Dearest,Donated by SergeiKI feel certain, that I'm going mad again.
I think we can't go through another of these terrible times
and I shan't recover this time.
I begin to hear voices
and can't concentrate.
So I'm doing what seems the best thing to do.
You have given me the greatest possible happiness.
You have been in every way all that anyone could be.
I know that I'm spoiling your life
and without me you could work
and you will.
I know.
You see I can't even write this properly.
What I want to say is that I owe all the happiness of my life to you.
You have been entirely patient with me
and incredibly good.
Everything is gone for me,
but the certainty of your goodness.
I can't go on spoiling your life any longer.
I don't think two people could have been happier than we have been.
Virignia.
"T H E H O U R S"
Morning, doctor! -Mr. Woolf.
A little worse, I think. -I see.
My thing is to keep her where she is.
Good morning, Leonard.
Good morning, Virginia.
How was your sleep?
Uneventful.
Headaches? - No, no headaches.
Doctor seemed pleased.
It's all from this morning? -Yes.
This young man has submitted his manuscript.
I found three errors of fact
and two spelling maistakes
and I'm not yet on page four.
Had breakfast?
Yes.
Liar.
Virginia,it's not my insistense
but the doctor's.
I'd better send Nelly up with some fruit in the parlour.
Right... lunch then.
Proper lunch, husband and wife sitting down together...
soup... pudding and all.
By force if necessary.
Lenard, I believe I may have the first sentence.
Work then.
Then you must eat.
Mrs. Dalloway said
she would buy the flowers herself.
Mrs. Dalloway said that she would buy the flowers herself.
Sally, I think I'll buy the flowers myself.
What?
What flowers?
Shit!
You're never gonna be a big boy if you don't eat your breakfast.
You're gonna be the big brother - it's a very important job.
Happy birthday.
Good morning, honey.
Oh, Dan!
Roses on your own birthday -
too much, really...
Hope he'll eat it now you're here.
It is your birthday, you shouldn't be up buying me flowers.
Well, you were still sleeping - So...
We decided it would be better if we let you to sleep a little, didn't we?
Good morning, Bug.
You need to rest, Laura. You're only 4 months away.
Don't, I'm fine... just tired.
I was telling him he's got to eat his breakfast!
That's true.
So, it's a beautiful day!
What are you two going to do?
We've got our plans, don't we?
What plans?
Well, it wouldn't be much of a party,
if I told you every detail in advance?
I'd better stop asking questions, ahah?!.
Look, the time - I'd better get going.
Have a good day.
You too!
Dan, happy birthday.
Thank you.
You need to finish your breakfast.
Well, I'm gonna make a cake.
That's what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna make a cake for daddy's birthday.
Mommy, can I help?
Can I help make the cake?
Of course you can, sweety.
I'm not gonna do anything without you.
No, of course, you have to come.
Of course.
Well, I always wanted you... And everybody involved in the ceremony.
I don't know it. Around sixty?
Well...it will...it'll mean so much.
The whole occasion.
It's the least I can do - have a nice dinner and say thanks to everybody.
You have made so much for him.
Oh, take that as a "yes".
He'll be thrilled! -Oh, my god!
I'm thrilled, oh, good! - What if nobody comes?
This is Clarissa Vaughan.
Yes, I'm just confirming that you are sending a car to pick up me first.
Hi, Clarissa! -Hi, hi, Brenda!
And then going over to 679 Hudson at 9 40.
Then you will take me uptown and you will wait for us...
It'll be over at 7 o'clock.
Oh, flowers!
What a beautiful morning.
Hello, Clarissa.
How are you?
I'm having a party.
My friend Richard has won the "Corroders".
Wow, that's just terrific!
if I knew what it was...
It is a poetry prize...
for a life's work.
It's the most prestigious.
For a poet, it's the best you can do.
Oh, very good. So, what do you like? The lillies are perfect.
No, too morbid.
Hydrangeas, I think.
And...
oh, oh, let's just have buckets of roses!
And...
I think I'm gonna take these with me.
Rodney.
Thank you.
I actually tried to read Richard's novel...
You did?
Oh, I know.
It is not easy.
I know. It did take him ten years to write.
Maybe just takes another ten to read.
It's you isn't it?
In the novel. Isn't it meant to be you?
Oh, I see!
