philadelphia august ,
"carmen"
Bravo!Bravo!
father!
it's time
don't look back
- Where is she?
- Isn't she coming back for an encore?
Excuse me
may we trouble you for assistance?
Speakenzee Englishsky?
I'm sorry.
For my family,please.
We ask for your kind help.
may i help you sir?
you speak Russian?
Well,only a little.
my grandpa taught me
You a Russky too,Vera?
Go get 'em,rook.
thank god...i don't know if
our chaperones follwoed us..
what is the protocol?
Whoa,sir.I ain't fluent.
I got curses and toasts,that's all.
Papa,please.
We surrender our passports.
We want to defect to United States.
TheUnited States.
You speak English...big time.
I learned by watching American
television on the black market.
Don't tell my father.
You,uh,coming from the prom?
a concert.
This dress belonged to my mother.
nadia what are you talking about?
We'll,uh,call the State Department
and get someone down here to meet you.
Discuss political asylum.
You know,if you do
this,there's no going back.
Yeah.
Welcome to the United States,little man.
I am sorry.
He only knows police in
Russia,where they can't be trusted.
Things are different here.
You call me,any time.
I'll help you out.
And,uh,for your,uh,collection.
Philadelphia.
Our new home.
I haven't responded to a fight on
the highway since I was in uniform.
Call came in from the
district,someone asking for me by name.
I'll turn that face into scrap metal!
I'll k*ll you first!
- Your kind of crowd,Nick.
- Who's the guy?
- Do I know you?
- Yeah,you said I could call anytime.
- I'm Dimitri.
- Yeah,Koslov.I remember.
What's going on?
- This scum has my sister's bag.
- This bag ain't even mine,man!
So where'd you get it,tough guy?
Cousin Beamer.Just denied parole.
His ma's giving away his stuff.
- Son of a bitch.
- Know whose it is?
Nadia Koslov.
Who's she?
I was in the Ninth District
the night the family defected.
Four months later,I was at her funeral.
********Skull fracture,severe
bruising,manner of death
undetermined.
Multiple blunt-force trauma with cardiac
arrest,consistent with other wilding victims that night.
Serious crime wave in
the subways,fall of ' .
Packs of kids surrounding
their victims,commuters mostly.
I'm years old; I just aced my firearms training; and
my ma's begging me not to take the Broad Street line.
Well,your mom wasn't wrong.
The assailants got her bag,but they
left her jean jacket,sneakers.******
She made some kind of
mix tape the day she d*ed.
She was gonna be a big opera
star,but she loved pop culture.
Toughest funeral I ever went to.
I promised the Koslovs that things wld
be different here,but they were worse.
The cousin of the punk we
picked up in Center City.
Arrested on agg as*ault charges
three months after Nadia's m*rder.
Known ties with the crew who was
out wilding the night Nadia d*ed.
Lab found residue on her bag.
This clown's DNA shows
up,we got a slam-dunk.
What was it about Nadia
Koslov's bag caught your eye?
You like the patches,the places your
sorry ass will never see,huh,Beamer?
I ain't Beamer no more.
I found my Lord and Savior.
I go by Michael now.
Tell me what happened that night,I'll
start using your grownup name.
It wasn't me who k*lled her,man.
No?Then how'd you get her bag?
When I found her,she
was already half-dead.
"black steel in the hour
of chaos "by public enemy
Oh,man.
Zo... Zo...
Say what?
Zol... toi...
Seeing that girl die
like that,all alone...
messed me up real good,man.
Nothing else to do but pray.
What's that you heard her say?
"Zula Toy.
- Is that Russian or something?
- I don't know.
But it's stuck in my head to this day.
You see anyone else in the subway?
I only heard the girl
falling and footsteps.
- What kind of footsteps?
- The running kind.
A bunch of Air Jordans up
the stairs two at a time?
Up the stairs,but they was like
clickety-clack,know what I'm sayin'?
Hard-soled shoes?
- Yeah.
- How many?
One person,that's all.
