Original subtitles

That's a siji bird. Kind of rare.

You usually don't see them this far down the river. Something has scared it.

- Us, perhaps? - No, they are used to my boat.

Although the jungle doesn't often see someone as pretty as you.

Are you flirting with me, Captain?

Wouldn't dare, Mrs Leiningen. Very tough man, your husband.

I haven't had a chance to ask before, but how well do you know Mr Leiningen?

I brought him upriver on this same boat about 15 years ago.

1886. July '86.

What kind of man is he?

I beg your pardon?

What is Mr Leiningen like?

I thought you were his wife, Mrs Leiningen?

I am, but I've never seen him.

You've never seen your husband?

I know it's not polite to ask questions, and I won't,

so I'd better get back to my work before I can't stand it.

The captain's confused.

I've been asking questions about my husband. Now it's your turn.

We're getting close to your husband's land.

It begins just beyond that next bend.

I'd better start getting my things together.

There's no hurry. We won't reach his dock until tomorrow.

- Is it that large? - There's more to it than size.

This is another world, Mrs Leiningen.

Beyond that bend, your husband has more power than a king.

You know about me, don't you?

You haven't mentioned it the whole trip, but I think you know all about me.

Your name was Joanna Selby. You're 25 years old. You come from New Orleans.

You married by proxy. You've never seen each other.

You know a great deal.

When your part of the marriage ceremony was performed,

Mr Leiningen's brother acted in his place.

When the ceremony was performed here, I took your place. I was good.

I also performed the ceremony.

You're almost one of the family.

As commissioner of this area for my government, I have to know everything,

and besides, I'm what you call nosy.

Will you be stopping off at my husband's place?

No. No, I have business further upriver I cannot delay.

A little while ago a bird flew over us.

Yes, I saw it.

There have been many such birds lately.

My government wants to know all about these birds.

Sounds very mysterious.

I hope it remains so, only a mystery.

At any rate, after tomorrow, I'll not see you again for a while.

But I wish you much joy of our marriage to Mr Leiningen.

Thank you, but you still haven't told me anything about him, you know.

In a few days, on my way downriver, I will stop and visit you.

By then you'll know more about Leiningen than I do.

Mr Leiningen will probably be here soon.

Well, goodbye.

Goodbye. Thank you.

Ma'am, you're very welcome here.

We're very glad you're come.

We hope to be very much in love with you and you be much in love with us.

We think you're very pretty.

My name is Incacha. I'm Mr Leiningen's No.1 man.

Whatever you wish, it is me you will ask...

Where is Mr Leiningen?

Whatever you wish, it is me you will ask. I will see it is done.

- But where is Mr Leiningen? - I am Incacha.

I am Mr Leiningen's No.1 man.

And I'm Mr Leiningen's No.1 wife. I expected him to meet me here.

- Where is he? - Ma'am, he's coming from the jungle.

He's very dirty. He does not wish to see you like a dirty man.

Please. You will come?

Thank you.

His name Mayi. You want him?

- What about his family? - They're glad to lose boy. Make plenty.

Mayi.

We give him a bath.

We give him two baths.

Your servants, ma'am.

Zala, your No.1 girl.

Do you speak English, Zala?

Yes, ma'am.

I hope you and I are going to be very good friends.

Yes, ma'am.

What was Mr Leiningen doing in the jungle?

Yes, ma'am.

Is that all the English you know?

Yes, ma'am.

- Mr Leiningen? - Yes, ma'am.

- Leiningen, madam. - I'll be right out.

You're not dressed, madam. I should come back another time.

I'm not undressed, and we are married.

- Madam... - My name is Joanna.

I know that, madam.

Leave something on me. I'm getting chilly.

You have a sense of humor. I don't like humor in a woman...

I'm just trying to be friendly.

- And you interrupt. - You don't like being interrupted?

No, but never mind. You'll get used to me.

I hope so.

Frankly, you're not what I expected.

