1
When I was young,
my mother wove me a sleeping mat.
She said that if I got lost
in a bad dream,
all I needed to do was roll over
and feel the very seam.
That seam was the current
that would carry me home.
But what if home was a bad dream?
Our teachers told us that the place
we lived was called Bougainville,
part of a small group
of South Pacific islands
owned by Papua New Guinea.
But according to my mother, our island
was a woman and we lived in her heart.
She said no-one could own that.
But Papua New Guinea said our heart
I'm a mining company.
My dad used to work at the mine,
but when all the trouble stated,
he left to find work in Australia.
Mum and Dad argued a lot about that.
We were going to join him later
Mum said we'd go on the next boat.
That's what she said after every boat.
Higher. It's high as I can get it.
...supplies are running low.
News of war came to
our little village in bits and rumours.
We heard that some of our people
declared war on the mine
and shut it down.
We heard that Papua New Guinea
was sending in the army.
We heard they were going to
seal off our island
so no-one would be able
to get in or out.
First, they closed the mine.
They cut off our supplies
and closed down the schools.
All the whites left.
All except Pop-Eye, that is.
Mum said he stayed
because Ms wife Grace
would never leave the island again.
Pop-Eye! Pop-Eye!
Pop-Eye! Pop-Eye!
Argh!
We thought Pop-Eye's tribe
had forgotten him.
Or that maybe he was being punished
for an old crime.
Whatever his reason,
it was easy to see that Grace was mad.
Pop-Eye was more of a mystery.
Pop-Eye! Pop-Eye!
Mind your own business.
The PNG government
mean to starve us out,
but Abraham said,
'God will provide the lamb.'
Amen!
We still have what we always had.
We have our fish...
Amen!
...our pigs, our chicken, our fruits,
and we have our faith.
Amen!
#All good gifts around us
are sent from Heaven above
I' Then thank the Lord
# I thank the Lord
For all His love. I
Mum.
Mm?
Me like ask him you something.
We speak English in this house.
Do you miss Dad?
Why do you ask that, girl'?
There's not going to be another boat,
is there?
...
Does it make a difference?
Sometimes I miss him.
Sometimes when you look along the beach,
there is your father, Matilda.
He's walking towards me.
And me'!?
And you, yes.
Your father is walking towards us both.
Get up.
Come on, lazybones! You've got school.
What are you talking about?
School's been closed for months.
We haven't got a teacher.
You do now.
He's coming! Sit down, sit down!
Thank you for coming.
I wasn't sure you would.
Wasn't sure I would.
Look, I'll be honest.
I... I have no wisdom.
I'm not a teacher,
but I will try my best.
That is my promise to you children. Yes?
Yes, Mr Watts.
Yes, Mr Watts,
Yes, Pop-Eye!
Oh, I know that some of you
call me 'Pop-Eye',
and... that's fine.
I actually quite like Pop-Eye.
Yes, Mr Pop-Eye.
I want this to be a place of light,
no matter what happens.
So, the first thing we must do
is clear this space for learning.
I have been saving some batteries
for a special occasion.
So lets open all the windows
and clean all the rubbish off the desks.
'My father's family name being Pirrip,
and my Christian name Philip...
...my infant tongue could make
of both names
nothing longer or more explicit
than Pip.
So, I called myself Pip,
and came to be called Pip.'
Yes. Well, I welcome questions.
And if you do have a question,
perhaps you'd be kind enough
to tell me your name.
Daniel, sir.
It's nice to meet you, Daniel.
Should we call you Pop-Eye,
or Mr Watts, or Mr Pip'?
Those words were not mine, Daniel.
They belong to Mr Dickens-
words that I think can make
a difference in our lives.
And tomorrow,
I will introduce you to Mr Dickens.
That's a white man's name,
No, Matilda. You heard wrong.
Pop-Eye is the last white man
around here.
There's no others.
But Mr Watts says there is.
Hey, Leola!
Mr Watts! Mr Watts! Mr Watts!
Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's your name?
Mabel, Mr. Watts.
Very pleased to meet you, Mabel.
My mother was thinking Mr Dickens
might have some malaria tablets.
My dad wants some kerosene.
What about some beer?
