Excuse me, ma'am,
can you tell me where...?
Do you speak English?
Which way?
Left. Left.
Stop. Stop.
What?
Where you going?
How long does it take
to get to this place?
Oh, 12 hours, more or less.
- What's there? Camp?
- Yes, a sort of military camp.
And...
- How many people?
- They will tell you when we get there.
Do they have arms?
They will tell you that too
when we get there, everything.
No. No.
Shit.
Bitch.
All right!
I don't care!
Water.
Yes, sir.
Come in.
Monsieur, your drink.
- Thank you. Put it on the table.
- Yes, sir.
- There's no soap.
- No, sir.
"No, sir."
Robertson?
Robertson?
- Hello.
- Yes. I want to inquire about flights.
There are only two flights in the week.
The next flight is in three days.
All right.
Come in.
Sorry to barge in like this.
I saw your lights on,
thought you might like a drink.
Oh, yes, come in.
I saw you on the plane.
I'll get some glasses.
My name's Robertson,
David Robertson.
First time I've been
in this part of Africa.
Do you know it well?
No,
I've never been up here before.
I'm a reporter.
My name's Locke.
- Not David Locke?
- Yes.
I've often read your pieces.
I'm very glad to meet you.
Are you down here for a story?
I'm putting some material together.
Pieces of film
for a documentary on Africa.
I'm finished now, thank God,
or almost finished.
What more do you need?
I'd like to make contact
with the guerrillas.
Everybody knows
they're fighting up here now.
They just arrested some farmers.
I suppose you heard about it.
Yes.
Anyway, I must've taken
a wrong trail.
There aren't very many
around here.
But you're not a journalist as well,
are you?
No, no. I'm here on business.
Business?
In a godforsaken place like this.
Well, I've been in so many places
the last few years...
... it doesn't make any
difference anymore.
Beautiful. Don't you think so?
Beautiful? I don't know.
So still.
A kind of...
...waiting.
You seem unusually poetic
for a businessman.
Do I?
Doesn't the desert
have the same affect on you?
No. I prefer men to landscapes.
There are men
who live in the desert.
Any family?
No, no family, no friends.
Just a few commitments,
including a bad heart.
I really shouldn't be drinking.
How about another one?
Why not?
And now what?
I'll continue on
around the world, I expect.
I'm a globetrotter.
I take life as it comes.
I suppose it's different for you,
isn't it?
Yeah, it's different.
Still, you must've been
around quite a bit yourself.
Yes, I suppose so.
How about Umbugbene?
I bet you've never been
to Umbugbene.
No.
Terrible place.
Airports, taxi, hotel.
They're all the same in the end.
I don't agree.
It's us who remain the same.
We translate every situation, every
experience into the same old codes.
We just condition ourselves.
We are creatures of habit,
that what you mean?
Something like that.
I mean, however hard you try...
... it stays so difficult to get away
from your own habits.
Even the way we talk
to these people...
... the way we treat them,
it's mistaken.
I mean, how do you get
their confidence? Do you know?
Well, it's like this, Mr. Locke...
... you work with words,
images, fragile things.
I come with merchandise,
concrete things.
They understand me straightaway.
Yes. Maybe.
So where are you going to next?
London, I think,
then Munich perhaps.
No real reason, just thought I'd
check up on some of the old places.
Haven't been in London
for three years now.
Yes, sir?
There's a gentleman in number 11.
He's dead.
- Mr. Locke?
- Robertson.
Oh, yes, of course. The man
in number 11...
...I believe is Mr...?
Locke. David Locke.
Yes, exactly.
He was a newspaperman, I think.
This is most unfortunate.
There is no doctor now,
and no flight for another three day.
What can we do with him,
Mr. Robertson?
I'll be outside.
Mr. Robertson.
- Mr. Robertson.
- Yes.
He's dead, Mr. Robertson.
What are you going to do?
We send body in the city.
The heat, you know.
We think have to get
done very quickly here.
- There are regulations. Is very sad.
- Yes.
Do you know if Mr. Locke
was a religious man?
We have a Catholic mission near here.
Do you think?
I'm sure that will do very well.
Yeah.
Library. David Locke?
Yep. Okay.
Martin, I think you probably knew
David better than any of us here.
In fact, I think he was in Africa
making a television film for you.
That's right, yes.
But I feel I must begin
by saying...
... how terribly upset I was
by the news of his death.
It was so unexpected.