Yeah, sort of.
I mean...in a way.
Richard's a writer that's what he is...
He uses things which actually happened. - Yeah...
And years ago he and I were students, that's true.
But, you know, then he changes things. -Oh, sure!
I don't mean in a bad way.
It's more like...
he makes them his own.
A woman's whole life...
in a single day.
Just one day.
And in that day...
her whole life.
This is what we need, shortening.
Mrs. Dalloway.
It's you! -Yees.
It's me! It's me!
Come in.
Oh, Richard, is a beautiful morning!
We should let in a little more light.
Is it still morning?
Yes, it is.
Have I died?
Good morning, my dear.
Any visitors?
Yes.
Are they still here?
No, they've gone.
How do they look? -Today?
Sort of like black fire.
Sort of light and dark at the same time.
There was one that was as an electrified jellyfish.
It was singing.
May have been Greek.
So, the ceremony is at 5.
Do you remember?
And then...
the party is right after.
They did bring you breakfast, didn't they?
What a question...of course.
Richard, you did eat it?
Well, can you see it?
Is it here?
Do you see breakfast lying around?
No, I don't see it.
Well, then I must have eaten it, mustn't I?
I suppose.
Does it matter?
Of course it matters.
You know what the doctors say.
Have you been skipping pills?
Of course, I can't take this.
Take what?
To be proud and brave...
in front of everybody.
Honey, it's not a performance.
Of course it is! I got the prize for my performance.
That is nonsense.
I got the prize for having AIDS and going nuts...
and being brave about it!
I actually got the prize for having come through! -It's not true.
For surviving! -It's not true!
That's what I won it for!
Do you think they would have given it to me if I were healthy?!
Yes, as a matter of fact I do!
Is it here somewhere?
What?
The prize?
I'd like to look at it.
No, you haven't gotten it yet.
It is tonight.
Are you sure?
I remember the ceremony perfectly.
I seem to have fallen out of time.
Richard.
Richard.
It is a party.
It's only a party.
Populated entirely with people who respect and admire you.
Ha, small party, is it?
Select party, is it?
Your friends.
I thought I lost all my friends.
I thought I drove my friends crazy.
Jesus. -Oh, Mrs. Dalloway...
... always giving parties...
to cover the silence.
Richard...
you won't need to do anything - all you have to do is appear...
sit on the sofa.
And I will be there.
This is a group of people
who wanna tell you your work is going to live.
Will it be this way?
Is my work going to live?
I can't go through all this.
Why do you say that?
I can't!
Why?
Because I wanted to be a writer, that's all.
And?
I wanted to write about it all.
Everything that happens in a moment.
The way the flowers look when you carry them in your arms.
This towel - how it smells , how it feels...
it's thread.
All our feelings - yours and mine.
The history of it.
Who we once were.
Everything in the world.
Everything mixed up.
Like it's all mixed up now.
And I failed.
I failed.
No matter what you start up with, it ends up being so much less.
Sheer fucking pride!
And stupidity.
We want everything, don't we?
I suppose we do.
You kissed me on a beach.
Yeah.
Do you remember?
How many years ago.
Of course I do.
What did you want
Come closer.
I'm right here.
Come closer. Would you please?
Take my hand.
Would you be angry...
Would I be angry if you didn't show up at the party?
Would you be angry if I died?
If you died?
Who is this party for?
What do you mean who is it for?
Why are you asking? What are you trying to say?
I am not trying to say anything.
I'm saying I think I'm only staying alive to satisfy you.
So that is it we do.
That is what people do - they stay alive for each other.
The doctors told you - you don't need to die.
They told you. You can live this for years.
Well, exactly!
I don't accept this.
I don't accept what you say.
Oh, and it is for you to decide, is it?
How long have you been doing that?
How many years...
cleaning for the apartment...
What about your own life?
What about Sally?
Just wait till I die,
and you'll have to think of yourself.
How are you going to like that?
Richard...
it would be great if you did come to the party,
if you felt well enough to come.
Just to let you know that I am making the crab thing
not that I imagine it makes any difference to you.
Of course it makes a difference, I love the crab thing.
Clarissa.
Yes...
I'll be back at 3.30
and will help you get dressed.
Wonderful!
Three thirty.
Wonderful.
It's on this day,
this day of all days,
her fate becomes clear to her.