You're saying it wasn't a wilding thing?
As God is my witness.And I
ain't got no reason to lie.
Clickety-clack.
"Zula Toy"?
Come on,Yakov Smirnoff.
Tell me you know what it means.
No clue.Like I told
you,curses and toasts.
But I know someone who might.
You say you cannot convict
man who k*lled my daughter.
Now you say you can?
What I'm saying,Leo,is that we've
got a new lead: Nadia's dying words.
"Zula Toy.
" That mean anything to you?
I have no idea why Nadia say this.
Sounds like zolotoi.It
means "gold," "golden one.
" Come on,Pop.They're trying to help.
They cannot bring back Nadia.
We have witness testimony.
Whoever k*lled Nadia
didn't steal anything.
So why?Drianwho k*ll her?
She knows this person?
What do you remember
about the night Nadia d*ed?
Pop was driving his usual night shift.
I was upstairs with the babysitter.
Anyone come to mind,had
a problem with Nadia?
Of course.You have been todurdom?
The insane asylum-- that's
what he called her high school.
Regis High School of
the Performing Arts.
Nadia was a voice major.
I thought it was a good school.
Pop hated the place.
A lot different than the
conservatory back in St.Petersburg.
At Regis there is no
study.Only craziness.
You say it is someone she knows.
It is someone there.
My tax dollars paying for this
circus?Can hardly hear myself think.
My high school,we were lucky
to get a field trip to the dump.
- Clickety-clack.-
Detectives?
I'm Elliot Glick.
ght this way.Bear with me.
Office hours will start in a few.
- Cute haircut,Jules.
- Back at you,Elliot.
Nadia's death was a tragedy.
She'd only been in the
country four months.
- You knew her?
- Not really.
I was the head of the drama department,and she was
a voice major,so,you know,we didn't interact much.
You remember any students or faculty
she might have called Zolotoi?
No,that doesn't ring a bell.
We'll need the attendance and
disciplinary records from that year.
- Nadia's files,yearbook,too.
- Anything you want.
See you have an all-girl
fan club outside.
Nadia member when she was a student?
I told you we didn't interact much.
What about the night she d*ed?
I was at home with my wife.
We were divorced years
ago,but she'll rember.We were...
we were devastated when we got the call.
Better luck second time around?
The third time's a charm.
We'll need a list of her teachers.
Well,she only had one: Phoebe Curtis.
One teacher?How's that happen?
Phoebe taught an advanced workshop.
Only eight students were
accepted,and Nadia was one of them.
I understand you were Nadia
Koslov's teacher at Regis.
She was in my improv
workshop.I was an alumna,too.
- Artist-in-residence.- Class
of ' .Voice major,right?
I'm a much better trophy
wife than I ever was a singer.
Who else was in your workshop?
A couple of kids from
each of the departments.
They collaborated in class,and
then completed a final project.
This final project...Nadia
work with anyone in particular?
Oh,no,it was a solo performance.
They had to improvise on the city streets,and then
submit a recording of it for their final grade.
- Like,on a cassette tape?
- Or a videotape,something like that.
You still have Nadia's?
She d*ed before completing the
course work.I never got to hear it.
When was the last time you saw her?
In my class,the day before she d*ed.
Did Nadia ever have
any nicknames for you?
Not that I know of.
But I'm sure there was
some of that behind my back.
I had a reputation for being demanding.
Any of her classmates
have any problems with her?
Nadia was a world-class soprano.
They were all jealous.
What they didn't realize is that she
was struggling just as hard as they were.
Nadia.
Nadia,I'm sorry.Nadia.
I'm gonna have to ask you to stop.
I did something wrong?
I asked you to prepare a
piece that expresses whoyouare.
It is my signature aria.I
perform it in concert.
Nadia,I want to hear your
voice,your soul,not your technique.
- But my father says...
- I'm not talking about your father.
I'm talking about you,Nadia.Who areyou?
Not what you think.
What you feel.
I don't know.
Okay.
Well,have a seat until
you figure it out.
