Original subtitles

I have known this before

Morning. A locked door. A house of silence and strangers

- I've been asked to inquire if you're hungry - Food? I never touch it

The financial adviser didn't turn up. You can have his breakfast

He phoned his order through, then phoned again to cancel the appointment

- For what reason? - Jack spoke to him, not me

What reason did he give your friend?

Jack said he said he found himself without warning in the centre of a vast aboriginal financial calamity

He clearly needs an adviser

I won't bring you breakfast if you're going to waste it

I abhor waste

I have known this before. The door unlocked. The entrance of a stranger

The offer of alms. The shark in the harbour

Scrambled eggs

- Shall I open the champagne? - ls it cold?

- Freezing - Please open it

- Who is the cook? - We share all burdens, Jack and myself

Thank you

We're old friends, Jack and myself

We met at a street corner

I should tell you he will deny this account. His story will be different

I was standing at a street corner. A car drew up. It was him

He asked me the way to Bolsover Street

I told him Bolsover Street was in the middle of an intricate one-way system

A one-way system easy enough to get into. The only trouble was that, once in, you couldn't get out

I told him his best bet, if he really wanted to get to Bolsover Street, was to take the first left...

...first right, second right, third on the left, keep his eye open for a hardware shop...

...go right round the square, keeping to the inside lane, take the second mews on the right and then stop

He will find himself facing a very tall office block, with a crescent courtyard

He can take advantage of this office block. He can go round the crescent...

...come out the other way, follow the arrows, go past two sets of traffic lights...

...and take the next left indicated by the first green filter he comes across

He's got the Post Office Tower in his vision the whole time

All he's got to do is reverse into the underground car park, change gear...

...go straight on, and he'll find himself in Bolsover Street with no trouble at all

I did warn him, though, he'll still be faced with the problem, having found Bolsover Street, of losing it

I told him I knew one or two people who'd been wandering up and down Bolsover Street for years

Wasted their bloody youth there. The people who live there...

...their faces are grey, they're in a state of despair, but nobody pays any attention, you see

All people are worried about is their illgotten gains. I wrote to The Times about it

Life At A Dead End, I called it. Went for nothing

Anyway, I told him probably the best thing he could do...

...was to forget the whole idea of getting to Bolsover Street

I remember saying to him: This trip you've got in mind, drop it, it could prove fatal

But he said he had to deliver a parcel

Anyway, I took all this trouble with him because he had a nice open face

He looked like a man who would always do good to others himself

Normally I wouldn't give a fuck. I should tell you he'll deny this account. His story will be different

- When did you last have champagne for breakfast? - Well, to be quite honest, I'm a champagne drinker

- Oh, are you? -I know my wines. Dijon

In the thirties I made many trips to Dijon, for the wine tasting, with my French translator

Even after his death, I continued to go to Dijon, until I could go no longer

Hugo. A good companion

You will wonder of course what it was he translated. The answer is my verse. I am a poet

- I thought poets were young - I am young

- Can I help you to a glass? - No thanks

- An excellent choice - Not mine

Translating verse is an extremely difficult task

Only the Rumanians remain respectable exponents of the craft

Bit early in the morning for all this, isn't it?

Finish the bottle. Doctor's orders

Can I enquire as to why I was locked in this room, by the way?

Doctor's orders

Tell me when you're ready for coffee

It must be wonderful to be a poet. And to have admirers, and translators

And to be young. I'm neither one nor the other

Yes

You've reminded me. I must be off. I've got a meeting at twelve

- Thank you so much for breakfast - What meeting?

A board meeting. I'm on the board of a recently inaugurated poetry magazine

And we've got our first meeting at twelve. Can't be late

- Where's the meeting? - At The Bull's Head in Chalk Farm

The landlord is kindly allowing us the use of a private room on the first floor

It is essential, you see, that our meeting be private, as we shall be discussing policy

- The Bull's Head in Chalk Farm? - Yes. The landlord is a friend of mine

It is on that account that he has favoured us with a private room

It is true of course that I told him Lord Lancer would be attending the meeting

He at once appreciated that a certain degree of sequesteredness would be the order of the day

- Lord Lancer? - Our patron

- He's not one of the Bengal Lancers, is he? - No, no. He's of Norman descent

- A man of culture? - Impeccable credentials

- Some of these aristocrats hate the arts - Lord Lancer is a man of honour. He loves the arts

He has declared his love in public. He never goes back on his word

Now really I must be off. Lord Lancer does not subscribe to the view that poets can treat time with nonchalance

- Jack could do with a patron - Jack?

