Until the end of the world was filmed between April 1990 and early 1991.
Its relatively small film crew traveled across four continents and nine countries,
pausing at each location to obtain a large number of local technicians.
The film's theatrical release in the fall of 1991 ran for less than three hours, which,
according to wim wenders, reduced the project's epic dimension to a reader's digest summary.
That is why in 1994 he edited the director's cut presented here, a "road movie" par excellence lasting nearly five hours.
At well over $20 million, the production's budget was uncommon for
an auteur film, and the largest with which wenders had ever worked.
While the film's soundtrack enjoyed considerable success, its box office performance fell short of expectations.
The project was shot on super 35mm eastman color film. In 2014 the original negative was scanned at 4k resolution and restored.
Over time the negative had suffered a slight shrinkage and had defective
splices, dust, and slight scratches on both the support side and emulsion.
All work was performed at arri film & t services Berlin, with the generous support of the cnc.
Until the end of the world
1999 was the year the Indian nuclear satellite went out of control.
No one knew where it might land.
It soared above the ozone layer like a lethal bird of prey.
The whole world was alarmed. Only Claire couldn't care less.
At the time she was living her own nightmare.
The same dream arrived each night: she was gliding over an unknown land,
pleasantly at first, but then the gliding would turn into falling.
falling into panic, and then she'd wake up.
- Pietro! - Why are you still here?
You saw that guy in the green room, remember?
- He's a creep! - He won't wake up.
Stayed release drugs. Fucking dangerous.
- Do you mind... - Phone Dr. Fabrini again? Sure.
Pietro, You should be in bed.
I don't sleep anymore, doctor. Sleeping is out.
All of us who knew Claire well
loved her for her optimism, her energy and her courage.
We remembered these things about her just as we'd like to forget her capacity
for self destruction. They were all a part of her and we accepted that.
When Claire had left me, I'd shut myself off completely.
I didn't see anybody, and avoided leaving the apartment.
In my solitude, things happened to me.
I started to pray again, as I had long ago. Hesitantly at first
but accepting the good that it did me.
And out of this peace, came the beginning of my first novel.
Claire was it's leading character. It began "For two months..."
drifted through the parties, the designer drugs, the one night stands.
seeking excuses to obliterate herself, until she realized
that if she was to go on living, she couldn't go on living like this.
Hello, Claire. Your dashboard computer system is now online performing car initialization.
Press 1 to activate the electronic map service.
Venice
Friendly reminder that you're over the speed limit, Claire.
The fire of love, the fire of love Can burn from afar. And nothing can light
the dark of the night. Like a falling star
Summer kisses, Winter tears. Like the stars they fade away
Leaving me to spend my lonely nights
With dreams of yesterday
Traffic congested for the next 30km.
Unable to provide alternative route.
I'm sorry, Claire.
The satellite emergency created traffic jams,
wherever people fled areas of possible impact, like the south of France.
Only Claire, impatient as ever, fled the traffic jam and chose to thrust herself
into the unknown.
In doing so, she changed the direction of her life, of all our lives.
You are leaving the map zone database. You are on your own, Claire.
Claire felt strangely light.
She knew she'd been meant to die here, on the high plateau of the Loz鑢e.
It was a miracle she was alive.
The angels had somehow made a mistake in their accounting and had left her
with a precious gift. She'd been given a whole new life that she could use
this time, to be a better person. She could be of service.
All she needed was an opportunity, a mission.
- Shit! - Yes...
- She didn't see us, Raymond. - I'm sorry, we were not introduced.
- Claire Tourneur. - I am Raymond, He's Chico.
Chico, you could apologize to...Madame Tourneur.
- Are you all right? - No, I'm not.
I'm sorry, I've been an idiot.
I'm sorry.
Will your car still work?
People always want to give definitions. You say "Rock'n Roll"
they ask, "Which kind?".
But I just play rock'n roll. I'm a drummer.
- Did you hear him playing? - He's been breaking my head for 15 years.
Raymond is the same. When he says he is buddhist, people go crazy.
- They can't stand him! - It's not the same.
There's nothing wrong in being buddhist.
- In his job, yes. - What's his job?
My job is...fuck and fucking.
- I want a beer. - For a change!
We might stop there.
Leave it there!
Don't touch it!
- Who's there? - It's me.
I've got to talk with you.
Your bag's heavy.
- This is enough for being rich. - You might pay a coffee in Rome.
Did you see well? It's 50,000!
What did I say? It's the price for a cappuccino.
But with this one you could buy half a cow in Ethiopia.
- Have you been there? - Yes.
- Where else have you been? - More or less everywhere.
I've never been anywhere. I don't care.
- Well actually I've been in America. - So, how much do you have there?
Count them, I leave it here. Sleep on it.
Perfect!
Claire's head was spinning.
Was this a trap? Or exactly the opportunity she was looking for?
She spent another sleepless night, keeping her nightmares at bay.
I don't trust people who do thing for free.
- And you'd be a buddhist? - Realist!
So?
I agree, for 30%.
- We counted the money, we can find you. - Calm down Raymond.
If you want to change your mind...Do as you want.
If the address is not real, we know where to find you.
It's not worth to try to fool us.
We don't know who will fetch the money.
If it's not me, and if you want to contact me, have a drink, listen to some music...
Yes! You never know.
This is my music. It's just a demo.
Thanks, Chico.
- Don't lose time. - Don't worry.
Here she is!
Claire thought about her future,
as she drove from the high plateau towards St. etienne.
Her share of the money could buy her an apartment on the Seine.
A quiet life, a view of the Eiffel Tower.
But did she really want all this?
Take a break, Claire.
Where is she now?
She should be between St. etienne...
- and Lyon. - still a long road.
- 15 more minutes? - At least. Still has to dry up.
- You were lucky, and had good tyres. - Hurry up!
Tell me again what time you'll go over, Günther?
- No. - Make sure it's after dark, ok?
- Ok, I'll be careful. - Ok.
- How is Anton? - Anton? He's okay.
He's okay? My eyes, can you hold on one second?
Sam?
- Can I help you? - Are you still there? Where are you?
Hold on, hold on a second, Günther.
Yeah, it's my eyes.
- I can't see anything. - Well, it's better already.
- You have sad eyes. - I'm not a sad man though.
Günther...
I'm gonna go now, okay?
See you tomorrow. Give my love to Anton and Irina, please? Okay, bye bye.
Eugene speaking,
but I'm not here...
me neither.
If you would like to leave a message on our new answering machine, please
please feel free to do so after you hear the tone
You idiot.
Didn't want to have a conversation with yourself?
Thanks for the help.
Hello Makiko. How are you? Is Gene with you?
No, I haven't seen him since you went away.
You know that apartment across from you? Did they sell it?
It's still there. Claire, are you okay?
Please, come back. I'm so sorry.
Oh, Makiko.
- Excuse me. Where'd he go? - Who?
- The bloke who was on the phone. - The what?
The guy who was here just a minute ago. You didn't see him?
No, I was on the phone myself.
No worries, mind.
Makiko, I've got to go. I'll call you tomorrow.
Wait, I have to remove the foam.
- Will it hold til Paris? - Yes, no problems.
But you're going to draw people's attention with that foam.
- Hi. Me again. - Hi.
Would you give me a lift?
I don't think that's a very good idea.
There's a guy looking for you.
- Yeah, I know. - He's got a gun.
Could you go? He's coming. Please?
What's he after?
- He want's to kill me. - What for?
I borrowed some money I can't pay back.
- From him? - No, not from him from... some tough guys.
It's incredible. I just seem to attract criminals.
Hey, I'm not a criminal. Might not even be attracted to you.
Sure. You're just a regular guy with a wife and a kid.
That's right.
This must be the beginning of a new trend.
I haven't met anyone with a straight job for weeks.
- Where have you been? - Everywhere... and back.
- Are you tired? - Me? Never.
Hey I could drive. Really, it'd be a pleasure.
Show me your wife and kid.
Go on, you must have a picture.
Okay, you can drive.
He's got your eyes.
Sorry. You okay?
- It went with the windshield. - That must've been some crash.
What the hell is going on?
- You've got to help me. - I'd love to but how can I explain it?
- What? - The car, the damage!
- That's not it! - What is it then? The bag?
- What should I do? - I don't know, Just talk to them. Keep them away.
I'll try.
Hey there fellas, how's it goin'? You speak any English?
Yes a little. Were you in a accident?
The lady and I got married...yesterday afternoon...
For real? Have a good trip, Mr. McPhee.
- I told them we were on our honeymoon. - And they believed you?
So, who am I married to?
- Dope pusher or bank robber? - Take your pick.
- Do you mind if I put on some music? - No, go ahead.
That is beautiful.
Who are they?
- They're pygmy children. - Pygmy?
Yeah, it's the truth. They're young pygmy from Cameroon.
I've been listening to that for weeks.
I've never heard anything like it.
- My mother recorded that. - In Cameroon? - Yeah.
- What do you do? - Everything, nothing.
If I say I'm a singer, you'll ask me what I've done. Nothing.
I destroyed all the tapes. I broke up with my boyfriend.
He fucked my best friend. I went to Italy.
Now I'm on my way back to Paris.
Back to square one?
- Sort of. - Good luck.
That's what I need. And you, what do you do?
I travel. And... I see.
All overland access to Paris is restricted to commercial transportation.
For private traffic, please use souterrain tunnels.
Charges will be applied to your credit card.
Good evening.
- How long did I sleep? - Um... 500 kilometers.
I haven't slept so long in weeks.
I dreamed I was pregnant. I was stumbling around...
I felt very light. What does it mean?
I don't know. Maybe you wanna get pregnant?
This is as far as I go.
- If you're staying in Paris... - No, I'm not.
I'm Claire.
Claire Tourneur.
I'm Trevor McPhee. You saved my life.
