Gia (1998) - full transcript

At that time,
everybody was tall, thin and blonde.

Everybody posed, everybody gave you a look.

But Gia was different.

She was the first one who... Who moved.

They all try to do it now, give you an attitude,
but she invented it.

She always followed her instincts

no matter where they took her.

It was probably the best
and the worst thing about her.

With Gia, it was always about the sex.

Every look, every move, every minute.
Every day.

Sex.



They were jealous of her. They still are.
That's why they say those things.

She would come on to everybody,
but it was really innocent.

I mean, nobody was ever really offended by it.

I don't think it had anything to do with sex.

Even when she was sleeping around,
sex was not the goal.

Sex wasn't really an issue.

Yeah, I knew about the drugs.

I was afraid of the drugs,
the way people used them.

It all just happened so fast.

You know, all of a sudden,
her face was just everywhere.

Every model has a moment.
I mean, the ones who make it at all.

And being of the moment
is everything in fashion.

Fashion is not art, you know.
Fashion isn't even culture.

Fashion is advertising,



and advertising is money.

And for every dollar you earn,
someone has to pay.

Once upon a time, once upon a time.

It was a fairy tale.

It was. It was a fairy tale come true.

I had two boys, you know, but boys you lose.

They go away, they marry other women.
They're gone.

A girl, you have forever.

When Gia was born, I said, "This one is mine."

- Look at you.
- "All mine. ”

Look at me.

Look at us.

Look how pretty we are.

Do I be? Do I be the prettiest, prettiest girl?

You do. You do be the prettiest.
You do be that.

- Where the hell have you been?
- Out.

- Out? Out? Out where?
- Out.

Joe, don't start.

Don't tell me, "Don't start."
Out where? Tell me where you've been.

- Joe, lower your voice.
- Don't tell me to lower my voice.

The kids know
you haven't been home all night.

- Cut it out!
- Tell them where you've been.

I'm not in the mood for this tonight, Joe.

Not in the mood, huh?

- Just leave me alone.
- Who were you with, Kathleen?

It's none of your business.

Don't tell me it's none of my business,
you fucking whore.

- Get out. Get out of the kitchen.
- Let me see. Did he fuck you?

- Stop!
- Let me see. Did he fuck you?

- Where? Let me feel!
- Pig! Get your hands off!

- Who else has been in there besides me?
- Get your hands off of me, jerk.

- Who else, huh?
- You know how you make me feel?

- You make me wanna die. You know that?
- You wanna die? No!

You don't die until I tell you you can die.

That's when you die, God damn it,
you hear me?

That's when you die!

Here, take this and put it in the car.
I'll keep this one.

Once upon a time

in a kingdom far, far away

there lived a young girl

whose hair was made of gold.

When the people in the village saw her,

they said, ”How beautiful she is. ”

All right, one cheesesteak, one meatball,
one salami-provolone.

Keep your eye on the shop,
I'll be back by 4:00.

Try not to burn the place down, huh?

- Gia, you're in charge.
- All right, boss.

Hey, get the food, get the food.
Go, come on, come on, get outta here.

- Get the cash register. What are you doing?
- I'm in charge!

- Hey.
- Is your name Gia?

Yeah.

- Got a light?
- Stop screwing around.

I've seen you a few times
around the neighborhood and...

Are you nervous?

Yeah.

Am I making you nervous?

Yeah.

Well, good, 'cause that's the idea.

- What's that?
- You scare the shit out of people

and then they don't see how scared you are.

Are you scared?

What's your name?

T.J. Tom Junior, but T.J. is what they call me.

T.J. and Gia.

I like that. Come on.

- I'm leaving.
- Hey, Gia, wait a minute. Where you going?

- I'm in charge, and I'm leaving.
- Gia.

- Is that The Byrds?
- They're so cool.

Wow. Rock my world.

Seventy-five cents?

It's pretty. Pretty. Very pretty.

Hello, ladies.

Can I have this? Come on.

- Hey-
- Hey-

- Tattoo?
- Tattoos.

- Tattoo you.
- You getting a tattoo now?

No, tattoo you.

- I'm not getting a tattoo.
- Come on. What? What?

Look at that hair. It's fabulous.

You want a tattoo now?

She'd be a lot of fun.

So who are you looking at, him or me?

I can't talk about the sex.

I mean, how would I know?

If you ask me,
she never really had sex with anybody.

But she did love to be photographed,

and people loved to take pictures of her
and do little things for her.

She hated being photographed.

You had to run after her and tie her down.

Then you had to get past the clothes
and the stuff in her hair.

But she was special.

Kathleen, let's go.

Coming, coming.

All right, let's go.

And they showed her a beautiful house
on the planet Mars.

And they said, "Come and live here forever."

And the young girl said,

"Mars is a planet where life's different.

"Safe, clean and pretty." Yes.

But... But how do you get there?

Where do you find a taxi?
Which bus do you take?

Right? And how do you know
you're there when you're there?

Philadelphia was not ready for this,

but New York was.

It was the right moment,

and being of the moment
is everything in fashion.

But of course,
the more you were of the moment,

the faster you become of the past.

Okay, let's get this over with.

Just go in there and try to be nice.

- Nice?
- Yeah.

Nice.

Who knows? Maybe they'll like you.

- You are a very likable girl.
- Fuck you.

Okay-

Hi.

I'm here to see Wilhelmina Cooper.

So's the rest of the world and the rest
of the world's way ahead of you, honey.

Take a seat.

I have an appointment.

Hold, please.

Of course you do.

11:00, Gia Marie Carangi.

