Original subtitles

Your father and I, we had our ups and downs.

The ideal match for Nigel would be your young Joan.

I just wanted to make sure I have the correct formula

for the embalming fluid. Oh. Ooh.

Your silkworms?

Everybody to the shelter!

EXPLOSIONS

We need to make some letter of intent, something we can all sign

towards the merger that we've been discussing

between our two companies.

I don't intend to leave this office until I have an exit permit

for that young woman.

I'm sorry, we haven't called T to Z yet.

Next.

NEWSREEL: As Japanese forces push onto the island of Singapore,

orders come from the British Governor's office

to destroy anything of value which may benefit the enemy.

Thriving business are razed to the ground,

from the finest Scotch whisky to bales of rubber.

Everything must be destroyed.

In the city of Singapore, our boys keep them at bay

beyond the city limits.

We have been told by Mr Churchill that there is worse to come.

But we can hang on and turn defeat to victory!

Now... are you choosing the Haut-Brion

or the Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou?

Or...

No!

Here's a Chateau Lafite!

You must take that.

What is this? I'm afraid Cheong and I,

we have found it necessary to liberate the wine cellar of Walter.

We cannot risk the Japanese getting his hands on it.

So we consider it our patriotic duty.

I see.

That was a disgraceful exhibition down at the docks.

It was. I was thinking...

...perhaps that's what's really meant by the Singapore grip.

The West's grip on the culture and economy of the East.

And if so...

...l believe it's about to be pried loose.

No, no, Brendan.

The Singapore grip is the ability of certain Singapore ladies

to control their most intimate muscles, autonomously,

with, they tell me...

...the most delightful results.

Really, Francois?

Oh... You don't like the Margaux?

Then, perhaps, the West must perish.

Hm.

Where's Walter, by the way?

No-one's seen him for a couple of days.

Our liquor godown in Bukit Timah Road, Mohammed.

Where you'll be delighted to hear

we've been instructed to destroy our entire stock of liquor.

Oh, no, sir!

The Straits Times is sending a photographer

to see me smash the first bottle,

so I thought I'd try and look my best.

BOTTLE SMASHES

HE GRUNTS

GRUNTS, BOTTLES SMASH

Ah! Argh!

HE GROANS

Carry on. Carry on.

Excuse me, sir.

You haven't forgotten your emergency board meeting

at Langfeld & Browser, have you, sir?

Oh, yes. What time is it?

4:30. Oh!

Well, we'd better get a shift on.

AIRCRAFT ROAR OVERHEAD

AIR-RAID SIRENS WAIL

BOTH SPEAKING MANDARIN

MAN: They're here! The japs are here!

Quickly, run for it! Get out!

They're outside!

AIRCRAFT ROAR OVERHEAD

OFFICER SHOUTS IN JAPANESE

SCREAMING AND SHOUTING

Arghg

I still can't work out, for the life of me, what Langfeld had in mind.

If he's not here in five minutes, I propose we call the meeting off.

Ah...

All off to the front line after this, are we?

HE SIGHS

The devil of it is

if all our plant is destroyed, as it is being,

and all the Chinese firms remain intact,

just think of the head start they'll have on us when the war is over.

What we need is a co-ordinated strategy.

Now, we have to get the Governor to rescind this order now!

Ow! Oh!

How are we going to do it, hm?

Well, undesirable as these developments undoubtedly are,

I think our energies would probably be better directed

towards exerting pressure on the appropriate parties back in London,

with a view to obtaining, in due course...

...compensation. Yes.

Yes, I see.

I thought as much.

By the way, what have you done with Solomon?

Been able to ship him back home?

No.

In point of fact...

...er, you've got your feet on him.

We expect to take him with us when we leave.

And when's that? In a couple of days.

We have a motor launch waiting for us in the Telok Ayer Basin.

It'll take us to Sumatra when the balloon goes up.

You know, you ought to think about coming with us.

Well, I'll bear it in mind.

Good evening.

Oh, thank you. You're welcome.

Oh... Very good.

Cheers.

Oh, lovely. Thank you.

Lovely, lovely, lovely.

Mm. Anybody seen Vera?

Oh, thank you.

Oh, my God. What is it?

