Birthday Girl is a 2001 British-American drama and crime film directed by Jez Butterworth. The plot focuses on English bank clerk John Buckingham who orders a Russian mail-order bride, Nadia. It becomes clear upon her arrival that Nadia cannot speak English, and early into her stay, two mysterious men come to the house claiming to be her cousin and cousin's friend. The film features Nicole Kidman, Ben Chaplin, Mathieu Kassovitz, and Vincent Cassel. English and Russian are spoken interchangeably in the film.
John Buckingham (Ben Chaplin), a lonely St Albans bank clerk, orders a mail-order bride Nadia (Nicole Kidman) from Russia on the Internet. John is uncomfortable and shy, but Nadia is sexually bold. Though Nadia cannot speak English and John cannot speak Russian, they soon bond. Later on, a man she introduces as her cousin Yuri (Mathieu Kassovitz) and his friend Alexei (Vincent Cassel) turn up to celebrate her birthday. Alexei soon shows that he has a temper. After a violent altercation, Alexei holds Nadia hostage and demands a ransom from John. John has grown to care for Nadia and is forced to steal from the bank where he has worked for ten years. After the ransom is paid, he realises that he has been the victim of an elaborate con. Nadia, Yuri, and Alexei are criminals, and Alexei is actually Nadia's boyfriend.
"Birthday Girl" (バースデイ・ガール, Bāsudei gāru = Birthday girl) is a short story written by Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, and first published in 2002. Murakami was putting together Birthday Stories (2002 in Japanese, 2004 in English), his anthology of short stories on the theme of birthdays, and wrote this story especially for it. A translation was also published in the July 2003 issue of Harper's Magazine, and collected into Murakami's own compilation Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (2006 in English, 2009 in Japanese).
A girl who works as a waitress gets her birthday wish granted on her twentieth birthday – a wish that takes the rest of her life to realize.
You know,I been waiting so long for this chance
Can we talk alone
But I can't wait another minute
Oo, Lady, you look so fine
Can't turn my eyes away
So much I wanna say
Tonight I wanna make you mine
We'll turn the lights down low
And dance so very slow
I know that we don't know each other well
But I can't believe I'm wasting your time
Oh no
So tell me what to do
For the love of you tonight
Chorus:
Cause I've been holding back what I feel
Love so real
But I can't wait another minute
I can't wait another minute
Cause I've been holding back all I feel
I'm for real
Cause I can't wait another minute
I can't wait another minute
For your love
Sweet lady
Don't you look away
I don't mean to make you shy
But we haven't got much time
Tonight, I know just what to say
I'll love your cares away
You and I will find a way
You know that there's a possibility
That we'll never get this chance once again
Oh no
So tell me what to do
For the love of you tonight
Chorus
I know that we don't know each other well
But I can't believe I'm wasting your time
Oh no
So tell me what to do
For the love of you tonight
Chorus
Don't make me wait another minute
Oh no baby
For your love