"G" what?

Okay-

G- I-A.

There. Gia. Just fuck the rest of it.
Call me Gia.

Do you think you can remember that, honey?

Yeah? Cool. Now tell the bitch I'm here.

I've already seen the pictures, darling.
Maurice sent them.

I wanted to see the real thing.

Well, this is it.

It certainly is.

You practically gave my receptionist
a coronary.

Yeah, well, look.
This was a free trip to New York,

and if I knew you were looking
for Marcia-fucking-Brady,

I would've stayed home.

How do you know what I'm looking for?

- Well, fuck, look at me.
- I'm looking, I'm looking.

You know, dressing like a motorcycle tramp

is somewhat interesting for a 17-year-old girl.

Talking like one is not.

In fact, talking at all
is not really required in this profession

or even encouraged.

Anything you might have to say
you say through the camera, the image,

and hopefully the product.

What comes out of your mouth
is totally irrelevant.

Understood?

Yes, sir.

Now, this is a career,

this is a future,

this is a life

if you want it.

Does that mean you can get me a job?

No.

I get you the interviews,

You get the job.

And I believe you will.

Dear Diary, this is my life.

Go see Young & Rubicam, 9:45.

Go see people at Revlon, 11:15.

Go see Jimmy Moore, Bob Stone,
somebody "Malowinksi, ”

and "Get lost, honey.
You ain't what we're lookin' for."

- Next!
- Thank you and fuck you. Bye-bye.

Yeah, I go see, I go see. Nobody sees me.

"Piece of meat, come here.
Show me your bag. ”

And they stick their finger in you.

"I just wanna taste your temperature. ”

Go see, go see, go see,
go see somebody else.

I ain't no good at this.
I ain't no good at this at all.

But even if you are good at it,
what exactly are you good at?

- You can't leave now.
- I have to go.

What, what? To Philadelphia?

- For what?
- I got stuff.

I have to go.

Well, somebody has to take care of me.
I'm just a kid.

Bullshit.

What's in Philadelphia
that's more important than me?

- Do not do that.
- Do not do what?

Do not pretend you're gonna do something
when you know you're not.

What am I not gonna do?

What else?

What else?

What?

- Do you know what I want?
- What?

- Know what I want?
- What?

What?

How do they fit?

This turn you on?

Yeah.

- Kind of.
- All right.

Come here.

- Have you ever had sex with a man?
- Yeah.

Once.

And?

And I could've done that
with a German shepherd.

Dear Book, this is another day in the life.

A life is like a book. A book is like a box.

A box has six sides, inside and outside.

So how do you get to what's inside?

How do you get what's inside out?

Once upon a time, there was a very pretty girl

who lived in a beautiful box
and everybody loved her.

- Yes, hello?
- Hello?

- What'?
- Hello. Hi.

Who the hell is that?

- Wili?
- Who is it?

- Christ's sake.
- I couldn't sleep.

Gia.

- Middle of the night.
- It's very late.

- I know.
- God damn it.

Is that your husband?

- Yes.
- Is he pissed?

Yes.

Is it true that he drinks?
I mean, that's what everybody says.

- Gia.
- And he gets violent?

What is it you want, Gia?

If he ever lays a hand on you,
I'll fucking kill him.

Why can't you sleep?

Do you want me to come over?

You're nervous about tomorrow.

Yeah, I am.

Well, everyone is nervous on their first shoot.
You'll be fine.

Yeah, I just don't know what to do.
You know?

Did you do your colonic?

Yeah.

Good.

Go to bed now. Take one half of the Nembutal.
The yellow and black.

You'll be fine.

- Just be yourself.
- Okay, yeah.

What is that?

Darling,

if I could answer that for you or for me,

well, life on this planet
would be a very different proposition.

So I tell her, "Look, I know Calvin
and I asked him about you,

"and he didn't even know who you were."

- She's such a lying slag. Did she flip?
- Oh, man.

Excuse me, can I help you?

Yeah, yeah.
Could I have some more coffee, please?

- Are you Gia?
- That's me.

You're late. Go wash your face.

I already did. It's nice to meet you, too.

What the hell am I gonna do with you?

I got it.

I don't know.
I'm just some dumb girl from Philly.

Oh, my God, she's a beast.

She scares me.

Why, Phillipe,
does she remind you of your mother?

No, she reminds me of my brother.
He's in jail now, thank Jesus.

Okay-

What?

It's wonderful.

Let's see this face.

I'm checking to see if you need to be tweezed.

- I'm tweezed.
- I'm Linda.

Nice to meet you.

Dreadful.

Absolutely horrendous.

More teeth.

Every photograph makes a promise,
and the promise is never kept.

Look brain damaged.

That's what makes a photo great.

And if the promise is sex,

- then you really have something.
- Good.

Wonderful.

Well,

that was all shit.

- Fuck you.
- Now we can pay our rent.

Who wants to stay and make some art?

What's art?

Keep the fence, lose the clothes.

No, thanks, I'm gone.

I'm outta here. See you.

I'll stay if Linda stays.

- Linda, Liebling?
- Yeah.

Go stand by the fence.

- You want me in the shot?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And lose the clothes.

Sex... Sex was really easy. It was...

Sex was everywhere.
It didn't really mean too much.

Love... Love was the hard thing to find.

Even if you were looking for it,
which not too many people were.

Even if you found it,
which not too many people did.

Even if it was right there in front of you,

how could you see it
with all the sex in the way?

Hey, where you going?

Gia.

What happened? What's the matter?

You don't have any clothes on.

Don't change the subject.

I have a boyfriend.

