Wave of Mutilation (Southland Tales)

Infobox Film
name = Southland Tales


caption = Promotional poster for "Southland Tales"
director = Richard Kelly
producer = Sean McKittrick
Bo Hyde
Kendall Morgan
writer = Richard Kelly
starring = Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Seann William Scott
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Justin Timberlake
Wallace Shawn
Miranda Richardson
Mandy Moore
Kevin Smith
John Larroquette
Jon Lovitz
music = Moby
distributor = Samuel Goldwyn Films
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment "(DVD)"
Universal Pictures
released = November 14, 2007
runtime = 144 min.
country = United States
language = English
budget = $15–17 million
worldgross = $356408.00
website = http://www.southlandtales.com/
amg_id = 1:325848
imdb_id = 0405336

"Wave of Mutilation" is the third and final story featured in the film Southland Tales. "Wave of Mutilation" is Part Six of the Southland Tales saga. The film was written and directed by Richard Kelly.

"Southland Tales" was initially planned to be a nine-part "interactive experience", with the first six parts published in six 100-page graphic novels that would be released in a six-month period up to the film's release in 2007. The feature film comprises the final three parts of the experience. A website was also developed to intertwine with the graphic novels and the film itself. The idea of six graphic novels was later narrowed down to three. The novels were written by Kelly and illustrated by Brett Weldele.

Plot

At US-IDent, each employee, led by Nana Mae, are doing aerobic/yoga exercises from their cubicles. Pilot narrates saying that for billions of years, the daily cycles of the ocean tides have influenced patterns of hunting, breathing and feeding behaviour among the developing life forms of our planet. A TV reporter is talking about the excitement of the unveiling of a Mega-Zeppelin named ‘Jenny Von Westphalen’-its docking area is right beside the Staples Centre and is over 900 feet long.

At Zora’s apartment, Krysta arrives at her door and Zora asks what she wants. Krysta tells her that she is boarding the Mega Zeppelin that night and that she needs some drugs. Zora leaves the room for a few moments, when Krysta spots a tape lying on a chair entitled ‘BOXER’. Pilot says that Pandora’s Box is exposed to prying eyes. She thinks it’s the sex tape of herself and Boxer so she steals it.

She then meets with Shoshanna outside of Zora’s apartment and tells her that she has the tape. Shoshanna asks why she has the tape and Krysta tells her that she wants to go public with it, effectively destroying the Republican’s chances of winning the election. Shoshanna tells her about a website that Krysta could broadcast it on called ‘US-IDeath’-a Neo-Marxist website that is running without US-IDent authorisation. Shoshanna tells her that she can just leave it in a dropbox.

Krysta and Shoshanna walk by a Hummer, inside the Hummer is Martin Kefauver, reading a short letter. He is obviously upset. He takes a gun to his own head, and is prepared to kill himself...he has just been drafted to fight in the army. Down the street, Ronald is walking in a daze, until he sees Martin with a gun up to his head.

Ronald walks towards the car and knocks on the window. Ronald takes the gun away from him and enters the Hummer. Ronald asks for his help-to help find his brother. Martin says OK.

Inside a diner nearby, Cyndi sits down at a table with Vaughn. Cyndi gives him a memory card and she tells him that it is the only copy. Cyndi is about to leave when Vaughn tells her to stay and wants to ask her some questions. He asks her how she sleeps at night. She answers by saying that she sleeps very well, only until US-IDENT wrongfully raids her neighbour’s house. Vaughn asks her has she ever lost anyone she knew in a terrorist attack. Surprisingly, she does: two of her former husbands were killed in Abilene when the nuclear bombs went off in 2005. He calls her by her real name, then Cyndi interrupts and tells him that she has something way more valuable...a tazer gun to his testicles. She shocks his testicles and then tells him that there is another tape in the open of the Dream/Dion murder. She leaves the table, leaving Vaughn in agony.

Boxer is arriving at the Santa Monica Pier and is looking around for Starla (who claims to be Dr. Muriel Fox).

