|
Bellbird (2019)
1
The pipiwharauroa the shining cuckoo. Radio New Zealand National. How are you, Violet? How are you, my darling? Maria left a message this morning. Judy's had to pull out of the performance. So it looks like I've got another solo to learn. Said her arthritis is playing up. Not sure what stiff hips have got to do with singing, but there you go. Lovely song, though. Then the bellbird Sitting in the tree La, la, la, la I could be a spring morning La, la, la, la, la I believe - Chasing air Weekend coming up for the shearing circuit? That's the one. The reigning Golden Shears and New Zealand shearing champion Roland Smith, he's bounced back from a rare defeat to successfully.. -Tea's up! Ask Bruce if he wants to pop over, when you drop the rubbish off. Don't ask for that staff discount again. It makes him uncomfortable. Needs to sort out that leave the motel owes him, though. They're taking advantage. I said if it all gets a bit tight, he could have his room back. He wasn't so keen on that. Call the cops if it bothers you so much. Where's the phone? You know where the phone is. You don't even eat watercress. It's a weed. So he's doing us a favor, then. Grumpy shit. -Four. -No. -Eight. Motherfucker. Oh fuck! How's it going, Dad? Hey, your mum asked if you wanna come over for a feed. Okay, sounds good. You well, Ross? The discount? Dad reckons there's a family discount. Is that right? Yeah. I'll see you at nine tomorrow. -Okay. See ya. -See ya. You are my... ...sunshine My only sunshine You make me happy When skies are gray You'll never know, dear How much I love you Please don't take my sunshine - Away The other night, dear As I lay sleeping I dreamed I held you In my arms When I awoke, dear I was mistaken So I hung my head And cried You are my sunshine... Here he is, the host with the most. You make me happy... How long you gonna be? Oh, as long as it takes to knock off that bottle of sherry. You're welcome to join us, if you're missing me. Please don't take my sunshine away... Shall we have another crack at Bellbird? I might need the words this time. This bellbird Sitting in a tree The piwakawaka, the fantail. What does she see? Radio New Zealand news. - Could be a spring morning Or a winter's eve I believe She sees the sun rise up And she sees the fall Of night is calling -Anything major? -Nah, nah, nah. And you've sorted out who's picking up for you? -Bruce can cover it. The Bruce I said was working today. You really don't quite understand, do you? It's his job. He can't just up and leave when he wants. I'll make a call when I get to the auditorium. -Might have someone who's keen. -Cheers. Good luck. For the show. Your day was long But now it's done Goodnight, goodnight My darling one To sleep, to sleep To dream, and then When morning comes We'll meet again I've got some hay to put away. How's it? Mum said you started without me. Need a hand? Nah. Amateur stacking there, Horse. You throw. I'll sort this out. Yeah, come on. Might need you to, uh,... stay on a bit longer. I'll hook the water back up to the sleep-out. You can take the ute down tomorrow and, uh,... pick up your bits and pieces. Okay, Dad. See you in the morning. Get one of those, uh, global dairy traders. What's been happening? The average price is down 0.6% since 2004. See you at about four, Dad. You can sort that fence out when you get back, then. I need to take you through ordering semen for spring at some point too. All right. See ya. Yeah, anyway, I said to this fulla, "Fuck that, son." "You wanted one slab, four-by-six, right there in black and white. "No one said anything about this fucking reinforcing steel shit." Like, you sign up with AW, read your fucking fine print. -Sorry I'm late. -All good. Hey. Hey, that's... Hey, Bruce! It is you. Brucie. How are you, mate? AW. A-Dub. Remember in college? Hey, last I heard, you were, uh, cleaning motel rooms up Paihia way. -Maintenance man. -Oh, maintenance man. Moving up in the world, then, eh, Brucie? Yeah, been back a few months now. Okay. Well, that's nice. So, you got him working here now? You suss him out with a pretty mean work vehicle. Hey, Bruce! All the bells and whistles, eh? Leave him