1
Was this agreed?
- No.
Hmm... come...
Coffee?
As a rule they put down the kitchens
downstairs, but here it's upstairs.
It's not actually terribly convenient,
I've spilled no end of stuff.
But the guy upstairs
is never home,
so I just spill things,
and there's no one to see.
Oh, you really live here?
You asked me that last time.
I'll sort it out
when when I've got some cash.
Are those CDs in the boxes down there?
- I'll show you.
So.
It's a bus lane, you cunt!
This is Ian
He'll be helping you tonight.
He worked a while at the Atlantic.
What day are we today?
- Wednesday. I'll see you later.
Do me a favor and put my coffee
in the fridge, will you?
I'll finish it later.
Steve worked Saturday night at
closing time, you had already gone.
This French bloke dropped off a CV
a fortnight ago,
So yesterday we rang him up.
Seems OK...
They all seem OK, maybe we should hire
someone who wants to do this job
I'm surrounded by assholes
who are doing this job only
while they're waiting for
something else to turn up.
Scratch the surface of any one of the
fuckers, they turn out to be actors
or dancers, or some pansy or other
I'm not kidding, I've had it
up to here with these assholes
who miss no opportunity to tell the front who
they really are, what they're really into.
"Oh, where do you do your classes? "Isn't
it difficult keeping up one's career?"
That's made up, isn't it?
- Made up or not, it pisses me off.
Oh, right.
- A bar is not a restaurant...
Come the evening you can get a
completely different customer in here.
Now I'm the head barman, which means that
I get to do whatever I like to do,
and you get to do whatever I tell you to,
so you can forget what
those people told you
upstairs, you haven't got
a week to get used to it,
Either you click right away, or not at all.
Where's your vodka?
In the afternoon anyone can serve them their
beer. It's not quite so simple in the evening.
And there's always someone out for
your blood too... - My blood?
You are slow! Oh Jeez.
You see that big guy over there
in the suit?
He's been drinking since four o'clock
this afternoon.
Come closing time
you've got to chuck him out.
See this woman coming along here now: she's
the type that always orders the same thing,
but she still needs you to ask her
each time what she wants.
Been in evenings now for three months
and she hasn't changed her record once.
Hello there sweetheart;
my you're looking cheerful today!
Do I have to dance on the table
to get some attention?
Okay, so what does she have?
Oh, she'll tell you...
It doesn't include a tip.
Susan? We're up here!
Come on.
Dads, I love everyone.
Alex ought to come to my party,
and he is not allowed.
Not allowed? But that's terrible...
Who is Alex?
Alex, he's a prick.
Are you cold? A little bit?
You're sure? Now, I'm going to get
you some tea in a minute.
Hurry up and come down stairs,
we'll play.
All right.
The children are looking peaceful
at the moment.
Yes, they're looking very well.
You do love them, don't you?
Cold?...
Cold, but it's alright.
And next Wednesday...
is there a Wednesday too?
Well, is he what we need?
Oh he'll do. Customers like him.
G'night.
- G'night.
Coke?...
Two vodkas on me.
The barman will do,
buys his host a drink.
You know that woman who's always in here?
The one you were chatting
up the other day...
Today she said to me,
'You're Joel's brother, aren't you?'
She said what?
- 'You're Joel's brother.'
I didn't give her a yes or no,
but she took that as a yes.
Oh that's cool,
I quite like the name Joel.
'Cause When I was little I used to
listen to lots of Billy Joel.
Billy Joel? Oh spare me.
How old are you, exactly?
Look, it was my sister,
Who was not seventeen first of all.
She had everything of his.
And I used to listen too.
The stout!...
Got any here?
- Jesus Christ, come on, spare me.
How long have you been working here, then?
Since my eldest son was born,
six years ago.
Before that I was a musician,
like Billy, sort of...
Funny, I'd never have guessed
you had kids.
One day a year ago, I just walked out,
went to stay with a friend.
Things can happen like that in life.
Very simple things.
One night arrives which is the last
you spend at home;
in a house,
with a wife and family...
Next morning, you just open the door
and close it again.
And if the house is already empty,
well that helped.
They had all left already,
so that was a help...
You mean you didn't say anything;
you just split?
Say what?
Billy Joel... fuck you know...
You say you were looking for
somewhere to crash?
It's a fuckin' nightmare
when you get nothing
left and you got to start
buying all over again.
I didn't want want people
to give me the gear.
Other people's gear
makes me puke.
You want to piss me off good and proper,
just drag me down to the local office-found.
This is all new, clean,
unblemished, no past...
Hey listen, drink?
No, let's have a look too, first.
Yeah, well, we'll have a look too.
Uh, my room in there...
No great interest, nothing to see.
You've changed lots of things...
Victor, was that there before?
Mind you, that's been there for ages!
Your room.
My room.
OK? Good? You like that?
- Go ahead. OK.
What's wrong?
- It's OK... Good.
Hey, there's another room at Jay's place.
- Oh, come on Victor, please!
Jay lives in a house now.
I told you, it's a room on the
ground-floor; it's nothing like this place.
Anyway I don't need extra rent.
Well, less than you fucking do...
What the fuck do I know?
There are all manner of reasons why Jay
here needs just as much bread as myself.
He keeps mum about it,
but I can imagine...
See, when you leave your family,
they clean you out;
house, kids, bled dry...
that's what we are.
