I have to get home to Africa.
I am stuck in purgatory at my mother's house in New Jersey.
This trip has been a total bust.
I am the world expert on Bayaka Pygmy music,
and I haven't sold a single CD.
Larry, if I can hear it, its too loud.
Too loud. Too loud.
This music is Beethoven to me, ma!
Sataka, it's time to call the White.
Ow!
WOO!
Chainsaws? A ringing sound?
Its more like a whine.
That frying?
Frying and then a chopping sound, like an axe on a tree.
Chk! Chk!
Tinnitus indeed. Get dressed.
Doc says my liver is shot.
I don't get a new one I'll die.
With luck we'll, we'll have one in a month.
You'll have good days and bad days.
I never have good luck in New York.
Leprosy is entirely curable.
Don't worry about the ear.
Nothing for it anyway.
It's my instrument.
They use to call me Big Ear in Africa.
They won't be calling you anything anymore,
Larry your Africa Days are over.
For how long?
Forever.
Mergh.
What if I stayed in America?
I'll never complete my catalog.
Only one instrument left to get.
Molimo.
Holy Grail of Pygmy music.
I gotta see Lydia.
That's how the Bayaka describe the sound like a horn,
like uh a bull roar.
So interesting.
Lydia, my liver is shot.
I've got one more trip left in me,
I need the Malimo.
And it's not expensive.
Africa, Africa.
You don't have cash?
Ow.
Thank you.
Sataka.
Well you have to include the Dogon,
The Dogon? -Yes.
You, you really want to include them?
They're not endangered peoples.
The Dogon are not endangered?
How many of them can there possibly be?
At least five hundred thousand.
Merci.
Oh, merci.
You guys tourists?
Certainly not, we despise tourists.
We are travelers.
Here, have some tea.
Yes our goal is to visit all the endangered people of the world
before they disappear.
We just came from Papa New Guinea.
Bloody amazing.
The Kirala tribe, they use the skulls of their ancestors as pillows.
Where are you from?
Yamondo.
Central Africa.
Yamondo, yeah.
Formerly a small trading village,
forest pygmies, to date considerably compromised.
yeah.
Are you Peace Corp?
What?
Not Peace Corp. -What?
It's a perfectly reasonable, leave me alone.
He's really pissed off now.
Shut up.
Our honored Chinese guest has arrived, Kirikiri.
It's a big day.
Off you go.
I don't mean to contradict your guide book but uh-
but if there's one place on Earth that will never ever change,
its Yamondo
I'm sorry?
You see the Byaka are different.
They spend of their time living in the forest,
and in the forest people leave them alone.
And if they have been compromised,
it is because of their Bantu neighbors who treat them like slaves.
The bus! The Bus!
The Bus!
No room for pygmies.
Don't you recognize me?
Chief!
I'm your chief, Simboki.
Stop! It's my chief!
My chief!
My White man!
My Chief!
They know his name.
They know him.
Greetings!
What are you all doing here?
We came to meet you!
How did you know I was coming?
Sataka called ''Big Ear'' and he came!
Yes, Sataka called me.
Now they've got cell phones?
Total non-starter.
You're still here! Out.
Get out of here!
Kirikiri, take a left here.
Oh oh! The Mayor's car.
Greetings.
Oh my god.
Our sawmill!
Thanks to the sawmill we have noise now!
It's huge.
It looks like it could swallow the whole forest.
Does it ever sleep?
Never!
Simboki, Bobanjo.
Ah, Merci.
Ah, monsieur Larry.
The white with the ear phones.
I thought it was you.
Its me, Bassoun.
The mayor.
How fortunate you are back.
Mr Yi, meet mister Larry.
An expert on our country.
I told Mr. Yi you are a very very good friend of our little brothers
of the great equatorial forest,
almost a pygmy yourself.
Are you peace corp?
Well-
Is looking for kind of a pygmy horn.
Called the Malimo.
Made of ivory and uh yanis.
Most people say it doesn't even exist.
It exists.
A myth.
I hope you haven't forgotten a little souvenir for me from America.
Is that my friend Bobanjo?
Yes, it's the musician of Yamondo.
Bobanjo? Come over here!
Ga!
Come close...
I want to do a little business.