Am I worse or better?

Just more... more than I expected.

I think if I study that a while, it might turn out to be a compliment.

Are you making fun of me, madam?

I'm sorry.

I know this must be as difficult for you as it is for me.

We haven't made a very good start, have we?

No, but then, I might not be what you expected.

A little dirty - uncouth, perhaps.

Not quite the gentleman you might have pictured.

I hope we're not going to quarrel.

I am your wife and I intend to fulfill all my marital obligations as happily as I may.

I want to please you.

May I speak very frankly, madam?

Please do.

You know my situation here.

This plantation is a long way from civilization.

I could not leave it to find a wife, but I wanted a wife.

Your brother explained all that to me.

You want children.

So do I.

- You're very... - Bold?

Never mind.

What I want to say is this:

our contract, marriage by proxy,

is not an uncommon way to get a wife in the jungle.

Only you are uncommon.

How did my brother find you?

He advertised in the New Orleans papers.

You'll be flattered to know there were nearly 50 applications.

- He picked you. - Not exactly. I didn't apply.

I have known your brother for years.

He asked me to read the applications and help him choose a wife for you.

I became interested. I decided I'd be much better for you than anyone else.

Your brother didn't agree with me, but I managed to convince him.

It wasn't easy. Very stubborn man, your brother.

You might not believe that.

- It runs in the family. - Really?

I know why my brother picked you.

But what made you decide to marry a man you'd never met?

I think it was your letters that decided me. Your letters to your brother.

I could tell how lonely you were. I knew you needed me.

I don't need anyone.

Not even for children?

I suppose I'm to consider myself fortunate you came down here.

Perhaps not right now, but when you know me better, you will.

Perhaps when you know me better, you won't care to stay.

If I'd thought there'd be any doubt, I would never have left New Orleans.

You're here and you're welcome.

We do things by schedule in the tropics.

We eat early, we go to bed early. Dinner's at seven.

What time is bedtime?

- Whenever you wish, madam. - I wouldn't want to upset your schedule.

Your coffee smells stronger than New Orleans coffee.

It is.

The dinner was wonderful. Very good chicken.

It was lizard.

The climate's very pleasant here. It's not as hot as I thought.

This is winter.

That's right. We are pretty far south.

- How far? - Does it matter?

Not really. I was just trying to make conversation.

Why?

I can't think of a single reason.

My brother wrote me that you play the piano.

I'd like to hear you play.

We'll have our coffee in the other room.

I'd like to hear it played before the termites get at it.

I had it brought upriver, 2,000 miles.

- For me? - No, for anyone who could play it.

I wanted someone who could.

Play.

- What would you like to hear? - I know nothing about music.

What made you stop playing?

It's too sad. I'll play something else.

I'd like my coffee now. Would you mind?

One lump or two?

Two.

Black.

Do you speak any languages?

- Would you like to converse in French? - I don't speak French.

I was merely trying to see if you were everything my brother said you were.

Yes. I am exactly as represented.

I speak several languages, play the piano, converse intelligently

and have very nice teeth.

Would you care to count them?

That's what you do with horses when you buy them. You count their teeth.

Fortunately, I have all mine.

- You also have a temper. - Yes, I know.

- You don't like a woman with a temper. - I don't mind. I have a temper myself.

- You surprise me. - You're very beautiful.

Intelligent. Accomplished. There must be something wrong with you.

I'm not that lucky to get a perfect woman just like that out of the grab bag.

There's something wrong somewhere.

I thought you didn't like me.

I thought you were disappointed, and instead you're afraid of me.

- Do you think so? - You're looking for a fault in me.

Anything, so you can ignore me.

You know a lot about men, don't you?

You wanted an ornament, something nice-looking to go with the furniture.

Brought upriver with difficulty,

keep it dusted and see the termites don't get at it.

That's the kind of a wife you wanted.

Instead you got a woman, and you're afraid of me.