- He's a poet - A poet? Really?

Well, if he'd like to send me some examples of his work, double spaced on quarto...

...with copies in a separate folder by separate post in case of loss or misappropriation...

...stamped addressed envelope enclosed, I will read them

- That's very nice of you - Not at all. You can tell him he can look forward...

to a scrupulously honest and, if I may say so, highly sensitive judgement

I'll tell him. He's in a real need of a patron

The boss could be his patron but he's not interested

Perhaps because he's a poet himself

It's possible there's an element of jealousy in it, I don't know

Not that the boss isn't a very kind man. He is. He's a very civilised man. But he's still human

- The boss is a poet himself? - Don't be silly. He's more than that, isn't he?

He's an essayist and critic as well He's a man of letters

I thought his face was familiar

Yes, sir

I have known this before. The voice unheard. A listener. The command from an upper floor

Charles. How nice of you to drop in. Have they been looking after you all right?

Denson, let's have some coffee

You're looking remarkably well. Haven't changed a bit. It's the squash, I expect

Keeps you up to the mark. You were quite a dab hand at Oxford, as I remember

Still at it? Wise man. Sensible chap. My goodness, it's been years

When did we last meet? I have a suspicion we last dined together in '38, at the club

Does that accord with your recollection? Croxley was there, yes

Wyatt, it all comes back to me, Burston-Smith. What a bunch. What a night, as I recall

All dead now, of course

No, no, I'm a fool. I'm an idiot. Our last encounter, I remember it well

Pavilion at Lord's in '39, against the West Indies, Hutton and Compton batting superbly

Constantine bowling, war looming. Surely I'm right? We shared a particularly fine bottle of port

You look as fit now as you did then

Did you have a good war?

Oh thank you, Denson. Leave it there, will you? That'll do

How's Emily? What a woman

Black? Here you are

What a woman. Have to tell you I fell in love with her once upon a time

Have to confess it to you. Took her out to tea, in Dorchester

Told her of my yearning. Decided to take the bull by the horns

Proposed that she betray you. Admitted you were a damn fine chap...

...but pointed out I would be taking nothing that belonged to you

Simply that portion of herself all women keep in reserve, for a rainy day

Had an infernal job persuading her. Said she adored you...

...her life would be meaningless were she to be false

Plied her with buttered scones, Wiltshire cream, crumpets and strawberries

Eventually she succumbed

I don't suppose you ever knew about it, what?

Oh well. we're too old now for it to matter, don't you agree?

I rented a little cottage for the summer. She used to motor to me twice or thrice a week

I was an integral part of her shopping expeditions

You were both living on the farm then. That's right, her father's farm

She would come to me at tea-time, or at coffee-time, the innocent hours

That summer she was mine, while you imagined her to be solely yours

She loved the cottage. She loved the flowers. As did I

Narcissi, crocus, dog's tooth violets, fuchsia, jonquils, pinks, verbena

Her delicate hands. I'll never forget her way with jonquils

Do you remember once, was it in '37, you took her to France?

I was on the same boat. Kept to my cabin. While you were doing your exercises...

...she came to me. Her ardour was, in my experience, unparalleled

Ah well

You were always preoccupied with your physical condition, were you not

I don't blame you. Damn fine figure of a chap. Natural athlete

Medals, scrolls, your name inscribed in gold

Once a man has breasted the tape, alone, he is breasting the tape forever

His golden moment can never be tarnished. Do you run still?

Why was it we saw so little of each other, after we came down from Oxford?

I mean, you had another string to your bow, did you not. You were a literary man. As was I

Yes, yes, I know we shared a picnic, with Tubby Wells and all that stuff

We shared a whisky and soda at the club, but we were never close, were we?

I wonder why. Of course I was successful awfully early

- You did say you had a good war, didn't you? - A rather good one, yes

- How splendid. The RAF? - The Navy

- How splendid. Destroyers? - Torpedo boats

- First rate. Kill any Germans? - One or two

- Well done - And you?

- I was in Military Intelligence - Oh

- You pursued your literary career, after the war? - Oh yes

- So did I -I believe you've done rather well

Oh quite well, yes. Past my best now

Do you ever see Stella?

- Stella? - You can't have forgotten

- Stella who? - Stella Winstanley

- Winstanley? - Bunty Winstanley's sister

- Oh, Bunty. No, I never see her. - You were rather taken with her

- Was I, old chap? How did you know? - I was terribly fond of Bunty

He was most dreadfully annoyed with you. Wanted to punch you on the nose

- What for? - For seducing his sister

- What business was it of his? - He was her brother

That's my point. What on earth are you driving at?

