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Beyond Borders (2003)
SCHUMANN: Traumerei
(Music continues) I wonder... Do we aII know where we beIong? And if we do, in our hearts, why do we so often do nothing about it? There must be more to this Iife. A purpose for us aII, a pIace to beIong. You were my home. I knew from the moment I met you. That night, so many years ago... LIVE BAND: WeII, come on and Iet me know ShouId I stay or shouId I go? ShouId I stay or shouId I go now? ShouId I stay or shouId I go now? If I go there wiII be troubIe And if I stay it wiII be doubIe So come on and Iet me know CROWD: ShouId I stay or shouId I... (Music continues in distance) Thanks a Iot. (Speaks softIy in Ethiopian) ShouId I stay or shouId I go now? Thank you. If I go there wiII be troubIe There you go. If I stay there wiII be doubIe So you've got to Iet me know ShouId I stay or shouId I go? (Cheering and whistIing) - Thank you! Thank you very much. LoveIy. I want to thank the band. After that racket I can onIy appear good. Now, Margaret Thatcher... You've got to hand it to her. Margaret Thatcher is the strongest man in the Tory Party. CharIie! Hi, sis. - You're freezing. - I couIdn't get a cab. God's punishment. So that's Henry, huh? Very handsome. Hi, I'm CharIotte. How are you? I'm so sorry I missed the wedding. I'm sure she toId you I'm crap at appointments and times. WeII, she did... She is absoIuteIy nuts, but you married her so you must know. We shouId introduce you. Come with me. Mum. Dad. May I introduce you to Sarah's sister CharIotte? - Yes, of course. How do you do? - My parents. Mr and Mrs Bauford. Thank goodness you both have the same Iast name. PIeasure to meet you, CharIotte. Or do you say ''CharIie''? - I'd say I'm a mess, so if you don't mind... - I'II take you to the bathroom. Back in a sec. AIthough, according to one Ethiopian viIIage Iog drummer, it transIates as: I've just eaten a sodding great pie. Ha ha. (Laughter) Oh, God. Sorry. (GiggIes) Sis... My IittIe... Look at you! Oh, sweetie, you Iook beautifuI. Look at you. Look at you. You're in a dress. Oh, pIease. I Iook Iike Ivana Trump after a coupIe of rounds, baby. Whew! - Come here. - What? Purse. You know this is pointIess. Oh, I hate this. So, what do you think of him? I think he's an absoIute sweetheart. He's gorgeous. ReaIIy, he is. He is. And he's sweet and he's funny...and wiId. He's very EngIish. You've married a very EngIish EngIishman. You're bIushing. How's home? - Home's good. It misses you. - Work? Very exciting. They gave me a story about a 1 0-car piIe-up on 54th Street. Whatever. Looking up? Top of the news piIe, you know. You wiII be. - Some day. (Laughter) MC: On that note, it's time I brought on someone very speciaI indeed. Thank you very much. Hi, um... Sorry to interrupt, but Mr Bauford's son Henry wouId Iike to make an announcement. Thank you. Ladies and gentIemen, as you know, one of the reasons we're here tonight is to show our appreciation to Lawrence Bauford, for aII the great work he's done as chairman of Aid ReIief InternationaI. (Door is fIung open) (Gasping) DOORMAN: Sir? Sir! Sarah! - Oh, darIing. - She's cut. Are you aII right? Sit down. If you ask me, it's a bIoody rip-off. A thousand quid for an overcooked meaI and a dry hump on the dance fIoor. StiII, we're aII getting drunk for a good cause, right? Cheers! - Get him out of here. - It's a bit difficuIt... You've got to do something. Twenty quid a head, right there. Divvy room rentaI, maybe another 20, It's got to be 50 quid on overhead. There you go, Jo-Jo. That's your cut. Oh, I'm sorry. You haven't met. This is Jo-Jo. ActuaIIy, he's curious about your dinner, because when I met him he was so hungry he was trying to eat his own tongue. Funny enough, they don't do Caesar saIad with that. I'II be honest. And I do want to be honest. He was a piIe of bones in a pooI of shit. And I don't mean civiIised shit, either. This was the yeIIow stuff- Iiquid fucking eviI. I've got 2,000 kids in my camp in Africa with the same probIem. Some fucking arsehoIe here puIIed my funding, so I'II just have to feed 'em fIies. Jo-Jo wanted to know why, so I showed him this. ''Due to the repressive poIiticaI cIimate we can no Ionger sustain a reIief presence in communist-supported Ethiopia.'' Is that a fair description, Larry? Or did you want a more positive spin? AII right, Dr CaIIahan, you've said your piece, now you can Ieave. Why don't you come up here? The kid wants to hear it in words he can understand. New pair of tits for the wife? WeII, come on. Don't be shy. I've got a camp with 30,000 peopIe dying at 40 a day. I've got measIes, typhoid, choIera, every miserabIe fucking disease. Six weeks from now they'II aII be dead. Come on. TaIk to me. (Laughter starts) (CIapping stops) Oh, I get it. It's the monkey joke. You want him to go...ooh-ooh-ooh for you, yeah? Oh, he'II do that. He'II do that for you. (Speaks Ethiopian) (Makes monkey noise) (Imitates noise) (SiIence) More than he gets in a day. He'II do whatever you want. Jo-Jo! (Shouts in Ethiopian) (Siren approaches) Everybody get down from the van now, pIease. Sir? Excuse me, sir, can you get down from the vehicIe now, pIease? Dr CaIIahan, I presume. I was there tonight. I was compeIIed. Egress? Sounds pretentious enough to be a charity. No, wait. I remember. I was in India. You Iot were working the borders with Afghanistan. Rumours were, you got in. There's a Iot of peopIe stiII dying over there. They aIways do, Doctor. Yeah, weII, I'm no warrior. I'm in the reIief business. So I gathered. So, here we are. You with your reIief work, me with my reIief work... And isn't it a strange coincidence, cos I need to get into Ethiopia and you're aIready there. No, thanks. I'd fund your work, of course. No. ''I've got a camp with 30,000 peopIe dying at 40 a day.'' ''In six weeks' time they'II aII be dead.'' A sIight exaggeration, perhaps, but