Where is Mr Dickens?
He's right here.
The line you heard yesterday
was the first line of Great Expectations
by the greatest English writer
of the 19th century,
Charles Dickens.
Now, when you read the work
of a great writer,
you are making
their person's acquaintance,
so you could say
that you've already met Charles Dickens
on the page, so to speak.
Although you won't know him for a while.
When will we know mm
Well, I hope some of you will know him
by the lime we finish the book.
The book is 59 chapters long,
we'll read a chapter a day...
6th February, 1990.
I'm sorry?
We'll know Mr Dickens
on the 6th of February next year.
Alright, well,
I'll take your word for it, uh...
My name is Matilda.
Matilda. That's a lovely name.
Where did you get such a pretty name?
The Australians at the mine gave ii
to Dad to give Mum to give me.
In a way, you could say that Mr Dickens
got Pip's name from his father too.
Who knows what else
you might have in common?
Right. Who wants to meet Mr Dickens?
Me!
'I give Pirrip as
my father's family name
on the authority of his tombstone
and my sister,
Mrs Joe Gargery,
who married the blacksmith.
As I never saw my father or my mother,
and never saw any likeness
of either of them,
for their days were long before
the days of photographs,
my first fancies regarding
what they were like
were unreasonably derived
from their tombstones.
The shape of the letters
on my fathers
gave me an odd idea that he was
a square, stout, dark man,
with curly black hair.
From the character and turn
of the inscription,
"Also Georgiana Wife of the Above,"
I drew a childish conclusion that
my mother was freckled and sickly.'
'To five little stone lozenges,
each about afoot and a half long,
which were arranged in a neat row
beside their grave,
and were sacred to the memory
of five little brothers of mine,
who gave up trying to get a living
exceedingly early in
that universal struggle.
I am indebted for a belief
I religiously entertained
that they had all been born
on their backs
with their hands
in their trousers pockets,
and had never taken them out
in this state of existence.
At such a time I found out for certain
that this bleak place,
overgrown with nettles,
was the churchyard.'
Who are you?
What are you doing here?
I came to see my brothers,
I'm sorry.
I never really knew them.
I actually used to think
they'd been born like that,
on their backs with their hands
in their trouser pockets.
Just never taken them out.
I prefer to think of them that way.
You there!
Get down.
Stay there.
Wait.
Come here!
No, don't... Stop!
Hold your noise.
Keep still, or I'll cut your throat.
Don't cut my throat, sir.
Tell us your name.
Pip, sir! Pip!
You know what file is?
Yes, sir.
And wittles? You bring the lot to me,
at the old Battery. You do it.
And you shall be let to live.
Now, what do you say?
A battery, sir?
Yes.
Not like the battery in my radio.
'Battery' in this case means
a military encampment.
A place with guns.
Like the no-go zone?
Where the rebels are.
Yes. Kind of.
That's very good, Sam.
So he stole his mother's pork pie?
Pip's an orphan.
He lives with his sister.
Brought him up by hand.
Sounds like she needed to
use her hand on him a little more.
What would you do, girl,
if a man was hiding in the jungle
and asked you to steal from me?
Would you do that?
No.
Pop-Eye should be teaching you kids
proper behaviour.
From now on, I wanna know everything
that happens in that book,
You hear me, Matilda?
Yes, Mum.
'That was a memorable day to me,
for it made great changes in me.
But it is the same with any life.
Imagine one selected day struck out
of your life
and think how different
its course would have been.'
Let's go grab the malaria tablets.
'Pause you who read this
and think for a moment
of the long chain of iron or gold,
of thorns or flowers,
that would never have bound you
but for the formation of the first link
on one memorable day.'
Where are they taking him?
Exile. Sending him to Australia,
My Dad's in Australia.
Do you miss him?
I guess I'm lucky.
Why?
I never knew my father
long enough to miss him.
Are you ready, Pip?
Wed best get back before your sister
goes on a rampage.
Will I see you again?
Who's that?
She's a friend,
Dues she have a warm?
Matilda!
What the heck you doing, girl'?
Mr Watts?
Yes, Daniel.
What's it like to be white?
You mean what's it like to be white,
or what's it like to be white here?