Good luck with your life, Trevor.
- I hope you learn to sleep. - We'll see.
Oh, it's you, Claire!
So you smoke now?
Home is where you go when you run out of places.
So Claire came back to the apartment that she'd shared with me.
Whether she had returned for an hour or a day, it didn't matter to me.
I just thanked God she was back, safe and sound.
- It's you. - I crashed the Rover.
Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?
No, I'm fine.
- I'm sorry. - No, Claire. I'm sorry.
- I haven't seen her since then. - Oh, I know, Gene. I know.
Actually...I haven't seen anybody since you left.
I was just worried about you.
It looks... different.
I tried to paint you out. It didn't work.
I couldn't stop thinking about you.
I never loved anyone like I love you.
- Do you believe that? - Yes... I do.
Where did you go?
I went to Venice.
I stayed with Luca.
I went to a lot of parties.
I cried a lot.
I forgot how nice you smelled.
You seem so different.
I'm rich, now.
Christ.
Did you read about the bank robbery at Nice?
The guys who did it crashed into your car.
I had to drive them to the next town.
Then they told me they'd robbed a bank and...asked me to take the money up to Paris.
Call the police.
No, I don't want to.
Gene,
30% of this is mine.
Come on, Claire. They robbed a bank.
They're not going to have any problems about robbing it back from you.
They're not like you think. Actually, they're nice guys.
No, really. One of them is a very good drummer.
But they were desperate. So I thought, "why not?"
I could buy that apartment opposite Makiko.
Why do you need to buy an apartment?
I just want my own place, that's all.
It's all different currencies.
I thought you'd help me work out what it's worth so I know how much is mine.
And I might give you a cut.
Oh, no!
What is it?
My hitchhiker robbed me.
Your hitchhiker!
Well, he left an IOU.
But he was a really nice guy...
You seem to know a lot of really nice guys.
- I trusted him. - Sure, and then he robbed you.
Come on, you can't be upset about having stolen money stolen.
Hi Claire. Hi Gene.
I have arranged with a real estate agent to see the apartment
tomorrow afternoon. Please meet me there at 2pm.
It's raining a lot now. I hope you're not outside.
...7 at 0.552...
is... just a minute, I'll just
put this with the subtotal here.
I love loving you.
- That's a good song title. - Ah, it's too corny.
Depends.
Who is this?
Pygmys.
This is really stupid.
You couldn't sell it so you put the price up.
But it is very reasonable in this location. I can show you other properties.
This is the only one I want.
- I like your view. - Oh, I like it, too.
It wasn't meant to happen. You were singing, so we went to the movies.
I'm not angry with you, Makiko. Come on, you're my friend.
But I have done something terrible. I must make it right.
Don't be stupid. This is 1999.
I can get the apartment.
She will never find anyone to buy it at that price.
I'll get her to knock it down.
"You can't get angry about having stolen money stolen."
- What? - Nothing.
I'll get the painter to put pressure on her, too.
I can go to my bank manager. We have a special relationship.
He's going crazy because no one is borrowing money, anymore.
The interest rates are too high.
He would give you a special rate, 19%. Claire, where are you going?
Was it something I said?
Okay, just watch the house until I get to Berlin.
M-A-N-G-E-R strasse 26.
Mangerstrasse, ok?
And then follow him. No, it's none of your business.
Redialing. Hold on.
- Hi. - Hi.
Hi there! Winter's the name, missing people's the game.
- Can I find someone for you? - No. Maybe. I don't know.
- It's much less expensive than you'd think. - I'll think about it.
I'm going to Berlin.
- Tonight? - A friend is in trouble.
You don't have any friends in Berlin.
Well, friends can travel.
- I'll go with you. - No, Gene. You can't.
I was worried right away. I knew Claire's self-destructiveness.
I knew if there was danger, she would throw herself right into it.
If there was a chance to get hurt, she would grab it.
What was she letting herself in for?
Claire never doubted she would find the man named Trevor in Berlin.
Any sane person, like myself, would have told her she was chasing a projection
of her own imagination. But Claire never listened much to that sort of reasonable thinking.
She was impulsive and stubborn, and she was in love with the idea of being in love.
So the only think she worried about was not if she could find Trevor McPhee,
but only what she would do when she finally found him.
Berlin was a big city now. 10 million people lived in the area.
You couldn't even take a taxi anymore. So, she had to pedal.
All the great minds were persecuted...
A hundred years from now they will have you on a postage stamp.
So this day is a great day in history,
and your family is very proud to be with you on this day, and you see our faces.
And I know I am talking too much.
- Anton, it's Edith this is for, not Henry. - I'm coming to her.
Hello, dear Edith.
- Good morning. - Good morning.
Thanks for the music, but you still owe the bank.
I thought I deserved my share.
We'll sort it out later. You're being followed.
- Really? - Not me, the black guy... in the street.
Show me.
Who is she? What is she doing here?
- What hotel are you in? - The Adlon.
Can you wait? I'll meet you there. We'll have dinner. It's a promise.
Uncle Anton, I'm gonna have to...
- So, you are a friend of Sam's? - No, of Trevor's.
Look at them!
We're on the eve of destruction and all they give a damn about is laughing, drinking, carousing.
Don't they realize that this satellite business could mean the end of the world as we know it?
If it was the end of the world, why shouldn't we go down laughing?
- I could fall in love with you right now. - Don't!
- Then I'll love you in my dreams. - I will remember you, too.
One day, I will no longer be alive.
And when that day comes, remember me as I am now.
Of course, Trevor McPhee did not show up.
Claire could have come back to Paris, but she had a mission now.
To find and protect Trevor. And she did have one lead.
That's him.
- He's a big one. 85,000 dollars. - He's wanted?
There's an opal mining syndicate in Australia offering a very tasty finding fee for his capture.
- What did he do? - Apparently he stole some opal.
- He stole from me, too. - How much?
Id' rather not disclose that. I just want to find him.
Normally, I would charge 4,500 to retrieve it for you
but seeing as I am going to collect a big reward from these people here.
and... assuming you are free to assist me...
I will get your money back for 3,000.
Maybe you're after the man, not the money. Doesn't matter, you'll see.
What I'm really worried about is...there are hitman chasing him.
Then we'd better get him fast, and first.
Fast and first, wonderful names.
Tricky Trevor is flying to Lisbon, Portugal, see?
Want your money back? Come, sweetie. Get your hat.
We are on the next flight behind him.
Are you playing or staying?
Love or money? Either way you'll win.
You are a poet, Mr. Winter, and you know it.
Can I have an aspirin? I have a splitting headache.
She'd always imagined a detective would be some sort of a tough guy.
A Sam Spade or a Philip Marlowe.
But the truth was, Philip Winter was a bleeding heart
whose professional speciality was locating missing children.
So what exactly is your relationship?
Lovers?
I'm sorry to disappoint you. I know him about as well as I know you.
I'm not disappointed.
On the contrary.
What's next?
I said no. No is no.
No, no, no...
Look. I've got him!
His credit card company was offline for 8 hours but now I got in.
He's at the Alhambra hotel.
So, what do we do?
Gently, gently, catchee monkey.
Winter was inexperienced.
He thought the cat was in the bag, the chase was over.
He felt fat and prosperous.
So he was happy to allow his client a private interview with his quarry.
I'm not the one who robs banks, you are.
First, you stole from me, and then you stood me up.
You just happened to wander in here today, to find me?
- That's three countries in three days, baby! - Don't call me "baby".
You just happened to be getting your car fixed in the south of France
you just happened to wander into my uncle's house in Berlin?
I was trying to save your life.
You just happened to be having breakfast, in Lisbon?
That's quite a coincidence. What agency are you with?
I don't need to chase you. There's a detective outside who was chasing you.
And anyway, it was no big deal finding you.
Every time you use your credit cards bells start ringing.
What's so funny?
I really like you.
That's why I'm having so much trouble getting it through my skull that you're an agent.
If I was really an agent, I wouldn't need to hire a bounty hunter to find you.
- A bounty hunter? - Yes, the guys you stole the opals from put out a reward on you.
Would this bounty hunter of yours be willing to let us go for a little walk?
With money, Mr. McPhee, all things are possible.
How... how about this?
Would this do it?
Hey, wait a minute! Wait!
Shit.
- Why are people chasing you? - Because they want to know where I'm going.
Are you escaping from the police?
In their country they marry like that
- What'd you say? - I told her, it's a way you get married in your country.
Where is he from?
- He's from Australia. - Ya.
- Oh, Australian? - Ya.
And you're... in honeymoon?
Bravo!
- When I say no, I mean no. - Get out. You work for me!
You're a small fry. Those guys in Australia will pay me 85,000.
- Plus you owe me 3,000, okay? - Fuck you!
- I knew this would get me in trouble. - Put it down on the chair.
- I hate guns. - Put it down.
Now, come over here.
Slowly. At the foot of the bed.
Now, unlock me.
Your hand. Put it through there. Claire, help me.
Give me the key.
- Hey. - Yeah, just a second.
Okay, where's my opal?
No, Claire. No.
I'm sorry. You're making things too dangerous for me.
Trevor, wait!
Let's just pay him off. I have money.
Put that back.
You'll find these downstairs in the garbage, where they belong.
Trevor!
You bastard!
You just lost me 85,000 bucks.
This will cover my expenses.
Turn around.
What Claire felt,
she knew she could never justify or explain to anyone.
What she had was like a crush. A sort of nagging pain she thought she'd abandoned when she was 16.
She was determined to follow her mission through,
no matter where it lead her. What was the alternative?
A return to her old self? She hated the very idea.
No worries, mate. I'll take it up myself. What floor, mate?
The sixth floor, sir. You can take the elevator.
- You're still here? - You can't leave without me.
"You can't leave without me"! You hire me, you fire me.
You abuse me and confuse me. You cost me a year's rent.
