Original subtitles

(LAUGHING) Tag, you're it. You're it.

No, I tagged you last.

Uh-uh. Yes. Want to go fishing?

There's no fish in there. They're frozen.

No, they don't freeze.

What do they do, just die? No.

Hey, look at this car!

(ALL EXCLAIMING IN AWE)

Beauty. Isn't that neat? It's gotta be a Ford.

No, it's not a Ford.

Yeah, it is. Then what is it?

I don't know, but it's not a Ford- I've been in one.

(TALKING INDISTINCTLY)

Hey, Leonard, what are you doing?

What's it look like?

Somebody might be coming.

Keep a lookout, James.

No one's coming.

My turn's next.

JAMES: What's wrong, Leonard?

WOMAN: Leonard, honey.

What?

You better get dressed.

Your breakfast is just about ready.

Hey. Come on. We're gonna be late.

Hi, Oliver. James.

(CHATTING)

TEACHER: We're going to begin today with a history test.

Keep your eyes on your own papers,

and then, at the recess bell,

bring your composition books up to my desk.

So what are we gonna do this afternoon?

I don't know.

(DOORBELL RINGS)

MRS LOWE: Hello, boys.

BOY: Hi, Mrs Lowe.

Can Leonard come out and play today?

No, I'm sorry. Better not today.

Well, how about tomorrow?

I'm afraid he won't be well by then either.

When will he be well?

I don't know.

Thanks for coming by.

(DOOR CLOSING)

WOMAN: Good morning. Bainbridge Hospital. May I help you?

One moment, please.

Excuse me.

You gotta ask her.

Good morning. Bainbridge Hospital. May I help you?

Thank you.

Dr Horowitz, can you hold the line a minute?

Bainbridge Hospital. Can I help you?

Yes, Dr Franklin and Dr Tyler are both in a board meeting.

Can I take a message, or would you like to... Bye.

Yes?

Yes, I'm Dr Malcolm Sayer. I have an appointment.

Take a seat, please.

Bainbridge Hospital. May I help you? Thank you.

Bainbridge Hospital. May I help you?

I can connect you to the cafeteria,

but then they will have to page him.

All right. Well, just. . . Thank you.

Bainbridge Hospital. May I help you?

Well, Dr Franklin and Dr Tyler are both in the boardroom.

I can take messages, or you can call back in about 45 minutes.

When you say people, you mean living people?

Mmm-hmm.

Well, I'm here to apply for a research position in your neurology lab.

Neurology lab?

We have an X-ray room.

This is a chronic hospital, Doctor. The position is for staff neurologist.

You will be working with patients, people, yes.

A doctor doctor.

Doctor.

The Carmel Institute. Tell me about that. Anything with patients there?

Earthworms.

I'm sorry? (CLEARS THROAT)

It was an immense project.

I was to extract one decigram of myelin from 4 tons of earthworms.

Really?

Yes. I was on that project for five years.

I was the only one who believed in it.

Everyone else said it couldn't be done.

It can't.

I know that now. I proved it.

Maybe before at Saint Thomas...

All research?

Yes.

This isn't even going to work at all.

Ben, we're totally understaffed...

...and we really need someone.

He's never worked with human beings.

His research talents would be wasted here, sir.

Excuse me, but...

I think you're clearly looking for someone

with more of a clinical background.

As much as I need a job,

there must be 100 more applicants suitable for this position.

Thank you anyway.

Dr Sayer, back in medical school...

You couldn't have graduated medical school

without some clinical experience.

You took a pulse, you took a temperature, did diagnosis.

There you have it then.

You do want the job, don't you?

Hey, it's this way, Doc.

You spend much time at chronic hospitals?

You'd remember.

Guess not then.

Hi.

ANTHONY: Hey, Christina.

You see, Doc, we got MS, Tourette's syndrome, Parkinson's disease.

Some of 'em we ain't even got a name for.

How are you?

SAYER: Excuse me, but what are all these people waiting for?

ANTHONY: Nothing. But how are they supposed to get well?

They're not. They're chronic.

We call this place the Garden.

Why? 'Cause allwe do is feed and water them.

Thanks, man.

Mr Kean, I would like to ask you...

I was born in 1911 in Kingsbridge, New York!

I came here in July, 1955!

Prior to July, 1955,

I resided at the Brooklyn Psychiatric Centre, Brooklyn, New York!

Prior to that, I was a person!

(WOMAN SCREAMING)

Gets easier.

You don't think it will, but it does.

(DOOR CLOSES)

(BARKING) No, Buttercup. Good.

No, go to your house. Go.

(GROWLS)

Go home!

Good.

(BARKING)

(WHIMPERING)

Morning, Doctor.

I have a new arrival for you.

She was brought in late last night. Here's her file.

(DOOR CLOSES)

Hello. I'm Dr Sayer.

Do you know where you are?

Can you hear me?

Diagnosis.

Medical insurance.

Oh, God.

SAYER:Her name is Lucy Fishman.

She was found by neighbours with her sister

several days after her sister died.

She has no other living relatives,

and they say she has always been as she is now

with no response or comprehension.

And yet...

A reflex.

If she batted it away, I might call it a reflex.

But she didn't. As you can see, she caught it.

It's still a reflex, Doctor.

I'm sorry. If you were right, I would agree with you.

It's as if having lost all will of her own in which to act,

she borrows the will of the ball.

DOCTOR: The will of the ball?

Excuse me.

This is ridiculous.

You're trying to make a good impression, right, Doctor?

