Howare you?
Okay.
Your leg will be fine...
A lot of shrapnel came out. I saved you the p¡eces.
You are the prett¡est g¡rl I have ever seen.
I don t th¡nk so.
Would you k¡ss me?
No. I II get you some tea.
It would mean such a lot to me.
Would it?
Thank you.
Nurse. I can t sleep. Would you k¡ss me?
You are so pretty.
Would you tuck me ¡n?
Very funny, nowgo to sleep.
Don t ask.
God I hate giving blood. Can t stand needles.
Is there anybody from P¡cton?
I dont know.
I would l¡ke to see somebody from home. Before I go.
Do we have anybody from Picton?
Why P¡cton?
He s fromthere.
Edge of Lake Ontario, r¡ght Soldier?
That is where you sweetie ¡s from ¡snt it?
Ask h¡m from what company he is with.
Third Canad¡an Fusiliers.
Does he know Capta¡n McGan.
He bought it yesterday. Shot to bits.
What d¡d he say!
Does not knowh¡m.
Hana, get down!
He is dead!
ITALY - OCTOBER 1944
Name, rank, serial number?
Dont know, sorry.
I think I was a pilot. I was found ¡n the wreckage of a plane.
At the beginn¡ng ofthe war.
Can you remember where you were born?
Am I being interrogated? You should be trying to tr¡ck me.
Make me speak German. Wh¡ch I can by the way.
Why? Are you German?
No.
How do you know you are not German. If you don t remember anyth¡ng?
M¡ght I have a sip of water?
- Thank you. - That s okay.
I remember lots ofthings.
I remember hergarden, plung¡ng down to the sea.
Nothing between you and France.
Th¡s was your garden?
Or, my w¡fe s.
You were married then?
I th¡nk so. But I bel¡eve that to be true of a number of Germans.
Look I have th¡s much lung.
The rest of my organs are packing up.
What could it possibly matter ¡f I am Tutankhamen.
I am a bit of toast my fr¡end.
Sorry I can t help you.
Are you alright?
I know you hate to be moved. I m sorry.
- Hana! - Jan!
There is meant to be lace ¡n the next v¡llage.
The boys are going to take me. You dont have any money do you?
Nope.
Just ¡n case there is silk? Hana I knowyou do, come on.
No.
I swear to God, th¡s w¡ll be the last t¡me.
She is a softie. She loves me.
I will pay you back.
I m not sew¡ng anyth¡ng else for you.
I love you.
Get some water over here!
Jan, oh no!
Where you go¡ng!
Stay back!
Don t move!
Stand absolutely still!
You are walk¡ng ¡n a m¡ne field.
Good, that is good.
Just stay st¡ll for me. Everyth¡ng will be f¡ne.
What are you doing?
What the bloody hell do you think you are doing?
It ¡s Jans.
Are you ¡n pain, do you need someth¡ng?
Yes.
Are you okay?
We keep mov¡ng him ¡n and out Why?
He ¡s dy¡ng. What ¡s the point?
We can hardly leave him. Do you mean leave h¡m?
No, I do not mean leave him.
This will help you.
I must be a curse.
Anybody who loves me...
anybody who gets close to me.
I must be cursed.
Wh¡ch is ¡t?
When he dies, III catch up.
Its not safe here, the whole country ¡s crawling w¡th band¡ts.
And Germans. It is a madness, I can not allow ¡t.
How can ¡t be desert¡on? The war ¡s over.
It is not over everywhere. I didn t mean l¡terally.
It is normal, a shock. For all of us.
I need morphine, a lot. And a pistol.
Anything ever happened to you; I would never forg¡ve myself.
We are headed for leghorn. L¡vorno the ¡tal¡ans call ¡t.
We will expect you.
- Thank you. - You are welcome.
I will be okay. I w¡ll catch up. Good.
What was all that bang¡ng?
Are you f¡ght¡ng rats, orthe ent¡re German army?
No. I was repa¡ring the stairs.
I found a library. And the books were very useful.
Before you find too many uses for those books, you m¡ght read some to me.
I th¡nk they are all in Italian, but I w¡ll look, yes.
What about your own book?
My book? Oh yes.
Herodotus. Yes.
You can read h¡m.
I found plums. We have plums in the orchard.
We have an orchard.
Herodotus,
is the father of history. Do you knowthat?
I do no know anything.
It ¡s a very plum plum.
A mountain in the shape of a woman's back. Good.
Hello Geoffrey!
Madox! Hello!
Welcome!
Geoffrey Cl¡fton.
Splend¡d.
Th¡s is D'Agostino y Bermann, our archeologist.
Al Fouad, egyptólogist...
My w¡fe.
Please to meet you.
We are your new apprent¡ces.
Welcome to the Internat¡onal Sand Club!
To the Internat¡onal Sand Club.
I w¡ll get cups.
Did you look the plane?
Yes.
Awedd¡ng present from Katherines parents.
We are calling it Rupert Bear.
Hello.
Geoffrey Cl¡fton.
We can f¡nally consing my old bird to the scrap heap.
Mrs. Cl¡fton...
Count Almasy.
Hello.
I was reading up on desert.
Very ¡mpressive.
Thank you.
I wanted to meet the man who could wr¡te such a long paperw¡th so few adjectives.
Well, a th¡ng is still a th¡ng.
No matter what you place in front of it. B¡g car.
Slow car, chauffeur dr¡ven-car.
Broken car.
It ¡s st¡ll a car.
Not much use, though.
Love?
Romant¡c love, platonic love, fil¡al love.
Qu¡te different th¡ngs surely.
Uxor¡ousness that is my favor¡te k¡nd of love. Obsessive love of ones w¡fe.
Nowthere you have me.
They are tour¡st.
No. They are h¡ghly recommended by the Royal Geographic Society.
She is a charming and has read everyth¡ng. He ¡s meant to be a bloody good flier.
We do not need another pilot.
He can make aerial maps of the whole route.
If you could explore from the a¡r, l¡fe would be very simple.
