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| The Big Lebowski (1998) |
| Plot Synopsis (continued)
The nightmarish, psychedically-hallucinogenic dream, a film-within-a-film, was viewed with Kenny Rogers' and the First Edition's trippy-sounding "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)." The first surrealistic image after a black screen was similar to a lunar eclipse (a sliver of light) - it was the start of a sexually-suggestive sequence of bowling pins and balls:
The Dude's bowling-themed dream was presented as a Jackie Treehorn Presentation, titled Gutterballs, a Busby-Berkeley inspired, fantasy musical dream sequence, starring the Dude and Maude Lebowski (identified with title cards).
A miniaturized version of the Dude danced (using Marty's style of performance art-dancing) into a long concrete corridor (similar to Maude's warehouse-loft entry), casting a giant shadow. The wide-eyed Dude was wearing a sleeveless, torn shirt and waist repair-belt that resembled the outfit of the cable repairman (played by Uli or Karl Hungus) in the porn flick Logjammin'. A Saddam Hussein (Jerry Haleva) personage stood behind a rental counter in front of an immense cubby-holed, skyscraper-sized stack of neatly-categorized bowling shoes by size. The rack of shoes ascended up to the sky, capped by a large full moon.
The Dude gazed up at the shoes at the counter, as Saddam (with his name embroidered on the left breast pocket) turned and offered him a pair of shoes (one-half silver and one-half gold) for rent - he had an ecstatic look on his face. With the shoes on his feet, the Dude danced down a long flight of stairs (with a black and white checkerboard or harlequin pattern, the same tile pattern found in Mr. Lebowski's hallway) that also ascended up toward a starry night sky (with star decorations resembling those at the bowling alley). At the foot of the stairs on a large checkerboarded floor, Maude stood surrounded or encircled by over two dozen chorus dancers with bowling-pin cut-out headdresses and matching mini-skirt outfits, who began to perform an intricately-choreographed Busby Berkeley-styled dance (with a top view).
On the other side of the dance floor, a bowling lane extended outward into blackness. Maude was dressed as a Viking or Valkyrie Queen, complete with a white-horned helmet covering her long braided pigtails, a bowling-ball brassiere, a three-pronged metal trident in her right hand, and brass-colored body armor. [A bronze female statue holding a trident had been briefly glimpsed in Lebowski's mansion, standing next to the locked safe.] With one hand, the Dude held up over his head a shiny bowling ball with black and red swirls on its surface. He stood behind Maude, pressed against her, and caressed her arm. The other chorines were seated on the floor around them, with their splayed legs askew (similar to Maude's painting). He assisted Maude in proper form and guided her follow-through technique in holding the bowling ball for a few practice swings. The dancers pranced in two lines down both sides of the bowling lane, but then straddled the single lane with their long legs - transforming the lane into a tunnel through their legs, with the 10 pins seen far in the distance.
The Dude helped Maude release (actually toss) the ball through the corridor, although the Dude himself was transformed into the torpedo-like, levitating ball (positioned face-down with his arms to his side) sailing between their legs. As he flew, levitated or glided down the lane, his body twisted half-way around with a barrel-roll maneuver, now positioned face-up as he smiled and looked up the dresses of the chorines, before he performed another twist back to his original position. At the end of the lane, he approached and struck the 10-pin configuration - sending the pins flying into the blackness. Another topless female dropped in slow-motion from the blackness into the frame - (similar to the half-naked woman at the Treehorn's beach party blanket-toss), and then descended out of view. The three German nihilists (each in full-body stretch pair of red spandex tights) menacingly appeared in the darkness - running, advancing and holding giant pairs of scissors with which to cut off the Dude's 'Johnson' - as they had threatened earlier.