He was still very young.
If you were asked to sum up...
... what it was that made David
such a good journalist...
... what would you say?
First, I suppose it was
his background.
Being British but educated
in America gave him...
...a different perspective.
A kind of detachment.
And then he had
this great talent for observation.
- Going on a holiday?
- Sort of.
- Where do you want to leave the car?
- I don't know.
- Where are you going?
- I haven't made up my mind.
Here's a list of our offices.
Have a look in it.
Yugoslavia. I'll go to Yugoslavia.
- Dubrovnik?
- Yes. Dubrovnik. That's nice.
- How long for?
- For the rest of my life.
Why don't you buy a new car?
Thank you.
Here you are.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Mr. Locke.
David.
David.
What the hell
do you think you're doing?
- Are you crazy?
- Yes.
Rachel, where are you going?
Mr. Robertson?
Mr. Robertson.
Did something go wrong
at the airport?
We were expecting you
to contact us, sir.
Yes.
I'm afraid there was
a slight muddle.
Is it all right for us to talk now, then?
Talk?
I suppose so. Yes.
This is Mr. Achebe.
We are very grateful for your help,
Mr. Robertson.
You have taken
enormous risks for our sake.
Did you manage to get everything
we wanted?
Have you got the papers?
The papers? Oh, yes.
You better take a look at them
and let me know what you think.
Yes.
Oh, excellent. Excellent.
You got the FN rifles as well,
excellent.
A pity about the anti-aircraft guns.
Yes.
Well, that's very good.
Glad it's all there.
Sorry about the anti-aircraft guns.
I hope it won't be too much of...
...a drawback.
Oh, no, their planes aren't
very effective at the moment.
We evade them easily enough.
Our main problem
is the military assistance...
...the government
is getting from Europe.
Yes, well, it's not surprising.
Here's the first installment,
Mr. Robertson.
Don't you want to check it?
No. I'm sure it's all right.
The second installment will be paid
as agreed in Geneva.
You know the number.
And our next meeting will be in...
In Barcelona.
The arrangements for that
remain unchanged.
I have heard a lot about you,
Mr. Robertson.
I realize that you are not
like the others...
...that you believe in our fight.
This will be of great assistance
to our people.
Of course you realize the present
government has agents...
...who may try to interfere with you.
In that case, I hope
you will try to get in touch with us.
We will help in any way we can.
Thank you.
Give my regards to Daisy.
- To whom?
- To Daisy.
- Goodbye.
- Goodbye.
- Bye.
- Thank you.
Jesus Christ.
Sorry.
Yes, in the lab, 4:00.
All right, thank you very much.
Rachel.
- Is it all right, me coming in like this?
- Of course it is.
- May I watch?
- Please do. Yes, come sit over here.
Use the other stool.
- All right?
- Suppose so.
Mr. President...
... could you comment on the recent
arrest of foreign nationals?
This matter...
... is in the hands of the courts.
It is up to the law
to make its comment.
Does the United Liberation Front
still control the northern provinces?
In other words,
are the guerrillas still fighting?
Perhaps.
For once...
... the official terminology correspond
with the actual facts.
And the facts are these:
This is no longer a problem.
Intellectuals and journalist
like to make publicity out of it.
To give it some kind
of political substance.
That's enough of that.
Are you seeing a good many
of David's interviews?
All right, thanks. Go to lunch now.
So...
I'm glad you dropped by.
What do you think of my idea?
- A portrait of David?
- Yeah.
Why do you want to do it?
- A way to remember him.
- Yes?
Besides, I think it might help in
pulling this material together.
You don't seem very enthusiastic.
Oh, it's not that.
It's just that, you know,
reporters, interviews...
David really wasn't so different.
I was there, you know,
that interview.
I went to see him,
but only stayed for one day.
I don't mean to sound disloyal...
... but he accepted too much.
We hadn't been very close
the last couple of years.
I don't know why I'm talking
like this.
I'm sorry.
I hope you make your film.
- Do you love him?
- Yes, I think so.
Just didn't make each other
very happy.
There is no fighting anymore.
The situation is practically normal.
All that remain is a couple
of hundred gangs...
...in the hands
of some common bandits.
Will the opposition party be allowed
to nominate candidates...
...at the next election?
There is no opposition.
We are a unified nation.
- Do you think...?
- I think this country...
...is on the road to a great future.
- David!
- Yeah.
- Half an hour.
- Okay, see you later.