So?

So, I have to go.

"I have to go, I have to go."
Everybody has to go.

Where the fuck does everybody go
when they have to go, huh?

You... You and I had a...

I mean, it was... I had a...

I don't know.

I'm really very square.

So am I.

Yeah, I can see that.

Please, don't go.

Please, don't go.
Please, I'll make you breakfast.

Come on.

- Going down?
- No.

- Yes.
- No!

No, no. What are you doing? No.

- I'm so sorry.
- Linda!

I'm so sorry.

I'll call you.

Not.

It was like a puppy.

It was like, "Love me, love me,
love me, love me."

I did.

I did. I did right away.

Extraordinary, as in phenomenal,

as in a gold mine.

Tough, vulnerable, old, young,

decadent, innocent,

male, female.

And you look like you don't give a shit.

I met somebody, someone I really like.

Good. Good for you.

Take a deep breath, darling.

You are in for the ride of your life.

Paolo.

Lower the fucking drawbridge, Tony.

Give me some of those
goddamn drink tickets.

Always a pleasure to see you, too,
Stephie, and this must be Gia.

How do you know my name?

I'm God, I know everything.

You see? Even God knows your name.

With a face like that, she doesn't need a name.

Actually, Tony, my face is a little higher.

Anytime, Gia, anytime.

Stop being stingy, Tony.

That's Olivier Chandon,
as in champagne.

Very rich. Did him in a car once.

I can't remember exactly
how fast we were going.

That's Stan Girardi.
Used to do it with Cheryl, but he's doable.

Joe Jamison. Beautiful, but gay.

Not that that ever stopped me.

A little tongue up his ass,

and he's all yours.

You're full of shit, aren't you?

Look, sometimes even I don't believe it,
but it's all true.

Okay, break it up.

- On your left.
- Who was that?

I have no idea.

I do be the prettiest, prettiest girl. I do be that.

No, she's new, brand new.
You have to see her. You'll like her.

- She's on the cover.
- Gia, yeah.

No last name. Just Gia.

Boring.

Played out.

Fat.

Boflng.

Too dumb.

For winter, we need meat.

We need someone with blood in her veins.
Notjust suntan oil and mineral water.

Oh, God, I am so sick of her face.

- Who's this?
- This is one of Wilhelmina's new girls, Gia.

This is meat.

This is sirloin. It's lusty.

Winter is carnivorous.
Rich browns, reds, big animal prints.

This is it. Yes!

Hey.

I just bought it. What do you think?

- Wow.
- "Wow"?

Wanna go for a ride?

- I don't know.
- Yeah, you do. Come on.

Yes!

- Where we going?
- Philadelphia.

What?

- Hold on!
- I am!

Yeah?

Hi, Kathleen.

Gia. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God! Come on in.

- Come on.
- This is my girlfriend, Linda.

Linda? Yeah, hi. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

So, tell me about New York.

Oh, God, it was like seeing an old girlfriend.

Yeah, she told me all the gossip
about all the models.

You know, who had bad skin
and who had bad hair.

The things that they did, she told me about,
the places that they went. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God!

You're on the cover of Vogue!
I can't believe it.

Oh, my God, isn't that beautiful?

Oh, honey.

So what else is going on, huh?
Do you have a boyfriend?

No. Linda has a boyfriend.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

Well, that's nice.

- I have a girlfriend.
- Yeah, that's nice, too,

though it's not the same thing, is it?

And we never talked about the past.
That was over.

The past was the past.
She never discussed it with me once.

It was like it never happened,
all those years in between.

It was like it never happened.

I kept everything you've sent me.

I keep everything you ever touched
ever since you were a baby.

What do I have? Oh, yeah, oh, yeah.

My journal.

"Once upon a time..."

"Once upon a time..."

"Once upon a time,
there was a girl with golden hair

"who went to live in a beautiful house."

Always the same story, yeah?

Always different, always the same.

Always the same.

Can I see?

Yeah.

Sometimes I think
she was a different person to everybody.

Sometimes I knew who she was.

Sometimes I didn't.

Anybody who tries to tell you
exactly who she was,

they didn't know her at all.

We did everything together.
Yeah, in those days.

Yeah, everything.

All right.

This is...

What can I say? It's you.

I found it on short notice.

That's what it looks like.

So, I was standing
in the middle of the living room,

and the bathroom door opens.

Gia. Gia. Gia.

- Yeah?
- Who's that?

Who?

I started making trips to New York
regularly after that.

She wanted me there.
She wanted me there all the time.

I couldn't, you know,
because I had a husband, I had a home.

No, not red. Yellow. Yellow roses.

But I would go...

- To Linda.
- ... and I would stay for maybe a week.

Sometimes I would stay two.

Love on ya, Gia.

You're sending flowers to a girl?

- Here, lady.
- Hi. Got it. Thanks.

Christ, another one?

- Who died?
- None of your business.

Are you fucking a florist behind my back?

Yeah. Gold FTD guy with the winged shoes.

Hi.

I've been calling you for weeks.

Hi, Gia.

- This is my boyfriend, Billy.
- Hi. I'm wrecked.

- Do you wanna come in?
- I don't think that's a very good idea.

Why not?

You are really beautiful.

You're a model, aren't you?

Why? Do I look stupid?

- I have to work tomorrow.
- Come on, it's early.

Maybe... Maybe we could party.

You are the most beautiful woman
that I have ever seen.

Come with me.

I can't.

Fine, see you around.

What the fuck was that?

Behold the florist.

No,no,no!

I cannot stay!