Appearing terrified of castration and the loss of his masculinity, the Dude turned and ran - performing arm pumps or strokes to get away. Apprehended and Taken to the Malibu Police Station: The light dimmed, but the Dude was then illuminated by car headlights, as he fled (again doing the breast-stroke to get away) onto a busy highway (the PCH or Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu) at night-time. A police squad car with flashing lights pulled up - and the Dude was apprehended. He found himself in the back seat, strangely singing the lyrics reflecting the theme of the 1960s TV show Branded - about a lone survivor who was innocent and on the run:
The Dude was roughly tossed into the Malibu Police Chief Kohl's (Leon Russom) desk inside his office. The only ID in the Dude's wallet was his Ralph's Value Club Card. The Chief also discovered the "Treehorn" note-pad pencil sketch (of the man with an erect penis) folded up (not crumpled) inside. He chastised the Dude: "You don't know s--t, Lebowski," and explained how the Dude had been ejected from Treehorn's garden-beach party for being drunk and abusive. The Dude demanded representation by a lawyer: "I want Bill Kunstler, man, or uhmm, or Ron Kuby."
He was obviously confused when he reversed his words: "Mr. Treehorn treats objects like women, man." The militant Police chief was unimpressed by the Dude, and kept stressing the sanctity of the "nice quiet little beach community" exemplified by esteemed resident Treehorn - where orgies and porn existed!:
The Chief threw his coffee mug at the distracted Dude and hit him directly in the forehead, and it upended his chair. The aggression prompted the Dude to retaliate and call the chief a "f--kin' fascist." The "deadbeat" was ordered to stay out of Malibu and kicked on the floor as the Chief shouted at him - "Keep your ugly f--kin' gold-brickin' ass out of my beach community!" The Dude complained as he was driven back to his bungalow by a black Cab Driver (Ajgie Kirkland) - who was incensed when the Dude asked for the car radio channel (playing the Eagles' "Peaceful Easy Feeling" 1972 hit song) to be changed: "I had a rough night, and I hate the f--kin' Eagles, man." The Cab driver screeched to a halt by the side of the road. He hauled or dragged the Dude out of the backseat, and left him standing there.
The Sudden Appearance of Bunny: As the Dude stood there pondering what to do next, a red sports car convertible, a 1989 Jaguar XJ-S, zoomed by carrying Bunny Lebowski, with her California license plate reading: "LAPIN" (translated from the French, 'rabbit'). She was loudly and wildly singing along to her radio playing "Viva Las Vegas" -- with a significant excerpt from the lyrics:
A close-up of her two feet (on the clutch and accelerator) wearing open-toed red sandals revealed that her painted digits were all intact. This was clear evidence that she hadn't been kidnapped. A Sperm Donation and Post-Coital Talk With Maude: The Dude warily and cautiously entered his bungalow, with the door ajar. He swore when he saw everything had been ransacked - presumably by Treehorn's two thugs. As he walked into his trashed living room, he tripped over his own useless 2x4 plank that he had nailed into the hardwood floor to prevent intruders. From behind him, Maude emerged wearing his brown robe (from his floor's POV, she was upside down). She opened and dropped the robe to the floor, revealing her nakedness underneath, as she emotionlessly implored him: "Jeffrey...Love me." The screen went black again. In the dark, Maude's voice was heard as she asked about the Dude's past background: "Tell me about yourself, Jeffrey." He responded with a drawl: "Not much to tell." As he struck a match, his bedroom was illuminated and Nina Simone's 1962 hit tune: "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" played. After sex, the Dude and Maude (nude under a sheet) laid naked in bed together. The Dude lit a joint in a roach clip as he told her that in his radical youthful days, he was an original author of the Port Huron Statement, and a member of the Seattle Seven, and beyond that, a brief stint as a roadie for the heavy metal band Metallica:
When Maude asked what he did for recreation, he neatly summarized his daily routine:
He theorized that Treehorn's thugs had wrecked his place looking for her father's money, while he was reported to the police and kept away. She corrected him - it was the Foundation's money that her father had raided, she insisted. As she spoke, she assumed a yogic position to increase her chances of conception and insure pregnancy. She raised her pelvis, placed a hand on each knee-cap, and pulled her knees in toward her chest. The Dude mixed a White Russian for himself as he spouted his theory about the location of the money, and admitted that he was coping with all of his "complicated" problems with drugs:
But he had to be corrected when he again mentioned that it was her "father's money." Maude clarified about where her father's wealth had come from - with a major bombshell:
The deceased Mrs. Lebowski had left all of her wealth to the family's charity foundation. According to her, Lebowski was a fraudulent and penniless loser, and had proven to be a terrible company executive. Although avant-garde artiste Maude seemed to be anti-corporate, anti-capitalist, and anti-materialism, she was in charge of protecting her family's money:
In panic, the Dude spit out his White Russian when she told him she was trying to conceive after his insemination ("What did you think this was all about? Fun and games? I want a child"). But then, Maude emphatically stated that their sexual encounter was only a one-off sperm donation that she needed for procreation. She explained how she had no interest in having a conventional relationship, marriage or partnership with him (or anyone), and didn't wanted him involved in the future child's upbringing: "I don't want a partner. In fact, I don't want the father to be someone I have to see socially, or who'll have any interest in raising the child himself." (The Dude realized the reason for his visit to her doctor - and for having to pull down his shorts - to validate his potency by checking his prostate.) Suddenly, the Dude had another 'light-bulb' inspiration or epiphany: "So, your father - oh yeah, I get it! Yeah, Yeah!...Oh man, my thinking about this case had become very uptight. Yeah. Your father!..." but wouldn't explain further. He hurriedly phoned Walter to alert him to an "emergency," but his Jewish friend kept claiming that "Erev Shabbos" prevented him from driving, or from even picking up the phone unless it was an emergency: ("That's why I picked up the phone").
The Dude shouted an ultimatum that they had to get to the Lebowski mansion - "WALTER, YOU F--K, WE GOTTA GO TO PASADENA, MAN! COME PICK ME UP OR I'M OFF THE F--KIN' BOWLING TEAM!" Private Investigator-Sleuth Da Fino: Outside his bungalow, the Dude noticed the blue VW Beetle that had been tailing him, parked a half-block away by the curb. He confronted the bald, fat mustached man trying to hide behind a newspaper, and angrily ordered him out of the vehicle: "Why are you following me around?" The individual tried to calm the Dude by claiming he was a 'fellow detective' or "Brother Shamus." The Dude misunderstood and queried back: "Like an Irish monk?"
The man identified himself as Da Fino (Jon Polito) - an Italian "private snoop" or "dick" (all slang words for a PI or private detective) - "Like you, man!" (he assumed that the Dude was also a sleuth). Da Fino said he admired the Dude for his work thus far: "I dig your work. Playing one side against the other -- in bed with everybody -- fabulous stuff, man." He had been hired not by Mr. Lebowski or Jackie Treehorn but by the Knudsens - the Minnesota farm Swedish parents of teen runaway Fawn Knudsen (aka Bunny):
He pulled out two photos: first, a color picture of Fawn as a 16 year-old HS cheerleader from a year earlier.
A second bleak B/W photo was of the "family farm" on a desolate landscape near Moorhead, MN, directly across the Red River from Fargo, ND [Note: A Coen in-joke.]: ("Ran away about a year ago. The Knudsens told me I should show her this when I found her. It's the family farm. It's outside of Moorhead, Minnesota. They think it'll make her homesick").
The Dude quipped: "How are ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm once they've seen Karl Hungus? She's been kidnapped, Da Fino....She's definitely not around." The PI suggested that they work together as a team: "Maybe you and me could pool our resources. Trade information. Professional courtesy...," but the Dude dismissed the request. Walter drove up in his white Sobchak Security company van (with his ex-wife's dog barking at the window), and as the Dude climbed into the van, he tried to differentiate exactly what his relationship was to Maude - that she wasn't his "special lady" but that she was his "f--kin' lady friend" - not much of a difference:
The German Nihilists at the Pancake House: At a round booth in a Stacks of Pancakes House restaurant, the three German nihilists sat with a fourth very pale and thin individual - Franz's German-speaking girlfriend (LA singer/songwriter Aimee Mann), who had stringy blonde hair, a zebra-striped sleeveless tank top, granny glasses, and jeans.