Cyrus,get up there and open up a vein.
Nadia,what's the problem?
Black roses.I must have an admirer.
Maybe I was too hard on her.
You know,those kids were
tough enough on themselves.
And each other.
That girl at the door...
Chelsea.Chelsea Cutler.
She had just lost her
spot in my workshop.
- To Nadia.
- Yes.
- What's with the black roses?
- They were Chelsea's thing.
She doodled them everywhere.Had a
black rose tattoo,the whole nine.
After Nadia d*ed,you
give her spot to anyone?
Well,since it was available,I
gave it to Chelsea.
Boss.
What do you got,Kat?
Lab ID'd the substance on Nadia's bag.
- Methyl salicylate.
- What is it?
It's a compound found in
aspirin and muscle rubs.
This case,in something
called oil of wintergreen.
- Oil of wintergreen?Saying she ingested it?
- Yep.
Found trace amounts
in her blood samples.
Lab never tested it back in the day...
'Cause they thought it
was a wilding incident.
Trace amounts enough to
cause a fatal overdose?
Not usually,but Nadia had asthma.
People like her...aspirin
compounds can be highly toxic.
- Would have happened almost immediately.
- Caused the cardiac arrest.
That's what the ME said.
And get this.Oil of
wintergreen's a coagulant.
Bruises would have gotten
worse after she d*ed.
Making it look like she had been beaten.
Nothing random about this crime,boss.
Nadia was poisoned.
Oil of wintergreen's toxic?
What,like,death by breath mint?
In its concentrated form.You
know,little bro glass dropper bottle.
Where did she get the stuff?No
poisoning Web sites in ' .
Well,any health food store.
Lucky for me,not many around back then.
What the hell is it used for?
Flavoring in candy,fragrance in muscle
rubs and lip balms and,uh,beekeeping.
Beekeeping?
"An essential oil for
promoting healthy swarms.
" So,after tap class,Chelsea
Cutler's tending her bees.
I'm working on it,okay?Don't hate...
and why do you keep saying
"she"?Could have been a guy,you know?
Come on.You know how the
ladies love to poison.
Better watch what you drink.
Sorry.I need some joe.
No problem.
Got her waiting.
So...
- got any tattoos,Chelsea?
- Tattoos?
I thought you wanted to
ask me about Nadia Koslov.
Like answers better than
questions around here.
- Uh,yes,one.A black rose.
- Black roses.
That your thing back in ' ?
Oh,God.
What I did to Nadia with the
roses.You think it was me?
Took careful planning getting those
things in her bag,no one seeing.
Cunning and preparation: two key
ingredients in homicidal poisoning.
Poisoning?
I thought it was a bunch
of guys in the subway.
It's a real personal
way of k*lling someone.
You remember who got Nadia's spot
in Phoebe's workshop after she d*ed?
Please,I did not k*ll her.
Nadia was stealing your
spotlight; you stole it back.
I was angry,and what I did was totally stupid,but once she
got into that workshop,she had much bigger problems than me.
Oh,yeah?How is that?
Kids in that class were
the best of the best.
They got whatever they wanted.
And somebody wanted Nadia.
Make my day Make my day Pump up the jam Pump it up while your feet are
stompin' And the jam is pumpin' Look at here the crowd is jumpin',pump it up...
Move over,Madonna; hello,Nadia.
Nadia,oh,what can I say?
If you weren't so uptight,you
might make my day Whoo!
Cyrus,baby,if ego was a crime You'd be
chillin' on death row Doin' time,doin' time.
You are so busted.
Who knew?
She totally gets it.
A dance?
They were attached at the hip after
that.Never saw one without the other.
They still dating when Nadia d*ed?
Hot and heavy.Probably
wouldn't have thought twice...
till I saw him on a gay bar
crawl a couple years ago.
Gay?
- You just said he was dating a girl.
- Exactly.
The guy was a mess.
Couldn't sleep,either?
Yeah.What do you got?
Pepperoni.
The books.
Opera for Dummies.