alone, Anthony. -What? I think your missus just told you to fuck up, Anthony. Oh, Bruce. -I'll see you later, Connie. -Yeah. Oh, uh, and tell Graeme "howzit" from me. Laters, Brucie! -Did you fix my toaster? -Yeah. What was wrong with it? I just plugged it into the wall and turned it on. Did you try all the power sockets? Basically, I plug it into the wall and I go backwards from there. Yeah, righto, MacGyver. No one likes a show-off. -Laters. -See ya. Still going? -Getting there. You know, I gotta move the cows in here before the end of the day. Here. Oh yeah. -You want me to keep going? -No, you can do the next one. Keep that tight. Thought about a headstone for Mum at all? No. Not much time to do anything right now. -You shut the gates? Yep. You turn that water on? I'll sort it out when I get back. Just... I'm getting picked up soon. Connie is gonna run me through a few recipes for us, so... I thought... So, Bruce and I had a chat at the supermarket. He's been late pretty much every day for the last couple of weeks. Well, he's got work here. I know. He's been riding around on a lady's bike he found at the dump trying to fit it all in. I'm happy to cover his weekdays until the end of milking season, but I need him to work weekends. My mum, um, needs full-time care, and those are the days the caregiver has off. I mean, I would've got the other guy we had, but he got locked up in February, so... Either we wait six to 12 months until he gets out or I sort out a plan with Bruce. Well, you must be able to find someone else. Until Bruce resigns, I'm not looking for anyone else. Yep. Cows can't milk themselves. Well, can't they? I thought they just walked in, put their tits into the cups, got them sucked, and walked out again. -Dad. For the weekend, I think we've got someone that can help. Radio New Zealand National. This radio station's shit. -What? -The radio station, it sucks. I can change it if you want. No. Just bring my own songs next time. -Thanks. Hello. Can I help? Connie here? She doesn't work weekends. Can I take a message? You work here or are you just scavenging through other people's shit? It's all good, mate. Hey. I was watching that. See you in the morning, Dad. -You off? -Yeah. Righto. So, what did she teach you? Eh? What did she teach you at school? Beth? Reading. Her and some other old ladies would come in, listen to me and these other dumb fullas read. That it? Pretty much. I'd choose a book, then we'd go somewhere outside. Then I'd read my book to her. She'd just sit there and smile, mostly. Doesn't sound like she taught you anything. Must have done something. I was real shit at reading. Now I'm only a little bit shit. And at the end, we always did this to each other. She was useless at it. Kind of, like... All wrong, man. Funny as, though. You can go drink your tea or something. I can do this. -How are you, Bruce? -Good. The old man in? No. No, he had to shoot off. Bugger. He's a hard man to pin down. Do you know when he'll be back? Not sure. How's he doing? -Doing okay. -Good, good. Uh, and how's milk production been? Milk production? Very good. Lots of milk coming out of them. Right, have you, uh...? Have you herd tested lately? Uh, not-- not sure. Uh, it's okay. I mean, it's just that, uh... Nothing's come up on the database in the last couple of months, so, yeah. Right. Look, I know that was your mum's department, and... I just thought I'd pop along and lend a hand when needed. You know, keep you pointed in the right direction. Actually, are you the guys we get the semen off? Uh, no, no. No, that's... -That's LIC. -LIC? Yeah. I'm-- I'm in more of a farm-advisory role. That's something we can organize if you want it. What are you looking for, Dad? Hey, Ross. I'm Ana. I'm Marley's mum. I just come to see that my boy's not causing too much fuss. No, no. He's, uh... He's a good worker. Oh cool. Hey, I was just wondering if you've got any other mahi on during the week, like, after school and that, he'd be pretty keen to help out. If that's cool. It sounds like he should be reading. Hard out. You try getting him to sit still for five minutes and get back to me on that. Bloody ants in his pants, my boy. It's just me and his little