At The Neo-Marxist HQ, Zora is in a rage...Krysta has stolen the tape of the Dream/Dion murder (she assumed it was the sex tape between herself and Boxer). She is on the phone with Cyndi, screaming about how she will kill Krysta and she then throws her phone at the wall, breaking it.

Boxer is walking the Santa Monica Beach and is drinking a six-pack of Bud Light, stalking him in the background is Starla.

TV reports are being shown on the screen. The first is a TV commercial of a man holding an AK-47 telling people to vote ‘NO’ on Proposition 69. The next is a segment of a TV news cast, showing President Bush, who is talking about Treer and their Mega-Zeppelin. The following segment is a new cast about fires occurring spontaneously and many small earthquakes in the Southland area, urging all residents that another massive earthquake could occur so be prepared.

Pilot is sitting at his post, reading a newspaper. He looks up and throws his newspaper down and looks at his laptop. Pilot narrates by saying that he is having a premonition-danger was on the horizon. He rotates his post and looks through his scope, he sees Boxer Santaros, standing at the pier. All of a sudden, Starla screams ‘JERICHO KANE-THE INFORMATION THAT I HAVE UNCOVERED COULD GET ME KILLED...BUT IT WAS A RISK I WAS WILLING TO TAKE, THE FATE OF THE WORLD REST UPON YOU, JERICHO KANE’.

Boxer turns around and nods at her. She tells him that he must board the Mega-Zeppelin and that the secret he is looking for is inside Baron’s secret chamber. Boxer asks what the secret is. She tells him that there was a dead body retrieved from inside Boxer’s car in the desert. Boxer asks if he killed the man. She whispers that she cannot say anymore as they are listening. She then says ‘I want to suck your dick, Jericho’, she pulls out a gun and threatens to kill herself, if he does not let her. Pilot is watching all of this through his sniper scope, he puts a round into the rifle and loads it. Starla tells Boxer to take his pants off immediately. Boxer says ‘Okay-Jericho Kane is going to make your wish come true and turn you into a new woman. We can rent a room with shutters-that’s my favourite place.’

Pilot pulls the trigger and kills Starla, causing mass hysteria on the pier. Boxer runs away in fear.

At US-IDent, Nana Mae tells her men that Bart Bookman and Zora are on their way to retrieve a tape from Krysta Now. Cut to Krysta driving her Lamborghini with her friends along the beach.

At the beach, Krysta and her friends are filming a scene for her show, and they are talking about how they have obtained their first SteadiCam for the show, but Krysta is still pissed off because she wanted a ‘real Hollywood SteadiCam’. The four girls go to a bar called the PoopDeck (where Krysta plans to drop off the tape). She walks inside of the ladies’ toilets and leaves the tape to be collected. When she goes outside, she sees Zora running inside of the PoopDeck. Krysta then runs to a nearby man and tells him that Zora and Bart are trying to kill her. He attacks Zora, who easily takes the man down. As this is happening Krysta and her friends run out of the bar to escape.

A soldier, who is stationed on the pier, sees this all happening through his scope at his post and he loads his rifle. Zora and Bart run out of the bar and chase after them. Zora shouts at Krysta and tells her that it is the wrong tape. Bart runs up onto a table and fires warning shots into the air. This grabs the soldier’s attention, who quickly kills him. The soldier quickly reloads his gun and aims at Zora (who shots at him, calling him ‘A FACIST PIG’) kills her. Everyone runs away from the scene and Krysta and her friends drive off in her Lamborghini.

Boxer is still around the beach. He takes out his phone and calls Fortunio. Fortunio tells him that he will meet Boxer at a bar nearby.

At US-IDent, Nana Mae is watching footage from the beach and seems to be thrilled about the murder of Zora. As she is watching the footage, it’s mostly all people partying, which disgusts her.