Uli, Dieter, and the female ordered lingonberry pancakes from a waitress (Jennifer Lamb), while Franz ordered three pigs in a blanket. (Notice at first that the female ordered, in German "Heidelberg Pfannkuchen" (or blueberry pancakes), but her order was improperly translated by Uli as lingonberry pancakes.) While they were ordering, Walter's van was seen driving by in the traffic, viewed through the window. While they spoke in German to each other, the camera descended down the right leg of the female, with a close-up of the front of her ripped-open black boot, with a bloodied bandage on her toes. (To go along with their plan, she had donated her green nail-polished little toe for amputation.) The three nihilists had faked Bunny's kidnapping (when Uli learned that she went out of town unannounced) so they could extort money from Lebowski. The Eureka Moment During a Return Drive to the Lebowski Mansion: While riding back to Lebowski's mansion with Walter, the Dude described his revelation that they had made a number of improper assumptions ("We totally f--ked it up, man!") - the instrumental 1969 song "Stamping Ground" by blind musician Moondog played on the soundtrack:
Uncertain that he had been called for "an emergency," Walter was more concerned about his own predicament - that he was breaking the Sabbath and that it wasn't "a matter of life and death." The Dude called out Walter's hypocrisy: "You're not even f--kin' Jewish, man...You're f--kin' Polish Catholic." The Dude didn't accept Walter's claim of converting to Judaism when he married Cynthia, since they divorced five years ago. Walter insisted he was still Jewish regardless of his marital status, and that he was only following in the tradition of another famous Jew - Dodger pitcher Sandy Koufax. Both were honoring a Jewish holy day:
Confronting Mr. Lebowski About the Faked Kidnapping and Embezzlement: As Walter's van pulled into the Lebowski mansion's driveway, tire treads had scarred the front lawn, and Bunny's crashed red sports-car rested on the edge of a massive stone wall surrounding a water-fountain (again to the tune of "Viva Las Vegas" blaring from her car). They descended a set of steps into the black-and-white checkered hallway where they found Brandt bent down and picking up the discarded clothing of Bunny - who was briefly viewed through French doors prancing around on the outer balcony behind him - totally naked (and probably high on drugs). Brandt nervously told them about Bunny's whereabouts - obviously, she had never been kidnapped:
They burst into the study where Lebowski bitterly blamed them: "So, she's back. No thanks to you." Both Walter and the Dude wanted to know about the money. The Dude turned the tables and echoed the same question that both Woo and Lebowski had asked him earlier: "Where's the f--kin' money, Lebowski?" Walter stated it differently: "A MILLION BUCKS FROM F--KIN' NEEDY LITTLE URBAN ACHIEVERS! YOU ARE SCUM, MAN!" Walter identified himself to Lebowski: "I'm the guy that's gonna KICK YOUR PHONY GOLD-BRICKIN' ASS!" The Dude was more self-controlled:
Lebowski had his own version of what happened to the money and refused to admit his guilt or responsibility: "You have your story, I have mine. I say I entrusted the money to you, and you stole it." Walter conveniently snapped back with an obvious lie of his own: "AS IF WE WOULD EVER DREAM OF TAKIN' YOUR BULLS--T MONEY!" The Dude was miffed that he had been treated as a deadbeat slacker and had served as Lebowski's exploited "sap" -- and then admitted that was essentially a deadbeat - as accused:
Lebowski ordered both of the "bums" out of his house. On top of all the accusations that were flying (including Lebowski's pretension that he was a "phony dude pretending to be a f--kin' millionaire"), Walter also distrusted that Lebowski was disabled or paralyzed from the waist down ("I've seen a lot of spinals, Dude, and this guy's a fake") - he hoisted up Lebowski by the armpits and as his useless legs dangled in the air and he screamed helplessly (he proved he wasn't a "strong man"), Walter dropped him onto the floor. (It was one of the few times that one of Walter's wild presumptions was completely wrong.) The barking pomeranian began to cheerfully lick Lebowski's neck, but he shoved the dog away. Premonitions of Donny's Death - More Taunts from 'Jesus': The Dude's bowling team was back on their lane, at 8 minutes to 8 in the evening. For the first time in the film, an ominous sign, Donny didn't roll a strike - and one pin (the # 8 pin) was left standing, and he stood in disbelief. [Note: It didn't seem to be a coincidence that the three 8's resembled the symbol for infinity, an 8 set vertically, and that Donny would soon be dead.] As Donny sat back down, he shook and wiggled his right hand and arm - a premonition that he was suffering the first signs of a stroke. At the scoring desk, Walter was conversing with the Dude (who was applying clear nail polish to his fingers), comparing the upcoming desert Iraqi Gulf War to his own fierce, face-to-face guerrilla-combat in the jungles of Vietnam:
On the next lane over, 'Jesus' (in a blue polyester jump-suit) - although restrained by O'Brien, was furious and yelling at Walter about Jewish Sabbath restrictions on the bowling competition schedule - and that their game had been rescheduled - as part of a psych-out strategy: "What's this 'day of rest' s--t?" Although he was violently accusatory and out-of-control, he then claimed he wasn't really upset: "I don't f--kin' care! It don't matter to Jesus." Before strutting off, he vowed that he would soundly defeat them whenever they competed:
The Nihilists Torch the Dude's Car in the Parking Lot: As the trio emerged outside into the bowling lane parking lot, Walter was mumbling: "The whole concept of aish. I mean, many learned men have disputed this, but in the 14th century, the Rambam..."
They all stopped short when they discovered that the Dude's car was completely engulfed in flames. The Dude was aghast at this new form of destructive performance art:
Standing cross-armed in front of the burning car were the three disgruntled, leather-clad German nihilists (l to r) with their motorbikes parked nearby:
They again threatened to kill the 'kidnapped' girl if they didn't receive the ransom money, but their deception would no longer work: (Dude: "You don't have the f--kin' girl, dips--t. We know you never did"). In a rare moment of concern, Walter comforted Donny that the 'kidnappers' were not Nazis but nihilists (who believed in 'nothing' although they hypocritically wanted the money!) - a very lame pun:
Uli (persisting): "We don't care. We still want the money, Lebowski, or we'll f--k you up." Walter was ready to single-handedly argue with them and take them on: "Without a hostage, there is no ransom. That's what ransom is. Those are the f--kin' rules." The nihilists incongruously and weakly admitted that it wasn't fair:
Walter called them a bunch of "crybabies," and the Dude added: "There never was any money. The Big Lebowski gave me an empty briefcase, so take it up with him, man." Walter was still griping about his lost underwear: "And, I would like my undies back!" The nihilists gave up on the ransom money idea, and decided to just rob them of their cash (the Dude reached for $5 dollars and Donny for $18 dollars, and the Dude implored Walter: "We're ending this thing cheap"), but Walter refused to be intimidated on principle: ("What's mine is mine!") and urged them on: "Come and get it!...Show me what ya got. Nihilist!...F--kin' dips--t with a nine-toed woman." During a violent fight and scuffle with them, Walter threw his bowling ball case into Dieter's chest to crush his lung, then viciously bit off one of Uli's ears and spit the bloody appendage into the air. He then punched Uli in the face after calling him an "Anti-Semite!," and knocked out the third nihilist Franz with the boom box.
