MoscowontheHudson.docx

MoscowontheHudson.docx

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MoscowontheHudson

MoscowontheHudson

（Comedy）（1984）

©2002byRaymondWeschler

MajorCharacters

VladimirIvanoff……………………………………………..RobinWilliams

AcharmingandfrustratedRussianmusicianwhodecidestodefect

totheUnitedStatesaftertravelingtoNewYorkCitywiththeRussiancircus（“Todefect”istoasktobecomeamemberofanewcountry,

afterfleeinganoldone,oftenbecauseofpoliticalrepression）.

LuciaLombardo………………………………………………..MariaConchitaAlonso

AverycuteItalianimmigrantlivinginNewYork,whobecomesromanticallyinvolvedwithVladimirafterhedefectstotheUS.

LionelWitherspoon………………………………………….CleavantDerricks

AnAfrican-AmericansecurityguardataNewYorkDepartment

StorewhobecomesgoodfriendswithVladimir.

OrlandoRamirez……………………………………………….AlejandroRey

ACuban-AmericanimmigrationlawyerwhohelpsVladimir

starttheprocessofbecomingacitizenoftheUnitedStates.

AnatolyCherkasov……………………………………………ElyaBaskin

Vladimir’sRussianfriend,acircusperformer,whodreamsoflivingintheUnitedStatesbecausehehateslifesomuchintheSovietUnion.

Boris…………………………………………………………………SaveliKramarov

AKGB（Sovietpolice）agentwhotravelswiththeRussiancircus

toNewYork,andwhoisalwaysmakinglifedifficultforVladimir.

PlotSummary

ThisfilmisaninterestinglookatwhatitisliketobeanimmigrantinmodernAmerica.ItisthestoryofVladimirIvanoff,asweetandtalentedbutfrustratedRussiansaxophoneplayerwhofeelsthedespairoflivingintheSovietUnionduringtheearly1980s.InMoscow,oneisforcedtostandinlinetobuyvirtuallyanything,fromtoiletpapertoshoes,andwhatisavailableisoftenofpoorqualityandveryexpensive.Worstofall,thereisnofreedomtoprotesttheconditionsoflife.Vladimirisnotpolitical,buthefeelssuffocated,anddesperatelywantsabetterlifeforhimself（Themovietakesplaceabout1983,justayearortwobeforeMikhailGorbachevcametopower）.

EvenattheheightoftheColdWarbetweentheUnitedStatesandtheformerSovietUnion,theSovietswouldoccasionallysendballets,circusesandotherartiststoperformforAmericanaudiences.Itisduringoneofthese“culturalexchanges”thatVladimirfindshimselfinNewYorkCity,andeventhoughhespeakslittleEnglish,knowsnooneintheStates,andrisksneverseeinghisfamilyorfriendsagain,hesuddenlydecidestodefecttotheUnitedStates,whileshoppingattheworldfamousBloomingdale’sDepartmentStore.Forthenewsmedia,itis“anotherchapterinUS-Sovietrelations,”andforVladimir,itisthebeginningofaverydifferentlifeinAmerica.

SoonafterdefectingtotheUS,Vladimirbecomesinvolvedwiththreeverydifferentpeople;Lucia,averycuteItalianwomanwhosellsperfumeatBloomingdale’s,Lionel,ablacksecurityguardatthatsamestorewhoinvitesVladimirtolivewithhimandhisfamily,andOrlando,aCubanimmigrantwhobecomesVladimir’simmigrationlawyer.Together,thefourofthempresentawonderfulpictureoftheAmericanexperience,inwhicheveryoneseemstobefromanotherpartoftheworld,andallcometofindtheirdreamsinNewYorkCity.

Aquicknoteonthelanguageusedinthisfilm:

Sincemostofthemajorcharactersarenon-nativeEnglishspeakers,therearequiteafewmistakesmade.Someofthemajorincorrectsentencesarestilllistedwitha>>>symbol,withacorrectversionofthesentenceusuallyplacedimmediatelybelow.Inaddition,muchoftheearlydialogisinRussianwithEnglishtranslation.Thus,whenthewrittentranslatedEnglishisbeingexplained,

a[W]signisputattheendofthesentence.

SomeWordsandExpressionsthatYouMaynotKnow

VladimirandAnatolypreparefortheirbigtriptoNewYork,

impatienttogetawayfromlifeindepressingRussia.

>>>DoesthisbusgoestoUnionCenter?

Watchyoursubject-verbagreement!

:

“Doesthisbusgo….?

”

Getafreetransferfromthedriver.

Apieceofpaperthatallowsyoutouseasecondbusorother

publictransportationforfreeafterpayingforthefirstone.

It’sprettytoughgettingaroundhereatfirst.

“Tough”isanexcellentwaytosayhardordifficult.

IfyouwanttogoontheNewYorktour,youbetterbehave.[W]

Note“better”isbothanadverbandamodalverbmeaningshould.

Icouldn’thelpit!

[W]

Onewayofsaying“Icouldn’tstopmyselffromdoingit.”

KGBPig!

[W]

TheKGBwasthesecretspyagencyoftheSovietUnion,

muchliketheCIA,whichistheAmericanspyagency.

Theyseeyouasatargetofseduction.Likewhores,they

wantyoutosharetheirdiseases,theirimmorality.[W]

“Atargetofseduction”isapersonwhosomebodyistryingtoseduceorattract,oftenwithsexormaterialgoodslikecarsorhouses（“Toseduce”istosexuallyattract）.A“whore”isavulgarbutcommonwordforaprostitute.“Immorality”issomethingethicallywrongorbad.