- I said you know a lot about men. - More than you know about women.

Where did you learn? From what man?

That's it. That's what's wrong. You've been with another man.

I was married. Didn't your brother tell you?

No.

He left that out.

Everything else about you, everything, all but that.

I let your brother know. He should have told you.

Perhaps he knew me better than I thought he did.

- How long were you married? - Nearly a year.

- He was killed. - How?

He drank.

He was very gay, very charming and usually drunk.

One night he went out riding, very gay, very charming and very drunk.

The money you sent to pay my debts paid his.

- So he was no good. - He was the kindest man I've known.

- He was a weakling. You didn't like him. - I loved him.

How many others have there been?

Madam, you have seen my house.

It took me seven years to build, to make it what it is, in the heart of the jungle.

They laughed at me, up and down the river, but it's what I wanted.

I wanted it to be filled with beautiful things.

I wanted a family I could be proud of in this house that I'm proud of in the land

that I took out of the river and the jungle with my bare hands.

The only condition I made about anything I brought up the river was that it be new.

Madam, this piano was never played by anyone before it came here.

If you knew about music, you'd realise a good piano is better when it's played.

This is not a very good piano.

- I'm not finished with you, madam. - Yes, you are.

Goodnight, Mr Leiningen.

Go back to the house, madam.

I heard the music. If it's a native ceremony, I'd like to watch.

This is no place for you. Will you do as I say?

- I'd like to watch. - Then watch.

That's the boy they brought in last night.

He's trying to kill him. Why don't you stop it?

He stole a man's wife. Now he's being punished. I can't stop it. No one can.

It's over, madam.

I suggest you pay attention to what I say in the future.

Have you no heart? No feelings at all?

And you, I thought you were decent and gentle.

You're as bad as your master.

The dead man was his son.

Yes, you made another mistake.

Perhaps your worst mistake was leaving New Orleans.

You'd better see exactly what you're up against down here.

Come with me, madam.

Without these, my whole plantation would be six feet under the river,

where I got it from.

It took me five years to get a foothold here.

I started with 20 acres and four men.

I nearly forgot the English language in that time. I was 19 years old.

My irrigation moats, built by men who'd never seen one in their lives.

I had 100 men by that time - used to lose two or three a week.

Headhunters.

This is what we get.

800 Indians working for me and nearly 200,000 acres of river bottom.

Eaten by flies, worms, lice and half a dozen diseases men get from the jungle.

All for that.

So that your friends can drink chocolate with their breakfast in New Orleans.

Go ten miles in any direction from here and it's civilized.

But go ten paces beyond where I stopped and you're in the bush.

A living jungle, where no man has a name

and the only law is to stay alive, even if you live like a beast.

In the jungle, man's just another animal.

I don't believe that.

Kutina!

This is Kutina. He's one of the first four men who worked for me.

Kutina, this is Leiningen's woman.

He says he likes you.

He's more civilized than the rest. He's like Incacha. He has Mayan blood.

They were one of the most intelligent races in the history of the world.

They were mathematicians, architects, builders,

but they stayed in the jungle too long.

Kutina, show Leiningen ma'am your treasure.

After this, stay in the house. That's where civilization ends here.

Shut up.

Something wrong with that bird.

Hasn't said a word for three days.

Till now.

In fact, he's said more than you have.

Everything I say seems to make things worse.

- I'm trying not to irritate you. - I've noticed that.

I find it irritating.

I'm very tired.

Goodnight.

Madam.

That perfume you're wearing - is it one of those I had brought up the river for you?

No, it's my own.

- Why aren't you in bed? - Make faster?

No. Go to bed.

It wasn't locked. It never has been.

I didn't think it was necessary.

My perfume...

The perfume I wanted you to wear. Isn't it good enough for you?

Have you even tried it?

You're my wife!

Maybe you forgot that!

Leiningen's woman.

I'm sorry for you.

