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Flora (2017)
- Ora Blackwood, illustrator.
- Avis Tasker, nursing. - Ah, the live wire. - Don't flatter. Four papers on opiates, Miss Tasker? Flattery's in order. Charles, this is Matsudaira Basho, a taxonomist. You can call me Matt. Charles Horne, cartography. - Welcome to the last run. - Yes. Skip the next three months, cap and gown me now. A second. Ah, sorry, allergies, rushing to get better. So where is my little brother? Preserving a little culture. Oh, radish! That's not my name! And I'm gonna go put this with the canoes. - Here, Rudy, I'll take... - I can do it. I'll take it. Come here. Come here. Yeah, yeah, who else is gonna buy you out of that mess? - Ah, not dad. - No, not dad. You're bigger. - You're cleaner. University life, brother, makes a gentleman of us all. So where's your professor? What do you mean? I mean, we got in last night, there were no lamps, no welcome party, no nothing. He hasn't been here this morning? Nope. Great, probably forgot what month it is. We'll head out, I'm sure, meet up along the way. Right. Gentlemen, you wanna quit jabbing and help? Be careful with that. Don't you worry, Miss Blackwood, I have a steady hand. Tell that to the hundred dollars worth of paint and colors in that box. Ora. I love you guys. Hey, c'mon! Hey, wait up! Doctor Keating! Ora? What? - What if he's sleeping? - What if he's sleeping? It's dead. Sleeping, huh? Doctor Keating! - Doctor Keating! - Doctor Keating! - Doctor! - Doctor Keating! - Professor! - Doctor Keating! - Professor! Doctor Keating! - Professor! - Doctor! - Doctor Keating! Doctor Keating! I guess that just depends, buddy. Wouldn't he be hunting for us? That's what I thought. Maybe you should leave the hunting with me. Oh, this gun? Oh wait, don't put that, don't get that big hammer. Yeah, I've had it for a little while now. Top of my most prized possessions. Really, you kidding now? Rudy, get your hands off. Ah, great. Four days. - What? - It's enough for four days. He burned everything fresh. All the vegetables and the meat. Is there any chance those chests just went rotten? Well, Keating's a doctor of plant biology. He wouldn't just burn everything in his student's research camp to get rid of a few spots of mold. I say we focus on where he is. I am focusing on where he is. All we know is he's been missing for the last 15... 19, about 20 hours. Right and I've been going through his papers and he's done about 50 sketches. Which means? He's been working steadily for at least 10 days. And he's been here how long? Two weeks. So, either Keating left camp in the past four or something's happened to him. That's what you're saying? No, I think we're saying he should be here. His trunk's locked. What? I was putting away everyone's things, setting up cots and I looked to see what I could find in his tent. His trunk is locked and there's no key. I mean, that could just be privacy. Or something else. Well, I also found medicine and chemicals in the kitchen and by the fire this morning. - Like what? - Like disinfectants, mainly. Boric acid, some sal volatile. Why is it we're not just getting on with what we're here to do? Right, Charles. And ignore the fact that we have four days of food and our next supply drop is in a month. You were on The Discovery? The Discovery? The ship Shackleton died on? Shackleton died on the Quest. He didn't die on the Quest. The Quest brought him to Antarctica, where he died on his quest. I mean, you worked with whales? Well, no. I worked with the man who worked with whales, but yeah. Long before you saw me on that road, I was this close to a South Georgian Blue. Such a spinster. Why, I think it sounds terribly exciting? Ventures in the Atlantic, marine mammals, working on a Antarctic research ship. Avis, he wasn't working on a Antarctic research ship, he was dish washing. Basho, nine months under the same roof, where's the loyalty? Alright, enough beating the gums. I bring the bootleg! Yeah, Rudy! Ora, you drink like a mouse in the city, you're going blind tonight. - Well, look at this. - Haviland, not a word. I smuggled it in, I'm making the toast, this is to a hunter who not only didn't catch anything today, he says he didn't see anything. Boo. A nurse, who builds a fire like a soldier, a man who's gonna chart more dreams than maps. Boo! Good first impression, sheik. And my best friend, also Ora. Thanks. No, this is my first expedition and whatever this is, whatever balled-up trip for biscuits this has turned