As Boxer is walking along the beach, he runs into Fortunio, who is with the two men from the diner (the two men that called Ronald over). Pilot narrates saying that Fortunio is on the Baron’s payroll. A man comes from behind Boxer and begins strangling him. Fortunio approaches him and then injects him in the neck, rendering him unconscious. The Baron ordered Fortunio to bring Boxer back to Treer Plaza before the end of the day. The men then drag Boxer to an ambulance, they throw him inside and then drive off.

At Deep Throat 2 HQ, Teri and Cyndi are toasting one another. Cyndi has obtained a ticket for the Mega-Zeppelin, but unfortunately, it’s not ‘+1’-so Teri can’t go.

Pilot narrates: The day is becoming night and that Neo-Marxist cells were grouping together in downtown L.A.

Inside Walter’s ice cream truck, he is driving towards downtown L.A. with Roland still tied up inside. According to TV reports, riots are breaking out in L.A.-a first since 1992.

Inside Martin’s SUV, Ronald asks Martin why he wanted to kill himself. He tells him about how he got drafted. Ronald comes to a realisation and says ‘Fallujah’...Martin asks was he stationed in Iraq and how he managed to get out. Ronald tells him that it’s none of his business. Ronald tells him that they should try crossing over into Mexico and starting fresh.

In Treer Plaza, Boxer wakes up inside a bedroom with Madeline. She tells him that he says something while he was asleep – ‘We Saw The Shadows of the Morning Light, The Shadows of the Evening Sun, ‘Till The Shadows and Light Were One’. She asks what it means. He responses: ‘Three Days...The Final Three Days...It All Ends Tonight’.

Krysta and her three friends are wearing ropes and toasting one another inside the Mega-Zeppelin. Baron walks towards Krysta and hands her a purse and tells her that she did a good job. She asks him what will happen to him. He responds by saying-Only time will tell.

Madeline takes off Boxer’s hoodie and sees all the tattoos he got while he was gone. She looks at one of them and asks what it means. Boxer says ‘There Is A Path To End All Suffering...You Should Take It’

Cyndi is on board the Mega-Zeppelin and is on the phone with Simon. She asks if he got the DVD from Deep Throat 2. Simon tells her that he did and that he’s going to broadcast it.

The video is leaked out on the internet and all the news networks. Ronald is exposed as a racist cop and Bart Bookman is shown killing Dream and Dion, the video shows Boxer briefly.

Boxer is getting ready to board the Mega-Zeppelin with Madeline. Madeline asks ‘how does it end?’, Boxer replies ‘With a handshake’. Madeline tells him that she had a dream that he died. Once they arrive on the Mega-Zeppelin, Boxer is invited to the Marx Suite alone. Boxer leaves Madeline and tells her that he isn’t going to die.

Boxer goes down the elevator and exits. He walks to a box where he takes out a handgun that was left inside. He goes down a second elevator.

"Revelation 22 - "Very soon now, I shall be with you again, bringing the reward to be given to every man according to what he deserves"

The elevator doors open and Boxer whips his gun at the person behind it. It is Simon Theory along with Dr. Kuntzler and Dr. Soberin Exx (Curtis Armstrong). Simon tells him to enter and lower his gun.

Nana Mae Frost is calling Bobby. She tells him that the Neo-Marxists are rigging the election in their own favour and that something must be done about it. She then hangs up on him. Vaughn asks Bobby why she isn’t at the party. He tells her that she is still caught up at work, but Brandt tells him that the Neo-Marxists have infiltrated it and she must leave immediately.

Soon afterwards, the Mega-Zeppelin is finally launched and begins orbiting around L.A. Down in the Marx Suite, Simon tells Boxer about ‘Serpentine Dream Theory’-an experiment orchestrated by Treer. Dr. Soberin tells Boxer that the tidal generator in Utopia Three has created a simulation of perpetual motion, because of this, it’s slowed the rotation of Earth down that environmental anomalies have sprung up. One of these anomalies was a rift in the fourth dimension was created in the Nevada desert. Boxer knows where the rift has occurred and where exactly and how big it is (this is probably due to ‘The Power’ script). Once Treer had discovered this rift, they launched monkeys into it. Boxer tells them that a monkey couldn’t survive that trip but only a human with a soul could. After trial and error with the monkey, Baron decided to send Boxer through it.