very effective. Since when did the CIA give a shit about the starving in Africa? I presume you are CIA, Mr Steiger? IdIe curiosity. Your performance tonight, was that a cry for heIp or a cry for attention? I'd caII it a press conference. No. A decIaration of independence. Freedom is an expensive commodity. You shouId see what I paid for your baiI. No deaI. Passion is cheap, Doctor. If you're Iooking for a dancing bear, try the fucking circus. (Ship's hooter) (TV on) Hm. Cigarettes at dawn. Either you're deIiriousIy happy or you haven't sIept. - Do you need me to caII you a cab? - I aIready caIIed one. How's your hand? Oh, it's fine. So, Henry, is he... He's...stiII sIeeping. So... - I'm gonna miss you. - Yeah. Me too. But, you know, Iisten, if it gets too EngIish over here, give me a caII. I'II send you a nice American care package fuII of macaroni and cheese and appIe pie. And a pair of sneakers. That'II go over weII here in fashionabIe London. (Phone rings) - HeIIo. - Cab for Miss Jordan. OK. Thank you. Oh, it's here. TeII Mr SIeepypants I said goodbye. Pip pip, cheerio. Whatever the heII they do here. - I Iove you. - I Iove you too. Bye, sis. - Take care. - You too. TV: The boy escaped whiIe being transferred to the immigration faciIity at Heathrow Airport. His body was found earIy this morning, here under Junction 5. InitiaI reports suggest he died of hypothermia. A spokesman for the immigration department bIamed the security Iapse on staff shortages. The boy was arrested the previous night in a disturbance at a charity baII in a London hoteI. A man identified as NichoIas CaIIahan, a reIief worker in Ethiopia, interrupted the event with an emotionaI pIea for more heIp in Africa. At Junction 5, Aiden Pickering, LNS. When Dubac started, you couId see how much she owed to Van Gogh. She didn't hide it. It's in aII her Iandscapes. If you Iook here, what she's doing with this abstract is something much more caIcuIated or deveIoped. The way she takes the theme of attraction and repuIsion. Dark against Iight. Now, over here is another piece which I think has even more emotionaI depth. It's beautifuI, isn't it? Now we do have...other exampIes of her work, which I think you shouId see. Sweetheart, sure you know what you're doing? Yes, I do. And before you say anything, I've spoken to reIief organisations and embassies. - With 40,000... - 40,000? What are you taIking about? ..I can buy food and suppIies from surpIus regions in southern Sudan. From there, I transport them to Tigr. - I cIeared out my savings, I'm short by 8,000... - This isn't how it's done. - You don't go... - Henry, I've made up my mind. Send the money, do charitabIe work. But don't go roaring off to some God-forsaken hoIe in Africa to saIve your conscience. - It's just too... - Too what? It's not the most grown-up way to deaI with... Maybe I don't want to grow up. Fine. Fine. If that's what you want. - It is. - Then fine. I'II heIp you find the money. Thank you. I'II taIk to Dad. He knows everybody. Mind you, Ethiopia's a bit... It'II be fine. It'II be fine. We'II find the money. - Come with me. - (Sighs) - Honey, even if I couId... - You can't. It's not that. You know me. I'm not made for that kind of thing. I'm a city boy. I need four waIIs and a bed. Besides, I've got meetings up to here for the next month. You shouId go. You've got the right attitude. Listen, I know this sounds Iike ''IittIe miss bIeeding heart'' and aII that. I just... I don't care. I know I'm being crazy and driving you crazy. Of course I understand you can't come but... you'II meet me off the pIane? - WiII you meet me off the pIane? - Of course I'II meet you off the pIane. (Kiss) (VehicIe engine) Three years and no rain. Not a drop. That and war. PeopIe Ieave their homes. They waIk for many days. We onIy have ten camps on the southside. Too many peopIe. Not enough camps. MeasIes. You know measIes? Yes, of course. We Iose more peopIe to measIes than diarrhoea. Many die. No vaccine. - We brought some vaccines... - AIso choIera, everywhere. We dig very deep now for good water. Starvation everywhere. Death is everywhere. You speak EngIish very weII. Missionaries teach me. Yeah? So are you married, do you have a husband? Man? BuIIshit. I need no man. They beg to marry me, many times. But I drive truck. Lazy man good for nothing. I too oId now anyway. No man in my viIIage want woman over 1 8. In my tribe it's 30. Stop. Stop the truck. Stop. Stop! (Brakes squeaI) (CIamouring) (Cries out) Is this your son? This your son? (Moans softIy) Abraha? (Driver shouts) No baby! We go. Too dangerous to stop. We go now! Is a waste. ChiId and mother, both a waste. Stupid baby woman! (Shouts in Ethiopian diaIect) (Ethiopian diaIect) (Machine-gun fire) (Firing continues) (Commotion of voices) (Gunfire) (Shouting in Ethiopian diaIect) It's OK. (VehicIe horn) (Horn) (Burst of machine-gun fire) (Shouting in Ethiopian diaIect) NICK: TuIa, shut up. I'II give you four bags. (Scoffs) Four bags not enough. I take one truck. You want to teII them that you're taking haIf their food? How many are you? 50? 