Bunty introduced Rupert to Stella. He was very fond of Rupert

He gave the bride away. Rupert and he were terribly old friends

- He threatened to horsewhip you - Who did?

- Bunty - He never had the guts to speak to me himself

Stella begged him not to. She implored him to stay his hand. She implored him not to tell Rupert

I see. But who told Bunty?

I told Bunty

I was frightfully fond of Bunty. I was also frightfully fond of Stella

- You appear to have been a close friend of the family - Mainly of Arabella's. We used to ride together

- Arabella Hinscott? - Yes

- I knew her at Oxford - So did I

- I was very fond of Arabella - Arabella was very fond of me

Bunty was never sure of precisely how fond she was of me, nor of what form her fondness took

- What in God's name do you mean? - Bunty trusted me

I was best man at their wedding. He also trusted Arabella

I should warn you I was always extremely fond of Arabella

Her father was my tutor. I used to stay at their house

I knew her father well. He took a great interest in me

Arabella was a girl of the most refined and organised sensibilities

Oh yes, I agree

Are you trying to tell me you had an affair with Arabella?

A form of an affair. She had no wish for full consummation

She was content with her particular predilection. Consuming the male member

I am beginning to believe that you are a scoundrel

How dare you speak of Arabella Hinscott in such a fashion?

- I will have you blackballed from the club - Oh my dear sir, may I remind you...

...that you betrayed Stella Winstanley with Emily Spooner, my own wife...

...throughout a long and soiled summer, a fact known at the time throughout the Home Counties

And may I further remind you that Muriel Blackwood and Doreen Busby...

...have never recovered from your insane and corrosive sexual absolutism?

And may I further remind you that your friendship with and corruption of Geoffrey Ramsden at Oxford...

- ...was the talk of Balliol and Christchurch Cathedral? - This is scandalous! How dare you?

- I will have you horsewhipped - It is you, sir, who have behaved scandalously

To the fairest of sexes, of which my wife was the fairest representative

It is you who have behaved unnaturally and scandalously, to the woman who was joined to me in God

- I, sir? Unnaturally? Scandalously? - Scandalously. She told me all

- You listen to the drivellings of a farmer's wife? - Since I was the farmer, yes

You were no farmer, sir. A weekend wanker

I wrote my Homage to Wessex in the Summerhouse at West Upfield

- I never had the good fortune to read it - It is written in terza rima

...a form which, if you will forgive my saying so, you have never been able to master

This is outrageous! Who are you? What are you doing in my house?

Denson!

A whisky and soda

You are clearly a lout. The Charles Wetherby I knew was a gentleman

I see a figure reduced. I am sorry for you

Where is the moral ardour that sustained you once? Gone down the hatch

Down the hatch. Right down the hatch

I do not understand... I do not understand, and I see it all about me continually

How the most sensitive and cultivated of men can so easily change, almost overnight...

...into the bully, the cutpurse, the brigand

In my day nobody changed. A man was

Only religion could alter him, and that at least was a glorious misery

We are not banditti here

I am prepared to be patient. I shall be kind to you

I shall show you my library. I might even show you my study

I might even show you my pen, and my blotting pad. I might even show you my footstool

Another

I might even show you my photograph album

You might even see a face in it which might remind you of your own, of what you once were

Or the faces of others, in shadow, or the cheeks of others, turning

Or jaws, or backs of necks, or eyes, dark under hats, which might remind you of others...

...whom once you knew, whom you thought long dead

But from whom you will still receive a sidelong glance, if you can face the good ghost

Allow the love of the good ghost. They possess all that emotion, trapped

Bow to it. It will assuredly never release them, but who knows what relief it may bring to them

Who knows how they may quicken in their chains, in their glass jars

You think it cruel to quicken them, when they are fixed, imprisoned?

No, no. Deeply, deeply, they wish to respond to your touch, to your look

And when you smile, their joy is unbounded. So I say to you, tender the dead...

...as you would yourself be tendered, now, in what you would describe as your life

They're blank, mate, blank. The blank dead

Nonsense

- Pass the bottle - No

- What? - I said no

No pranks. No mischief. Give me the bottle

- I've refused - Refusal can lead to dismissal

- You can't dismiss me - Why not?

- Because I won't go - If I tell you to go, you will go.

Give me the bottle

Bring me the bottle

- I'll have one myself - What impertinence

Oh well, it doesn't matter. He was always a scallywag

ls it raining? It so often rains, in August, in England

Do you ever examine the gullies of the English countryside?

