Bayou (1957) - full transcript

A New York architect meets a Cajun beauty in a remote bayou village.

# I'm broke #

# I never had no cash #

# Everybody calls me "poor white trash" #

# Lived in the swamp #

# all of my days #

# Just in the bayou for my play #

# Well, a company man #

# He came my way #

# Company man stole my girl away #

# Poor white trash, not a nickel in my jeans #

# Poor white trash, don't know what loving means #



# Poor white trash, never had no fun #

# Poor white trash, ain't got no one #

# In the swamp, I live #

# In the swamp, I die #

# But "poor white trash" no one will cry #

# Well, poor white trash, not a nickel in my jeans #

# Poor white trash, don't know what loving means #

# Poor white trash, never had no fun #

# Poor white trash, ain't got no one #

# In the swamp, I live #

# In the swamp, I die #

# But "poor white trash" no one will cry #

# No one will cry #

Go faster!



Are you okay?

Sure, it's okay.

Next time you cut my crab line will be more okay.

Look, I, uh, I'm sorry.

Take her fast, Johnny!

You're late, Mr. Davis.

I'm sorry, Mr. Tallant, I...

I got to looking at some of your New Orleans architecture.

Quite all right. Glad to have you aboard.

Hey, who designed that piece of butchery

you're building over on Canal Street anyway, Murphy?

Quiet! He's on board.

- You're kidding.
- No, I'm not.

He found out I was entertaining you
and the commissioner over the weekend.

So, he decided to come right along, push himself in.

You know what the deal means to him, too.

Cut himself right in, didn't he?

Hm. He had the commissioner invite him, himself.

Nothing I could do about it.

Well, it's been a nice visit.

Now, wait a minute, Martin.

Now, look, it's no skin off my nose.

I got the job no matter who does the designing:

either you or Murphy.

But I'll level with ya.

You gotta put up a fight for it.

You mean, butter him up?

Butter him up! Sell yourself!

Oh, what is this? A personality contest?

Either he likes the design I submitted or he doesn't.

That's not the way it is, and you know it.

And you can't tell me it's any different in New York.

Now, if you don't have the guts to fight for your plan, go on!

All right, that's better!

Here's what I want you to do:

Show him the ol' Cornell spirit.

Let him know your background.

Show him what a great athlete you were.

Let's join 'em.

We got our own way of doing things down here.

It's been around for quite awhile so we figure we'll keep it.

Commissioner!

This is our fair-haired boy, Martin Davis.

- Mr. Evans.
- It's a pleasure, Mr. Davis.

How do you do, Mr. Evans?

And in this corner,
our local champion, Gay Priceman.

- Mr. Murphy.
- Nice meeting you, fellow.

You about six fish and four drinks behind here, Mr. Davis.

So, better grab yourself a line and a glass.

And I'm keeping you posted.

If you really want to impress the commissioner here,

you hurry and catch up with us.

Oh, why didn't you tell me, Jim?

If I had known, instead of a design I would have brought
the commissioner some fish and a bottle of whiskey.

As a bribe, Mr. Davis?

And you know, this is wonderful country out
here. Where are we?

This is Barataria Bay, Martin.

- Hey.
- Bayou country.

Cajuns live all around here.

- Cajuns?
- Yeah, shrimp pickers, oysters...

...fishing, crabbing...

They live all over the bayou.

Cajuns. I've heard of 'em,
but I don't know anything about 'em.

Acadians, originally French,
came from Nova Scotia.

Exiled about 200 years ago by the
British, and they settled here.

"Boogalees," as we call 'em.

Live like animals.

Which is what they are: animals.

Oh, I don't know about that.

By the way, they're having
some pirogue races tomorrow.

Great sport. Great entertainment.

Oh, I won't say that animals can't be entertaining.

Thank you, Yore! Thank you!

- Ha! You hear about old Claude Brusad?
- No.

But not Mr. Bolsa! No! No!

What'd he do?

This week he gonna marry himself Lala Perin.

Lala Perin? Grandpa country?

Uh huh!

Lala Perin? But she is not mere sixteen yet!

Maybe she find out what fun it is to be married to a man
three times as old as herself, no?

Hey, ch?ri parti on wedding night, eh?

Oh, you pity me!

Ch?ri parti!

I know them clouds are far away, Bos.

But I tell you,

big hurricanes take time to make up mind.

Ten years ago I stood outside the same fishing
platform here.

Before you can say "poof,"
here she comes.

One big, bad batch of a storm she is.

No kidding?

I do not understand!

Maybe you talk to Mr. Ulysses.

Come down like a hawk.

You know, Bos?

Good kickin'!

- Mr. Ulysses.
- Sometimes come and take them whole pie with them.

Freeing the fish in the water.

What time is it, Mr. Hebert?