sister at home, and, you know, Mars is a boy, he likes boy stuff, so... Oh, right, right... Cheers for this, but you don't need to pay him. We live in the wops, we've got nothing to spend it on. You know, I can't be a dad or anything. Whoa, no, you can chill out. I don't want you to be his dad. I just want the little shit out of the house before one of us strangles him. -Hey. -Hey. I was thinking maybe I could sort through all this lot. -Sweet. -Is, uh...? -Is stuff like that okay? -Yep, fine. You sure? We're allowed? Probably not, but do it anyway. -You sure? -Oh, bloody hell, Bruce. Yes, I'm sure. Sell what you want. Can I go back to bed now? Sorry. So, have you sorted through all this pile of weird shit? Yeah, I got some good things here. All this came through yesterday, so I'm just working through it. What's this? Ooh. -Yeah? -Yeah. -How's Mum? -Oh, she's good. Yeah. Body gave up on her a long time ago, but the mind's still sharp. So, you know, the tongue's still pretty sharp too. Swears like it's going out of fucking fashion. How's your dad? He's okay. You two must have some scintillating conversations. Mum used to do the talking for both of us. So I guess we just got used to leaving it to her. Well, get practicing, then. I wouldn't know where to start with Dad. Start anywhere. I mean, what do farmers talk about? Milk prices or... grass? Shit, I don't know, just... Pick a fight. Sing him a bloody song if you want. It's brand new. I wonder why they got chucked. Keep them. And second to last, we have this vacuum cleaner, which you can't really get any more, this make. It's really good. But we'll have to get parts, won't we? No, no, it's got all the parts. You know, -it fits a lot of really good-- -Is it a bag-less vacuum? -Bag-less, bag-less. -We'll do this, which is $10. How much do you want for this, then? Um, maybe... -Forty, forty bucks. -Forty bucks? -Save on gas. -Yeah, nah. Yeah, nah. Do you wanna feel the weight of that? -Yeah. -Yeah. Yeah, well, yeah, for an old fulla, well, I think I could handle it. -Yeah? -Yeah. You'd be surprised what people throw away. -Yeah? -This one guy threw away a kauri clock. How much do you think I should sell that for, Clem? -Dunno, mate. -Twenty? He's a cunning bugger, eh. Passing on all the shit jobs to you so he can skive off. He wants me to learn all about this for calving season. It's just I'm not too good with blood and slime. Yeah, good idea that. Good idea. Sensible thing to spread the knowledge around. The more you know about what goes on down here, the less chance there is of things going to shit when the heat comes on. -Clem? -Yeah. -Do you wanna buy some socks? -Socks? -Brand-new red ones. -What do you want for them? I dunno. Three pairs for five bucks? -Done. I'll take nine. -Really? Yeah, mate. You had me at red. It's a fascinating piece of equipment, actually. So, you've got your arse here, fanny directly below. Here's a funny thing: You got a problem in your vagina, Bruce, you'll find the answer in the rectum. Yeah. Rightio. First things first, you wanna make a puppet hand, like that. Fingers together, not splayed out, for easy insertion, eh? Then you want to lock your wrist, flex your elbow. You wanna approach the rectal opening, -give it a bit of Weet-Bix. So, every number, one to nine, across and down... and in each of these boxes. -See that? -No. -What don't you get? -All of it. Well, you need to bloody listen. How can I, look, when this guy's got his arm up the cow's arse? Funny as. You just wanna do a sweep of the pelvis. Find the cervix. A little bit further, there's the uterus. Right, all going well, you should be feeling a healthy fetus. At this stage, it's about the size of a large cat. There you go, girl. Any questions? Well, that's us, Ross. We're all good to go, mate. -Are you a vet? -That's right. Clem. Ooh, good on ya. Looks like a mean job. Yeah, it has its perks. So, what's the story tonight? Last milk of the season. You must be doing something. -No. -Come on, Ross. -It's tradition. -Not round here. Dad, we could have a barbecue at our house. A good way to thank Marley. I like free food. There's a hidden side to cows that a lot of people just don't appreciate. I