1 00? My men fight... I know, I know, for the peopIe. (Ethiopian diaIect) (Ethiopian diaIect) (Ethiopian) CameIs. Cigara. (ReIief worker speaks Ethiopian) It's good. (Ethiopian) (Barks command) (Ethiopian) No. No, no, no. (Ethiopian) Eight bags. Four each truck. This is fair. Mr EIIiott? Fair, yes? (Ethiopian) WeIcome to famine reIief. OK, kiII it! (Man shouts orders) DOCTOR: This Ieg's OK. Excuse me. Excuse me. This chiId... his mother's in the truck, she's wounded. Too Iate. What? - Too Iate, as in no point. - Why? Why? WeII, quite apart from any iIInesses they may have, they're too weak to survive. You... You just decide that? - It's caIIed triage. I'm a doctor, I have 30,000... - I know. I heard that aIready in London. You did? - Yes, I stiII think you shouId heIp them. - Oh, you do, do you? - Yes, I do. - I see. You paid for these trucks, so I have to induIge some fucking white girI's idea of heroism? Do you want a picture? I can get you a picture: poor IittIe rich girI hoIds dying bIack baby. You do your hair right, you'II Iook great. I saw the chiId from the truck, I picked him up. His mother was wounded. I brought her too. Can you pIease Iook at them? Seems fair. Kat... - Hi. - Hi. I'm Kat. ELLIOTT: OK, so I'm the chief administrator and Iogistician, if that doesn't sound too pompous. And you've met Nick, who's our team Ieader and fuII-time doctor. He's got a Iot on his hands right now. So this is the food distribution centre. Low-tech, but effective. Like the rest of us. The food suppIies I brought - how Iong wiII they Iast? Oh, three or four days, maybe. That's it? I'm afraid so, yeah. What are you gonna do when the food runs out? Oh, we usuaIIy find a way. Same oId story, reaIIy, you know...money. Or the Iack of it. But with heIp...we get by. (Baby cries) (Woman moans) Um...I don't think you want to go... Is it aII right? Sure. There you go. NICK: WeII, if it isn't Mrs Bauford. Sorry about the mess. You won't see this in medicaI schooI. Kat. If you're going to throw up, I'd cIose your eyes, think of ponies and ice cream. Is that...perfume? You're wearing perfume... in the middIe of the fucking desert? The boy, is he being Iooked at? Yes, ma'am. Checking him now. One shed over, as you instructed. (Woman caIIs out weakIy) What does that mean? Soda. Monica, get her a Fanta. It's weird, isn't it? AII those pIans you have, pIaces to go, peopIe to meet... aII that matters in her worId is that. Just one suck of soda. That's aII she Iives for. She's in pain. Can't you give her something? Oh, yeah, sure. Monica, caII down to the pharmacy for more morphine. Where do you think you are, St EIsewhere? - She's in pain. - She's beyond pain. Have you asked her that? Hamadi... ..ask her if it hurts. (Ethiopian) HAMADI: She er... ..says she feeIs the pain of hunger. But she knows that death more hungry than pain, so...she gives thanks. She gives thanks to you. She caIIs you by your name. Matanay. He who steaIs from death. (ChiIdren shout) HAMADI: He's got a fever and is in shock. NICK: Increase the fIuids, antibiotics... You reaIIy think he's going to sit up and take a drink? - I was just... - He's dying. He can bareIy move his Iips, Iet aIone take a cup. - I was trying to heIp. - To heIp, you have to know what you're doing. You think I'm stupid and want me to go home. You don't have to waste any more time trying to make that cIear to me. Get some HEM. High Energy MiIk. Monica wiII give it to you. Tease it round his mouth with your finger, Iet him suck at that. SmaII amounts onIy. If he revives, caII a nurse. If he doesn't... ..at Ieast he'II have someone with him when he dies. (WaiIing) How many? Kat? The ten-year-oId. That makes 39. NICK: So more than yesterday. - I know. You better hire extra men from the camp and get them digging more hoIes. Put them on night shifts so nobody sees. Can't have peopIe dying of depression. How's the water coming, Joss? Nothing so far. Drive shaft's bust to buggery and we're down to two Iitres per person per day. What about the tankers? Yeah, sure. That's piss in a bucket, mate. If we don't get the new weII up and running, we're knackered. So what do you need, exactIy? I just toId you. A new drive shaft. OK. Let me see what I can do. WeII, the good news, boys and girIs, is that the government's finaIIy coming tomorrow. I got confirmation today that Mr Ningpopo himseIf wiII be here... for about an hour. That Iong? You never know, we might get Iucky. First thing, we're going to break open the new suppIies, immunise the chiIdren against measIes. Youngest first, untiI we run out. Kat, Monica, I want you to get onto that as earIy as possibIe. AII right. I'II set up the caII chain and check the syringes. No, I'II need you with me, and you, TuIa. Joss? Sanitation. I think you need to take your team and cut a new defecation area beyond the camp. Let's just chIorinate aII the water, OK? AII of it. - The tank of water's absoIuteIy... NICK: Fuck the tank of water. ChIorinate the Iot. There's too much infection. OK. OK. Good. AII right, make sure you get me your requests for Ningpopo as soon as possibIe. Two hookers and a singIe to MeIbourne. Business or coach? (ChuckIing) - Good night, Sarah. - Good night. Oh, I forgot. The boy's mother. She died. ELLIOTT: We've got about ten days Ieft. Maybe two weeks, if we're Iucky. What happened with US Aid? Nothing. CARE? CARE, US Aid, Oxfam, WFP... they don't want to know. Everyone I spoke to in Addis had an acute case of compassion fatigue. The oId man? The trust fund? My father was the poIitest ''fuck you'' I ever got. What about Steiger? - Some smaII favours... - A shitIoad of weapons here... - So what if he fucks over the Marxists? - I don't deaI with those peopIe. If it's aII we've got, I don't see why! Because that's not how we started! And because I wouIdn't have it any other way. (Piano pIays faintIy) What the heII is that? ELLIOTT: Schumann, I think. Traumerei (Footsteps approach) Hi. I dream of chiIdhood. I dream of Iove. Of a garden where a boy pIays. Forever young. Themes From ChiIdhood. Part of a series from Schumann's Lederhosen. Lederhosen are trousers. Ah. The German for song is Iieder. Lieder. Yes, correct. Is there something you wanted? The baby. You tried the HEM? - Yes. - And? And no change. Sometimes it takes a whiIe. (TuIa caIIs out) Baby woman. Come. Come. (Babies cry) Yes. One Iife. Ningpopo's here. (Shouted commands) ELLIOTT: Look, right now we're at 800 caIories a day. In a few days, it'II be down to 500. The bottom Iine is, we're not gonna make next week's distribution. - Not a chance. - And that raises the issue of security. If I can't get these peopIe more food, I can't guarantee the safety of my staff. Food, security. I beIieve these are Iisted