You're trying to make a good impression. That's it, isn't it?

You're still settling in.

Miss Costello, will you see to it

that Dr Sayer's patients that are waiting outside

are rescheduled for tomorrow?

Yes, sir.

Borrows the will of the ball.

That's great.

Okay. Thanks. Thank you.

Welcome.

Let us know if she catches anything else.

I'll be fired. It's all right. I'll go back to school.

I forget something? No.

I just wanted to say to you I preferred your explanation,

and that I'll look after things for you until you've settled in.

Good night, Doctor.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Hello. Hi.

I'm Dr Sayer. I'm Waheedah.

Waheedah. How are you today?

I'm fine, thank you.

(SCREAMING)

Yes. Oh, uh...

Sorry. What form?

Yes, I'll hold. Mmm-hmm.

SAYER: Oh, uh...

Three, four, one, two...

Oh, thank you.

Bye.

Hello.

(TV PLAYING)

Yippie! We made it, Orville. We're in orbit.

Goody. Now we can try being weightless.

(LAUGHING ON TV)

Let's celebrate with delicious Nestlé's Quik.

Nothing makes chocolaty milk like Quik, you know?

That great Nestlé's chocolate flavour is out of this world.

Out of this world.

Hello, up there.

Time to recharge with delicious Nestlé's Quik.

N-E-S-T-L-E-S. Nestlé's makes the very best...

Chocolate.

Lucy.

Um, you're out to the pole.

Could... Anthony. Anthony.

Could you help me move this?

Excuse me.

Lucy, you're almost there. Come on.

Here's the water, Lucy.

Here it is, Lucy.

The water is...

Must be all that Jell-O they give you.

Jell-O, Jell-O. Day after day.

Red Jell-O, yellow Jell-O. Every day Jell-O.

WOMAN: Hurry up. You don't want to miss the laundry truck.

I forgot to tell you Mrs Cooper passed away. Remember her?

She was nice. Always a kind word.

Her dog, I could have done without.

Excuse me.

Hello.

Does he ever speak to you?

Of course not. Not in words.

He speaks to you in other ways?

How do you mean?

You don't have children.

No.

If you did, you would know.

SAYER: This is atypical schizophrenia.

Atypical hysteria, this one.

Atypical nerve impairment.

No change since last examination.

No change or therapy recommended.

Very nice.

This one is no change, September 11, 1944.

Sorry.

That's 25 years.

You'd think at a certain point

all these atypical somethings would amount to a typical something.

Mmm-hmm.

But a typical what?

Doctor. Yes?

Want to go for a cup of coffee somewhere or something?

Tea?

Oh, normally I would say yes.

I made other plans.

Right, right, right.

Well, some other time.

Oh, yes.

I'm over here. I'm right there.

Good night. Night.

(PLAYING SLOW MELODY)

Encephalitis lethargica.

Where is it? Where is it?

Encephalitis lethargica.

JANITOR: I'm sorry, Doctor. I thought someone left the lights on.

I found it. I found the connection.

They all survived encephalitis years before they came here.

See? In the 1920s.

That's very nice. Isn't it wonderful?

Yes. I'll come back later.

Please.

How many have you found there?

Five. And I believe there are more.

How are they?

Just as you described them back then. "Insubstantial as ghosts."

Only, I guess many of them were children then.

Yes.

Children who fell asleep.

INGHAM: Most died during the acute stage of the illness.

Those who survived, who awoke,

seemed fine, as though nothing had happened.

We just didn't realise how much the infection had damaged the brain.

Years went by, five, 10, 15,

before these strange neurological symptoms would appear.

But they did.

I began to see them in the early 1930s.

Old people brought in by their children.

Young people brought in by their parents.

They could no longer dress themselves or feed themselves.

They could no longer speak in most cases.

Some families went mad.

People who were normal were now

elsewhere.

What's it like to be them?

What are they thinking?

They're not.

The virus didn't spare their higher faculties.

We know that for a fact?

Yes.

Because?

Because the alternative is unthinkable.

I'm all for fixing this place up, but what are we doing?

I have a hunch.

Excuse me. Sorry. Excuse me. Sorry.

What's been stopping Lucy from crossing to the fountain?

Nothing. Exactly.

The visual field just stops.

There's a void.

There's no pattern, no visual rhythm,

nothing to compel her to keep going.

COSTELLO: So we're making something.

SAYER: Exactly.

All right, Lucy.

She's looking out the...

Where is it? Is this the right issue?

This is last year's. I can't find it.

I'd like to know more about your son.

Certainly.

Something was wrong, they said, with his hands.

He couldn't write any more.

He couldn't do the work.

I should take him out of school, they said.

He was 11.

Slowly, he got worse.

He'd call me, and I'd come in,

and he'd be sitting at his desk in a trance.

One hour, two hours.

Then he'd be okay again.

One day, I came home from work, found him in his bed.

He kept saying, "Ma, Mom."

His arm like this, reaching.

"What do you want, Leonard?"

He never spoke again. It was like he disappeared.

Later that year, I took him to Bainbridge.

It was November 14, 1939.

He was 20 years old.

What did he do for those nine years

he was staying in this room, Mrs Lowe?

He read.

He loved to read. He read all the time.

Really?

Well, that's all he could do.

That's enough.

Leonard?

All right, Leonard, we're finished.

Nothing, nothing, nothing, and nothing.

Don't tell me. It's one of your statues.

Exactly.

How did I guess that?

Pass the salt.