In the aftermath of the assault, Walter was bleeding from a saber cut, but more seriously, the very-frightened Donny was found lying on the ground, not with a gunshot wound, but suffering from a fatal heart-attack. Walter treated him like it was a war-time wound: "Rest easy, good buddy, you're doin' fine. We got help chopperin' in." The scene faded to black, except for the 10 colorful starburst decorations appearing to float on the outside wall of the bowling alley building - a symbol of a 'perfect game' - 10 strikes in a row. As the camera rose up, the soundtrack was playing sounds similar to the whale singing that the Dude listened to in his bathtub. The Mortuary Meeting With the Funeral Director: At a mortuary, the Dude and Walter ("the bereaved") met with the conservatively-dressed Funeral Director Francis Donnelly (Warren Keith) in his office. [Note: Notice that when the Director entered, he stood behind his desk with a large desk calendar showing the year as February 1997. Also, he placed his black folder TWICE onto the desk calendar.] The Dude gazed up at a Bible-verse engraved in gold letters on the wall behind the desk:
When Walter viewed the credit-card bill in the black folder, he questioned one of the categorized items - the urn: "We don't need it. We're scattering the ashes." The director explained how they had to have the ashes transmitted to them in a container, and that they already had chosen the "most modestly-priced receptacle" cremation urn at $180. Renting the urn, the Dude's suggested idea, was not an option. Walter became agitated and raised his voice: "We're scattering the f--kin' ashes! Look, JUST BECAUSE WE'RE BEREAVED DOESN'T MEAN WE'RE SAPS!...GOD-DAMMIT!! Is there a Ralph's around here?" [Note: It was appropriate that the film began and ended with Ralph's, the Dude's - and Walter's - favorite local grocery store that was an LA institution.] Donny's Memorial Cremation and Service: Atop a Pacific Coast elevated, wind-swept cliff side promontory, Walter (with his dogtag and his wedding ring on a chain around his neck) carried Donny's cremated ashes in a cheap, red Folgers Coffee can (with a blue plastic lid - an anachronistic detail because Folgers' lids were usually clear-colored or white).
With the Dude at his side before the scattering of the ashes, Walter presented a rambling eulogy (including an inappropriate rant about Vietnam):
However, as Walter removed the lid and tossed the ashes toward the ocean, he had misjudged the direction of the wind, and the strong breezes blew the ashes back - and all over the Dude's face. This "accident" made the Dude infuriated about Walter's continuing failings, uncompromising attitude, and his fixation on Vietnam: "Everything's a f--kin' travesty with you, man!...What was that s--t about Vietnam?! What the f--k does anything have to do with Vietnam! What the f--k are you talkin' about?!" Walter offered a sincere apology, and hugged his buddy. The two decided to make up by going bowling: (Walter: "Let's go bowlin'."). The Dude Abides: At the bowling alley, the jukebox played Townes Van Zandt's 1993 version of "Dead Flowers" (it was originally released by The Rolling Stones in 1971), during a one-minute montage:
The Dude approached the bar, ordered two beers, and exchanged a few words with the bartender about Donny's passing: "Sometimes you eat the b'ar, and sometimes, uh, uh, you know..." He turned to see the friendly Stranger seated nearby. The Dude responded to him about how life still had its ups and downs, in bowling terms: ("Strikes and gutters, ups and downs"), just before the semi-final bowling tournament was to be held the following day. The Stranger wished for the Dude to "Take it easy" - something he usually did - and as he returned to the lanes where he was bowling with Walter, he responded: "Well, the Dude abides." The Stranger smiled and summed up (facing the camera) what he liked about the Dude, beginning by repeating the Dude's final thought: "The Dude abides." He expressed his hope that the Dude and Walter would win their upcoming bowling tournament, and stated that Maude was pregnant with a "little Lebowski" - not with Maude's surname but with the Dude's surname!:
During the scrolling closing credits, "Dead Flowers" segued into "Viva Las Vegas" performed by Shawn Colvin.
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(And Some Unanswered Questions)
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The Dude's Nightmare - "Gutterballs":