Excuse me, Mrs. Woolf.
Mr. Woolf said I was to come and speak with you.
Nearly finished, Nelly. Wait for me in the kitchen. I'll be done very soon.
What happens is
she says she wants something then it turns out she doesn't!
Well, she never does, does she?
She never wants anything!
But when she wants something in particular...
it's a sure sign.
I wish I've been there
I wish I had tone!
If you give that look!
I said "madam"
Yes, Nelly, tell me. How can I help?
It's about lunch.
I just had to go ahead on my own.
I understand.
You chose a pie...
I chose a lamb pie.
That seems suitable.
You being so busy with your writing...
I'd no instructions.
You do remember that my sister is coming
at four with the children?
Yes, Madam.. I had not forgotten.
China tea, I think.
And ginger.
Ginger, Madam...
I'd like to give the children a treat.
We'll have to go to London for ginger, Madam.
I haven't finished this, and there's the rest of lunch to get ready.
The 12.30 train, Nelly, will get you into London just after one,
if you return on the 2.30, you should be back in Richmond soon after 3.
Do I miscalculate?
No!
Well then, is something detaining you Nelly?
I can't think of anything more exhilarating than a trip to London.
Good morning, Mrs. Woolf.
Good morning.
We shall publish no more new authors.
I have to tell you I've discovered ten errors in the first proof.
Less bad than there are them opposing.
"Pasandale was a charnål-house...
from which no min return"!
Do you think it's possible that bad writing actually attracts a higher incidence of error?
If it's allright, I thought I might take a short walk.
Not far?
No, just over there.
Go then.
If I could walk mid-morning, I'd be a happy man.
She'll die.
She's going to die.
That's what's going to happen.
She'll kill herself.
She'll kill herself over something which doesn't seem to matter.
Let us think.
You greased the pan, mommy.
I know I greased the pan, sweetheart, even mommy knows that.
This is what we're gonna do.
Flour.
Bowl.
Sifter.
Can I do it, mommy?
Can I sift the flour?
Yes, you can sift the flower,
baby, if that's what makes you happy.
Isn't it beautiful?
Don't you think it looks like snow?
OK. Now...
the next thing...the next thing I'm gonna show you
is to measure up the cuts.
Mommy, it isn't that difficult.
I know, I know it isn't difficult, it's just that I...
just wanna do this for daddy.
Because it's his birthday?
That's right.
Bake him the cake to show him that we love him.
Otherwise he won't know we love him?
That's right.
I got all stuff!
I'm going right out again.
My God, what a zoo!
Why do people have to talk about dry cleaning?
What is it there to talk about?
I bought you some flowers.
Where are you?
In here.
I got someone at work to cover me. I'll be with you all night.
Are you all right?
Sure.
I guess you saw Richard.
That's right.
Well, of course...
I bet he said: "Oh, by the way, honey, can I skip the party?"
Don't worry, he always shows up...
Oh, sure!
...in the end.
What?
Richard missing a chance to talk about his work?
I don't think so. He'll show up.
You did the seating?
I did.
I don't believe it - Louis Waters! Is Louis coming?!
Richard's Louis?
He is.
You put him next to me...
Why do I always have to sit next to the ex-es?
Is it some kind of hint, sweetheart?
Shouldn't the ex-es have table of their own,
where they can all
"ex" together
I'm off.
Try not to pass out from excitement.
Clarissa, it's going to be beautiful.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Why is everything wrong?
It didn't work!
Damn it!
It didn't work...
Hi, Scott.
Hi, Mrs. Barlow.
Mommy, mommy, there's someone at the door!
Hello?
Laura?
Hi, Laura, am I interrupting? -Of course not, come in.
Are you allright?
Why, sure!
Hi, Richie!
Sit down, I've got coffee on.
Would you like some?
Please.
Oh, look, you made a cake!
I know.
Didn't work.
I thought it was gonna work.
I thought it would be better than that.
Oh, Laura, I don't understand it why you find it so difficult!
I don't know either.
Everyone can make a cake - it's ridiculously easy.
I bet you didn't grease the pan.
I greased the pan.
Allright.
You know, you have other virtues.
And Dan loves you so much he won't even notice.
Whatever you do, he's gonna say it's wonderful.
Well, it's true!
Does Ray have a birthday?