But what about this?

(CHUCKLING) What do you mean this? It's a strobe.

You're wrong.

All of this before is the strobe.

This is me saying his name to him.

Excuse me.

What does that mean?

(EXCLAIMS)

Sorry.

Right down the middle, big guy.

Come on, hum it in there. Hum it in there.

Home run. Home run.

PATIENT: I can catch a ball.

Hey, Doc, throw me the ball.

Throw me the ball. Throw me the ball.

I can catch a ball.

Doc! Hey!

SAYER: Is this all of them? COSTELLO: Yes.

Bring them in here with the others.

I should have given David his divorce.

I just thought he really would want to be a father to his son.

(KNOCKING ON WINDOW) Excuse me.

The patients have all been given their morning medication.

That's good.

Dr Sayer was hoping you'd have some free time.

Want to come with me, please?

Beth? Yeah.

SAYER: This is one of the most beautiful arias ever written.

Watch them closely for any reactions.

(OPERA MUSIC PLAYING)

"Call me Ishmael.

(CLEARS THROAT)

"Some years ago, never mind how long precisely,

"having little or no money in my purse

"and nothing particular to interest me onshore..."

Leonard, I know you can hear me.

I want you to try and respond when I speak your name.

(OPERA PLAYING)

You see, it's not just any music.

It has to be the music that's right (OPERA STOPS)

for them.

(BIG-BAND MUSIC PLAYING)

ANTHONY: It's like they're only moved by music that moves them.

I haven't found anything that moves Bert yet.

They'll sit there like that all day if I let them.

I have to play the first card.

L.

Leonard.

L.

(PURPLE HAZE PLAYING)

This is Frank. Mmm-hmm.

If you could just help me get him to his feet.

There's something else that reaches them, Doctor.

What? Human contact.

If you could just stand over there for a minute.

He can't walk without me.

If I let go of him, he'll fall.

I'm not gonna let you fall.

But he'll walk with me anywhere.

It's like the ball, only it's my will he's borrowing.

The will of another human being.

We begin by moving the pointer to "L" for Leonard.

Now when I sense you begin to move the pointer,

I'll stop and you take over.

Do you understand?

All right, I'm beginning.

Very good.

No. Maybe I didn't make myself clear. My fault. I. . .

"L." Good, good.

Now the "E."

"K."

Dyslexia, isn't it?

"E." Good, good.

"Sg"

" P. "

You're spelling something else.

SAYER:His gaze from staring through the bars

has grown so weary that it can take in nothing more.

For him, it is as though there were a thousand bars,

and behind the thousand bars, no world.

As he paces in cramped circles, over and over,

his powerful strides are like a ritual dance around a centre

where a great will stands paralysed.

At times, the curtains of the eye lift without a sound,

and a shape enters,

slips through the tightened silence of the shoulders,

reaches the heart,

and dies.

Have you heard of a drug called L-dopa?

What?

It's a synthetic dopamine.

Yes, I did. For Parkinson's patients. Yeah.

Why?

Nothing.

MAN ON MEGAPHONE: Sign the petition now.

Thousands of young men are dying every day.

Excuse me. Sorry.

Help us get out of this illegal war. Sign up now.

MAN: A hundred years would have to pass before modern neuropathology

would even allow us to actually

locate the damage in the Parkinsonian brain.

Yes.

With our development of the drug L-dopa,

we can, for the first time,

promise the Parkinsonian patient a more normal life.

By administering L...

Thank you. Yes.

I'm very curious about this drug,

and I wonder if you've come across anyone who might have...

Excuse me, Doctor...

Sayer.

I'm curious if you've come across

any patients with encephalitis...

After I'm through, Dr Sayer.

If you wouldn't mind.

Excuse me.

Well, as I was saying, by administering L-dopa...

Do you think a simple Parkinsonian tremor taken to its furthest extreme

would appear as no tremor at all?

Are you talking to me?

Oh, yes.

Imagine that you accelerated a simple Parkinsonian hand tremor

to the point of immobility.

Suppose there's a patient with

all the Parkinsonian compulsions accelerated,

the hand tremor, the head bobbing, ticking, quickening of speech.

Might they not all cave in on themselves and,

in effect, turn a person into stone?

I don't know. Maybe.

Well, do you think L-dopa would help the situation?

Dr Sayer, right?

(CHUCKLES)

I'm just a chemist, Doctor. You're the physician.

I'll leave it to you to do the damage.

Well, you know, Freud believed in miracles,

prescribing cocaine like it was candy.

And we all believed in the miracle of cortisone

till our patients went psychotic on it.

And now it's L-dopa?

Well, with all due respect, I think it's rather too soon to say that.

Well, with all due respect, Doctor,

I think it's rather way too soon to say that.

Let the chemist do the damage, Doctor.

But I...

Dr Kaufman? Yeah.

Did you read this case?

"New drug lets shaking palsy patients eat Jell-O."

Yes, I read them, Doctor. I read them all, dutifully, soberly.

All 30 cases had Parkinson's. Mild Parkinson's.

Your Parkies, Doctor, if that's what they are, haven't moved in decades.

Perhaps you should look at it again, sir.

You know better than to make a leap like that.

You want there to be a connection.

That doesn't mean there is one.

What I believe, what I know is

these people are alive inside.

How do you know that, Doctor? Because they catch tennis balls?

I know it.

How many did you think I'd let you put on it?

All of them.

Some.

One.

One.

With the family's consent signed.