How can I afford to take you with me?
I'm broke. He thought I was working with you.
That's why he took my money! It's all your fault.
I can't lend you the plane fare to Paris, but I can offer you Moscow.
You'll sit in the bar at the Ukraine. I'll catch him, and I'll take you out to dinner.
- Deal? - Deal.
- Hi, Gene. - Hello, Claire.
Guess what? I need money. 5,000 dollars.
- Can you wire it to the Hotel Ukraine in Moscow? - Slow down, Claire.
I don't have much time, Gene. My card is running out.
Guess who's here?
- Hey, Chico! How is Raymond? - Hello, Claire!
- Claire, where are you? - I'm in the plane to Moscow.
O-L-I-V-I... That isn't it,
I've forgotten it. R...
The name is Dr. Nora Oliveira.
- I am not sharing your room! - You expect me to pay for two rooms?
- I expect you to pay for mine. - You realize...
- There's no need to argue with strangers. - Gene!
There are no rooms available.
Take a look around. There's nothing left. The convention's taken them all.
- Gene, this is... - Winter.
There's not a single room left in all of Moscow.
Winter is my name. What's your game?
What?
He's a detective.
Find yourself a couch. That's all we offer.
Over there. 1,500 rubles a night.
1,500 rubles a night?
- Take it or leave it. - We'll take it.
It's my fishing program.
It's keyed to our man's passport and credit card.
- The minute he rents a car or crosses a border... - It's most impressive, Mr. Winter.
But wouldn't you say he's crossing a lot of borders tonight?
Eastern bloc. Nothing but talk.
It's a malfunction. They have these advanced Vietnamese chips now.
What are you going to do about it?
I have to find a local guide tomorrow.
Who is this Trevor McPhee character?
A tall, handsome stranger from Australia with an American accent.
What has he done?
Better ask the client.
That's exactly what I'm going to do.
- Thank you for your cooperation. - Anytime.
I know you don't sleep.
I still love you, but it's a different sort of love. That's all. It's like a ladder.
- I'm like a ladder? - Like a ladder with a broken step.
And every time I see you...
I know I lost my life when the step broke.
Well, I'm sorry.
And I forgive you, but I can't trust you again.
I can understand you, and see how you're made and feel affection for you...
But as far as you're concerned, it's over. Your hitchhiker, this man who stole your money...
Did you have an affair with him?
Do you love him?
I'll get over it.
- So, this is the place. - Right.
Your Eastern Bloc program is out of date.
You try and save money, but it only costs you money.
So, I'll give you a good price on the update.
Trevor McPhee, is that what you said?
This is Trevor McPhee. You chase your man, you'll get no reward.
This guy is traveling with Trevor McPhee's ID.
- Who is he, then? - May I?
I'm the Bear. The Bounty Bear. I find them here, I find them there. I can find them anywhere.
The Bear. Advanced bounty bank programming. Searching.
I'm searching. I'm searching.
Give me a minute. I am identifying.
I got him!
This is your guy.
- Finder's fee: 500,000 dollars. - Vietnamese chips.
Too bad you can't afford it.
How do we know that price belongs to that face?
You'll have to trust me. Is that so hard?
What do you want to do?
I just want my money back.
How much would it cost to set me up with one of these, hard and soft?
- Gene! - No, no.
Marry her. Slap her around. But don't go chasing after this guy.
She's not going to fuck you. She wants to fuck him.
I don't think you quite understand the nature of our relationship.
Besides which, you're out of your depth.
You buy a computer from this ice, and you think you're a detective?
When you get back from Moscow, you'll be broke.
They will have repossessed your car, your electricity will have been turned off.
Your computers will be down, your garbage won't be picked up.
Mr. Winter, admit it! You'd love it, but you can't afford it.
To be effective you need a detective to make one of these work for you.
I'm going back to Berlin.
You'd better ask yourself what you're going to do with the tiger. When you catch him.
Wait a minute, Mr. Winter.
I want my opal back, please.
Just my expenses. Five grand.
Sometimes Claire must have thought that she had invented that face, invented Trevor McPhee
and that she'd projected onto him the person she thought she could become.
But when she considered this, she panicked and just worked harder
extending her stay in Moscow from one day to two, from two to three
always finding one more hotel and one more concierge.
- Winning. - Yeah. About bloody time, too.
I already paid for the carpet.
Haven't I seen you somewhere before?
It's possible.
- Anyway, what are you going to do with all that money? - Well, we could start with a drink.
With Winter gone, I was now Claire's guardian angel.
No, I was fooling myself. I just wanted her back.
So, I was kind to her. Waited for her to exhaust her crush.
Pretended to help her find the only man on Earth I didn't want her to find.
Unfortunately, my Bounty Bear found him in no time.
But I was, at least, able to prove that my competitor had a bad character.
His name was Sam Farber, not Trevor McPhee.
He was wanted for industrial espionage by the US government.
I have seen you somewhere before. In the south of France.
You're Sam Farber's girlfriend, aren't you?
You mean Trevor?
McPhee! That's him, too.
You tell him that he is in breach of his service agreement
with the Sunset Lab, at Palo Alto.
- The camera was developed in their time, with government funds. - Are you scientists?
He robbed me, betrayed me. He took all my money and I'm not his girlfriend!
But you're going to tell me where he is, right?
If I knew where he was, I wouldn't be here with you. I would be with him.
I would be making love with him.
Why did I say that?
I've given you penthocine phosphate. It's the truth drug.
That's okay. I've given you five sleeping pills myself.
You bitch.
- Is he really a criminal? - Waiter...
- Coffee. - So what. I'm a criminal, too.
I was involved in the bank robbery at the Nice airport.
They got Raymond, but Chico, he's still okay.
What I'm really worried about is that the cops will get Gene's address.
He is innocent, and I am really blonde!
Cut the bullshit.
Don't go to sleep. I want to know what Trevor did.
I told you already...
They never work that well for me...
I think he's a spy. I didn't think they had spies, anymore.
I mean, we are here in Moscow, in 1999.
Actually, I'm not a tourist. I'm a burglar.
I've stolen these things to protect the man who has stolen my money.
I had it. These other guys who had stolen it from the people who had stolen it from a bank.
Are you following me?
You know we can't be together again. You know our baby can't be born now.
That's even sadder than we are.
It's like a river that will never run, or a whole day that will never happen...
Why do you keep being so good.
Why are you so sweet and kind. Are you doing it to punish me?
Searching...
I'm searching...
Give me a minute.
I've got him!
He's getting on the Trans-Siberian.
Farber has booked a seat for the train to Beijing leaving Moscow tonight at 23:10.
The accounting is getting very complicated.
I'll say goodbye now.
Anyway, it would be really painful face to face for me, too.
I still love you, broken ladder.
I STILL LOVE YOU, BROKEN STAIRCASE.
Excuse me.
Trevor!
There was not another train for three days.
Claire, of course, couldn't wait.
Within 10 minutes, she was on the back of a motorcycle traveling southeast towards Beijing.
If she'd gone northwest, she could've found Trevor.
It's unbelievable, Mom, how Sam found me here in Siberia, of all places.
I wish you didn't have to see me in such an ugly place,
but I'm afraid... this is what the world looks like.
I wish Sam could've found me at home in Lisbon, with the kids.
Instead, Claire recorded some of her journey through China for me.
4 days later, she spent a fortune videofaxing
the tape to me in Paris.
- What's your name? - No, you!
- You... - You!
Charlie Yu.
Claire. Claire. Claire Tourneur.
- Claire Tourneur. OK! - OK.
So,
Gene. I am learning Chinese. I can say already "ni hao".
"ni hao" means "how are you".
So, Gene. That was my home movie.
I'm in Beijing now, at the Tiananmen Hotel, room 1407.
Please phone me as soon you get in. I hope you're waiting for your call.
Hi, Claire. It's me. I just got in. I got your message and uh...
- I guess you need something else from the fridge? - I don't need anything.
- Gene, I'm lost. - So, you reached a dead end, is that right?
- I've lost his trace. - If you're looking for him in Beijing, I'm not surprised.
- Then where should I look? God, you never give up, do you?
Why don't you come home. Forget all about it.
Look at me, Gene. I'm Claire. What do you expect?
Right...
- Do you remember the children's theater? - He's in Tokyo?
Yeah. I'll meet you there on Tuesday evening.
World News Network brings you this update. The protest against an American plan
to shoot down the stray nuclear satellite escalated last night
with the assassination of the US ambassador to the United Nations in Berlin.
The last terrifying minutes of the ambassador's life
have been captured on this videotape recorded by the assassin himself.
If the United States shoots down the satellite, it will cause a chain reaction.
The whole world is gonna explode.
Let our death be a signal, a final warning. Leave the satellite alone!
I'm in no hurry to be a corpse,
but I will sacrifice our lives because the fate of the entire planet
depends on what the Americans do. So, goodbye!
For World News Network, this is Nomi Morris in Berlin.
I thought you'd never come. Where is he?
How about: "It's nice to see you. I like your suit."
I hate your suit, but it is nice to see you.
Remember the first time we came to Tokyo?
It was the summer of '94.
- Our first summer. - A grand old time.
We saw the Rolling Stones' last concert.
Of course, it wasn't their last concert, was it?
Is a gaijin called McPhee-san, or Farber-san, staying in the hotel?
- Farber-san? - Yes, Farber-san.
Yes, Mr. farber is in number 7151.
He's saying the 7th floor. Can you write it, please?
Miss, it's for men!
Miss!
- That way. - Thank you!
- Miss! Wait! - A foreigner?
There is a foreign woman! A foreign woman!
Miss, are you sure you haven't made a mistake? This place is for men only!
- This is not a place for women! - Only for men! It's forbidden to women.
Hey, beautiful!
I need help.
- Winter! No! - Escape
run!
Oh, are you still playing detective, or are you just the bellboy?