My shell say five o' clock.

Five.

You want see me, Mr. Hebert, huh?

Now, what do you want?

I just go into your store, ask Gula
for wine, same like always, no sell me.

Maybe there is a little bill
that I owe you, Mr. Ulysses.

But you do not think that I need to buy wine,

two pack of, and not pay for him.

Come here.

I want a little favor from you, ah?

There's plenty women on the bayou, as they would like to
go with Ulysses, ah?

And I mean plenty.

And I'm nobody, ah?

There's only one girl I like. It's Marie, your daughter.

Mr. Ulysses,

no.

Plenty time I watch her dance Saturday night.

Everybody, she come.

But no Marie Hebert.

I say, "Come with me, Maria."

She say, "no."

But you're a papa, ah?

She listen to you, ah?

- But you do no...
- She listen to you!

You tell her:

"Ulysses' a fine man," ah?

"He got money, he's a boss, he's big!"

And then someday I come back and I...

...and I see her and she...

...she smiled at me, maybe, ah?

- No, no. I can't give...
- Oh, come on!

It's just a little bit of favor, ah?

Hey, Gula!

It's okay for credit for Mr. Hebert now, ah?

And you go into the store, ah?

And you get all the credit you want.

You know you got to tell Marie all about me.

Big, good boss, ah?

Hey, Bos!

We're going eating now, huh?

Come on!

Look at the mister crab, Papa!

Today he not wait to be caught.

Crawl right up and say,
"Ms. Hebert, here I am."

Throw your back again, ah?

My back is okay.

I rubbed it with fire ointment this morning-

Ay, go try the remedies.

Auntie Buschwase do that.

She more than eighty years old.

She is no doctor!

Doctor? Doctor?

Doctor is no good.

They're for the city people.

They do not have any sense, anyway.

All right, Papa.

You booked one?

You ever see a city man make a tea from the swamp lily?

And start a fire in the belly?

I mean butt.

My boat come, ah?

With a nice peppergrass?

Papa!

Yes, you book him.

Oh!

- Here.
- Oh, if it gets wet!

Marie,
all the time you laugh at our ways.

Maybe it's what you read in them crazy books.

Maybe that is why you do not
go to the dances with Cajun fellas.

Marie, listen to me!

You is near eighteen.

Most girl is married by the time they are seventeen.

And they have family.

Maybe it's better if you go to the
carnival tomorrow with Ulysses.

With Ulysses?

He take my credit away.

Put me to talk to you.

Then he say give it back to me.

Huh. The wind.

It look like a hurricane.

He want me to tell you to go with him.

- How much we owe him, Papa?
- How much?

Maybe twenty dollar.

Tomorrow I will sell the soft-shell crabs and pay him all.

Where you navigating it?

Navigating?

Jethro's busy!

He needs a friend tonight!

Listen to her holler!

Fourteen baby he make for her, and
she still holler like it is her first.

Marie, is okay I go now?

Oh, look!

Maybe he come down for the pirogue race tomorrow.

Well, look. You don't drink too much wine.

You come home early. Before nine, ah?

Mm.

Sure.

Sure!

Poor shell.

Do not hide on me.

Marie, she say "nine."

Nine, you tell me go home, ah?

Gene! Gene, quiet! Gene!

Who is it?

It's only me, Ulysses.

I... I did not hear your boat.

What do you want?

Just a dance at the
carnival tomorrow.

No, Mr. Ulysses.

You will not go with me?

No.

But I talked to your father today.

Look, Mr. Ulysses, my... my...

papa owes you some money.

Tomorrow I will sell my soft-shell crab and pay you.

That's all.

But your father's not here now, ah?

Well, he will be home soon.

That's if he don't get drunk at Jethro Vicy's place and
fall asleep on the floor.

Please go, Mr. Ulysses.

First, I want to show you something.

Look.

I have them from New Orleans.

Show me. Jewel.

I say "Why? Why we take the thing?"

He say, "This is not too fancy girl, no."

This is a ruby, Marie.

Boy fix himself a big silver chain. Here.

Ah?

Let me put them around your neck.

- Come, Marie.
- I don't want anything from you, Mr. Ulysses.

Oh, girl from the swamp with a jewel like this!

Please!

If I look at it, you oughta listen.

Look, Maria. If you no like this little...

You not satisfied, you throw them into bayou.
I don't care.

No!

What am I? A crying crow?

I want you to love me, Marie.

Why don't you love me, huh?

No!

Go ahead! You like scratches?

- Scratch! Scratch!
- No!

Hail Mary!

Hail Mary!

Mother of God!

Help!

No!

No!

No!

No!

No!

No!

It's only me, Ulysses.

Ah?

Troubles, Martin?

No.

Wasn't kind of you, the way you deserted the ship.