- This won't happen again. - That isn't what I meant.

I'm not interested in your opinion of me.

I want you to leave.

I'll see that you get money.

Enough to make it all right that you came all this way, but I want you to leave.

I'll send runners downriver. The boat'll be back in a few weeks.

- And that'll be the end of it? - Yes.

I made a mistake marrying someone I'd never met.

- You made a mistake coming. - I was looking for something.

I'd risk anything to find it. The strength that was missing in my first husband.

- He was a weakling. - So are you.

- Your weakness is your pride. - Yes, I'm proud.

Too proud to take another man's leavings.

Maybe you don't realise what it meant to me to have you come here.

I told you I was 19 when I came out here.

Before that, I had no time for women.

Afterwards, in the jungle they have a name for the man

who goes into the native villages at night.

No one called me by that name.

You said I didn't know anything about women.

You were right, madam. I know nothing about women. Nothing at all.

I thought about that when I saw how you were.

I couldn't understand why it was so important that I'd been married before.

Then I realised. That's why I'm sorry for you.

I'll have this fixed. Afterwards, till your boat comes,

whether you lock it or not doesn't matter to me.

- Christopher. - Commissioner, how are you?

- Good to see you again. - A pleasure to have you with us.

But what brings Gruber here?

He complains you're stealing his workers.

The only workers I've known Gruber to lose were the ones he worked to death.

Have him line up his men. I'll show you which are mine.

Well, point out the men you say are yours.

These two are mine.

I see how you recognise them.

If I catch you whipping your men, you'll leave South America the same day.

I've got their contracts here.

You'll find their crosses and their thumbprints alongside their names.

I have to ask you this. Where did you get these two men?

Where I get all my men. They came out of the jungle.

- Make 'em show you their contracts. - I make no contracts.

- Then how do you keep 'em? - They just stay.

Perhaps because I have no bullwhip.

According to Gruber's book, they're his men. I have to turn them over.

First I have to hang them.

- Hang them? For what? - Murder. They killed one of my men.

He's trying to trick me. Where's your evidence?

There's what's left of it.

This head is several years old. It's ridiculous.

If you insist, we'll take the head downriver and have experts go over it.

No. Mr Leiningen is a man of honor.

If he says these men are to be hanged, then let them hang.

Well, it looks like we're all ready for the hanging.

No, stop. Let them down. Slack that rope!

Let them down, I say!

I thought you were bluffing. I wouldn't have let it go this far.

If you're serious about hanging them, they have the right to a trial.

If Leiningen doesn't hang these men, I want 'em back.

The law isn't clear on this situation.

I'll have to look it up when I get back to the Home Office.

- I couldn't let you hang them. - I didn't think you could.

- I had to stop you. - I was counting on it.

Finish it.

I can't.

Then start again.

I'd rather not.

The commissioner would be disappointed not to hear more.

Perhaps Mrs Leiningen is tired.

It takes time to get used to our climate.

I'll be looking forward to a full recital on my next visit.

I'm sorry, but I won't be here.

Madam had such a full life in New Orleans, she finds our country dull.

- She's leaving. - I'm sorry.

I thought you would love our country.

I do. It's everything I expected it to be. Beautiful.

Then why do you leave us?

Mr Leiningen thinks I don't belong here.

The commissioner is not interested in our differences.

I don't want him to think I'm leaving because I don't like his country.

Your reasons are unimportant to the commissioner.

Forgive me, that is not correct.

I would be desolate to think Mrs Leiningen was unhappy with my country.

I shall always remember it and your kindness.

Goodnight and goodbye.

Only goodnight, Mrs Leiningen.

- May I say something? - You may not.

Will you have a good crop this year?

Do you really care?

No.

But conversation is better than quarreling.

Each year, my friend, I've seen you get a little more lonely and a little harder.

You're turning to stone.

I expect a better than average crop, thanks.

No. No more. I have to start early tomorrow.

Where to?

