Poco più di vent’anni separano due film: Glengarry Glen Ross (David Mamet) del 1992; The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese) del 2013. Venti anni di America. Venti anni di successi stratosferici e disastrose rovine, di abili venditori di fumo, truffatori e perdenti senza speranza. Ma soprattutto ventanni di discorsi motivazionali. Essì, perchè, nel cinema americano, il discorso motivazionale è un tema ricorrente. La lista è sconfinata ma Matthew Belinkie la riassume abbastanza bene.
Perchè ci tengono, loro, a farsi convincere, a credere, innamorarsi, lasciarsi conquistare. Chè in fondo, poi, è il fine ultimo di qualsiasi racconto: farci sognare, raccontandoci balle. Quindi cominciamo:
Ma veniamo al punto (e ci tocca parafrasare Moretti): i due discorsi qui sopra, sono molto diversi ma sono uguali. Sono uguali ma sono diversi. Nel senso che, a guardarli bene, così, uno di seguito all’altro, è chiaro che presentano, sì, un sacco di differenze, ma è anche evidente che i punti di contatto ci sono e non sono pochi. C’è un comune denominatore, una matrice unica. In questi trascorsi 20 anni qualcosa è cambiato, ma anche no. L’effetto, su di me, è stato quello dei déjà vu di Neo.
Insomma, sono proprio queste diverse somiglianze che, forse, qualcosa di quello che in questi ventanni è successo, in America e non solo, in fondo in fondo, forse, ce lo dicono. Ora il problema è che io sono veramente troppo pigro per mettermi qui a tirare le somme. Fatelo voi, se ne avete voglia. Sennò continuate a godervi lo spettacolo.
Qui sotto, a mò di freebies, la trascrizione dei due speech.
Glengarry Glen Ross
In this scene, Blake (Alec Baldwin) is confronting the employees of a tough Chicago real-estate office, Shelley Levene (Jack Lemmon), Ed Moss (Ed Harris) and George Aaronow (Alan Arkin) while their unsympathetic supervisor John Williamson (Kevin Spacey) looks on. If you would like, this monologue I’m sure can be edited into one incredibly long one, if you want to take out the lines from the other actors.
Blake: Let me have your attention for a moment! So you’re talking about what? You’re talking about…(puts out his cigarette)…bitching about that sale you shot, some son of a bitch that doesn’t want to buy, somebody that doesn’t want what you’re selling, some broad you’re trying to screw and so forth. Let’s talk about something important. Are they all here?
Williamson: All but one.
Blake: Well, I’m going anyway. Let’s talk about something important! (to Levene) Put that coffee down!! Coffee’s for closers only. (Levene scoffs) Do you think I’m fucking with you? I am not fucking with you. I’m here from downtown. I’m here from Mitch and Murray. And I’m here on a mission of mercy. Your name’s Levene?
Levene: Yeah.
Blake: You call yourself a salesman, you son of a bitch?
Moss: I don’t have to listen to this shit.
Blake: You certainly don’t pal. ‘Cause the good news is — you’re fired. The bad news is you’ve got, all you got, just one week to regain your jobs, starting tonight. Starting with tonights sit. Oh, have I got your attention now? Good. ‘Cause we’re adding a little something to this months sales contest. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado. Anyone want to see second prize? Second prize’s a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired. You get the picture? You’re laughing now? You got leads. Mitch and Murray paid good money. Get their names to sell them! You can’t close the leads you’re given, you can’t close shit, you ARE shit, hit the bricks pal and beat it ‘cause you are going out!!!
Levene: The leads are weak.
Blake: ‘The leads are weak.’ Fucking leads are weak? You’re weak. I’ve been in this business fifteen years.
Moss: What’s your name?
Blake: FUCK YOU, that’s my name!! You know why, Mister? ‘Cause you drove a Hyundai to get here tonight, I drove a eighty thousand dollar BMW. That’s my name!! (to Levene) And your name is “you’re wanting.” And you can’t play in a man’s game. You can’t close them. (at a near whisper) And you go home and tell your wife your troubles. (to everyone again) Because only one thing counts in this life! Get them to sign on the line which is dotted! You hear me, you fucking faggots? (Blake flips over a blackboard which has two sets of letters on it: ABC, and AIDA.)