I know.

Since I can't imagine you're not enjoying my company, I
presume it was the fishing you didn't like.

That's right. The fishing for clients.

The whole hypocritical, back-slapping seduction act.

Pardon me while I shove ya around.

Have a drink with me while I knife ya in the back.

Look, Jim. What do you want?

I want you to get the assignment.

And if I have to tell you again, I will.

You're not going to get it unless you fight for it.

What does it mean to you? You said it yourself. You
build it no matter who designs it.

That's right.

Look, Martin.

I've piled up a lot of money as a contractor.

And I'd trade every cent of it for what you have.

Every single cent.

Your creative ability.

You know how to design something that leads straight
up to the stars.

And I'm not underestimating what I do, either.

Because all the fancy blueprints in the world don't mean a thing
until someone like the commissioner decides to use it.

And someone like myself decides to translate it into...

...concrete and steel and make it real.

Now, do you want the assignment or don't you?

Certainly I want it but-

All right. Then stop this holier-than-thou remoulade and start
thinking of ways to convince Evan.

Martin,

do you read me at all?

I read.

All right.

Now, here's what I've gone ahead and done.

I told him the reason that you left the ship so abruptly

was to see if you could enter the pirogue race,

which I've since taken a liberty in doing for you.

You've what?

The pirogue race. Cajuns are putting it on today. I've entered
you into it.

You're out of your mind!

Well, it's just like the sculling you did in college.

A lot of Northern boys have done it before.

- And besides, Evans is crazy about the race.
- That's ridiculous.

- Look, Jim, I appreciate that and all, but...
- Can you handle it?

Well, the whole thing is ridiculous. I...

Well...

Well, sure. I... I guess I'd get a kick out of it, anyway.

Ha! Sold!

Excuse the banksman.

Let her see us, baby.

'Cause I'm gonna win the race to obtain a big win.

Up in the boat!

"Come on, Ulysses! Come on! I like the way..."

Oh! Hello, Marie!

- Comment allez-vous, baby?
- Here is your money. Will you sign this piece of paper?

Oh, baby! You don't owe me nothing, baby!

Look, sometime a-a man get drunk. You know, baby?

- He don't know what he doing. Go this way, go that way.
- Look, will you sign?

I pay my credit. I want my receipt.

Before you act that way...

Please, Marie. You don't owe me nothing, no.

Please, Mr. Ulysses.

Baby, I told you. Forget about it. You don't owe me anything.

- My money!
- Hello.

- What happened to my money?
- Money? Where?

I had them right here on the bar.

Well, that girl must have gone off with it.

You're the one whose boat come crazy yesterday!

- Well, look, I'm sorry about that.
- First, you want to throw me into the water.

And then you take my money?

I didn't take your money. I don't need your money.

- But that girl!
- What girl? You see her steal it?

- No, but there was no one else near it.
- But you're near it!

Come on! Let's see if we can catch her!

Quick!

Come on!

Hey. I think you've got something that belongs to this little lady.

Let go! You made a mistake!

All right. We'll talk it over the sheriff's office.

Count it.

It's missing two dollar more.

How do I know she ain't cheating?

Give!

I'm sorry, monsieur, what I say before.

Thank you for this.

I hate to see a pretty girl taken.

Now, wait a minute.

Aren't you forgetting something?

A reward!

Okay.

No, no money, please.

I'm a stranger here.

Will you be my guide this afternoon?

- Oh. No, I could ne...
- Please.

Please, just this one afternoon.

Okay!

Hit it! Oh! Good one!

Whoa!

One more throw.

Awe!

- In case we've got the call! Anybody can play! Anybody!
- Have you eaten yet?

- A little bit.
- Well, let's try for a steak.

- Oh, no!
- Here! Come on!

All right! Give us three turns.

This, uh, thank you, thank you.

- You first!
- No, no. You. Go ahead.

All right!

Try for the, uh, for the sirloin.

- All right. Right here?
- Uh huh.

- Oh.
- Too high. Just relax.

- Oof! Now, keep your eye on the ballon and...
- Ugh!

...and don't let go of the dart until your arm shoots forward.

Oh! You almost got it! Give here three more!

Oh, try a few more times!

Oh, you've got this!

Here.

- Oh, look! It did not make it. I can't!
- No! No! You're quitting too soon!

Now, try it once more. You've almost got it.

- Oh! Hey, hey!
- Ha ha ha! You won it!

You won the steak!

Oh, my god!

That's amazing. Goes as easy as pie.

- Oh, boy!
- Thank you! - All right!

Thank you!

On your land, my son, you will find oil.

Oil? But I have no land.

- Well then get some, my friend! Get some!
- Ah, you're a fake.

Next!

How much?

Fifty cents.

Your sign says twenty-five.