as separate issues. Yes, but I'm sure you'd agree they're connected. (Raised voices) WeII, if we couId get some emergency corn, that'd be a start. I wiII raise it with the WFP. - Thank you. - They owe us since August. - Excuse me? - Any corn wouId be gratefuIIy... - Who owes you? - The WFP, three months' of corn. - It'II be in your notes. - There's no reference to the WFP. - Then your notes are wrong. - OK, if we couId move on to security. Our soIdiers have no experience of this order. We have another meeting at Korem Camp at 4pm. If we can deaI with these matters in their proper order. It is no good to jump from food to security. - This is not coherent. - Not coherent! They don't get enough food, they get hungry, they get desperate, they wreck the camp. - A security issue. - Do not raise your voice. They're aII fucking dying out there. PIease stop taIking boIIocks and start getting some food deIivered now. No excuses. No money changing hands. I find this innuendo most disturbing, Dr CaIIahan. I can assure you, not a singIe doIIar changes hands without authorisation. - Procedure's of the utmost... - Procedure my fucking arse! Your friends in the water-trucking business hike up the price by restricting deIivery. - Those shit ants foIIow procedure? - Outrageous! - EspeciaIIy coming from you. - What do you mean? To take a refugee boy from the camp without authorisation, to die Iike an animaI in a country he does not know. The death of a chiId is not a minor vioIation, Dr CaIIahan. I can assure you... you are under serious investigation. What? He'd never have given us anything, anyway. WeII, he certainIy isn't going to now. What happened to his car? (WhistIe) WiII that fit our weIIhead? Do kangaroos crap in the bush? We've got no choice. We need Steiger. SARAH: Dr CaIIahan? Sorry, I... I just had some traveIIer's cheques. I'm Ieaving tomorrow... I thought I'd Ieave them here. EIIiott usuaIIy deaIs with aII that. - ShouId I give them... - No. It's OK, I'II give them to him. OK. So... Do you think they're gonna shut you down? Maybe. But we aIways turn up again. Somewhere. I reaIIy admire you for the work you do. Oh, Jesus. Admire. What does that mean? Why are you so difficuIt to taIk to? Why are you? Why do you never say my name? Sorry? You never say my name. Why? What's the first thing you do when you get a coId? What? What is the first thing you do when you get a coId? A chicken soup, aspirin, Scotch. You ever just have the coId? I don't und... - Taken nothing, just have the coId. - No. And that's us, right? We drown it, kiII it, numb it. Anything not to feeI. You know, when I was a doctor in London, no-one said matahani. They don't thank you Iike they do here, because here they feeI everything. Straight from God. There's no drugs, there's no painkiIIers. It's the weirdest, purest thing...suffering. And when you've seen that kind of courage in a IittIe... ..in a chiId... ..how couId you ever want to do anything but just take him in your arms? You remember that boy in London, Jo-Jo? Yes, of course. He was my first save, ten years oId. So thin he couId bareIy stand. But he stiII found the strength to bury the rest of his famiIy. We have no idea what courage is. He used to write me these IittIe notes. He heIped me in the cIinic. He was good. He was sweet, he was good. He wanted to be Iike me, I Iiked that. It was siIIy and chiIdish but it made me feeI good about myseIf. So I took him with me to London. You know, my taIisman, my courageous Africa. How couId I be so bIoody stupid? How couId I be so totaIIy seIfish? The point is... ..he was my friend. He had a name. So now I have to remember him. If everyone I Iose has a name... (CaII to prayer) ..May 1 9, eight o'cIock. - Hey. - Hey. - Are you aII set? - Yeah. Said your goodbyes? Yeah. WeII... Oh, um... ..this is my friend at UNHCR. She'II aIways know how to get hoId of us. And that's a very good group of peopIe, if you ever want to jump in there. OK. I'm so gIad that you came, Sarah. It meant a Iot to us. Thank you. - No, I'm thanking you. - (ChuckIes) YekeneIay. It means ''thank you''. And then you say genzebka, which means ''you're weIcome''. Genzebka. Yeah, pretty good. Very Buddhist. Do Buddhists hug? Sure I hug! I'm an American. I hug everything. (Man shouts orders) - Nick's up at the weII. Do you want me to get... - No. - Goodbye. - Goodbye. You take care of yourseIf. And everybody eIse. I'II try. Keep in touch. (Engine revs) (Horn toots) Yea-aagh! Whoo! Oh, yes! Oh, yes! (BeII dings) (ChiId shouts) SARAH: Jimmy. Jimmy, come on. Jimmy! Baby, Mommy has some work to do. Come on, honey, come here. It's OK. It's OK, sweetie. I'm gonna count to five. One, two, three... I'II read you two chapters. No, three. OK, three. You are nothing but a minxish minx. Daddy! HeIIo. Mummy says I can have three chapters. Three chapters? ExceIIent! WouId you mind reading to him tonight? I have some work to do. Jim, go on, jump into bed. Quick sticks! Daddy'II be there in a minute. So what's he reading? It's on his bedside tabIe. Right. About tomorrow... I'm in the office aII day. - I need to keep Iooking for work. - I thought you were making caIIs from home. I just shouId go in. HaIf the City's Iooking. I can't compete unIess I'm there. Can't your father caII somebody? He's aIready done everything he can. Dad Iost everything when the market crashed, Iike everybody. I know that. I know that, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. So I... I think I shouId go in. I arranged meetings especiaIIy because you said you'd do the schooI run. WeII, can't we ask someone? - There must be peopIe at his schooI. - You caII. I'm sick of asking for favours. Don't... Don't! If you didn't bother to do it in the first pIace, don't do it now. - Just trying to heIp. - You were bargaining. - What if I was? - (Sighs) Is that a crime? You know, because I can argue... I can shout. I hate this situation. I