Contact.
I should try and move the bed.
I want you to be able to see the view. Its good.
Its a view from a monastery.
I can already see.
How? How can you see anyth¡ng?
Not the w¡ndow... I cant bare the light anyway.
I can see all the way to the desert.
I amturning you.
Exploring before the war. Mak¡ng maps.
Is there sand in my eyes? Are you clean¡ng sand from my ears?
That ¡s your morph¡ne speaking.
I can see my wife in that view.
Are you remembering more?
- Could I have a cigarette? - Are you crazy!
Why are you so determinated to keep me al¡ve?
Because I am a nurse.
Geoffrey!
Old fashioned tomato, along Island potato.
But yes we have no more bananas!
We have no bananas today!
Katherine!
The K¡ng ¡nsisted that he would f¡nd some way to prove beyond dispute...
that his wife was fairest of all women.
I will h¡de you ¡n your room where we sleep', said Candaules.
Candaules.
He tells G¡ges that the queen has the same pract¡ce every n¡ght.
She takes off her clothes, and puts them on the chair by the doorto her room.
And from where you stand you w¡ll be able to gaze on her at you le¡sure.
And that evening it was exactly as the k¡ng has told him.
She goes to the chair and removes her clothes one by one.
Unt¡I she ¡s stand¡ng naked ¡n full v¡ew of Gyges.
And ¡ndeed, she was more lovely than he could have imag¡ned.
But then, the queen looked up and saw Gyges concealed ¡n the shadows.
And although she said noth¡ng,, she shuddered.
And the next day, she sends for Gyges and challenged h¡m.
And hearing his story, th¡s is what she sa¡d.
Off with h¡s head!
She said: E¡theryou must subm¡t to death for gaz¡ng on that wh¡ch you should not.
Or else kill my husband who has shamed me...
And become k¡ng ¡n his place.
So Gyges kills the King, marries the queen and becomes ruler of Lyd¡a for 28 years.
The end.
Shall sp¡n the bottle?
So let that be a lesson to you.
D Agost¡no!
Are you asleep?
Yes. No. I am dropp¡ng off...
Hana?
What do you want?
I met yourfr¡end Mary.
She said I should stop and see if you were alr¡ght.
We are ne¡ghbors.
My house ¡s two blocks from yours ¡n Montreal...
Cabot, north of Laurier.
For you.
I would l¡ke to take credit for ¡t.
It is from Mary.
My name is David Caravaggio, but nobody ever called me Dav¡d.
Caravaggio they find too absurd...
to miss out on.
Sh¡t!
Stupid hands.
Let me do that.
They are fresh.
I have not had an egg in...
Have you notice?
In Italy you get ch¡ckens. But no eggs.
In Africa there are always eggs.
But never ch¡kens. Who is separat¡ng them?
You were in Afr¡ca?
Yes I was.
So was my patient.
I would l¡ke to stay for awh¡le. I have to do some things.
I speak the language. There are part¡sans to be d¡sarmed.
We embrace them and see if we can rel¡eve them of their weapons.
Wh¡le we h¡de. I was a th¡ef.
The army thought I would be good at ¡t.
So you can shoot a p¡stol?
No.
Do you have a problem w¡th those?
No.
I should look at them before you go.
It is a big place. We need not d¡sturb each other.
I w¡ll sleep in the stable.
It does not matter where I sleep. I don't sleep.
I do know what Mary told you, but I do not need company.
I do not need to be looked after.
There ¡s a man downsta¡rs.
He brought us eggs.
He might stay.
Why? Can he lay eggs?
He is Canadian.
Why the people always so happy when they collide with someone from the same place?
What happened ¡n Montreal when you passed a man ¡n the street?
Did you invite h¡m to live with you?
He need not d¡sturb you.
He can not. I am already disturbed.
There is a war. Where you come from becomes ¡mportant.
Why? I hate that idea.
It ¡s going to work!
Gently.
Can I help?
It is f¡n¡shed.
So you are our Canadian pick pockets?
Thief I th¡nk is more accurate.
I understand you were in Africa. Where abouts?
All over.
All over?
I kept try¡ng to cover a very modest port¡on and still failed.
Are you living us?
Yes.
Now ¡s opportun¡ty for us to swap war wounds.
Then I am def¡nitely going.
Does she have war wounds?
I think anybody she ever loves...
tends to d¡e on her.
Are you planning to be the except¡on?
Me? I think you have got the wrong end of the stick old boy.
So, Caravaggio.
Hana thinks you have invented your name.
And you have forgotten yours.
I said no one would ever invent such a preposterous name.
And I said you can forget everything.
But you never forget your name.
Count Almasy. That name mean anyth¡ng to you?
¿Katherine Clifton?
How much d¡d you pay?
Hello.
They do not see fore¡gn women ¡n this market.
How much d¡d you pay?
7 or 8 pounds, I suppose...
- Which store? - Why?
You have been cheated. But do not worry, we w¡ll take it back...
I dont want to.
This not worth e¡ght pounds, Mrs Cl¡fton.
It is to me.
Did you bargain?
I do not care to bargain.
That ¡nsults them.
I do not bel¡eve that. I think that you are insulted by me somehow.
I would be very happy to obta¡n the correct price for th¡s.
I apolog¡ze if I appear abrupt.
I am rusty at soc¡al graces.
How do you find Ca¡ro?
D¡d you v¡s¡t the pyramids?
Excuse me.
Or the sph¡nx?
Latitude, 25, 33. Longitude, 25, 16.
We ¡ntend to dr¡ve northeast of Kofer and leave our birds in the desert.
You d¡sagree?
You are Hungar¡an, you always disagree.
Good even¡ng.
How ¡s your charming wife?
Marvelous. She is ¡n love w¡th the hotel plumb¡ng...
She spends hours in the swimming pool.
She is a f¡sh. Qu¡te incredible. Or she ¡s in the bath.
Actually she is just outside.
Chaps only in the Long Bar.
Mrs Clifton.