Look, I'll come back,
but I have to go home now, Gia.

- But I'll come back.
- No, no, no.

If you need me, you just call me.

I need you. I need you now.

- You have to be here now!
- Gia. Gia. Gia.

When I need you, I need you now!
I need you, Mom!

Listen to me. You are a big girl, all right?

- Please! Please!
- You are a big girl, act like a big girl.

You've got to, and you are.

So be my big girl.

Now listen to me.

Listen to me. Listen to me.

I have to go home.

I have to.

Fine. Fine!

- Fine. Get out!
- No, Gia. All right, now, wait.

- Wait!
- Get the fuck out!

No, not like this, Gia.

Yeah, like this! Get out!
There. Get the fuck out!

- Gia, for God's sake.
- Get out!

- Not like this, not like this.
- Yeah, like this. Get the fuck out!

- Look.
- There, get out! Get out!

- All right. Fine, fine, fine. Fine.
- Go, go!

- All right, fine.
- Get out!

Fine, Gia.

That's it.

That...

She's booked for 16 shoots this week,
but I'll see what we can do.

And you are erupting forms...

Tell Scavullo he can have her...

...out of the center of all this tired, old beauty.

Shaming them.

Excuse me? "Tired, old beauty"?

You can have Renee. I know you want Gia,
but you can't have Gia. Nothing until June.

This little Wop is not standing in front of me.
You got that?

I'm off to the side, or I walk.

Yeah, me, too.

Does this dress make my ass look fat?

Your ass is fat, honey.

And I'm not standing next to her fat ass.

I know.

I know.

Life is so disappointing.

Here you are.

You have arrived.

You are here. This is your moment.

What do you have?

You have pain.

When you have everything,

what do you have?

You have nothing.

When everything is right, everything is wrong.

It's disappointing. It's confusing.

This is life. What can you do?

People keep going away from me. That hurts.

Work.

Work. You have a gift.

Use it.

Life... Life will be there later.

When you've worked, and you've lived,

and you know who you are, life is easy.

Work.

It's the only answer I know.

I should've been a rock star.

But I can't sing.

Work now.

You can live later.

You'd say anything to get that shot. Yeah?

- Yes.
- Yes.

In this case, I'm saying the truth.

Sweetheart.

Now here's the picture. You girls all hate Gia

because she is so much prettier
than the rest of you.

And you're all so boring. She is so exciting.

If you don't like it,
please, vanish from my world.

No, I'm sorry, she's not available.

I know, darling. You can't get...

And she went to live in a beautiful house

and all the people loved her,
and she was very, very happy.

No, she's on her way to Rome then.
She's shooting Versace in Milan

and Yves Saint Laurent in Paris.

Perry has her
for the only runway show she's doing.

But the people in the village were very poor,

and every night,
they crept into the house where the girl slept

and they cut off a piece of her golden hair
and they sold it for money.

"She'll never even notice," they said.

And so, all the gold was gone from her head.

It's a real Cinderella story.

- Tell him to hurry. Where's my tickets?
- You are wired.

Here. Try some of this.

What? What is it?

The answer to all your prayers.

The only thing you have to remember
is that it's not about you.

It's not about you.
It's not you that they're looking at.

It's not about you.

I'm on top of that. I understand that.

Honey, that's good. I'm so glad about that.

Because if you let it be about you,
then you're screwed, you know.

So, you have to stay separate
from what's happening

and you have to be somewhere else.

But I don't know where
that somewhere else is, you know?

Or how to do that.

Honey, you can do whatever you want now.

Yeah? What is it I want?

What do I want?

I will be king, and you will be queen.

I don't think a woman is really a woman
unless she's a blonde, you know.

Response is so enormous.
I've never seen anything like it.

And so fast, huh?

About a million people
want to shoot you this month.

We're going to name
a whole phone line after you. Gia.

I could learn photography.

That could be something to want. I could...

I could photograph children.

I could have my own children.

I would give them yellow roses.

And if they got too loud,
I would just put them someplace quiet.

I'd put them in the oven.

And I would kiss them every day

and tell them,
"You don't have to be anybody,"

because I would know that being somebody
doesn't make you anybody anyway.

You will always be somebody to me.

You will always be somebody to me.

And on the financial front,
with the sudden illness of Wilhelmina Cooper,

who's still hospitalized in Manhattan,

models and agents are competing
for the top talent and highest fees.

With the latest news about inflation,
bonds rallied today.

...showing its reaction
to the president's speech.

More news in a moment.

She's doing all right.
You know, they're running some more tests.

Maybe in a day or two,
then we'll know something.

Come on, you gotta help me here.
I'm under a lot of pressure.

I can't give you any answers.

Gia,

I've been thinking a lot about you lately.

It's terrible, terrible, isn't it?

Mike Mansfield,
starting up the new Largo Agency.

What do you think you're gonna do now?

What do you mean?

Well, you're a special girl

with special problems.

I think you need special attention.

You could go to Ford

and there's always that asshole over at Elite.

But I think you should put
some serious thought into coming with me.

Why? Why would I leave Wili?

You have to start thinking about yourself.
You have to be tough.

This is a business, and in this business

you can't be represented by a dead woman.

Excuse me.

Why don't you give me a call?

Yes, darling, I know it's so inconvenient.

Get me a copy of the call sheet,

and tell Freddie I wanted to speak to him
10 minutes ago.

- Done. I'll take care of it.
- Gia, darling, kiss me.

Yes, I have to go, too.

Have a wonderful trip.
Tell Christian to behave himself.

Ciao, darling.

- I'm exhausted.
- Me, too.