mean, they have this stoic, placid exterior which suggests there's not a lot going on, but emotionally, they're actually incredibly deep. I mean, they show humor, anger. Sadness, confusion, shyness. They love, they laugh... I mean, they form friendships which last their entire lives, unbreakable bonds. They've got better memories than elephants. Nah, I don't reckon. Well, they do. I've studied it. Then why does everyone say, "I've got a memory like an elephant?" No one says, "I've got a memory like a cow." It'd be more accurate. Hey, Ross. -Hi. -Hey, Connie. -Thanks for coming. -Oh, all good. I brought something other than meat. -Yep. -Kia ora. Kia ora. -How's Mum? - Good. She's got a new job. Oh, yeah, I heard. Shutdown at the refinery, eh? - Yeah. -Yeah. -Hello. -Kia ora. -Kia ora. -Clem. -Ooh. Ooh. -Kia ora. I'm Connie. -That's right. So, where's the fairy bread? I'm having flashbacks to my fourth birthday party. This is nice. Plates, I should get from inside. Yeah, yeah. -Okay. Do you got any spare pants that I can borrow? It's freezing. Do you want my undies while you're at it? Never mind, stink fulla. Here we go. You, uh, fall into a rubbish bin or something? Oh, yeah. Something like that. Uh, distal radius, is it? -Eh? -Issue with your distal radius. Uh, I dunno. They just said my wrist was shot. It's been like that for years, so... Yeah, I'd say it's probably the radius. Far and away the most injured bone in the human arm, actually. So... -You a doctor? -Close. I'm a veterinarian. So not that close. Closer than you'd think. So if I collapse with a heart attack right now, you'd be able to save me? Only if the answer can be found up your rectum. That's what Clem told me. Yeah, I did, but we were discussing matters of the vagina, Bruce, not the heart. Two pretty different organs. Okay. All right, you go pick her up. I'll go check on the mum. Oh! Sorry. Just go and bring the cows in. You sure? You said on the phone that, uh, you had something you wanted to discuss, Ross. Yeah, um... I was just wondering, um, what the chances are of taking on an extra worker. Oh right. You don't think you and Bruce can handle the workload? Actually, I'm looking at handing over the reins after winter. Are you retiring? Oh, you've got a few more years left in you, haven't you? It's just there's, um, a way to go before Bruce can call himself a farmer, and, uh, I may not be around all that much. You got your holidays planned already. Yeah. Uh... well, at this stage... I wouldn't recommend it. Sorry, Ross. Look, you're lucky, really. A farm this size, oh, as long as you're organized, got your systems in place, one person should be able to run it. And for you, I've got no worries. But your plan is to hand over to Bruce? Yeah, yep. Well, uh,... with his inexperience, we're just starting a bit further back, eh? Getting him to be able to run the farm effectively by September... it's not impossible, just a big ask. So the long and the short of it, I... If hand-over's your plan, then... from now until September, your priority's gotta be Bruce. Oh. Need to give him a bit of a hurry up, then. How's it? Just the two today? Ninety-Five had hers yet? Guys coming up to the shed for a kai? Should be fine just me and Bruce today. Oh. Oh yeah. Sweet as. Tomorrow? Nah, we got it covered. I'll let you know if we need a hand. Oh, yeah. All good. I've got my rugby career to think about anyways. You got my cell phone number, eh? -No. -I know, cos I don't have one. Trick question. -You all right? -Yeah. You need to get in there. Yep. Just get your arms under her and lift her up. Yeah. You can't lift her up like that. You need to get under her. Yep. Arms under, hoist her up. Arms under, hoist her up. What's the matter? Just trying to work out the right way to do it, Dad. There's only one way. You get your arms under. -Get your bloody arms under. -Okay, Dad. I just need a second. God. A mask? It's Dad's old beekeeping one. That's weird. Hey, can you just put it by the door, and we'll get some light on it. Maybe with you not holding it. Just put it on the ground. Okay, nah, it looks like shit. Can you please put it back up? Sorry. So, why did he want you to wear it? Oh, um,... I