I thoughtmylife was complicated.
Plots in these things...talk
about twists and turns.
Anything with Zolotoi?
I looked for Zolotoi,Golden
One,Gold...got nothing.
Except how many of them have poisonings.
Popular way to go in
opera.How about you?
Looking in Regis
directories,Russian fables.
Even e-mailed a professor at
the St.Petersburg Conservatory.
sh*t in the dark.
sh*t in the dark's better than nothing.
- Zolotoi.
- Yep,Zolotoi.
You and Nadia close back at Regis?
Absolutely.
I wanted to write musicals for her.
I was the songwriter; she was the voice.
Thinking more on the romantic tip.
Yeah,we fooled around a few times.
I guess you could say I was
an equal opportunity crush.
- Bisexual.
- Right.
Yeah,it wasn't until college
that I chose my major,so to speak.
You sound like a confused guy,Cyrus.
Getting close to Nadia even
though you were on a different bus.
Maybe it was because she was an
outsider.We just sort of found each other.
- You two have any pet names?
- No.
But we certainly did adore each other.
I haven't set foot back in
the subway since she was...
- You know.
- Ever hear her use the word "Zolotoi"?
- The Golden One?
- No,she only spoke Russian with her family.
With me,she shared the things
that she couldn't bring home.
- Like what?
- Her dreams.
**********
*********
- ************
- ************
- ***********
- Never.
I know it sounds stupid,but
that was my voice.
You know,like Phoebe said,I
was feeling,not thinking.
However do you want me I want
to be the singer in a band.
- A star is born!
- Yeah,just don't tell my father.
He thinks I'm preparing an opera.
Your father's,like,in the KGB.
Only way I'm talking to him
is if there's a g*n to my head.
And Nikki's going to
be your backup dancer?
Well,I want her help
me with choreography.
I mean,if I stand there in my ball
gown for another minute like this...
She's probably not the
greatest choice,Nadia.
Why not?She's the best.
But she's so not a team player.
Stop gawking at me.
And get your pet Commie out of here.
Nikki,what are you doing?
Warming up for three hours on toe shoes.
- What does it look like?
- An overdose.
But you're good.
You're great.You don't need this stuff.
What I need is for you
to get the hell out here!
I'm gonna go get some
help.You're gonna be all right...
Bitch,if you get anyone,I swear
to God you'll wish you hadn't.
Nadia consider herself warned?
I don't think so.
That same week,Regis instituted a zero-tolerance
drug policy and Nikki was expelled.
Well,how'd the prima ballerina take it?
If she had a heart,it
would've been broken.
You were in Phoebe Curtis's workshop?
Sure was.
The best of the best.
Couldn't find you in the yearbook.
What happened between
then and graduation?
Regis wasn't preparing me
for the realities of the biz.
- So I quit.
- You "quit," huh?
So what's this?
Looks like "Papers of Expulsion"?
Yours.Nadia rats you out for
dr*gs,and you end up here.
So where were you,night
she d*ed?Truth this time.
I was too short for a
professional corps de ballet.
Everyone tried to tell me.
But I wouldn't listen.
I punished myself instead.
Nothing an addict likes better
than someone else to blame it on.
Trust me.My hatred was directed inward.
They had already kicked me out when
Nadia found me in my dressing room.
We check with the school,they
gonna confirm that story?
I could care less what the
Regis faculty say about me.
Those losers couldn't do,teach,or
keep their hands to themselves.
Think of the most painful
experience of your life.
Boil it down...
to one name.
And when you're ready,say it out loud.
Shout it,if you have to.
But it's so hard to choose.
I have to go.
You're holding onto something,Nadia.
You've got to let it go.
Holding on?
I left my entire life behind.I
have nothing left to hold onto.
Except the hurt.
It's come right along with you.
Running away is not the
same thing as letting go.
I'm trying.
I've seen brilliant
performers self-destruct.
If you need my help...
I'll be there for you.
- Day or night.
- Okay.
Elliot Glick took a
special interest in Nadia?