Come here, come here, come here.

I thought you were sick.

I am sick, darling, sick and tired,

but it's not serious.

- I'm tired, too.
- You?

Yeah. Yeah.

I think I wanna stop for a while.
You know, I need some time to think.

Yes, but not now, darling.

Plenty of time to rest
when you're in the ground.

You have

the whole world

at your fingertips.

You have to be strong. Seize the moment.

Because if you don't,

there's always another girl waiting
right behind you

breathing over your shoulder.

Come on.

I know. I know it's hard.

We can do it.

You and I together.

She really looked dead, didn't she?

The great thing about the afterlife
is nobody cares how you look.

I can hardly wait.

Too rich and too thin.

- I had no idea she was that sick.
- You can never really tell with Germans.

God!

Great. That's beautiful.
Okay, really nice. Cool.

Right. Can you roll your eyes back a little
so we can see the white under them?

- We're going for the seppuku look.
- What is that?

Japanese.
Sorry, it means that you're half dead.

- I'm there.
- I know, it's great.

You, you are doing so, so good.

Really, you look super.

Oh, my God. Did you almost just throw up?

Look, I'm really sick.

Can you go make a run downtown
for me, please?

You're not gonna throw up on this dress,
are you?

Just... I'm sick. Go downtown. All right?

There's a taco place,
and you ask for Satellite or Rich Boy.

Okay? Yeah?

- Chasing the dragon, are you?
- Yeah, I'm sorry.

No, it works, it works.
A little death around the eyes.

Okay, great. Fabulous. Great. Good.

That's really great. That's great.

Fantastic. Right by the bike.
Good. Bad girl, bad girl.

Good.

Yeah, that's it. Great.

Good. Fantastic.

- She's out of her fucking mind!
- Could Cheryl Tiegs do this?

I don't think so.

Go.

Hey, wait! Hey, where you going? Hey!

- Hey, where's Satellite? Is he here?
- Yeah.

Come here.

Fuck.

Hey, you bitch.

Where's Satellite?

Where is Satellite?

I am sick, fucking junkies.
I'm sick! Where is he?

He's making a delivery.

- Is anybody holding anything? Please!
- I'll give you my shot.

I don't shoot. Do you have anything else, dry?

No, man. All I got is in here.

I can't.

- Okay, if you don't want it...
- Wait.

I want it. You do me. Will you do it?

Yeah.

Yeah, I'll do you.

Is this gonna hurt?

No pain.

Thank you.

Don't be scared, baby.

I'll take you home.

Oh, God.

Oh, my God.

I was thinking about you.

Are you okay?

Is your boyfriend here?

I don't have a boyfriend anymore.

I'm all dirty.

I was afraid of the drugs.

The way people used them.

I told her that. I mean, she knew that.

I was afraid of a lot of things.

But she promised,

and I believed her.

And I believed we could make things work.

I believed because
we both wanted it so much that we could.

We could...

And we did. We did. We did make it work.

You're coming home?

You're coming home?
Just out of the blue you're coming home?

Just like that you call me?

You are a piece of work, you are.

Philadelphia?

The bitch is in Philadelphia?

I'm killing myself
trying to keep this agency alive,

which is not easy,

since my wife with her dying breath
screwed me out of 50% of the company.

Fucking women.

And now you tell me this little

whatever just disappears.

I hope she fucking dies in Philadelphia.

It's a 21-day program.

It's your responsibility to come in
every day and take the methadone.

All right. Drink the water.

That's all right.

I need you to drink the water.

And sign next to the line.

Okay-

Dwayne King.

There you are, Mr. Doodiekins.
Fresh from the oven.

Thank you, Mrs. Doodiekins.

I could do this, you know that?
I could be a fucking housewife.

I'd be very happy-

So, I cooked.

Ketchup.

Dinner's ready.

Dinner is served.

It's very depressing, this apartment.

All right, all right."Shut up, Mom."

So, is Linda coming back tonight
or is she staying in New York?

I don't know.
If she works late, she's gonna stay.

I hate what this methadone
is doing to your shoulders.

They used to stand up so straight,
so beautiful.

Come on.

And you have to watch your weight, too.

You want to look good
for when you go back to work.

- I'm not going back to work.
- Okay.

- I can't.
- All right.

Do you understand that?

That's how you feel now.

But just wait. You'll see.

Hi, this is Linda.
I'm not here. Leave a message.

Hi, Doo-doo. It's me.
I've been calling all night. Where are you?

- Linda?
- Hello?

- Who's this?
- This is Billy. Who's this?

Gia?

Gia!

Damn it! God damn it, Gia!

Oh, my God, she broke into my house.
She stole some money.

She stole jewelry.

She bought the drugs and then she took off
in the car like a crazy person.

It was unbelievable.

She took my wedding ring!

Stop the vehicle and pull over.

And the lies.

You know that old joke,
how can you tell when a junkie is lying?

Her lips are moving.

It's not funny.

Step out of the car.

- Why are you chasing me? Are you crazy?
- Lady.

I'm trying to get to New York,
and you're fucking chasing me?

- All right, ma'am. Calm down.
- What is wrong with you, huh? God!

- Ma'am?
- What?

What the... Just back off, okay? God!

- Ma'am?
- I have to go.

Hey.

Ma'am? Hey!

Get fucking arrested for nothing, that's why.

These are serious charges. Reckless driving.

- This is resisting arrest.
- God damn it! It's not my fault!

It was not my fault either!

He was there getting some stuff
out of my apartment!

I wasn't even there!
I was on my way back here!