Where is Claire?
I saw some guy chasing her, but that's nothing new.
- Are you taking the piss again? - Better to be pissed off than be pissed on.
Your friend Krassikova sold us out to the highest bidder.
CIA, KGB, Yakuza, bounty hunters. Who know's who is in on this deal.
This is where computer programming ends and real detective work begins.
- We don't have much time. - We? Are you implying you want to hire me?
Hire you?
Certainly not. Sayonara.
Do you know who I am?
- Weren't you the angel in Lisbon? - I am the angel again.
Would you take me out of here. Please.
Gene, I'm sorry.
You're safe...
- I need my bags. - What for?
Claire, I don't like this.
I don't like this at all.
You know you'd be better off with me.
You don't know him.
Do you?
He needs me now.
Then, you'll need these, too.
Thanks.
Oh, that helps. It's cooler.
They kept moving all night until they could be sure
that nobody was following them anymore.
Eventually, they found themselves in a train leaving Tokyo.
They didn't know the destination.
Claire had bought the ticket at the station in Shinjuku
by pointing at a symbol that she could not read.
- Where are we going? - I don't know.
All Claire knew was that she had finally found her mission.
The man she loved was almost blind, and needed her.
Early one morning in November of 1999, I'd lost Claire's trace.
I'd been walking around Tokyo for hours until daybreak,
telling myself that if Claire had left my life, perhaps permanently,
I had no right to keep following her.
Then I realized, well I myself had been followed.
Come on, don't give up. We'll find her.
- "We?" - You and me.
Okay, me.
Want some tea?
Look... I couldn't afford to pay you even if I wanted to. I'm sorry.
You can drive a car. You don't need to pay me.
Where would we be driving a car?
Where the opals come from.
Where is that?
Coober Pedy, South Australia. 95% of the world's opal's come from there.
Will you take their bags?
Enjoy your staying.
- They look tired. - They must have traveled far.
Yes.
Claire and Trevor had arrived in the mountain town of Hakon,
and had found a traditional inn, a ryokan.
They slept the whole night and through the next day, as well.
They had no way of knowing that, by chance, they had come to the right place.
The owner of the ryokan was Mr. Mori.
A man with a great passion for his herb garden.
Herbs.
Put them on his eyes as a compress.
Thank you very much.
I will explain.
Every night one.
I understand. Thank you so much.
Herbs weren't the only gift Mr. Mori gave them.
He showed Claire his universe of mountains, trees and flowers.
Once he told her: "I have learned one thing"
"the eye does not see the same as the heart."
For the first time in her life Claire was fulfilled.
She was finally being of service.
I already know a lot about you.
I know about the camera...
I know you stole it.
My real name is Samuel Farber.
I'm the son of Dr. Henry Farber.
That camera... was invented by him.
The US government wanted it...
but he didn't trust the uses they'd put it to.
They're trying to steal it from us.
That camera...
takes pictures...
that blind people can see.
My mother is blind.
What I'm doing is collecting images...
for her to see.
All I want is for my mother to see...
and for my father to know that I love him.
You could have told me that before.
I love you.
- Have you ever been to San Francisco? - Oh, that's where we're going?
I have to record my sister, Elsa.
I've been there a few times. I'll take you to my favorite bar: Tosca's.
They serve brandy with hot chocolate.
- That sounds dangerous. - Not as dangerous as what you've been through.
What we've been through.
Are the indicators green yet?
Yes the indicators are green but they keep going red.
Just let your eye movements follow the computer.
The indicator grids will turn green. Start again.
And your mother could actually see what I see, Trevor?
- Sam. - Sam.
The camera records what you see,
but it also records how your brain reacts
in response to what your eyes see.
It records the biochemical event of seeing.
The more you concentrate,
the more clearly the computer can read and transmit your experience of seeing.
This hurts like hell. My eyes are on fire already.
No wonder you were almost blind.
You like the red one? I don't believe it. You both agree?
- The windshield wipers work? - Windshield...
Do you work, buddy, huh?
Alright, somebody just show me some plastic and we all go home.
No, there's not going to be any plastic. We got cash.
- Hey, don't be an asshole, okay? - Don't call him an asshole.
I'll call him anything I want, mademoiselle.
No, no you won't. We want this car and we want to pay cash.
No one wants cash. Who wants cash? Bernie doesn't want cash!
- Well, I want to pay cash. - Hey, you give me cash, you put me in jeopardy.
Oh, no! You risk my life. You give me cash somebody puts a knife in my back.
They cut me open. They leave me bleeding!
I think you're exaggerating.
Oh, you think I am exaggerating?
Yeah, okay. Good. How's that! Come on, asshole.
Come on, make me rich. Give it to Bernie.
Oh, you wanna play?
Get over there, you crazy cunt!
I'll take it all. What's in here?
Go on, get out of my lot, assholes!
Go on, before I call my pals at the precinct! The two of you deserve each other, you know that.
Get the hell out of here! Go on, get a credit card, asshole!
- Great, so you'll come to my house? - Elsa, we can't come over to your place.
You might still be under surveillance and I can't take the risk.
I can't tell you how feed up I am with all those secrets, and sciences and "us against the world".
I haven't been harassed for three years.
I don't want it to start again.
You have to do it for Mom! Just this one last time.
You'll be the last one to record. If you don't do it she'll never see you.
I'll find a safe place. I'll call you back. Is this number safe?
Sam, this is the accountant's line.
I'll get back to you.
I'll try Chico again.
According to the Pentagon, a nuclear explosion in space
would be harmless. But is that true?
In fact, many experts predict that such an explosion will set off
a chain reaction amongst the defensive satellites already deployed.
Just watch for the flash in the sky. This is Jim Haygood live from the UN.
Claire! Unbelievable, it was in the cards
Where are you calling from? San Francisco?
How do you know it?
A fortune teller told me everything this morning.
Then you also know that you're going to lend me some money.
She told me things that are even more unbelievable.
Chico, I'm flat broke. I'm in deep shit.
You don't want my body, you just want my loot!
Does it says "sponsor" here?
Go ahead, give me your address.
Mission Bell Motel.
He's coming here.
- This is terrible. I feel so bad. - Why?
He wants to be my sponsor.
His fortune teller told him I would be the one to lead him to be "Top of the Pops".
"Top of the Pops"
This is not funny.
We don't have enough money to buy a hamburger.
What?
Hey, get the fuck out of my face, okay?
Look, this is you!
You! Up! Get up! Get up!
What do you got, huh, Miss America? Wanna tell me about it?
- I've got nothing. I'm not from here. - I know, you come from the Country of Shit.
You got something and I want it. Don't move! Everybody's going down!
Claire?
Let's go. Quick!
Sam remembered Tosca's,
the bar Claire had mentioned which served brandy and hot chocolate.
The story goes he lived on these drinks for three days and three nights,
waiting for Claire.
He still carried the bag that she'd used to transport stolen money
from the south of France to Paris. It still had the tracer attached to it.
Chico had no trouble finding it.
- Where have you been? - Don't ask.
Never ask.
Chico! Our savior!
I always wanted to come to America!
Majestic. Fantastic, bam bing! Plastic America!
How did you find us?
I borrowed a car and I just tried all the bars.
No, it's no use.
I can't even focus.
I'm sorry, Elsa.
Go ahead, Elsa.
I'm so relieved.
I was so mad at you guys. I thought you were dead.
I was finally getting used to it.
It's so weird. That this is finally happening now.
I used to have a dream where Henry would give you back your sight
just like you always said he would.
And then you'd...see my face and there'd be something wrong with it and...
you would say: "No this is not my daughter".
Then I would say: "But I am. I am!"
I'm so happy that you'll see me.
Wish I looked better for you.
Five years ago, I was still good looking.
It's incredible.
Look at my face.
My mother will see my face.
Heidi,
come here.
- This is Heidi. - I'm five.
You ran away before she was born. She has your mouth, Mother.
It's unbelievable
Two days ago I was bored in Marseille, and now we're going to Australia!
- Hey, what's your name? - Luther.
- You know how to drive, Luther? - Yeah, I know how to drive.
There's the key. It's a normal automatic.
- I see that. - This is your day!
This is my car?
- It works? - Yeah, it's working!
Australia, here we come! The blind will see! The lame will walk!
Walk this, you beautiful man!
Thank you.
You know how to drive this thing?
Look at this car. The man done gave me a car.
Have fun, Luther!
Yeah, I'll do my best! I hope it's got gas in it.
Chico's money got them out of America unnoticed
onto a Korean freighter leaving for Sydney.
The journey took three weeks.
It was a quiet trip, a sort of a honeymoon.
Claire still had no idea where they were going.
Sam wouldn't tell her.
For Chico, the trip was a little too quiet. So, he called a friend.
- Ah, Chico. - Hello, Raymond!
- Hello! So? - I'm happy to see you.
So? Tell me.
I'm on a Korean ship traveling from San Francisco to Sydney.
And you couldn't have done something easier?
- It's a long trip, a bit boring. - Then, what do you do?
I play cards with the crew.
- Did you win? - They're really strong, I don't always win.
- It will be deducted from your part. - No problems.
No problems? I'm in the hospital.
Oh, Raymond.
Why did you call me? What did you want to tell me?
If it's to tell me bullshit I'll hang up!
Raymond, too nervous!
It's not the mags. It's not the injectors. It's not the plugs.
- Gotta be the fuel pump. - Yeah, it's gotta be the fuel pump.
- Have you got a... 7/16th? - That's him.
Hi, Claire. Guess what? I got the real estate agent to sell you the apartment
at the original price.
So, it's all yours if you still want it. But you must let me know by Friday.
Makiko, it all seems like a long time ago.
So much has changed. I'm in Australia now. Look!
You don't want to buy an apartment anymore, Claire?
No, I don't even know if I'm coming back.