(DOOR CLOSES)

Leonard has Parkinson's disease?

No, um...

Well, his symptoms are like Parkinson's.

But, then again, they're not.

Then what will this medicine do for him?

I don't know what it will do for him, if anything at all.

What do you think it'll do?

I'm not sure,

because it was designed for a totally different disorder.

What do you hope it'll do?

I hope it will bring him back from wherever he is.

For what?

For the world.

What's there here for him after all these years?

You.

You're here.

All of it. Please.

With 200 milligrams, he showed no response.

Maybe the acid in the orange juice neutralised it.

Maybe he needs more.

Maybe he needs less.

I'll try it in milk.

500 milligrams.

I'll call if there's any change.

Yes.

Thank you.

(SNORING)

Night, Sara.

Good night.

(SNORING)

It's...

quiet.

It's late.

Everyone's asleep.

I'm not asleep.

No.

You're awake.

May 1?

Me.

(CARS HONKING)

SAYER: Leonard.

There's someone here to see you.

Ma. Ma.

Mom.

My baby.

(MRS LOWE CRYING)

My name is Eleanor.

Eleanor.

It's a pleasure to meet you.

It's a pleasure to meet you.

Ladies. Ladies.

Now what'd I do?

MARGARET: Oh, my goodness.

How do you do, sir?

My name is Margaret.

Margaret.

Beth. Beth.

Anthony.

Anthony, how are you?

Great, man. How are you?

Great, too.

(LAUGHING)

All right, Len.

Did you meet him? Didn't he look good?

(LAUGHING) Yeah.

(ALL LAUGHING)

MRS LOWE: Don't eat so fast.

MARGARET: He's doing fine.

ANTHONY: Well, I mean, he's starving.

I don't think that I could deal with losing 30 years of my life.

Could you? I can't even imagine it.

(ALL LAUGHING)

He does realise it, doesn't he?

Leonard, if you could turn this way please.

This is a camera called a Polaroid. (CAMERA CLICKS)

Thank you.

Takes a picture in less than a minute.

Amazing.

Now, if we could try this.

Splendid. That's wonderful.

I'd like you to walk now to the end of the room.

Good. Ready?

Go. (STOPWATCH CLICKS)

Very good.

Very good.

And back now.

(STOPWATCH CLICKS) That was very quick.

Let me get some more film.

You have to at least lay down.

You need the rest.

I'm afraid to close my eyes.

If I close my eyes, I'll...

You'll sleep.

When you wake up in the morning, it'll be the next morning.

I promise.

♪ Baby's boat

Jd A silver moon

♪ Sailing in the sky

♪ Baby's fishing for a dream

♪ Fishing near and far

♪ Sail, baby, sail

♪ Out upon that sea

♪ Only don't forget to sail

♪ Back again to me

♪ Baby's fishing for a dream

♪ Fishing near and far

♪ His line a silver moonbeam is

Jd His fate a silver star

♪ Sail, baby, sail

♪ Out upon that sea

♪ Only don't forget to sail

♪ Back again to me

♪ Baby's boat

& The silver moon

♪ Sailing in the sky

♪ Baby's fishing for a dream

♪ Fishing near and far

♪ Sail, baby, sail

♪ Out upon that sea

♪ Only don't forget to sail

♪ Back again to me ♪

(CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING ON CAR RADIO)

(INDISTINCT)

What a wonderful place the Bronx has become.

That's my school.

Really?

(SPITS)

Is that classical?

You can pick any different type of music you want.

(ROCK AND ROLL MUSIC PLAYING)

What's that?

It's rock and roll.

Come on in.

No, no, come back in now.

There's something that happened while you've been away.

It's called pollution. I don't think this is wise, Leonard.

Leonard. That's not wading. That's swimming. Come on, Leonard.

Leonard, I don't know if the hospital is covered for this.

Leonard.

Come on!

No. No.

Come on in.

Leonard, the tide's coming in.

(WHISTLING)

That's the periodic table of elements.

I can date my introduction to science by that.

It's wonderful really.

It's the universe at its essence.

You see, you have your alkali metals,

you have your halogens, your inert gases.

Every element has its place in that order. You can't change that.

They're secure, no matter what.

You're not married?

Me?

No.

I'm not very good with people.

I never have been, Leonard.

I like them.

I wish I could say I had more than a rudimentary understanding of them.

Maybe if they were less unpredictable.

Eleanor would disagree with you.

Eleanor?

Miss Costello.

Of course.

She's spoken to you about me?

What did she say?

That you are a kind man, that you care very much for people.

I would like to put the rest of the group on the drug.

And I realise this may be somewhat expensive.

When you say expensive,

do you have any idea how much money you're talking about?

Yes, I talked to Ray. I have an estimate.

Thank you.

The pharmacist says to put all the others

on the same dosage as Mr Lowe would be...

$12,000.

How much?

$12,000.

A month? Yes.

I can't go before the board with that, Doctor.

I was thinking of speaking directly to the patrons.

The few patrons that this hospital has

already give what they can, Doctor.

We'll have to convince them to give more

than they're accustomed to giving.

Perhaps if they see Mr Lowe.

I think you overestimate the effect

that Mr Lowe has on people, Doctor.

We're talking about money.

SAYER: There was extreme rigidity of the axial musculature.

This is a gross impairment of the postural reflexes, an autonomic dysfunction.

It's a brain stem type of rigidity.

A meningismus.

What's most striking is the profound

facial masking or deafferentation,

which we now know should not be confused with apathy or catatonia.

