Original subtitles

The last I heard, Tessa was overjoyed not to be married.

Words spoken in anger, Max.

She didn't mean it.

No. This time it's all legal and proper.

Makes all the difference.

Yeah, well, I wouldn't book the Kate Resort of Flowers just yet if I were

Don't you need her birth certificate?

No. Two passports, hers and mine.

My decree absolute.

16 quid deposit.

Full marriage kit.

Except for a bride.

So what do you have in this donkey factory?

Donkeys. Of course you do.

You'd better write in.

Tessa, Marshall's asked me to... Mr. Litoff to see you.

Thank you.

was supposed to be announced.

What? Sandra liked to think of herself as one of those formidable secretaries

who have to be surmounted before the boss can be reached.

Oh.

I find it difficult to think of Sandra as, um, insurmountable.

You might not be the first.

Marshall's asked.

What? Oh, asked me to come along on this Bulgarian jaunt. Why?

Watching brief.

Which is?

What?

Exactly. What?

What is a watching brief?

Brief. Instruction.

Undertaking. Task in hand.

Watch to... Watch.

You're not going to be difficult about this, are you, Tessa? I haven't decided

yet. Why would your task in hand be to watch me?

Or Frank.

Or Frank.

There's nothing mysterious about it. The Foundation spends Corporation money.

And you're the Corporation presence.

You could always have someone from accounts.

I'll tell them you said that.

A business studies centre.

The first of several, we hope.

A radio station.

Dubious in my view, though Frank's keen on it.

I suspect Bulgaria's greatest hits are just arriving from the mid -60s. Frank's

hoping for a dusty Springfield revival.

Frank's a romantic.

I suppose he might be.

The site's here.

On the edge of Togavishti, that's there.

The idea is to get that going, then set up a second near Varna, on the Black Sea

coast. We haven't decided on a fight for the third.

Who's Dian Petrov?

Also local. He came for us with the idea.

Take a profit?

Oh, sure.

I met him in London last month. Nice guy.

Not the usual boring image of a businessman.

Really? What's that?

Well, you know, grey suit, waistcoat, tie with a tiny knot.

The Deacon, you're... Malcolm's coming to Bulgaria.

Yes, I know. Watching brief.

What's this for?

I'm a romantic.

Well, didn't you notice?

Thank you.

Russian asylums were not places you went to because you were mad.

They were places you went to so you could be made mad.

But I mean, he's okay now.

And what do you think about the deal?

We like the deal for the tour.

We'll talk more about the recording contract.

Let's see if the tour goes well.

It is Gullis' first time in the West.

Is that what we call it now?

Two gigs in Britain, including London. Three in France, including Paris. Two in

Italy, including Rome.

Amsterdam? Sure, Amsterdam.

Every poster, every program.

The Marshall Van Vliet Foundation presents Nikolai Hudson.

Don't worry, I understand.

There is a quid pro quo.

Hey, terrific stuff, kid.

How do you say you're a star?

Yes,

well, I've got Sainsbury's school running a funeral. You know how it is.

Actually, Marshall, don't worry.

I can find substitutes.

Well, except for the funeral, of course.

Oh, it's no hardship.

I'm one of Nikolai Hudson's greatest fans.

Hello? Tomorrow, Tessa's got an appointment with Victoria Petrov.

Hello? I'm at the radio station.

Would you mind if I came with you?

No, it's OK.

Ah.

Hello. Hello, then.

I have a reservation for a room for myself, Miss Piggott, and Mr Litoff,

and Mr Carver.

We'd like two rooms, hot water, en suite plumbing, and

light bulbs that work.

Just see what you can do for us, would you?

Oh, and a nice view.

Nice view, it's free.

Not bad, dear.

One or two of the places we stayed at recently wanted hoovering.

Well, now you come to mention it, Eastern Europe needs hoovering.

You know this is the honeymoon suite, don't you?

I'm a happily unmarried woman. Put in the distance.

No, Tom.

I happen to know that hotel room would make you feel sexy.

They've got a bed.

Clever piece of foresight, isn't it?

They've got a do not disturb sign as well.

Which we forgot to hang on the door.

It's open.

Come in.

I thought we might bring to a successful trip.

And work out a schedule for tomorrow.