Both.
A bit like what the last mammoth
must have felt, I suppose.
It's lonely at times. I don't know.
What's it like being black?
Normal.
We only feel black around white people.
Yes, well, I'd say
the same is true for me.
Matilda, would you like to
do the honours?
This is my mum, Dolores.
Dolores Naimo,
Mrs Naimo, please come in.
Thank you.
I know you kids have been hearing
some story from Mr Watts,
but I'm here to tell you
that stories have a job to do.
They can't just lie around
like lazybone dogs.
They have to teach you something.
That's why I brought a book -
the Good Book.
When the missionaries came,
they taught us to believe in God.
But when we asked to see God,
they wouldn't introduce him to us.
So many people prefer to live by
the wisdom of the crabs
and the fire fish
that is shaped like the Southern Star.
You must believe in something.
'God said, "Let there be light,
and there was light'
There is no sentence more beautiful
in the world than that one.
Yes, Violet.
What is the wisdom of the crabs?
# Hallelujah
# Hallelujah, hallelujah...
Mr Watts, can I ask you something?
Of course.
Is it strange to feel like I know Pip?
I mean, really know him?
I think that is probably the greatest
compliment you could pay Mr Dickens.
Do you know him too?
My Pip is probably not exactly the same
as your Pip,
but, yes, I believe I do.
Today, we are not going 10
start with Great Expectations.
Today we are very lucky
to have Mabel's mother.
Mrs Tanganani.
Thank you, Mr Watts.
I am here today
hoping to surprise you kids.
What if I tell you that some gardens
begin their life in the ocean?
The heart seed floats on the water,
then it washes up on the sand.
Seven days later, the sun and the wind
dry it as light as the husk.
Three months later,
a little seedling grows,
its white flowers open and look back
to the sea where it came from.
Why am I telling you this, children?
Because its stamen makes a fierce flame
and keeps away the mosquitos.
Right Mrs Tanganani, the heart seed.
Thank you.
Alright, then.
Uh...
Yes, of course.
Thank you.
There's a place in the back.
Now, where did we get to?
The best place to find broken dreams
is down on the wharf.
AH those dead fish with their eyes
and mouths open,
they just can't believe
that they are not in the sea
and will never be again.
By the way, fish, they go to Heaven.
Don't believe any other shit you hear'
Silence is good for a lot of things.
Boys who shout have mud in their souls.
Stay away from boys who abuse silence.
Other than that, I don't want to
tell you girls where to shop.
To kill a pig, you get two fat uncles to
hold it down and whack it on the chest.
How big do these uncles have to be?
Fat ones. Fat is good,
Skinny is no bloody good.
Pop-Eye's no bloody good.
Right.
'Our conference was held
in the state parlor
which was feebly lighted by one candle.
It began with the strange gentleman's
drawing the candle to him
and looking over some entries
in his pocketbook.'
"My name is Jaggers.
I am a lawyer in London.
Now, Joseph Gargery..."
"Yes, sir?"
"I am the bearer of an offer
to relieve you of this young fellow,
your apprentice.
You would not object
to cancel his indentures?'
"Well, the answer is no."
"Very well!
Recollect the admission you have made
and don't try to go from ii presently."
'Well, who's a going to try?"
"I didn't say anyone is going to try!"
Hmm...
Now, I return to this young fellow.
The communication I have got to make is,
that he has Great Expectations!"
Shh. Shh.
'It is a most miserable thing
to feel ashamed of home.
I had believed in the best parlour
as a most elegant saloon.
I had believed in the front door
as a mysterious portal.
I had believed in the forge
as the glowing road to manhood
and independence.
Within a single year,
all this was changed.
Now it was all coarse and common.
The change was made in me.
The thing was done.
Well- or ill-done,
excusably or inexcusably,
ii was done.'
Is that you, boy?
Where have you been, girl?
Just playing on the beach.
I don't want you out alone at night
anymore.
Sam!
Sam!
Aah! Sam
You can't send them away.
They're just boys. They're your boys.
Not anymore.
Where's Sam?
'What could I become
with these surroundings?
How can my character
fail to be influenced by them?
But I knew very well
that it was not all good.'
