Original subtitles

You're not so close to heaven now.

Why would you want to go there when it's right here on Earth?

Where is where?

Paris, France.

London, England.

Rome, Italy.

Lisbon, Portugal.

Madrid.

Marrakesh. There's only one problem with your paradise, Harry.

There's a war going on.

Paul? Ma 'am?

Are you okay?

Paul.

You're not Paul.

Nana?

Nana, come quick.

There's an old lady out here and she's sick.

Not yet.

You're not speaking to me yet.

I can't see you. I can feel you.

Can you hear me?

Like a whisper on the wind.

Like a sound of water on the rocks.

Like a sound in between creaking branches.

The non -noise that is you.

You have quite a way with words.

I should.

I'm the world's best unknown writer.

Really?

Here, ma 'am, here, take this water. Here, drink. My grandmother's calling

doctor.

What are you doing, ma 'am?

What do you think I'm doing, digging my grave?

Come on, help me.

My grandson says you're not feeling very well.

It's Thanksgiving and we're pretty scattered. My husband should be home,

got called away. I paged him.

Oh, listen to me. I'm Marley.

Marley Harper Wheeler.

Are you from around here?

Marley.

Don't you recognize your own sister?

Paul buried him Where is he?

Is it far?

He died the day after I left.

I traveled the world thinking I could forget.

All the time he was here, waiting for me.

I remember.

I remember.

Paul.

I want you to forgive me for not taking you with me.

Oh, dear.

I'll be yours in the twilight when the mist

appears.

Yours as the morning sun lifts away.

You're here.

Yours in the winter.

I bet you're too old to swing anymore, Molly.

Ha!

Ha ha ha ha ha!

Come on, Paul.

Let's show her.

trip I probably won't ever make.

Why, Ruth?

I have too much behind to be of much use.

What did you leave behind, Miss Ruth?

My heart.

You could change the world.

Change.

Rearrange your world.

Change.

Take one divide back to two. Change.

If it was only up to you to change.

To a world of wonder from a world of pain.

I will listen for you no matter as they call it out again.

Change.

Wake up, Ruth.

You'll be here soon.

Oh, I can see you clearly now.

You're glorious.

Tell my boss that.

I will.

Oh, dear.

Please tell me you're not God.

No, madam, but I do represent him. He's the Honorable Judge Othniel from

the Old Testament Book of Judges.

What happened to you?

What do you mean? You were a warrior.

What's all this frippery?

Well, madam, one does have to keep up with the times.

Oh, I agree, but...

You only made it up to the 17th, 18th century.

Ruth Harper, you have always judged others and found them wanting.

Been your undoing. Sorry, I was never good with authority figures.

What were you good at?

I want to say I was a good writer.

But... I never made a name for myself the way I planned.

I admit, my life has been pretty much wasted.

Because you weren't rich and famous?

Because I died alone.

You haven't seen your sister in over 50 years.

Do you regret that you left your family all those years ago?

What possible difference could that make now?

Where you spend eternity.

I don't understand.

Look, Miss Ruth.

See, the way this works is... You see the error you waste.

Figure out your worst regret.

Othniel sees you mean it. And gives you a second chance to right the wrongs

you've committed.

To live again.

You can do that?

I can.

If you can.

You don't scare me. I'm not trying to scare you, Ruth.

I am showing you your past.

The past that you have run so hard from.

Uh -oh.

Oh, Bob, is he back? But he knew better. He knew he had to wear shoes.

There weren't any.

Your family was too poor.

What shoes was he going to wear?

Grandma's shoes.

and grandma's shoes.

But you told him not to, didn't you?

You told Paul to bury those shoes as a symbol.

Yes, to show that he'd thrown off the yoke of poverty of our family, of our

pathetic life.

How can a boy, a teenage boy, be expected to wear his grandmother's

Why didn't he have his own shoes? Why?

Because my father was too busy saving the world to care for his own children.

I told my brother so, but he wouldn't have a word against our father.

And we fought.

And I left him to die alone in the fields that I was supposed to have.

To help him plant.

He's the one who died alone.

While I trained at Buffalo.

The one that died.

No.

You want to live.

You want to go back and save your brother. Yes, more than anything.

You will have three days.

And three days only.

You will go back and discover the true meaning of family.

Save the heart that you left behind.

No one will recognize you.

All your memories will be intact.

And you will be a free agent in the universe with the blessing of God

and his court.

Is it booked?

How much I've got eggs?

These eggs ain't yours, Lucy.

Speak proper English this season. Ow!

Mama, Mama!

This is it?

This is all you have?

Ruth Harper?

Hi, this is Miss Story.

I'm Mr. Smith.

You can call me Smith.

You're tired.

Come in the house.

Rest. Mama, what are we going to feed them? These are God's people.

Let's feed them.

Mama.

Who do they think we are?

Bible salesmen.

He doesn't make it easy, does he?