Thank God, because otherwise,
you'd still be in jail.

I have to go back to work.

I know what you're gonna say,
but I need the money.

Stop it! Stop it.

I need the money so I can be with you,
because I cannot live like this.

I cannot live like this, okay?
I can't live like this.

And I can't live without you.

You want to come to Largo now?

Is that because everyone else
is afraid of signing you?

No, I haven't asked anyone else.

Then why me?

Because you're a greedy fuck

and you'll get me more money
than anyone else.

That's the truth.

That's the truth.

So, let me be truthful with you.

Everyone's aware of the drug problem.
You weren't very discreet.

Well, I'm clean now,

and I want to work.

Let me see your arms.

It's not my arms you want. It's my face,

and my tits.

And they're fine.

We're doing a television piece on models.

I want you to be in it.

I want you to look more beautiful

than you have ever looked.

And I want you to tell the world

that you once had a drug problem
and now you don't.

Now you're a good little girl.

If you do that,

we have a deal.

Okay-

Okay-

Good.

- I can't do this.
- Yes, you can.

I'm a model. I don't talk.

I'm not supposed to talk.
I'm supposed to just look beautiful.

You are beautiful.

You make me beautiful.

Hello.

Okay. We're all set.

I'm gonna tape you getting made up.
Kind of a before-and-after thing.

- Great.
- We've also got some interviews

set up with your friends, your family,
your mother.

You're gonna put my mother on tape?

- Yes, most definitely.
- Well, that should be interesting.

- You ready?
- Yeah.

Good.

- I just have to go to the bathroom.
- Sure.

Why don't you guys come over here?

This is what I want.
I want the questions to be short and quick.

And how did things first start
for you in modeling?

I started working with very good people.

A lot of them. Very fast, you know?

I didn't build into being a model.

I just sort of became one.

How has that affected you?

When you're young, you don't always know.

It's hard to make out the difference

between what's real and what is not real.

At one point, you kind of got into
the drug scene, didn't you?

Yes, yes, you could say that I did.

But you're free of it now, aren't you?

Yes. Definitely, I'm free of it.

I wouldn't be here right now
talking to all of you if I wasn't.

Are you happy with your success?

Are you happy with your success?

I...

Yes. Yeah.

- I am.
- You hesitated.

I just wanted to think about it.
But, no, I'm definitely happy with it.

Good. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you.

Fuck! What the fuck?

I, like, kick Spider-Man's ass!

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I just wanted to make you smile.

Okay-

Okay, I'm going. Last chance.

I'm leaving, through the front door.

I can't do this.

Don't say that.
Just say you'll see me tomorrow.

- No, you won't. You won't see me tomorrow.
- Don't say that!

Don't say that.

We had a deal. We made a bargain.

I love you.

No, you don't.

All right, I don't. I don't. I don't.

What are you, huh?
You some kind of fucking policeman?

You going to judge me?
I did one fucking line.

One line.

What is the big deal?

What about yesterday?
What about the day before?

Nothing.

I did nothing. I promise.

Please, don't leave me.

I don't believe you.

You don't believe me because
you don't want to believe me, do you?

Because you don't care!
Because you just wanted to say,

"I'm fucking a model!" Huh?
"I'm fucking a model!"

You don't care about me at all, do you?

Do you? Tell me you don't care!
Say, "I don't care! I don't care!"

Please. I'm sorry.

I need you so much. Don't make me do this.

I don't make you do anything.

I wish I could.

You could. You could. You could.

You could take care of me.

- Do you have $30?
- No.

I don't have any money.

I don't know why. I never have it.

I never have any money.

In my sock.

- This is what makes you do everything.
- No, it doesn't.

Yeah. It's not me. It's not you. It's this.

This shit holds you.

- You choose.
- Come on.

Yeah, this or me.

Yeah, this or me.

Your finger.

Your knees.

Your skin.

Your toes.

I love you.

Gia!

Change.

She is over.

It's just a question of time now.

Hey, come on.

- Hi.
- Yes, you are.

You dropped this, honey.

You want to come on and finish this fiasco?

No.

You look so pretty.

Yeah.

Thanks.

I love you.

I know. You love everybody.

Gia, listen to me. I am trying to get you work.

But it's all spring stuff now.

Everybody wants the blondes
with the suntans and the sundresses.

I'm sorry. No, your look is not spring.

Your look is more like nuclear fucking winter,
and nobody wants it.

Hang up the phone.

I am so tense.

Ron, can you use
some of those fucking muscles?

I'm so tense.

"When she kisses me,
I feel all four winds blow at my face.

"But what do you do with a woman
who has no love for you?

"She is my lost captive

”and no longer lies along my legs. ”

I wrote that for you.

- Why did they send her out?
- Because I asked for her.

- All right?
- All right.

We use them up,

throw them away.

No.

No.

- Where's my knife?
- I haven't seen it.

Who took my fucking knife?

Who do I look like, a fucking terrorist?
Is this funny?

- What the fuck is wrong with you people?
- Gia.

Get the fuck away from me!

Get away! Where's my knife?

Here it is. Here it is.

You know, you can't do that.

You can't take somebody's knife
when they need it!

It's all right. It's fine.

- Look at the tracks on her arms.
- Okay, now.

And that awful thing on her hand.

- It looks like a volcano.
- All right.

Try... Try folding your arms.

Put them in back of you.

Well, you've almost got it.

Now, try sitting on your hands.

Yes, yes.

You look wonderful.

Beautiful.

- Francesco?
- Yes, sweetheart?

Thank you.

Gia, this is life, not heaven.