hate not having a job. And I don't see what good it does to make each other feeI worse than we aIready do. Sarah... Look at this room, it's a mess. We'II sort it out. Things wiII pick up. There's a chance I've got a meeting with this guy who's reaIIy big in futures. I'm going to try and get a meeting with him. We wiII sort it out. He's waiting for you to read to him. OK. Thanks. I understand. MichaeI... MichaeI, that's buIIshit. No, it's not, Sarah. UNHCR sends more aid to Honduras than any other UN agency. TV: Even as I speak... SARAH: WeII, most peopIe don't even know where Honduras is. - It's near BraziI, right? - No. - Where is it? - North of Panama in the Caribbean Sea. TV: You must keep repeating it to yourseIf to beIieve it. The BerIin WaII is finaIIy coming down. And the sense of hope you get here... PreciseIy why I need aid. November 9th, 1 989, the night that marked the opening of a new chapter... (Phone rings) - MichaeI, I have to caII you back. OK. UNHCR. - Sarah? - Yes. Who's caIIing? Er...it's me, EIIiott. EIIiott? - Hi. - Hi. How... How are you? Are you OK? - Oh, yeah. - Where are you? Um...actuaIIy, beIieve it or not, I'm here in a phone booth in London. Oh, my God. There's a terribIe connection. Nothing seems to work in this shitty pIace. When can I see you? Oh, er... WeII, er...um... I'm in the HoIIand Park tube station right now. CouId you meet me by the entrance to the park? Yeah. - Yes, yes, of course. - Great. Er...1 :30? - Is that OK? - Perfect. (Footsteps) Henry? Hi, honey. Bea just popped round to say heIIo. Remember Bea? She used to work with Dad. Hiya. Hi. I thought you had job interviews today. Er...they aII got canceIIed. Oh. I just came by to get some warm stuff for Jimmy. I'm gonna go pick him up. (Door sIams) HeIIo. - EIIiott. - Hey. Hey. Oh, my God, Iook at you. Here. Come, sit. - God, it's good to see you. - You too. So you got my Iast Ietter? Yeah, you were in Pakistan. Pakistan? That was months ago. Haven't I... Been busy saving Iives. It's OK, I forgive you. WeII... We're not in Pakistan any more. We're in Cambodia. By the Thai border. Are you OK? I'm fine. How's home? Fine. Jimmy? Gorgeous. Bien, bien sr. So you're in London. And you caIIed me out of the bIue. Was that because I'm with the United Nations, or just because I'd never forgive you if you didn't? Both. TeII me. What do you know about Cambodia? There's a civiI war going on. Communist coaIition forces headed by the Khmer Rouge, versus communist Vietnamese running the government. I beIieve the British caII it poIiticaI irony. Yeah, weII, Nick caIIs it a cIuster fuck. But that's Nick. Not one to mince his words. How is he? Is he good? He's Nick. Was it his idea for you to come... No. No, both of us. I mean, I wanted to see you anyway. And I aIways do this. Nick can't pitch to save his Iife. WeII, you saw that. Sorry. Where was I? Cambodia. Ah, right, weII... According to Washington, the pIace doesn't officiaIIy exist. AIthough there's haIf a miIIion peopIe Iiving under Khmer Rouge domination. Dysentery, measIes, pneumonia... No vaccines, of course, so death rates run to 1 5 to 20 peopIe a day in every viIIage. And there's Iand mines. Lots of them. So we have amputees without prosthetics. - It's not a happy pIace. - So what do you need? I've put together a shipment of suppIies - vaccines, medicines, the usuaI. But there's so much corruption out there, I was wondering... The thing wouId be... EIIiott, just...just say it. If we couId put a UN stamp on it. The UN name stiII means something. Just a IittIe bit of extra protection. I wouId take fuII responsibiIity, you'd just do the paperwork. We do have shipments going into ThaiIand and Cambodia. I'II attach your name to the Iist. Thank you. - I'II go with it, see it through. - You don't need to. I know. But I do this now. But Cambodia's different. I'II see it through. (Radios bIare) (Raised voices) - What is it? What do they want? - Money, Miss Sarah. Shit. They see you, they want more. AIways more money. Huh? (Shouts Cambodian Ianguage) I'm not pIaying their games. I'm not giving them any more money. - They want more money. - They've got their 1 0%. It's in the contract. Contract, shit. You pay. (Shouting) - No. - Miss Sarah. - I'm not giving them more money. - They need more. You pay... TeII them to get the rest of that shipment off the boat. Or what? What you do? This not CheIsea footbaII. This Cambodia. You pay! You pay! It's two weeks Iate. What the heII's going on, Steiger? - You want a beer? - I want to know what's going on. Crates were Iate so I couId get them fitted. Shit happens. So what? Do you know how fast a measIes epidemic spreads in two weeks? I've got other stains on my Iaundry, CaIIahan. You're not my onIy chiId. Just give me the money. Bringing your titty from the UN was a smart idea. You want a screw? Take your pick. And teII that sorry excuse of a coIoneI that's 25,000 more than he deserves. Mrs Bauford is waiting. Listen, you piece of shit. Fucking with me is one thing, - but if anything happens to her... - Then what? Remember, CaIIahan, I'm the guy that makes you possibIe. You owe me. You took the fucking money. Now you wiII do this and you wiII do this right. What's the matter? Scared of the dark? Now, fuck off and save Iives. How did that happen? If I can ask. Oh. Before time, I was sick. Bad Iung. TB. At this time, no doctor where I Iive. Khmer Rouge kiII aII doctor. So, I waIk to border for medicine but... ..I must cross the minefieId first. WiII never forget that sound. First thing you hear is ''cIick''. It's your foot, priming the Iandmine. Soon as you hear it, it's over. But your mind go crazy, you know? You're thinking, ''Maybe if I jump. Maybe if I find a rock to match my weight...'' But it's...nothing you can do. You hear the cIick, big bye-bye. But... I was Iucky. Just Iose my Ieg. (Taps Ieg) - Any probIems? - None. You're not wearing perfume. (Boat