I think the sooner you leave here,
the better.
Thank you, Mr Jaggers'
Thank you so much.
Matilda?
My dream is out, Matilda!
What are you talking about?
I believe that Miss Havisham
intends me for Estella after all.
Matilda, I'm leaving.
Leaving?
Pip has been given the opportunity
to become whoever he wants.
It means he's free 10 make bad choices.
Like Estella?
You're not very fond of Estella,
are you?
She's cruel'
Matilda!
Matilda!
Are you alright?
It's alright H's alright.
it's alright, darling.
It's alright, darling. it's alright.
Domes?
No!
No, no! No!
'Matilda'
'Matilda'
Go and find your own kid!
Do you believe in the Devil, Matilda?
Mr Waits says that the Devil
is just a symbol, not living flesh.
Nor is his Pip.
But you can't hear the Devil's voice.
You can hear Pip's.
That's it. You're not going back
to the school anymore.
Why? So I can be dumb like you?
If ii wasn't for you,
we'd be in Australia with Dad.
'Heaven knows we need
never be ashamed of our tears,
for they are rain upon
the blinding dust of earth,
overlying our hard heads.
I was better after I had cried,
than before -
more sorry, more aware of my
own ingratitude, more gentle.
We changed again, and yet again,
and it was now too late
and too far to go back,
and I wanton.
And the mists had all
solemnly risen now,
and the world lay spread before me.
My daughter, my lovely Matilda,
says she doesn't believe in the Devil.
She believes in Pip!
Well, Mrs Naimo,
what if I were to say to you
that on the page
Pip and the Devil
have the same status?
Each one strikes out on their own,
each one has the chance
to make their own mistakes...
And to abandon his family?!
How will Pip even know
if he's made a mistake?
f there is no God and no Devil, how
will he know what's right from wrong?
Mr Waits here thinks
he can know all things,
but for the rest of us people -
and that includes you,
my beautiful ower, Matilda -
pack the teaching of the Good Book
into your person.
That way, you kids will be able
to save Pop-Eye here
because I'm not going to.
Thank you, Mrs Naimo,
for such an illuminating lesson
on the relationship
between good and evil.
Once again, you've given us
much food for thought.
A shrine. Pip in the Pacific.
Well, why not? Great Expectations
doesn't tell the whole of Pip's life.
In the...
Yep, you're quite right.
All in good time.
Mr Watts?
Miss Naimo.
Pip's different in London.
I don't understand why he lets
Herbert Pocket call him Handel.
Pip is like an immigrant.
He's moving from one level of society
to another.
A change of name is as good as
a change of clothes.
We all need a change sometimes
to help us on our way.
He abandoned Joe.
Yes, he did.
H's not easy to be
a perfect human being, Matilda.
No! Let me.
Matilda. Get dressed.
Hurry up!
Move, move, move, move! Hurry up!
Go, go, go, go! Go! Go on!
Move, move, move, move, move!
Please, no-one wants to hurt you.
We would just like your names
for security reasons.
You!
Hey. Name'
Dolores.
D-O-L-O-R-E-S.
Now you.
Matilda.
I notice there are no young men
in the village.
Plenty of girls.
Mabel'
But no young men. Why is that?
We saw a signal on the beach.
What is P-l-P?
What is P-I-P?
Daniel.
Pip! Mr Pip!
Mr Pip? ls his name on this list?
Pip belongs to Mr Dickens, sir.
Who is Mr Dickens?
Move, move, move, move!
Hurry UP!
Psst!
You are Mr Dickens?
Yes, I am.
Where is Pip?
Sir, Pip...
Pip is a creation.
He's a character in a book.
I understand the confusion, but if you
will allow me to show you the book,
you will see that Pip is a character
from the novel Great Expectations.
It's a novel. It's a story.
A wonderful story.
Matilda, would you mind?
I've left the book on my desk.
The book isn't there!
There is no book?
There is. I just can't find it.
I will not be lied to.
Sir, I assure you...
No. Stay there.
You say there is a book, fine.
Find me the book, or find Mr Pip'
Move, move, move!
Hey!
I will give you one more chance.
Bring me this man Pip,
or I will burn it all.