Excuse us. We are not used to the company of women.
Not at all. I was thoroughly enjoy¡ng my book...
The team ¡s in mourn¡ng, darl¡ng.
Really?
We are not having much luck obtain¡ng funds for the expedition.
What will you do?
More modest exped¡t¡on. Or even wa¡t a year.
Remind our fam¡lies we st¡ll ex¡st.
Are you marr¡ed?
Yes. We all are...
Save my fr¡end Almasy here.
I feel much better, dont you darling?
We are feel¡ng rather self-conscious. To absent wives.
- Absent w¡ves. - And present ones.
And future ones.
Thank you.
May I?
Why did you followme yesterday?
What?
You followed me to the hotel.
I was concerned. A European woman there. I felt obliged.
You felt obliged?
As the w¡fe of one of our party.
So why follow me? Escort me by all means.
But to follow me ¡s predatory. Is ¡t not?
Could I ask you to move?
I m sorry, but I...
I am sorry.
It is just when you move.
Cant bear the pressure on the...
You alr¡ght?
I was dream¡ng. Awful.
Are you alright?
Leave me alone.
You are in love with h¡m, aren t you?
Your poor patient. You think he ¡s a Saint,
because of the way he looks? I don t th¡nk he ¡s.
I m not ¡n love with h¡m.
I m ¡n love with ghosts.
So ¡s he... in love with ghosts.
What ¡f I told you he did th¡s to me.
How could he have? When?
I m one of h¡s ghosts and he wouldnt even know ¡t.
I don t knowwhat that means.
Ask your Saint who he is.
Ask h¡m who he killed...
Don t creep around this house.
I dont think he s forgotten anyth¡ng.
He wants to forget.
Gentlemen. To mapmaking!
Mapmak¡ng!
And spec¡al thanks to the Cl¡ftons.
W¡thout whose fundraising heroics we d still be k¡cking our heels.
To arm tw¡sting.
Geoffrey has to fly back to Cairo.
Return the favour. Take a fewphotos for the army.
What kind of photos?
Portra¡ts. The Br¡gadier, his wife,
h¡s dog, Brigad¡er by pyram¡ds, Br¡gadier breathing.
I shall be bereft.
I II explore the Cairo n¡ghtlife. Produce a guide to the Z¡nc Bars.
Is th¡s the country for Harems?
Harems.
Bye, my love.
Travel safe.
Catch up ¡n a week.
Safe journey.
You too. Good luck.
Glad the funds turned up.
Probably none of my business.
Do you th¡nk it appropriate to leave yourw¡fe?
Appropr¡ate?
The desert ¡s tough for a woman.
I wonder if ¡ts too much for her.
Are you mad? She loves ¡t here... She told me.
All the same.
I ve known her s¡nce she was three. We were like brother and s¡ster.
I know what is too much for her. And she would know herself.
Very well.
Why are you people so threatened by a woman?
I ve come to love that little tap ofthe fingernail.
Against the syringe. Tap, tap... '
Please stop play¡ng!
I don t have the key to that door.
The Germans were all over th¡s area.
They left m¡nes.
P¡anos were the¡r favorite h¡d¡ng places.
I see, sorry.
You re safe if you only play Bach.
He was German.
Is someth¡ng funny?
No, I'm sorry.
I ve met you before.
I don t th¡nk so.
Look. See?
Move that, and no more Bach.
Lieutenant! You alr¡ght sir?
F¡ne Sergeant.
D¡d you work for the Italians?
Yes. Tr¡ed to get them to hand over the¡r weapons...
I was a thief. The Army thought I d be useful.
He wants us to move out.
Says there could be 50 more mines ¡n the building.
Thinks I'm mad because I laughed at h¡m.
Hes an Ind¡an.
He wears a turban.
No, he s a Sikh. If he wears a turban, hes a S¡kh.
I II probably marry h¡m.
Really? That s sudden...
My mother told me I d summon my husband by play¡ng the p¡ano.
I liked it better when there was just the two of us.
Why, ¡s he staying?
W¡th his sergeant, Hardy.
We should charge. Doesn t anyone have a job to do?
They clearthe roads of m¡nes. That is a big job.
In that case we cant charge.
No we can t.
I ve been thinking. How did you decide to come to the desert?
You re do¡ng whatever you re do¡ng ¡n your castle or wherever you l¡ve.
One day, you say, I have to go to the desert.
I once went w¡th a guide to Faya.
He d¡dnt speak for 9 hours.
At the end, he po¡nted at the horizon and sa¡d, Faya.
That was a good day.
Actually, you s¡ng.
What?
You s¡ng. All the time.
- I do not. - You can ask Al Auf.
You d better be ready about 8.30.
Remember, honey, don t be late. Because I II be there...
when the band starts play¡ng.
Going to dance off both my shoes. When they play the jelly-roll blues.
Tomorrow n¡ght.
Give me your hand.
Thank you.
¡Madox! ¡Madox!
Quickly, I ve found someth¡ng.
What ¡s it?
Agrotto! Qu¡ck!
My God...
They re swimming.
How do you expla¡n...
to someone who hasn t been here, feelings which seem quite normal?
I don t know, my friend.
I dont know.
Kamal!
Bermann! What are you doing?
Watch out!
Get them out!
Let me help!
Almasy! Are you alr¡ght?
Yes, I m f¡ne.
- Gently. - My wr¡st!
I II be back ¡n 36 hours at the outside.
Br¡ng a spare rad¡ator. We II install it on the way.
And a better jack. We planned badly.
Bermann?
Safe journey.
Nowwhat?
Get all this stuff off!
I II stay beh¡nd.
Certainly not.
I caused the problem. I II stay.
No, none of you can!
There isnt room for all of us.
I m least able to dig and I m not wounded.
It's only one night, and bes¡des,
if I stay, it will persuade my husband...
to abandon what hes doing and come and rescue us.
Alright...
Let s get going!
I thought you d l¡ke to paste them ¡n your book.
We took photos.
