Harem (1985) - full transcript

Wednesday matinees
beginning February 27th,

that should make you do it,

Call for tickets that is, 944-9300.

That's the number for
"Torch Song Trilogy."

You know you made me love you.

You bet,
and it's happening for you

at the Helen Hayes Theater.

Carol Mason on 97

When a woman
or a young girl is raped,

she feels afraid, ashamed,
guilty, terrified, dirty,

disoriented, depressed,
humiliated, defiled. Alone.



Okay, I'm gonna go.

- Keep in touch?
- See you.

New York Women Against Rape,

- just call 212-1717.
- Don't forget

to put the key in the mailbox.

Okay.

Mark it down! Mark it down!

Faster! Faster!

Trade! Trade!

Two to trade! Two to trade!

40, 40 plus five!

40 plus five!

We're closed now!

Yeah, I'm really happy.



And what do you do? Call the bank?

Oh no, they made these into a pattern.

Judy, oh, why don't you?

Because I know already.
It's all over for me.

You never know. Maybe she'll
tell you to call it off.

Too late, the caterer
is already paid for.

Come on, try it?

Okay. Hi.

- Hi.
- Hi.

Hi, how are you?

Here, she wants it.

She does.

- Give it to her.
- I don't believe this.

Okay.

No.

Coward.

Maybe.

Thanks.

For you.

- Thank you.
- Come on.

Hello?

Hey, Mom.

It's been a long time.

I'm moving tomorrow.

Yeah. East 71st Street.

I'm fine.

You wouldn't even have my new address

if you hadn't called now.

Yeah, sure.

Hold on. Hold on.

Who is it?

Alicia?

Alicia?

Be...

Here, come on, eat.

Listen, I'm gonna go out

and I'll you back soon, okay?

Can you wait for me?

Come on, eat.

See, you should never
try and catch the bouquet.

How are ya?

I'm sorry.

Oh shit, I forgot my bag.

You must have left into church.

Hurry up! The boat's leaving!

Oh, come on! Come on, come on!

Diane, take the next boat!

I'll wait for you there!

Okay! All right.

Catch!

Sorry!

You want a ride?

Liberty Island. 10 minutes.

Do you speak to me?

You wanna wait two
hours for the next boat?

I'll take you there.

How much?

How much you got?

Five bucks.

Okay.

Would you like some tea, Miss?

Like chilly.

- Thanks.
- Cream or sugar?

No, thanks.

Keep quiet.

My name is Massoud.

If you can, forget about
before. Everything.

It's better that way.

There is nothing to fear.

You're in the most beautiful
place in the world.

No one has ever seen it but you.

No one, not even painters
or artists of any kind

has had the opportunity to come here.

If you heard anyone
saying that they have been

to this paradise, it's a lie.

This place is much more private
than any private property.

This place is a garden, a hidden garden.

If you let it, it will nourish you

and you would bloom in it like a flower.

Let the water wash everything away.

Swim.

Hello.

Thank you.

Oh no.

I saw you flee.

The real walls
of the palace are not these.

You have to build them.

Who are you?

I told you, Massoud.

Or Mariam or Massoud or Maria.

You understand?

Here, try these on. They're your size.

It's beautiful. I designed it myself.

- Where are we?
- Home.

- You're home.
- Bullshit!

No, no, it's true.

You can go wherever you want.

You don't have to worry about
muggers, taxes, the rent.

I have a little money in New York,

and I can get more.

We'll go slow, okay?

Come.

I was on a, I was on a boat.

I was late for something,
but I can't remember what.

You understand?

A boat.

Does anyone here speak?

Do you think I wanna be alone?

Well what do you do here
to pass the time?

I mean, it's 50,000
minutes in a day.

No, 50...

50, a hundred, yeah,

150,000 minutes in day!

Oh, please.

I'm moving, you know?

East 71st Street.

800 a month.

I just signed my contract.

I don't even have
vacation time until April.

I'm not...

I... I can't be sitting,

I can't be sitting around here!

Wa-Waiting for some phony
sheik to come and rape me!

Pe-People will find me. You know?

I got friends.

I got friends.

I was on a boat.

Talk to me!

Oh no.

I'm Zelide from the Atlas Mountains.

I'm Diane

Just Diane.

Diane.

I'm very pleased to
make your acquaintance.

That's what he looks like?

I don't know.

I never met him.

It must be hard waiting for him?

It's him who waits.

What for?

To be ready.

Sleep there, if you like.

This is a temple?

That's right, mate. A temple.

What do they do?

They wait like us.

Got to take the aboard
their own visitors, aye?

- Give them an education.
- Hey, right.

One of these nights,
it's going to be me.

Is that what you're afraid of?

And then what's gonna happen,

won't be up to you anymore.

Se...

Selima.

Selim.

- That's his name?
- Yes.

There are some paths to
be walked alone in life,

like birth and death.

I leave you here.

It's been a long time
since the tuner came. Months.

The climate here is difficult.

Some things it preserves
for hundreds of years,

the walls, for instance, 13th century.

Others require constant maintenance.

Time.

The great danger of living
in a place like this,

one becomes obsessed.