Please, sir! The man
you're looking for is... He's a fiction.
He's a character out of a book.
No. You will speak when I ask you.
I am not interested
in any more of your lies.
Go back, go back, go back, go back,
go back, go back.
You have been foolish.
You cannot defeat me with your lies.
Next time I come here, I expect
this man Pip to be handed over'
I'm so sorry.
What's going on?
You stay here.
No!
Matilda!
Don't be foolish, girl!
Let go!
It's OK, Matilda.
It's alright.
Matilda. Matilda!
No, leave it, Matilda!
It's your fathers!
Hold your noise!
Estella.
Whoo!
Understand that.
I know you lost all your books.
I wrote some things...
"about Great Expectations.
That's very good, Matilda.
Would you like me to leave it?
Put it in the pocket of my jacket.
Thank you.
Wake up. I have something to tell you,
Our Father which art in Heaven...
Mr Watts, your Grace
was the cleverest of all us girls.
We all went to school together,
Thank you, Dolores.
Grace could speak German.
And hold her breath underwater
for longer than anyone.
And anyway matter,
she was beautiful too.
And remember the day she lost her tooth?
She was lying in the canoe,
watching the fish
and the sea wave came and smacked
that canoe right in the mouth.
When she got her first pair of shoes,
she was so proud,
she carried them everywhere,
'cause she didn't want them
to get dirty.
What about you?
Grace lived in a beautiful big house
in London.
She lived in one part of the house,
I lived in the other.
But... it was very hard
not to notice Grace.
I'd never seen anyone so black
with teeth so white.
She would come by every evening
for a cup of tea
and she would sit
across the table from me.
And then one evening...
...she brought her chair
around to my side
and she took my hand
and she placed it in her lap.
My darling Grace
gave me great happiness.
None greater than
when she gave me a child.
A baby girl to whom
we gave the name Sarah.
And we couldn't stop looking at her.
We had a room in the middle
of the house, between us, for Sarah.
We filled this room with our thoughts,
our memories, our histories,
which we'd take it in turns
to write ii on the wall.
And Grace traced Sarah's lineage
from her all the way back
to a ying fish.
Was I on this wall?
Uh, yes, I believe you were.
Sarah fell to meningitis
before her first birthday.
Grief...
Grace couldn't...
she couldn't move, didn't speak.
She never left her bed.
And I tried... I...
We moved homes, we moved countries.
Finally, I thought that the best way
would be for Grace to reinvent herself.
I don't know how many of you here know
who the Queen of Sheba was.
It's in the Bible.
The Queen of Sheba
was a very wise black woman
who wanted to see if she could match
Solomon's legendary wisdom.
And she communed with him
of all that was in her heart
and nothing was hid.
We've all lost a lot in recent times.
And those losses,
I think we should use them...
...lo remind ourselves of the things
that we could never lose -
our minds and our imaginations.
Where are our imaginations?
Out there, and in here.
Alright, let's try something different.
All of you close your eyes.
Now, in a voice that only you can hear,
I want you to say your name.
Just say it to yourself, everyone.
...
Matilda Naimo
Now, no-one ever-
in the whole history of the world-
no-one has ever used your voice
to say your name.
It belongs to you.
Matilda Naimo. Matilda Naimo.
No-one can take that away from you.
When Mr Dickens sat down in 1860
and started to write Great Expectations,
the first thing he had to do was to
clear a space for the voice oi Pip.
And that is what my friend Matilda
has done.
She's started to write the story of Pip.
She has given us a special task,
a sacred task-
we have to retrieve the story
of Great Expectations.
So, who's with me?
Yes. Christopher.
Pip wanted to be a gentleman.
Yes, he did.
Can anyone be a gentleman?
Yes, they can.
Even a poor person?
Absolutely a poor person
can be a gentleman.
A gentleman... a gentleman is someone
who never forgets their manners,
no matter what the situation is,
no matter how terrible, how awful.
Money and social standing
have got nothing to do with it.
A gentleman always tries to do
the right thing.
Where have you been?
School, of course.
What, with the dumb bugger, Pop-Eye?
Mum, I know you talked Mr Watts
into coming back.