Sure he does!
When is it?
September.
We go to the country club.
We always go to the country club.
We drink martinis and spend the day with fifty people.
Ray's got a lot of friends.
Oh, he does...
You both have a lot of friends.
You are good at it.
How is Ray? I haven't seen him in a while.
Ray's fine.
These guys are something, aren't they?
Oh, yes, you can say that again.
They came home from the war... They deserved it, didn't they?
After all they've been through. -What...did they deserve?
I don't know...us I guess... all this.
Oh, you are reading a book. - Yeah.
What's this one about?
Well, it'a about...This woman is incredibly... Well, she's a hostess, and she's incredibly confident
and she's going to give a party. And maybe because she's confident, everyone thinks she's fine...
But she isn't.
So?
Kitty, what is it? Is there something wrong?
I have to go to the hospital for a couple of days.
Kitty...
I have some kind of...ghost in my uterus and...
we're gonna go in and take a look.
When?
This afternoon.
I need you to feed the dog.
Of course.
Is that what you came here to ask?
What did the doctors say exactly?
That's probably what the trouble's been
with not getting pregnant.
The thing is...
I mean, you know...
I've been very happy with Ray.
And now it turns out that there was a reason ...a reason I couldn't conceive.
You are lucky, Laura.
I don't think you can call yourself a woman until you're a mother.
And the joke is...
all my life I could do everything.
I mean, could do anything, really.
Except the one thing I wanted.
Yes. -That's all.
Oh, at least now you will be able to deal with it.
That's right.
That's what they're doing. - That's right... - I'm not worried.
No, it is not in your hands.
That's it...
It's in the hands of some physician I've never even met!
Some surgeon who probably drinks more martinis than Ray and...
Oh, Kitty!
God, I am so worried about Ray.
Come here. - I'm doing fine, really.
I know, I know you are.
I'm more worried about Ray, if anything isn't that good with this stuff.
Forget about Ray...just forget about Ray.
You were sweet.
You know the routine, right?
You have the can in the evening... and check the water now and then...
Ray'll feed him in the morning.
Kitty, you didn't mind?
What?
I didn't mind what?
Do you want me to drive you?
I think I'll be better if I drive myself.
Kitty, it's gonna be allright.
Of course it is.
Bye.
What? What do you want?
Mr. Woolf, Mrs. Bell has arrived!
Not due till 4 o'clock.
I can't help that...
she is here!
You are a perfect angel...
Don't allow the boys make fun of you.
Fly away.
Virginia!
Lenard thinks it's the end of civilization
people are invited at 4 ...
...and arrive at 2.30.
Oh, God!
Barbarians.
Well, we finished lunch sooner than we imagined.
I had to send to Nelly to London for sugar ginger.
Oh, Virginia.
You aren't so frightened of servants, are you?
Come on!
And how are you, sister?
Frantic, it's been ridiculous in London.
Ridiculous? How?
Busy.
Why is busy ridiculous?
I would've invited you to our party, but...
I knew you wouldn't come.
Did you? How did you know that?
I thought you never came to town.
That's because you no longer ask me.
Are you not forbidden to come?
Do the doctors not forbid it?
Oh, the doctors!
Do you not pay heed to your doctors?
Not when they are a bunch of contemptible Victorians!
So, what do you say? Are you feeling better?
Has this fastness made you stronger?
I'm saying, Vanessa, that even crazy people like to be asked.
Nessa, Nessa, Nessa...
Hello cherubs.
What have you got?
What have you found? - We found a bird.
Did you? Where did you find that?
I think he must have fallen from a tree.
Oh my Goodness! Just look at him.
We might be able to save him.
Save him?
I think you have to be careful, Quentin.
There's a time to die, and it may be the bird's time...
Let's pick some grass to make a grave.
Oh, Julian!
I'm just saying, he at least needs a bed to die on.
Come on, Nessa, let's make a grave!
Nessa, come on!
God, very well, I'm coming wait for me there!
Angelica, we'll be allright, stay where you are.
You're going too fast, ooh!
Do you think she'd like roses?
Is this a "she"?
Yes, the females are larger
and less colourful.
What happens when we die?
What happens?
We return to the place that we came from.
I don't remember where I came from.
Nor do I.
She's very small.
Yes...yes, that's one of the things that happen...
We look smaller.