Are you living with anyone?
- No.
Are you a queer?
- What do you think?
You just fuck all over the shelf?
Victor, give the guy a
fucking break, will you!
Jay and me, we were like two brothers here.
Old twins, that's us.
One or other of us could have been left
by the wayside at any time, but no
onward as one
And how many people can you say that about
in a lifetime?
Jay and me, we've both
done our share of drifting
but at each bend in the road,
we always did what we wanted to do.
And that makes one fuck of a difference.
Enthralled to our desires,
that's us.
Victor is that impeccable gentleman,
who rings your doorbell one evening
and suggests: cable TV.
I can get you a very nice price if you
fancy a wee set for your room. - Oh!
Hey.
What is that?
Well, I guess the minute...
Maybe you don't want
a tenant, after all?
OK, OK, - What? - Victor needs
money, he needs a space to crash.
Wait, it's so simple,
you have to complicate it?
Then again, maybe it's me, maybe
I've got the whole thing wrong...
We should drop the whole thing.
Fine by me, if you can help!
OK? I have nothing against it.
I have my own life.
Don't look to me for anything.
Victor provides the room first off.
Let's put the money on the table
and that's that.
Cash, no checks.
My son told me he wants
to go to art college.
When I was sixteen,
I used to paint a pack...
Funny, eh?
You know it's not good for you to
be on your own. Come on Victor.
If you're on your own, the moment
there's trouble fucking head your way.
Jesus, would you just listen to yourself?
- All right.
I don't need you setting me straight.
Thanks for dropping by.
And all that crap about twins too.
What is that shit?
Oh, twins! Pisses me off!
Hello, Tommy!
- Hello, love.
Daddy?
- I'll just...
Daddy?
- What, just a minute...
What, what...
Look.
Oh, you've had a little accident.
Maybe you'll do the same for me,
some day... huh?
Let's change these things.
Good.
Your eyes are upside down today.
Why do you say upside down?
'Cause when I turn like this...
See, they look like eyebrows.
Your head works both ways round.
On your Mother's side, they got
big bags under their eyes like that.
Wait a minute, I think I can see...
No I haven't got those.
- Maybe one day.
No I won't.
Wait, wait...
What?
- It's all right.
Oh, Victor, what the fuck are
you doing here? Piss off!
Sorry, I know I
should have called you.
I don't know where I got this idea
that you never have anyone. Right?...
It's bloody stupid.
Mind you, it's nice to have people around.
I used to like it.
No, No, Victor...
- Sorry.
Hey, your friend of yours, Ian,
he never showed.
Did he say anything?
- I don't know.
You haven't got any gear knocking about?
I'm feeling a bit wasted...
- No.
I don't use that stuff.
- Have you got everything you need here?
I can salt you out with cable
whenever you want?
You never told me you were seeing someone.
"I'm not seeing anyone" you told me.
She's my landlady. She was coming to check
if I had everything I needed.
All right, yeah, yeah, I get it.
Personally I've always thought it's best not
to have anything to do with those people.
It gets them kind of emotional and then you
manage not to be able to ask for anything.
Like, when the heating fucks up,
or...
This place is fucking gigantic!
Is it just you here?
Something that your landlady does especially
well, apart from freaking you out?
Have you seen the look in your face?
All right, two days,
You can stay two days.
But that's all.
People all have their own faces,
don't they?
Everyone manages to have a special one;
it's great.
If I look at them I can see
they're all different,
But tomorrow, put me in the same carriage
with the same people,
I won't recognize a single one of them.
Causes me no end of shit...
Will I see you on Friday?
Why, don't you want me to come?
- Oh, Betty!
So how was your day, then?
- Nothing to write home about.
Bye.
Have you got the tickets?
- I put them in the bag.
It's over there, downstairs.
Just over there.
You mustn't expect too much more.
- What do you mean?
She seems all those things to you and me
because she's ours; we love her.
We don't even know she's crippled anymore
Don't say crippled. You know, I
never allow that word to be used.
Face facts, Mother. she is.
And that's not all.
- What do you mean 'not all?'
Laura is very different from other girls. - I
think the difference is all to her advantage.
Not quite all. In the eyes of others,
strangers, she's terribly shy,
and lives in a world of her own.
And all those things make her seem
peculiar to people outside the house.
Don't say'peculiar.'
- Face the facts. She is.
I don't intend to
humor your silliness, Laura,
so just sit down and
compose yourself till they come.
Thomas has forgotten his keys, you'll
have to let them in when they arrive.
Mother, you answer the door.
- I'll be in the kitchen, busy.
Oh, Mother, please, you answer the door.
Please don't make me do it.
That is your brother and Mr. O'Connor.
Will you open the door?, Laura
Mother, you go to the door. Please!
Can you give me one good reason...
Oh, coming.
Just one second!
Why you should be afraid to open a door?
Laura Winfield,
you march right to that door!
Yes, Mother...
Laura, this is Jim;
Jim, this is my sister Laura.
I did not know Shakespeare
had a sister...
Do you like it?
I don't know.
I'm not into the theater at all.
Ah... - They haven't got
much space here, have they?
They aren't like a company that does
different plays.
No, they take two each
to a group of actors...
How long have we got now?
- Fifteen minutes.
Let me get the drinks.
- Oh, no, it's all right.
A Guinness, please.
What will you have?