Yes, fabulous.

Yes.

Well, Stoyan Petrov and an architect are collecting me at nine tomorrow.

He's showing me a potential site for the business center.

Any free time at all tomorrow?

Might have a bit.

That's good.

Why?

Frank and I are going to pay the radio station a visit.

Hoped you might come along.

About twelve?

Should be possible.

I mean, I don't really think the radio station's much of a goer, Malcolm.

I expect you're right.

I'd better take a look, though.

Watching brief, you know. Cheers.

Sure.

Okay, well, look, I'd better go.

I'm sure we've all got things to do.

I think we're embarrassing.

Why are we here?

Where have we come from? Where are we going? Many have wondered. Shut up,

We are here.

Unless I've got it completely arse about face to lay the cornerstone,

metaphorically speaking, of the Marshall -Barnblatt School for Business Studies.

Yeah, and to... Shut up, Frank. And to take a fleeting glance at the

advisability of lobbing a few quid towards a radio station.

Yeah, because communication... Shut up, Frank. Because communication is part of

our remit, it's worth a look. But from what I've heard, not much more.

So? And so, suddenly, Malcolm is giving the radio station a priority visit and

more or less instructing me to put in an appearance.

I suppose it's possible that he's president of the Frank Ifield fan club,

it's beginning to look even more sinister than that.

I haven't said a word to Malcolm.

And they don't play that kind of music.

How do you know?

I asked them to send me some tapes.

For research.

But it makes sense, okay?

Finish unpacking. That's as close as you're going to get to rumpled clothing.

Well,

there are two ways of doing it. Cheap, expensive.

That's honest indeed.

What's the difference in real terms?

In real terms, one falls down, the other not.

I've looked at your figures. They don't show any differential.

No.

When he says expensive, he means Bulgarian expensive.

Which is the same as the UK piece of pizza.

What's this?

Touchy.

Bronze.

Very large.

Marshall Danblatt?

And here at home, the economy is looking up, which is all it can do from its

position flat on the floor.

So that's the world today. More views of the news in a moment. But meanwhile,

this is today's music, Zoo Time and Sunshine Girl.

Hey, this is Anna

Dimitrova.

Anna, this is... This is Peter.

Welcome to Radio Alaska.

You ought to be in the back, you know.

No, after we pick him up.

Is he famous for being persecuted or famous for being a piano player?

It's his first time out of Russia.

Can you do the lead trip with him? No, I can't, love.

Laurie, that's divine, being a free love.

Don't worry, you'll have no trouble finding a limo.

Will you recognise him?

Well, I'm not sure.

That's why I brought this.

Thank you.

Are they bound black?

Well, I'm a sort of a bound black.

I take off my hat to put on headphones.

Why do people give me this?

Well, they think you're begging.

You know, sign on the pavement, hat next to it.

But the sign says bound black.

Well, I guess they thought it was some sort of excuse to leave.

Why must people beg in London?

You are all rich.

If you are not a Baumblatt, what are you?

Well, I'm a bit of a Baumblatt.

I sit on the board.

You sit on the board?

A committee.

But mostly I'm a rabbi.

You have been to Israel?

Yes, yes, I have.

My parents are there.

It is allowed that they go.

If I do not.

And they say Brezhnev had no sense of humor.

Not true.

So.

What do we do now?

Do now?

Tomorrow leaves.

Oh, yes.

Yes, a car will pick you up at noon.

Noon? What is that?

Midday. Um, 12 o 'clock.

But what today?

Well, nothing.

Relax, see something of London.

Do you come?

No, no, no, I can't.

You show me what is London and then afterwards drink and dinner.

I can't.

What about Leeds?

Oh, someone will be there to meet you.

A rabbi's got to do what a rabbi's got to do.

You will not hear me play.

politicians, say another.

Who knows what's true?

And in the meantime, here's a hit that grossed as much as Bulgaria's GNP.

We're listening to it, aren't we?

It seems to be exactly what I think it is.

Pop and patter.

Trivia. No, no, no, no, no.

What you're listening to is a sort of Bulgarian version of Voice of America or

BBC World Service, that sort of thing.

It's English language, English style, but with a Bulgarian slant.

All that patter is information, comment, news analysis, that sort of stuff.