I want Sataka to kill two elephants for me.
With big tusks!
Sataka lives in the forest now.
He is like a leopard.
He doesn't hunt elephants anymore.
Find him! He's the best hunter.
Stop the car!
What was that about?
Oh I asked them to put on a pygmy dance to welcome you to Africa.
Larry! Larry! Larry!
Larry!
Start up the pipe
There's been a lot of rain.
Give me the smoke, it is my turn.
Look at that!
Hey, what's for breakfast?
Nothing!
How's it going?
Fine.
Where's Sataka?
Note here! In the forest.
In the forest?
Far.
Pipe?
So uh when do we leave for the forest?
Never.
We don't go into the forest anymore.
What do you mean, ''We don't go to the forest anymore.''?
We are too busy.
We don't go into the forest.
We stay in the village.
The Mayor has forbidden it.
He wants us to stay in the village.
The Mayor?
It's bad, very bad.
There are to many Bantu in the forest with guns.
They shoot and kill everything.
Give me matches.
Ah no.
Give me matches!
We want some of that cloth.
I don't have any cloth.
You bring things for the men.
what about us women?
I don't want this, change it.
Ask him.
Okay, where's mine?
Who is she?
Sataka's granddaughter.
Wow. She's grown up.
Welcome.
Give it to me.
I'll carry it.
Let's go!
Don't run.
OD.
Sony. Begin.
Bad news.
Your request has been denied.
I am truly sorry.
It's a long way to come for such news, but...
how many other areas to cut
that do not involve the hunting grounds of our little brothers?
I don't want the other areas.
I want here.
I would be glad to assist you with an appeal Mr. Yi.
How long will that take?
The problem is the wildlife club.
They've been protecting elephant there for thirty years.
We are poor country, we depend on their resources.
Recently they've even given the pygmies their own traditional hunting areas.
There is hope I think Mr. Yi.
The pygmy love elephant meat as much as I do,
and if I can prove to the wildlife club that they are a threat to the elephant,
then perhaps I can explain it to all our associates
that your saw mill offers a more stable partnership.
So you know a pygmy who will kill an elephant for us.
And the American who lives with the pygmies, wont he interfere?
You mean Larry?
Larry's not long for this world, Mr. Yi.
Have you looked at him closely?
His color, the skin?
As they say, our ''African climate is entirely unsuitable for Caucasians''.
Take it as a down payment.
Bonjour.
Mulala!
It's you, Mulala?
You cheated me.
I paid you three cigarettes
and you never showed up to work in my fields.
First of all,
I'm going to take my pineapple.
Give me the radio.
Ho!
We don't need Bantus here.
Bantus here.
Larry! Larry!
We should put on a dance.
Oh! Boca! Abone, uh?
If we put on a dance, the Molimo will come.
Never! It never comes in the village.
We just need money for beer.
What's that?
The bicycle you ordered.
No way.
Guys, I just got here,
I did not order a bicycle.
These are my transport.
I won't need a bike when I go /into the forest.
An important man like you has to have wheels.
No, I don't have any money.
But, you're a white man.
You'll have it paid off in no time.
Only a hundred thousand francs.
A hundred thousand? That's outrageous.
Really, a white man like you only has a little money?
Drop it.
Larry.
Larry? The bike is nice,
and you can give me a ride on it.
Oh god I can't afford this.
Okay.
There you are!
Ah, monsier Lamer.
Your prolonged stay in America.
It went well?
Not bad.
You must have brought back some wonderful things.
Well, communication from the president himself.
To go into t he forest now, one needs 'laissez-passer'.
I've never needed-- New rules!
Sure but I-
One never refuses the President.
Mister Larry, a lot has changed since you left.
We are in the process of 'systematizing' our pygmies.
No more beef hearts or swinging in trees.
We are a modern country.
Monsiuer Lamer!
Ha!
Not even a tiny little watch for me?
One never refuses the Mayor!
Kirikiri!
Come, we're leaving.
Larry, why are you still in the village?
Sataka is waiting for you in the forest.
Is that true?
Sataka will come for me.
So, are you going tomorrow?
You're staying in the village.
Why?
If only you could hunt.
I know how to hunt.
You, hunt?
Larry! Larry!