She says she's gone to visit her doctor friend

up at Alexandra Hospital to see if she can help him.

Oh. That's up in Bukit Timah, isn't it?

Isn't that the way the Japanese are expected to come through?

It is the logical way for them to advance, certainly.

Oh, my God! I have to go and find her.

I don't know how you're going to manage that.

The roads are blocked.

ENGINE STARTS

Yes, yes.

How do I make it go?

Stop!

ENGINE REVS WILDLY

Where's the brake? Stop!

CAR HORN BLARES, TYRES SQUEAL

Stupid bugger!

Throttle, brake. Brake, throttle.

Will you go and get the motor boat organised? Yes, sir.

Yes, but not at all a reassuring one, I'm afraid.

I still can't understand, after all our intelligence,

that the north-west was so poorly defended.

I mean, they marched straight through Malaya.

And now they're streaming across the causeway,

which wasn't properly demolished.

Just as we were leaving HQ, somebody...

...handed me this cable from the Prime Minister.

I think I'd better read it to you.

"There must, at this stage, be no thought of saving the troops

"or sparing the population.

"The battle must be fought to the bitter end at all costs.

"Commanders and senior officers should die with their troops.

"The honour of the British Empire...

"and of the British Army is at stake."

It could scarcely be any clearer.

And it's true what Mr Churchill says.

We are indeed talking about the honour of the British Empire.

I'll go and see how they're getting on with that boat.

0h!

THUD

HE SNIFFS

MAN: You're looking for Vera?

Yes.

Me, too. But she is not here.

I hope she got away. What happened?

The Japanese came.

They killed maybe 500 people.

Then they took prisoners. Maybe 200.

Do you think Vera was...?

I don't know. She's a smart girl.

She knows how to look after herself. Mm.

I think you should go.

The Japanese are on the march. It's not safe.

Can I take you to the city?

Thank you.

Vera, she lives in a room down there.

Has anyone seen Vera? She lives in the room down the end.

Have you seen Vera Chiang? She lives in that room there.

Excuse me, have you seen Vera?

Has anyone seen Vera?!

I don't see you have any alternative, General.

The water supply's failing.

And you say the Japanese have cut off the MacRitchie Reservoir.

Yes. But in the meantime, the streets are full of corpses,

which we're in no position to be able to bury.

I don't see how disease and pestilence can be avoided.

We really are in a pickle.

Everyone's done their best.

Surely, the moment has come to surrender.

Why not?

We're on the ground, he's not.

How can the Prime Minister...

possibly know what he's talking about?

HE SIGHS HEAVILY

ENGINE STOPS

Will you not go back to the house, sir?

No, really, Mohammed, I feel more comfortable here.

But the bombs...

Well, if your name's on it...

...it doesn't much matter where you are.

DISTANT EXPLOSIONS AND GUNFIRE

MOHAMMED: Don't move, sir. I get spare torch.

DISTANT GUNFI RE

Sir... Oh.

A few things, sir. Some egg and whisky.

Well, thank you, Mohammed.

I, er...

won't be needing you for some time, Mohammed, so take the car.

Lay it up. Hide it, I mean.

And take the leads out.

And then I'd head to your kampong until you hear from me.

Understood?

Yes, sir.

A man must move with the times, Mohammed.

Goodbye, tuan.

Oh, here, take the torch.

I've got another one somewhere.

HE SIGHS

Goodbye, Mohammed.

CAR ENGINE STARTS

CAR DRIVES AWAY

DISTANT EXPLOSIONS AND GUNFIRE

No.

Thank you, though.

MAN: # Roll out the barrel

# We'll have a barrel of fun

# Roll out the barrel

# We've got the blues on the run

ALL: # Roll out the barrel

# We'll have a barrel of fun

# Roll out the barrel

# We've got the blues On the run... #

What's that noise?

# Roll out the barrel... #

Take cover!

Run! Run! What is it?

Gas mains! Get down!

Get down!

EXPLOSION

Urgh!

Ah! Ow!

I've got it, I've got it.

I've got it, come on. Quick, quick, quick!

Ah!

Matthew.

You know where Walter's godown is?

It's down there.

The whole of the dock area's ablaze, but he's refusing to leave.

The fire's getting closer.