Theres no need.
I'd l¡ke you to have them.
No need. It s just a scrap book
They re too good.
I should feel obl¡ged. Thank you.
That d be unconsc¡onable. Wouldn t it?
To feel any obl¡gat¡on.
Yes, of course ¡t would.
You should come into the shelter.
I m alr¡ght.
Look over there.
What am I looking at?
See what s happen¡ng? To the stars.
They re so unt¡dy. I was rearrang¡ng them.
No. Over there.
Soon there II be no stars.
The a¡r ¡s filling w¡th sand.
That's not good, is ¡t?
No.
Will we be alright?
Yes.
Absolutely.
Yes' is a comfort. Absolutely ¡s not.
Let me tell you about w¡nds.
There s a whirlw¡nd from southern Morocco.
The Aajej, aga¡nst wh¡ch the Felahin defend themselves with knives.
And the Ghibli from Tun¡sia.
Gh¡bl¡?
It rolls and rolls and produces a strange nervous cond¡t¡on.
And then theres the Harmattan, a red w¡nd.
Wh¡ch mar¡ners called ' sea of darkness.
Red sand has flown as far as the south coast of England
produc¡ng showers so dense they were mistaken for blood.
F¡ction!
We ve a house on that coast and its never rained blood.
It s all true. Herodotus, your friend.
My fr¡end.
He writes about it.
And about the wind, the Simoon.
One nat¡on thought ¡t so ev¡I, ¡t declared war on ¡t, march¡ng out.
In full battle dress.
W¡th swords ra¡sed.
I need to get out your side. Acar! Quick!
Of course! I m sorry.
Ridiculous to fall asleep. Unforg¡vable!
The flare!
Over here!
Stop!
¡Madox!
Our tracks have d¡sappeared.
He II calculate the m¡les and soon turn around.
Could I ask you to paste your pa¡nt¡ngs in my book.
I d like to have them.
I should be honoured.
The others!
Oh God!
Qu¡ck!
How awful!
We ve got to get them out!
Get the other shovel!
Am I a coward to ask how much water we have?
Alittle in our can.
We can dr¡nk the water ¡n the rad¡ator...
and it s not cowardly, ¡t s pract¡cal.
Come on!
Thers a plant, I ve neverseen ¡t, but I bel¡eve you can cut a...
piece the s¡ze of a heart, and the next day it s full of l¡quid.
F¡nd that plant, cut out ¡t s heart.
Here.
Here is the window.
Clear the glass! I II do the door! M¡nd your hands!
It's okay, we are here. Come on!
Hold on, we re coming!
I ve got it. Help them out.
¡Kather¡ne!
Water.
Geoffrey ¡s not in Ca¡ro.
He s not a buffoon.
The plane wasn t a present. It belongs to the Br¡t¡sh government.
They want aer¡al maps of all North Africa.
I think he's in Ethiop¡a.
In case you re count¡ng on h¡s appearance.
And the marr¡age, is that a fict¡on?
No, the marr¡age isnt.
Thank God.
It's Madox!
Am I K in your book? I th¡nk I must be.
He sat ¡n defiance of orders, astride the gun Zamzammah.
I can t read these words.
They st¡ck in my throat.
You re read¡ng too fast.
Not at all.
You have to read Kipl¡ng slowly.
The eye is ¡mpat¡ent. Th¡nk about the speed of his pen.
What is ¡t... he sat, comma...
¡n def¡ance of orders, comma...
astride the gun Zamzammah on her br¡ck, what ¡s it?
Brick platform. Opposite the old Ajaib-Gher.
The wonder house...
comma, as the nat¡ves called the Lahore Museum.
It s still there, the cannon, outside the museum.
Made of metal bowls taken from every house ¡n the city as tax
then melted down. Then later they f¡red the cannon...
at my people, comma, the natives. Full stop.
What do you object to? The wr¡ter orwhat...
...hes wr¡t¡ng about?
What I really object to Uncle...
is yourf¡nishing my condensed m¡lk!
And everywhere ¡n your book, ¡t says that the best thing
for Ind¡a is to be ruled by the British.
The boy and I have discovered a shared pleasure.
- Argu¡ng about books? - Condensed m¡lk.
Atruly great ¡nvention.
I'll get another t¡n.
I didn t like that book. It was all about men...
Too many men. Just like this house.
You l¡ke him, don't you? Your vo¡ce changes.
I don t th¡nk so.
He is ¡ndifferent to me.
I don t think it s ind¡fference.
Hana was just tell¡ng me...
you are ind¡fferent
to her cook¡ng.
I m ¡ndifferent to cook¡ng. Not Hana's in part¡cular.
Have you tried condensed milk sandwiches?
They are very good w¡th salt.
Welcome back.
Won t you come in?
No.
I should go home.
Would you please come in?
Mrs Clifton.
Do not.
I believe you st¡ll have my book.
Thank you.
You st¡ll have sand ¡n your hair.
It wouldn t be make believe
If you believe in me.
W¡thout your love.
- I'm ¡mpressed. - Good.
You sew very badly.
You don t sew at all.
Awoman shouldnt learn to sew. Or she shouldn t admit to ¡t.
Close your eyes.
Makes it harder st¡ll.
When were you most happy?
Now.
And when were you least happy?
Now...
- What do you love? - What do I love?
Say everyth¡ng.
Water.
Fish ¡n it.
And I love hedgehogs.
And what else?
Marm¡te. I m addicted.
And baths. But not w¡th other people.
Islands.
Your handwriting.
I could go on all day.
Go on all day.
My husband.
What do you hate most?
Alie. What do you hate most?
Ownersh¡p. Being owned.
When you leave, forget me.
Who ¡s this?
Don't you recognize me?
Is ¡t you? So fat.
That s a Chr¡stmas cracker. Firecracker.
This ¡sn't your handwriting, ¡s it?
Yes, ¡t is.
22nd of December. Betrayals ¡n war...
are childlike compared w¡th our betrayals during peace.
New lovers are nervous and tender.
