Gorky Park (1983)

Lee Marvin: Jack Osborne

Photos 

Quotes 

• Jack Osborne : There's a sliver of food on your upper lip.

  Arkady Renko : I'm just a plodding investigator, no style. Completely out of my depth. Oh, yes. Three bodies, three people, shot down and mutilated in Gorky Park, and me, I have food on my lip.

  Jack Osborne : Not even caviar at that. I somehow feel that the executioner, whoever he may be, would have preferred somebody, a more nimble opponent.

• Arkady Renko : I always wanted to meet an American. You are so, so different. Forgive me for staring. Only once before did I ever meet an American, in the flesh, so to speak. A young student, Kirwell I think he was called. James Kirwell.

  Jack Osborne : Oh?

  Arkady Renko : But he was dead.

  Jack Osborne : That doesn't count then, does it?

• Jack Osborne : The Ancient Greeks, as usual, understood the mechanics of power very well. Justice they said, Justice is in the interests of the strong. I've heard the same sentiment expressed in not-too-dissimilar terms in America. Those with the gold make the rules someone said.

  Iamskoy : Do you mean, in America, only those with money can be innocent?

  Jack Osborne : No. I mean in America, attorneys do very well for themselves.

  [Iamskoy chuckles] 

  Anton : Well, do you know what you're doing here when you engage a defence lawyer?

  Jack Osborne : Wasting money.

  [Iamskoy and Osborne chuckle] 

• Arkady Renko : How are they killed?

  Jack Osborne : Who?

  Jack Osborne : Sables.

• Jack Osborne : Old houses are so like people, don't you think?

• Jack Osborne : Barguzinsky sable. The finest. There's no more comparison between this and ordinary fur than Irina's skin and that of other women.

• Iamskoy : And a very good morning to you.

  Arkady Renko : Oh, I've been up all night.

  Iamskoy : Come, come. No man can work so many hours.

  Arkady Renko : Don't worry, I'm going home to bed. This is my breakfast.

  Iamskoy : The poet lays down his pen, the killer his axe, and even you must learn to relax.

  Arkady Renko : Well, bed. I can relax in bed.

  Iamskoy : Just the thing to open up your pores and unclog your weary mind, you know. This is my daily regime. A brisk walk, a leisurely dip. It's wonderful.

  [cut to interior of a Russian bathhouse] 

  Iamskoy : Even we humble servants of the state need to be refreshed from time to time, eh?

  [Osborne enters] 

  Iamskoy : Ah!

  Jack Osborne : Well, well, this is a surprise.

  Iamskoy : You recall Chief Investigator Renko from last weekend at my dacha?

  Jack Osborne : Oh, yes, surely. I'm not quite sure whether he arrested, or abducted the young lady who accompanied me.

  Arkady Renko : *Rescued*.

  Iamskoy : Say, from the machinations of a capitalist.

• Jack Osborne : [Osborne finished dressing sees the approaching Renko's reflection in the mirror]  Ah. Finished eating, are we?

  Arkady Renko : Yes, thank you. Um... I understand you import our wonderful Soviet sable into America, Mr Osborne.

  Jack Osborne : Well, you Soviets have the world monopoly on sable.

  Arkady Renko : I always wanted a sable hat.

  Jack Osborne : Well, a man of your status should possess one. Must we see what we can do?

  Arkady Renko : Oh, we Russians have long ago learned how to wait for things. I'm very patient. I watch and I think and I wait. It is my only virtue.

  Jack Osborne : But why wait? I'm always happy to accommodate my ah... particular Soviet friends.

  Arkady Renko : Patience has its own rewards.

  Jack Osborne : Do you want the hat or not?

  [both force a smile and chuckle] 

  Jack Osborne : Perhaps the chief investigator has some other reward in mind?

  Arkady Renko : Yes.

  [pauses to walk to the other side of Osborne] 

  Arkady Renko : Perhaps.

  Jack Osborne : You don't know?

  Arkady Renko : Not yet. First I have the hunch. Then, I begin to assemble reasons. Then I...

  [protracted pause] 

  Jack Osborne : Then, you...?

  Arkady Renko : Then I pounce.

  Jack Osborne : Oh, that's no way to catch a sable. They're far too cunning and far too fast. While you wait and you think, and you watch... your prey is gone.

  [smiles] 

  Arkady Renko : Oh, I don't think so.

  Jack Osborne : Good. Good! Meanwhile I have the hat and you don't.

  [exits] 

• Jack Osborne : You see, corruption is part of us. All of us. The very heart of us.

• Jack Osborne : Frankly, I am astounded that your people would understand a sexual obsessión.