But no matter where I go, I'll always keep you in my heart.
I'm searching. Give me a minute.
I got her!
Claire Tourneur is making a credit card call
from a public phone in Coober Pedy, Australia. - I can't believe it!
Do you want mine, too?
She's right here in Coober Pedy! She just made a phone call.
Winter, you really are a genius.
I've got a nose and I know where it goes.
So, what does your nose tell you? Where do we go? How do we find Claire?
This is a one horse town. We just drive around. We're bound to find her.
It is gone.
Full of dirt.
With the UN in complete disarray, the US has threatened
to shoot the rogue satellite out of the sky.
International reaction has been horrified
at the unforeseeable consequences of such an act.
David, this is futile. The rings are chipped.
I'm going to go see Adam. Maybe he's got another pump.
Trevor?
What is your name?
His real name is Farber.
Sam Farber, probably.
I wanted to put an end to the myth of Trevor McPhee.
As a direct consequence, bells started ringing all over the place.
As far away as Moscow, and as close as the local motel.
- Sam Farber. - Who's that?
See you later.
This guy, Burt, had been competent enough to be hired
by some opal miners to track down Trevor McPhee.
But he was way over his head when he tried to cash in in the search for Sam Farber.
Now let's have another yarn.
Creating a disturbance in a public place.
Is that so strange in Coober Pedy? That's no reason to put them in jail!
- He's a famous writer, Eugene Fitzpatrick. A french writer. - I'm sorry.
Of course I've seen the camera. I've even operated it myself.
I've done some recording in San Francisco.
- So where is it now? - Where is it now? Where is it now?
Good question.
His main tool was a truth drug. He just loved the truth,
he sought it all the time.
- Where is the camera? - No. English! Speak English.
It's there, in the bag right in front of you.
Cut it out!
Where is Sam Farber now?
Well, at least one of us is where we deserve to be.
You are so wrong!
If you were any more wrong, you would have ears growing out of your armpits.
I am neither a spy nor a jewel thief.
- What are you then? - You don't know?
You followed me all the way around the world and you don't know who I am?
If you hurt her... I'll kill you.
Chico, I don't know what I'd do without you, you know!
You're a strange guardian angel. At first I thought you were a pig.
First you have an accident then you get drunk.
- I can't stop talking. - Must be strong.
- I can't stop! - Will you give some to me too?
Terrible.
Sam would want me to take care of this bag, okay?
Do you want a ride?
We're OK. She took some sleeping pills.
Claire.
Are you okay? Did he hurt you?
Chico... came in time.
The bag? Did you hide the bag?
David took the bag.
No problem. She's okay. She took some sleeping pills.
What did you do to your leg?
Claire, can you hear me?
It's you...
broken ladder.
Hey, Sam.
Just tell me where you are going. I want to be there.
No. No. I can't.
I'm sorry, but I can't.
Do you love him?
Yes, I do.
I hope he loves you.
Can you help me?
Sure, I'm a mechanic.
Where is your bag?
My bag is traveling separately.
See you!
Thanks, mate.
- Thanks what? - Thanks, mate.
Thanks handsome
I've got him on my tracer. Let's go!
Very good, Chico. Let's get going.
Wait, I haven't said goodbye!
A couple of hours, you'll meet my mother and my father.
You can speak French with my mother.
They did it.
They shot down the satellite!
- My computer's wiped. - Mine, too.
All electro-magnetic circuits get wiped by a nuclear blast.
Computer memories, too. It's an EM effect.
It's the end of the world.
Bastards!
Two years of my life. Just wiped!
Oh, who cares about your work? What do you think is going to happen to Goethe? Think about that!
Goethe. Gone forever.
Goethe? What the fuck would you know about Goethe!
What do you know about me? You think I am just a pigeon in a hole?
This is the end of the world.
No?
Tighten your seatbelt. We have to go down.
That's the last of it.
The country they moved through had already been abandoned years ago,
in the terrible droughts of the mid-90s.
There was no one around to confirm or deny their fears
but all phenomena, the stopped watched, the failure of the plane's engine
and all of it's electrical circuits
were consistent with only one thing: a nuclear blast.
They kept on moving with one destination: home.
Sustained by the belief that it was still there,
that Sam's mother and father were still alive.
The appearance of a hand-crank diesel vehicle
did not contradict the evidence of a nuclear blast
but at least they knew they were not the only people left on Earth.
In fact, it was the hand-cranked engine that saved the day.
It's David!
- Yeah, and Buzzer. - Hello, Claire! Sam!
Come on out!
Good luck to you, Gabriel.
- It was the nuclear satellite. - We know.
- Hey, Claire! - Chico! Gene!
How's it going, bro?
- How you doing, Sam? - Is the camera okay?
Yeah.
Oh God, I'm glad to see you.
Thank God you're alive.
Hey Mr. Winter. Lots of missing persons, huh?
Sorry, Sam. We gotta get moving, mate. Could be radioactive anytime.
Has there been any kind of reading taken?
Nothing electric works. Without this hand-crank we'd be going nowhere.
These are bloody dangerous times, mate.
What's he singing?
He's singing the country.
The country is like their Bible.
It's like that tree is Jonah,
and that rock is the whale. Everything is part of a story.
He's the custodian of this stretch of the country,
of this part of the story.
If he doesn't keep it alive,
by telling it,
it'll die...
and so will he.
It was just then, as we ran before the fatal winds
that might bring about the actual end of the world,
that I realized that the loss of my novel had freed me.
Freed me to write it anew.
Not dwelling on the past, as I had done. But looking out into the future
So I started all over again and wrote down the new beginning:
"1999 was the year the Indian nuclear satellite went out of control.
No one knew where it might land.
It soared above the ozone layer..."
There's a car coming. Maisie!
- What happened to your legs? - Nothing, Mother.
I want you to meet Claire.
Claire Tourneur.
My mother. Edith Mbtjana.
This is her sister, Maisie Mbtjana.
- Good Morning. - Hi.
I'm so happy to meet you.
Terrible things have happened.
But sometimes the best things happen at the worst moments.
What are you two doing out here? You shouldn't be here.
That's what I've been telling her for the past three days. But she had an intuition.
You know my intuitions.
Let's get out of here!
The longer we stand here the more dangerous it is.
It's gotta be safer up the road at the Centre!
Maggie, Linda. It's good to be home.
Sam, is Claire behind?
You'll like it here, mate. They're a real friendly mob.
- You're alright, Edith? - Any readings yet?
No, not yet. How far away were you?
- 250 miles. - You're clean.
Mother...
You won't want to read the radiation cases
I've been reading up on. They almost give me nightmares.
- You're clean, Auntie. - Thank you.
This is our doctor, Lydia.
- Lydia, this is Claire. - Hello, Claire.
You're all clean.
Mr. Fitzpatrick...
Could you give me a hand, please?
Good ol' diesel.
Nice bag you got there, mate.
He's a pretty flashy character.
- Beautiful... - What about that bag?
- Where are you from, anyway? - Ireland.
Berlin.
I bet you've come a long way to get here. Should get on pretty good with the doc.
Farber, that is. Bit of a weirdo but, I suppose a lot of people around here are.
- Let me give you hand with your bags, mate. - It's okay.
Hurry up, Sam. I'll stay with Claire.
It has been the nuclear satellite. It has broken the plane.
- You hurt your leg, boy? - Not bad. I can walk.
On the left at the back, you can see a grey metallic door.
That's the entrance to Henry's laboratory.
Farber!
I knew there was a pretty girl in it somewhere!
This is Claire Tourneur.
It is a great pleasure to meet you, Claire.
I completely forgive you for keeping us waiting.
Well... Here's what you've been waiting for.
Finally, huh!
It's incredible. The computers at the Cultural Centre
are all wiped by this Indian stupidity! 35 languages, just gone!
But our digital tapes are untouched. Thank God.
Nice to see you, Father.
Oh, Sam. I'm sorry. I've become like my own father.
That's what happens when you get old, you see.
Well, you've been through a lot for us, Sam.
I know you think we take it for granted, but we don't.
So, get some rest. The second scene can wait.
No, let's do it now!
Sammy, you're injured.
- Sam, maybe you shouldn't rush it. - No, let's do it.
If he feels up to it, he may as well do it. So, Just give me a minute.
Farber, don't do this to him.
This one. My brother, Anton.
- What's wrong? - He's always been like this.
- I always forget. I always behave badly. - Doesn't he know what you've been through for him?
- Probably not. - Then, someone should tell him.
The whole family's been through a lot.
But I'm the only one who got you.
Well then. What are we going to do with you mob?
You can't stay out here.
- Have to find you a place to stay. - It's very, very beautiful.
When my father went into hiding, the laboratory was built inside this cave.
Only the Mbantua people knew about it.
Without them, none of this would've been possible.
My father came here first 40 years ago, as a young ophtalmologist.
Excuse me. I wonder if you'd mind if I borrowed the typewriter.
Sure you can. The kids only play with it, anyway. Come on.
The return of the writer
Wonderful!
This may startle you.
- Karl. - Sam.
This is the computer whiz
who first came with my father when they left the Sunset Institute in California.
He transferred and deleted all of Father's files from the Institute's computer.
Thanksgiving weekend. 1995.
Took three days and three nights.
He's a genius. When they came here they had nothing but 2000 gigabytes of memory and my goggles.
It took them four years, starting from scratch, to build this place.
Then, let's wait one more day.
- Sam, we're both so tired. - No. Lydia works here.
She keeps an eye on the medical side. Peter!
Peter is my father's skin brother. He is my aboriginal father.
It's good to have you with us, Claire.
Ned, Claire. Claire, Ned.
Video, electronics. You ask Ned.
Ronda, biochemist. She monitors the brainwaves during the experiment.
Are you ready?
- What does this mean? - You haven't seen this program before?