into, wherever the hell Keating is, we are certainly without supervision, so tomorrow we're gonna search for the parents, but tonight, we're gonna get sauced 'cause if we're out of food and I have to walk out of here after one day in camp, I need a drink. I need to get so bent, fried, horri-eyed and ossified that I can't remember what every epiphytic bryophyte species grows on an a sear's sag ram. What? He doesn't even know what that means. I've already found what I need in this place. To us. And to the shortest of expeditions. Also, here. I had these made. I was gonna give 'em out on our first dinner, but well, you know how that goes. This is one of the best damn things I ever got. Yeah, yeah, it cost more than your shirt. Now let's make dead soldiers out of this liniment. So... But how did a girl like that get wrapped up with this lot? You seen her art? - Her what? - Her art. Keating, famous for his art. Ora makes him look like a child. Oh, right. She grew up in greenhouses the size of this camp. I think... Haviland, she's taking, Haviland, she's taken care of more plants than half the professors who teach us. Her mother's a horticulturist. - Her mother's a what? - A Hortibidulterous. A what? Wouldn't say it. Her mother's a, her mother's a florist. I see. At the university, she's a woman, they see flowers, they see... The first woman in the country with a botany degree. But it wasn't easy, she had to fight to get in. Keating persuaded 'em, saw her art, but there's still a lot who don't believe in her. I think they're scared. She's too good. Well... Oh. That's something. Quite. Oaf, someone's half under. Oh, in your dreams. No practice with the British, huh? You know what it's like playing chess on a ship? I'm gonna go take a piss. Hey yo. Smoke? Basho. Basho! - What is it? - Basho! What? Look. What? Forget how to use it? - Oh, shut up. Look. What? There. - Where? - Smoke. Hanging between the trees. What smoke? Do you think maybe it's the professor? Or maybe a distress signal or... Shh. Hold this. - Where are you going? - Button your pants. What? What are you doing? Matt. Matt. Run! - What? - Pollen! Pollen? - Man, I got it all over me. - That's a good look on you. It's not just smoke, it's pollen. Hello! Hello! So this is the area where you've been collecting? And we walked it yesterday, no sign. - Alright, and these? - All the grids we strung. Right, so we've come up the river, seen the north coast of two lakes and I've been up here on the mountain and nothing? - What's that? - What? There. - Train tracks. - A train? It's a train line that comes from a copper mine up near the Labrador shelf. - From Labrador? - Yeah. The track's about a week out and I think they said the engine comes through twice a month, first Wednesday or Thursday or... - Any maps? - No they don't have any maps. Or they don't want to give them up. They came in, cut the woods, laid tracks, moved on. Industry at its finest. Now, the way I like to do this is instead of starting everywhere we don't know, we start in the places we do. What's he saying? He's saying he wants to go to the mill. - What? - We need to go to the mill. - Charles, you can't... - What, Rudyard? What are they gonna do? We're paying them, there's nothing down there, except for rotting shacks and abandoned juice joints. I think he means why on earth would Keating go to the mill. Because it's the only place marked on this map that we haven't checked. There's also lakes marked on the map. Alright, listen to me, in times of crisis human beings move towards what they know. And I found this in his notes this morning. So, you're whining because you're not getting bitten? I'm not whining, I'm simply asking where all the bugs are! I wake up this morning expecting hills of red and not only am I barren, I don't know anyone who got bit around that fire last night. So you're whining because you're not getting bitten. Alight, how far are we? Should be coming up. Trip down is faster than the trip coming up. Yeah, that's called a current, Charles, and it's gonna hurt later today. Jack to me as long as we're not riding a waterfall. A waterfall? A waterfall powers the mill. You'll hear it once we start getting closer. The lakes in this river all lead into it. The current's not so bad if here where we tie up, but keep going down further, gets pretty bad. And you cats wanna paddle back tonight? I'm not the one in charge here. Matt, man, how long is this gonna take? - Ora. - Yes? - Ora! - What? Haviland, have you seen any animals? What? Have you seen any