And if we're to get a turn -hold over here, you know, it'd be a presence.

We need a stake in that sort of media output.

Maybe a newspaper as well.

A place where we can put all our views.

Have a voice.

I saw his lips.

I'm sure I heard Marshall Baumbach's voice.

You disagree with him?

No, largely I agree with him.

I'm just not clear who I'm agreeing with.

Oh, thanks a lot.

What, you think I can't think for myself?

Actually, no.

Although sometimes I think you think I think you can't think for yourself.

Hello.

Hi.

You're on the radio.

Light is an illusion.

I come to take you all out.

Oh, I'm not mean. I have work to do.

Are you close, you are?

Oh, yes.

Yes, long time since I've been out in the town.

Good. We will go sightseeing.

We won't see much, will we? Ah, hard cash makes all things visible.

And dollars, the light of the darkest night.

They're all here for a good time, you know.

Not for, just a good time.

Yeah, well, some of the men may not know that.

They can be enthusiastic.

But tonight, perhaps, I must be your fiancée, okay?

Avoid problems.

I'll drink to that.

Didn't they work?

You're adding notes?

Or deleting them?

Adding one or two. I like the project.

That is good.

There's still a whole range of things to be cleared up.

May I offer you a drink?

There are things we must discuss, and I'm happy to work all the time.

But... Our dinner?

Yeah. Oh, okay.

We can get something here, perhaps.

Yeah, we can.

Bottle -ism.

Come on.

That is the place in the old town.

Have you eaten drop sarmat?

Definitely not.

We have that.

And a bottle or two of maghrib.

Perhaps we had a few more notes.

Waiter.

It's true, the West is corrupt.

No, no, it's just a way of getting things done, that's all.

No, no, don't worry, I like what's corrupt.

Once we had communism, also corrupt as well.

Hey. You fancy a pop?

Dance? Yeah. Sure, but I'm drunk.

Doesn't have to stop you.

Okay. I might fall over, but then I dance horizontal.

Good time?

Yeah.

You?

Stoyan Petrov turned up.

We went out for a meal.

And a chat, a couple of turns round the village.

You were spying.

I wasn't. I just happened to see you.

And I was wondering why it's okay for you to go out, not me.

I said a word about it.

Not out loud.

So, did you lighten up the darkest night?

Yeah.

Yeah, enjoyed myself.

Had a couple of drinks, a couple of strolls round the old dance floor.

Anna is a very interesting woman.

I'm sure.

But you don't fancy a radio station?

I haven't said no to the project, have I?

Not out loud.

Come on, you lot. Hurry up or the museum will be closed.

Put your notebook here.

I've read this.

Hello.

Nicolai.

This is yours.

You're joking. It should have been there half an hour ago.

No, no, no. Oh, shut up, you lot. I can't hear myself think.

No, no, no. There's plenty of time, but... No, look, don't worry.

Don't worry.

Sit tight.

I'll sort it out, OK?

OK.

Bye.

Boys, I'm just going to make one phone call, OK? Then we'll go.

Yes, I think so.

My car is late.

Someone is arranging things.

Is there a nearby supermarket?

Oh, yes, sir. Close to the tube station.

Thank you.

Yes, but it should have been there at noon.

It can't have.

Limos don't break down.

Look, what else have you got?

Yes, Mother, to the Natural History Museum and then tea somewhere.

Oh, no, no, they've had lunch.

Well, it's Annette's day off.

I've tried several car companies, but there seems to have been a run -on of

limos.

Oh, thanks.

You're wonderful.

I'll bring them round to you and then go on to leave from there, OK?

OK, bye.

Listen, boys, listen.

Granny's to buy you only one ice cream each, OK?

Well, I'm sorry. I have a little shopping to do.

Sister, are you sure the money's still there?

Why do you keep asking me that?

Well, after you have funded the radio station.

After what?

Radio station run by Anna Dimitrova, you must know.

What have you heard about that?

That bomb blot will sponsor it.

That it takes precedence over this.

I told you that.

Well, it's common knowledge.

The Bulgarian business world has a little to talk of, except other people's

money.

There is some political interest, I think.

What do you mean, political?

American money, American influence, radio, communications, some

for propaganda.

These add up.