I was wondering if you'd go and have a shot at persuading him to get out.

Yes, of course.

Thank you.

Walter?

HE COUGHS

Walter?

What do you want?

It's Matthew. Who?

Matthew Webb. I wondered if I might have a word.

Oh, it's you.

Come to destroy all my rubber, have you?

No. It's not about that.

I don't know what your father would have said.

May l?

This way.

Take a seat.

Have you made arrangements to leave Singapore?

Oh, so that's it.

Like everybody else, you want me out of here

so you can burn the place down.

I'm afraid it's gonna burn down without our help.

That's why I'm here, to get you out before it does.

We're trying to stop fires, not start them.

Well, I'm glad your father isn't here to see it.

You're looking a bit of a mess, if you don't mind my saying so.

I wanted to ask you to...

You know, I had this army idiot here just now.

You know what he had the gall to say to me?

I... I'll tell you.

He said we civilians were happy to let the troops do all the fighting,

and all we were thinking about was feathering our own nests.

Can you believe it? Well, there is some truth in that.

Do you know what Lever of Lever Brothers said?

No. Look... He said...

...war was just a passing phase in business life.

Now, he wanted to go on selling Sunlight soap to the Germans.

This was during the Great War.

And his thinking was, the more soap he made,

the more glycerine there would be for munitions.

Now, there's nothing like patriotism for blinding people to reality.

I think we'd better go, Walter. And what happens?

A bunch of self-righteous fools destroying our investment

lock, stock and barrel.

It's not self-righteous fools destroying your investments, Walter.

It's the bloody Japanese air force!

DISTANT GUNFI RE

Oh, my God. Look at that!

DISTANT GUNFIRE AND EXPLOSIONS

Yes, terrible. You know...

you don't seem to understand the responsibilities

a businessman has to bear.

Can we talk about this later? We really have to go.

I can assure you, Matthew...

your father and I would work late into the night.

Because we were aware of the responsibilities

we had to our shareholders. You know, we were thinking of them,

of the poor widows and the clergymen and the spinsters

and what would happen to them if we withheld the dividend.

Oh, you can scoff all you like. I'm not scoffing, Walter!

I just want to get out of here before it's too late!

Of course, the world was a different place then.

Singapore was certainly different.

You know, we used to have to fetch water in barrels

and then my mother would filter it through muslin.

Walter, can you... Can you hear that crackling sound?

NEARBY FLAMES CRACKLE AND SPARK

Yes, I can.

Now, we children used to have rickshaw races.

A Chinese boy would supervise us at afternoon tea.

And if we misbehaved, oh!

He would give us a sharp rap over the knuckles.

Walter...

Walter! What's the matter?

MATTHEW COUGHS

The junior boys, who came out from England,

they were always terribly homesick. They wouldn't admit it, of course.

But my mother knew.

She was always wonderfully kind to them.

What's all this smoke?

The godown's on fire, Walter. We need to get out.

What...? Come on!

COUGHING

Do you have a way to get out of Singapore? I certainly do.

There's a boat leaving from Telok Basin at eight this evening.

You'd better come, too, I suppose.

THEY COUGH AND SPLUTTER

Oh, I don't know about you,

but I wouldn't mind a spot of breakfast at Raffles.

Kedgeree and orange juice, I fancy.

I have to leave you here, Walter, I'm afraid.

There's someone I need to find.

Are you all right?

Do you have any water, by any chance?

What have you done to your hands?

Firefighting.

And some sort of explosion.

You'd better come with us. We can get you a dressing.

No.

I'm looking for my girl.

You will be able to do that better once your hands have been seen to.

Come.

Please.

You see that beach over there?

Yes.

We got hold of a boat and hid it over there.

We're going to try to get out and make it to Sumatra,

nine o'clock tonight.

Room for you, if you'd like to join us.

We could probably squeeze in your girl as well.

Of course, you'll have to find her first. Oh, I'll find her.

We can't wait for you.

Don't worry. I'll find her.

I mean, what the hell has gone wrong?

Room!

We should have surrendered two clays ago.

Yes, but he's in java.

DRONE OF AN AIRCRAFT

Japanese.

MACHINE-GUN FIRE

He's coming back!

Let's get the fuck out of here.