This will remove Pip
from the protective comfort of home
to the unknown metropolis.
Metropolis. Uh... Alright.
Let's say that this here
is our little village.
In Pip's time, greater London
would be this immense metropolis.
We've got a new roof on our place.
Tag! Can't catch me!
Pip'
Sorry, would you excuse us, Herbert?
What's wrong?
It's nothing.
I'm just... I'm running late for
a meeting with Miss Havisham.
I'll walk with you.
No, it's the young Miss Havisham,
Estella.
Anyways, it was very nice to see- you.
Who was that, Handel?
Nobody.
His name is Pip.
Or have you abandoned that too,
along with Joe and everyone else?
And you're so much better?
I'm sorry, Matilda, but you have no idea
what is expected of a gentleman.
I do. I just don't see one here.
Do you not have your own shadow
to play with?
Shit. Matilda. What are you doing
creeping around here'?
What Estella says to Pip - do you not
have your own shadow to play with?
Yes. Very good.
Do you want to write this down?
Did Mrs Watts read Great Expectations?
Grace?
Sadly, no.
She fried.
Till finally she said
that she would reach the end
if I would do the same with the Bible,
and that was that.
The thing is, you can't really pretend
to read a book.
Your eyes will always give you away.
Your eyes and your breathing.
The house could be on fire
and a reader deep in a book
wouldn't even notice
until the wallpaper was in ames.
And for me,
Great Expectations was such a book.
It gave me permission to...
change my life.
Reinvent myself.
Matilda.
There's a boat leaving
the night after the full moon.
Gilbert's father could take us out
to meet it.
A few hours on the open sea
and you'd be in the Solomon Islands.
And Australia?
Well, in the Solomons,
it'd be up to you.
Your mum too, Matilda.
But it's very important that
you don't tell anyone about this,
not even Dolores,
until I give the word.
Understand?
Hurry up! Go!
You. Move, move, move, move.
Hey!
Move!
Move out, move out.
We need medicines.
What medicines we had, you burned.
Last time we were here, you were
concealing a man named Pip.
Have you decided to hand him to me yet'?
I thought not.
Move
Move
I will ask you again for your name.
My fathers family name being Pirrip,
and my Christian name Philip,
my infant tongue
could make of both names
nothing longer or more explicit
than Pip.
So I called myself Pip
and came lo be called...
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!
Hey, shut up!
I'm finished with being lied to.
Move, move!
Look up!
Who saw this?
No, Daniel.
I saw it, sir,
Sir, he doesn't know what he's saying.
He doesn't know what he's saying, sir.
Come.
No, he...
No!
Please, he doesn't know
what he's saying!
Would you like to go with him?
Yes, sir.
Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!
Get up! Get up!
Now, once more I will ask you...
...who saw the white man die?
Who saw?
I did.
Sir, I saw your men chop up
the white man and feed him to the pigs.
He was a good man.
I'm here as God's witness.
I am God's witness.
Sir, I will be God's witness.
Take her.
No!
Stay.
You. Are you related to this woman?
She's my mother.
OK, girl. Move, move. Move.
Move it. Move it.
Does anyone else have anything to say?
Move, move.
No
'No! No'
No!
Matilda, my darling,
Oh, Matilda, my darting. Yeah.
No! Lei her go! Please!
Stop it!
Stand up
Stand up.
Please...
Please, sir, I beg you, have mercy.
She's just a little girl.
Now you beg me, and for what?
What will you give me
to save your daughter?
Take me instead.
My men have had you already.
You have nothing left for me.
Take my life,
Did you hear that?
Your mother has offered her life
for you.
What do you say?
Matilda, don't say anything.
No, I wanna hear.
What do you say to your mother?
Very well.
Move Move. Move'
No. You stay here.
Hold onto me.
Hold on!
I saw something. ll is. It's her,
Wait!
We have 10 go, Matilda.
Keep going. Slowly, slowly.
- Keep going up.
- Right.
Say 'ahhh'.
Ahhh.
Matilda - that's a nice name.
Where did you get that name?
Oh!
Here we are.
You've got some eating to catch up on.
I bought you birthday cakes
for every one I've missed.
Guess you were still a little girl
in my head.
It's nice.