Thanks, I'll have a Coke.
Only a Coke?
- Just a coke, I'm working.
What would you like?
- Can I have a coke too please?
Just a coke?
Yeah, two cokes.
Mom was wicked tonight, wasn't she?
Yeah, Yeah
- Whats that?
I thought Mom was wicked tonight.
He loves coming, you know, he'd
come every night if he could.
You know, I'm watching it but
often I'm really nervous, I'm thinking
how will she get along
or just going to trip over
Or I keep just checking around,
making sure people are enjoying it.
But he'll watch it,
watch the entire play.
He's got a real knack for it. Don't you?
You really love it. - Yeah
Here we go again,
the second half...
Do you like Tennessee Williams, yeah?
Yeah.
I've got to leave someone,
and I don't know how.
Fucking out - So what's the
situation this time?
It's just a girl I'm seeing.
She comes around. We fuck. She leaves.
Without me asking to come back
or anything like that.
Alright, I asked her around once, but...
Well, What would you say?
It's crazy, right?
I mean, you suggest something just this
once; they make a fucking habit of it.
Okay, it's not a hassle to
me or anything to be...
Actually, it is.
That's exactly what it is, just that.
I think I find the...
yeah, a drag.
But only now, not before,
but now, all of a sudden, it's become a
real pain in the ass... really quick.
I mean now, right this
bloody Wednesday,
the thing is like we owe it
to each other or something.
It's all wrong.
She'll understand.
People do understand.
What would you do to end this?
Oh, I'd stay just the same.
It breaks up by itself.
Still, can you believe how desperate
that woman must be?
Wednesdays, two to, I don't know, four
wanting that, and only that?
Who's to say she's any
more desperate than you?
What do you mean.
- Why should she be?
You didn't ask her to come back,
and she didn't ask you if she could.
Even so, you open your door to her,
and that's how it works.
Where's the desperation in that.
It's not so, when you come across someone
who wants the same thing.
Maybe you give her a lot;
you don't even realize it.
Wait, how do you know?
You don't even know her.
But I can imagine her.
I'm sure you gave her a lot.
I do not know, I can hardly believe
she wants the same thing that I want...
I don't have the impression
of being with anyone, either.
And what she says about all this?
- I don't know, we don't talk.
Victor?!
Well, your polish is all dried up.
- You shouldn't even be here to see it.
Fuck it. Why is it always the same
with you? I said two days, only.
I'm leaving tomorrow!
Today is Wednesday; you
know you should not be
here on a Wednesday afternoon,
and in any case...
Okay, all right, fine, well...
you should have said so.
OK, fella, just leave...
- All right. - Now, come on.
If there was a problem,
you'd tell me, right.
Are you not down at the pub?
Come on, I forgot the Pub; I'll only drink.
That's no solution.
Yeah, that's no solution...
Hello, eh, you want to
catch the show again?
Not surprised, such a pretty evening.
And here you are again,
and that proves it.
It's not as if you're a
real theater buff, right?
Do you work here?
Oh, no, no...
Looks like it, right, but no.
I've already forgotten
what happened just there.
What?
- Oh, in theater...
I think we don't talk about it after.
They see the show and they
bugger off, just like that.
Makes her sad.
So I tell her: I'll hear what they say
on the way out and tell you later.
I know, you're not supposed
to give a toss and all that,
but as a rule
my wife does all right.
People really like her, you know,
in principle...
That depends on what part
she's playing, of course...
My wife's in the show.
Yeah, she's the one
playing the girl, Amanda.
Laura.
- Yeah, Laura. I don't know any more...
Anyway, I'm sure I told you this.
I'm a sot.
You know, personally, I can never really
tell whether someone's good or bad.
When I go to the theater.
The punt has got an
opinion about everything.
It's really interesting.
But there I am, listening
in at the interval
and all of a sudden, bang, I ask questions.
And I don't feel like a twerp doing it.
Any one, whether it's
someone from there or not.
Sure, but they don't know
who you are, do they?
No, I mean the others in the company.
They're used to see me around, you see.
I lend a hand from time to time.
You call me a wanker if you like,
but I feel like a pig in shit.
This really suits you here...
In more ways than one actually.
Being with her of course, because this passion
of hers, it could cut her off from us.
It's true, isn't it?
If you really, really love something, you often
end up ruling out something else, right.
Absolutely.
Yeah, well, I don't want her to
fall victim to that, you know?
So Claire and I have decided
not to rule out anything.
I'm Andy...
- Jay...
So she's called Claire?
Who?
- Your wife.
Didn't I tell you?
I told you all sorts of other things;
I forgot the most important.
It must be pretty unusual, a bloke
following it all, though, like you do.
I don't know, there's always doing a doing a job
right; I want to get some feedback, you know...
people to talk to me, but then again,
maybe I'm the only one that it upsets...
It becomes my job.
I drive a cab you see, black cab.
OK, so I got a fare in the back,
I got a job to do...
but if we don't talk,
I feel like I'm only doing half the job.
You know, if we don't talk, if I
don't talk to him. - Yeah, right...
If you fancy a game? Upstairs, downstairs?
Start wherever you look.
That's what's good about it here.
And you, you married?
When you're with someone,
there's only a very short time when you can
really give each other things for free...
with neither of you having to ask.
Because later on, all you do
is make demands of each other.
Perhaps the only difference
between her and all the rest...
is that she's asking you for nothing.