MACHINE-GUN FIRE

Are you all right?

HE STRAINS

ENGINE STARTS

What's his name?

Bruce.

I'm afraid I didn't catch his other name.

OK, you can go inside and get patched up by the church, OK?

No, I'm fine, I'm fine. Hey, hey.

Maybe just a cup of tea, all right?

We'll look after him. Thanks.

No.

No, this is someone else's.

I came to find you at the hospital. How did you get away?

SHE SNIFFS

It's nothing.

It's just a few cuts.

Come back with me.

I've found a boat.

We can get out this evening together.

But we...

All right.

All right, I will come back and collect you at seven.

Will that be all right?

SHE SNIFFS

Seven o'clock.

Brendan and I will drive you to your boat at Tanjong Rhu.

Maybe they could fit you in as well. Oh, no, no.

I, er... I've decided to stay on.

And I will keep my friend company.

After all, where would I go?

Avec la sale Boche en France! Mm, oui.

Oui.

# Praise, my soul, The king of heaven

# To his feet thy tribute bring

# Ransomed, healed, Restored, forgiven

# Who like me

# His praise should sing?

# Hallelujah!

# Hallelujah!

# Praise the everlasting king. #

VERA: MATTH EW: Seven o'clock.

Come on.

Oh, thank God we've made it.

Madam, really glad you could make it.

Erm... Oh, we're just here to see them off.

Well, we'd best be quiet. There are other people about.

I'm not sure, might even be the japs.

Actually, you've arrived just in time. We're ready to go.

Take care, be safe.

Ah...

Take care now.

Sir, get the anchor point here.

AUSTRALIAN ACCENT: Hold it right there, cobber!

We're taking the boat. Sorry. Go find your own bloody boat.

0w!

Hey! Arghg

MOANING

Everybody, off the boat now.

You, too, miss.

I'm afraid we'd better do what he says.

You bloody pommy twats.

You're facing your guns in the wrong direction,

so the japs can come up behind you and fuck you in the arse.

Take him with you, will you, before we do him?

Three, two, one, heave!

Three, two, one, heave!

HE GRUNTS AND STRAINS

Oh! Oh!

I say, Walter, I don't suppose you could give us a hand?

No, I told you, I did my bit when I helped to embalm him.

I don't intend to lay a finger on him ever again.

I don't know why you don't pitch him into the drink.

No, no, I couldn't possibly do that.

Is that it? Yes, that's the one.

The Nigel.

You know, war is just a passing phase in business life.

Hello!

HE LAUGHS

HE STRAINS

Come on, Solomon!

DISTANT EXPLOSIONS

Why don't you marry me?

I'd like you to.

You can't stay here.

Sooner or later, someone in the building will inform on you.

But won't they have seen you with me?

BOMBS DETONATE IN THE DISTANCE

I took out all the money earlier.

It should be enough to keep you going for a while.

You must.

And buy some gold

to keep you going when the currency collapses.

SHE SNIFFS

We'll see each other again.

# The world may change and go awry

# While there's still One voice to cry

# There'll always be an England

# While there's a country lane... #

Time to wave the big, white mouchoir, Brendan.

Yes.

# Wherever there's a cottage small

# Beside a field of grain

# There'll always be an England

# While there's a busy street

# Wherever there's a turning wheel

# A million marching feet

# Red, white and blue, What does it mean to you? #

So, Matthew...

you still believe that, one day, all races will abandon self-interest

and live together in harmony?

I do, Francois, I do.

One day.

ALL: # There'll always be an England

FRANCOIS LAUGHS

# And England shall be free

# If England means as much to you... Louder!

# As England means to me. #

FRANCOIS: I love you English!

# Red, white and blue

# What does it mean to you?

# Surely you're proud, Shout it out loud... #

THUNDER RUMBLES

MY God!

What?

It's from Vera.

Ah...

One of her specialties. Cooked white mice.

And a sugar lump.

There are two mice, we can share them.

Well, I'm not sure that...

Oh, you'll find they taste surprisingly good.

Maybe I take the sugar lump.

Ah.

All right.

And there are two messages. Saying?

One says...

"Tomorrow is another day."

And the other?

It's more personal. Oh.

FRANCOIS CHUCKLES

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