Boxer then asks why he was chosen. Dr. Kuntzler explains that it was because of his political ties and his celebrity persona. He is told that he travelled through the rift and when he did, he subsequently travelled 69 minutes back in time, creating two Boxer Santaros- a past and a present. Boxer realises that he is his present-self. Dr. Soberin shows Boxer his past-self, the burned-up corpse the Baron told Simon to have moved. He goes on to say that his corpse could help them unlock the secrets of humankind. Boxer is freaked out by the corpse. Boxer tells them ‘I don’t understand, I’ve NEVER contemplated suicide...I’m a pimp, and pimps don’t commit suicide’.

Dr. Soberin tells him that they do not know the consequences of two identical souls occupying the same space and come into contact could do.

In Martin’s SUV, Roland finds a Fluid Karma syringe beside his seat. He picks it up and asks Martin where he got it. Martin tells him that he got it from Pilot Abilene. Martin asks him if he bleeds. Roland injects himself in the neck. Pilot starts narrating saying what happened in Fallujah was called ‘friendly fire’ accident. Martin asks him where they are going. Roland tells him that they must go downtown. Roland somehow knows that his brother is inside an ice cream truck. Roland’s hand begins to glow (just like what happened to Roland in the dumpster). The two of them pull up to an SUV, where Martin has to empty out his bank account. Martin tries to take out his money but it won’t let him. Roland starts to become impatient so he tells him that they are going to take the ATM with them to Mexico.

On board the Mega-Zeppelin, Rebekah Del Rio is announced onto the stage and everyone rises for the National Anthem sung by her. Strangely the first few lines are sung in Spanish. As this is being sung, Ronald and Martin are chaining up the ATM and attaching the chain to the SUV, they go inside the SUV and floor it, ripping out the ATM and dragging it along the road.

In downtown L.A., there are riots occurring on the streets. A police force soon arrives but this is just the tip of the iceberg, they are also enthralled into the fighting. Soon after, Walter’s ice cream van begins driving through this chaos in the streets. Out of nowhere, Martin’s SUV cuts in front of them at a crossroads and the ice cream truck crashes into the ATM, sending the truck spiralling in the air. Martin skids to a stop while Ronald notices the ice cream truck.

On board the Mega-Zeppelin, Cyndi is on the phone with Teri (who’s dressed as Coffy, wielding a shotgun and wearing an afro-wig), and is fighting in the riots. Boxer approaches Serpentine and he asks if he is still alive. Serpentine replies ‘In more ways that one’. Boxer realises that she was there to make sure Ronald travelled through the time rift with him and she was the one who killed the past-Boxer, not himself (confirming that he didn’t commit suicide). Serpentine tells him that he is a pimp and that pimps don’t commit suicide. Boxer asks Serpentine were Ronald and Roland even twins. She says they are two identical souls walking the face of the Earth, coexisting in the same domain of chaos. She asks Boxer what would happen if the two of them shake hands. Boxer says that the fourth dimension would collapse and the universe will be destroyed. Boxer leaves her and looks at a TV report on a monitor – he then says that the ocean is in control now. He turns around and sees Senator Bobby Frost, Madeline, Vaughn and Brandt staring at him. He walks up to them and says that the Mega-Zeppelin is a Tower of Fire...they must evacuate everyone off the Zeppelin now.

Back in downtown L.A., Ronald grabs a gun and climbs out of the ice cream truck, when Roland finally sees him. Roland and Martin get out of the SUV and hide beside it. Ronald notices Roland for the first time, but is caught off guard when Ronald is shot in his eye. Seeing this, Roland runs towards Roland and tries to help him up. Martin tends to Walter, who is badly hurt. He takes the rocket launcher that Zora was looking at earlier in the film and hands it to Martin.