But what have you learned?
You scare me...
Haven't you learned anything at all
from leaving home?
Perhaps I should only go out
with people who fit in well.
Yeah, That's it. Only a man
would want all this,
baring your wounds and all that shit;
it's not for me, just not my style.
She's seeing someone else, too.
And aren't you?
- Me? No, not at all.
This woman, she's all I've got.
Where are you going?
A handsome guy just went by.
I'm off, if you don't mind.
Joan, hi.
Hi.
- Joan, this is Claire.
Hi.
- So, did the tour go well?
I suppose so, like any other tour, bye...
- Bye.
You know, a tour would suit
me down to the ground.
It's just what I need to
get my blood tingling.
All that moving around.
I don't look like a tart, do I?
A tart? No!
Tarts don't look like that.
It's just that I was at another
casting session this morning and...
I realized it's pretty murky at my place,
so I tend to ..
Were there any calls?
So, you give classes?
- Yeah, but to amateurs.
You could come one day, if you wanted.
Sometimes something happens.
When they are?
Tuesdays and Fridays,
but Fridays at three o'clock.
Okay Friday,
I'll come on Friday.
You know, the first time we met,
I found you a bit stuck up.
Like you were shittin'
on us or something,
but that's not right, is it?
Just the way you look.
Well then again, you know, some days
it's a fucking life we all lead...
You take my wife, I mean;
it's all very well, the theater and all...
but I know full well she does too much.
But there you go...
- Yeah.
I was thinking,
I was saying to myself the other day...
People who are really fond of each other,
I mean really fond of each other...
What could possibly come between them,
and fuck everything up...
at some point or another?
What would you think?
Well, people who are in love,
or just mates?
Oh no, I think, in love.
Or why not, maybe they're even lovers.
You for instance, Andy...
What could possibly fuck up your marriage,
once and for all?
You take a look at me,
I've been working in this bar,
waiting for something
else to turn up, for...
I don't know,
six, seven years now maybe.
I mean, at first it was
just for a while, see...
but now I'm stuck in a rut
like a fuckin' asshole.
Yeah, if I'm honest with myself...
the only time I can really say
"'Jay said he'd do it and he did it"...
was when I left home.
Ah, so you are married. Yeah, yeah.
I thought of you the other day; it does...
Except, when you have an idea like that,
you tend to keep it to yourself, don't you.
When everything is going
down the drain and all you
can think is getting out,
you keep that to yourself.
So who did you tell you
were going to leave?
A couple of mates.
One mate, actually.
Well, that's when it
gets ugly, isn't it?
When you do that... You know, you
hurt people when you do that.
I mean, they get shit, yeah, that's an
example. That would really get to me.
Except when you're caught in the middle
of it, Andy, you can't see anything.
It was really only when I was
out on the pavement again...
that I could see how unhappy I was.
How low I'd sunk, pretty low in fact.
Because, after all, Andy,
it's so very easy to stay...
Isn't it? Don't you find that's how
it usually goes with people?
What about you, how did it all start
between the two of you?
What do you mean. You mean, me and my wife?
What's going on here? Now hang on a minute.
That's private business.
I've got a big gob, right? But not
even he knows about it! Back off.
Right, boy? Now get yourself
a drink from Mozzie.
Don't go outside.
Put it on the tab.
You all right, Luke?
- Yeah, thanks.
Yeah. - Yeah.
- Good. Good man.
What would you think of a mother
who has it off on the sly, regularly...
and then goes back home in the evening,
as if nothing happened?
Goes back to her family...
And all of that with a
wicked gift for pretense...
because, I mean, how...
How, can you after being
fucked all day by some guy
go home in the evening to your husband,
to me, I mean, to Jay
her husband, her family,
as if nothing happened?
You want to know my opinion?
- Yeah!
Really?
- Yeah, I'd like that.
Well, I think...
I think there's a lot of blokes around...
Like you.
Sorry, but...
That's no help to you, is it?
Because she's got to go back, hasn't she?
In the evening. Kiss the kids,
give them a hug,
pour herself a drink,
pour a drink for the fuck wit
sitting opposite her at the table
Maybe she's even got to talk
about her day,
"A slightly tiring day, dear,
of course...
but a really lovely day."...
after being shagged all day,
by some...
some fucker who...
On top of that, he doesn't
even say a word to her.
Andy, play, fuck sake!
Else Jay here can take over,
and I can find me a game somewhere else.
You know what, mate?
That was the moment that she looked at me
with the most attention...
Susan, my wife.
She'd come home every evening
and she'd just eat me up with her eyes.
Give yourself a break, man...
Because...
She's bound to compare, isn't she?
When she comes in the evening, and
the fact is, she's there at your side,
and she's happier than she's ever
been before...
Are you listening to me?
What do you think, though?
I say that as long as she comes home
every evening, that's...
That's just fine.
That's... fine
Yeah, yeah?
All right, I'm not surprised you say that, and
I don't even hold that against you. No...
I think until you've lived
through something like this
Yeah, you do feel really sheltered,
don't you?
Yeah, right...
And then when it actually happens,
you're not even surprised, are you?
Right... Right?
So you're saying...
If we stay...
It's because we can't face it, right?
Oh fuck, I've got to get out of here.
I've a fucking bed to chase.
Was your wife seeing a total cunt,
or what?
You said that you never said a word...