You don't have to be perfect.

Look at me. Where are those eyes?
Where's the mouth?

What? You're not!

Truly? You're on an airplane?

- Yeah.
- Oh, my God! Listen to me!

I'm so excited! I'm yelling!

I don't have to yell, do I?

- No, you don't have to yell.
- Henry!

- Mom, I don't want to talk to Henry.
- Where is he? Hold on.

Henry. Where are you? Where are you?
I mean, where is the airplane?

I've never talked to anybody
on an airplane before.

I was in Paris and I think I'm going to Munich.

I don't know.

I don't feel so good.

Well, honey, you're probably just tired,
you know?

Yeah, and I'm cold.

You know,

I was thinking about coming home again.
What do you think?

Honey, I don't think so.

You know?

- Yeah.
- I mean, you know, after the last time.

Yeah, I know. Of course.

I'm sorry.

Yeah.

I better go.

All right. Okay. All right.

Listen to me. Now, you take care of yourself.

Okay? Okay. You call me.

- Okay.
- Okay? Because I love you.

- Bye.
- Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

Every model has a moment,

I mean, the ones who make it at all,

and whether or not
they can parlay that moment

into some kind of a career,
well, that's the gamble, isn't it?

'Cause the moment is a very short time.

It's here and then it's gone,
just like most of these girls.

They're here and then they're gone.

When she came back to New York,
I was in Philadelphia.

And I heard some things.

A lot of things.

So I took the train up to see her.

I can't find my money.

- What?
- I had $600, and I can't find it.

What's going on?

I can't find my money!

What's wrong with you?

What are you doing?

- Do you have any money?
- No, I don't have any money.

You want to fuck me?

Gia.

You give me money, I'll let you fuck me.

- Come here.
- What?

No.

No, get off! What? No.

- Can I please hold you?
- Get off! Get off!

- No drugs.
- Get off!

Get off of me!

- Calm down.
- Okay.

Okay-

- Okay, do you have any medical insurance?
- No.

- Can you pay cash for this?
- No, I don't have any money.

Stupid question.

All right.
You'll have to declare yourself indigent.

Do you understand that?

Wait a minute.

What, am I supposed to feel sorry
for you because you're beautiful?

Because you made 10,000 a minute
doing fucking nothing?

"It was so hard, so terrible.
They treated me so bad."

Listen, girl.
You had a free ride and you fucking blew it.

And me?

I'm some kid from Ohio,

reading fashion magazines,
looking at your picture and thinking,

"I'm supposed to look like that,"

and going fucking crazy because I don't.

Because nobody told me it was a lie.

Because the magazine doesn't come
with a label that says,

"Caution. This is a lie.
Nobody looks like this."

Not even you.

Well, they asked me to go to the sessions,
so I did. I tried.

I just got so mad. I got so mad.

I said to them,
"Look, I'm not the drug addict here.

"I'm not the one
that you should be ripping apart."

I said, "This is all buried.
Why don't you just let it be?"

That's what I told 'em. Look, I know. I know.

You want to blame somebody.
You want to blame me.

Okay, go ahead. Knock yourself out.

But just remember this,
everything I did, I did because I loved her.

And I believe that it was my love
and my prayers that got her through that.

Hi, Linda, it's Gia.

I'm calling to apologize.

I'm in this program

and it's, like, part of the program
that we're supposed to

ask forgiveness of the people
that we hurt when we were drugging.

I was, like, "Well, fuck, man.
That could take the rest of my life."

I'm sorry. This is stupid.

Anyway, I'm calling to ask forgiveness

and to say that I miss you, because...

Hello?

What is that? Am I done?

I think I'm done. I don't know what happened.

Hi. Hi, it's me.

Boy, Linda.

Yeah.

Hi.

Well, now I don't know what to say.

It's okay. I heard you. I heard it all.

Is that okay?

Yeah.

I can't talk right now. I have to go.
Can I call you in a few days?

I'm gonna be out in a few days,
and then I'm gonna call you, okay?

Okay-

Okay-

You know how
she's always saying she's a model?

Oh, my sweet Jesus!

Is that her?

God, she's been folding the same
pair of jeans for the last five minutes.

And that's another thing. You don't want
to work in a place like that, Gia.

Ugly, ugly place. Ugly people.

Mom, listen. This is the good part.

This is good.

Everything's gonna be
really good from now on, okay?

Okay-

Look at this. Look at your skin.

Mom.

What? It's just acne. It's okay. It'll go away.

It's the drugs.
They're coming out of my system.

I'm gonna look really good.

And by Christmas, I'm gonna look great.

And we are gonna have the best holiday ever.

Why don't you come home, huh?

Move back in with me. Would you like that?

No,

I gotta be alone.

But can you lend me a few bucks
for coffee and toothpaste?

The coffee!

I'm sorry. I forgot.

You know, with the money you made,
you could have lived the rest of your life.

Well, that's what happens, I suppose.

- What?
- I'm just feeling dizzy.

- What is it?
- Mom.

Gia.

Honey... Honey, you're burning up.

- Why do my ears hurt?
- Baby.

No, no, no, no, no. Oh, my God.

You have pneumonia, which we can treat.

Gia, listen.

There's something more serious
going on which caused your infection.

Something they're calling
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

- Maybe you heard about it?
- No.

How did I get it?

Well, we're really just finding things out
and you're the first woman I've known about.

Although, intravenous drug users
seem to be an especially high-risk group.

So you probably got it
from a contaminated needle.

How do I get rid of it?

But how do they know?
They don't know anything about it.

They know, okay? They just know.