animals? Basho, I just busted through a quarter mile of forest. I probably stepped on a few, but I am not in the mood right now to be questioned as to my skills as a hunter. No, that's not what we're saying, we're saying have you seen anything? Any fish, any squirrels, any bugs here in the forest? No. No? No. Alright, we need to search. We really need to search right now. - For what? - For anything. Any animals, any bird or insect. Anything living in this forest. Doesn't make much sense, does it? What? Building a pulp mill all the way up here and then abandoning it. Yeah, it's called bad business. How many families lived down there? We don't know, we've had trouble finding any records. Maybe that's because... They never left. Come on, ladies, no time to waste. You ever seen one? What? A ghost town. No. Oh. Oh my god. So what the hell's that mean? It means two hours, not one of us has seen so much a ruffle in the leaves. Maybe there was a forest fire? Does it look there was a forest fire? We need to open his trunk. Avis, he's fine, he's just... Avis, he's nuts. Rudyard, stand back. You have to calm down, Rudyard. Charles, let him go. Charles! - Get off! No. No, why is he wearing that? What the hell is he wearing a mask for? We're not suppose to be out here! - You're the god damn nurse! - Don't yell at me, Charles. You're the god damn nurse. And you're in shock, you're losing your head. I'm losing my head? I'm losing my head? I'm not the one suggesting we drag his body back to our camp! - We have to! You have to shut up, Avis. Shut up. If either of you thinks we're dragging that body back to our camp with its sickness, you have another think coming. - Don't yell at her, Charles. His eyes and neck are swollen and blue. He's not contagious, the man's carrying smelling salts! - To what? - To use on himself! He died of a reaction to something that he was breathing. He's wearing a mask! - It's idiotic. - What's idiotic? He's bleeding from the mouth, Avis. You're honestly going to pretend that you know what's going on here? Yes, I know that whatever he inhaled acted like a corrosive. Fine, I don't know! I don't know, Charles, I don't know what did this and that's why I need to bring him back to camp. To what? Cut him open, swap around, let him bleed on our mess table? We're not bringing some diseased corpse... I'm going. - What? I'm going. Charles. You're panicking. Don't talk to me about panic, Avis. Since day one this whole expedition has been a disaster. I'm leaving this forest, I'm leaving this god damn village and if you two tarts wanna stick around here, scavenging around in the night for whatever in god's name killed him, be my guest, but I'm not bringing his rank or I'm not fighting his stupidity. I've done my job! Of everyone standing here on this expedition, I'm the only one doing my job! Stop, stop, take it back, take it back. "SOS, stop. "SOS, stop. "Please send all vehicles to pick up women "and children, stop. "We are burning what we can, stop. "We are wearing the masks, stop. "It is inside of us, stop. "It is in our clothes, stop. "We are bleeding, stop. "We can't breathe, stop. "SOS, stop. "SOS, stop." Charles! Rudy! Avis! Charles! Rudyard! Avis! Charles! - Rudyard! - Rudyard! - Rudyard, get my medicine. - On your bed? - Under my bed. - What happened? - What in god's name? - Ora, take my place. What in god's name? - He left before us. - What? We got to the mill, Charles left before us. We found him by the river bank this morning. He slept on the forest floor. Rudyard, we need to hold him down. Everybody get on his arms and legs. Matt, on his chest. Ora, tilt his head back. His throat's about to close and if he stops breathing, he's gonna die, give me that. Why don't you just knock him out? I can't do that without guaranteeing an airway first. Anyone want to tell me what's wrong with sleeping on the forest floor? The floor's covered in bacteria. It's leaves decomposing, you can get sick from... It's like a stomach. Well, he's having an allergic reaction to something he inhaled. Rudyard, pass me that bottle. So, you got to the mill? We got to the mill. Based on Keating's notes, the samples I've looked at, and the information Keating had locked in his trunk, it appears the only things living in this forest are plants, bacteria, and fungi. There are no animals. How is that possible? - You heard of an endophyte? - A what? An endophyte, like fields in Europe endophytes? - Yes. - Where those cows were dying? Sorry, what are we talking about here? A fungi that