CALIBER

Give us your briefcase, man.

I’m not giving you my goddamned briefcase.

Motherf**ker, give us your motherf**king briefcase!

I was willing to mind my own business. I was willing to respect your territory and treat you like a man. But that is not enough for you.

We need that briefcase, and that’s all there is to it.

You want my briefcase? I’ll get it for you, all right? Just hold your f**king horses.

Sir, we really need that briefcase. There is no need to get angry.

Here is your motherf**king briefcase!! (followed by a hail of gunfire)

At least that is the way this shot played itself out in my head, a scene from Falling Down. I had been in Mexico City for three days and was in a major creative lull. By mid-afternoon, I was looking for something/anything to play itself out.

As we walked back towards our hotel, we stumbled upon this scene unfolding in a nearby parking lot: the attendant had lost the car keys belonging to the car owner and the result was a lot of screaming and yelling and this shot.