Excuse me for going on.

We have to talk.

It comes from Paris. It's a Gaveau.

I'm from New York. I'm a woman.

Waking up,

don't you ever wonder
how long you've slept?

How long you've dreamed?

Here especially with the walls,

the desert.

This could be any time.

Sit, please.

I want to assure you that your
cat is being looked after.

Thank you.

Is that why you called me in here?

It's Affaf who decides, not I.

She doesn't like you

Should she?

She's the oldest woman here.

One of my father's favorite wives.

She and my mother.

When I was young, she taught
me how to listen to the desert.

It's not quiet, you know.

Some nights it won't even let me sleep.

That's when I play Schubert.

We should begin again.

My name is Selim Ben Tarak.

You must understand

That in my country, we often choose

a wife from a photograph
because of the veil.

It prevents unpleasant surprises.

You know,

I've watched you for a long time.

Your life was not so full.

I don't feel guilty.

There was no love.

You can do what you want.

I don't...

You just have to tell me
what it is that you want.

You'll sleep in the
natural chamber tonight.

Hey.

Then

do I go home?

One day

soon

Breakfast is served.

Chocolate, coffee or tea.

Did you have a good time?

Don't take it personally.

He is this way every
morning, all the time.

It's not you, it's him.

I wanted to tell you before
so you would not worry.

Selim, nephew, this is not a time

to sit dreaming in the palace.

Our oil reserves are not limitless.

Petroleum is not the force it used to be.

A landing strip in the desert

would cut production cost by half.

We need the Americans.

- They shake my walls.
- What?

The planes shake my walls.

Let them fall.

Leave preservation to the museum curators.

All of us are needed in Geneva.

We shall speak while there.

God is good.

Fatim as well?

And the children?

After Geneva, maybe
you'll come and see us.

Yes, perhaps.

He's an old man, Selim, and he's scared.

The numbers are bad this year.

Are you getting fat, Haroud?

How can that be? You are
two years younger than I.

I'm not getting fat.

Don't you know the camera adds 10 pounds?

Haroud who rode horses.

Faster than you.

We will race if you like in Geneva.

Oh yes. There is someone
I'd like you to meet.

Miss Green works
for a ladies magazine.

- And I told her that I was sure...
- Haroud.

You wouldn't mind
answering a few questions.

Good morning, Your Highness.

Well, I'll leave you two alone.

Think about what I said.

In Geneva then.

Go on.

Ask what you want.

Well, Your Highness,

I think most of my
readers would like to know

about your lifestyle.

If you don't mind

answering my first question.

Do you see yourself living in the past

or as the herald of some
new kind of sexuality?

Now what?

Your lifestyle.

Well, my lifestyle.

Well, Miss Green, I don't
really know what you mean.

I have a very simple lifestyle here,

looking after the family interests,

playing the piano, tending my sheep.

Do you think my brother's getting fat?

- You're what?
- Excuse me, Your Highness.

Haroud.

My brother. He seems to be
getting a bit round to me.

Excuse me, Your Highness.

Did you say you keep sheep in the desert?

Of course.

That's what you have come to,

talk with me about, isn't it?

My famous flock of sheep
best wool in the world.

Do you know much about
animal husbandry, Miss Green?

I work for
"Today's Woman", Your Highness,

- not some farming...
- The secret

is in the caring, living conditions,

proper diet, selection.

At first, it was just a hobby for me,

but I admit it, I've become obsessed.

My lifestyle.

I don't see myself as so
different from any other man.

One is taught very young certain
principles, certain rules

and spends the rest of one's
life trying to honor them.

I hope that will do, Miss Green.

Ms. Green

Goodbye.

Do you know what you have
written? Translate it for you.

"God is the light of the
heavens and of the earth."

This light is a crystal torch.

This crystal, a shining star.

The star lit with oil from the
blessed tree, the olive tree.

Neither east nor west.

Was oil since light without fire.

"It's a light upon a light."

You can see?

Of course I can see.

She did it to strike you.

No, it was something for
her protection in New York

Protection?

In New York, men and women.

I don't understand.

You are leaving us again.

Yes.

That's for me to know and you

to find out, my friend.

Then let me repeat, the present!

Come on, man. That's not fair.

You let the guys from Totem Oil in.

Come on, Jack.

Come. You take it easy.

Sit.

Morning.

- Have you seen this?
- No.

It's nice.

Please.

How's it go?

How many of these am I worth?

On today's market? 36.

37.

Yes, 37.

- You have a room?
- A room?

Yes, of course.

We have singles, doubles, twins.

What do you desire, the pool or the sea?

A double by the pool.

On the right, up the stairs,
second floor on your left.

Have any luggage?

No, no luggage.

- Are they for sale?
- You interested in buying?

I'll take them.

- Both?
- Both.

Just two?

- What about records?
- What?

- Records?
- Records?

No, hurry up.

Thank you, Your Highness.

Pennsylvania.

P-E-N

N-S-Y

L-V...

You come here often?

Did you say something?

I asked if you came here often.

- Something to drink?
- Perrier.

This is my first time.

- It's nice.
- Mine too.

What?