makes plants inedible. Right, except endophytes are a grass fungi and they don't grow in trees. Rudy, think about it, it could explain... What, Ora, are you gonna tell me the entire forest is full of endophytic fungi? We've only surveyed an area... Rudyard, we have Keating's notes and they are in everything I put under a microscope. Maybe you need a new microscope. Rudyard, there are no people living in this forest. Do you see any animals? There's no flora with any color, nothing to allure insects! And you jump to this! Ora, the forest's deciduous! How's it gonna live without animals? You morons are saying it drops its leaves, the bacteria, the fungi breaks it all down, then what? Spring waters it anew and the whole cycle starts over? Closed ecosystem. No fauna. This is some science-fiction. Why didn't we see it? If this fungi is in everything, why doesn't it show? Because it hides inside the plants. The only way botanists have caught it in the past is this. What's that? - That is his hand. - That's my hand. And I'm not moving it. Staggers. Human staggers. Endophytes attack an animal's motor control, they cause, they first cause an animal to tremor, stagger. Followed by? There's no documented cases in humans, but in livestock, consuming or inhaling endophytes results in death. But the mill. The mill closed down because people started getting sick. Pollen in their hair, in their clothes, in their lungs. - You must be joking. - No. And this brilliance is why the professor brought us up here. The man wanted to investigate why a mill was abandoned because of the trees it was cutting down. I'm sure Keating didn't just bring us... Rud, he did. We spent all of yesterday combing through his trunk. The man knew what was up here. So why did he burn our food? Look at your clothes. It's all over. And who knows what state of mind he was in. What? He was out here for two weeks. What do you think, he went crazy? - Why was he at the mill? - Research! How many days are we from the nearest town? Half a day's paddling and then two by car. - Traveling at... - 30 miles per hour. So we're looking at 480 miles. That's about 21 days of walking. Three and a half weeks and our next supply drop is in... A month. So short of finding some way to turn water into food... We really are gonna starve out here. Maybe not. Boiling anything will, more often than not, kill any bacteria living in or around a plant. Kidney beans. Eat 'em raw and you'll vomit for hours. But boil 'em? Not a wink. Then of course there are apple seeds, a handful of which will kill you, cherries, peaches, plums, apricots and almond leaves are all poisonous, everything but the stalk of a rhubarb will put you into a coma and tomatoes are nightshades. You say that these killers are fungi, yes, so white vinegar. Most vinegar contains a mild acid. Cures toe fungus. Are you suggesting that we use cooking vinegar to save us? No, I'm suggesting we don't all panic, because all of a sudden we're surrounded by poisonous plants. - Why not? - Because we always have been. Humans are dominant on Earth because we never take what we get. We can cook, boil, fry our way out of bacteria. That's right, Ritz. Alright, for all those who didn't study botany. This is a rag weed, this is the main cause of hay fever. No, Rudyard, this is a plant, whose seeds happen to be about 50% crude protein. And you learned this studying whales? I learnt this reading a book. Haviland, you're talking about poaching a bush that's notorious for causing the worst allergies on the continent. You can't just eat wild plants, and hope everything turns out fine. Then what do you wanna do, Rud? What do any of you wanna do? Wait here? Drink water? Conserve energy off of two cans of tomatoes, and a couple of well-oiled sardines? None of us are seeing it. None of us are seeing what? We have to run. What? These grasses are going to start releasing, and along with these trees, this forest is gonna fill with so much pollen, we won't be able to open our eyes without it getting inside of us. We're not going to starve in these woods. We're going to suffocate. Charles, step one. Keating, step two. We have to run. So this is us, this is the mill, and that is the road. The road will take too long. Well, what about the river here? The river empties out of the lake, flows down into the canoe camp and then... - Hits a waterfall. - Yeah, we saw it. Right, so no paddling out that way. What about the other side? - Upstream. - Right, and it's uncharted. But if we travel by water, we can stay