We're not just a new market, but a new democracy.

Fragile, maybe.

What? You mean the CIA or something?

Or something.

But it wasn't the CIA who paid you a visit.

No. A man came.

From Bombla.

Who? He didn't come to see me.

I hear he was very businesslike.

Eager for radio station.

Very wheeler -dealer.

Sharp.

You know what I'm saying?

Yeah.

Yes, I know exactly what you're saying.

You want to speak?

Speak.

Are you modest?

I wasn't sure.

I was playing the opening of the G Minor Rhapsody of Brahms.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I can play it for you.

Your mother has the children because you do not have a husband?

Separated.

Divorce pending.

Um... He found someone else.

He is mad.

Is that Russian flannel?

Flannel?

Slattery.

Charm.

A compliment.

Ah, yes.

It was flannel.

Will you play the Brahms tomorrow?

Yes, I play.

You have heard, my Brahms?

You're talking to a big fan.

Why haven't you visited the West before?

After Glasnost?

I was mad.

Oh, I know they threw you into an asylum, but that was because you were a

dissident, not because you were mad.

They sent me to that place, yes, because they make trouble for this.

And then my wife died.

I was equally mad.

By the time things changed, I am not mad.

Now, I am not mad at all.

Your husband?

It is the sight of so much food.

I cannot help taking it.

We'll get a doggy bag.

What? To take away.

Your wife.

Did she have an illness?

She had a number of sicknesses.

They were called stubborn, anger...

Not being quiet.

Love of freedom, being a Jew.

She went to a camp.

They sent her.

I was in asylum at the time.

She died there.

She was not strong.

Not in her body.

But her mind was strong.

Spirit.

That is the right word?

Yes.

Yes, that's the right word.

You come to this reception with me tonight. Make sure I don't drink too

Do you drink too much?

Not if you are there to warn me.

If I drink, I get hangover. If I get hangover, I can only play nocturnes.

The decision is yours.

You have mineral water, yes?

Do you have mineral water?

Do you speak English?

Do you speak American?

He's not happy.

Well, fuck it, Claire Raymond.

These are for you.

Not funny, not even close.

No, all right.

My sense of humour isn't endless either.

Look, what's the problem?

Tell me you were sworn to secrecy.

Tell me you didn't trust me.

Tell me a good lie, but don't tell me you didn't know. I don't know what the

hell you're banging on about.

I seem to remember you took a trip to Romania not too long ago, right? Looking

at a recycling for energy scheme?

That's right.

Pig trotters!

You were here spending my budget allocation before I even got here. I

doesn't matter to you. I don't know what the sodding hell you're going on about.

Oh, please. Not injured innocence.

Not from you.

Oh, don't tempt me.

Well, you're the judge. You're the jury. I don't know what I'm supposed to have

done, but obviously it's a hanging offence.

Yes, you do. Yes, you bloody do know what you've done.

We're not here to take a look at a radio station, to check it out.

Oh, no.

We're here to finalise a deal that you made some time ago with the connivance

Marshall and some of his shavier pals in Washington.

Will you listen for a minute? No, I won't. I don't want to hear any more.

What, truth?

Any more guff, any more slippery excuses, any more lies. The Frank Carver

stocking trade.

Is that what you think of me?

Yes, yes, yes, yes. That it is what I think of you.

Right.

I'm going. Go.

Yeah, I'm going. Go, go. You go. You go to hell.

Do you find that relationships have their ups and downs?

I have to go.

Why?

Why must you?

Well, because it's a three -hour drive back to London.

Stay.

Then tomorrow you can hear me play and you won't have to come back to pick me

up.

Well, my children... Your mother has the children.

You don't trust your mother? Well, of course I do.

Well, then telephone.

Say you are tired.

But the hotel might not have a room.

reception. I mean, they'll be wondering where you are now.

I was afraid you'd do that.

Afraid?

Yes, afraid.

Please, person to person, as soon as you... All the lines to America are

What, all three of them?

Never mind.

Keep trying, please.

Maybe you hanged an innocent man. Did you consider that?

You've heard the story?

Oh, yes.

The promise of funding already made?

Yes. And that a man came from the foundation who was, I quote, a wheeler

-dealer, real sharp.

And that was Frank?