Under the twigs, under the dead leaves, you'll find tennis balls, blackened

Girls threw them for their dogs, or children, for each other, they rolled into the gully

They are lost there, given up for dead, centuries old

It's time for your morning walk

- I said it's time for your morning walk - My morning walk?

- No, no. I'm afraid I don't have time this morning - It's time for your walk across the Heath

I can't possibly. I'm too busy. I have too many things to do

- What's that you're drinking? - The great malt which wounds

My God, you haven't got a drink. Where's your glass?

- Thank you. It would be unwise to mix my drinks - Mix?

- I was drinking champagne - Of course you were, of course

- Albert, another bottle - Certainly, sir

I can't possibly. I'm too busy. Too many things to do. I have an essay to write. A critical essay

We have to examine the files, find out what it is I'm supposed to be appraising

- For the moment it's slipped my mind - I could help you there

- Oh? - On two counts

Firstly, I have the nose of a ferret. I can find anything in a file

And secondly, I have written any number of critical essays myself

- Do you actually have a secretary? - I'm his secretary

A secretarial post does less than justice to your talents

A young poet should travel. Travel and suffer

Join the navy, perhaps, and see the sea. Voyage and explore

I've sailored. I've been there and back. I'm here where I'm needed

You mentioned a photograph album. I could go through it with you

I could put names to the faces

A proper exhumation could take place

Yes, I am confident I could be of enormous aid in that area

- Those faces are nameless, friend - And they'll always be nameless

There are places in my heart where no living soul has or can ever trespass

Here you are. Fresh as a daisy

- A drop for you, sir? - No, no. I'll stay where I am

- I'll join Mr Friend, if I may, sir? - Naturally

- Where's your glass? - No thanks

Oh come on, be sociable. Be sociable. Consort with the society to which you're attached

To which you are attached as if by bonds of steel

- Mingle - It isn't even lunchtime

The best time to drink champagne is before lunch, you cunt

- Don't call me cunt - We three, never forget, are the oldest of friends

- That's why I called him a cunt - Stop talking

To our good fortune

- Cheers - Cheers

- Cheers - Cheers

The light out there is gloomy, it's hardly daylight at all. It's falling, rapidly

Distasteful. Let us close the curtains. Put the lamps on

Ah. What relief. How happy it is

Today I shall come to a conclusion. There are certain matters...

...which today I shall resolve - I'll help you

I was in Bali when they sent for me. I didn't have to leave, I didn't have to come here

But I felt I was called, I had no alternative

I didn't have to leave that beautiful isle. But I was intrigued. I was only a boy

But I was nondescript and anonymous. A famous writer wanted me

He wanted me to be his secretary, his chauffeur, his housekeeper, his amanuensis

- How did he know of me? Who told him? - He made an imaginative leap

Few can do it. Few do it. He did it. And that is why God loves him

You came on my recommendation. I've always liked youth because you can use it

But it has to be open and honest. If it's not open and honest you can't use it

I recommended you. You were open, you had the whole world before you

I find the work fruitful. I'm in touch with a very special intelligence

This intelligence I find nourishing. I have been nourished by it. It's enlarged me

Therefore it's an intelligence worth serving. I find its demands natural

Not only that. They're legal. I'm not doing anything crooked

It's a relief. I could so easily have been bent

I have a sense of dignity in my work, a sense of honour

It never leaves me. Of service to a cause

He is my associate. He was my proposer. I've learnt a great deal from him

He's been my guide. The most unselfish person I've ever met

- He'll tell you. Let him speak - Who to?

- What? - Speak? Who to?

- To him - To him?

To a pisshole collector? To a shithouse operator? To a jamrag vendor?

What the fuck are you talking about? Look at him

He's a mingejuice bottler, a fucking shitcake baker. What are you talking to him for?

Yes, yes, but he's a good man at heart. I knew him at Oxford

Let me live with you and be your secretary

ls there a big fly in here? I hear buzzing

No

- You say no - Yes

I ask you to consider me for the post

If I were wearing a suit such as your own you would see me in a different light

I am extremely good with tradespeople, hawkers, canvassers, nuns

I can be silent when desired or, when desired, convivial

I can discuss any subject of your choice. The future of the country, wild flowers, the Olympic Games

It's true I've fallen on hard times

But my imagination and intelligence are unimpaired. My will to work has not been eroded

I remain capable of undertaking the gravest and most daunting responsibilities

And temperamentally I can be what you wish. My character is, at core, a humble one