hydrated. Also carry Charles in one of the canoes. And the water should trap the pollen. Wash it off our skin. You all do understand the concept of uncharted, right? No, is that a word, what is that? Listen, we don't know how far this forest goes. We could be paddling up that thing for weeks. What other option do we have? The train. - What was that? - What about the train? There's a train that passes through here, on its way from the bay going south. - Every two weeks. - Every two weeks. - Strike me dead. - How far is that? Well, the tracks, from where we are, this map is a quadrangle and we are here. So that means it's about 200 kilometers, or about 120 miles. If we're moving about 18 a day, then... - That's... - A seven day trek. A week, so if we got for that train, we could get out in a week. But we'd have to go straight through the woods. And carry water and supplies. Build suits. We could use Keating's masks. You'll have to cut your hair. What? It's too long. Pollen would get trapped in it. Tomorrow, we scavenge. Use Haviland's science, then boil up everything, and test on ourselves. Then we run. And Charles? We carry him. Either he gets better, or we carry him. So, we have noodles, jerky, pickles, spinach, and baby carrots. Also known as cattails, pine bark, water lily root, wood nanals and rag weeds. Everything here should be edible. Doc, take it away. Right, so none of us have eaten anything since we woke. Which means that our bodies are gonna react to this, and only this. So the way that you do it is, you pick a plant, and then you hold it to your lips and you wait. Any burning, tingling, just stop, throw it out, torch it. But if not, then put the plant on your tongue, and again, you wait. No biting, chewing, breaking the leaf for about 10 seconds. And then, and only then, you chew. Do not swallow, just chew and wait. After a few seconds, then if everything is still jake, you swallow. Then over the next eight hours, we see what happens. And if by this evening everything is still okay, then we try the plants again, and by tomorrow morning, we will know for sure, and that's it. That's it? Yeah, that's it. And if any of us does get sick, we have some bowls nearby. So aim for that. We could leave some nice samples for the university. Give 'em a nice thank you for treating us so kindly. Also, I have some ipecac, some sal volatile, some salt water nearby, and some clean water, so... So let's start this. Alright. I'll do the pine. Nothing. Bitter. Pardon? Bitter, it's bitter. Right. Next? Well, I'll take the lily pad. - Nettles. - Cattail. Well... Guess it's me and the rag weed. Matt? Matt, are you sure about this? - Yes. - Sure? Do you hear me? Everything I've tested, what we just ate, is endophytic. Why are you asking this, Rudyard? Why? Because I don't feel a thing. The whole damn experiment's based on... Based on what, Rudyard? Don't shut up now. - Avis! - Avis! Rudyard, I need you to drink this. Put his head back, put his head back! Breathe through your nose, Rudyard. Breathe through your nose. Turn him on his side! No, no, no, no, no! No, Rud, no! No, no, I need a towel! - What? - A towel, it's corrosive! - What are you doing? Haviland, what are you doing? - It's burning his throat! - No, stop! - The air's not getting in! No, stop! Nine hours till we go. How's Charles? Worse. You? I'm fine. How's Haviland? I can see his lamp flash sometimes, between the trees. Can I ask you something? Yes. You know cowbane? Water hemlock? 15 minutes from ingestion, it's vomiting, seizures. Then cardiac arrest. Those nettles acted like one of the most poisonous plants on Earth. There with ipecac roots or cinnamon. Vomiting, convulsions and then burning like a hog weed sap. And Charles is like a drip poison. Soporific and inflammatory and these staggers are like contractions and I don't know, I can't find cross-symptoms. Matt, there could be allergies in all of us, inconsistencies in the time of year that the plants were picked. And the fact that the leaves were ingested instead of the roots or the stalks and I just don't, Charles... - Avis, stop. - I'm not a doctor! My father is a doctor. They won't let me train. My father was Japanese infantry. In Aomori. My father doesn't want me to study botany. My father doesn't know what botany is. My father is a fool. I am not. You are not. And they are not here. "Suddenly, the humor of the situation came into my mind. "The thought of the years I had spent in study and in toil "to get into the future age, "and now my passion of anxiety