Like a heat-seeking m*ssile.
What was in that
little,brown bottle of his?
I don't know.Aromatherapy stuff?
What'd it smell like?
Minty.
Said you and Nadia
"didn't interact much."
Want to revise that statement?
No.
Been divorced twice already.
Well,I don't see what my marital
history has to do with Nadia Koslov.
Family court records on their way.
Might give us some insight to
the cause of all those breakups.
Anything you want to tell beforehand?
I have nothing to hide.
Delivery invoice from Heart Mart,your
old neighborhood health food store.
Read the highlighted part.
Oil of wintergreen.
You know that it was toxic?
I was careful with it.
I used it for meditating.
Witnesses saw you applying
it to minors,including Nadia.
Getting handsy with her afterwards.
I was teaching The Method.
I was helping my students gain an
emotional investment in their work.
I gave my soul to those kids.
You were making a pass.
And when she rejected
you,you made her pay.
I didn't k*ll Nadia.
But I didn't protect her,either.
Nadia.
Are you all right?
Katya.
- Excuse me?
- Katya.
The name I would've
said if I had courage.
Your mother.
Come here.
My father didn't let
me go to her funeral.
He didn't even let me cry for her.
She was a big deal soprano,so
instead of mourning,we practiced.
I'm sorry.
Before we left,I wanted
to put roses on her grave.
But now I never can.
She would be so proud of you.
I just wish she could
hear what I sound like.
Not in Russia,now.
Well,she can.
Go ahead.*****
And I see your true colors
Shining through See your true colors
That's why I love you So don't
be afraid To let them show...
I stop by.
You not at opera.
They say you quit.
Mr.Koslov...
Papa!Papa!
Hold on!
- Why are you not working?
- I am!
In here,with this podunkum,singing
this khrenovyi Amerikansky pop?
My final project is due tonight,and
I will do it the way that I want.
There is more to life than opera.
Opera is our life.
I am not her,Papa.
This crap school,it ruins us.
Us?
There is no us!
Just your dreams being
shoved down my throat.
A parent should encourage
his child's independence.
But Leo took Nadia's growth
as a personal betrayal.
He chased her down the hall.
That was the last time I saw her.
Hey,Nick,I've got something.
- A dean from St.Petersburg Conservatory got back to us.
- Yeah?
Back in Russia,Leo Koslov was a vocal coach
to some big careers,including his wife's.
Katya.
She gave him a nickname and it
stuck,at least in opera circles.
Zolotoi.
The Golden One.
Nadia was saying a name
with her last breath.
And it was her father's.
Open a bottle of vodka,can't
leave the table till it's done.
Russian tradition?
Grandpops,on my ma's side.
My Deyda.
Left Russia and came
to this country alone.
He was .
Wish I could ask him more questions.
Listen to more of his stories.
to the wisdom of our elders
to your grandfather of blessed memory
Never knew about your career
in the old country,Leo.
Now I do.
With her dying
breath,Nadia said your name.
The glory days of your
family,your career,your marriage.
Zolotoi.
Why did you lie to me?
I thought I could leave the past behind.
Hamlet.Romeo and Juliet.
Lacrazy Borga.
Lucrezia Borgia.
- The great operas.
- Stories all had death by poisoning.
Is that how you punished
Nadia for dishonoring you?
I am one who is punished by fate.
You knew she had asthma.
You knew it would be quick.Did that take
the sting out of what you were doing?
You think I did not suffer enough?
Nadia made a tape the day she d*ed.
Empty case found at the crime scene.
You have it,Leo?
Nadia had asked me to
grieve for all we had lost.
The last time I saw her,she showed me the joy
that is possible on the other side of grief.