- You didn't like that, did you?
- No.
You involve yourself in real situations,
but you've got no real dialogue.
- Why didn't you tell that man he's a...?
- A liar?
- Yes.
- I know.
But those are the rules.
I don't like to see you keep them.
Then why did you come?
Yes. Hello, Avis?
This is Mr. Robertson.
Oh, yes, hello, how are you?
Yes, but I'm not going to Debrovnik.
No. No, I'm going to Barcelona.
That's right. For the rest of my life.
Same to you. Thank you.
Goodbye.
Hey.
Is beautiful.
My name is Robertson.
I've been waiting for someone
who hasn't arrived.
I've seen so many of them grow up.
Other people look at the children...
...and they all imagine a new world.
But me...
...when I watch them,
I just see the same old tragedy...
...begin all over again.
They can't get away from us.
Is boring.
Where did you learn
to speak English?
You want me to tell you my life?
- Yes.
- All right.
One day very far from here...
- commissioned officers
are charged under M. A...
- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you.
- I know.
What about David's things?
Have they arrived yet?
No. They called to say it'd take
about a week, at least.
- Usual muddle.
- Yes, I know.
They asked if I knew someone
called Robertson.
Evidently he stayed at same hotel
as David did.
- Can you find him?
- Possibly.
- I'd like to talk to him.
- So would I.
So why don't you try
and forget all about it?
Yeah. I know it's stupid.
I didn't care at all before.
Now that he's dead,
in some strange way I do.
Perhaps I was wrong about him.
If you try hard enough...
...perhaps you can reinvent him.
Martin Knight, please.
When? Really?
Rachel Locke.
Yes.
Oh, but that's marvelous.
How did he find out, from Avis?
Hotel Oriente.
Thank you.
You will let me know
if anything else happens?
Great. Bye.
And what was that?
Martin.
He left this morning for Barcelona.
He may have found Robertson.
You still looking for him?
Yes.
Excuse me. I was trying
to remember something.
Is it important?
No.
What is it, do you know?
I came in by accident.
The man who built it
was hit by a bus.
- Who was he?
- Gaud.
Come.
He built this house
for a corduroy manufacturer.
They used this room for concerts.
Wagner.
Do you think he was crazy?
How could you come in here
by accident?
- I was escaping.
- Oh, from what?
Well, I thought someone
might be following me.
- Somebody who might recognize me.
- Why?
- I don't know.
- Well, I can't recognize you.
Who are you?
I used to be somebody else...
...but I traded him in.
What about you?
Well, I'm in Barcelona.
I'm talking to someone
who might be someone else.
I was with those people...
...but I think I'm going to see
the other Gaud buildings alone.
- All of them?
- They're all good for hiding in.
Depends on how much time
you've got.
I have to leave today.
This afternoon.
I hope you make it.
People disappear every day.
- Every time they leave the room.
- Goodbye.
Can we give you another car,
Mr. Robertson?
This one really ought
to be serviced.
Oh, fine. Yes.
As long as it's a large car.
Oh, by the way, Mr. Robertson.
- I have a message for you.
- A what?
A message.
It's from Mr. Knight.
It can't be for me.
I'm sure it's not a mistake. Here.
He said he didn't know you...
...but he wanted you
to get in touch with him.
He's staying at the Hotel Oriente.
The same as you, I think.
- Will the Fiat 125 be all right?
- Son of a bitch.
Are you sure that he said
that he didn't know me?
I'm quite sure, Mr. Robertson.
Thank you very much. I don't think
I'll be needing another car.
I'm... I'm sorry.
Hey. Have you decided
not to disappear?
No.
That's why I came.
I thought perhaps you could help me.
This way.
How can I help you?
How can you help me?
It sounds crazy
because I can't explain it.
But there is someone following me.
- Another one?
- No. The same man.
Someone I don't wanna meet.
I've bought a car.
Second hand. Third hand.
I'm leaving Barcelona, but I have
to get my things from the hotel.
That sounds rather easy.
Except that
he's probably waiting for me.
So you want me to get the jewels
and secret documents?
Yes.
I'll give you the keys to the car and
my passport and a thousand pesetas.
I don't know who else to ask.
Okay.
Excuse me. Excuse me.
Could I talk to you for a moment?
- What is it?
- I'm sorry to intrude like this...
...but I understand you're a friend
of David Robertson.
- Who?
- David Robertson.
Yes, in a way, but who are you?