The farmer is hiring. Let's go!
You carry my basket, and I'll hunt.
Larry!
Nice bike, fuck head!
I must have people to work...
you, you and you too...
Get over here and follow me.
We can expand our operations, to the Congo but these concessions
would test our mastery of the most forbidding frontier.
Most valuable timber in Africa.
And the hardest to get.
You like a challenge.
Ah! I prefer elephant meat.
Elephant is my favorite.
Please.
Why not?
It was already dead.
I wonder why the French never penetrated your forest.
Maybe they were afraid of the darkness.
Not the dragon that is said to be here?
Who told you about the Mokiliimbimi?
Our little brothers of the forest have a lot of imagination
but uh... these machines you Chinese have,
so great, so powerful, they go over everything. Right?
Don't they?
Sataka.
Are you coming in?
I'm coming.
I don't think the White's coming on his own.
I'll go get him.
Larry. Come and get your food.
Food.
Merci.
Larry!
Larry! I brought Mr. Yi-
he wants to buy a CD of your pygmy music.
Dollars or Euros?
Oh, um, I only wish I had one to sell, uh I'm all out.
But uh, but I'm surprised that uh you have an interest.
I am interested in everything.
Do you want a grub?
They're good.
No thank you.
But what I find strange is our workers are terrified to go into the deep forest
Uh, the Bantu are uh extremely superstitious.
Even the Mayor.
They speak of this uh... monster.
That only the Bayaka can speak to.
Mokili-imbimbi.
There you go.
What are they saying?
Uh, they're saying uh that uh has big scales like a crocodile.
It sleeps on a bed of elephant tusks
and a horn out of it's fore head.
That its feet are on backwards...
Smoking too much of that pipe!
You scared the foreigner away.
Kirikiri?
Go serve this summons on Mr. Whitman.
It's urgent.
Ah, welcome Mr. Larry.
Please.
Thank you for coming.
Ca va?
Do you have everything you need?
Not exactly.
If our little brothers give you any problem,
don't hesitate to tell me.
I will have my men straighten them out.
No, ca va, ca va bien.
Good.
Now, for the matter at hand, uh...
you have to register your recording equipment with my office.
Do you have a permit to make recordings?
I have never needed one.
I told you, this is a modern country.
We have regulations now regarding our patrimony.
You cannot go recording our birds and animals for free.
I am adding to the patrimony,
the complete recordings of the Babajella Forest Instruments.
I know all about your project Mr. Larry,
but without a permit-
I have never heard about a permit!
Are you deaf? -No.
You understand what I said? New regulations!
You must bring your equipment here immediately
and leave it with me for safe-keeping.
What is it with you people and your obsession with pieces of paper!
With your stupid official stamps on it!
Who created the little papers.
It's my people? Or your people?
And now, for the last time
you must bring your equipment here immediately.
Mr. Larry, don't worry,
I will personally ensure that it is returned to you.
What a beautiful man!
He has a woman in every village.
The Bantu tease me.
They say the white will leave again,
but I'll still be here.
I only just arrived.
I've work to do in the forest.
To make good dance, we need more palm wine.
No. No money.
Wait. Wait.
I have a Molimo!
Give me money,
and the Molimo will come, really!
I have no money.
Bobanjo says, ''leave the white alone''.
The Molimo is here!
Obanjo! Obanjo!
Obanjo!
Sataka.
I hear you stay in the forest all the time now.
I am staying in the forest forever.
I eat honey...I eat yams...
tap root...near a big clearing.
There's too much noise in the village, lots of noise.
The village is bad.
The village is very, very bad.
I stay where...
-at Bounging Bai.
It's good.
I brought a gift for you.
I have a gift for you.
Ma ya na ka do o fay.
Sataka!
Ow.
Larry went to America.
Never. He took his machete.
Larry's like a baby in the forest.
Someone should go with him.
Argh!
Listen to me.
Listen to me, I am the chief.
Larry has gone into the forest.
...To find Ekadi and Sataka.
We should follow.
What about the Mayor?
We'll ask the Jengi.
I wanna find Sataka!
Where's Ekadi?
The white man got lost.
He was bending stems like crazy.
He got lost in the forest.
Where did he lose his way?
Careful. The forest can spin your eyes.