Well, for small fortune, twenty-five cents.

- For big fortune, fifty cents.
- Okay, big fortune.

Watch out for big shark!

What kind of shark?

When shark goes after you, you run, my son!

You don't ask what kind of shark!

Next!

Hi, Marie!

Hi!

- That's my cousin.
- Ah!

Do you wanna eat your steak now?

Oh, no! The pirogue race begins soon!

A later.

Now, these pirogues. Would you show me one?

If you like! Come on!

Oh.

Uly!

There's Marie! She with some yucky man!

You have handled boats before, I see.

- Well, some. I was just wondering if this were any different.
- Number three, Ulysses.

There is Northern fella in the race sometime.

Maybe next year, you try!

Well I, um, I understand there's a yankee entered today. Do
you know him?

No, but I tell you one thing. There is never yet a yankee beat a
Cajun in a pirogue race.

What's your name?

Marie.

Did you say Marie?

Yes. Marie Hebert.

What is your name?

Martin Davis.

Martin Davis.

Martin Davis?

But... that's the name he just called out is in the race.

That's right.

Will you wait for me 'til the race is over?

Hey! Comment allez-vous, Marie?

What you do here?

I'm in the pirogue race.

I never see you down bayous before.

I'm number seven from Poughkeepsie.

What do you know about boating, man?

Well, I used to row a little bit up at school.

Now, he rows down here.

You'll change your song after the race, Marie. You wait.

That's Ulysses.

He owns a store here, but he's not very good man.

And getting in their pirogue now, good luck
to the fastest one.

Monsieur, when you pass that one, cut him off so he can't beat
you. You know this.

I'll see you later!

Hey, my friend, David! To good health!

A good day for the race!

- Hi!
- Hey, why is you late?

Oh, I'm sorry, Papa!

Hup, hup! Hello, everybody the race here
is about to be viewed.

Come on, Martin!

Hey, Gatsvad! Your boat is not moving!

Gatsvad blew it! Again, you were standing still!

Push! You no bright-eyes man! Push!

Come on, Martin!

That old Cornell spirit, boy!

Appuyer sur! Pousser!

Hit the water! Hit the water!

Look at Gatsvad! Maybe tomorrow he'll be there, hey Marie?

Martin! Keep the eye open! Don't let around!

Pull! Pull, you son of a gun!

That's it, Martin! Keep in front!

Cut in front of him, Martin! In front of him!

Oh, sacrebleu! I tell you this!

I tell you!

Who is this Martin, ah?

There is no "Markan." Who is this "Martin Daves"?

Not a chance!

Ulysses win!

Everybody!

We go to Barataria Cafe, have something to eat,
put in the belly!

- Let's go! Ha ha!
- Wanna do a race? Let me see her.

I tell you her name is.

Now, there's one pirogue race I never forget.

I'm there. I am sixteen.

And I'm see a womans since she's eh, oh, maybe fifteen.

One look at this big, handsome man and she roll the eye to
go go.

- I say this is the womans for me, eh?
- Oh!

Son of a gun, next thing I know, I married me!

Hey! Ulysses!

Well, he works to win, huh? He wins!

What'd you think of the race?

The Cajuns, oh! They had nothing!

But how about that big guy from, uh...

the yankee?

New York?

Know the man make pirogue races with us people is like, eh...

...a turtle making race with a muskrat, eh?

Maybe so.

But at least he played fair and not try to get in front of and
make big show of it, I think.

Martin, I want you to meet my family.

My papa, Monsieur Hebert.

My cousin, Doucette.

Hey!

- City fella, huh?
- Yes.

What you do down here?

Why, uh, I came down here for a job.

And for the pirogue races, too.

Ah, you find out all loose ends, huh?

What you do in big city?

I'm an architect.

- Uh, "architect" means that...
- Oh, I know what means "architect"!

You, you draw buildings.

That's right.

You draw buildings. You know why?

The city people. They don't know how to make it themselves.

Themselves.

Marie!

You come back here when you is finished. You understand?

How she meet a city fella?

I'll tell you how.

Sugar talk.

That's how.

I hope you choke.

I wanna talk to you, Mr. Ulysses.

There's something I know.

And I do not like it. You understand?

Pig! Cochon!

I tell you get in front of other man in pirogue.

Oh, will you bring us two steaks and, uh, a couple of
salads, please?

Why you no do that?

I can't do that, Marie. It just isn't right.

But it's right for him! And he win!

Am I gonna have to fight the Civil War with you?

I am not a rebel. I am Cajun.

And a Cajun is from north of the north where you from.

You go to school down here?

I finished school, but I read.

You see, they, they bring me books on the boat from the city
like, like my mama does when she leave.

Ah.

Now you.

Now me, what?

Well, I tell you about me. Now, here, you tell me about you.