Ronald climbs inside of the ice cream truck and once he grabs Roland’s hand, they seem to fuse, with a white light shining from their hands. The ice cream truck begins to float into the sky, with Martin standing on top of it, with the rocket launcher. A strange aura is beaming out of the ice-cream truck and over the L.A. skyline.

On board the Mega-Zeppelin, Krysta and her three friends are ‘The Memory Gospel Dancers’. They are on stage wearing gasmasks and dancing to Moby-Memory Gospel. At this time also, at US-IDent, all the power is shut off, leaving Nana Mae Frost by herself inside of her office. She hits the panic button and immediately, many rioters (including Fortunio) break inside of the building, killing all of the workers and then finally, shooting her down inside of her own office.

Boxer sees Krysta performing on the stage so he walks onto the stage and begins slow dancing with her. She says ‘It had to be this way’. He just replies ‘I know’. Madeline sees this also and walks on to the stage also. The two women begin dancing with Boxer, and then just the two women. Madeline tells Krysta that Boxer will die, but Krysta just says that there is nothing that anyone can do about it. Boxer lets the two women continue dancing with each other. He stands back and takes his gun out and fires into the air. Boxer puts the gun to his head and tells everyone to leave the atrium and move to the rear of the Mega-Zeppelin or he will kill himself (and this time, he means it). Baron assures everyone that nothing is wrong and tells everyone to remain seated.

Inside the ice-cream truck, Roland is trying to let go. When Ronald refuses, he puts a gun to his head. As this argument continues inside the truck, Martin is still standing on top, holding the rocket launcher. He places it on his shoulder and aims at the Mega-Zeppelin.

Back on the Mega-Zeppelin, Baron is trying to talk some sense into Boxer. Boxer tells him that this is all in his head, and by pulling the trigger, he can finally wake up. Baron says that their mission is to ‘Dethrone Capitalism, Dethrone God’ (The Neo-Marxist mantra). Boxer tells him that he isn’t who he wants, it’s Ronald.

Roland asks Ronald if he remembers what happened in Fallujah. Ronald tells him that he remembers everything now.

Outside of the atrium, Cyndi is staring out into the L.A. skyline and she spots the glowing, floating ice-cream truck and a man armed with a rocket launcher on top of it. Martin fires the rocket towards the Mega-Zeppelin. On board the Mega-Zeppelin, Boxer puts down his gun and assumes the Messiah pose, and his tattoo of Jesus Christ on his back begins to bleed through his shirt. The Mega-Zeppelin explodes, killing everyone on board. Martin watches the Mega-Zeppelin fall down onto the streets. He assumes the Messiah poses and drops himself off the ice-cream truck, killing himself.

Inside the ice-cream truck, Roland repeatingly says ‘I forgive you’, which Roland keeps responding ‘Friendly-Fire’ (It’s Pilot Abilene talking through Ronald, telling him that all is forgiven between the two of them and what happened in Fallujah). Roland finally puts down his gun and gives in.

"Revelation 21 - "And God wiped the tears from his eyes, so the new Messiah could see out to the New Jerusalem"...His name was Officer Roland Taverner of Hermosa Beach, California; my best friend. He is a pimp...and pimps don’t commit suicide."

THE END

External links

* [http://www.southlandtales.com/ Official site]
*imdb title|id=405336|title=Southland Tales
*rotten-tomatoes|id=southland_tales|title=Southland Tales
*metacritic film|id=southlandtales|title=Southland Tales
*mojo title|id=southlandtales|title=Southland Tales
*amg movie|id=A325848|title=Southland Tales
* [http://usident.org/ "USIDent" site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/boxersantaros "Boxer Santaros" site]
* [http://www.krysta-now.com/ "Krysta Now" site]
* [http://www.treer-products.com/ "Treer Products" site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/southlandtalesofficial Official MySpace page]
* [http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=31382 Dvdtalk.com discusses "Southland Tales" cuts]
* [http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/2007/12/19/southland_tales_analysis/index.html Salon.com analysis of "Southland Tales"]