don't like blood and slime, so he thought that would help out. Help you look like a tool? What reserve you gonna put on it? Well, I mean, it's hard to say. Not your best work. But don't worry, I'll put 'retro' in the ad and some wanker will snap it up. I like it. You should put a bid on it, then. -Fuck's sake. Hey, um, can you get started on that second bin? It'd be good if you got it done, Bruce. Thought I'd find you here. At my place of work? No shit, Sherlock. -How'd you figure that out? The fuck you staring at, kid? -Okay, okay... Let's go for a drive. We need to talk. We are, we have, and I've got nothing left to say. Yeah, well, I have, so... -get in the car. -Or what? Why don't you get in the car and fuck off? Yeah, she just said that you should go. Hey, Bruce, thank you. I've got this. Okay. Leave him. What's that, Chief? She said just leave her alone. You're a dick, Graeme! What? --Hey! -She said you should go! -Bruce! Go! Get off, all right? Just go! Just go! -That was fucking ridiculous, Bruce. Yep. -Sorry, I'll sort dinner out. No, no, just... just look after yourself. Okay. I need you to sign off on some bank things. -When you get a chance. Sure. -What's it for? -I just need to... ...sort out the signing rights on the checkbook. There's no rush. Eat your sandwich first. Thanks. Come on. Good to see you, and take care. Okay. See ya. Thank you. A few of Mum's choir were wondering if we wanted to head down to the cemetery today. -What, today? -Yeah, at about 10:30. Oh. We've got all those trees to cut down, yeah. There's a ton of rain coming, and I don't wanna be cutting in that. Plus those last couple of heifers are ready to drop, so... Happy birthday to you Happy birthday, dear Beth Happy birthday to you You can do that with a fork. Hopefully it tastes all right. No, it's good. Mum's were crunchier. I'll get it. Hello. Hi, Connie. Nah. No, I haven't. I don't wanna... Okay. Connie. She wants to talk to you. -Yeah? - Hey, Ross. Hey, um, I just wanted to check... Did you know about the song that Bruce was learning to play for Beth's birthday? -No. -Well, going down there today and playing "Bellbird" for her. Was, you know, important to hi, and he wanted you there too. Right. Just thought that you should know. Okay. -You wanna...? -Oh, yeah, yeah. Yep. I'm sorry for today. It's okay, Dad. 1973... your mum started teaching up this way. My first season running the farm by myself. I met her in May, asked her to marry me in June. She said no. She said she wouldn't marry someone who couldn't even look her in the eye. She said yes in November. So roughly half a year without eye contact. I made up for it after that, though. That last drought, I moved all the cows up into the top paddock, away from the house. No good reason except I couldn't stand them crying out for a feed when I had nothing to give them. Your mum knew what I was up to. She didn't say anything. Which must have been difficult. She liked giving me stick. Went both ways, I suppose. I'm just a bit... sore. Comes and goes... most days now. I'm just sore. Dad, um,... I sold a few things over the last few months, and, um... there's a little bit over a grand there. I know headstones are really expensive, so... maybe that's, um... -He'll be fine. -Yep. -You leave your number? -Sitting by the phone. Kia ora! Remember me? Morning, team. -How are you, lads? -Clem. -Clem. -You guys know Keith? -Gidday, Keith. -Ross, been a while. -Keith. -Bruce. -How's work going? -Not bad. How's Connie? She's pretty good. Good. Good. Pink shirt? Yeah. Turns out I got a couple pairs of socks that run in the wash. WOThere he is. Hello, stranger. Hey. Hey. Right, away you go there. Who's got that? I got $170 there. $160. Give me $150 on the pig. $140? I've had a go. Give me $120 on the pig. $120? $100 I've got on the pig, and away you go at $100... All in at $100. $105 there. $105. $110. There it goes at $110. $115. $115. $115. Going $120. Thank you. $120 I've got. There it goes at $120. $120 once. Two. $120... -Where'd you get to? -Just here. I thought you were having a chat. Keep moving. Bidding away! $295 is here. $290! $300! It's $305! Three-five, and out he goes at 3-5! Come on, she wants