Even you talk about it,
you're so worked up
it sounds more like you're the one
that got dumped, right?
Yeah?
Marriage, Jay,
It's a wonderful thing.
It's a war, it's a battle, it's
a terrible journey, but...
It's a reason for living.
I thought you were saying
you couldn't play very well?
Ah, don't listen to him. It's not true.
Jay's not a bad player...
You'll bounce back,
I'm sure of that.
I've bounced back a bit already.
- I've got no worry on that.
I've bounced back, definitely.
Have you told about...
this woman I'm seeing once a week
on Wednesday...
and we fuck? I suppose
it's better than nothing...
She loves it though;
she's a really good fuck, too.
You're probably the sort that doesn't
bother with that side of things...
but for me it really counts. Oh yeah.
What day did you say that you
say you saw her? - Wednesday.
Wednesday. That's a really good day
for me, Wednesdays. Yeah...
Yeah, I do really good business Wednesdays.
But then again Saturday is cool off.
What makes you think
I'm not interested in a good fuck?
Because I don't mention it?
She's got a husband, you say?
I didn't say.
I don't know, actually.
That's a good question.
Fancy another game?
There's no performance tonight,
just the two of us...
There's no performance?
No, actually I was just passing through...
You know...
Your wife in anything else on here?
Ah, no, come off it...
No, tonight she's out giving her poxy fuckin
drama lessons out in the fuckin sticks.
Victor, didn't you say you wanted me
to help you with something today?
What? Oh yeah, yeah.
I was wondering if you would come
to my insurance company with me.
But... we can just stay home...
Where are you going?
I got to go,
I got things to do, you know.
But it's only two o'clock...
Yeah, well I'm not going to sit
around all day like a pillich.
It's not two, it's ten to.
And if you're staying and the bell goes,
you don't answer it.
It won't go, but don't answer it anyway.
But this thing of yours, I mean...
we could both do it. OK?
You were leaving...
Yeah.
You didn't drop by last Wednesday.
I wasn't there.
Oh good. I couldn't.
We hadn't agreed, had we?
Yeah... No... I know... Yeah.
Let's go... Shall we go?
What?
No, not like this...
The condom.
Gideon!
Pamina. let's go.
Pamina, let's go.
What're you doing?
- I want to put my hands there. -No.
That's not touching. She won't let me
touch her butt, and I'm supposed to.
That's not touching. It's fumbling.
How can I carry on a love scene,
if she doesn't want to love me?
We couldn't get here any earlier.
They were delivering our sofa bed.
Oh, and you've been trying it out, have you.
- Just concentrate on the scene. Carry on.
Hello everyone.
Hello. Oh Gideon, how are you?
I hear cold affects you.
You mustn't go. Can I kiss you?
- Yes.
My little Betty...
Why'd she call me little?
And I'm not Betty.
Oh, my little Betty
Look into my eyes.
I can see little gold spots in your eyes.
Kiss me, give me a kiss.
- You give me a kiss.
I don't know why I bother...
I have no idea.
Here we've go Betty as stiff as a board...
she has never touched anyone in her life.
And Dave is arrogant as ever.
You're ridiculous!
I don't believe a word of it.
That's not a love scene.
OK. That will do.
- They've known each other for ages.
See? I imagine there'd already been
contact. You know what I mean?
No. This is the first time he's touched her.
He's all fingers and thumbs. He's bound to be.
You picked a bad day.
- It's OK. They're great!
Maybe I don't have to do it this way...
but I am so into this,
I get the feeling I'm Wilmer Todd.
Sometimes when you're so cool talking
what you're going through...
you don't even clock the
other person there.
You understand me?
- Carry on.
I need to speak to you, Betty.
Not here, alone, not here.
You come with me?
- I want to speak to you, too.
I want to kiss you,
such long kisses...
Such tender kisses...
Where?
Your lips... your body.
I mean: Where do you want me to come to?
To my home.
Come to my home.
When?
OK... Stop it there. Call it a day.
It's not working.
Next couple.
But last week,
when we did in improvisation...
Well, you said that it was good.
I was already to fuck her just then!
Right then, I loved her!
What I know...
- No, you know nothing!
The thing I know, is that
what you're supposed to be doing...
is to make Betty gather
up all her things...
find an excuse to go out and put
the whole of London to come and see you!
And wasn't I doing that?
- Who said it was so far away?
No one did! But it is.
It has to be.
I'm so glad, I really am. You know,
I was thinking of giving up.
I really was. I was really down on acting
and you're not going to make
any money and all that,
but seeing that two ordinary people...
I mean they were just brilliant, weren't
they? It was fantastic, renewed my...
I've forgotten something. I
have to go back. You go along.
Are you all right?
I'm so... it's just I'm...
I'm just lonesome.
Someone... close?
Was it sudden?... Sorry.
Yes... My little finger bends to one side,
both of them.
It's what each hand has
a mind of its own...
by the look of it.
Champ, after all, if you'd asked me...
I would have said you were a
real shit today to me just now.
But don't be sorry,
someone torments me like that...
it's the final straw.
But well, you know, Claire,
the thing I admire about you
is that in no time at all you can get
on the wrong side of the whole group.
I'm proud of you when you do that,
it's not easy to be horrid.
Don't talk to me, Betty.
No one understands a thing when you talk.
OK. But you're in the right job.