All I wanted was to go to Paris, smoke cigarettes, and save the world. Well,

you have the Holy Bible and three days to turn your life around.

I'll only need one. Tonight I leave.

This time I'll make sure Paul is with me. No, you can't do that.

Oh?

Why ever not?

Because you're supposed to rediscover the love of your family, find the heart

you left behind. That's Paul.

That's exactly what I intend to do, come hell or high water. Please don't say

that.

Where I come from, I'm just fighting words.

Mmm, something smells good.

I hope you like beans.

That's all there is.

It's the last of them right there simmering on the stove.

Mama.

Marking the day until Daddy comes home.

Where is he?

Oh, the Indians, Eskimos.

Daddy was a muscular Christian.

Missionary builds hospitals, houses, that sort of thing.

My son, Paul.

These are the folks I was telling you about, Paul.

I put your bag in the front room, ma 'am.

Oh, thank you.

Don't go.

I just thought I'd like to look around the old place.

Show me?

Well, I'd love to.

Oh.

Hey, Mr.

Man.

You married?

Marley Ann.

No, as a matter of fact, I'm not.

Can I help with anything?

Well, I could use some milk for the cornbread. No problem. Which way is the

store?

You scared?

No.

No, of course not.

Can you do it?

Of course.

If I had a few pointers.

The pointers are right there.

You grab ahold of two and yank.

That'll do it.

How am I going to marry you when you can't even milk a cow?

I haven't seen Queen Anne's

lace in years.

How did God think of a flower?

Couldn't have thought of that, I don't think.

About a million years.

About how long it took that flower to evolve.

Paris was quicker.

You sound like Ruthie.

Who's that?

Trouble.

You picked those for me?

They're the sweetest things I've ever seen.

Aren't these what grow on the side of the road?

Richard, stop.

You're in love with her.

No, that would be silly.

She was born to marry Richard Michelson.

What? Too young to drink?

Too smart.

Oh, good Lord, son.

What have you got on your feet?

They look like women's shoes.

What's it to you? Nothing.

Just strikes me.

Some men are off fighting wars, protecting their women.

While others stay at home and wear their shoes.

Well, that's one way to shut him up.

Farm work is hard.

I can

take the work, and I can take the hunger.

But I can't take what I saw in that girl's eyes today.

You are never going to have a chance with a girl like Patricia.

Not until you get out in this world and make something of yourself.

I am leaving.

Tonight.

Come with me.

Take these out and bury them under the biggest tree.

Promise me you will.

You must think I'm crazy.

I think you're lonely.

But who wouldn't be with your husband leaving you alone for so long?

My husband's an amazing man, Miss Story.

He's been called to use his gifts.

He can build anything.

So he...

Helps people who don't have homes to have them.

I admire him more than anyone I know.

Surely you resent being left here alone so long to fend for yourself and your

children. I'm never alone.

Besides, Luke and I have ways to be together even when we're apart.

I've been praying so hard since you came, praying him home.

I had no idea that such romance lived in these spare

four walls.

Forgive me, I'm a writer.

I speak my mind before I know what's going to come out.

You just like my Ruthie.

Never knew her at all.

You're still dying. Oh, no. I'm leaving tonight.

Paul's going with me.

See, we didn't fight this time. See?

Everything's different. Just by being here, everything's changed.

It's so simple. Something like picking a flower at the right moment.

You can change the world.

It's time.

We gotta hurry to catch the morning train.

Don't need it. Can't afford it. Can't afford not to have it.

Bless their journey, Mr. Smith.

I don't think they're going to make it very far.

What?

Who's coming?

Nobody's coming.

They're leaving.

That is home.

You caught him last night, but... Ruth's gonna leave, and the world's so big,

and... What if she doesn't find her way back?

Mama, how's she gonna get lost when she's got God and you to guide her home?

Hmm?

Hmm.

Is that all it takes, just a worn -out old pair of boots?

I don't want to go sneaking off like a thief in the night.

It doesn't feel right at all. You just want to go on being his slave until he

leaves again, and he will.

I want to go.

Just not the same place or the same way you do.

You're going to end up the same way he is.

Don't you know that?

Dirt poor, nothing to show for it.

Do you think that a girl like Patricia...

Is he ever going to look twice at a dirt farmer who can't even afford a pair of

shoes?

No.

But he'd rather be poor than mean -spirited.

I'm leaving.

And I'm not looking back.

I am never coming back. You hear me, Paul Harper?

Hey!

You trying to kill me?

I wasn't, but I might now.

Oh.

Daddy, look.

It has lines you can write on. That's how you can write your family tree.

the history of your family.

Imagine that.

Imagine?

How much?

Three dollars?

Normally.

Dollar ten.

If you throw in a fish supper and an overnight along with it.

You drive a hard bargain.

Look what I caught sweeping it off in the barn.

That'd be Thomas.

He helps me build houses on the reservation.

Another mouth to feed.

Well, actually, Thomas caught these very early this morning.

That's what he was sleeping off.