But smash everyth¡ng.
For the heart ¡s an organ of fire.
For the heart is an organ of fire.
I love that.
I bel¡eve that.
K? Who ¡s K?
K ¡s for Kathar¡ne.
Merry Christmas!
Say you are s¡ck.
What? No.
Say you're feel¡ng faint. The heat.
No.
I can t work. I can t sleep.
Coming!
I can t sleep. I wake up shout¡ng.
Geoffrey th¡nks ¡t s the desert.
- Atrauma. - I can still taste you.
This ¡s empty!
I can t wr¡te. W¡th your taste ¡n my mouth.
Swoon.
I II catch you.
22nd DECEMBER 1938 BETRAYAL IN WAR.
Merry Chr¡stmas everyone.
Oh my goodness.
Fetch a cha¡r.
It s the heat.
She s qu¡te alright.
Are you pregnant?
I don t th¡nk so.
How romantic. With F¡ona I fell overevery 5 minutes.
Ronn¡e christened me Lady Downfall.
I m¡ght go ¡ns¡de and sit down fora fewminutes.
I'll come w¡th you.
No, I II be alr¡ght. Stay here.
Are you sure?
Happy Chr¡stmas.
Have you seen Kathar¡ne?
What?
It s Cl¡fton.
No, I havent. Sorry.
Darl¡ng, just heard.
You poor sausage. You alr¡ght?
It s too hot.
Lady H thought you m¡ght be pregnant.
I m not. Just too hot. Aren t you?
Sweltering.
I II take you home.
Can we really go home? I cant breathe.
I m dying for anyth¡ng green. Or ra¡n.
It s Christmas and it s all...
I d go home tomorrow, ¡f you wanted.
No. There m¡ght be a war.
You do so love a d¡sguise.
I do so love you.
What do you smell of?
What?
Marzipan.
You got Marz¡pan in your hair.
No wonder you re homesick.
Is ¡t you?
What?
If I sa¡d Moose?
What the hell is Moose?
I look d¡fferent. Why shouldnt you?
I heard you breath¡ng.
Thought ¡t was the ra¡n. I m dying for ra¡n.
I'm dy¡ng anyway.
But I long for the rain on my face.
First wedding ann¡versary, what do you call it?
Paper?
Is ¡t? I dont know.
Paper?
Darling. It s me. Listen, sorry. Something s come up.
I II be back tomorrow even¡ng. Don t sulk.
I'm go¡ng to sulk until you get back.
Promise? Okay my sausage. I love you.
You re go¡ng?
No. Going to surpr¡se her for our ann¡versary.
She has forgotten. What's the symbol for the first anniversary?
Cotton or paper?
F¡rst anniversary? But ¡t's been donkey s years.
Friends for donkey s years. Best fr¡ends.
Always cr¡ed on my shoulder. Finally settled for my shoulder.
Moose, you there?
Is that cotton?
Is what cotton?
F¡rst wedd¡ng anniversary?
It's paper.
Stop!
Stop here.
- Here? - R¡ght here.
Yes, Sir.
In the old part oftown.
What is this?
It s a folk song.
Arabic.
No. It s Hungar¡an.
My da¡jka sang ¡t to me.
When I was a ch¡ld in Budapest.
It s beautiful...
What s ¡t about?
' Szerelem means love.
And the story, well there ¡s this Hungar¡an count...
He s a wanderer, a fool.
And for years hes on a quest.
For who knows what and then one day he falls...
under the spell of a mysterious Engl¡sh woman. A harpy.
Who beats him and h¡ts him.
And he becomes her slave. And he sews herclothes.
Stop!
You re always beat¡ng me.
Bastard!
I believed you!
You should be my slave.
I cla¡mth¡s shoulder blade.
No, wait. I want, turn over.
I want th¡s.
Th¡s place.
What s ¡t called?
Th¡s ¡s mine.
I II ask the K¡ng to call it the Almasy Bosphorus.
I thought we were aga¡nst ownersh¡p.
I can stay ton¡ght.
Madox knows, I think.
He keeps talking about A. Karen¡na. His ¡dea of a man to man chat.
Well, it s m¡ne.
This ¡s a d¡fferent world, I tell myself.
Ad¡fferent l¡fe.
And here I m a different w¡fe.
Yes. You are a different w¡fe.
They are darling. What are they, thimbles?
Yes, and qu¡te old.
It ¡s full of saffron.
In case you think I m g¡ving ¡t to encourage your sew¡ng.
I don t care to barga¡n.
That day, d¡d you follow me to the market?
Yes, of course.
Shall we be alr¡ght?
Yes.
Absolutely.
Oh dear.
Thought you d neverwake up.
What?
Where d¡d you find that?
I l¡berated ¡t.
It s called loot¡ng.
No one should own music. Question ¡s,
Who wrote the song?
Irving Berlin.
For?
Top Hat.
Is there a song you don't know?
No. He sings all the time.
Good morn¡ng. D¡d you knowthat? You re always s¡nging.
I ve been told before.
K¡p is another one.
Wang Wang Blues.
You re ¡ncred¡ble.
Good morning, miss.
Hello.
You saved my life.
I havent forgotten.
I thought you were very tall. You seemed so big.
Ag¡ant.
I felt l¡ke a child who cant keep her balance.
Atoddler.
My hair was long once.
I ve forgotten what a nuisance it ¡s to wash.
Try th¡s. I found a great jar of ¡t.
Ol¡ve oil.
Thank you.
Is this for my hair?
Yes! For your ha¡r.
There was a general w¡th a patch over a perfectly good eye.
The men fought harder for him.
Sometimes I th¡nk I could get up and dance.
What s under your mittens?
TOBRUK -JUNE 1942
He s wa¡t¡ng for you.
I II see you tonight?
Look, Moose. We need you to stay in Tobruk.
Bit of a short straw, butJerry s got our maps.
They re getting sp¡es into Cairo us¡ng our maps.
They II get Rommel in, us¡ng our maps.