But very peaceful.
Is it done? Have you finished?
Is the bird funeral complete?
Yes.
Well then, are we going to be denied altogether for coming so early?
No, of course not.
Come on, come on, boys, we'll have a cup of tea.
Oh, stop it, Julian!
Julian, come inside!
Hey, Bug, I got this idea.
We're gonna make another cake.
We're gonna make a better one.
What happened to the first one?
And after that I think we should go out!
Yes?
Clarissa? It's Louis.
Louis Waters. -Louis?
Oh my God, you're early.
Do you mind? Is it allright?
Oh, why should I mind?
I'm delighted! -Well, now!
I feel like I'm interrupting.
No, why?
I know the ceremony isn't until 5,
but I flew in this morning.
Well, Richard's going to be thrilled.
He'll be thrilled to see you!
You think so? - Of course.
What are we doing? We should go in...
Are you allright?
Yes. It's nothing.
It's just the party. - Oh, right.
Oh, wow, it's looking beautiful! - Thanks.
Are you still with...? - Yes, I am!
Still with her. Ten years.
It's crazy. -Why is it crazy?
No reason... Would you like something to drink?
Some water. - OK.
Are you still an editor?
Oh, sure. -For the same publisher?
Uhum. How's San Francisco?
Oh, it's one of those cities people tell you to like.
Richard said he thought you were happy up there.
Oh, great. This illness makes him psychic.
You have to prepare yourself, Louis. He is very changed...
I read the book. -Oh God.
Exactly! I thought you were meant to do more than just change people's names.
Well... -Isn't it meant to be fiction?
He even had you living on 10th street.
It isn't me. -Isn't it?
You know how Richard is... it's a fantasy.
A whole chapter on should she buy some nail polish
and then guess what - after 50 pages she doesn't.
The whole thing seems to go on for eternity; nothing happens
and then, wham! For no reason she kills herself.
His mother kills herself.
Yeah, sure, his mother, but still for no reason.
Well, I... -Out of the blue!
I know the book is tough, but I liked it. I know.
Only one thing upset me -
What's that? What upset you?
Well, that there wasn't more about you.
That's kind.
I went back to Wellfleet.
You did? -One day. I didn't tell to you?
No, but, then, I never see you.
You remember the house... it's still there.
I think you're courageous.
Courageous? Why?
To dare go visit...What I mean is, to face the fact
that we have lost those feelings forever.
Shit! -Clarissa?
I don't know what's happening. I'm sorry.
I seem to be in some strange sort of mood.
I'm sorry - it's very rude of me.
I seem to be unravelling.
I shouldn't have come. -No, it's not you, it's not you!
It's more like having a presentiment, do you know what I'm saying?
Oh, God, it's probably just nerves about the party.
You know...bad hostess.
Clarissa, what's happening?
Jesus! -What is it?
Do you want me to go? -No, don't go!
Don't go...explain to me why this is happening.
Don't! Don't touch me.
Jesus, is better if you don't.
It's just too much. You flying from San Francisco...
and I've been nursing Richard for years!
And all the time I held myself together
No problem. -I know.
One morning in Wellfleet... you were there
we were all there...
I was sleeping with him and I was out on the porch.
He came behind me and put his arm on my shoulder.
Good morning, Mrs. Dalloway.
From then on...I've been stuck.
Stuck?
With the name, I mean.
And now you walk in.
to see you walk in...'cause I never see you...look at you!
Anyway, it doesn't matter. It was you he stayed with...
And I had the summer.
The day I left him...
I got on a train and made my way across Europe.
I felt free for the first time in years.
So, tell me about San Francisco.
What's to tell?
They still teach drama to idiots.
They can't all be idiots.
In fact I shouldn't tell you this...
I've fallen in love.
Really? -Yes.
With a student. -With a student?
Exactly. I know...you think
Am I still up for this? All this intensity, all those arguments,
doors being slammed.
But, you know, what it's like.
Are you feeling better?
A little.
Thank you.
Do you think I am ridiculous?
Ridiculous?
Fortunate, too.
I'm gonna leave you at Mrs. Latch's.
I have to do something.
Mommy, I don't wanna go.
You have to, I'm sorry. I have something to do
before daddy gets home.
Hello.
Hi, Mrs. Latch. My boy is not very happy.