You know what I think?

I think there's a reason for everything.

And I think that there's a plan for everybody.

And I think that God has a big plan for me.

Just not in this life.

I'm on top of everything. I'm super cool.

You've gotten better.

I can't take her home.

I'm trying, but Henry, he's just afraid.

So what?

Dr. Blair...

This is your daughter. Your daughter.

So people are scared. I am scared.

He's afraid that if people find out,
he could lose his job.

Fine. Okay, fine. Fine.

And where is she going to go?

He wants her to go to a hotel.
He says that he'll pay for it.

Oh, God, listen to me.

Listen to me.

Dr. Bruce, telephone, please.
Dr. Bruce, telephone, please.

What about her father? Why can't he take her?
Can he take her?

She doesn't want him to know.

I don't want to lose my baby.

- Kathleen.
- No, I can't. I can't.

Well, you have to understand.

In those days,

nobody knew.

People were scared. I was scared.

She must have been scared, too.

Dear Linda, this is the end of my book.

The last page, the last shot.

Seeing you to say hello and goodbye.

Seeing you to fill up all the empty,
and smell and touch,

and leave my kisses all over your face.

- Gia.
- That's me.

Come in. Come in.

Do you want some tea?

I was so nervous about seeing you. Coffee?

No, I can't stay long.

Why not?

I have an appointment.

Work?

No. No. No more work for me.

I just thought we'd have more time.

Yeah, me, too.

Just not today.

That's okay.

We have all the time in the world. We'll take it.

Yeah, I guess so.

But today I just wanted to see your face.

I missed your face.

What are you going to do?

I don't know. I have some plans.

I think I might go to school, you know?
Learn something useful maybe.

Maybe even settle down
and have some kids, you know?

What the hell?

Wow.

How straight are you now?

I mean, are we talking about men?

You don't need a husband to have kids.

And besides, you were the one
who always had my heart, you know?

Yeah, I guess I did know that.

Would you keep these for me?

- Your fairy tales?
- Yeah, some. A few.

Plus all the other crazy shit in my head.

I don't want to throw it away,
but I just don't want it around right now.

- You can read it if you want.
- No, I won't.

No, read it. Read it. I want you to, you know?

Maybe you can make some sense out of it.
I never could.

_okay.
_okay.

- I'm gonna see you again, aren't I?
- Yeah, you want to?

Yeah. Yeah.

You know, I was thinking about

getting a house at the beach this summer.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

I really thought that it would give us a chance.

I would like so much for us
to have another chance.

Yeah, I'd like that, too.

' Gotta go.

- No, wait. I want you to stay.
- Yeah.

Hey.

You were the one. You were the only one.

And you are amazing.

She...

She put together this money.

She pawned some things,
borrowed some from her father,

stole some from Kathleen.

I didn't know what she was doing.

I should have, but I didn't.

It may have crossed my mind.

I really didn't think she would do that.

I really didn't.

Yo, Gia. How you doing?

- Good. Is he here?
- Yeah, yeah, he's in the back.

- Hey-
- Hey-

- How much you want, angel?
- As much as you've got.

What are you gonna do with that much stuff?

Well, that's my business.

- What, are you holding or not?
- What's your hurry?

All right. Come on. Yes, or no?

Yeah, I got what you need,
and I got it right here.

Yo, man, what the fuck are you doing, man?

- Look what Santa Claus brought us.
- I'm freaking out of here!

You get the money. I'm gonna get mine.

It's gonna be all right.

Kathleen,

what are you doing here?

I'm gonna take you home, baby.

She wouldn't let anybody see her,
but I went anyway.

I saw her once.

But I did see her.

- I don't think she knew it was me.
- No more than five minutes, okay?

I couldn't help thinking to myself,
"My God, she's just a kid."

I blame myself, you know?

I mean, these are children.

No matter how screwed up our lives may be
we've got to take care of our children.

She knew she was dying.

She said she wanted to do it right.

She wanted to get a video camera

and do this thing
where she talked to kids about drugs.

She wanted to tell kids

that you can handle it.

You can handle anything
that comes your way.

But we never got the camera.

You do be the prettiest, prettiest girl.

You do be that.

Do I?

Do I be the prettiest?

Yeah.

No.

Do you forgive me, Kathleen?

Oh, honey.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Of course I do.

Because I forgive you, too.

Baby.

What's this?

What is it?

Oh, my God.

Nurse? Nurse!

- Where are you going, Mom?
- Nurse!

Mom?

Where you going?

She died around 10:00 in the morning.

They tried to pick her...

They tried to pick her up off the bed,
and she...

The flesh just fell off her back. It just fell off.

You don't want to hear about that.

Okay, what else? What else?

Yeah, this is it. This is what I was looking for.

"And the people said,
'Oh, she's not beautiful at all. '

"And they took her from the beautiful house
and they drove her into the street.

"And she went away
and she never came back.

"And soon, people became hungry again
and they went back into the beautiful house

"looking for gold,
but there was no one there."

They say she knew.
She really knew. She knew the whole story.

We found an undertaker,
and it was hard, believe me,

you know, because of the AIDS.

I didn't want people to remember her like that

because I didn't want people
to see her like that.

I wanted them to remember her as beautiful,
because that's what she really was.

Life and death,

energy and peace.

If I stop today, it was still worth it.

Even the terrible mistakes that I have made
and would have unmade if I could.

The pains that have burned me
and scarred my soul.

It was worth it

for having been allowed
to walk where I've walked,

which was to hell on Earth, heaven on Earth,

back again, into, under,
far in between, through it,

in it and above.