Under Fire

Can I get a ride?

Ah, okay.

Hey, Pricey!

You tuna-sucking piece of raw meat, get your ass over here.

Come on. Move over. Sit down here.

- How you doin'? - Good.

Good to see you. What the hell you going to Zambezi for?

I thought I'd get some great shots of your head being blown to smithereens.

Smithereens.

Thought you were fighting for the government.

I am. This is the government.

These are the rebels.

The fuck they are, man. This is a government convoy to Calunda.

This is the Abou Deian Revolutionary Front.

You're shitting me.

They'd be pissed off if they knew.

This is the dumbest motherfucker I ever signed up for, man.

It don't even pay shit.

Nicaragua. That's the spot.

Cheap shrimp, lot of rays.

It's real thin in the spook department, too. You dig me?

Price, you don't know what you're doing up there!

But you better get your ass down here, buddy!

Come on, man, get down here! You're gonna get ripped to shit!

Oates, what the hell is this?

The U.S. government offers that house to any Cuban pilot flying MIGs for the rebels

who chooses to defect to America with a Russian jet.

But that's bullshit.

Yeah, we know that, but they don't.

See, they figure the Cubies are gonna go straight for that swimming pool,

so they don't let 'em anywhere near the Russian jets.

The rebels can't fly MIGs.

Pricey, that's the point. They destroy their own air force.

I mean, it's an old scam, but it's guaran-fuckin'-teed.

Who is this? C.I.A?

Yeah. The smartest guys in the world.

I guess we found out where the government is.

Yeah.

You can walk to work from here.

What a break.

- I guess I'll get going. Take care. - Yeah.

Be careful.

I love Africa.

"And so this strange war grinds into its seventh year."

"From N'Djamena, Chad, this is Claire Sheridan."

- (PLAYING A TUNE) - No, no, you didn't hear any music.

It must be the connection.

Okay. Yes, yes, yes. Goodbye.

Alex, don't play that goddamn thing when I'm filing. We're late.

Ah, it's my party. We'll be late.

You called it a strange war in an endless story.

You know, if you filed that story with me, I would say you were editorializing.

Well, I like to editorialize.

You drunk?

Drunk?

Only with the memory of making love to you on the plains of Fianga,

with the First Liberation Army marching by and opening fire.

- And freed the proletariat? - And freed.

I love you.

I'm going to the party without you.

I don't want to go to this stupid party. I'm bad at false modesty.

Come on, you're great at it.

You're right. I am.

Alex, you're gonna make a great anchorman in New York.

And undoubtedly I can win an Emmy as a hostess, but I'm not going with you.

You could operate out of New York.

We could buy a place on Long Island, burn our suitcases.

I still like suitcases.

I'm tired of memorizing who the President of the Republic of Maldives is.

You tired of Third World wars?

No, I'm tired of Third World elevators.

Look... Wait.

Don't leave me.

I have to, Alex.

Oh, fuck Abou Deia and New York.

- I'm going to Nicaragua with you. - No!

I hear it's a neat little war and a nice hotel.

Hey!

Alex! Alex!

Come on! Yeah!

All right, I want you to know.

This is the man that hired me for my first job.

And fired you from your first job.

And then hired me for my second job.

Some of you... Some of you may be asking yourself,

"What am I doing here in this strange war?"

"Another chapter in an endless struggle"

"that's grinding into its seventh year."

But who of us can forget the giant struggle on the plains of Fianga?

The give and take, the lunging, the parrying for position,

the jockeying around knowing full well that...

Well, thank you very much. Look at this.

(SINGING) You beside me here beneath the blue

My dream of love is coming true.

Within our desert caravan.

Night and stars above are shining bright.

- Oh. Oh, excuse me. - (SNIFFLING)

I didn't know you were in here.

Yes, you did.

You were taking pictures of me all over the room. (CHUCKLES)

Well, you know...

I mean...

Geez, you look great.

Thanks. (LAUGHING)

Here.

This is for Alex.

That's lovely.

But I'm afraid it's not the best thing you could give him right now.

Why not?

We just split up.

Who split up from whom this time?

- This time? - Yeah.

This time I'm the villain.

I just thought it would be a lot cleaner

with me in Central America and him in New York.

Did he shout about burning your suitcases?

Yes.

You know,

I don't own any suitcases. There's nothing to burn.

This is a great shot.

Yes, it is.

- (BAND PLAYING) - (PEOPLE SINGING IN SPANISH)

Rafael! Rafael! Rafael!

- Hey, Russel, how are you? - Hey!

Ah, welcome to Managua.

All right. Did you have anything to do with that?

Well, I thought of calling your photographs "The Pictures of a Lost War."

Especially since they didn't know where in the hell Chad was anyway.

It kind of legitimized their ignorance.

You got your cover, I got a feature.

Packaged a class struggle in three little words. Nifty, huh?

Nifty, I say.

- I'm Russel Price. - I'm sorry. This is Isela Cruz.

She works at the hotel, also as a translator.

My pleasure.

Excuse me, my Spanish is not up to shape. What did he say?

He said he considers it an honor to be able to photograph our war.

Russel, he's got a real way with words, hasn't he?

- I can tell. - You're a hell of a translator.

I know. I'm much in demand around here.

Will you excuse me? If you have any questions, just ask.

- Who's Rafael? - Depends on who you ask.

Rafael? Comandante Rafael.

He is either a Marxist dupe of Russia and Cuba

or the most popular leader of a most popular democratic revolution.

- Take your pick. - Hell of a face.

Would he like to be photographed?

You would never find him.

- Wanna bet? - You would lose.

He's never been photographed.

Congratulations on your elephants.

Oh, thank you.

So far, Alex, this war has the hell beat out of Africa.

You're gonna have a ball.

Alex, come here! Alex! - Hands off, okay?

I need a translator much more than you do right now.

I thought you were hanging in there with Claire.

Yeah, I'm hanging in there, like an interim post-war government

waiting for the palace to be overrun by younger men.

Younger men?

Yeah, Russel.

You know, I still only have one major weakness.

- Oh, only one? - Only one, yeah. I hold on to things too long.

I'm too loyal.

Okay, okay, Alex, listen.

Jody borrowed a hundred rials from me in Tehran.

I owe 40 bucks to Dick since Christmas, and he'll pay me in lira for a future in pesos.

Good rate. It's okay.

But you gotta pay Eddie the 50 you owe him in dollars so I can square it with Chuck.

We got it all worked out in cash.

You take Nicaraguan?

But I'll go double or nothing with you on the whole pile.

Okay. November 2nd, 1963.

Martin Luther King. I have a dream.

- Diem was assassinated. - Oh, shit!

How'd you know that?

- Your first cover. - First cover. Right.

- Thank you. Hey. - Okay.

Moonlight in Vermont.

Moonlight in Vermont