I am an honest man and, moreover, I am not too old to learn

And my cooking is not to be sneezed at. I lean towards French cuisine

But food without frills is not beyond my competency

I have a keen eye for dust. My kitchen would be immaculate

I am tender towards objects

I'll take good care of your silver

I play chess, billiards, and the piano. I could play Chopin for you

I could read the Bible to you. I am a good companion

My career, I admit it freely, has been chequered

I was one of the golden of my generation. Something happened. I don't know what it was

Nevertheless I am I. I have survived insult and deprivation

I am I. I offer myself not abjectly but with ancient pride. I come to you as a warrior

I shall be happy to serve you as my master. I bend my knee to your excellence

I am furnished with the qualities of piety, prudence, liberality and goodness

Decline them at your peril

It is my task as a gentleman to remain amiable in my behavior...

courageous in my undertakings, discreet and gallant in my executions

By which I mean your private life would remain your own

However, I shall be sensible to the least wrong offered you

My sword shall be ready to dissever all manifest embodiments of malign forces that conspire to your ruin

I will face death's challenge on your behalf. I will meet it, for your sake, boldly...

...whether it be in the field or in the bedchamber. I am your chevalier

I had rather bury myself in a tomb of honour than permit your dignity to be sullied by domestic enemy...

or foreign foe. I am yours to command

Before you reply, I would like to say one thing more

I occasionally organise poetry readings, in the upstairs room of a particular public house

They are reasonably well attended, mainly by the young

I would be happy to offer you an evening of your own

You could read your own work, to an interested and informed audience

To an audience brimming over with potential for the greatest possible enthusiasm

I can guarantee a full house, and I will be happy to arrange a straightforward fee for you

Or, if you prefer, a substantial share of the profits

The young, I can assure you, would flock to hear you

My committee would deem it a singular honour to act as your host

You would be introduced by an authority on your work, possibly myself

After the reading, which I am confident will be a remarkable success...

...we could repair to the bar below, where the landlord, who happens to be a friend of mine...

...would I know be overjoyed to entertain you, with the compliments of the house

And, nearby is an Indian restaurant of excellent standing, at which you would be the guest of my committee

Your face is so seldom seen, your words, known to so many...

...have been so seldom heard, in the absolute authority of your own rendering...

...that this event would qualify for that rarest of categories, the unique

And I beg you to consider seriously the social implications of such an adventure

You would be there in body. It would bring you to the young, the young to you

The elderly, also, those who have almost lost hope...

...would on such an occasion leave their homes and present themselves

And you would have no trouble with the press

I would take upon myself the charge of keeping them from nuisance

Perhaps you might agree to half a dozen photographs or so, but no more

Unless of course you positively wished, on such an occasion, to speak

Unless you preferred to hold, let us say, a small press conference, after the reading...

...before supper, whereby you could speak through the press to the world

But that is by the by, and would in no sense be a condition

Let us content ourselves with the idea of an intimate reading, in a pleasing and conducive environment

Let us consider an evening to be remembered, by all who take part in her

Let us change the subject. For the last time

- What have I said? - You said you're changing the subject for the last time

- But what does that mean? - It means you'll never change the subject again

- Never? - Never

- Never? - You said for the last time

- But what does that mean? What does it mean? - It means forever

It means that the subject is changed once and for all and for the last time forever

If the subject is winter, for instance, it'll be winter forever

- ls the subject winter? - The subject is now winter

- So it'll therefore be winter forever - And for the last time

Which will last forever. If the subject is winter, for example, spring will never come

- But let me ask you, I must ask you... - Summer will never come

- The trees... - Will never bud

- I must ask you... - Snow...

Will fall forever. Because you've changed the subject. For the last time

Yes, but have we? Have I? That's my question. Have we changed the subject?

- Of course. The previous subject is closed - What was the previous subject?

- It's forgotten. You've changed it - What is the present subject?

That there is no possibility of changing the subject since the subject has now been changed

- For the last time - So that nothing else will happen forever

- You'll simply be sitting here forever - But not alone

No. We'll be with you. Briggs and me

- It's night - And will always be night

- Because the subject... - ...can never be changed

But I hear the sounds of birds

Don't you hear it? Sounds I never heard before

I hear them as they must have sounded then, when I was young

Although I never heard them then, although they sounded about us then

Yes. It's true. I am walking towards a lake

Someone is following me, through the trees. I lose him, easily

I see a body in the water, floating

I am excited. I look closer and I see I was mistaken. There is nothing in the water

I say to myself, I saw a body, drowning. But I am mistaken. There's nothing there

No. You are in no man's land

Which never moves, which never changes

Which never grows older, but which remains forever, icy and silent

I'll drink to that