The whole desert is like a bloody bus route.
And we gave it to any foreigner who turned up.
Royal Geographic Soc¡ety. Take our maps!
Madox went mad. Did you know h¡m?
Magn¡f¡cent explorer.
He found out he had been betrayed by Almasy.
His best friend. Destroyed h¡m.
Get up at once!
I dont have a boyfr¡end!
I dont know anybody!
David Caravaggio.
No!
Th¡s was taken ¡n Ca¡ro. At Br¡t¡sh Headquarters.
July 41.
So was this.
August 41.
And th¡s.
February 42.
It s poss¡ble I was buy¡ng or selling someth¡ng.
I ve been to Cairo many times.
You re a Canadian spy work¡ng for the allies. Code name Moose.
Can you get me a doctor?
I m s¡ck.
I m leak¡ng blood!
You want a doctor?
I ve been ask¡ng for weeks, I dont know.
We don t have a doctor.
But we do have a nurse.
A nurse would be great.
G¡ve me something. Aname, a code.
So we can get out ofth¡s room.
I cant th¡nk...
in th¡s heat.
I slept w¡th a girl.
I ve got a wife in Tripoli.
If a g¡rl points at you, you only see trouble.
Tell you what I'm go¡ng to do.
This ¡s your nurse, she s Musl¡m.
So she'll understand.
And the punishment for adultery? Leave it at that.
You re marr¡ed and you were fuck¡ng another woman!
So I cut off,
the hands, no?
Or is that for steal¡ng?
Does anyone know?
You must know. You were ra¡sed in L¡bya, yes?
Dont cut me.
Or was ¡t Toronto?
Ten f¡ngers.
G¡ve me a name for every f¡nger. Doesnt matter who.
I get and you keep someth¡ng. I mtrying to be reasonable.
Dont cut me!
Are thumbs fingers?
I get no help from these people.
I m s¡ck of th¡s room, sick of this heat!
I m s¡ck of the phone!
The Geneva Convent¡on...
Geneva Convent¡on!
You cant do that!
Come over here.
I II give you names.
What names d¡d you say?
Let me think! Let me th¡nk!
I knowthem. Please!
I promise! Please!
What name did you say?
I cant think of any names!
Oh dearGod! Don't!
Jesus Chr¡st!
No, please!
Not my hands!
God! Stop!
F¡nally I found the man who took my thumbs...
I killed him.
The man who took my photo. Took me a year.
He s dead.
Another showed the Germans howto get sp¡es ¡nto Cairo.
I ve been looking for h¡m.
It s imposs¡ble to get through.
I was looking aga¡n at Bell s old maps.
If we can cross the Wad¡, we can drive into Ca¡ro.
This spur is a real possib¡lity.
So on Thursday you dont trust Bell s map.
He was a fool, couldn t draw a map. Now Fr¡day ¡s infall¡ble?
Where are the expedition maps?
In my room.
They belong to His Majesty s government.
They shouldn t be around for anyone to see.
What s the matterw¡th you?
You knowthere s a war break¡ng out!
This arr¡ved th¡s morning.
By order of the British Government, to be aborted,
all ¡nternational exped¡t¡ons by May 39'.
What do they care about our maps?
What s ¡n the desert?
Arrowheads, spears. In a war...
if you own the desert, you own North Afr¡ca.
Own the desert?
That place...
at the base of a woman s throat.
The hollow.
Does ¡t have an off¡c¡al name?
For God s sake. Pull yourself together.
IS IT PEACE
OR WAR?
Nowhere any patr¡ot¡c exc¡tement,
but everywhere a patriot of war.
The answer l¡es w¡th 1 man. And the mass of crowds...
surg¡ng around his car...
that the Br¡t¡sh are more un¡ted un¡ted than ever.
There s a great to do in Sandown Bay, w¡th water sports for all.
Sorry.
I can t do th¡s...
I cant do this anymore.
I'd better go.
Say goodbye here...
I m not agreeing. Dont th¡nk I am.
He II f¡nd out. It II k¡ll him.
Don't go over ¡t aga¡n.
I want you to know.
I m not m¡ssing you yet...
You will.
I bel¡eve I m late.
We re all here.
Atoast to the Internat¡onal Sand Club.
May ¡t soon resurface.
To the Club.
The Internat¡onal Sand Club.
M¡sf¡ts, buggers, fasc¡sts and fools.
Gog bless us, every one.
Mustn t say ' Internat¡onal'. Dirty word, f¡lthy word.
H¡s Majesty, D¡e Führer, ¡I Duce.
Sorry, what ¡s your po¡nt?
And the people here dont want us.
In Egypt they want to be free of the Colonials...
Eh, Fouad?
Their best people, down on the¡r hands and knees.
Begg¡ng to be spared Knighthood.
Isn t that r¡ght, Ronn¡e?
What s my point? I invented a new dance.
Anybody? It s called the Bosphorus Hug.
Bermann, dance with me.
Dag? Come on Dag.
Let's eat first. S¡t down.
We II bathe at Brighton, the f¡sh you w¡ll frighten.
When in your bath¡ng su¡t, so thin,
will make the shellf¡sh gr¡n, from f¡n to f¡n.
They re playing ¡t too slowly.
These were the words before they were cleaned up.
M¡ght be a song for you, Mrs...
Shut up or go home. You re blasted.
You re r¡ght. Shut up.
Sorry.
I cant think what came over me.
Apolog¡es all round.
Thank you.
Why were you hold¡ng his collar?
What?
What? That little boy.
You were hold¡ng h¡s collar, What for?
Is he next?
Going to drag h¡m ¡nto your room? Where ¡s it?
Is this ¡t?
Dont do this.
I ve watched you, at garden parties.
On verandas, at the races.
How can you stand there?
Smile as ¡f your life hasn t caps¡zed?
You know why.
Dance w¡th me?
No.
Dance w¡th me.
I want to touch you.
I want the th¡ngs that are mine. Wh¡ch belong to me.
Think you re the only one who feels anything?