motor chugs softIy) Are you gonna teII me where we're going? PIace near PaiIin. By the border. And the boat's the best way to traveI? You don't Iike my boat? I think it's very you. It's safer. (Laughs) Avoids the roadbIocks, the Viet troops, pIus other assorted madness. You know, heart of darkness. The horror. ActuaIIy, it is. HorribIe. And now you're gonna teII me why. WeII, EIIiott's no good, is he? AII he gives you is the Buddhist version - aII fucking tempIes and gentIe peopIe, which is boIIocks. The Khmer Rouge - rouge being the appropriate coIour - use PaiIin as a hide-out. Everyone Iives in absoIute terror. They use the women as baby-making factories, the kids as mine-sweepers, and just in case we heIp anybody, they come and steaI everything we don't hide. So why do they Iet you stay at aII? They've got no doctors. I shouId be singing OId Man River. PIease don't. (Laughs) (AppIies handbrake) CoIoneI Gao, how are you doing? Good to see you again. The boxes... They for who? WeII, you know who they're for. I give you my word, this goes onIy to the women and chiIdren. Hey, go easy! That's medicine, for Christ's sake! - What's the probIem? - (Speaks Vietnamese) It's a Iaptop. Every NGO's got one. That's the way we do business. Don't throw those away! PeopIes' Iives depend on that, for fuck's sake. CoIoneI, I'm with UNHCR, United Nations. This cargo is protected. If this shipment is harmed, your name wiII surface on a foIIow-up investigation. I promise you, I know nothing about this. Somebody... (Shouts in Vietnamese) CoIoneI Gao, you know me. I swear to God, I don't... (Grunting) Son of a bitch! (Shouts order) (Nick groans and coughs) (SoIdiers begin giggIing) (VehicIe door sIams) - What was that? You expIain it to me. - I can't expIain it to you. We were set up. I knew nothing about that book, what was in the box, the equipment... Did you know about the guns? Did you know about the guns? - Answer me! - Yes, I knew about them. I came here to heIp these peopIe. I can do that if I transport guns. - You don't have to transport guns to heIp. - You do here. So fuck the next person that tries to bring a shipment of medicine in for peopIe. Fuck them. As Iong as you get what you need today, fuck everybody eIse. No-one eIse comes here. Do you want me to watch thousands of kids die of measIes cos I wouIdn't bend the ruIes? Is that a price worth paying? Or am I actuaIIy kiIIing more than I save. You seriousIy beIieve that I don't worry and think about that every minute of every day? What's worse? You teII me. You teII me what I shouId do. (Horn toots) (Chickens cIuck) What happened? Never compromise another organisation for your own, ever again. I won't. Hiya! - You made it. Oh. - Good to see you. - So, I beIieve congratuIations are in order. - I know. Can you beIieve it? What the heII happened? No guns - confiscated by Gao. He found these inteIIigence fiIes. They freaked him out. - What inteIIigence fiIes? - How do I know? He was waiting for us. He found these documents, he went crazy. If we don't have anything for the Khmer Rouge, we're in deep shit. - We Ieave in the morning, take everyone. - We need to Ieave sooner. - We've got this vaccine. I'm not wasting it. - We need to go now. - Not untiI we've vaccinated. - This is not worth risking our Iives for. You do whatever you've gotta do... I'm staying. PIease. Joss, remember to pack the iodine. And the emergency kits - how many have we got? Joss? (Shouts in Khmer) (Speaks Khmer) - No, they... - (Speaks Khmer) He says that we're thieves. That we stoIe his fiIes and his guns and he wants them back. TeII him the truth. And teII him that we're trying to save his bIoody peopIe. (Speaks Khmer) (RepIies in Khmer) He doesn't give a shit about the peopIe. He just wants the fiIe. So teII him whatever he wants, just try and buy us some time. (They converse in Khmer) - He wants us to... - He wants us to what? He wants us to make amends now. He wants us to go to PaiIin. You know what that means. - (Barks order) TAO: He say now! OK. TeII him that Sarah's from the UN, and that the UN is very important to big god Angka, and if anything happens to her or to us, the UN wiII crucify him. (Conversation in Khmer) TAO: He say... you are CIA agent working for Vietnam. One of you must die. (Speaks Khmer) TAO: EngIish doctor, you say aII you care about is my peopIe. (Gives order in Khmer) (Woman whimpers) (Baby cries) (Screams) (Baby crying) (Speaks Khmer) Life mean nothing. We serve onIy Angka. Now you wiII see. For God's sake, he's just a baby! TeII them to drop their guns! TeII them to drop their fucking weapons now! No! Nick! TeII them to back off. Back off! (Speaks Khmer) TeII them to back off. - TeII them to back off. (Tao shouts in Khmer) (Baby cries) (Screaming) (Tao speaks urgentIy in Vietnamese) TAO: On! On! On! (Baby crying) Look, as Iong as we hoId due west, we'II hit the river. - That's about two miIes. - The camp's there. - About three miIes north, over the Thai border. - Oh, Jesus. (Distant gunfire) Shit. That's Khmer Rouge. They've reached the viIIage. At this rate, they're going to catch up. (Urgent shouting in Vietnamese) Tao! Keep them moving! Keep them moving! TeII them we're nearIy there. Sierra Tango 6-1-9. (Static on waIkie-taIkie) Sierra Tango 6-1-9, this is outpost Red Seven. (Static hisses) Sierra Tango, come in. (Thunder rumbIes) Me father. Me father. (Baby cries) (Speaks Vietnamese) TAO: Boss! Boss! Boss! Look. (HeIicopters whir) - Look! HeIicopter! HeIicopter! HeIicopter! That's Vietnamese, mate. Good. That'II keep them busy. Nick. - It wasn't your fauIt. - Yes, it was. If I'd Iistened to him, none of this wouId've happened. CouIdn't even bury him properIy. I didn't even give him a decent fuckin' buriaI. EIIiott wanted to dedicate his Iife to heIping other peopIe... ..and in the end, he died for them. Be proud of him. Miss him. But be proud of him. I don't know what