(footsteps crunching)
(gunfire popping)
- [Don] Get 'em out of Beirut.
Damascus Road.
(gunfire popping)
This is no good.
Just take the boy and leave Beirut.
Believe me, I'll do this, it's okay.
- [Linda] But your business--
- [Don] I need the exercise.
- [Linda] You're crazy.
Don.
Don't get yourself killed.
Good luck.
(gunfire popping)
Go.
(gunfire popping)
- [Don] Don't shoot!
Don't shoot!
- [Soldier] Hands up.
- [Don] Journalist, journalist!
All right, all right, don't shoot.
American.
- [Soldier] Hands up.
- [Don] I have I.D.
It's in the bag, it's in the bag.
- [Soldier] Hands on the car.
- I have I.D.
It's right back there.
I'm a journalist, American, ABS TV, TV.
(speaking foreign language)
- Get to the other Jeep.
- [Don] Okay, okay.
- [Soldier] Hands up.
(engine grumbling)
(speaking foreign language)
- [Yoram] Hello.
I'm Yoram.
- [Don] Don.
- [Yoram] What can I do for you?
- [Don] I have some important information.
- What is it?
- It's very important.
Can I (mumbling)?
- Wait a minute.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Don] Excuse me.
(speaking foreign language)
- Tell him what you have to say.
- I have information that
the Phalange headquarters
is gonna be destroyed, today, now.
(speaking foreign language)
- Where did you get this information?
- I have it from a...
One of your agents,
her code name is Sarah.
Her contact is a Mossad
man, name of Danny.
(speaking foreign language)
- Okay, okay, we shall check it out.
Okay.
(speaking foreign language)
- Follow me, please.
Mr. Stevens (mumbling).
(speaking foreign language)
(booming)
(sirens blaring)
(excited chattering)
- Mr. Stevens.
I'm Danny.
- Hi.
- So, your tip was right.
- They blew it up.
- With everybody in it,
including the President.
We move again, let's go.
(booming)
(speaking foreign language)
- Excuse me.
(mumbling) is very complicated now.
The whole country can explode any minute.
You know that.
What we don't need right now is more heat.
Please.
- You askin' me to forget it?
I never came here, talked to anybody?
- It's better for everybody, believe me.
- No.
No way.
- You know what you can do?
Okay, Mr. Stevens, okay, go.
Go tell the whole world
we are not giving up.
We didn't come to Lebanon for a picnic.
There was a reason for this war.
And what we started now,
we should finish next time.
Next time,
(speaking foreign language)
we want to be just like you
and the rest of the world,
not perfect, but alive.
Alive, that's all.
Say that on your television.
(engine grumbling)
- We don't have much time.
You see, after what's happened,
the Phalanges will revenge.
They're going to enter the refugee camps.
- What are you saying?
- There will be a massacre.
No Palestinian will survive
and there'll be no one.
Kids, everybody.
I'm going to do what I can,
but I'm taking you back.
You must call your station and report it.
Maybe that's the only way.
(tense music)
(booming)
- This is Stevens, Don Stevens.
I'm calling from Beirut.
Is he there?
Well, move it, please.
Yeah, it's very important.
(tense music)
Jerry, have I got a story for you!
You gotta believe me.
I know about last, as God as my judge.
A lot of people are gonna die
if you don't listen, okay?
You got a pencil?
Here it is.
The Phalange are about to,
what, don't tell me that!
What are you, a moron?
I'm giving you a gift!
No, you shut up!
Get a brain operation!
Look, listen, I won't do that!
No, listen, don't do that!
I'm telling you the Phalange are about,
don't hang up, don't hang up!
(tense music)
Hello?
(phone clicking)
(tense music)
(excited chattering)
Do you speak any English?
Do you--
(yelling)
(speaking foreign language)
Do you speak any English?
Do you speak English?
(stammering)
Do you speak any English?
(excited chattering)
Do you speak any English?
Does anybody here speak English?
Do you know the (speaking
foreign language) ?
The Phalange, the Phalange!
(excited chattering)
The Phalange!
(speaking foreign language)
You know what I'm saying?
Do you know what I'm saying?
All right, look,
I'm saying that you have
to take everybody out.
Is there a boss, anybody?
A hoard, an authority?
(mumbling) calls the police.
(excited chattering)
Oh, I'm so glad to see you.
Can you communicate to
these people, can you tell,
the (speaking foreign language),
the Phalange, they're coming.
In a few hours, this place'll
be crawling with militia men.
You gotta tell these people
to take their families,
their children, just get out of here.
I'm telling you, I don't know
what the hell I'm doing here, myself.
- Who told you that?
- I been to East Beirut.
- And why should I believe you?
- The Mossad told me, okay?
What do you want me to do?
Stand on my head?
Everybody, the (speaking foreign
language), they're coming.
Take your families, your children.
You gotta go.
- Where?
- I don't know, anyplace.
Just get out.
You're gonna die, do you understand?
You're gonna die.
(speaking foreign language)
- Where do you want us to go?
To the end of the world?
We are freedom fighter, we
gonna stay here and fight.
- You stay here, it's on your head.
These people are gonna die.
Get these people outta here!
- [Hamdi] Okay, okay, no more.
- Don't tell me!
- [Hamdi] Stop the panic and go away.
- [Don] Mother fucker!
- [Hamdi] Go.
(yelling)
- [Don] You are responsible!
It's on your head!
(tense music)
You asked for this!
(speaking foreign language)
(chanting)
(gunfire popping)
(yelling in foreign language)
(booming)
No, wait, don't be crazy!
Come back to me.
(booming)
(yelling)
(flies buzzing)
(woman screaming)
(footsteps crunching)
(women yelling in foreign language)
(speaking foreign language)
- [Soldier] No entrance, no entrance!
No entrance!
(horn honking)
Go back to your...
(excited chattering)
(horn honking)
All of you go back to your cars.
No entrance.
Nobody can go in.
(excited chattering)
- [Mike] You son of a bitch.
You had to scoop this.
- [Don] Read 'em and weep.
- [Mike] You germy bastard!
- [Don] Drunks don't
ever get hurt, do they?
(goats bleating)
(tense music)
(horn honking)
(chattering)
(children yelling)
(tense music)