Shatter (1974) - full transcript

Hmm.

See that I'm not disturbed.

As you wish, sir.

General.

I thought you weren't coming.

Do you miss me?

- Of course.
- You were hiding.

Oh, never.

I'll give you the best.

Whoops, mind the champagne.

Come on, let's go.



That's my girl.

Here now.

- Oh!
- Uh!

Relax.

Here you are.

Drink.

That is the man called Shatter.

♪ Shatter ♪

♪ Shatter, Shatter ♪

There's our man, get moving.

Quiet room.

I don't like being disturbed.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Here's your key.



Sorry, yeah, I'm sorry.

Hey, did my American friend go up yet, huh?

Yes.

What room did he take?

302.

- Leber here.
- I'm in Hong Kong

at the Good World.

Your American friend has
checked in to room 302.

Well you know what to do.

Keep me informed.
- I know.

Excuse me, miss.

I wanna see a Mr. Hans Leber.

Just one moment.

Tell him it's Shatter.

I wanna see him now.

- There's a Mr.
Shatter to see you, sir.

Oh, yes, I'll see him right away.

Nice meeting you, Mr. Leber.

What is it you want, Mr. Shatter?

Oh, you know why I'm here.

I don't know that I do,

but I'm listening.

Well I just finished a job.

A very unpleasant one in Palawaya.

You know all about it.

The sum agreed upon was for
100,000 American dollars,

payable in Hong Kong at this address,

by you, in cash.

I fear, Mr. Shatter,
you have acquired also

a touch of the sun while in Africa.

Now you listen to me!

As soon as I stepped off that plane,

somebody put the finger on me.

Now maybe it's because somebody in Badawi,

didn't wanna pick up the tab.

But I'm a professional!

I get paid for my work, always!

Now you listen to me, Shatter.

You really expect me to hand over

such a large amount of
money to you just like that?

Involve myself and this bank?

I haven't got time to
argue the finer details.

Now pay up, Leber, and
I'll get out of your hair.

Proof, Mr. Shatter.

I require proof.

Now I'm a banker.

I represent some important,
some official agencies

beyond the frontiers of
Badawi, that is quite true,

and they are very powerful
agencies, Mr. Shatter.

Now you say you have
performed a service to them.

I would have to have full proof

that it was you who
performed such a service.

You will appreciate my
position, I'm quite sure.

Mm-hmm.

As you can see, both the camera and the gun

were in good working order.

Well?

I think you should leave, Mr. Shatter.

Right now.

I think you should also go
back to the lunatic asylum

you escaped from.

- Oh, no.
- Oh, get out.

You're crazy.

Now I only have to press this button

and this whole office crawls
with our security officers.

I show them those pictures here,

and you get arrested for murder.

A head of state assassination.

You get put up against a post

and shot, Mr. Shatter.

The money, Leber!

I don't know anything about any money.

I don't know anything about any job.

Get out.

You're gonna pay me, Leber.

Maybe not now, maybe not here,

but you're gonna pay me!

And it's gonna be a hell of lot more

than a lousy $100,000.

I wanna see Mr. Yip.

What about something in a hopsack?

I want something in chrome steel.

Bullets bounce off it.

It's nice to know you still have

a sense of humor, Shatter.

It's rapidly turning sour, Mr. Yip.

You might tell the agency that

the next time you talk to Washington.

They already know that.

Now look, I've been
handed some very dirty jobs,

but that last one in Africa,

that was the nastiest.

Now you assigned me the
contract and I expect.

No, what does that mean?

We did not assign you anything.

It was not from us.

Now you better stop giving me that shit!

My instructions came
through the usual channels

in the usual code.

I do not care where it came from.

It did not come from us.

You gotta be putting me on.

They are very upset in Washington

about the whole situation.

President M'Goya's death
is a great embarrassment.

It's no secret that they wanted him out.

But not that way.

Who gave me the contract?

- I do not know.
- You better start

sorting things out!

Nothing.

Nothing?

What do mean, nothing?

Nothing at all.

Shatter, that is from top.

You're finished!

You are bad news.

It is like you're dead.

They do not want you anymore.

Do not even know you anymore.

You are like the plague.

Remember Shatter, you are on your own.

Completely on your own.

Thank you.

You sons of bitches!

What the hell is going on?

It must have been something you said.

Police?

My name's Rattwood.

Security Division, actually.

Same thing.

I suppose so, technically speaking.

It doesn't really matter.

Shatter,

you're marked, Shatter.

You're wearing a neon sign.

A great embarrassment to a lot of people.

Am I?

The last plane out of
Kai Tak Airport tonight,

leaves for Manila at 8:28.

Be on it.

Or any flight before.