Well, I've been trying very hard
to find him.
I thought you might know
where he was.
I gather from the hotel
that these are his things.
- Yes.
- I'm sorry. My name's Martin Knight.
I'm a television producer
from England.
I've come all the way out to talk to him,
but I can't find him.
I see.
- Well, I'll take you to him.
- Really? That would be very kind.
Thank you.
I left a message for him...
...at the Avis office, but there seems
to have been some misunderstanding.
I think he mentioned you.
You mind following in a taxi?
I have to pick up somebody else
with some more stuff.
All right. Thank you so much,
that's very kind of you.
I'll just get a taxi.
- Was it difficult?
- Well...
- Thank you.
- Come on.
Is that your suitcase?
Can I ask you one question now?
- One you can, yes.
- Only one, always the same.
What are you running away from?
Turn your back to the front seat.
I've run out of everything.
My wife.
The house.
An adopted child.
A successful job.
Everything except a few bad habits
I couldn't get rid of.
How did you get away with it?
There was an accident.
Everyone thought I was dead.
I let them think so.
There is no way to explain it,
is there?
Now I think I'm going to be
a waiter in Gibraltar.
Too obvious.
- Maybe a novelist in Cairo.
- Too romantic.
- How about a gunrunner?
- Too unlikely.
As a matter of fact, I think I am one.
Then it depends on which side
you're on.
Yes.
I just sold 5000 hand grenades,
...and a great deal of ammunition
to some people...
...fighting a secret war
in an obscure part of the world.
- I like it.
- You like that one?
You like.
How about you?
I'm a tourist
become a bodyguard.
I'm studying architecture.
- Studying architecture?
- Yeah.
What kind of impression
do you think you make...
...when you first come into a room?
They look at me.
Just think I'm all right.
Nothing mysterious.
You learn much more
packing someone's things.
Yeah, it's like listening in
on a private phone conversation.
A room.
- How do you feel?
- Happy.
That man said he was looking
for David Robertson.
Who did?
The man who was following you.
- What else?
- Nothing.
He said he was
a television producer.
And wanted to talk to you
about a friend, that's all.
You've got a date with Marina...
...at 3:00 on the 10
of September, don't forget.
At the Plaza de la Iglesia,
San... San Ferdinando.
And another next day, in a place
called Osuna, with Daisy.
- Osuna.
- Yes.
At the Hotel de la Gloria.
Very picturesque, perhaps.
I won't be there.
What a pity, all these girls:
Lucy, Marina, Daisy.
Daisy again.
Daisy seems to be your favorite.
- I think this Daisy is a man.
- A man?
Yes.
Yesterday when we filmed you
at the village...
...I understood that you were
brought up to be a witch doctor.
Isn't it unusual
for someone like you...
...to have spent several years
in France and Yugoslavia?
Has that changed your attitude
toward certain tribal customs?
Don't they strike you as false now
and wrong, perhaps, for the tribe?
Mr. Locke...
...there are perfectly satisfactory
answers to all your questions.
But I don't think you understand
how little you can learn from them.
Your question...
...are much more revealing
about yourself...
...than my answer would be
about me.
I meant them quite sincerely.
Mr. Locke,
we can have a conversation...
...but only if it's not just
what you think is sincere...
...but also
what I believe to be honest.
Yes, of course, but...
Now we can have an interview.
You can ask me
the same questions as before.
- Everything all right?
- Fine. See you later.
Martin, you're back.
What luck.
I've been trying to find you.
- I want to see this again.
- What?
- This one.
- What's this?
Oh, that one.
- What happened?
- He disappeared.
Who, Robertson?
It was as though he was frightened
of something.
- Frightened?
- Yes, I don't know why.
I think we should get in touch
with the embassy.
They might be able to tell us
something about him.
- Yes, I know.
- What?
I was supposed to collect
David's things there tomorrow.
Mrs. Locke.
Good afternoon.
Please sit down.
Mrs. Locke...
...may I offer you my government's
most sincere condolences.
Thank you.
We have his things here for you.
Now, about your inquiry.
I understand you were asking about
Mr. Robertson.
- David Alfred Robertson.
- Yes.
Can you help me?
He was probably the last man
to speak to my husband.
Robertson is involved
in illegal arms traffic in our country.
Arms traffic?
Could he have killed my husband?
No.
We are sure of the doctor's report.
Your husband died from a heart attack.
- Did my husband realize who he was?
