Original subtitles

Love is like a butterfly, soft and gentle as the sky. The

multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings.

Love makes your heart seem strange inside. It flutters like wings in

Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing.

any question you may have. So let's go first to Mrs. Jepson from Cheltenham.

you there, Mrs. Jepson?

Well, last year I sent away to Holland for some daffodil bulbs, you see. And

when they arrived, they were all dried up and cracked.

I did plant them, however, and nothing happened. Nothing.

Absolutely nothing happened.

I even put special fertilizer in the soil, but nothing happened.

Nothing.

the gentleman. So what exactly is your question?

Well, my question is, supposing I send away to Holland again and the bulbs are

all dried up and cracked, I mean, what will happen?

The same thing will happen, you silly cow!

Nothing!

I mean, if the bulbs are all dry and cracked, they're dead, aren't they? Even

know that and I can't put my own curtains up!

curtain. Okay, fine.

Oh, it's ridiculous.

It says on the box, the wire with a big easy stretch.

They don't mention you have to go on a course of steroids first.

Okay.

Thank you.

You owe it to me, you know.

Sorry. Your strength, your stamina.

She doesn't cut that enormous bump around as if it's something she's just

Oh, she plans for it. She cares for it. She eats special things to make his

muscles and his bones, and she does the groundwork so that... He'll

be strong and healthy.

With bright eyes and pure skin. Adam, can't you stand up straight?

I guess I was born this way.

Don't be mean.

When I produced him, he was... Perfectly straight. He's just having a bad time

at the moment.

Why? Why is he having a bad time?

Oh, it's Annie, is it? Right.

Yes, well, you boys do ask for it, you know.

You snare all these girls, and then you just maven with whatever it is you've

got.

And then when they start believing in what you've said, you run a mile.

I mean, you can't just toss a woman aside.

Suple.

Catch it with a spoon and the whole lot caved in.

Oh, yeah.

Except this time it's Adam who's the suple.

She's left him.

Oh, why?

She, um, she said he was boring.

She, she actually said that word, boring, to Adam. That actual word,

yeah, she came right out with it.

Oh, she's not very sensitive, is she?

Definitely not right for Adam.

Anyway, they look pretty together.

She's much too aggressive for Adam. She juts out much further than Adam. You

don't really hang up on her, Mum.

I'll go and talk to him.

Hello.

Did you catch any butterflies?

No. Oh, good.

I used to believe that whatever new catastrophe progress foisted upon the

butterflies would always be butterflies.

I was wrong.

They become large, boisterous and cunning.

Well, I'm just on my way up to talk to Adam.

They don't flutter out of the grass like drifting petals anymore.

Oh, no.

They come out like Concord and head straight for your throat.

I've got some sort of pie in the oven. It won't be long.

Some sort of pie. Oh, my God.

Oh, good.

I thought I'd come and have a little chat with you.

I do know about your problem, Adam.

I know exactly why you're lying there in your little bed, fretting and looking

like... looking like someone dead.

that just how you feel too we all have to die several times before we

do it properly annie

she's a nice girl

she made you happy and she made you sing oh lovely hearing you all

around the house singing

But, Adam, there will be another time.

Another person. There's always someone else.

You'll see.

You turn a corner and there she'll be.

And you'll forget all about Annie.

And you'll have all those lovely symptoms of being in love again.

Anyway, I'm glad you confided in me.

I'll go and finish the lunch.

Look at those.

Aren't they perfect?

When this woman came to me, her mouth looked like an old graveyard.

Adam is making me anxious.

Stop his pocket money immediately.

Listen, if you don't listen to me, I'll go into that kitchen and I'll get that

some sort of pie and I'll run amok with it in and around this house.

I'm listening.

You know, Adam has been deeply involved with that girl, Annie.

I was aware that we were all being suffocated by my aftershave, yes.

Well, he's left him.

So?

So now he's in bed, beneath the covers, motionless.

Ah.

That's a reasonable reaction for him.

I mean, he never did move about with that sense of urgency one associates

being well -fed.

He looked so thin, so vulnerable lying there.

And I know what he's thinking.

His thinking is undesirable.

Oh, Ben, you must know what that's like.

Ben, you've been a boy. You must remember the awkwardness of it.

When I was a boy, there was no time to wallow in one's awkwardness.

You had to assess yourself, find out what you were best at and thrust it at

world.

The young today haven't got that kind of energy.

He can't take the top off his boiled egg without going back to bed to

recuperate.

How can he possibly be in love? He's only known her a week.

Well, I knew perfectly well how I felt about you within the hour.

You smiled.

And everything on your face thought it moved over to make room for me.

If you'd have left me after that, I'd have felt just the same as Adam.

Yeah.