- No. - Well, we're working on this one now.
- Henry? Now, calm down. - Ok.
- And stay calm. - Okay, okay.
Kiss me.
Don't push him away this time. I'd rather never see anyone in our family.
I mean this.
I'd rather never see...
a single face than lose him again.
I hear you.
His is the face I most wanted to see.
And that's the gift you didn't think of giving me.
Please. It doesn't help us to become emotional now.
Alright.
If you're calm, I'm calm.
I'm calm.
How about a cup of coffee, Henry?
Oh, no. Caffeine is just what you don't need.
You can have lemon cordial.
- I've modified the PRZ. - You got that, Karl? 2 megabyte sample.
Are you ready, my mother?
Yes, Sammy.
- Then, let's do it. - Yes.
- Take care. - You, too. I love you.
Has someone got Sam a drink?
What's happening here? You can't do this today!
- Edith is too tired for this. - Tired? Edith Eisner? No.
This is Edith Eisner. I quote her biography:
Edith Eisner is tireless.
She sat up there on the track waiting for this young fella for three days... Three days and three nights!
Sat through a damn nuclear catastrophe. That's the sort of woman she is. She is indestructible.
- Sam, do you have a drink? - It's okay, Mom.
Edith, why are you rushing this?
I'm fine, Maisie. Look after Sam.
You can die from this, sister!
I'd rather die from this than from anything else.
This is men's business.
It's Henry's and Sam's business. So it's my business.
Please, Maisie. Go. Go!
This is wrong! That old man's going to steal your dreaming one day!
This is none of your business, woman. Stay out of it!
Henry knows what he's doing. Let them see it through!
Where have you been, Lydia? He doesn't need crutches now.
Prepare him. 10 milliwatts. No, make it 20.
- Is Maisie alright? - Yeah, she's okay.
Silly bugger! You shouldn't be doing this now.
I don't believe this. I haven't seen these people for 14 years.
This is my sister-in-law, Irina. She's an extraordinary woman.
Here is Anton, my brother. He's 82...he's your brother, too! Peter.
- Incredible. - He needs a haircut.
God. 14 years!
What is she doing to him?
Relaxing him. That's laserpuncture.
He can't achieve maximum concentration unless the body is drained of all nervous energy.
- That's what I need. - Who doesn't nowadays.
Tic, tic, tic. Here comes the radiation.
When we touch the Earth, it's gonna kill us.
What's going on?
We are just about ready.
Primary image fully recovered, Dr. Farber.
- Move it into virtual? - Yes, go ahead. Ronda?
Everything's fine here.
Okay. Roll!
Do you mind?
Come here.
You see. The computer is now downloading the data from Sam's recording in Berlin
into our system.
Then Sam has to look at it again and the computer has to compare
the brain activity of the second seeing to that of the first one.
Thereby extracting only what is relevant to the image which then hopefully
will be transmitted into the receiving brain. Understand?
This is very, very disciplined work for the eyes.
I did some recording myself.
It's very exhausting.
Scanning procedure in five seconds.
Five, four, three, two, one, zero!
- Ned, it's messed up. - No, it's not.
Ned, did we have any of that last time?
Is that what she's seeing at the moment?
Oh, no. There is so much information for the computer to process...
Look. What he's looking at is about a minute ahead of what we're seeing on the big screen.
That's the amount of time it takes for the computer to re-establish all the information.
But that isn't very good.
We're not going to transmit that.
- Open it up all the way, Ned. - I already did!
It's gone back to green. He's tired.
No, it's gone back to red. It's not enough.
Has it started?
No. Still the recognition phase, Edith. Just wait.
- Stay calm. - I'm always calm!
So this day is a great day in history
and your family is very proud
to be with you on this day when you see our faces.
I know I am talking too much.
- Anton, it's Edith this is for. Not Henry. - I'm coming to her.
Hello, dear Edith.
If only we could be with you and share this moment with you...
It wasn't as simple as just putting in a tape and playing it back.
Whoever had initially recorded the images had to see them again.
The first time the computer had recorded the act of seeing,
now it was reading the act of remembering.
In theory, these two grids of information, together with the actual video recordings of the event,
enabled the computer to translate these images into brainwaves again,
and to reproduce them in the blind person's visual cortex.
Dr. Farber! Very poor retention here. It's not even 20%!
We can't transmit that simulation. It would just upset her too much!
Ronda.
Brain activity unfocused. These waves are too low.
He's just not on it.
I've CRC'd the entire system. Nothing wrong on the inside.
His concentration is only red. It's not enough. You're only red!
Don't talk to me!
You'll abuse her, Henry!
You use your wife!
You use your son!
You use my people!
Empty your mind! Stop thinking!
Henry! You're making it worse.
I have nothing to work with. There's no check, no definition, no color!
Empty your mind, for goodness sake! Look only at the still point!
There's nothing but the still point!
Shit!
Well, there you are. It was crazy to do it when you were tired, Sam.
What did you say?
It's crazy to do it when you are tired!
However, in science there's always tomorrow.
Don't patronize me, you pathetic old man!
Pathetic old man? You just never could stand up to pressure, young man!
Stop acting like children.
Why don't I remember what you're like?
When you disappeared from America and I thought you were dead or in jail.
I lost a whole year of my life looking for you!
- What, I never said thank you, huh? - That's right, never!
I lost my wife and my only child for you!
Sam, what could I have done?
You could have trusted me. You could have admitted you were wrong for once in your life!
That's enough. Stop it, both of you.
Sorry.
Every time I work with him I go wrong. Whatever I do. Every single time.
I'm sorry.
Didn't work, did it? Bloody good thing, too.
What's wrong?
This whole journey... for nothing.
Good evening.
Charming chap, your new boyfriend.
You don't know what he's going through!
This is your son?
It hurts every time I see a small boy.
When I'm in an airport, I look at a little kid. My eyes well up with tears.
It's like a sickness.
It's ridiculous.
My arms ache to hold him.
Literally, here and here.
He is dead?
No.
No, he's just...
He didn't used to be like this. I mean he was always like this but...
there was something else, too.
He was always full of himself, but he could always find something to do for other people.
These people love him.
He helped them beat trachoma.
He worked his guts out to achieve that. And it was... selfless.
But he's an egotist, and he's obsessed.
I'm like him. I'm obsessive.
I neglected my family,
my own wife and my child.
I broke up on a payphone, in Coober Pedy.
Nothing was worth shit, anymore.
When I did find my parents, with David's help, it was almost by accident.
And I was so angry with Henry I could've punched him in the nose.
After a while, I just wanted to get the hell out of here.
That's why I volunteered...to record the tapes.
It wasn't because I'm a great guy.
I haven't been a nice guy in a long time.
I can't see the point of all this strutting and fretting.
We are all as good as dead.
Not in my book, we're not.
I'm not dead here and neither are you. I'm saving your ass, Winter!
Writing won't help.
Your stories won't help me.
Winter, the future is always a fiction.
I'm more worried about...
reality...
than fiction.
I'm worried about the present, Mr. Fitzpatrick.
The present will look after itself.
But it's our duty to realize the future with our imagination.
Holy Shit! You look like you've been through hell.
This must be heaven.
You're clean. No radiation.
Come on. I'll fix you up.
Christmas went by unnoticed.
Those nights in December of 1999 were filled with silent anxiety.
The radios gave nothing but static.
We did not know if the great cities of the world still existed,
if our parents, our children, our friends
were still alive, or burned or sick.
We all shared the same fears, but nobody dared talk about it.
I continued to write my novel. I wrote like a maniac.
I wrote about our fears, I wrote about our hopes.
I wrote about Claire. I wrote about Chico, and Winter and Burt.
I wrote about the Farber family, and their pride and selfishness.
I wrote about the aboriginal people. I wrote about myself, too.
I wrote so that none of what had happened to us would ever be forgotten.
I wrote day and night.
Claire could not understand how the failure of the experiment
could possibly matter that much, compared to the fate of the world.
But such were the passions of the Farber family,
that the experiments seemed of greater importance than the end of time itself.
Ned, good morning. Let's go through the tapes together.
Is was all Sam thought about.
He blamed himself, even in his dreams.
Wake up, Sam. Come on, pretty face.
I'm asleep, for God's sake!
How can I give a shit if I'm too tired!
Without sleep, I can't transfer the images,
and if I can't, then there's been no point to any of it!
Good morning.
- I'm Karl. I work here. - I'm Eugene.
Well, make yourself at home.
Thank you.
It's nice.
- What do you do? - I'm a genius.
G'morning, mate.
I'm thinking about Raymond. He'll get angry when he finds out about the money.
Didn't you keep some for him?
No. but I will give some, you know me.
Thanks, mate.
- Thanks what? - "Thanks, mate."
If I understand this correctly,
you recorded some tape of his sister, which means
you could transmit it to his mother. Am I correct?
I'm the only one who can.
Then what's the problem? If you can make her see it then do it!
Why would Sam care? He should be happy!
- Ned. Sync lock for recovery? - Skipped procedure, standby.
Alright.
You want to go through this again, Claire?
No, Henry. I'm fine.
65% retention. 75% but still rising.
- Beautiful. Ronda? - Everything's perfect.
- Peaking at 93% - That's very impressive. She's a natural.
Store cards full. Combining into simulation.
...have a dream where Henry would give you back your sight. Just like you always said he would.
I can't trust the simulator. I just can't trust it.
Don't do anything!
Second seeing rolling straight through the transmission, Henry.
Okay, Lydia. Any objections?
Edith's heart's fine. BP good, respiration normal. Everything's okay.
Waves are good, she's in the curl.
Alright. Drat it. Go to transmission.
10,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1, now!
The colors...
blue,
yellow,
red.
A person... sitting.
by a window,
blue hairband...
yellow dress.
She is sitting, hands folded.
Could she be... our daughter?
Henry!
and the shadows on the wall?