I, I know.
My eyes were spinning.
Let's go.
Mushrooms.
Sataka.
Look at the mushrooms the white has picked!
He's going to kill us all.
Hey, I didn't know.
The oracle doesn't bullshit.
We'll soon find out where Sataka went.
Did they go to the Likumbe?
Did they go to the Ndoki?
Did they go to the Makupe?
Did they go to Cameroon?
Of course they did not go to Cameroon.
Relax- I'm just warming up the oracle.
Enough of the oracle.
I know the way to the camp.
Makombe is like that with men.
I'm useless.
I can't even dance.
That's true.
No doubt about it, you can't dance.
I can't hunt either.
Hunt?
I will teach you to hunt.
Elephant.
Commander, surround this house!
Mr. Larry?
Your behavior has jeopardized an important affair of state.
I'm issuing orders for your arrest.
Search in there.
Search the whole place.
Larry has left this list behind.
This list is useless,
They can't be farhinding in the bush- round them up!
There's a big cobra in those weeds!
I'm going to get you!
So Sataka used me as bait to get the whole village into the forest.
It's like the Jersey shore in summer.
Get over there, you don't know how to build a house.
...this isn't necessary.
I know that certain people have been telling you...
it's lies!
If we catch them they'll be punished.
Stop this nonsense.
Come out of there.
That's an order.
I know what you're thinking.
You think you can hide in there forever?
Well no!
I'm going to call the army and they'll come with machine gun
and orders to get you out of there dead or alive.
This is a federal offensethe kind of crime that can cost you your lives!
Zero.
Search everywhere.
In the branches. Under the trees.
Listen, if you don't come out right now,
you'd be better off never coming out!
Okay! Stay in the bush forever!
Stupid pygmies!
You think I won't find you?
Even if you go all the way to the Congo...
You'll come back here one day and...
I'll still be the Mayor... for life!
Larry? He's useless! He's lazy!
I like Larry. He's funny and he is kind.
He dances like this.
But I really like him!
I don't dance.
Hey
My mother sent me over here.
I've brought you a yam.
Merci.
It's a nice yam.
Nice mat!
It's cold, lie on it with me.
My mother's waiting...
Larry!
Larry! Larry!
Larry! Larry...
Larry! Your ''wife'' has made you a hut.
She can cook up your portion of the snake.
My ''husband'' will have to do more for me than sit on a snake...
At least fin me some honey.
He's afraid of bees.
All work and no play.
Let's go.
Tomorrow a pygmy will shoot an elephant.
This forest will be yours.
Don't bring your noise into the forest.
This is as far as our wheels can carry us.
It's two days walk to Boungingi Bai.
What did he say?
Just a little walk from here.
That's a big gun for red river hog.
You whites don't want us to kill elephants.
But, elephant is food for us Bayaka.
Elephant is good. Lot's of meat.
The meat that we'll roast on the coals.
We have plenty meat.
Red river hog, monkey, duikers, tortoise-
if you let him kill an elephant government will blame you.
I'm killing the elephant for you.
Why?
The Molimo.
You will not be shooting an elephant while I am in camp.
You don't like meat, why?
I love meat!
What makes you think you own the forest?
Mr. Yi?
Larry.
Doc did say I'd have good days and bad days.
If I die here, the Bayaka will have to leave the forest.
Carry my corpse back to Yamondo.
Yekko?
There's Lalo,
Sataka is teaching him to hunt an elephant.
I hate this place.
What are you doing?
Help me.
Where?
They are hunting with spears.
Then you have to do it.
We cannot have a spear wound.
I'm sick and tired of carrying out your dirty work, all of you!
Here, do it yourself.
Guards, take Yi and follow the elephant trail.
Christophe, you stay with me.
Bassoun!
Sataka!
Wait.
I came because you called me.
I am going to give you the Molimo.
I have to hunt this elephant.
Bayaka need the Molimo too.
That's it, he found it.
The Molimo.
The dragon!
Don't be sad.
You wont be sick forever.
Your Africa days are over, Larry.
Our little brothers will be known through out the world.
Because of me.
Me!
Yee! -Oh Larry.
Let me free!
Larry!
''Husband'' of mine,
are you sleeping or are you dead?