it! 3-5? Ten! They all look the same to me. Oh, give it a year or two, you get to pick the difference. Just a matter of time. You're gonna need to know eventually, though, if you wanna run the farm properly. I don't think that's a sensible idea. Oh, you're ready. I've made an appointment with the lawyer for Tuesday week. We'll go through the paperwork, bring you on as another owner. Can we talk about this later, Dad? It's just... I mean, I'm gonna be here... but... I don't think I can be a farmer all my life. You can't work at a bloody dump all your life either. Why not? -Cos it's not enough. It's Bruce, eh? Cow shat in your square first. So congratulations. Oh, thanks. Sit down, guys. Sit down, guys! Sit down, guys. Sit down, guys. Sit down, guys. Are you okay, Ross? Yeah. Yeah, all good. All good. You sure? Get in. Sit down, guys. In you go. Get in. -Get in. That'll do, guys. Sit down, guys. Been looking for you, Dad. We need to get back. - I'm sorry, Ross. -I didn't notice the blood until later. -Gloves are in the dairy. Yep. Is she gonna be all right? -You got those gloves? Yep. Is she gonna be all right? -What's wrong with her? -Not sure yet. -Uterus could be ruptured. -What's that? Can you fix her? Go and get the rest of the kit. - Can you save her? -Sorry, girl. Shall we call Clem? Get him home. Come on, mate. Tell Ross I'll buy him a new one. I could save up and buy him a new one. Come on. I can do it, Dad. Where's the key? I can do it. Where's the key, Bruce? Get me the fucking key. Yeah, yeah, shed's a herringbone. Yep. Okay, mate. -You build the shed yourself? -Nah, my father. And the house? Grandparents built it. Okay. So, we'll head down to your shed and take a look at your paddock rotations soon, but I'm reasonably confident there'll be some interest from the company that bought the neighboring farm last year. Good chance for them to increase their herd and acreage. Rip out the shed and the old house, open up space for another couple of hectares of grazing land. Oh, hey. How'd you go? He looked like a cock. -Thanks for covering. -No worries. I won't be doing it again. Laters! Dad! Got a second? I don't want you to sell, not to that guy. I'm gonna give Connie my notice, if the offer to be a co-owner is still there. And I can focus on the farm, do a proper job of it. I know you miss Mum. I miss her every day too. But I think, I mean... I don't think that's something that can be fixed. But I reckon... if we miss her together, it feels a little bit easier than doing it by ourselves. So yeah, Dad, I'm in. Hang on! Hi. Um, just give me a couple of minutes, and I'll see you in the cowsheds. -Morning, Ross. -Yep. -A bit chilly this morning. -Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, I was just gonna let you know I should be all right. -Really? -Yeah, yeah, today's pretty straightforward. Um, I might... need you a bit later on, uh,... about half-five. -Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, no worries. You too, Connie, if you can make it. I'll check my diary, Ross. Did you, uh, give your notice? Not yet. Good. Good. You can't even talk. I can't even talk? Can I put that on my nose? -Um, yeah. -Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Ooh, that's not gonna stay. Okay. Let's... Can you stay? Son? -Yep. -I think you got mail. -Okay, on three. -Yep. -One, two, three. -It looks good, Dad. -Yeah. Yeah, it looks good, Ross. -Yep. -Okay... There good, Dad? Yeah, that's good. Shit. I thought you said this was an unveiling, not a bloody working bee. - So we're into it? -Yeah, we're into it. -What are we doing? -Putting these blocks around. Looking good. Download more movies for free from GRAHA21.SITE There's a bellbird Sitting in a tree What does she see? Could be a spring morning or a winter's eve Happily She sees the sun rise up And she sees it fall When night is calling There's a bellbird Sitting in a tree What does she see? She sees the autumn come As the summer leaves All from her tree She sees the sun set low And she sees The dawning in the morning La, la, la, la La, la, la, la La, la, la La, la, la, la La, la, la, la La, la, la La, la, la, la, la La, la, la, la, la, la La, la, la, la... |
|