Sure. Who else?

Me.

Who?

Me.

Sorry.

Sit down.

Malcolm, are you... Just listen.

You've got all sorts of things wrong.

First... You think the money already allocated to the radio station comes out

your business school?

No, it's a separate funding. Second, you think something's been going on behind

your back.

Not really.

You didn't know.

Frank didn't know.

But Marshall had authorised a small capital outlay. There were a number of

delicate aspects to be considered, and Marshall's instructions were to tell you

about the project only if my assessment of it remained unchanged.

Otherwise, to quietly pull the plug.

As it happens, I do still like the idea.

Time to hand it over to you, OK?

I'll run the foundation, damn it! But Marshall controls it.

Third, you thought the sharp businessman, the wheeler -dealer, had to

It didn't occur to you that it might have been me.

I'm just old Malcolm.

A bit wet, a bit of a nerd.

A bit in love with Tessa Piggott.

Didn't you ever consider how I got to be company secretary to a major

multinational?

Is Frank in your room?

he went for a walk in his underpants

You could always drain it.

Or build an ornamental fountain.

I waited up half the night.

The other half I spent trekking through miles of pitch black countryside looking

for you.

Yeah, I know.

Passed me twice.

You stayed in hiding.

Yeah, I was wearing Malcolm's clothes. Time counts for something, you know.

That explains it. I was looking for a man clad only in his knickers.

Not the first time. I'll be damned.

I don't know what to say. Look, there's something you ought to know.

I'm nearly always on your side.

On your side.

After all, you used to be my wife.

Frank, I'm... I'm sorry, I'm... I'm really sorry, I'm sorry.

Where did you go last night?

Stayed at the hotel.

There are other rooms in there.

Silly gesture. I never slept a wink all night.

I assumed the word that Frank's the guilty party. I didn't even give it a

thought.

No,

I really enjoyed it.

I mean, I'm not much for classical stuff usually.

You know, more songs from your shows like Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Nothing eyebrow.

But it's different when you're actually there, isn't it? Sort of sense of

occasion.

You practice much, do you?

Webber's got older tunes, hasn't he?

Five. A hundred.

Give me a hundred.

Hello,

Rabbi Webber.

Five, five.

I'm sorry, I couldn't.

I just couldn't.

Well, yes, I could have.

I didn't know what to do.

Don't know what to do.

Yes, I do.

Of course I do.

He's singing to her.

Is he going to come here?

No. Don't you want him to?

Um, no. It wasn't Daddy.

Diane. What?

I played badly?

No, of course not.

You were wonderful.

Wonderful.

It's just that I... I feel...

Guilty.

Oh, Colleen, you don't understand.

Don't tell me I don't understand.

I am Russian Jew. I know about guilty.

Does love make guilty?

Does love make danger?

Sometimes.

Hello. What are you doing here?

Did you have a good bug area?

Um, eventful. I'll tell you later.

What's that?

I've been looking after a Russian pianist, Nikolai Herzen.

Have you?

Why? Oh, it's a long story. Anyway, this is his list of expenses and receipts

and what have you, and I'm on my way to collect him from his hotel.

Then he's off to France for the next leg of his tour.

So you just popped in.

To give me this.

On your way to take him to Heathrow.

Yes.

And I wondered if you were free for dinner this evening.

About 7 .30?

I want you to keep

me going.

Nikolai, no, I can't.

Come to Russia, then.

I am back in ten days.

Bring suitcase full of Levi's and fifty dollars, we live like kings for a year.

You can be the first lady rabbi in Moscow.

You'll get a bigger audience than me.

It's not so far as it must go.

Not so far.

You will miss me, Diane.

Flowers three times in a week?

Well, we are the only couple.

And they're going to get married to each other twice in the same year.

Are you serious?

Ordered a crate of brown ale and sent the best blue to the cleaners.

You are serious.

Thursday afternoon, three o 'clock.

You'd better turn up.

I'll put a 16 quid deposit down. No refund.

I'll be there.

It can turn you upside down. Oh, how love hurts.

So if it's just a game that you're playing, you'd better

know that love hurts.

There's no doubt about it.

Love hurts.

But who can live without it? Oh, how love hurts.

So you'd better

But remember,

love hurts you just the same.