Oh. Well, let's see.

I'm an architect. I'm twenty-eight. Single.

How about you? Do you have a boyfriend?

Sure.

Well, how come he let you loose on a day like this?

- Who?
- Your boyfriend.

Well, which one?

Any one.

Monsieur...

Now look, will you stop calling me "monsieur"? My name is
Martin Davis. Please remember.

Now, let me hear you say it.

Martin...

...Davis.

Say it again.

What?

I like the way you make it sound.

Hi, Jim!

This is Marie Hebert.

Mr. Tallant.

Ms. Hebert.

I'd like to talk to you for a second.

Sure!

Looks like we're dead.

I'm out?

That's right.

Because I didn't win the race?

No, because you didn't try.

Well, that's nonsense!

No it isn't, Martin.

Well, I say it is! Anybody who'd choose an architect on how well
he fishes or paddles a boat-

And I think anybody who'd sweat out months of creative effort
on a design and doesn't have the guts to fight for it is-

Guts?

Isn't that a new requirement for a political handout?

No, an old requirement. For anything.

What is it, Martin?

Who is this man?

No one.

You're mad at him.

No, I'm...

...mad at myself.

Come on. Let's get out of here.

You are still sad, Martin.

- No.
- You are.

That man in the restaurant, he hurt you very much.

Tonight, you tell me about many things, but you don't tell me
what's really in your heart.

Well, that isn't easy to talk about, Marie.

I don't know that I understand it, myself.

That man you met in the restaurant doesn't think I
have any courage.

Well, he's wrong.

I fought to learn what I know and I fought hard.

Sure, my family had some money. They sent me to good
schools. I was lucky, yes. But I fought!

A master appeal of learning to add something new to create,
that isn't easy for me.

But here's an idea of courage: to...

...judge a man by whether he's willing to do stupid, dirty things.
That's wrong.

Yes, that's true.

You know, what burns me is that sometimes I get to thinking
he's right.

Maybe there is something wrong with me.

Because I do avoid a fight.

I avoid it because I have a...

...a deep moral objection to all the kicking and shoving that
goes on in a world.

His idea of will and drive and
aggressiveness, what he calls "guts."

It is a hard thing to know.

I think you are a very good man.

Look over there! Under the land, in the water!

That's my home.

The wind you feel is the gulf wind.

Like a broom to sweep all the dirt away.

Yes, and with the...

...with the rain and the water and the sun...

...should be everything clean.

But it's not so.

Oh, Papa is waiting.

This is the wrong time for a guy to come home.

Well, he won't hurt you, will he?

Hurt me? Papa?

No.

I have like this night.

To hear a voice like...

...like, like from the other world that I read about.

The other world? Huh.

For me, this is the other world.

Everything here takes on a different shape and form
and meaning.

Man could stand on the horizon and...

look back and think.

- Figure it all out.
- Marie!

To go now.

In Bayou Country, strange mans not take Cajun girl out all night.

Papa, we only talked! And then we had to wait for a booth!

Talked.

- Look, Mr. Hebert...
- You go back to your big city!

Leave my daughter alone!

Wait, Papa.

Goodbye, Marie.

Goodbye, Martin.

Mr. Pete!

If a man wanted to spend some time out here, where
would he stay?

Well, John Tito's got a place about a mile, more or less, over
that way.

Fine. You take me there.

Marie?

Martin?

I'll be back. You be here.

I'll be here.

Sometime, Martin, go to the Trader Joe.

That's a stay-up, all-night dance. Saturday in town.

Sure. The womens roll their eyes at me and shake their skirts.

Sometimes come up to me and say...

"You are nearly fifty, Tito. Leave me alone and lounge
by yourself."

Go after this woman.

Life without a womans is, psh!

With me, uh, I know this womans.

Last week, her husband make dead. One week.

She's ready for another man.

Not me!

Hey, who's that?

Brusa.

Her father, when he live here, was his best friend.

Well, how can you tell from here? I can hardly see it.

My friend, in the Bayou world, a man make sharp ear. Sharp
eye. Sharp peer.

He know every sound, every smell.

The wind shields his partner.

Maybe us Cajuns is cool.

One year catch many muskrat. Many fish.

Save up, buy logger like this one.

Sure. In come the big black wind.

Sweep up the house. The boat, too.

Sometime man come to me and say, "Wait for me! Out
my boat!"

But you know what I say?

"Man who wait for another man just... Lord listened to him
that he speak."

Me, I... I went for one cause.

That's me, John Tito.

Hey, you got it?

I got it.

Hey, you! Talking to him!

I forgot to pass youself by my wedding, ah?

Once more I'd do a cruel thing like that, Mr. Crawd, ah?

You need a dose of Sel Hepatica for big night.

Don't forget to wear shoes, too!