Alright.
Well, I'll let you settle in.
You alright?
I love you.
We've got a new student today.
Welcome, Matilda.
Matilda is from...
I came here from Honiara
in the Solomon Islands.
Oh, right. It says on your form.
My mum couldn't come, so I came
hereto help look after my dad.
OK. Right.
So if everyone can open
their maths books to page 348,
we're just gonna pick up
where we left off yesterday,
So yesterday we were having a look at
making up equations with algebra.
Today we're just gonna carry on with
using equations to solve problems.
So that first example there
at the top of page 348.
If I think of a number
and then multiply it by seven...
...I get the same result as if I had
multiplied the number by four...
and then added 15
So if we're writing an equation
for this information...
It couldn't wait till after school?
The man traveled from Sydney
to see you. Some kind of lawyer.
So whats this about exactly'?
Uh, you're aware of the situation
in Bougainville
since the blockade was lifted?
You've been there?
How long since you were there?
It's been ten years.
I assume you remember Mr Thomas Watts?
He was my teacher... in Bougainville.
Well, Mr Watts passed away
during the conflict.
Did you know that?
I'm sorry.
But it seems he left a will which
bequeaths much of his property to you.
Mind you, we've had a devil of a time
trying to find you.
It's primarily his house - half a house.
It's a flat, really.
The other half reverts to his wife.
His wife's dead.
No. No, loan assure you June Walls
is still very much alive.
And where's the at?
In Gravesend, in London.
Platform four...
Mrs Watts?
I thought you were from Australia.
I am.
Go ahead. H's yours.
I'll put the kettle on.
Don't get many visitors.
Went out and got the strawberry creams
especially.
Thank you. It was lovely of you
to see me today, Mrs Watts.
Your husband had a big influence on me.
Tom did?
He was my teacher.
A longtime ago in Bougainville.
So you knew her then? The other woman.
I married a weak man' Matilda.
I don't want to sound unkind,
but it's true.
Tom was not a brave man.
He should have left me properly
rather than carry on the way he did.
I'm sorry, Mrs Watts.
I didn't know about any of that.
Water under the bridge now.
We were young.
Everyone was young in those days.
I suppose you knew about
Tom's theater thing.
There she is The Queen of Sheba
He had some funny ideas,
that director.
'Avant-garde,' Tom said.
The Queen of bloody Sheba.
I didn't think about Grace much.
I didn't give her nearly enough thought.
She was always laughing.
It was like living next door to someone
who was permanently drunk.
Couldn't imagine him on her island.
What was he like?
When you last saw him.
He was a gentleman.
He was always a gentleman, Mrs Watts.
I'm not going to take the flat.
It's not mine. It's yours.
Thank you so much, Mrs Watts.
I'll pour the tea.
No. That's OK. Thank you.
You've given me so much already.
Take it if you want.
But it's yours.
Never read it.
Tom would want you to have it.
So what brings you
to the Dickens Museum?
It's a long story.
Did you meet Mr Dickens?
I've met Mr Dickens,
and that is not him.
Yes, the Dickens I knew
told stories too.
And he wore a White suit
and a red clown nose
and collected shells
from sparkling blue waters.
Pip--
Heaven knows we need
never be ashamed of our fears
for they are rain
upon the blinding dust of earth,
overlying our hard hearts.
I was better after had cried,
than before -
more sorry, more aware of
my own ingratitude, more gentle.
We changed again, and yet again,
and it was now too late
and to far to go back,
and I went on.
And the mists had all
solemnly risen now,
and the world lay spread before me.
What is the wisdom of the crabs?
Well, my mum always said
that wind and rain are on the way
if a crab digs straight down and blocks
the hole leaving marks like sun rays.
Who is your mum?
Matilda!
Sometimes I miss him.
Sometimes I will look along the beach.
There is your father, Matilda.
He's walking towards me.
- And me?
- And you, yes.
Your father is walking towards us both.
My mothers name
is Dolores Mary Naimo.
My father's is Joseph Francis Naimo.
My father worked with the Australians
who gave him the name 'Matilda'.
He gave it to my mother
for her to give me,
and so they called me Matilda
and I came to be known as Matilda.