SAYER: Some things could reach him though.

The mention of his name, notes of a particular piece of music,

or the touch of another human being.

But these awakenings were rare and transient,

lasting only a moment or two.

The rest of the time, he remained, as you see him here,

in a metaphorical if not physiological equivalent

of sleep or even death.

This was his condition when first found by me

in a remote bay of this hospital

and the quality of his life for the last 30 years.

Now? SAYER: Whenever you're ready.

My name is Leonard Lowe.

it has been explained to me

that I have been away for quite some time.

I'm back.

(INDISTINCT)

Okay, here we go.

Take her away.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

Sure.

(SNORING)

Dr Sayer?

What is it? It's a fuckin' miracle.

Where are my glasses? They're on your face.

Thank you.

Beth, close the door.

I'm talking.

Light.

I'm Rose.

Go stand up.

Hello?

Where is this?

I'm walking.

Who are you?

Thank you for coming. You see, things are a little different today.

Miriam.

Come on, Miriam.

SAYER: Miriam. Miriam.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Lucy.

I had the strangest dream.

I have to take your blood pressure.

I've been sitting for 25 years. You missed your chance.

MARGARET: Are you okay?

I need some makeup.

Okay. I think we can take care of that.

And I need some dye for my hair. Black.

Black? Rose, are you sure?

Yes, it's always been black.

Dr Sayer, something about fruit trees.

Prune the fruit trees.

I will.

(SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

I want a steak, rare. Mashed potatoes and gravy, string beans.

I was aware of things, but nothing meant anything to me.

There was no connection to me. There was a war or two.

This morning, I went to the bathroom all by myself.

Do it, do it, do it!

I think I liked him better the other way.

Where'd they go?

Rolando, can you speak to me?

It's Miss Costello.

Do you understand me?

Lucy.

What year is it?

What year is it?

It's '26, silly.

BETH: Miriam.

Come on, Miriam. Be a sport.

Don't touch. Don't touch, Miriam. Don't.

I'm getting tired of this.

Come on, Miriam.

I'm convinced.

WOMAN: "Like crowds storming the Bastille,

"the mighty Mets stormed their locker room

"shortly after 9:00 on their night to remember,

"and touched off

"one of the loudest, wildest, wettest

"victory celebrations in baseball history.

"Released from bondage and ridicule after seven destitute seasons,

"they raised the..."

Lolly, Lolly, Lolly.

Sidney.

Hi, Sidney.

Hi.

Are we gonna go to the same place?

Well, actually, I don't know.

Everybody, stay together, stay together. Come on, bring up the back.

ANTHONY: Everybody stay together. Come on.

Bye! Bye!

Bring Leonard back.

Anthony, will you get Leonard? It's all right.

ANTHONY: Leonard. Leonard.

Len, Len. Come on, come on, come on.

Everyone, please stay with the group here.

Hurry up!

Come on, now. Stay together.

Okay, everybody, we gotta get on!

No pushing! No pushing!

I wanted to ask you how my father's doing.

Try and make room.

You know, Ma, maybe you shouldn't go.

No, of course I want to go. Don't be ridiculous.

I'm gonna take the stairs. MAN 1: It's crowded.

I'll meet you down there.

You go another time.

SAYER: You can't be there, Leonard, or the door won't close.

SAYER: Thank you. Bert, stop jumping!

Sidney's going.

He's a patient, Mom.

He's not the same kind of patient.

Yeah, but he's still a patient, Mom.

You're not a patient.

I'm your mother.

Are there any other mothers going?

Wait a minute. Now, what have you done to your hair?

Yes, Bert, that's a tyre.

I know it's a tyre. I'm not an idiot.

There's your bus.

Have fun.

Treat me like an asshole.

We'll take care of that, Bert.

BETH: See you, guys.

Bye-bye! Bye!

Are you ready, Leonard?

I've decided not to go. I'm gonna stay here.

Why? What's wrong?

I'm okay. I just...

Wave.

(HONKING)

Doctor, Doctor. Come on already.

I'm coming, all right?

Leonard, are you sure? Yes.

Are you all right?

I'm fine. See you later. Have a good time.

Doctor, come on. I'm coming.

Bye, you guys!

Bye, Leonard.

Bye-bye. Bert, will you sit down?

WOMAN 1: Fish sticks, please. WOMAN 2: Okay.

Okay, here you go.

Hi.

Meat loaf, please.

There you go.

Thank you.

Meat loaf.

Meat loaf, too.

Thank you.

There you go, okay?

Next.

Are you following me?

I'm sorry. I was only kidding.

I saw you upstairs just now.

Are you visiting someone?

Uh, no.

You work here.

I live here.

You're a patient?

You don't look like a patient.

I don't?

(CASH REGISTER CLINKS)

I've always loved Carnegiea. Haven't you?

Look, Dr Sayer.

What is it, Anthony?

You choose this place?

Why?

I always come here.

Why? I mean, don't get me wrong, Doctor.

This is a nice place, but after the first hour, it loses something.

Miss Costello, Anthony seems to think the group is bored.

They are.

Well, I thought about taking them to the opera house, but...

The opera?

The Museum of Natural History?

No, no, I don't think so.

Just a lot of dead stuffed things.

Oh... Well, uh...

Where else is there?

Ask them.

(BIG-BAND MUSIC PLAYING)

(LAUGHING)

Is it legal again?

Yes, for some time.

BARMAN: Ladies, what can I get you?