The Rio Negro basin.

I was halfway there when I met Gruber coming downstream.

He was foaming at the mouth, so I came back with him.

I can handle Gruber. Don't worry about me.

I was worried about Gruber.

What's going on at the Rio Negro that it needs you?

We've had some strange reports recently. Nothing definite.

- Trouble? - I think so.

- Your servants? - Gone to the village. You can talk.

Siji birds have been seen as far west as Ecuador.

Even monkeys are moving out of the Rio Negro.

Something is driving them out, and I think it's something big.

What?

Marabunta.

- You really think it's that? - I'm hoping not.

It hasn't happened in years.

I looked it up before I left. 27 years ago was the last time.

100 years would be too soon. I have to go and see.

How were you planning to go?

Upstream to the mouth of the Baramura, then across to the big river.

I'll go with you. We can take the woman as far as the Baramura.

She can get the mail boat there.

Do you want her to go that badly?

If it's marabunta in the Rio Negro, she'll be glad to go.

Perhaps it is best for her to leave.

I don't think I'm mistaken about what is happening.

- You sound frightened. - I am.

Not you, huh?

What would it take to frighten you?

I haven't seen it yet.

And you've seen everything, eh?

Everything but marabunta, I think.

- Who is it? - Leiningen. May I come in?

The door's open.

- Please don't be disturbed. - I'm not, Mr Leiningen.

My name is Christopher.

I haven't asked before, but I hope you've been comfortable here.

These... rooms used to be mine. I thought you might like them.

I do.

Perhaps while you're here, you'll open that door for me.

It seems to be stuck, and you're very good at opening doors.

It's rusted. Things rust...

...very quickly here.

Or rot away.

The jungle's corrosive. It swallows up everything.

Even men, sometimes.

You've been reading... Joanna?

I found it in your library. Poetry.

I don't read much myself.

I bought all those books by weight.

800 pounds of books is what I ordered.

Well, whoever selected them for you has very good taste.

It was you, wasn't it?

Why lie about it? Are you afraid I might think you weak for reading poetry?

Perhaps. As Fontaine says somewhere in there,

"Each man is three men: what he thinks he is, what others think he is

"and what he really is."

And which Leiningen is this?

The last.

The real Leiningen... uncertain, complex,

a little pompous, even laughable sometimes.

I haven't ever laughed at you.

I know, and I've appreciated it in my fashion.

I've written a letter.

To my brother in New Orleans.

When you get there, give it to him. He'll make all the necessary arrangements.

I'm leaving right away, apparently.

Tomorrow. The commissioner and I are going upcountry.

You'll go with us and then across to the big river.

You can catch a boat there in a few days,

instead of waiting until next month.

I hadn't realised that you were in such a hurry to see the last of me.

It's not that. The hurry, I mean.

It's not wanting to get rid of you. It's just I don't like what's happening to me.

I think you're sorry about tonight.

I tried to embarrass you. I'm not like that usually.

I don't like to hurt things.

I... was hurt.

But I'm over it now.

When you get back home, you'll realise it was better to end it before it began.

You'll be happier with your own kind.

Perhaps I will.

Someday you'll find what you're looking for.

I hope you will, too.

Yes.

Well...

I wanted to say these things. We won't have time to talk on the way.

- Then this is goodbye. - I'm sorry it started the way it did.

I don't know what went wrong.

I'd never be able to get it out of my head that you loved someone before me.

I don't know how to be second. I can only be first.

That's very important, I know.

Christopher.

- You don't dislike me any more? - I never did.

- I'll be back in five days. - Sooner would be better.

- There was drum talk last night. - I heard it.

Something coming, drums say.

- Did they say what? - No, just something coming.

Very big trouble, drums say.

- More better you come back quick. - I'll be back as soon as I can.

Are you ready, madam?

There are 14 varieties of river bug where we're going.

We're used to them, but they'll find that dress very convenient.