And I know, because I have taken other
acting classes, and this one...
Let's the two of us stop
being I guess with me...
I'm not understanding a word
you're saying, you understand...
OK. Excuse me.
I'm bothering you.
You're not learning anything, Betty.
Still, neither am I.
We're not the sort to
give up easily, right?
Look! I can be a real shit...
but you come back.
I'm useless, but I keep meeting people
who think I'd be
"Perfect" for the part, yeah,
who say no.
When you're not gifted, you see,
that's what you've got.
You keep at it.
You don't let anyone down.
You do your Tuesdays, your Wednesdays,
You just dabble with this and that.
- Just dabble with us
No... I mean... with myself.
Come on, Vic...
- What the fuck are you doing here?
Where'd you spring from.
Were you getting bored, was that it?
Oh, I didn't come to find you.
Only came for the atmosphere.
Jesus, you make me ashamed!
It sounded so great on the phone,
when they rang.
Oh, I got to hand it to you, choosing
better places to die in every day.
It's three o'clock in the bloody morning,
I'm doing my own thing. So, fuck you, Jay!
Get him out, for fuck's sake,
he tried to beat me up.
He'll catch his death of cold.
Me? No, I never get sick.
Even beer doesn't keep me drunk these days.
"Just go home" that wanker said to me.
Been expecting you.
What about the duck you had?
You want to talk to me like that?
Can't you see you're all taking a piss?
With your soaking trousers
and your ass hanging out.
Why don't you take a
bloody look at yourself?
When Jay is giving up on you,
he doesn't even tell you.
He just carries on smiling, with his
mind on something else as he walks away.
There's a few phonies out there.
You can exploit people,
you can be ungrateful...
and at least you can
live with it, you know.
Look, I can't figure it out.
What do you know about life?
Have you ever lived with anyone?
My life is fine, back off!
Merde, my shirt.
Jay... Jay keeps single to everything.
He doesn't even say who he's fucking.
You 're always complaining,
but Jay's worse off than you.
'Cause you, in fact, you do all kinds of
things, and you get it out of your system.
Jay makes himself ill.
Perhaps he doesn't know how to love.
Maybe it never got to him.
It doesn't everyone.
Why do you say that?
Little cunt...
Fuck you both.
You know Vic, I swear,
I think I've got Alzheimer's.
I'm not kidding. I think i've got,
feel this, feel this right there.
What is that?
Hay, hay ...look, look, the one
on the left, giving you the eye.
She must be a better
fuck than your landlady.
I knew the singer in college,
we were friends.
He was a really nice guy, you know,
really clever.
I think his band was really good too.
They were never to go very far...
but I think that there was actually
something there, you know, a basis.
There's such a character,
that stupid guitarist,
he was so mouthy, you know,
always just like uh uh...
And such a massive ego.
But they kicked him out, and after that
he became a drummer.
Funny that you should know them.
- So, this is your place, then?
Yeah, we used to live three streets from
him with a friend, but we fell out.
Funny, it's real hard, because at the
same time we were absolute best friends.
Natasha, you saw her earlier.
I like her, but it's not the same.
Don't you think it takes time to get to
know people? I mean, really know them.
Perhaps you and I will be really
good friends too, I don't know...
And, you see, I really like it here.
This is my place, I decorated, you know.
I put it together myself...
and when people see it,
they know something about me
They see the walls, they see what I
have here, they see my things...
and they see a bit of me, you know, but...
Come on.
What?
- Come here.
What?
- Come here. Stay here with me and dance.
No, no. Come on, I...
I'm sorry.
I'm... so sorry.
Excuse me!
It's locked...
You really are an old fart...
What's inside the chicken, boys?
Have some more chicken.
You do not like the skin?
- No thank you.
You're sure you don't want anything?
No ...No.
It's a while since I've
seen you boys. Right?
Yup.
- Fine.
I've brought these back for you.
I mean, it's Wednesday, right?
Is she pretty?
- Huh?
Who is she?
It's no one you know.
So, what are you gonna do? - Look after
myself. That's what I'm going to do.
After all, someone has to...
OK, boy. Bye bye.
- Bye
Here you go.
Everything OK?
And you?
- Yeah.
What will you have, Jay?
- Hello, game later on? -Yeah.
Enjoy your second half.
It's much funnier than the first.
It's a bit shorter as well, so you got
more time to have a drink afterwards.
Hello, Jay! - Hi Andy. How nice to see
you, you're becoming a bit of a regular.
Well, enjoy the second half, it's good.
I should finish this fag...
You just can't take that
second half, can you.
Enjoy it.
It stopped raining...
Where does the music come from?
From Paradise Dance Hall across the alley.
- We'll cut a rug this week
Or is your program filled up?
Let me have a look.
Every dance is taken.
I'll just have to scratch some out.
A waltz!
- I can't dance...
That inferiority stuff...
- Come on, just try.
- I'm going to step on you.
Hold up your arms a little, leave it
to me... Let yourself go now, Laura.
Let yourself go. Come on, come on.
Hey, that's lots better.
- Am I?
Much better!
What did we hit?
- A table.
Did something fall off it? I think so.
- Yeah.
I hope it wasn't the little glass
horse with the horn. - Yeah
Oh. It broke?
- Now it's just like the other horses.
It's lost its
- horn.
It doesn't matter. Maybe
it's a blessing in disguise.