A Rob Roy on the rocks. A what?

Could you make that a virgin Rob Roy?

I work the night shifts at this diner,

so sometimes before work, I'll come see my father.

He used to go to all the games,

so I like to read him the sports pages. (CHUCKLES)

I don't even know if he knows I visit him or not.

My mother doesn't think so.

But you do.

(CLICKS TONGUE)

Well, sometimes I think I see something.

You know, I think I see a change.

And for a moment, I see him like he was, you know, before the stroke,

and then it's gone.

I don't even know if I saw anything.

Does that make any sense?

Yes.

Okay, my troop, back to the ward.

Come on, Debbie.

Bill, Dion. Come on. Put your fork down. Let's go.

So, why are you here?

I receive medication.

For what?

Without it, I'm sort of like your father.

But I'm okay now.

It's good.

(BIG-BAND MUSIC PLAYING)

♪ You made me love you

♪ 1 didn't want to do it

♪ 1 didn't want to do it

♪ You made me love you (CLEARS THROAT)

♪ And all the time you knew it (LAUGHS)

♪ I guess you always knew it

♪ You make me happy ♪

No, thank you.

♪ And sometimes you make me sad

I really, really...

♪ There were times, dear, you made me, oh, so glad

♪ You made me sigh for

♪ 1 didn't want to tell you

♪ 1 didn't want to tell you

♪ I want some love

♪ That's true, yes, I do, indeed I do

♪ Give me, give me, give me what I cry for

♪ You know you got the frantic kisses that I'd die for

♪ You know you made me love you ♪

Thank you, Rose.

And I was so sure that he was over easy with bacon, wheat toast and black coffee

that I automatically brought him his food without taking his order.

You know what he says? What?

"You forgot the tomato." (BOTH LAUGH)

Did you bring it to him?

No, we were out of them. That's why I didn't get it in the first place.

NURSE: Visiting hours are from 3:00 to 6:00 every day.

Good afternoon. Bainbridge Hospital.

Well...

It was really nice talking to you, Leonard.

It was nice talking to you, too.

Bye-bye. Bye.

Paula? Yeah?

He knows.

Your father.

He knows you visit him.

See you.

Doctor, these are my friends.

He's my doctor. Isn't he the cat's meow?

I want to show you the sunroom.

(PLAYING ROMANTIC MELODY)

Miriam.

I don't know how to tell you this, so I'm just going to say it.

Your husband...

He was granted a divorce from you in 1953.

(SIGHS) Thank God.

(LAUGHING)

Look at that. Pontiac Firebird, 400 engine.

Firebird.

Now that's a car.

Morning, Lucy. May I have your hand?

Take me away from this place.

Wrong. It's right here.

Guess I lose.

I guess your luck is changing.

Very nice. Very nice.

How's it going?

How's it going?

Yeah, how do you feel?

My parents are dead. My wife is in an institution.

My son has disappeared out west somewhere.

I feel old, and I feel swindled.

That's how I feel.

MRS LOWE: I stopped by the hobby shop. I got more pencils.

And, uh, I got this.

A small T-square.

That's good?

I can use that. Yeah. Good.

Hi, Leonard.

Hi.

That's really nice.

I'll be right back.

Leonard.

MRS LOWE: He never talked about girls before.

Certainly never had anything to do with them.

It's a bit ridiculous, all this girl business.

Don't you think?

He's a grown man, Mrs Lowe.

You know what he said to me?

I should take a vacation. I should go away for a few days and relax.

Well, I'm sure he meant you deserve a vacation, which you do.

I can't leave him alone in this place. He'd die without me.

Girls.

(RINGING)

Hello. LEONARD: Hello?

Dr Sayer?

Dr Sayer, I've gotta talk to you.

Leonard? Yes.

I think it's important some things were said.

I just gotta talk to you.

What kind of things?

Well, things that matter, things that have happened to me,

things that I've come to understand. Things, things.

Where are you calling from, Leonard?

Your office.

it's very late.

Is it?

Leonard, you stay there. I'll be right over.

Good.

(LINE DISCONNECTS)

(DIAL TONE)

Leonard. Leonard.

Dr Sayer, sit down. Sit down.

Why? What's wrong?

We've got to tell everybody.

We've got to remind them. We've got to remind them how good it is.

How good what is, Leonard?

Read the newspaper. What's it say? All bad.

It's all bad.

People have forgotten what life is all about.

They've forgotten what it is to be alive.

They need to be reminded.

They need to be reminded about what they have and what they can lose.

What I feel is the joy of life, the gift of life,

the freedom of life, the wonderment of life.

He kept saying that people don't appreciate the simple things.

Work, play, friendship, family.

He was so excited he talked till 5:00 in the morning.

I don't know whether this is liberation, mania.

Or love?

Yes, right.

What he's saying is absolutely right.

We don't really know how to live.

But at 5:00 in the morning?

Waheedah, how are you?

I'm fine.

Very good.

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

Mr Lowe?

Are you all right? Yeah.

What is it that you want now, Mr Lowe?

The simplest thing.

And it is?

To have the choice to go for a walk

if I want to like any normal person.

You are free to go for a walk.

I am? Alone?

What difference would that make?

Look, I'm not a criminal.

I've committed no crime. I'm not a danger to myself or to others.

And yet, I'm still not allowed to go for a walk on my own, by myself.

You didn't wake a thing, you woke a person.

I am a person.

Mr Lowe, are you at all aware

of the unconscious hostility you're exhibiting toward us right know?