* It's a long day Living in Reseda *
* There's a freeway
Running through their yard *
* And I'm a bad girl 'Cause
I don't even miss him Hey, *
* I'm a bad girl For breaking his
heart And I'm free Free fallin' *
* Now I'm free fallin'
Free fallin' Free fallin', *
* now I'm free fallin' Hey, *
* I'm free And I'm free fallin', *
* now I'm free fallin' Free fallin' *
* Now I'm free fallin',now
I'm free fallin' Va', *
* pensiero,sull'ali dorate
Va',ti posa sui clivi, *
* sui colli O veo lezza note
pide molli Free fallin', *
* L'au dolci del suo lo natal *
* O mio Patria,s bella perduta
O remembranza s cara e fatal *
* And I'm free Free
fallin',now I'm free fallin' *
* Now I'm free fallin',now
I'm free fallin' *
* Now I'm free fallin',now
I'm free fallin' *
* Now I'm free fallin',now
I'm free fallin', *
You know "Va Pensiero?"
From an opera by Verdi.
It's a famous song about
freedom and also of homesickness.
The
tape--
it was her final project
for the class that I cursed.
She knew you loved her.
But I never got a
chance to tell her that.
Elliot Glick's divorce
records were a goldmine.
Glick's exes had a lot to say about
his extracurricular activities.
He have a history with his students?
Phoebe Curtis.
Major player in his second
divorce.Ten years on and off.
Cornered his second wife in a
parking garage with a crowbar.
And that was just her opening act.
Would have been threatened by Nadia
once Glick had his eyes on her.
Well,Glick brought oil of wintergreen to
Phoebe's apartment for that acting thing.
Date on the cassette case
is the day Nadia d*ed.
Missing tape was her final project.
She might have gone to Phoebe's
house to hand it in personally.
Phoebe lived two blocks from
the subway where Nadia was found.
Get her down here.
Want you to think of the most
painful experience in your life,
boil it down to a
name,and say it out loud.
I'm sorry. I don't understand.
Too hard to say Elliot Glick's name?
Elliot and I were friends.
Such good friends you
decided to harass his wife.
Only thing you forgot was the
antifreeze and boiling bunny.
What made you so mad,Phoebe?
You think he was forgetting about you?
He wasn't forgetting
about me.I was his muse.
Sure,when you still had potential.
But you start acting up...
And he creates the artist-in-residence
position to keep you close,
work a little damage control.
I was a great teacher.
I inspired those kids.
Till Elliot found his
new muse,Nadia Koslov.
Then you pull out the oil of
wintergreen,and start making your plans.
Went back to your old apartment,Pheebs.
Stuff's all over the place.
Seeped through the linoleum floors.
You're right.
I had a plan.
But it wasn't to k*ll Nadia.
Elliot?
I wanted to k*ll
myself.That was my plan.
But you're sitting right here.
'Cause it wasn't about Elliot anymore.
Not once you heard that tape.
Nadia had found her voice.
She was the real deal.
- Elliot knew that.
- So didou.
That kind of talent...
Made you realize that you never had it.
That hurt.Even more
than him not loving me.
Until I got the idea that...
...if Nadia was gone...
Your problems would be,too.
I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
Phoebe,are you okay?
It's...It's beautiful.
You're the one who taught me to feel.
I felt my mother in my
heart,and I sang for her.
Elliot says running away is not
the same thing as letting go.
Maybe that's why you're sad.
I made this for myself.
It's,uh,good for your throat.
You take it.
You're the real singer in this room.
Go ahead.
Thank you.
Come on.Let's get you to the train.
"true colors"by cyndi lauper
* You with the sad eyes
Don't be discouraged Oh, *
* I realize It's hard to take
courage In a world full of people, *
* you can lose sight of it
all And the darkness inside *
* you make you feel so small *
* But I see your true
colors shining through *
* I see your true colors *
* And that's why I love you *
* So don't be afraid to let them show *
* Your true colors True colors
are beautiful like a rainbow *
* Show me a smile
then Don't be unhappy *
* Can't remember when I
Last saw you laughing *
* If this world makes you crazy *
* And you've taken all you
can bear You call me up *
* because you know I'll be there *
* And I'll see your true colors *
* And that's why I love you *
* So don't be afraid to let
them show Your true colors *
True colors are
beautiful like a rainbow. *