My first time here.

Really?

I don't get out much.

- Where are we?
- No place.

Where the desert meets the ocean.

And what months are we in?

- Something for you?
- What month?

Just water.

February.

You were going somewhere today?

Geneva.

How did you get here?

Well, I don't know.

Kidnap?

Rescued.

What's your name?

Oh, yeah.

You remind me of someone.

Who?

Nevermind.

Just what did you
expect from all this?

- More.
- Well, I'm sorry.

You're so romantic.

No.

When you recognize your
last chance and take it,

it is not romantic.

I was born in 1368 AH after Hijra.

Some days I wake up in
1984, other days, it's 1404.

It gets harder and harder
to reconcile the two.

To act.

When I saw you, I thought,

don't you understand?

It was you I recognized.

You I remembered.

You never felt this way for anyone?

I did once

It was scary.

It is frightening.

And what happened?

I hurt him enough

until he went away.

You must have been quite a little bitch.

I was.

Maybe I still am.

No.

Who are they?

Who?

Your wives?

Did you choose them?

No.

Well who did?

No one.

I don't understand.

Most of them are daughters or sisters

or cousins of my father's.

Along with the palace, they're
my inheritance, my family.

Some I grew up with or knew as children.

When I come back from Paris or New York,

I'm so happy to see them again.

I go up on the balcony and
just listen to their whispers,

their laughter, their singing.

It warms me.

But you don't go back to
your bedroom with any of them?

No

But it's insane.

How long has it been like this?

Always

And those children?

Not mine.

Well who's are they?

I often wonder if the women are content

or if they think of other
places, do you know?

It's not easy to know if
someone is really happy.

I hardly spoke to them.

You looked so lonely in those pictures.

And there was no other way.

I couldn't risk becoming
another one of your strangers.

I was lonely.

I was also happy a lot of time

being alone.

Do you understand that?

It's going to rain.

Yeah.

We should go inside.

How long will it rain like this?

A day or two.

And then?

There's no reason to go back.

We can't stay here forever.

Why not?

Or New York?

I don't care.

You do.

This was a great, great time.

What's it mean? What's it mean?

Shit, Bill.

She only wants me to
do it at seven o'clock.

She wants me to meet her parents.

- You're kidding.
- The whole family.

You gotta, you gotta be shitting me.

It's unbelievable.

He wasn't a woman or a child

A woman or a child.

I pay you to guard these places!

You see someone else in
here, you shoot, understand?

Shoot.

Look, I have a present for you?

She's beautiful.

Your uncle called.

He left a message on the machine.

They know all about her.

Someone raised a stink at the embassy.

He wants you to call
as soon as you get in.

I didn't think you were coming back.

Neither did I.

Why have you done this to me?

Difficult to maintain
discipline without the master.

That's not it.

That's not it?

You think you are so kind?

The women are lonely.

You let them have lovers
and even children.

We are all so happy here.

Such a prince.

And me.

What about me, Selim?

Mine is an honorable profession.

You want me to open the gates?

I will, but not, not anymore at night,

not five at a time like a pimp.

Enough!

There is a body in the baths.

"In the baths," you said?

You've never killed anyone?

Never.

And them?

Him? A hundred times.

He terrorized everybody for miles around.

Even his name made them tremble.

I don't why I'm telling you this.

You're glad, aren't you?

In some ways, yes. That it's over.

The charade.

I didn't even know I had
a family until I came here.

Can you leave?

I have left

many times.

I always return.

You still have something left to do.

Yes.

Your wives.

They're waiting for you.

This theater I've been living in,

I'd like to see it become
a reality for one night.

One last night.

You think it's wrong to want this?

I don't care about
wrong. I care about you.

It's a ceremony, isn't it?

The prince claims a
bride for the first time.

Don't like giving you up.

Even for one night.

Then forget everything I've been saying.

You asked me before if
I thought they were happy.

I think this would make them really happy.

I miss you.

I'm here.

I miss you.

And after?

Mexico.

I have this place on East 71st Street.

- Somewhere.
- Soon.

You know anyone in New
York who needs an eunuch?

What will you do, Massoud?

I'll stay.

This is my home.

You know those things you said to me

the first day in the baths?

They were nice.

I'll always remember them.

Last night, I dreamt of
a third sex, just for me.

None of this half-and-half crap.

Completely different.

Messages for anyone?

Tell him that I love him.

Swim!

Good morning, Monsieur Raoul.

Good Morning, Mr. Tarak.

- And how are you today?
- I'm fine, fine.

Good, good.

I brought you something
more difficult this time.

Listen.

And now the piano.

It's very beautiful, Monsieur Raoul.

This is the last time
you'll be tuning the Gaveau.

You are not satisfied
with my work, Mr. Tarak?

Au contraire.

Such a lovely piano.

It will get out of tune.

Such a waste.

I've given up trying
to keep out the desert.

So, it's my last time here today?

I'm afraid so.

Then, Mr. Tarak.

Yes?

Do you think I could see your wives

just to see?

This way, please, Monsieur.

Thank you, Mr. Tarak.

Thank you.

I miss you.

I'm here.

I miss you.