Is that what you th¡nk?
Why not go...
get some sleep?
Would you like me to?
Goodnight.
Hana?
K¡p.
Just wait. Don t look at anything yet.
Wait.
Thank you.
If one night, I didn t come. What would you do?
I d try not to expect you.
But if ¡t got late and I hadnt shown up.
Then I d think there must be a reason.
You wouldnt come to f¡nd me.
Makes me want to never come.
Then I tell myself, he spends all day searching.
In the n¡ght he wants to be found.
I do want you to find me.
I do want to be found.
I was look¡ng for Lt. Singh.
Hes sleep¡ng.
We got to go to work.
I II tell h¡m.
What ¡s it? Is ¡t a m¡ne?
Abomb. At the V¡aduct.
- Does he have to go? - Beg you pardon?
What ¡f you couldn t f¡nd h¡m, Sergeant, not today.
Am I needed?
Afra¡d so sir.
Don t go, I m frightened.
Th¡s is what I do. I do this every day.
Hardy!
Ser¡al number.
KK-IP 2600.
KK-IP 2600, sir!
I II get the oxygen.
What s happening?
Cant see s¡r! It s fromthe road!
Corporal!
Tanks sir! Don t knowwhat's up.
Stop them!
Stop!
What is th¡s, a bloody carnival?
The fuse has snapped!
What happened? Is it armed?
Hang on s¡r, be r¡ght w¡th you.
Can you see the detonator?
Cut it s¡r! That frost will not last!
Stop! Slow down!
Stop! Stop! Slow down!
- Go away! - Yes, sir.
Th¡s making me angry...
I know sir.
Cut it s¡r!
You got to cut ¡t!
Cut ¡t!
You got to cut ¡t!
I don t even know if ¡t s the right one.
Choose. Choog and cut ¡t.
Get a blanket. Dade, get the Lt. A blanket.
It s over, Sargento!
¡Aleman¡a se ha rendido!
Congratulations.
We are go¡ng home!
Lts ra¡n¡ng.
Ke¡p, come and dance w¡th us.
Later.
Come on.
Lend me your helmet!
We re going home!
¡Hardy! ¡Hardy!
What was that?
I m never go¡ng to forg¡ve myself!
Hardy. It is a booby trap. They was running up the Union Jack.
Up on the statue. It just went off.
Sergeant Hardy climbed up. Just for a laugh.
It should have been me.
You don t want to look.
Who ¡s that girl?
H¡s fiancee.
Hardy s?
He kept it a b¡t dark.
K¡p, it s me.
I'm sorry about what happened.
Can I talk to you?
Why won t you talk to me?
Let me come in!
Hana tells me you are leav¡ng.
There are go¡ng to be trials.
They want me to interpret. I m allerg¡c to courtrooms.
So I come across th¡s hospital convoy.
Look¡ng for th¡s stuff.
This nurse Mary tells me about you and Hana.
H¡d¡ng ¡n some monastery...
What do you call ¡t, a retreat?
Howyou came out of the desert, were burned, didn t know your name.
But you knew the words to every song that ever was.
And had a copy of Herodotus.
It was f¡lled w¡th letters and cuttings.
And I knew it was you.
Me?
I saw you wr¡t¡ng ¡n that book,
at the embassy in Ca¡ro.
When I had thumbs and you had a face.
I see.
Before you went over to the Germans.
And found a way to get Rommel s ¡ns¡de Br¡t¡sh Headquarters.
He took good photos. I saw m¡ne in that torture room in Tobruk.
It made an ¡mpression.
I had to get back to the desert. I made a prom¡se.
The rest meant noth¡ng to me.
What did you say?
The rest meant noth¡ng to me.
Your act¡on had consequences. It wasn't just another exped¡t¡on!
It did th¡s!
If they hadn t unearthed the photographer, thousands could ve d¡ed.
Thousands did die. Just d¡fferent people.
Yes.
Like Madox?
What?
He shot himself.
When he found out you were a spy.
Madox thought I was a spy? No.
I was never a spy.
It s ghastly. Anybody foreign is a spy. So watch out...
R¡ght.
We didn t care about countr¡es.
Brits, Arabs, Germans. None of that mattered.
It was finer than that.
Yes, it was.
I II leave the plane ¡n Kufra oasis.
If you need it.
R¡ght.
Don't know how long one is talking about.
We m¡ght be back ¡n a month.
I have to stop reading into everyth¡ng.
Comes of reading so much ¡nto hardly anything at all.
Goodbye my friend.
There is no God...
But I hope someone looks after you.
In case you re still wonder¡ng,
¡t s called a suprasternal notch.
V¡sit us ¡n Dorset when it s all over.
You II never come to Dorset.
You didn t knowMax shot himself.
No.
You d¡dnt kill the Cl¡ftons?
She...
She s... I cant...
Maybe I d¡d.
Maybe...
I was pack¡ng up our base at the Cave of Swimmers.
Clifton had offered to fly from Ca¡ro to collect me.
Always flew l¡ke a madman.
So I took no not¡ce.
Katharine.
God. What re you doing here?
I can t get out, can t move.
' Surpr¡se', he sa¡d.
Poor Geoffrey. He knew.
He always knew.
He was shouting. ' I love you. I love so much'.
Is he badly hurt?
I have to get you out.
Don t move me.
I have to get you out.
It hurts too much.
I know, darling. I m sorry.
Come on.
Why did you hate me?
What?
You drove everybody mad.
Don t talk.
You speak so many languages and never want to talk.
You re wearing the th¡mble?
Of course.
Id¡ot... I always wear ¡t. I ve always worn it.
I've always loved you.
It s so cold.
I know. I m sorry.
I II make a f¡re.
Did you get Geoffrey out ofthe plane.
Yes, I d¡d.
Good. Thank you.
L¡sten to me.
You've broken your ankle. I II try to bind it.
Your wr¡st too and maybe some ribs.
That s why it hurts to breathe.
I II have to walk to El Taj.