No bad fish at all at my wedding! No crusade!

And another thing.

Lay off of that hydraulic brake fluid, ah?

You listen to me?

I hear you.

You know my friend, Martin?

He stay with me.

- Almost one week now.
- Hi.

Oh, yeah. I heard story about him in town, yeah.

Well...

...see you at my wedding, ah?

Au revoir.

Au revoir!

There's no fool like an old fool.

Hey, uh...

...you know how much is worth grounding this gump shrimp?

No. How much?

Fifty-nine dollar. Half is for you.

I tell you something, John. Are you gonna use the boat today?

Boat?

Oh, no. I-I take sleep today.

Well, how about letting me use it, and you take it out of my
half share?

Friend, look.

When you want the same fish with the snake blade, watch
out for the snake blade.

Town, there's a man called Ulysses.

He spits fire.

He has eyes for a certain girl.

I'll take my chances.

Now, how about it?

Be careful. Uh, be careful for the boat.

Thanks, John!

# Oh, goose is so sweet #

# Ga-goose is so sweet #

# But nothing sweeter is #

# than you love her teeth #

# Lamb has tasty bone #

# Lamb has tasty bone #

# Shh! Don't make much noise and then #

# This house is not our own #

Hello, Mr. Hebert!

Comment allez-vous?

How you getting along, anyway?

Okay.

Where's Marie?

I, uh...

I got something to ask her.

She's not here.

Oh, no? She is not here, huh?

Where is she, Mr. Hebert?

Somewhere around the bayou. Or in the bay.

Mr. Hebert, it's funny father not know where child is.

Maybe a big animal in the swamp get her.

Uh, alligator in the mush.

And how about that city fella?

You know them kind.

He's slick.

Yankee.

What you want, Mr. Ulysses?

Oh, I don't want anything. I, uh...

What time does the shell say?

Oh.

Shell say...

...nine minutes, come to four.

Oh, no. Is wrong.

- Let me see.
- No!

I'm sure it's only three.

This watch is no good.

My watch - be careful!

What good is watch when is wrong?

You break it and...

...and get another one.

No, no!

My crest.

She gave it to me!

There is a picture of my wife inside!

Please! Please!

"Please! Please!"

Oh, no!

Let me tell you something, Papa.

Either you get rid of that yankee out there...

...or I'm gonna get rid of Marie.

Shell! Shell!

Oh!

Darling! Darling!

- Tell me about the city!
- Ah, who cares about the city?

- Oh, please!
- No, there is no city, Marie.

It's all lost in that cotton ball of a cloud up there.

All I can see is the sky and all I can feel is the wind.

You know, I was born in this land, but I do not feel that way.

Yesterday, it, it...

...it is a net like, like Spanish moss and hide the leaf in the tree.

But today, I see the leaf again.

How do you mean?

I like my bayou.

You sound as if you found something.

I think I do.

You want to know how we crab?

- Sure. Sounds like fun.
- For me, it's not fun. It's business.

- First, we, we take a big line and we tie it to the tree.
- Uh huh.

Then, every two feet along the line, we put a piece of fish
for bait.

Then we take the end of the big line and stretch it out onto
another tree.

- Sometime, we, we put the bait in a net like this and we drop it.
- Mhm.

Then, when the crab take the bait...

...I take the crab.

- You do all this yourself?
- Mhm.

My papa is a sick man.

I swear to my mama on her death bed that I take care of him.

I do this since I'm twelve.

- Hey!
- Whoa!

Hey!

Oh, it's Ulysses! He's mad!

He's mad.

- # ...sweeter is than you love her teeth #
- Hey, man!

- # Lamb has tasty bone #
- Hey! John Tito!

Come aqu?, ah?

Where's your logging boat, the Jim?

Yankee got them, ah?

Come on over here. Let me talk to you, ah?

You like big Yankee.

I lend him boat.

- You lend him your house, too, ah?
- Why, sure.

Cajun not good enough for you, ah?

Keep the big, sweaty yankee in your home, ah, man?

My friend, you talk like you crack hickory nut.

You know, man. This big yankee, he sit at the table with you.

And you know what they do?

They laugh.

I laugh at you all the time.

And you don't know it.

Hey say, "Funny Cajuns."

"Dirty fishermen."

Say with your mixed mouth about you.

But they're not laugh at me.

Sure, laugh, man.

What do you think he come to your place for?

What is wrong with here?

Gap, gap!

That's what's wrong with this place.

City fellas say, "Gap, gap, gap!" all the time.

No, not Martin.

I like this mans.

He listen to everything I tell him.

Someday, make good fisherman.

Someday, maybe make him my partner, too.

You leave this mans alone, you hear me?

And I know why you talk like this, Ulysses.

Marie is not for you.

Start the plot to fame!