It's not like that today, is it?

It's not the smiles, the gestures, the little endearments.

It's a quick shake of the hand and straight to a double nelson.

That's all you're going to say? You're just going to sit there worrying about

other people's teeth while your own son fades away?

He won't fade away.

In a few days' time, some other voracious female will slither up those

and that room of his will hold another dark and dreadful secret.

Adam is going through a difficult stage in his life. We're all going through a

difficult stage in his life.

His body is neither one thing nor another.

His face hasn't come to any definite decision yet.

His chest has only managed to produce two hairs.

Two?

Yeah,

it's not a lot.

Now he's been told by Annie that he's... boring.

He's upstairs, you say?

Yes. I've got a mound under the bedclothes.

The

cat's

been on the landing again.

But the fact is that the word father and friend are often separated.

So I'll begin by saying that I am also your friend.

I suppose when you look at me, you think to yourself, poor old sod, what does he

know about innovation?

And in love.

And diverted.

Oh, yes.

Diverted.

Peggy Cartwright.

Betty Hanson.

Several Susans. Two Carols.

And an older woman who showed me how to climb the forbidden wall.

And then took the ladder away.

So I was stranded, Adam, with a broken voice and acne.

But your survival depends upon your ability to maintain some confidence in

yourself.

I am not totally rejected, you must say.

I am not boring, you must say.

I am still desirable.

You must say.

That is definitely what one must say.

Tis rear, isn't it?

Parkinson?

Misses?

Don't you ever do any work?

I started at seven this morning, no lunch.

It's three now.

That's eight hours and I haven't finished yet.

You always seem to be either running, eating or prowling.

I never prowl.

I am precise.

I know all the places you go.

And should you like today, change your pattern.

I have a mental list of all the colours you wear.

I can pick you out like the owl picks out the field mouse.

I don't know why you bother.

Even an owl has to live.

How are you?

When I'm lying down, I'm fine.

But since much of my life seems to consist of standing up, I am, for the

part, knackered.

The usual little worries, that's all.

Such as?

Well, Adam, my youngest, has fallen in love for the first time and she's left

him.

He's just lying around the house, not eating, not sleeping.

The whole house is heavy with his problems.

It's a curious thing, being a mother at a time like this.

You find yourself spending your own invaluable hours...

Loving someone who's getting ready to leave.

Well, that's untrodden ground for me.

Still, you have a husband who... Yes, Ben makes everything very bearable.

Do you ever confide in trees?

No.

The birch is very good.

Sensitive tree gives sound advice.

And the oak, silent, analytical, keeps your secret.

And this chap here, the beech tree.

You can really yell at the beech.

I've bullied a few of these, but I can tell you.

Hey, you.

What the hell's happening to my life?

Where's everybody gone?

I had something to work for once.

And don't give me all that garbage about being at my peak.

When you're at the peak, there's only one way to go, isn't there?

Down.

Love?

Don't talk to me about love, my friend. I didn't devise it.

I simply obey the rules.

The glance, the pause, the bed.

Oh, yes, the bed.

That place where man and woman promise each other eternal confusion.

But we all go there, don't we?

Willingly, like salmon to the spawning ground.

A stupid bloody idea, that, wasn't it?

Very understanding, the beach.

Is Adam getting up this morning?

No. Have you spoken to him?

Yeah.

What did he say?

Nothing.

What did you say?

Not much.

You must be worn out.

I'm here now. Could you observe the no reading at the table rule, please?

What is this?

An egg.

I can recognise an egg, but what has it got on?

An egg cosy. Surely you've seen an egg cosy before?

They were a present. No, I haven't seen one before and I don't like it.

It's like a bobble cap.

People on bikes wear bobble caps.

And children.

Children going to school.

I could be eating someone's son or daughter.

What is this?

A shirt.

I do not like it. Men wear shirts and little boys going to school.

I could be spin -drying someone's father or son.

Oh, my God.

Well, go on, add a little acid remark that launched the day in our usual

humorous manner. Oh, there's nothing to say.

I liked both versions.

Good.

I feel you're wearing my bathrobe again.

I merely mentioned it. There's no need to disrobe. We are all aware of the

miracle of your body.

Thanks, Mum.

See you, Dad.

It's like sharing a house with something from the ape world.

Don't you think we ought to be considering what's happening upstairs?

Adam is still up there, wrestling with his own private little tragedy.

We are all wrestlers, and I have hit the canvas more than most. It made me the

man I am.

Yes, but you are eating and sleeping and moving about, and I haven't left you.

Left me?

What a terrifying thought.

Excuse me.

I've just been up to see Adam.

He's not in his room or anywhere noticeable.

Where can he be?

He's taken your car, Dad.

My car? And he left this on it then.