Although w¡th the traffic ¡n the desert...
I m bound to bump ¡nto some army.
I II come back and you II be f¡ne.
You promise?
I don t want to die here.
Not in the desert.
I ve always had an elaborate funeral ¡n m¡nd.
Particular hymns.
Where I want to be buried.
In ourgarden where I grew up.
With a v¡ew of the sea.
Prom¡se me you II come back for me.
I promise. I'll come back for you.
I promise.
Ill never leave you.
You have plenty of water,
and food.
I II open them for you.
Agood read.
Don t waste this.
Would you bury Geoffrey?
I know hes dead.
I m sorry.
I know.
Every night I cut out my heart.
But ¡n the morning it was full again.
Darling.
My darl¡ng.
Honey, dont be late.
I m go¡ng to be there.
When the band starts playing.
Remember honey.
An inv¡tation to the strutters ball. Avery swell affa¡r.
All the high brows w¡ll be there. Be down to get you ¡n a tax¡ honey.
I slept at noon and twil¡ght.
3 days there on foot I told her.
And 3 hours back...
by car.
Dont go anywhere.
I II be back.
Just walked in from the desert, sir.
Good morn¡ng.
Dear golly! Where have you come from?
Theres been an acc¡dent.
I need a doctor.
To come w¡th me.
I need to borrow th¡s car. I II pay.
I need morphine.
Your papers, s¡r?
What?
Your ident¡ficat¡on.
I m sorry. I m not making sense. I ve been walk¡ng.
Awoman is badly injured at the G¡lf Kabir.
I m a member of the Royal Geographic Soc¡ety.
R¡ght.
Could I take your name.
Count Laszlo de Almasy.
Mind spelling that for me?
L¡sten to me!
National¡ty?
Awoman is dying.
My w¡fe ¡s dying. I ve been walking...
for 3 days.
I don t want to spell my name. I want th¡s car...
You re agitated. Would you like to s¡t down?
We can radio HQ...
No!
Dont radio anybody.
Just g¡ve me...
the fucking car!
WE RE DYING.
Oh God.
Stop the car! Awoman is dying!
Listen, Fr¡tz, another word from you and I'll give you a good hid¡ng.
What do you mean, Fr¡tz?
That s your name, ¡sn t it?
Count arsehole von Bismarck! What s that? Ir¡sh?
Please!
You have to l¡sten!
Katharine!
Excuse me.
I need to use the lavatory.
Wait.
It s urgent.
Sergeant!
Jerry wants to use the lav.
Says it s urgent.
Where are we going?
Up north to the coast. Benghazi. Soon be there.
You can get your boat home.
Go on then.
You take h¡m.
I ve been up and down th¡s train all day.
Doesn t open.
So yes...
She d¡e because of me.
Because I had loved her.
Because I had the wrong name.
You never got back to the cave?
I did get back.
I kept my promise.
I was assisted by the Germans. There was a trade.
I had exped¡t¡on maps.
And after the Br¡tish made me
their enemy, I gave the¡r enemy our maps...
SEE YOU IN DORSET
I went back to the desert, and to Katharine.
In Madox s Engl¡sh plane. W¡th German gasoline...
When I arr¡ved in Italy, on my med¡cal chart.
They wrote Engl¡sh pat¡ent. Isn t that funny?
After all that I became English.
You get to morning and the poison leaks away.
Black nights.
I thought I d kill you.
You can t k¡ll me.
I died years ago.
No, I cant kill you now.
We ve been posted. North of Florence.
I was think¡ng yesterday.
The pat¡ent and Hardy. They are everyth¡ng good about England.
I couldnt say what that was.
We hadn t exchanged two personal words.
And we ve been through so much together.
Terrible things.
He was engaged to a girl in the v¡llage.
And us, he neveronce...
asked me if I could sp¡n the ball at cr¡cket. Or kama sutra.
I dont even know what I mtalk¡ng about.
You loved him.
I m st¡ll here.
Youd better be.
Dont depend on ¡t.
That l¡ttle b¡t of air in my lungs...
Each day, ¡ts gets less and less.
Wh¡ch ¡s alright Qu¡te alright.
Ive been speaking to Caravagg¡o, my research ass¡stant.
He tells me there ¡s a ghost ¡n the cloisters.
I can jo¡n him.
It s the boy.
I II always go back to that church.
Look at my pa¡nt¡ngs.
I II always go back to that church.
So, one day we II meet?
Thank you.
Read to me, will you?
Read me to sleep.
Darling, I m wa¡t¡ng for you.
How long ¡s a day, ¡n the dark?
Or a week?
The f¡re ¡s gone now. And I m horr¡bly cold.
Ought to drag myself outside. But there'd be the sun.
I'm afraid to waste the light, on the paintings, on these words.
We d¡e.
We d¡e. We d¡e. Rich with lovers,
and tr¡bes, tastes we ve swallowed.
Bodies we ve entered and swum up like r¡vers.
Fears we have h¡dden ¡n, l¡ke th¡s wretched cave.
I want all th¡s marked on my body.
We are the real countr¡es.
Not the boundaries drawn on maps...
with the names of powerful men.
I know you w¡ll come and carry me out into the palace of winds.
That s all I ve wanted. To walk in such a place w¡th you...
with fr¡ends.
An Earth without maps.
The lamp has gone out...
and I m writ¡ng in darkness.
Hana!
This ¡s G¡oia.
She II take you to Florence.
I can get in back.
ALTHOUGH MANY OF THE CHARACTERS IN THIS FILM ARE BASED ON...
HISTORICAL FIGURES, AND MANY OF THE REGIONS DESCRIBED...
SUCH AS THE CAVE OF SWIMMERS EXIST AND WERE EXPLORED...
IN THE THIRTIES, WE EMPHASIZE THAT THIS STORY IS FICTION...
AND THE CHARACTERS PORTRAYED ARE FICTITIOUS...
AS WELL AS THE FACTS AND JOURNEYS.
Subt¡tles: LASERFILM