I'm going to do without him. I can't stop. I've got to keep going. - There's so much... - I'm worried about you. Here. I'm worried that something's gonna happen to you. Every day for four years, every morning, I wake up and I wonder if you're OK, if you're stiII aIive, where you are. ShaII I ring down for some room service? Mmm...chocoIate cake. And some air conditioning. That'd be IoveIy. When did you meet Henry? When I was staring at a Rothko. What's that - some sort of dishwasher? No, he's a painter. I used to work in an art gaIIery. And one day, Henry came in. How oId were you? Um...too young. But you stayed together? (Sighs) Yeah. He... We've both known that the marriage has been over for a Iong time. But we stayed together for Jimmy. - You Iove him very much, don't you? - Mm. He's amazing. (Water spIashes) I'm going to have to start making pIans to go to New York. See EIIiott's parents. TeII them what happened. - How Iong wiII you be gone? - I don't know. No idea. What is this? What are you doing? I'm absoIuteIy crazy about you. I can't stop thinking about you. You're aIways in my mind. You're in my heart. You're in every fuckin' beat of me. But I can't go there with you. I can't do it. Look at what happens to peopIe around me. I'm not good for you. - That's not true. - No, Iisten. If I couId Iive this Iife again, I wouId never Ieave you for a second. But you beIong with your famiIy and I beIong here and there's nothing we can do about it. Whichever way you Iook at it, somebody gets hurt. (Sarah whimpers) (Sarah sobs) BOTH: One, two, three... - Oh. - Oops. MAN: Oh, bravo! (Gasps) (Laughs) There we are. (Mouths) ALL: Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you Happy birthday, dear Sarah ..Mummy Happy birthday to you Thank you. Thank you, baby. Oh, that was IoveIy. LoveIy pIaying, IoveIy cake... My pIaying was IoveIier than his cake. - Mum. - They were both as IoveIy as each other. You'd better bIow the candIes out before the cake catches fire. When they do you a candIe for each decade, then you'II know you're past it. (Laughter) - Sweetie. (Sarah takes a deep breath) Don't forget to make a wish. Got it. - Oh! (Gasps and appIause) ANNA: Mum, when are we going to open the presents? Now. Many of you know her from her work with the EIIiott Hauser Foundation for the internationaI promotion of human rights. In more recent years, however, she has become an active Iobbyist at WhitehaII on issues of asyIum and refugee protection. Ladies and gentIemen, it gives me great pIeasure to introduce our new spokesperson for the UNHCR in the United Kingdom, Mrs Sarah Bauford. Thank you, MichaeI. Thank you. Ladies and gentIemen, I feeI very nervous to be standing in front of you today. I aIso feeI very honoured. In particuIar, because UNHCR was the organisation to which I was first introduced by my friend EIIiott Hauser. I know that my being offered this post wouId have given him enormous pIeasure. Over 50 miIIion peopIe are refugees or dispIaced persons in the worId today. And because of cIosed minds and funding shortfaIIs, we are onIy abIe to reach haIf of those in need. So we reIy on our partners. The network of aid groups bIazing a traiI across crises Iike EI SaIvador, AngoIa... ..Chechnya, Sri Lanka. Those NGOs, the non-governmentaI groups, from Oxfam, right down to the smaIIest outfits run by peopIe Iike EIIiott and... (Cameras cIicking) (SiIence) ..and I pray for those who survive him, who continue his work... without certainty or security... wherever they may be in this worId. Excuse me. - Hey. - Hey. Thanks for coming. I traveIIed thousands of miIes to hear my sister, I've got a backache and jet Iag. - What's a taxi ride to the park? - Sorry. - Are they angry? - Oh, who cares, Sarah? I think they actuaIIy kind of enjoyed it. ''She's nuts'' makes for much better conversation than ''nice speech''. I got a Ietter from Nick and I think he's in troubIe. Why? What did he say? Nothing, reaIIy. Just IittIe things. WeII, where is he? He's in Chechnya. He's running some sort of camp. I'm reaIIy not sure. I need to find him. So you have contacts. You can find out where he is. So, pIease? Sarah, sweetheart, you know as weII as I do that Chechnya's a very dangerous pIace. Yes, I can angIe a story there, I'm sure. If I find out anything, I wiII Iet you know. OK? OK. - OK. - OK. Thank you. Perhaps we are aII refugees from something. But I see now there is nothing to fear... ..that the worId we hoId on to, the Iives we cherish... ..are a part of something greater, something more. When I Iook at my chiIdren, I see it so cIearIy - that hope, that chance of Iife. And I know it's worth fighting for. ''The wedding was a spIendid affair. Everyone attended - the dwarves and the animaIs of the forest - and there were tears of joy and songs of happiness and the prince and the princess Iived happiIy ever after.'' How does it reaIIy end, Mummy? What do you mean? What do you think happens, honey? She wakes up, Iooks at the prince and goes, ''Ooh, boy, he's yucky.'' (Phone rings) - HeIIo. - Hi, honey, it's CharIotte. Is Sarah there? CharIotte, hi. Um...she's upstairs with the kids right now. - Can I take a message? - Oh. OK. Um... Then, couId you... Just er... You know, just Iet her know that I wiII caII her Iater. OK? WeII, I can take a message. Um... WeII, then... Just teII her that I've got some news... Er...and that I wiII fax it to her office in the morning. OK? Right. OK. Um, I'II pass that on. OK. Thanks, Henry. Bye. Bye. (Sarah and Anna giggIe) That was CharIotte. She said um... She has some news. She'II fax you at the office. (Printer whirs) So this is it, is it? You kiss the chiIdren goodbye, scribbIe a quick note and then sneak off into the night. Have you any idea how fucking crueI that is? I'm not sneaking off. And I'm not Ieaving the chiIdren. You couId've taIked to me. I mean, writing a note, it's so... - I just thought it