I'll manage to survive somehow.

She's having a bad time.

But not a single complaint.

Stubborn.

Yes. A terrible fault. Fortunately, we do not suffer from it.

Madam, are you still up?

Yes, what is it?

I went through your luggage and found these things.

Wear them tomorrow.

This is for the bugs. The natives make it.

It doesn't smell very good, but it works.

- What do I do with it? - Just rub it in.

- The effects last two or three days. - Would you mind?

Thank you.

Something woke me up.

We as well.

It took us a while to realise what it was.

The silence.

I've never heard it before, the silence.

There's one way of waking up any life in there.

Quiet.

Nothing there.

There's something there all right - but it's not afraid of guns.

What time is it?

Almost four. It's nearly light. In the morning we'll find out.

We're not waiting for morning.

Get ready to move out. Away from the river. We'll go cross-country.

Deserted. Not a soul around.

This village has been here for over 200 years. How can it be?

No sign of a struggle of any kind.

They weren't forced out. They ran.

Madam.

It's Gruber.

Looks like they caught him while he was drunk.

We're going upriver.

I don't know much about you. I'll have to take your word.

Do you have courage?

- Yes. - I mean a lot of courage.

- I'm not afraid. - She's not going with us.

- We can't leave her here alone. - They'll stay with her.

For about five minutes till we disappear around the first bend in the river.

We have to take her with us.

What about the boat I'm supposed to meet?

There won't be any boat - not now.

Where we're going, there won't be anything left alive.

- Is there any high ground near here? - Yes, that way.

We have to get above this green stuff.

- What is it? - Marabunta.

Soldier ants. Billions and billions of them on the march.

For generations, they stay in their anthills - then, for no reason,

they move, gathering others as they go, until they become a flood of destruction.

- How do you stop them? - You don't. Just get out of their way.

They're moving southeast toward my place.

They'll be there in a week.

They must put out an advance guard of some sort.

Look.

I'll be waiting.

- You'll want to keep going downriver. - I have to get to the telegraph.

I'll give you some fresh paddlers.

- What about you? - I told you. I'm staying.

You can't fight it. You'll end up like Gruber.

If there's a way to stop the ants, I'll do it.

- Think of your men. - I am thinking of them.

They were savages. I took them out of the jungle.

If I leave, they'll go back, and that'll be the end of civilization here.

I'm staying and so are they.

If you can hold them. And I don't think you can.

I'm running out of time. If you don't mind, I'll make this fast.

Madam, I'm sorry for everything that's happened.

If you're trying to say goodbye, don't bother.

- Why not? - I'm staying here.

No, you're not. Get in that boat.

No.

The Indians, you want to keep them here.

You need them and they're starting to leave.

If I leave and they see me go, what about them?

Will any of them stay if I go?

You're quite a woman.

- You're right. - What? You've both gone mad.

Leiningen, you're up against a monster 20 miles long and 2 miles wide,

40 square miles of agonizing death. You can't stop it.

But they're no bigger than my thumb.

They're organized. They're a trained army.

They have generals and they think.

That's the worst part. They actually think.

So do I. I think you'd better be leaving.

You saw what happened to the jungle.

While you smoke a cigar, they can eat a bullock down to the bone.

They'll pick the plantation clean and you with it.

I'm staying if I can hold enough ground to stand on.

They won't give you that much. No one has ever stopped them.

And a lot of men have tried.

Don't be a fool, Leiningen! Get out!

Get out while you can!

Leiningen, don't be a fool!

Don't be a fool, Leiningen!

- What is he saying? - He's saying, "Leiningen not afraid.

"Leiningen's woman not afraid."

"Now the ants come."

He say, "If you want to go, go, then. Back to the jungle.

"Live like your fathers. Hunt each other for heads.

"Or stay here with Leiningen, and be brave like Leiningen's woman."

Will your men stay?

They'll stay tonight because they're ashamed.

They'll stay tomorrow because they have to.