But don't be here in the morning,

or we'll have you floating
face downwards in the harbor.

I promise.

Oh, no, you shouldn't bother
to get up, if I were you.

They'll only knock you down again.

Easy.

Have you been fighting, Johnny?

Hmm, it's all been one-sided.

Girl trouble?

No, not this time.

Where am I?

Golden Press and Bar and Massage Parlor.

Special private room.

$20 for an hour.

Girl extra.

You want a massage?

Nah.

You wanna drink?

That is a better idea.

White rum, Bacardi.

Big one, plenty of ice.

You're going to get drunk, Johnny?

Like all the rest?

My name's not Johnny.

Everyone who comes in
here is called Johnny.

What do you prefer?

Darling, sweetheart,

honey?

If I wanted some sweet talk and a massage,

I'd pay for it and come
through the front door,

now wouldn't I?

My name is Mai-Mee.

I'm sorry, Mai-Mee.

I think maybe I do need that massage.

A little better?

A lot better.

You are in Hong Kong on business?

Yes.

Staying long?

No.

On the other hand, it might
be for the rest of my life.

All eight or nine hours of it.

I don't understand.

You are leaving me now?

Yes.

You will see me again
before you leave Hong Kong?

Sure, I'll try.

Not here.

Okay.

What shall I call you?

Johnny.

No.

Try Shatter.

That's not a name.

Yeah, more like a way of life.

Huh.

Thanks.

I owe you for more than
the price of the drink.

That girl, Mai-Mee, is she around?

No, not at the moment.

I'm looking for something.

If I can find it, it
will be worth $100 to me.

What is it?

It's a place where I can stretch out.

Get some sleep.

A safe place.

A place, Mr. Shatter.

A safe one.

Who does it belong to?

Me, it is part of my school.

What school?

Please excuse me.

I have an appointment.

- Hey, just a second.
- I'll see you later,

Mr. Shatter.

Jesus.

I didn't know there was anybody else here.

I'm sorry if I frightened you

You live here?

Sometimes.

With him?

His name is Tai Pah.

Would you like something to drink?

He said that I could
stay here for a few days.

I hope you don't mind

No, I don't mind.

He asked me to look after you.

Why are you here?

Well the place I was staying
at got a little too hot.

That can happen anywhere.

Hmm, to you.

Why me?

Well, right now, you're
the only friend I've got.

I'm very happy to be your friend.

You have troubles?

Well, doesn't everybody?

If I'm you're friend, I would like to help.

It's what friends are for.

It must be bad trouble.

You fear for your life?

Now how could you know that?

- Come with me.
- Where?

I think you need more
than just a good friend.

I want to show you kung fu.

Tai Pah, he's the master.

Very good.

Mr. Shatter,
I would like to invite you

to a kung fu demonstration tonight.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

It is now our great pleasure

to present for the first time in Hong Kong,

an invitation free-fighting contest.

First, Li Wi Luni of Seoul,

Taekwondo champion of Korea!

Karate champion from Japan,

Pekoshi of Yokohama.

Kim Yu Ki from Bangkok,

boxing champion of Thailand.

And now the challenger.

Tai Pah of Hong Kong.

Our own kung fu champion.

The organizers and contestants have agreed

that the exhibition remain
within the mat area.

Contestants having both feet off the mat

will automatically be disqualified.

The referee, Mr. Han Song Lee!

Mr. Shatter.

Please come with us, Mr. Leber is waiting.

Okay, let's go.

You're a strange one.

You can put on an exhibition
like you did tonight,

then you work in a Wan Chai bar.

I don't get it.

Tai Pah is not paid for
being a master of kung fu.

Yeah, but he could.

How much, Mr. Shatter?

A hell of lot more than you would know.

And you have the money?

Well not yet.

But I've got something that
somebody wants real badly,

and they're gonna pay dearly for it.

What is it?

It's a list of names and addresses.

Is that all?

There was one address that seems to be

more important than the others.

The Isabel Casino in Macau.

Do you know it?

But how can this be so important?

I don't know yet.

I just know that it is.

And what do you want me to do?

I want you to help keep
me alive until I collect it.

And for it, I'll cut you in for half.

That sounds generous.

It's worth it to me.

You have a partner, Mr. Shatter.

Okay.

Mm, the snake here is excellent.

You should try some.

Yeah, yeah, I bet it is.

And you'd get arrested for murder.

I don't know anything about any money.

Get out.

You have the money?

Completely on your own.

They'll find you floating
faced downwards in the harbor.

You are like the plague.

You are bad news.

You're finished.

I'm sorry, honey.

I must have been having a bad dream.

Nightmare?

No, just the past coming back.

It must be bad.

Yeah, you could say that.