And a jug on the table...
red curtains.
What a lovely face...
Henry,
Look at her face!
The sound's come up, Dr. Farber.
Go ahead, Elsa.
I'm so relieved.
I was so mad at you guys.
I thought you were dead.
It's so weird that this is finally happening now.
I can't think of anything to say.
I love you, Mother. You're the wisest, sweetest, strongest woman.
I'm so happy that you can see me.
- Heidi, come here. - Yes.
- Mother, this is Heidi. - I'm five.
You ran away before she was born.
She has your mouth.
Can you tell Grandma a story?
Tell her about your cat.
Can you tell her about your cat?
She likes to play with her tail and she only eats string cheese.
And she caught a... rat.
Only one. We don't have many rats at our house.
Elsa, I have to stop. My eyes hurt.
Thank you!
Congratulations, Edith!
Thank you.
Hey, you're not writing about us.
No.
Like this.
And when you breath, when you get to that stage that is,
you push in, right here.
You push the stomach in and that powers the breathing.
See, you can keep it going all the time. Nonstop.
This day is a great day in history
your family is very proud
to be with you on this day when you see our faces.
I know I am talking too much.
- Anton, it's Edith this is for. Not Henry. - I'm coming to her.
Hello, dear Edith.
If only we could be with and share this moment with you.
Well, in a way, we are.
For a second, I was seeing, I was watching all those people
wondering: are they still alive?
Mrs. Farber,
I have just witnessed a miracle and so have you.
Of course, they're still alive.
Only miracles make sense.
Still there?
Yeah, he's still there.
A big old fellow?
Yeah, he's a big old fellow. He's a wedged tail.
Ah, Iritza.
He'll find his place soon.
Doesn't seem to be in any hurry about it.
I could record it. You could see him.
I know him.
- What about Father's face? - Henry,
I know him even better.
- You've never seen Henry's face! - I know him.
Where is everybody?
The old ones want to sit down with the young people. To explain some old business.
They want to make sure everything is passed on. They're afraid of the radiation.
They call it "the poison from the sky".
They don't understand it, but they know it'll destroy our country.
They want to make sure everything is passed on.
People painting song lines, telling stories,
recording details of sacred sites.
They're pushing everything out. Like a dying moth pushing out eggs.
"Come into my parlor" said the spider to the fly.
"Oh, no thanks, Mr. Longshanks. I have other fish to fry."
- Thank you, Sammy. - You're welcome.
Here we go.
Now you will see Nora.
It's unbelievable, Mom. How Sam found me here in Siberia,
of all places.
I wish you didn't have to see me in such an ugly place,
but I'm afraid...
this is what the world looks like.
Very good, Samuel! Bravo.
You liked that? I'm really glad.
Just getting a concentrated image in that situation was really difficult.
Siberia, was it cold?
No, forget about the cold. The cold was the least of the problems. It was my eyes.
Your eyes?
After recording Dr. Fukosawa in Tokyo, I couldn't see! I was literally blind.
- Was it the focusing? - No, it's the programming. The programming is too harsh on the retina.
When you first walked into my office in Berlin,
who'd have thought we'd end up here?
You're a missing person yourself now, Mr. Winter.
Here I am.
For better or for worse.
In any reasonable culture I would be perceived as fantastically beautiful, don't you think?
There must be a planet somewhere where they have the correct aesthetic
where all those young faces with their smooth skin would be considered terribly ugly
All these folds, and spots and wrinkles,
well, it's wisdom, eh? So, it's beautiful? Even sexy?
I'll tell you, Edith, I actually feel a little shy.
That's enough, Sam. I'd like to do it again.
Damn it.
What are you laughing at?
- I've always found you sexy, Father. - Oh, shut up!
Edith Eisner had been 8 years old when she'd lost her sight.
The experience of seeing the world again was exhilarating
but it was also confusing, and sad.
The world she discovered was darker and uglier than she could have imagined.
It would have been ungracious for her to mention this.
Her grief was only there for those
with eyes to see it.
- You are not hungry, darling? - No.
Wait a minute, fellas!
At the end of the first week, we registered low levels of radiation in the air.
The contamination was insignificant,
but it was a defeat for the optimists amongst us.
The reason Henry and I are so close
to the Mbantua people is that a long time ago, nearly 40 years,
I came to write a book on the Mbantua women.
So, you both had work here?
I came for my work.
He followed me because he loved me.
I loved him, too. Very much.
We first met in Lisbon.
I was twelve, he was fourteen.
- We were running from the Nazis. - By yourselves?
I was with my parents.
He had lost his.
Our lives are filled with sad stories, and good ones, too.
We were teenage lovers.
You followed some of our adventure chasing Sam.
Berlin, Paris, Lisbon.
And then America.
We had American babies.
You must have missed them when you had to hide.
Very badly.
- And Sam lost his child. - Yes.
Your grandchild...
- Did he say that it's our fault? - No, absolutely not.
He does think that it's our fault, but he will never be aggressive with me,
only with Henry.
That's how it always is...
That's how it always is.
Boys. Men.
It was on that same evening that I realized that this had been the purpose of our journey
Neither to prove my love for Claire,
nor the search for a blind woman's sight.
The purpose of our journey had been so that this music might bloom here,
on the edge of what was possibly the end of the world.
And as I played, and as I watched the Mbantua people seek refuge
from the radiation in the caves of Dr. Farber's laboratory
I felt that what we were playing was a prayer,
a prayer for the wounded planet, Earth.
- Thank you, Claire. - You must be very tired.
This is wonderful. You see how the images are becoming so much clearer?
This is a very smart little computer.
So, listen. Edith... I was wondering if you have the strength
- No, Farber. She hasn't. - Quiet, Maisie. Of course, I have.
- Hello, girls. - Hello...
Madeleine, how are you?
Thank you, Karl.
Have anyone thought about possible side effects of this whole thing?
Old man Farber cares only about his work. Everything and everyone else takes a second place.
He wants his Nobel Prize.
Making blind people see?
You are joking. The potential for this device is awesome.
It can take visual information straight from the brain.
Once I do that, we can suck our dreams and look at them like television.
- That's impossible. - That's what they said to Galileo.
For that reason he refused to give back the 'noa noa' manuscript,
written by Gauguin during his stay in Tahiti,
so it will remain in France. It will be donated to the museum of modern art.
Oh, yes.
"It's a curious adventure"
For a writer you don't type very fast.
How do you spell "nuisance"?
I like it better when you're depressed, Winter.
- Peter? - Yes, Edith.
How far have you got with your dictionary?
The word I am at is "inngirre".
Face!
Good morning, you've got the Dr. Stanley J. Top of the hour
traffic alert inbound on the San Bernadino on the 10 and the 405. You know how it is.
A quick look at the weather for this Friday, December 31st, 1999 the last day of the century
It's okay! It's okay!
It was in space! The blast was all in space!
We have a crystal radio! It was in the radio station in Los Angeles!
You've got to listen to this! The earphones.
Can I put them on you?
The world is still alive!
It was the eve of the year 2000.
There must have been parties all over the world.
But no celebration could have been happier than this one in Central Australia,
in the land of the Mbantua people.
But as we sang and danced we couldn't know that one of us
was not going to follow us into the new millennium.
This is insane. Just when you've found out the world is okay,
you're singing yourself to death?
The world is not okay.
You know the world is not okay.
You can't just decide to die.
I don't decide anything.
I just let go.
I'm sorry, my love. We've been pushing you too hard.
No, Henry.
There's nothing to be sorry for. Life ends.
But I've seen, finally...after all these years.
This is our story, my darling.
What a chase it has been. What a dance...
Just don't do this to me, please.
Listen...
Listen to them singing.
I'm thinking of the days, I won't forget a single day, believe me.
I bless the light. I bless the light.
The light that shines on you, believe me, even if you left,
you would be with me every day, trust me.
Days I'll remember all my life,
Days when you can't see wrong from right.
You took my life, But then I knew that very soon you'd leave me,
But it's all right,
Now I'm not frightened of this world, believe me.
I wish today could be tomorrow,
The night is dark, It just brings sorrow,
let it wait.
Thank you for the days,
Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me.
I'm thinking of the days,
I won't forget a single day, believe me.
Days I'll remember all my life,
Days when you can't see wrong from right.
You took my life, But then I knew that very soon you'd leave me,
But it's all right, Now I'm not frightened of this world, believe me.
Days. Thank you for the days,
Those endless days, those sacred days you gave me.
I'm thinking of the days,
I won't forget a single day, believe me.
I bless the light, I bless the light
that shines on you, believe me.
And though you're gone, You're with me every single day, believe me.
Days...
Umbjana, my child.
Let's go now. Women's business.
When Edith Mbtjana was buried in the earth at the Kangaroo Plain,
her husband followed the aboriginal traditions for death,
but after the ceremony, he neglected those for mourning.
It occurred to no one that he might be attempting to break more serious taboos.
You come along now, Henry. You come away from here.
You know it's wrong for you to be here.
Wrong for you, Peter. But okay for me.
You know... I'm a white fellow, you know.
- Goodbye, Sam. - Beware, Chico.
Goodbye, Fritzpatrick.
Do detectives write, Mr. Winter?
- It depends on the expense. - Well, keep in touch.
It was Februray of the year 2000. The time had come for partings.
Winter, Chico, Buzzer, Burt and Lydia all went home,
thinking the story was over..
Claire and Sam finally felt that they'd left their old lives behind them.
They were looking forward to a life together that just seemed to be beginning.
I stuck around. I didn't feel like going back to Paris, anyway.
I'd found a heart-felt solititude which allowed me to work in a very disciplined way.
I moved into the now defunct radio station
to write what I thought what was going to be the last chapter of my novel.
But none of us knew that Dr. Farber was pursuing a new line of research,
which would take us all on to another journey,
down dangerous pathways. Down into the garden of dreams itself.