How could I be aware of it if it's unconscious?

Nora, please.

(ALL CHUCKLING)

I'm curious. What would you do if you went out?

I'd go for a walk, I'd look at things, I'd talk to people.

I would decide if I want to go in this direction,

or that direction, or straight ahead.

I would do all the things that you people take for granted.

And that's it?

That's it.

All right, then.

We'll certainly take this into consideration, and we'll let you know.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Dr Sayer.

SAYER: Are you all right?

Yeah, I was aware of that. It was nothing.

I was nervous. What'd they say?

They said there was insufficient data at this time,

that continued observation was necessary for a complete diagnosis.

They said it's a different world out there,

and you may not be prepared for it,

and they couldn't be held responsible for what might happen to you.

They said no.

What did you say?

They don't have to listen to me, Leonard.

Do you agree with them?

Yes.

Leonard, I don't think we're out of the woods yet.

I'm not sure that this is nothing.

It's an experimental drug, and we need time to evaluate things before...

Bye. Leonard.

Leonard.

Leonard.

Where are you going?

For a walk.

Leonard. Leonard.

This is Dr Sayer.

So where you goin'? I'm going outside.

No, not today you're not. Patients are not allowed beyond this point.

I'm just going out for a walk. No, no. I'm sorry.

Don't make it hard on yourself.

Leonard. Stop for a minute.

I just want to go for a walk!

He's not a mental patient. This is unnecessary. Let him go.

Please, he's not violent. He's not violent.

Will you let go of him? You will hurt him!

Will you let go of him? Wait! Stop, please! Let go of him!

I don't understand it. He was never any trouble before.

He was quiet and polite and respectful.

He never demanded anything. He was never disobedient.

Because he was catatonic, Mrs Lowe.

I'm speaking of when he was a boy.

I'm sorry.

I don't know who that is up there.

I don't think he knows.

You've turned Leonard into something he's not.

It's not us that's defective! It's them! We're not in crisis! They are!

They are!

We have been through the worst and survived it.

They haven't. They fear it! They fear it!

Because they know!

MAN: They know!

They know.

ALL: They know!

Because we...

We remind them.

We remind them that there is a problem,

that there is a problem that they don't have an answer to.

And they'll never be healers until they realise this,

until they start to see the problem,

until they start to admit that there is a problem,

and that the problem isn't us.

We're not the problem. It's them! They're the problem!

(YELLING)

They're the (STUTTERING) problem.

They're the problem!

(PATIENTS YELLING)

They're the problem!

He's lived for 30 years without the ability to release anger.

KAUFMAN: As have the others.

I happen to think his behaviour is more natural than the others.

Really?

His tics and his paranoia,

you think these are signs of normal behaviour?

Because he's in that place.

Is that it? Yes.

We wake him up, and then we lock him up in a cage.

That's not paranoia. That's a fact.

The fact is, Doctor,

that I've got 20 psychotics up there refusing to eat.

Now, they have no idea why they're refusing to eat.

How long do you think I should let that go on?

He knows why. He wants out.

Dr Sayer, Mr Lowe is not the messiah of ward five.

He's a man in trouble.

He wasn't resurrected. He was administered a drug, a drug by you.

A drug that has fallen short of its somewhat miraculous reputation.

The others are fine. They show no signs...

He's been on it longer, Doctor.

Now, I sympathise with him. I've tried to accommodate him.

But I will not let him endanger the health

of the rest of the patients in this hospital.

SAYER: You can help if you wait for me out there, please.

Okay, Doctor. Thank you.

Excuse me. Excuse me.

MAN: We can't allow it.

LEONARD: He's all right.

He's all right.

How are you today?

I'm all right. How are you?

Never better.

What's the purpose of these gentlemen?

These gentlemen protect me.

I wish I didn't need them.

Someone's trying to hurt you?

Who? Who? (CHUCKLES)

That's the thing, isn't it? Who?

One never knows. Someone I least expect, I expect.

Look at history.

Leonard, every patient on this ward thinks there's a plot against him.

Yeah, well, they're mistaken. They're crazy.

(LAUGHING)

You've gotten worse.

The drug's not working.

All these things you're experiencing are the side effects of that,

and they're making you behave this way.

I appreciate your coming to see me, but I have things to do.

Leonard. Leonard, please, look at yourself.

No, look at yourself.

I have a sickness.

Sickness took me out of the world, and I fought to come back.

I fought for 30 years. Thirty years.

And I'm still fighting. But you. . . You have no excuse!

Me? I've nothing to do with me.

You have no excuse!

You're just a scared and lonely man with nothing!

No life, nothing! You're the one that's asleep.

Your medicine could be taken away.

They can do that.

You could wake up in the morning, and it won't be there.

Leonard.

Get away from me!

(PATIENTS GIGGLING)

I'm all right. Thank you.

I just fell. I'm fine.

(DOOR CLOSES)

LEONARD: Sayer.

Help me.

Can you walk?

I won't let them take the medicine away, Leonard.

We'll work together with it.

All we're saying is that you're taking an unnecessary risk.

He's had a reaction to the drug.

He has acquired some tics,

but he's not as concerned with his appearance

as the effect it may have upon the other patients.

Now, we'll be working with his dosage.

He's aware of this, and he's prepared for any effects,

but he wants the others to be prepared as well.

Now, you've gotta help me with this.

MARGARET: Yes, Doctor. Okay.

Hey, Len.

Welcome back. Thanks.

Hello, Leonard. Hi.