I've burned their boats.

I wish you hadn't done that.

So do I.

It's done. We're locked in here. Now we fight.

Be sure and cut down every branch hanging over the moat.

Do you think this moat will stop them?

Ants are strictly land creatures. They can't swim. Right, Incacha?

Monkeys not swim also. They cross rivers even so.

The intelligence of monkeys is more than ants and less than man.

Is so, but when ants come, monkeys run.

If they cross the moat, we'll fire this brush.

Get everybody inside the moat. Post lookouts in the trees.

Christopher?

Come in. You might as well see this.

Caught him this afternoon. He's an advance scout of some kind.

Handsome devil, isn't he?

Been studying him all evening.

The face of my enemy.

Who knows? Perhaps he's been studying me.

Even alone they look frightening.

Where they go, no life is left but their own.

That's what we're up against.

If I were a sensible man, Joanna, what would I do?

Fight or run?

You have to fight. A man like you doesn't run.

In any case, you're not a sensible man.

You wouldn't have chosen a wife by mail if you were.

I'm beginning to think the only sensible thing I ever did was send for you.

Why do you say that now?

Maybe because it's too late.

What is it - the ants?

They're on their way, ten miles from here.

Get my horse. Bring me some fresh cigars.

They're headed this way all right.

They travel about six miles a day.

They'll get here early tomorrow morning.

Keep the men here. Fire a shot if you need me.

I'll be at the dam.

I want you to stay at that wheel night and day.

Sure. Till marabunta die.

Watch for them every minute. They're quick.

An ordinary man wouldn't last long. Not enough meat.

You'd last half an hour, so keep your eyes open.

Listen for our signals. We may want to flood them out.

Okima, from the cocoa field. Marabunta catch him.

Signal the man at the dam to let in more water.

Open all the gates, tell him. As long as it's deep, we're safe.

You were right about that piano.

It's much better when it's played.

It needs tuning.

Tell me about women.

Where shall I begin?

Anywhere. I find the subject interesting.

Well, there's very little to tell, really.

There are men and there are women.

They're like... spoons.

If they're alike, they go together quite well.

Tell me about spoons.

I do believe you're developing a sense of humor.

More than that, Joanna.

Christopher, please...

Are you sure?

You're my wife, Joanna.

Marabunta, they're coming across on leaves.

Sound the alarm - they're trying to cross. Signal the dam "more water".

My eyes! My eyes!

We need more water!

Something's gone wrong at the dam.

Fire the signal to retreat.

Christopher!

Mayi. Mr Leiningen? Where is Mr Leiningen?

Christopher, why didn't you awaken me?

- There was no reason to. - But the house.

What have you done to the house, the furniture?

Burned. Gone. Nothing left. Except our friend here.

I built this place out of my own will.

Like an Indian makes a doll out of clay.

Now I've destroyed it the same way.

It took me 15 years to build my paradise

and three days to turn it into hell.

I wanted a wife and children to hold what I'd built.

Here's my heir.

- You've given up. - No. I've been beaten.

There's a difference. I've lost everything.

Everything but you, and in a little while, maybe that, too.

I'll never leave you now.

For whatever it's worth to you, now that I've nothing else to give, I love you.

That's all I've ever wanted.

We'll start from here. This is where we meet, Christopher.

And where we say goodbye, too.

The ants are still out there, and we've nothing else to burn.

Do you know how to use this?

- Yes. - Keep it with you. Every minute.

What for?

For yourself, in case the ants get through.

What about you? What are you going to do?

Up there. We're completely surrounded.

Here's our one chance to stay alive if I can blow it up.

It's a small dam with sluices.

They keep back the river when the water level rises.

It's up now, two or three feet.

- That's enough. - Enough for what?

To flood what's left of my plantation.

I'm giving back everything I took from the river.

This oil will give me some protection.

Open the gates.

The water has gone. They're opening the gates.

Christopher!