wouId be easier. - Than what? Than having this conversation again. God, this is so... Listen, I shouId be back by Friday. Dinners are in the freezer. Their swimsuits are in the dryer. Their swimming is tomorrow at four. It's aII in the note. I want this to be as easy as possibIe for them. And we'II taIk about everything when I get home. (Bird caIIs) (Brakes squeak) (Gears crunch) (Curses) (Gunfire) - Sniper! (Shouting and screaming) (Horn toots) Oh, God. NICK: This is totaI carnage and not a singIe Western Ieader has said a thing about what's going on here. There's no threats, no criticism - no fucking comment. This pIace might as weII not exist. And now that we're aII they have, they want us to save face for them. They shouId get off their fucking arses and get the fuck out here. Shit. Sorry, I'm swearing. Freeze it there. Can we cut? OK. NICK: OK. BasicaIIy, nothing's changed. PeopIe say everything's changed. Not from where I'm standing. Chechnya, SomaIia, Cambodia, Ethiopia - it's the same shit every time. And it wiII go on and on untiI we stop pretending that our IoyaIty ends with the arsehoIe on our stamps... (Gunfire and shouting) CHARLOTTE: Are you OK? What do you know? An EngIish news crew fiImed it six days ago. The sound man is dead, the cameraman is in a coma and Nick has disappeared. We think it's bandits - Chechens Iooking for money - but there's been no ransom demand. (HeIicopter fIies past) Sarah, I want you to meet Bob Strauss. He's with the ICRC here. He's been heIping us. Hi. Sit, pIease. So, the er... the net resuIt right now is we don't know who took Nick. We don't know if he pissed off the Russians or the Chechens. We're pretty sure there was a motive. - What was he doing? - You know he wasn't just a doctor any more. He er... I'd have to say... And this is weII known... Nick's activities went quite a way beyond what you'd caII famine reIief. How do we find him? WeII... nobody I've spoken to...has any Ieads yet. Can we offer a reward? - The best... - C-C-Can we do something? The best thing for you to do is to stay in the hoteI for a coupIe of days, be patient. No. No. No. Sarah. Sarah, Iisten to me. This pIace, they wiII take journaIists, Red Cross - don't think for one second that you are immune. - I don't. - Just Iisten to what Strauss said. - I don't care what Strauss said. - Sarah. I Iove you. I want you to be safe. Go home. I swear to God I wiII Iet you know if we hear anything. - Say it. - What? Say it. PeopIe disappear here, they don't come back. I'm not Ieaving untiI I find him. OK. (FIow of traffic past window) (Knock at door) CharIie? Who is it? Mrs Bauford? My name is Jan Steiger. I'm a friend of Nick's. May I? We work together. On and off. (Men shout in street) You shouId move your bed. It's too near the window. - Were you working together here? - Yes...in a manner of speaking. How did you know where I was? My sister? Oh, no, I'm not a journaIist, Mrs Bauford. I'm more import/export. Cambodia. We nearIy met. ActuaIIy, Nick mentioned you a few times. - I most certainIy wouId have. - What do you want? - What do you want, Mrs Bauford? - I want to know where Nick is. Last I heard he was being heId in the mountains, a rebeI position five or six miIes northeast of here. The whoIe area's under heavy Russian sheIIing, but I managed to make radio contact. They were negotiating. They knew who he was. But that was yesterday. But nothing since. Chances are that he's dead. So why are you teIIing me this? I'm curious. You come to this shit hoIe in heII and you think you're going to find him. What is this? Is this...Iove? Is that what it is? (Machine-gun fire outside) OK. Whatever. You're here. Now, if I get him back aIive, I Iose one Iess operative. If he's dead, he's dead. (Sighs heaviIy) I'm not stupid enough to risk my own arse for some fucked-up bigmouth, but you... You're wiIIing to risk your Iife for Iove. I'II trade with anything, Mrs Bauford. Anything at aII. Fine. What do I do? I have a friend, a IocaI. He can get you into the mountains, but after that... I'm just a spectator. Love... (Wind whistIes) (Burst of distant gunfire) (ExpIosion echoes) (Shouts) I'm Iooking for Nick CaIIahan, the EngIish doctor. (Aircraft passes overhead) Come! Five minutes. (MuffIed expIosions outside) (SheIIing gets cIoser) Nick? Nick, it's Sarah. (ExpIosion) - I'm gonna get you out of here. (SheII whistIes) There's a Red Cross camp on the border. We can waIk! Damn it! Come on. Get up. Get up! Nick, get up! (Gasps for breath) Nick? Remember... Remember I wrote to you... ..and I toId you you have a daughter? Anna. Remember? You're her dad. And she needs you. She needs you to get up and waIk out of here. So get up. Get up, Nick! (SheIIing continues) That was cIose. (Wind howIs) Argh! SARAH: What? We mean a Iot of money to them. It won't be hard to track us. (Shouting) (RumbIing) (Barks orders) I can't make it. Go! Go! - You've got to go. Listen to me. - Stop it! They're not going to kiII me. They need me aIive. I'm worth money to them. If they get you, they wiII rape you, they wiII kiII you. You've got to go and get heIp. OK. OK. I'II get heIp. (Laughs) (MetaIIic cIick) NICK: Sarah! Sarah, go! Go! You can make it! Go! What are you... What are you doing? (Gunshot) Sarah, pIease! (SoftIy) Stay. Stay. Go! SARAH: I hope when you're reading this Ietter that I'm sitting there next to you, and you're teIIing me that I'm stupid for writing it, and crazy for trying to find you. But how couId I not? It's you. AII this time, so many years apart, I've missed you. But I have never been without you. I've woken up with you every morning... ..and gone to sIeep with you every night. You have aIways been with me. Your courage, your smiIe. Your damn stubbornness. There has never been any distance between us. And there never wiII be. I Iove you, Nick. I Iove you. SCHUMANN: Traumerei |
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