Well... Well, then you could tell a body...

She's

like you said.

Strong.

Daddy says you couldn't curl my hair if you used barn wood and barbed wire.

We'll manage.

You'll see.

Mama says you're a writer.

I want you to read my writing and tell me what you think.

She never lets no one look at them papers. Not that I'm knocking them right

the side of the head.

Tell the truth.

I will.

Could you... Could you do something with my hair, maybe?

Later on, after Marley.

Where's Paul?

I haven't seen him for hours.

And will wonders never cease.

Will you marry me?

I can't, Marley.

Mr. Smith?

I believe you just broke my daughter's heart.

I think you better go mend it.

Yes, sir.

Sit down, Ruth.

You're wearing a hole in the ground. What are you waiting on, girl?

Salvation.

A soldier's walking up to the house.

Who's come home that we know?

Daddy.

Daddy.

Who is that?

Oh, in the army.

No.

No, he can't.

Marley, answer me! Answer me, girl!

Mr. Smith, don't touch Doc Wheeler. Just ask anybody on the road. They'll know.

Marley! Marley, you've got to get us out of here!

I'll go 30 miles away. We've got no truck.

That's because we're poor!

Now your daughter's going to die!

Hush! Hush! What are you going to do, Thomas?

I'm going to cut her, get the poison out, and put this poultice on her. What

it? What is it? What difference does it make? She's going to die if we don't do

something. Trust me.

Did your people teach you this?

And bless your people.

Even the tree frogs are quiet.

Like they know one of their wild hearts is still.

for their own...

I

thought I was the wild heart.

It was always you, wasn't it, Martin?

My life for her.

It doesn't work that way, Ruth.

If it did, I'd do it.

What kind of angel are you?

I'm not an angel.

I'm just another lost soul looking for my way back home, just like you.

I found my way.

back home without a wife's death.

With the truth.

I

didn't

even put her birth date in here.

I won't put her death date.

I won't have my child's name written in this book No mother should ever have to

write that in the book

Hope you heard that.

So you joined up.

The war's almost over. You managed to make it through with body and soul

and now you join up.

Don't worry, Ruthie.

I'll come back, I promise.

And when I do, I'll know a trade.

I'll have money. I'll be able to help out around here.

You think I care what happens here? I don't.

I'm not going to be here when you get back.

Why do you have to be so fierce?

Why can't you be brave enough to say what you really feel?

It's funny.

A few hours ago, all I cared about was what you thought of my writing and what

time the next train was out of here.

And now... And now?

Now I don't really care.

Well, it's good.

Because the writing is not good.

Whoa.

Way to kick a dog when it's down.

I don't have a lot of time.

All I can give you is the truth.

But your writing is false.

It's a fantasy. It's about people you don't know.

in places you've never been. Well, that's why I want to get away from here,

get to the places I write about. To travel the world over.

Writing is about what you feel. It's not about what you see.

Look around you. You see poverty.

Yet there's a richness of spirit here that boggles my mind.

Everything you've ever loved is right here, and you're blind to it.

Until you open your heart, you'll carry that poverty of spirit everywhere you

go. You'll put it into everything you write.

That's because you created it.

You can't live a lie, girl, and expect to write the truth.

But all I know about is this farm and this family.

What do I write about?

Start with your name.

Harper

Longfeather.

What kind of name is that?

You back, Ruthie?

I am.

I am.

What about Marley?

Mama, will you get in here?

I've got a wild bunch of Indians wrecking the place.

Look at your family history. You've got it right in front of you.

I married... Thomas?

Yeah.

I married Thomas.

Will you stop... Talk unto yourself, Ruthie. We've got everybody in there

waiting to see Grace.

But what about Paul?

I want Paul to be included.

Paul?

Paul?

Not everybody wants to eat

Thanksgiving dinner in a graveyard, Ruthie. It's unique.

It's macabre.

Don't make me sorry Father saved you.

Everyone you love is right here.

They're all around you.

Well, Paul didn't come home from the war, but he helped free civilians from

prisoner of war camps.

And he did make it to Paris before you.

I still miss him.

You still have his letters.

You wrote about him in your second bestseller.

I have a bestseller?

More than one?

Huh? Are you losing it?

We've lost town, Ruth.

The first one was called Wild Indians Couldn't Drag Me Away.

Oh.

Oh.

I stayed on the farm.

I married... Thomas.

Oh!

I... I took care of my parents.

I raised our kids.

I've had a gorgeous life.

You still do.

Thanks to you.

I'll write my next book about you.

You can't.

You won't remember me.

Or the last three days.

But I will always remember you.

Goodbye, Miss Ruth Harper Longfeather.

Well,

I'm writing a new book. Really?

have as a title what is it and it better not be any more of that indian stuff

it's native american now you'll get in trouble it's not critically correct well

it's called i'm no angel what's it about i have no idea but the leading

man is glorious his name is smith can a body get a bite to eat around here

Grace.

If it was only up to you to change.