to get out of it. "I had made myself the most complicated and the most "hopeless trap that ever a man devised." We're almost ready. Avis is just finishing up Ora now. Ora Blackwood, meet 1929. We need to talk about Charles. He's not getting any better. What are you saying? What is Avis telling you to say? Ora, I haven't been able to give him any water. His digestive system has been slowly shutting down. Not pulling the tube out, he would die within two days. Avis. We don't have time. So we leave him? Pull out his tube, let him choke? Is there any other way? Ora. It's already done. I think I can see a break in the trees. Where? Turn. Northwest. You see it? Yeah. Maybe a path? It's too close to be the train yet. Hello. What do you see? A pine forest. A pine forest? Is that interesting? A pine forest. Pine trees produce a lot of pollen, but they do it quickly, and their needles contain an acid that kill all other deciduous flora. In a pine forest, we'd be free from the rest of the plants in these woods. It's like an oasis. Well, how far is that? It looks like two days from here. So, we head there, finish packing and make pace. Tell me. Does this look like death to you? No. It looks like life. The strongest I've ever seen. Run! It's herbaceous, Matt, shrub understory and then canape. There's no way you're convincing me that shrub is more complex than something working at a canape level. It's not like we didn't pay for it. My entire torso's in bandages. - Don't exaggerate. - I'm not exaggerating! You're exaggerating. Matt. Your mask. Everything's dry. Jake. Haviland. Yes, doc. Your mask. Avis, look at me. - What? - Look at me. What is it, sheik? Check your nose. Yeah. It's fine, it's dry. - It's dry? - Yeah. Perfect. Avis. Yeah? I've watched you bandage all of us. I barely see you doing yourself. We're not making it far without a doctor. I'm a nurse, Haviland. Sure. Just take care of yourself. Avis, wake up! Avis! Avis! Avis, Avis! Avis, wake up, wake up, wake up, Avis! Wake up! Avis, please wake up, wake up, wake up. Haviland, she's not breathing! No. Avis. Avis! Avis! - Where's Matt? Come on. Come on, Avis. - Where's Matt? Oh, Jesus Christ! Where's Matt? Did you see him anywhere along the path? No! Jesus, I just told her this morning she... - Haviland, we need to... - I know! He was right behind me. Well, when was the last time you checked? I don't know! - We go for the forest. - What? We keep goin', we get to that pine forest. What? We make him find us. - Are you insane? - I am not insane. It's a half a day's trek, Matt knows where it is. Haviland, he could be dying on the ground somewhere. He is stubborn and I guarantee you he is just off path and he could be trying to find his way back to us. - But what if he's lost? - He's not lost, Ora. He is just off the path. Now we have a heading and we need to keep moving, or else we don't get out of here. Matt will find us! Did you come to sleep? We're all sleeping in the woods tonight. My hammock is over there. Where is your hammock, near the mill? I like your mask, I wish mine wasn't so big. Matt! Matt. We. Don't. Need. You, Matt. We live stronger, alone! Should have gone up that river. What? - I'm coming! - No, you're not. Haviland, you can't stop me! You spent all day blowing that whistle, not protecting yourself, if you go out there now, you won't make it four yards before you collapse. I will be back here by morning. I will find him and we will get out of here together. But I need someone to be here, in case I miss him in the dark. Haviland... If you're not back here by morning, I'm coming out there. Ora. I'll be here. I'll see you soon. Haviland! Haviland! Haviland! Haviland! I found him. You found him. His mask was off, lost. You gave him your mask? Ora, please. If I make it through this, you're never gonna sketch my rocks. Haviland, you're coming with me. I brought him back. I brought my brother back. Don't. I'm not going. Ora, Ora. Ora, you've lost a day, it's two more to the train. It's supposed to be passing tomorrow and you have to run. And I can't. - Yes, you can! Matt, let go of me! Matt, let go! Matt! Ora! You have to go and show them this. We don't know how it works. We study all this and make up growth levels. We don't know how it thinks. Why it grows. It's like you. Frightening. Wild. Beautiful. It's not forcing us out, it's living. Stronger than us. We have to meet it. You have to meet it. Get to the train. Get to the university. Then... Come find us. |
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