TimesSquare.GreenwichVillage.RockefellerCenter.

ThesearethreefamoustouristattractionsinNewYorkCity:

Acentralsquare,afashionableneighborhoodandalargecomplexofbuildings.

Iknowthesamenauseaisgrabbingatyou[W]

“Nausea”isthefeelingofbeingsicktoone’sstomach.“Tograb”somethingistoseizeortakeholdofitwithasuddenmovement.

Iamcontent.:

:

Bullshit!

Youareagearinamadmachine!

[W]

Ifapersonis“content,”theyarehappyorsatisfied.“Bullshit”isavulgarbutexcellentslangwordtodescribelies,half-truthsornonsense.A“gear”isapartofamachinethatallowsforthecontrol

ofpowerorspeed.Inthiscase,“mad”meanscrazy,notangry.

Don’tyouhaveasoul?

[W]

Thepartofapersonthatisnotphysical,which

livesonaftertheyhavedied（Intheory!

）.

Seehowcorruptweare?

[W]

Ifapersonis“corrupt,”theyaredishonest,

theycheatortheycanbeeasilybribed.

Mystomachisgrowling.

“Togrowl”istomakeadeeprough

soundinthethroat,likeanangrydog.

>>>Let’spracticeourEnglish.Letuspractice.

Notethat“Letus”mustbecontractedto“Let’s”

whenthespeakeristryingtomakeasuggestion.

Surething!

Acolloquialandcommonwayoftellingapersonthatyoustronglyagreewiththem,orthatyouwilldowhattheyareaskingofyou.

DoyoureadErnstHemingway?

:

:

Everyfuckingday.

Acommonbutvulgaradverb,usedtoexpressangerorotheremotion.

I’mgoingtodefect.

Acriticalverbinthisfilm,meaningtoofficiallyleaveorabandonyourowncountryinhopesofbecomingacitizenorresidentofanotherone.

YouknowIamobligedtoreportyoutotheauthorities.

Ifapersonis“obligedto”dosomething,theyarerequiredtodoitbylaworunderpressurefromsomeoneelse.“Theauthorities”isatermthatreferstothepoliceorotherpowerfulgovernmentofficials.

IcouldbeKGB.:

:

Thenmyassisalreadyfrozen.

ThesecondsentenceisAnatoly’swayofsayingheisalready

indeeptroublewiththepolice,butthisisneverused.

Ipavestreets.[W]

“Topave”astreetistocoveritoverwithcementortar.

Whydoeseveryoneinthisfamilymakesuchafussovertoiletpaper?

[W]

“Tomakeafussover”somethingistoactlikeitisveryimportant.

Isshetheonewiththebigtits?

[W]

Avulgarslangwordforfemalebreasts.It’ssafertosayboobs.

Pickledmushrooms!

Ifafoodhasbeen“pickled,”ithasbeenputinatypeofsaltwater

inordertopreserveitortokeepitedibleitforalongtime.

There’sagreattune;“TaketheATrain.”[W]

A“tune”isanotherwordforasong.

Beforewemarry,youshouldjointheparty.[W]

Here,“theparty”referstotheCommunistPartyoftheSovietUnion.

I’mnotajoiner.[W]

Aninterestingwordthatreferstothosepeople

wholiketojoindifferentclubsororganizations.

It’sabithumiliating,alwaysborrowingAnatoly’splace.[W]

Ifsomethingis“humiliating,”itisveryembarrassingordegrading.

That’swhatfriendsarefor.[W]

Agoodlittleexpressionthatyousaytoafriend

aftertheyhavethankedyouforhelpingthem.

Getaway,yousnoop!

[W]

A“snoop”isanotherwordforaspyorapersonwho

triestofindoutaboutthepersonallivesofothers.

Youcertainlyknowhowtogetagirl’sheart.[W]

Asweetwayofsayingtoattractagirlromantically.

It’sforyoursoft,rosy,bottom,notyourheart.[W]

Ifaperson’sskinis“rosy,”it’sredlikearose.

APerson’s“bottom”istheirass,derriere,butt,etc…

Thedecadence,thecrime,thepoverty.[W]

“Decadence”isapowerfulwordthatreferstothegeneraldecayorfallofasociety,oftenbecauseofimmoralbehaviorlikewhatwaspracticedinthelastdaysoftheRomanempire.“Poverty”istheconditionofbeingverypoor.

Jordache,CalvinKlein.

Thesearefamousbrandsofexpensiveclothes.

TherearewhoresinGorkyparkwhohavecarvedmynameontrees.[W]

A“whore”isaprostitute,and“tocarve”istouseaknife

tocutoutspecificshapes,ofteninwoodorstone.

Horseshit!

Yousmilingbastards.

“Horseshit”isalesscommonvariationof“bullshit,”bothofwhichmeanliesornonsense.A“bastard”isanangryandvulgarwordforameanorabusiveman.

Next,they’lltellusthecropsaregoodthisyear.[W]

A“crop”isagrainorfruitorvegetablegrown

byafarmer,suchaswheatorapples.

Youhavenorespectforposition.[W]

Inthiscase,“position”referstopeoplein

authority,suchasahighlevelpolitician.

HesympathizedwiththeAfghanistans.[W]

“Tosympathize”withapersonistofeelsorryforthemorperhapsemotionallysupportthem（PeoplewholiveinAfghanistanarecalledAfghanis.TheSovietUnionhadinvadedAfghanistanin1979）.

You’renotadissident.[W]

Apersonwhoproteststhepoliciesofagovernment,andawordespeciallyassociatedwiththosewhoprotestedintheSovietUnion.

T