Blake: A-B-C. A-always, B-be, C-closing. Always be closing! Always be closing!! A-I-D-A. Attention, interest, decision, action. Attention — do I have your attention? Interest — are you interested? I know you are because it’s fuck or walk. You close or you hit the bricks! Decision — have you made your decision for Christ?!! And action. A-I-D-A; get out there!! You got the prospects comin’ in; you think they came in to get out of the rain? Guy doesn’t walk on the lot unless he wants to buy. Sitting out there waiting to give you their money! Are you gonna take it? Are you man enough to take it? (to Moss) What’s the problem pal? You. Moss.
Moss: You’re such a hero, you’re so rich. Why you coming down here and waste your time on a bunch of bums? (Blake sits and takes off his gold watch) Blake: You see this watch? You see this watch?
Moss: Yeah.
Blake: That watch cost more than your car. I made $970,000 last year. How much you make? You see, pal, that’s who I am. And you’re nothing. Nice guy? I don’t give a shit. Good father? Fuck you — go home and play with your kids!! (to everyone) You wanna work here? Close!! (to Aaronow) You think this is abuse? You think this is abuse, you cocksucker? You can’t take this — how can you take the abuse you get on a sit?! You don’t like it — leave. I can go out there tonight with the materials you got, make myself fifteen thousand dollars! Tonight! In two hours! Can you? Can you? Go and do likewise! A-I-D-A!! Get mad! You sons of bitches! Get mad!! You know what it takes to sell real estate? (He pulls something out of his briefcase) Blake: It takes brass balls to sell real estate. (He’s holding two brass balls on string, over the appropriate “area”–he puts them away after a pause) Blake: Go and do likewise, gents. The money’s out there, you pick it up, it’s yours. You don’t–I have no sympathy for you. You wanna go out on those sits tonight and close, close, it’s yours. If not you’re going to be shining my shoes. Bunch of losers sitting around in a bar. (in a mocking weak voice) “Oh yeah, I used to be a salesman, it’s a tough racket.” (he takes out large stack of red index cards tied together with string from his briefcase) These are the new leads. These are the Glengarry leads. And to you, they’re gold. And you don’t get them. Why? Because to give them to you is just throwing them away. (he hands the stack to Williamson) They’re for closers. I’d wish you good luck but you wouldn’t know what to do with it if you got it. (to Moss as he puts on his watch again) And to answer your question, pal: why am I here? I came here because Mitch and Murray asked me to, they asked me for a favor. I said, the real favor, follow my advice and fire your fucking ass because a loser is a loser. (He stares at Moss for a sec, and then picking up his briefcase, goes into inner office with Williamson)
The Wolf of Wall Street
Jordan Belfort: All right, I want you to focus for a second. See those little black boxes? They call it telephone, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret about this telephone. It not gonna dial themselves, okay? Without you, they just worthless hungs of plastics. Like a loaded M-16 without a trained marine to pull the trigger. And in the case of the Telephone, It’s up to each and every one of you. My hightly trained Strattonites, my killers who will not take no for an answer. My fucking warriors. Who’ll not hang up the phone. until their client either buys or fucking die! Let me tell you something. There is no nobility in poverty. I’ve been a rich man, and I’ve been a poor man, and I choose to rich every fucking time! ‘Coz at least as a rich man, when I have to face my problems, I show up in the back of the limo, wearing $ 2000 suite, and $ 14000 gold fucking watch. Good boys, get him up! Hit him! Fuck off from me! If there anyone here thinks I am superficial of materialistic. Go get a job in fucking McDonalds, ‘cause that’s where you fucking belong! But before you depart this room full of winners I want you to take a good look at the person next you, go on. ‘Cause sometime in not so distant future. You know, you pulled out to a red light and you beat-up old fucking Pinto, and that person gonna be pulling up right along side you In the brand new Porsche. With their beautiful wife by their side, who’s got big full up juiced tits. And who will you be next to? Some disgusting wildebeast with 3 days of razor stubble in a sleeveless moo-moo, crammed in the next you with a carload of groceries from the fucking price club! And that’s who you’re gonna be sitting next to! So you listen to me and you listen well. Are you behind on you credit card bills? Good, pick up the phone and start dialing! Is the landlord ready to evict you? Good! Pick up the phone, and start dialling! Is your girlfriend think you’re fucking worthless loser? Good! Pick up the phone and start dialling! I want you to deal with your problems by becoming rich! All you have to do today! Is pick up the phone. And speak the words that I have taught you. And I will make you richer than the most powerfull CEO in the United States. I want you to go out there and I want you to ram Steve Madden’s stock down to your clients throats till they fucking chokes on it. Till they choke on it and the buy a hundred thousands shares, that’s what I want to do! You need ferocious! You be relentless! You’ll be telephone fucking terrorist Now let’s start this motherfucker rolling around!