He'll never forgive me, I bet that
was his favorite piece of glass.
Excuse me, excuse me...
Come on, two hands are better than one.
I'd still like you to meet my wife.
Come on.
Jay, look...
This is Claire, my wife.
Hello, Jay.
- The great actress, as you know.
Oh, back again, are you Andy.
- Jay's a real theater buff.
Even though he's hardly seen anything.
- What you mean, hardly seen anything?
He always leaves during the interval.
- Boys!
You don't look like an agent...
Have you called in to see
if we're all right, is that it?
Shame, all my best scenes
are in the second half.
Jay's... There's a big, big
Tennessee Williams fan.
Personally, I wouldn't go that far myself.
All the women in them always seem
so hysterical, don't they?
Jay's that bloke I was telling you about.
He left his wife.
- He hates her now.
I'm sure I mentioned to you.
He sees this woman,
sees this woman once a week.
And not only sees her,
if I understand right...
OK, I'm going up..
Good night everyone.
- Night, Claire. - Good night, Love.
Andy.
- Oh yeah, shoes...
Bless you.
All right, I'll see you in a minute.
Back in a sec.
I haven't finished dressing.
I'll be there straight away.
See you there
Nice meeting you.
Stay for a drink?
Want me to shut this?
I mean, at one point, the fact that
you never said anything. I wondered.
A woman who keeps her trap shut so much
All those scenes I was hiding;
scary, isn't it?
Look, you know? Fucking reassuring,
Very reassuring.
Vows, fidelity, support, faithfulness...
the whole works.
Why should you miss out on all that? You'd
have been the first woman who ever had.
That's not why I'm here, though.
That's not why I'm here, you know.
At one point, just to make it very
clear where I'm coming from...
At one point I thought that if what we
did together was all that you wanted,
it was because you knew more than me.
I thought you'd found something.
I thought you were ahead of me
and that in the end you would
tell me what you knew.
That was the really great thing,
that some fucking point in the future
you would tell me what you knew.
But, of course, you just
keep your gob shut.
What the fuck are you doing with him?
- He's my husband.
You wanted to talk?
Well then, here we are...
Talking.
That's on the house.
So then, you're an unhappy bloke
who's managed to bounce back.
Is that it?
Well if it's good, What can I say?
It's good actually...
See you at least one last time,
Otherwise I might have been worried,
like some stupid cow.
Hey. Back there for a minute
you looked really sad...
But think of everything that's yours,
everything that you're going back to
your family, and your kid, and
your husband that loves you so,
and a job in the theater
that you so love...
Everybody listens to you, don't they?
Everybody listens to you.
Even me. I don't even know you,
you don't even know me,
and here I am listening to you,
interested in you.
In some fucking half-assed little theater
that stinks of piss.
Jesus Christ...
It's all your game, isn't it?
I didn't picture you like this...
You didn't picture me like this?
What a fucking game you are.
That first day you must
have been really surprised.
I thought everything...
that I should want you to...
I didn't seem to make
a big deal out of it. That...
that didn't seem to hurt me that much,
you not saying anything...
I didn't give you do not saying anything
a second thought.
You didn't picture me like this?
You didn't picture me like this?
I didn't picture you at all.
Right. It's much simpler for me,
and now every thing's settled in one go.
Well that's fine. I like it when
things are over and done. No time wasted.
Hi, Jay.
Hi.
I'll be back in a second.
Mom was good tonight, wasn't she?
Yeah... But she's always good, isn't she.
No, it's Dad...
He says she's "uneven."
But he can't talk,
since he only goes to the first few nights.
So he can't really compare.
I like seeing the play lots of times,
because I don't always understand
everything the first time.
Do you have a girlfriend?
Like a girl you like a lot at school?
How are things going
between the two of you?
Well...
- Come on, we're off now.
Come on. Say goodbye.
What about Thursday? Are you here Thursday?
When you're in mourning, you know...
all the more reason, I
think, to carry on as usual.
That's the only of handling it.
But then, again,... can't you say to
the bloke who runs the evening classes
Someone's died, after all!
You know, Betty, actually,
no one has died...
actually died.
Well, if no one has died,
that must mean it's you.
But if you feel like you're going to die,
I'd rather be with you, no question.
In fact, I'm flattered
to be here.
When I died
there was no one there.
I had to go through the
whole thing on my own.
OK. I did it,
but a bit of company won't hurt.
Perhaps I should be getting back...
So, in principle,
if you're serious,
they have a program
the day you die. Yes.
Having a laugh with the kids...
we did that last night.
Then comes going to tell someone something
something you're dead set on,
for good or bad,
something you'd never have said.
'Cause on the day you die,
you have total freedom of speech.
In principle...
I met a man...
not like me, I don't know how to use my
energy but he does; he's really determined.
And then one day he found out
how to turn it against me.
And just like that, he took back
everything he had given me.
That's what he wanted, I think,
to screw everything up.
And it worked. Between the two of us,
it worked.
Oh, yeah.
What was it, the day you died?
It's in the past
It's fine, you know.
There's no more to say about it.
Thank God...
Claire says she wants to
give up the acting class.
I'm all upset.
- She's just a bit tired, that's all.
She gives too much of herself, you see.
I'm always telling her...
It's like these classes she gives.
It's always out in places
where the train takes longer to get to
than the time she spends doing the classes.
That's a bit confusing,
but you know what I mean.