- I don't think so.
Robertson is associated with
the United Liberation Front.
A rather... What shall I say?
A rather radical organization,
a man called Achebe.
They're very troublesome people.
Very unintelligent.
- However, Robertson has vanished.
- But he was in Barcelona.
- When did you contact him there?
- Three days ago.
Do you plan going on
looking for him?
Yes.
Haven't been in London
for three years now.
Wouldn't it be better
if we could just forget old places?
Forget everything that happens
and just throw it all away, day by day?
Unfortunately
the world doesn't work that way.
Well, it doesn't work
the other way either.
That's the problem.
What's on the other side
of that window?
People will believe what I write.
And why?
Because it conforms
to their expectations...
... and to mine as well,
which is worse.
Well, in India, you know, they...
Hey, I think your tape recorder's...
- Yes. I must have...
- Still running, you know.
Yeah, sorry.
Plaza de la Iglesia.
This is it.
I should go alone from here.
No one.
What the fuck are you doing
here with me?
Which me?
The only one I know. There are
no others. All the rest of that's just...
Let's go and eat.
- The old me is hungry.
- No.
- Why?
- Because I'm not interested...
...in giving up.
Hope you make it.
Make it what?
Hey.
- Do you believe in coincidence?
- I never asked myself.
I never used to notice it.
Now I see it all around.
- Do you know something?
- What?
- I saw you before.
- Where?
- In London.
- What I was doing?
- Reading.
- Then it must have been me.
- What are you thinking?
- Nothing.
Excuse me, senor.
- Is that your white car parked outside?
- Yes. Why?
A policeman is looking
for the owner.
Shall I tell him to come in?
No. I'll go.
He's looking for a white convertible
with Madrid plates.
He doesn't know why.
He want us to go with him.
I go, it's better.
Senor, are you looking for the car
or the person in it?
They're looking
for David Robertson.
There is a woman
named Rachel Locke.
She thinks he is in danger.
In danger of what?
Senora Locke?
- Senora Locke?
- Yes?
Senora Locke?
- Senora Locke.
- Yes.
Front desk.
Yes. Do you have a double room
for the night...
...for myself and the young woman?
- Did you give any other information?
Thank you.
What about the embassy?
Did you try them?
What did they say?
The police.
- There's a hole in the pan.
- What's that?
It's a metal pan under
the crankcase...
...the oil all will run out.
What should we do?
Well, reach the first place,
get a mechanic and repair the car.
It will run?
Slowly.
Isn't it beautiful here?
Yes.
It's very beautiful.
We can't go up there.
The car won't make it.
The police will come soon, I know.
We better go.
There's a boat leaving
from Almera to Tangiers.
Listen.
You can't be like that,
just escaping.
So keep the appointment.
No one will be there,
like the other places.
But Robertson made
these appointments.
He believed in something.
That's what you wanted, didn't you?
- But he's dead.
- But you're not.
Okay.
We can both go.
No.
You take the bus...
...to Almera.
Catch that boat, go to Tangiers...
...and leave a message for me
at American Express.
I'll meet you there
in three days' time if you turn up.
Okay.
Take care.
Closed.
Thank you.
- Is there any luggage?
- No, no baggage.
Thank you, Mr. Robertson.
Mrs. Robertson has arrived
a few hours ago.
- Mrs. Robertson?
- Yes.
We don't need your passport,
one is enough.
We have put you in adjoining rooms
for a night.
What can you see?
A little boy and an old woman.
They are having an argument
about which way to go.
You shouldn't have come.
What can you see now?
A man scratching his shoulder.
A kid throwing stones.
And dust.
It's very dusty here.
Isn't it funny how things happen?
All the shapes we make.
Wouldn't it be terrible to be blind?
I know a man who was blind.
When he was nearly 40 years old
he had an operation...
...and regained his sight.
How was it like?
At first he was elated...
...really high.
Faces...
...colors...
...landscapes.
But then everything
began to change.
The world was much poorer
than he imagined.
No one had ever told him
how much dirt there was.
How much ugliness.
He noticed ugliness everywhere.
When he was blind...
...he used to cross the street alone
with a stick.
After he regained his sight...
...he became afraid.
He began to live in darkness.
He never left his room.
After three years he killed himself.
What the fuck are you doing
here with me?
You better go.
Okay.
Is this David Robertson?
Do you recognize him?
I never knew him.
Do you recognize him?
Yes.