- This is a Nobel Prize matter. - For making people see,
- yes. - If that's what you want,
- fine. - I'll stay. I'll even help you write the papers.
- Fine. - But turn it around and we're leaving,
and this old man's leaving with us.
- Don't you think that's his decision? - No, that's our people's decision, Dr. Farber.
- You want to record pictures of his dreams. - I would never hurt your people!
You're my brother, Henry. That never changes. Never.
You helped our people, and for that I thank you.
But I didn't understand what you wanted. If Ronda hadn't...
Peter, no one ever did this before, in the history of our planet!
- And a damn good job, too. - Yes.
Imagine what you could hang on your walls,
instead of my people's paintings.
You could exhibit the inside of our heads! Our dreamings,
and all our old people's secret knowledge. You know that, Henry!
You think we want you walking through our dreamings with your fancy cameras?
- You are leaving, too, Ned? - Yes, I am going with my people.
God Almighty!
It's okay. He's in deep sleep.
No!
What's he doing?
He's trying to record his own dreams.
The technology's the same: He takes his brain signals
and turns them into pictures on the screen.
- That doesn't look very promising. - We'll see.
At first, only Dr. Farber could see the promise of his experiments
He and Karl worked around the clock.
But the fruit of their labor seemed to be nothing more than
a chaotic rhythm of digital noise, colors, and lights.
But eventually, shapes began to emerge
Herr Dr Jung, Herr Dr Freud...
if only you could see us now!
Sam could see the computer slowly finding it's way through
this new universe, he realized that in order to continue successfully,
his father couldn't remain the only subject of his own experiments.
Sam knew what he was expected to do.
Don't hurt him.
But he's my son.
You see, we know you. We know how your brain sees.
And we're smart.
We learn.
What was just electricity to us yesterday, is color today, and movement!
A dream!
I shouldn't be seeing this.
Ronda?
Oh, Claire, look at this.
Progress.
A cacophony of brainwaves transformed into a symphony of colors and shapes.
Biochemical images.
If I were Sam, this would make me feel like honey.
- The music of the spheres. - This is so beautiful.
Beautiful? Wallpaper is beautiful.
You're not looking at the human soul, singing to itself,
to it's own god!
I don't know about God.
The God within us.
Look at it. It needs nothing.
- It needs everything. - Nothing. Nothing, my dear!
- It will eat us up alive. - Never.
- We should really stop this. - Stop it? How can we stop it?
This is all we've ever wanted! This is what we feed on!
How could we ever turn away from this?
We don't have the right.
Shit. There it goes again.
- Look! That's his face. It's Sam's face. - I can see that.
- He's frightened. - Maybe.
- Can't you see? - You know what I think is going on here?
I think the computer's doing it.
The computer is interpreting. It's trying to transmit a visual equivalent of the dreamer's emotions.
When did you ever see your own face in your dream?
- I often see myself in my dreams. - You do?
- You don't? - Never.
Well, aren't you? Aren't you even curious to know about your dreams.
- Of course she is. - It's not very clear to me.
- Is that all? The computer will learn. - Well, if that is the worry, relax.
- We'll have them clear as crystal. - Relax.
- Any day. - I don't really like my dreams. Mostly, they're nightmares.
You have to look at it as if you were going to another planet, or...
It's like you'll be the first woman to walk on...
- On Venus! - On Venus.
You are not trying to tell us you're going to turn down a chance to see your own dreams.
- Come on! - And then we quit.
And then we quit. And then we quit!
- What is that, Sam? - And then we quit!
- Alright then. Yes, then we quit. It's a deal. - Will you do it?
- Will you do it? - Once.
- Tonight? - Once.
- Oh! - That's the way. Is that a promise?
No, she doesn't trust us.
Claire was in position to deny Henry Farber the chance of recording her dreams.
Based on her successful transmission to Edith, she was the perfect cadidate.
She had transmitted more detailed visual information in her first seeing,
provided more coherent memory patterns in her second.
The computer considered her technically compatible.
- What is the border rate? - It's okay. There's no danger of overloading.
Who could have known that sleeping inside her was the propensity for addiction.
Look!
Look, it's me. I'm in front of the house we used to live in when I was four years old.
I must have dreamed that all my life and I've never remembered.
I want to see this again.
Why don't you let us work on this, Claire. We'll have a much better image...
My suggestion is to isolate...
Sam, did you see that? It was me when I was little.
Just a minute.
I suggest we work on it, analyse it and if it's successful I'm sure it'll be quite easy.
I'll put it through.
Once she saw the lost world of her childhood
she was helpless against the desire to see more.
In the weeks that followed, the laboratory became a beehive of activity.
The computer constantly processed huge amounts of data.
While one person slept, the others huddled around monitors,
waiting, watching, wanting to see a dream.
Soon, they were hooked. All of them.
they lived to see their dreams,
and when they slept, they dreamed about their dreams.
They had arrived at the island of dreams together,
but in a short time, they were oceans apart.
I watched helplessly as Claire and Sam were drowning in their own nocturnal imagery.
They ignored each other, and neglected themselves.
The dreams, which should been flushed away with the first yawn,
were now their only diet, and thus became more and more concentrated.
They made monsters for themselves that they could neither tolerate
nor do without.
Each time I get to this part of this dream, it gets blurry.
I'll dream this again. I can make that clearer.
Now, I can stare at it in a whole new direction.
They wandered in and out of lost worlds,
feelings and figures emerged from a forgotten past.
Their dreams became black holes of isolation.
They suffered finally from a complete loss of reality.
I am so happy as a child. And then I fall.
Why do I always fall?
Don't leave me alone!
Why do you leave her so alone?
Falling...
Time...
Loneliness...
Fear...
Hello, Claire.
How are you?
- Can I see? - No.
- Please? - No.
There's a line that should never be crossed.
And we passed it a long time ago.
By the time I came to rescue Claire the only thing she cared about
was having fresh batteries for her video monitor.
Good luck!
If I'd given Claire the batteries for her monitor, then I could have been her friend.
But I wouldn't, so I was her enemy.
She would not let me touch her. She would not let me feed her.
I wanted to help Claire, but I didn't know how.
I thought she had to sweat them all out, those false images she'd absorbed.
She had fallen into the deep well of narcissism,
and she had to climb up towards the light by herself.
I can't, Claire. It's dead.
I'm dead.
My heart is dead!
I'd always cherished the beginning of the Gospel According to John:
"In the beginning was the word."
I was now afraid that the Apocalypse would read: "In the end, there were only images".
I didn't know the cure for the disease of images.
All I knew was how to write.
Winter had once said to me:
"Words won't help us now, Mr. Fitzpatrick." But words were all I had.
Somebody must have collected the $500,000 reward from the CIA.
In another 20 years, the US government might tell me who it was.
but not now. Not in this book.
All I found out was that two men landed in a helicopter
and took Dr. Farber back to the United States.
I finally understood why Henry had wanted to transform brainwaves into images.
His wife existed only in his dreams.
He had sought her there, and had found her.
Well, not really her. His memory of her,
and his vision of himself.
It's time to pack up! Where is your son now, Dr. Farber?
I fall...
My heart,
My heart is gone
Gone!
Birds!
"In the beginning was the word." "Words won't help us now, Mr. Fitzpatrick."
I believed in words.
And I believed in the magic and healing power of storytelling.
So, I did the only thing I could do:
I continued to write Claire's story.
Hoping that she could read it one day.
I wrote her healthy. I wrote her happy.
I prayed that the truth of the words
might still the screaming white birds in the sky.
For several hours, the government agents looked for Sam
and circled over the maze into which he had fled.
They might have found him, if he had wanted to be found
but it was impossible to rescue a man lost in the labyrinth of his own soul.
Now, it's time to get that shit out of your system. For once and for all.
Come on.
I'll take you to the old fellas that I know.
You will sleep between them. They will take your dream.
Come on.
I'll take you.
You're my brother.
Come on!
You don't say?
I know, I know.
Rock.
Fly, don't bother me.
Shoo, fly. Don't bother me.
10,000 fleets sweep over me in vain.
Well, how do you like it?
But now...
what happens now?
That's for you to invent.
I "danced around the planet", you call it.
Yeah,
I watched you dance.
It was only later that I realized Sam Farber
had been inside the ransacked laboratory at exactly the same time
Claire and I had stood at the broken bridge on the other side of the camp.
It was perhaps the last time the pair of them would be so close.
On that April morning, I no longer had a competitor for her heart.
And yet, Claire and I had moved beyond all that.
There's no going back.
We were not going to be a couple again. Not with each other, or with anybody else for quite awhile.
But we were always going to be friends.
I wanted to see Claire grow old, more than anything I hoped she was now on
the path to being that better person she had sworn to become.
I wrote an ending for my novel, whereby Sam and Claire would meet again,
in that same bar in San Francisco, Tosca's.
I wrote it, but tore the pages apart and wrote the truth instead.
Sam did return to San Francisco,
only to find he had lost his wife and son, for good.
He never found his father again. Only his grave.
Dr. Farber had died keeping the secrets of his dream machine for himself.
As for Claire, the next time I heard from her she was working for Greenspace.
Her extraordinary vision had found her a place
on their space observatory.
She and her crewmates orbited the Earth,
watching the oceans for pollution crimes.
She stayed up there for 6 months. She spent her 30th birthday in space.
Hello, Claire. Happy birthday!
I'm in New York. The book came out today. What do you think?
We don't have much time. Operator, can we have the conference call now, please?
Ready, guys?
1, 2, 3, 4...
Happy birthday to you...
Happy birthday dear Claire! Happy birthday to you
To the memory of my father and my brother, for my mother, Barbara, hella and Michael.
Special thanks to nhk and Sony, without the support of which we could not have realized the high definition video image
and dentsu who believed in this film.