A Serious Man

Dora!

(ALL CONTINUE SPEAKING YIDDISH)

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING ON HEADPHONES)

(MALE TEACHER SPEAKING HEBREW)

(TEACHER CONTINUES SPEAKING HEBREW)

Fagle!

Fagle!

Huh?

(TEACHER CONTINUES SPEAKING HEBREW)

All right. Hold still now.

(ROCK MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING ON HEADPHONES)

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING LOUDLY ON SPEAKER)

Mmm-hmm. Yes.

Well. . . Oh, sorry.

No, thanks.

Well, you're in good health.

So how's Judith and the kids?

Good. Everyone's good, you know.

Danny must be, what about to be bar mitzvahed?

Two weeks.

Well, mazel tov!

They grow up fast, don't they?

Hmm. . .

Yeah, you put the. . .

That's right, you put the. . .

You following this?

Okay?

So. . .

This part is exciting.

So, am I right?

So, okay. So. . .

So, if that's that, then we can do this.

And that's Schrodinger's Paradox, right?

Is the cat dead?

Or is the cat not dead?

Messages, Professor Gopnik.

Thank you, Natalie.

Oh, Clive, come in.

So, what can I do for you?

(HEAVILY ACCENTED) Dr. Gopnik, I believe the results

of the physics midterm were unjust.

Uh-huh? How so?

I received unsatisfactory grade.

In fact, F, the failing grade.

Yes. You failed the midterm. That's accurate.

Yes, but that is not just.

I was unaware to be examined on the mathematics.

Well, you can't do physics without mathematics, really, can you?

If I receive the failing grade, I lose my scholarship,

and I feel shame.

I understand the physics. I understand the dead cat.

But you can't really understand the physics

without understanding the math.

The math tells how it really works. That's the real thing.

The stories I give you in class are just illustrative.

They're like fables, say, to help give you a picture.

I mean. . .

Even I don't understand the dead cat.

The math is how it really works.

Very difficult.

Well, I'm sorry, but I. . .

What do you propose?

Passing grade. No, no.

Or perhaps I can take the midterm again.

I know now it cover the mathematics.

Well, the other students wouldn't like that, would they?

If one student gets to retake the test until he gets a grade he likes?

Secret test. No. . .

Hush-hush. No.

That's just not workable.

I'm afraid we'll just have to bite the bullet on this thing, Clive. . .

Very troubling.

Sy Ableman.

Hello, Sy. Larry Gopnik.

Larry. How are you, my friend?

Good. How you been, Sy?

Fine. Can we talk, Larry?

What? You. . . Uh. . .

Hello? Larry?

Call back!

Clive!

That was Sy Ableman.

He said he got disconnected.

Out in a minute.

I gotta wash my hair. I'm going out tonight.

I'll be out in a minute.

Jesus Christ!

Why is Uncle Arthur always in the bathroom?

He has to drain his sebaceous cyst. You know that.

Will you set the table?

Why can't he do it in the basement or out in the garage?

I had 20 bucks in it, too. Inside the case.

Twenty bucks? How come?

Bought a lid from Mike Fagle a couple of weeks ago.

Still owed him 20.

He already gave you the pot?

Yeah. But a couple of weeks ago, my funding got cut off.

Fagle said he'd pound the crap out of me if I didn't pay up.

What funding got cut off? Where do you get your money?

What happened?

Rabbi Turchik took his radio. Had money in it.

That fucker!

Yeah. I think he said he was confiscating it.

He's a fucker. Where do you get your money?

Mike Fagle's gonna kick his ass.

Last week he pounded the crap out of Seth Seddlemeyer.

He's a fucker!

Fagle or Seth Seddlemeyer? They're both fuckers!

Out in a minute!

Are you still in there?

Yeah, I'll be out in a minute!

Arthur!

Yeah? Dinner!

Okay, out in a minute!

We should wait.

Are you kidding?

Mr. Brandt keeps mowing part of our lawn.

Does that matter?

What?

Is it important?

It's just odd.

Mom, how long is Uncle Arthur staying with us?

Ask your father.

Honey.

Did you talk to Sy?

Sy?

Sy Ableman. That's right, he called. But I. . .

You didn't talk to him? No.

You know the problems that you and I have been having?

Mmm-hmm.

Well, Sy and I have become very close.

In short, I think it's time that we start talking about a divorce.

Sy Ableman?

This is not about Sy.

You mentioned Sy!

Don't twist my words, Larry.

A divorce? What have I done? I haven't done anything.

Larry, don't be a child.

You haven't done anything. I haven't done anything.

Yes! Yes, we haven't done anything.

And I'm probably about to get tenure.

Nevertheless, there have been problems, as you know. . .

Well. . . . . .and things have changed.

And then, Sy Ableman.

Sy has come into my life, and I. . .

Come into your. . . What does that mean? You barely know him.

Oh, please. We've known the Ablemans for 15 years, Larry!

Yes, but you said we hadn't done anything.

I haven't done anything.

This is not some flashy fling, Larry.

This is not about woopsy-doopsy.

Sy Ableman?

I'll be out in a minute! Oh, Jesus Christ!

Look, I didn't know any other way of breaking it to you

except to just tell you and treat you like an adult.

Is that so wrong?

Where do I sleep?

What? Arthur's on the couch.

Look, Sy feels that we should. . .

Esther is barely cold !

Esther died three years ago,

and it was a loveless marriage.

Sy wants a gett.

A what? A ritual divorce.

He says it's very important.

Without a gett, I'm an aguna.

A what?

What are you talking about?

You always act so surprised.

I have begged you to see the Rabbi.

Messages, Professor Gopnik.

Yes, thanks for coming, Clive. Have a seat.

We had, I think, a good talk the other day,

but you left something. . . I didn't leave it.

Well, you don't even know what I was going to say.

I didn't leave anything.

I'm not missing anything.

I know where everything is.

Well then, Clive. . .

Where did this come from?

This is here, isn't it?

Yes, sir. That is there.

This is not nothing.

This is something.

Yes. That is something.

What is it? You know what it is, I believe.

And you know I can't keep it, Clive. Yes, sir.

I'll have to pass it on to Professor Finkle,

along with my suspicions about where it came from.

Actions have consequences.

Yes. Often.