There you go. There's nothing
you can do about it. Claire's like that.
It's like when she decided
to have a go at acting.
The age she was,
she's no spring chicken.
And she'd never really
done it before, but...
There you go. Straight forward, didn't you.
And when we met...
I was... No thanks...
I was just getting over a relationship
that had been pretty painful, actually.
I was in no rush to go into
another one, straight away.
Well, I hadn't any plans...
But she saw me.
She chose me
Bang! Made a beeline straight for old Andy.
Didn't you?
Very strong people...
can do totally incomprehensible things.
Right?
- Oh, Yeah...
I'll go shake a leg.
I'm Glad you came.
- I'll be off, then.
We'll drop you off.
OK?
- OK.
This is it.
- OK.
Thanks. See you Tuesday.
Betty's nice, isn't she?
- Yeah.
I'm very fond of her now.
I'm not going to leave, or anything.
OK?
Claire's telling Andy she's
going to stay with him.
Fine.
I wasn't worried.
So, did you find you Jay,
or did he come looking for you?
I don't give a shit about all that!
You know what the saddest thing is?
You know what hurts the most,
you know what it is?
You'll never be an actress!
Never!
It isn't easy for me to say that.
It isn't fun.
But there it is, it's the truth,
and you've got to fucking face it!
I really wonder what good
you do your students.
Well, they seem to like you.
All the same, for some, that's something
for the want of anything better.
I've got a share, my part in this.
Haven't I? I mean...
because I never really believed
in it from the fucking start...
not one minute!
No, but I dove in, both feet
first, like a fucking idiot.
People have your fantasies,
the little girl who doesn't know what she'll
do and ends up doing just about anything.
Like a stupid prick, driving a
cab around day-in, day-out.
As for that fucking moron...
you know, who thinks he's so smart,
one of these days...
- There's a fare for you there.
You know What?
I'm not even surprised.
You remember that look on your face,
when we first met?
I could see that same torment on
your face now. Since you right!
You are the least alive person I know.
I being with Jay is in fact a
great opportunity for you, right?
A pathetic little piece of adultery.
Of course you have to be against
something like that. Who wouldn't be?
Oh, it's OK. Andy's just a sod,
but he knows London
like the back of his hand.
You don't even know who I am!
You don't even know how to hurt me.
If you knew me a little bit longer,
what you call my lack of talent,
sure it makes me suffer,
but it won't kill me!
You can't choose any look,
this stuff's a solid week...
Joel! Same again, please.
You know, if you were doing this job properly,
you wouldn't have time to notice how I look.
Great place. Great place.
Give me a beer?
Actually, it's like seeing a whore, right?
Seeing this woman one day a week,
not speaking...
Yeah. But she found a way of telling you
she was married, didn't she?
She's very good, for things like that!
Just don't get carried away.
I'll bet she's done it before,
no way you're the first.
I stopped.
I don't see her any more.
I was about to suggest we share her.
But it sounds like there's
nothing left to share, right?
One day a week, that wouldn't
fuck up my marriage, would it?
Just kidding,
I'm just kidding you...
I love her more and more as time passes.
Just wanted you to know that.
Ian, have you got any black bags?
- Yeah. I bring them down.
Don't ask me. I'm going to head off.
Oh yeah... Okay ...Cheers.
Cheers, Victor.
Well, I'm going now...
I'll just get my jacket from downstairs.
I thought that perhaps you'd said something
at one point that I didn't hear,
and that's what you're holding against me.
Listen, I don't understand the first thing about
you. How can I hold anything against you?
Did I miss something? What did I miss?
You wanted to ask me something?
Anything you like. Go on.
All right, I'll ask you something.
Why did you tell Andy?
Since it wasn't all that important, anyway?
It wasn't worth it, was it?
All that fuss for nothing.
Still, I don't know. Maybe that's
how it works between you two.
You tell him each time,
and then that's it...
I mean, for Chri... you weren't
like someone who you ask to drop by
who comes by, and fucks, and goes,
and just for the thrill of it.
What was I meant to feel?
Who was I supposed to be like?
Who should I have been...
to keep everyone satisfied
just to come and see a man and bury myself
in his arms, because I wanted to?
It's been a long time
since I wanted someone.
And it was with you that
I wanted to start again.
Not supposed to say that usually, are you?
I know you've given me something
that I never asked for.
And that no one does that, ever,
and that I should be grateful.
And yet, somehow, all I seem to do
is to hold it against you.
I know.
That you should be so close to someone...
tears me apart.
Your being close tears me apart.
So...
I'm a divorced man.
I have two children.
Who are getting used to me
not being around. I'm...
friends with a certain number of people.
I suppose I'm their best friend.
That's something.
And also I'm this "Wednesday" man
to a woman...
who I've never asked anything of,
and she's happy with that,
that's no problem to her
But it really fucks me up
Everything.
I don't know what I'm doing here.
Sorry...
You missed nothing, Claire.
You missed nothing...
because I said nothing.
I didn't know it would be like this.
I didn't know that I would become
so closely tied to you.
I thought it would just blow over.
I...
Stay with me...
If you've come back, stay.
Come back.
Stay...
Now...
Stay now.
No, Jay.
Have you left him?
No.
Sorry, but I have to be off now.
Are you dumping this?
Sorry... I'll come back to finish up later.
I'm going.
D. Nelson