Then why?

I've asked myself that
question so many times.

What is the answer?

I didn't get one.

I want one.

Well let's just say that

there's something that
I've been trained for.

To be an exterminator.

I want you to stop.

The only way I can stop

is to be stopped like I've
stopped so many others.

I love you so much.

Okay, don't be late.

Do you speak to him?

I did.

I've got an appointment with him.

I got one more rat to flush out.

I borrow a car.

Good.

Are you good with this?

Yes.

I find them obscene.

Indelicate things.

We are being followed.
- Good.

They're on to me sooner than I expected.

Now take them some place secluded.

Let 'em pass now.

The trouble with you, Shatter,

is that you don't take advice, do you?

It seems the delights of Hong Kong

have proved irresistible.

Tell the girl and your driver to go away.

Take the car with them.

He's something else
again, isn't he, Rattwood?

His name is Tai Pah.

He thinks that guns are
obscene and indelicate things.

Call off your bully boys,

or someone's liable to really get hurt.

Get back into the car.

Stay there.

Well now, Shatter, what
is it that you want?

Answers.

There's no need to do that.

You assassinated General Ansabi M'Goya.

It was no political
gambit to rid the country

of a decadent tyrant.

The people who contracted you to the kill

were not political opponents.

The British government or the
CIA are in no way involved.

If they really wanted M'Goya dead,

they would have staged a simple accident.

Your little operation had all the subtlety

of a three ring circus.

Who did contract me?

Don't you know?

As you say, M'Goya was a tyrant

A lousy dictator.

And everyone he pressed
must have wanted his death.

Oh, what a charming
little innocent you are.

The gallant mercenary selling his sword

or his guns on a splendid cause.

The dowry was run not by M'Goya,

but by a crime syndicate.

A massive one with threads
leading back to the mafia

and the criminal elite of
half a dozen countries.

Hans Leber, the man you were supposed

to get your money from,

is their international banker.

They supplied M'Goya with arms

to keep his shaky little regime in power.

Now he paid for those arms with opium.

Harvested from secret crops

- Opium?
- growing in the

southern regions of Sudan.

Does that shock you?

Oh, surely not.

It doesn't shock me.

But opium is part of my business.

Security and Narcotics Division.

That's how I came to be involved.

I have put tabs on Leber for a long time.

Here or Macau?

Uh-huh, so the rumor was right.

You did pinch those papers.

They'll be the death of you, Shatter.

Believe me.

They list the locations of all

the secret European laboratories.

The laboratories that turn the raw opium

into high-grade cocaine.

Marseilles, Madrid, Antwerp, Munich,

Birmingham, Milan, Palermo,
a host of other places.

From them, the mac goes all over the world.

And is financed from here or Macau.

Unfortunately, Macau
is not my jurisdiction.

Even the Portuguese are
only in token control.

Get back to M'Goya.

Well M'Goya got delusions of grandeur.

He decided he could rule his country

without the aid of his
Hong Kong connection,

and found he could get
all the guns he needed

from Red China and the cost was minimal.

So that's when the flow of raw opium

to the European laboratories stopped?

Abruptly.

Then M'Goya had to die.

Oh, dramatically.

And a new man would have to take his place,

financed by the syndicate.

You see, sometimes you can use your brains.

If he wins, you might
stand a remote chance.

That's not enough.

The lead story in this morning's newspapers

reports of the ex-dictator's regime,

despite M'Goya's death,

is still holding the
balance of power in Badawi.

It is now being led by
Ansabi M'Goya's brother,

Colonel Dabula.

Now he has promised an early
capture of the assassin,

who will report to trial in Palawaya.

Now don't you find that interesting?

Uh, what it is to be needed.

And wanted, aye?

Regrettably, he wants to prove

that you are an agent
of the western powers.

The article even hints at
your hiding out in Hong Kong,

and goes on to say that Dabula's people

are hard on your heels.

That is the embarrassment

What if they found me dead?

My body floating in the harbor?

The embarrassment would end.

Immediately.

So everyone's on your back.

Me, Leber, the syndicate,

and dear old Colonel Dabula.

I expect he's very angry with you.

The Africans aren't too keen about people

who go around shooting their brothers.

Rattwood, about the papers.

Hmm?

What would they be worth to you?

Your life, perhaps.

We'd give you protection.

But you'd have to stay in Hong Kong

for the rest of your days.

It can get rather claustrophobic.

I'm talking about money.

Oh, dear, you do drive a hard bargain,

don't you old boy?

How much?

Well, I suppose a
grateful British government

might be able to scrape
up 10,000 pounds sterling

for services rendered.

Oh, and for that, we'll need Leber too.

Preferably dead.

10,000 pounds.