To whom it may concern, I've gone.

Not exactly loaded with information, is it?

What's he mean, gone?

Gone for a walk?

Gone for a think? Gone to kill himself?

Is it a temporary gone?

or a permanent gone. Will somebody please explain what gone means?

Gone means he is not here.

Not not here on this earth, but not here in this house.

Yes, I'm sorry.

Now I will get on with my day, as if nothing had happened, because I have

that the toings and froings of my son are like a Christmas cracker, noisy but

uneventful.

Mrs. Parkinson.

Oh, hello, Annie.

Sorry to be so early. I'm on my way to work.

I've come for my earrings. I left them in Adam's room.

They're my dangly ones.

I always took them off when we were... when we were in that room. They get

caught in things.

I found them.

Right, Adam.

You know...

You know, he's never had a boring moment.

Who's next on your list, I wonder? Your lanky cow?

I feel stupid in this car.

No wonder no -one would buy it.

Damn cheap taking my car.

On my day, if you wanted to leave home, you walked.

I'll phone you if Russell or I find out where he is.

Remember when he was 12, I made him have his haircut and he packed a little bag

and moved into the greenhouse?

Well, he came back as soon as he'd run out of tomatoes.

But have you tried all his friends, Russell?

I just spoke to Guy. He's not there.

What about the others? Have you spoken to them?

No. They've all left home too.

Look, Mum, I'll shoot round some places, OK?

Yes.

Yes, all right.

No, I've covered the whole area.

Oh, Russell's been phoned everywhere.

This is the second day now. I can't think. I'm tired and hungry.

Oh.

Well, aren't you seeing what I was doing in the surgery this morning?

God knows what sort of mess I've made of my patients.

They're probably all left wearing one another's tooth.

my cooking is usually bad.

Well,

today it's revolting.

Is there anything special? I mean, has it got a title?

Well, it started as a cauliflower and I forget what happened after that.

wandering out of the house like that, leaving his room in a state of

It's like the Marie Celeste up there.

You bring them up, you pamper them, you psychoanalyse them, you bully yourself

into understanding them and... I went up to that room the other day and did a

miniature Hamlet.

Respect to him from the soul.

Tried to put back his escaped ego.

Have confidence, I said.

You are still desirable, I said.

And he peered at me.

Looking about as desirable as a butcher's pencil.

Thanks, Dad, he said, and went back beneath the cupboard.

I felt dismissed.

We are all dismissed eventually by our children.

It's funny how little we know about them.

When I spoke to him, I discovered for the first time that he had very

feet.

That can't be right, Paul. He's in the bar.

Adam was in bed. It didn't stop him.

You know that note?

The one that said, I've gone?

Yes.

Well, I'm back.

Fine. Good.

Sit down.

It was just a temporary gone.

I imagine you're very hungry.

You're home.

You've touched the hostile world outside and it doesn't feel good, does it?

Rather like graping about in the dark and coming across a barbed wire fence.

Adam, would you like to talk about anything?

Annie?

Right.

Then we shall forget all about it.

I quite missed you about the place.

It's a shame how communications break down between father and son.

When you were small and went missing, you used to run to me, arms out, all

and I would... Yes.

I'll see you tonight, then. See you tonight.

It never changes, does it, Holmes?

No, Adam, it doesn't.

Reliable. Everywhere neat and tidy.

She is not reliable.

You with your funny yellow hair and your terrible cooking.

I saw her yesterday.

I know what she's like.

Well, she's young. She likes a good time.

Right.

Well, just so long as you do know.

She's already got some other guy.

Flatty car, chauffeur driven.

He's got to be 40.

Didn't take her long, did it?

It's done in a moment.

It's nice to be back, even though Daddy's going to rush in any moment and

where his car is.

Where is it?

I crashed it.

My car? Where the hell is my car? Ben!

It's only a car, so you've lost a car and gained a son. How bad is it? How

It was a gentle crash.

Gentle? How can you have a gentle crash? It's like saying it was a violent

caress. Ben!

Ben, before you explode your arteries and our son does a U -turn...

I would like to make an announcement.

I have suddenly arrived at a peak experience in my life.

I feel no panic, no neurosis, no pain.

After all these years of all those things, all I have left is tranquility.

So will you both leave a suitable pause, please, long enough for me to leave

this house as I...

and tranquility are going for a walk.

Right, where is it? Okay, okay, don't hassle me.

What would you do if I crashed your car?

I hate it here. I just hate it at home, okay?

Where are you going?

Write another note.

word with you.

What the hell is happening to my life?

Will I ever have one day, just one day, that I can call mine?

Will I ever get what I want?

Will I ever know what I want?

Well, don't just stand there. Say something, you stupid bloody tree.

I don't know.