How you doing, Leonard? How you feeling?

You all right?

It's swell to see you, Leonard.

It got so quiet around here.

(ALL LAUGHING) 'Cause we're waiting for you.

♪ Just a song at twilight

♪ When the lights are low

You're looking good, Len. You're looking better every day.

Yeah.

LUCY: ♪ Softly come and go

What if he's just had enough of it?

What if it's just a matter of time for all of us?

There's no medical reason

to think that what's happening to Leonard will happen to you.

Why not?

Well, you're all individuals, and you're well.

Aren't you? Yeah.

♪ Comes love's old sweet song ♪

That was lovely, Lucy.

I learned that song a long, long time ago.

I know what year it is.

I just can't imagine being older than 22.

I've no experience at it.

I know it's not 1926.

I just need it to be.

How are you?

Never better. (BOTH CHUCKLE)

How are the others? Are they talking about me?

They're scared.

They should be.

Can you stop this?

I'm not sure, but I'm trying.

Don't give up on me.

I won't.

425. 425.

Yes. Okay.

Here we go. 425.

MAN: I got a postcard from my son.

LEONARD: I'm all right, and then everything stops.

Look at this. I got a postcard from my son.

There's no warning. It's like a light switch going off.

it happens that fast.

Something has to happen to bring me back, a sound or a touch.

And then I can move again. I'm okay again.

Thanks.

It's not that it feels bad. It's nothing. I feel nothing.

It's like I'm dead.

Nothing.

Nothing.

it gets to be like I'm not a person any more, just a collection of tics.

Not that I mind them necessarily.

Sometimes they make life kind of interesting.

Though I'm not sure who's in control, me or them.

What I do mind is knowing that they shouldn't be there.

Back to five.

Okay, five, five.

Just a little more.

Okay.

It feels good when I'm working. I feel good here.

The book list is coming along well.

I'd love to see it.

It's here somewhere.

That's all right. Some other time.

(GROANING)

Leonard. Leonard.

(STUTTERING) What's happening?

You're having an oculogyric crisis.

Get the camera. Get the camera.

Bring the camera. Get the camera.

(BABBLING)

I can't do this, Leonard. I'm turning the camera off.

(GARBLED) No, no, no. Watch, watch, watch.

Learn, learn, learn. Learn, learn, learn. Learn, learn!

Learn, learn, learn. Learn, learn, learn.

Learn from me. Learn.

Six...

625.

PHARMACIST: All right, 625.

SAYER: 675.

6757 Okay.

Thank you.

I can't read any more. I can't keep my eyes in one place.

I keep going back to the beginning.

The beginning, beginning, beginning.

I've let everybody down. I have. No.

I let you down.

No, you have not.

I have! I have! I'm grotesque.

You are not.

It's not true, and I won't listen to you talk like this.

I'm grotesque. I am. Look at me.

Look at me, and tell me I'm not.

Tell me I'm not. You're not.

This isn't me. This isn't me!

(LEONARD CRYING)

When my son was born healthy, I never asked why.

Why was I so lucky?

What did I do to deserve this perfect child, this perfect life?

But when he got sick, you can bet I asked why.

I demanded to know why. Why was this happening?

There was nothing I could do about it.

No one I could go to and say, "Stop this.

"Please, stop this. Can't you see my son is in pain?"

My son is in pain. Please, stop this.

He's fighting, Mrs Lowe.

He's losing.

Uh, I worked.

Had friends over, went dancing.

That's about it. Not much.

That's great.

I've never done any of those things.

You will.

They'll never let me out of this place.

And they shouldn't.

I think I'm still not well as you can see.

I mean, I feel well when I see you.

(STUTTERING) I won't see you any more.

I just want to say goodbye.

(SOFT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING)

Look.

(INAUDIBLE)

(SOBBING)

Now?

SAYER: Whenever you're ready.

My name is Leonard Lowe.

it has been explained to me

that I have been away for quite some time.

I'm back.

SAYER: What's it like to be back?

I thought it was a dream at first.

SAYER: What made you realise it wasn't a dream?

When I spoke and you understood me.

(DOOR OPENING)

You told him I was a kind man.

How kind is it to give life only to take it away again?

COSTELLO: It's given and taken away from all of us.

Why doesn't that comfort me?

Because you are a kind man.

(INAUDIBLE)

Because he's your friend.

SAYER: The summer was extraordinary.

it was a season of rebirth and innocence.

A miracle.

Fifteen patients, and for us, the caretakers.

But now we have to adjust to the realities of miracles.

We can hide behind the veil of science

and say it was the drug that failed,

or that the illness itself had returned,

or that the patients were unable to cope

with losing decades of their lives.

But the reality is

we don't know what went wrong any more than we know what went right.

What we do know is as the chemical window closed,

another awakening took place.

That the human spirit is more powerful than any drug,

and that is what needs to be nourished.

With work, play, friendship, family.

These are the things that matter.

This is what we had forgotten.

The simplest things.

Well...

(CLEARS THROAT) Good night.

Good night.

Eleanor!

Yes?

Um...

(DOOR CLOSES)

Eleanor.

What's wrong?

I was wondering, what are you doing tonight?

If you have other plans, I...

No. Because I was wondering...

You have no plans?

No, I have no...

Because I was wondering if you... We...

Well, you and I could, um...

If we could, um,

go for a cup of coffee?

Yes.

I'd love to.

My car's over here.

What do you say we just walk?

Okay.

SAYER: Let's begin.