You're like all the other yankees too, ah?

Bad guy get the big yankee.

Well, and it was after that that...

...I did a municipal building in Albany.

It was written up in some architectural magazine.

That's how I was invited to submit a design for the civic
auditorium here in New Orleans.

And the rest, you know.

Yes.

Tell me this. This plan you make in New Orleans:

is it a good plan?

Yes, very good.

Then, you must tell them.

What do you mean?

Well, the man is right. You must fight for it.

But how, Marie?

I don't know.

One good thing has happened to me since I've been here.

Yes?

I've met you.

# My work is my Lagny.
Put them in the job #

# But it play with stick is my Lagny #

# Head grow up too hard #

Aye, bloody, this wall is not good today, yesterday,
tomorrow, never!

Whole house no good.

What, Papa?

# Do not look in glass, my Lagny #

# Look another way #

# Baby, look in glass, my Lagny #

# Hair on head turn gray #

House, church, bayou...

...all no good.

What you saying, Papa?

My mama, my papa, they burn in the church fire.

My wife, she catch convulsion in the rain, and now

my little Marie wants to go away, no?

Oh, no, papa.

Monte ma chute.

You want to leave the bayou? Okay, you go, oui?

Papa, I don't mean it anymore.

Look. I have stayed. I am happy.

Yes, it's might a little broken, but...

but here is my roots. Is me!

Monte ma chute.

- My little mon coeur.
- Shh, Papa.

If you make sick, you not have fun tonight at Brusad's
ch?ri parti.

- Sure look bad in cloud, ah?
- Eh?

Oh. Oui.

Oui.

- Oh, monte ma chute. Monte ma chute.
- Shh.

Look, Papa.

Ma petite. Ma petite.

"Wear shoe," Brusad said.

- That so, Martin?
- Mhm.

No bare feets at his wedding.

So I thought, "I wear shoes, but he must wear shoes, too."

So, I-I put in his new shoes hot glue.

Hey, Ken.

Uh, you know maybe where you find some fine sand?

Plenty log.

Just one big handful spread all over the sheet.

It shall be.

And make for a short one that, uh, Brusad no see you do this.

Or he boil over twenty times like the...

...the crawfish in the jambalaya.

Hey.

Doucette.

Will you maybe got the saw something?

You mean saw the wood?

Bed slat.

Bed slats! They're good!

Ah, you have a little bit of brain in your head after all, John Tito.

I will cut it, bed slats.

But not all the way through, Gusad.

Right. She's heavy.

He'll break!

Eh, now, my friend, you...

...you see what all our chivalry.

Hey, Felician.

Your brother, in Golden Meadow, he...

...he has him a siren, eh?

- Well, sure thing. Make plenty noise.
- Uh huh.

Uh, navigate there quick. Go quickly.

The light is out.

Ooh, the little sweetheart talks in her sleep. Ooh!

Then maybe we should know, ah?

For sure!

First, Ulad Versionad has to come outside, no?

And also I'd have to come back again tomorrow and make the
big noise again, eh?

You better open up!

Or we spend all night here!

In front of your door, eh?

- Eat! Eat! You ready?
- Ready!

Then why come we stand here like damn fools? Come
on, again!

Give me a point, family! What you all want?

The pretty, young bride! Have her come out, too!

Oh, a good friend!

The bride! The bride! The bride!

What is so sweet as a Cajun girl when she's promenade
in a night gown, eh?

Kiss her! Kiss her, Brusad!

Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!

In the mouth, Brusad! In the mouth!

You should know better! You were married two times
before, ah?

And you won't hold her long if you act like that!

Well, now what you all want?

Food! Food!

Well, I have a thirteen, fourteen pound nani.

Then, wine! Wine!

Well, I have some wine. Not too much, but thirty gallon.

And whiskey, eh? And hey, how about sausage?

Very well. I will do that. And everybody have themselves a good
time, ah?

Papa! You have only so much room inside of you for wine!

And that is more wine than there is room!

Hey, Marie!

Marie!

Come down, Marie!

Come, Marie! Come down! Eh?

Marie! Marie!

Hey, Marie! Marie!

Come down! Come, Marie! Come down!

Martin!

- Have you been here watching all the time?
- Yes.

- You were very good, Marie.
- Oh, thank you!

Hey, you!

I wanna see you over here!

You try to take my girl, yankee.

I'm on my sass fire right now.

Look, Ulysses, I am never your girl!

To me, you are dirt!

Yankee give you big sugar talk.

Maybe buy you a few lousy beads.

How much you want for this Cajun girl, ah? Two bits, yankee?

Ooh. You leave my girl alone, cochon!

What will you do about this, yankee?

Chicken!

See how he stand there for a fight?

Big city mans, ah? Ah?

This is Cajun country for us peoples here.