That's less than $25,000.

Money's a bit tight these days, you know.

Still for that amount,
you could buy yourself

a little business in Hong Kong.

Maybe a back street bar in Wan Chai.

Oh, you will survive, just think about it.

Rattwood.

You're a bastard.

Yes, aren't I?

And you're a mad dog killer, my friend.

I advise you to get back to
your lair and contemplate.

Oh, and keep those papers safe, aye?

Your life depends on them.

"Street fighting in Palawaya continues.

"Although it is said that the rebel forces

"of Dr. Peter Mobeli are...

What's that name again?

Dr. Peter Mobeli.

That's him.

That's the syndicate
man that I'm backing to win.

"That the rebel forces
of Dr. Peter Mobeli

"are being contained by the
lawless government troops

"of Colonel Dabula,

"younger brother of the recently
assassinated president."

Peter Mobeli, you have been found guilty

of high treason and will sentenced to death

without further appeal.

Shatter!

Who?

Rattwood or Leber.

Either one of 'em.

Everyone wants something for nothing.

Half a million dollars will make it right.

Will it?

And I know the man that'll pay it.

Well, it looks like you're scraping

the bottom of the barrel.

And what is it you want this time?

A million dollars.

Mixed denominations.

Used bills.

For what?

For the information that
was in that briefcase.

One million dollars,
that's a great deal of money.

I see the price has gone up.

$100,000 from M'Goya

That was the deal.

The balance for damages.

It's peanuts to the syndicate.

All right.

All right, I'll have the
money paid into a Swiss bank.

No you won't.

You'll deliver it personally

and I'll tell you where and when.

Don't worry, Leber.

No harm will come to ya.

Nobody crosses the syndicate.

Not even you, Mr. Shatter.

Not even me.

All right.

Well, here we are, Mr. Shatter.

You took your time getting here, didn't ya?

And what do you have in mind now?

We take a little walk.

Then we make the exchange.

All right, let's go.

This way.

Shatter!

You must have looked on
death many times before.

She had no part of this filthy business.

This filthy business
started in East Africa.

Didn't you fire the first shot?

It's not over yet.

It's Macau now, isn't it?

Taxi!

Isabel Casino.

Exactly 30 minutes.
- Okay.

Excuse me, sir.

Are you a member?

No, I'm not.

I've been thinking about it.

May I ask your name and the
name of your sponsor, please?

My name is Shatter.

I think you'll find that
Hans Leber will vouch for me.

Excuse me.

Shatter is here now, sir.

Mr. Leber was not expecting you,

but he will receive you now.

This way, please.

You must be quite mad coming here.

Why?

You owe me a million bucks.

I've come to collect.

You're not gonna be executed
here and now, Mr. Shatter.

We are going to have
you shipped back to, uh,

I think we'll finish
later, thank you very much,

Palawaya.

Well just for the record,

it's not one of my favorite holiday resorts

for many reasons, Mr. Leber,

and one of them being the watermelon.

It gives you the running shits.

Oh, that's cute.

Real cute.

And I presume that's Colonel
Dabula, the new president.

Mm-hmm.

It all fits very nicely, doesn't it?

Deal with Colonel Dabula M'Goya.

The savior of his people
is a syndicate man.

That makes you the one that hired me

to put the hit on your own brother.

Oh, it fits.

It all fits very nicely.

So now all he's got to do is to step in

and take over the country.

Keep the opium safe,
the guns keep coming in.

The Colonel Dabula

will be taking you back
to Palawaya, Mr. Shatter.

There you will stand trial

for the assassination of
General Ansabi M'Goya,

late president of the Republic of Badawi.

And you will also go back willingly.

Afterwards, you'll be publicly executed.

Now that I know how all
the pieces fit together,

you think I'm gonna keep my big mouth shut?

Oh, yes, I think you will, Mr. Shatter.

You will tell the world nothing.

Because you see you're going to stand

before your prosecutors at the trial mute.

We're going to cut your vocal cords.

The Sicilian mafiosa are
past masters of this art,

you know, Mr. Shatter?

But if you're here, you'll have to

put up with us amateurs.

You understand, Colonel
Dabula needs to show his fire.

He needs to involve the British government.

He needs to show that it
was they who contracted you

and not him.

I'm sure you follow me.

All right, don't shoot!

Back!

(screaming

That evens the score a little.

Mm.

That's right.

Never trust anyone,
especially in Hong Kong.

It'll help you buy that bar in Wan Chai.

There'll be a heavy mortgage.

Perhaps it's just as well
you're here for life.

Give you time to pay it off.

If you live that long.

Once in a while, you might
even find yourself smiling.

♪ Shatter ♪

♪ Shatter ♪