Nobody from outside come around here and make tricks
with us.

You will never have my daughter. No! No!

I will fight you myself! Me! Me! Me! Gah!

What you start this thing for, you-

You stay out of this!

My business! And everybody else stay out!

- Big stiff!
- The wind!

The wind!

The big black wind!

- The wind! The wind! The wind!
- Come on, guys!

Can you hear me?

No!

No!

No, no!

The root! It must be tar!

The root must be tar!

You break the root, the tree fall down, and blows the
waste away.

Ah!

This is traveller cabin. They use them in winter.

And there's plenty muskrat.

And it's good and strong-built.

I'll let the air in so the pressure will be even.

And trees will break the wind a little, I hope.

How long before the worst of it will come?

When it comes, you will know it.

What's that?

Oh, it's just a bull alligator. Don't be scared.

I'm not scared.

This happen once. It...

...it make ten year before now.

I was scared a little.

But then my mama take my hand and open a book and
read to me.

Sure was warm, way she handled.

Martin, what is it?

You think of what happen with Ulysses?

Don't think of it no more. It is dirty.

Oh, yes, it's dirty all right.

Not thinking about it doesn't change it.

You are a different kind of man.

Am I?

What's different about me? How am I different, Marie?
Am I a coward?

Do you think I'm a coward?

No.

What happens if I fight Ulysses?

What happens if I beat him? What does it prove?

That I'm bigger? Meaner? Tougher? Uglier? Stronger?

No.

All it means is that I'm down to his level.

Don't you understand, Marie? It's the same as my... my plans
down here.

It's a question of whether I'm willing to sink to their level just
to win a fight.

Martin, I think you are wonderful just the way you are.

# Big black wind today no more #

# Go hurting, go #

# Go hurting, go hurting, go hurting, go #

# Big black wind is no more #

# Go hurting, go #

What is it?

What do you want from poor Cajun girl?

I love you, Marie. I want to marry you.

Will you marry me, Marie?

Oh, I love you too!

Martin! Those are war birds! Scavengers!

Plenty dead things in the fields.

My papa.

Come on. Let's find him.

Oh, Chianette!

Looks like I leave her.

Oh, Chianette!

Marie!

Doucette! Where is Papa?

- Maria!
- Where is Papa?

Oh, Mother of God!

Give us grace to make ready for that
last hour by a devout and holy life.

And protect us against the sudden and unprovided death.

Teach us how to watch and pray
that when thy summons comes

we may go forth to meet the bridegroom

and enter with him into life
everlasting through Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

You hear the people when they ask, "For why they die?"

I look at my papa and I say, "Why he living?"

Oh, what? You tell me.

You still have us, Marie.

Doucette and me.

She has make up a room for you if you sleep with
your cousins, eh?

You better tell them, Marie.

Tell 'em now.

Tell them what?

I tell you what!

This girl needs someone...

...to lean on.

Someone strong.

Go away, Ulysses.

You want I say I was wrong what I do the other day.

That I'm wrong.

You want to say.

You go around, I see you with city fella.

It's not right.

Look, why don't you leave Marie alone? Can't you see she
isn't interested in you?

I don't talk to you, yankee.

Stop!

Oh, this is not right.

- You come with me, Marie.
- Take your hand off her!

Scoot aqu?.

And you listen to me.

And you listen hard.

What I want, I'm gon' take.

And no punk ain't gonna tell me any different.

I already told you plain when you finish.

And you go.

And you go fast and you never come back to this
country, never!

Come on, Marie.

Martin!

Now I get you, yankee!

And I'm gonna get you good, too.

Hey, Ulysses. This is cemetery.

This not ballroom.

City fella start fight.

And I'm going in the fight.

But this is not right, Ulysses. It's-

You may help line a fish but you're not gonna help me fight.

Not here, Ulysses! Not here!

I'm Ulysses.

Owner of a storm fishing station.

Run, Martin! Run!

"Run, run, run!" they say! Not me!

I'd go with any girl from the swamp of the bayou.

And this one, I want.

And this one, I'm gonna take.

And no dirty yankee in swell clothing gonna take her away
from me, either.

And I mean "either"!

Martin!

Oh, no! Whoa!

Oh, no!

He has a hatchet!

I swear that you're mine.

Yeah! Sure licked him!

It's the yankee that did it.

All my life, I've stayed away from hitting back, Marie.

Today, I had to stand up.

I don't think we'll have any more trouble from here on out.

Besides...

I've got more to fight for now.

# Well, poor white trash, not a nickel in my jeans #

# Poor white trash, don't know what loving means #

# Poor white trash, never had no fun #

# Poor white trash, ain't got no one #

# In the swamp, I live #

# In the swamp, I die #

# But "poor white trash" no one will cry #

# No one will cry #