Mommy, I don't wanna do this.
I have to go, honey.
Your mommy has things she has to do.
Come in, I got cookies!
So, baby...
You have to be brave now.
Don't worry. lt's gonna be fine.
Honey!
Come on, come on, darling!
Mommy! -Stop it!
No! Mommy! -Allright, you have to stop it!
Mommy, mommy, mommy...
Mommy, mommy, no!
Breakfast is served between 7 and 11 in the regency room.
And room service is available 24 hours.
Thank you, madam.
Is there anything else you need?
Yes, hum...
No...not to be disturbed.
"Did it matter then, she asked herself, walking toward Bond Street."
"Did it matter that she must inevitably cease completely?"
"All this must go on without her..."
"Did she resent it...
or did it not become consoling
to believe that death ended absolutely?"
"It is possible to die."
"It is possible to die."
There was a lovely coat for Angelica at Harrods...
then nothing for the boys. It seems unfair.Only Angelica is favored.
Virginia?
Virginia.
Virginia!
What are you thinking about?
Are you still with us?
Your aunt is very lucky, Angelica.
She has two lives...
she has the life she's leading
and also of the book she's writing.
This makes her very fortunate indeed.
What were you thinking about?
I was going to kill my heroine.
But I've changed my mind.
I can't.
And then I'll have to kill someone else instead.
A fascinating visit.
We enjoyed it thoroughly.
You have to go already?
I wish you wouldn't go.
Oh, Virginia, the last thing you want is our noisyness!
My hopeless, clumsy boys!
Say goodbye, boys! -Bye! Bye!
You return to Walt? -Tonight.
To some insufferable dinner!
Not even you could envy it, Virginia.
But I do.
Say something, Nessa! Didn't you think I seemed better?!
Yes, Virginia, you seem better.
You think...
you think I may one day escape?
One day?! {}{}
Nessa... -Nessa! Come on!
Come, Angelica, we must go.
Bye.
Goodbye, little girl.
Angelica, the train.
We're gonna miss the train.
Hurry, big step!
Come on, come on, come on, I wanna go home!
We stayed too long - we'll miss the train.
Stay close.
I'm sorry, I know!
I tried to get earlier, I tried, OK? Don't start!
I know it's just incredibly busy
because it's your party.
Julia...
how have you been doing?
I'm fine.
Come here.
What have you been doing?
Well, studying, mom.
So...
what should I do, chairs?
No, let's clear off the desk first. We can take it to the bedroom.
I bumped into Louis Waters.
Oh, you did? Where? -In the street.
They're all here, aren't they? All the ghosts...
All the ghosts are assembling for the party!
He is... so weird.
Oh, what? You can't see that?
You can't see that Louis Waters is weird?
I can see that he's sad.
Mum, all your friends are sad.
You've been crying. What's happening?
All the day I looked around this room and thought
I'm giving a party...
all I wanna do is give a party!
And?
I know why he does it, he does it deliberately.
Oh, is this Richard! -Of course.
He did it this morning...
he gives me that look.
What look?
To say...
your life is trivial.
You...are so...trivial.
Just daily stuff, you know, schedules and parties, and...
details - that's what he means.
That is what he's saying.
Mum, it only matters if you think it's true.
Well? Do you? Tell me.
When I am with him, I feel
Yes, I am living...
and when I am not with him,
yes, everything does seem sort of...
silly.
I don't mean with you, right! God!
Never with you.
Just all the rest of it.
Sally?
The rest of it.
False comfort.
Because?
If you say to me when were you happiest. -Mum...
Tell me the moment you were happiest.
I know! I know, it was years ago.
Yeah.
All you're saying is...
you were once young.
I remember one morning...
getting up at dawn...
there was such a sense of possibility!
You know? That feeling?
And...and I remember thinking to myself:
"So this is the beginning of happiness..."
"This is where it starts!"
"And, of course, there'll always be more."
Never occurred to me
it wasn't the beginning,
It was happiness.
It was the moment...
Ah, Nelly, good evening. I was wondering if you've seen Mrs. Woolf?
I thought you knew, Sir. Mrs. Woolf has gone out.
I am still offered an unexpected pleasure...
Perhaps you could tell me exactly what you think you are doing?
What I was doing? - I went to look for you and you weren't there.
You were working in the garden, I didn't wish to disturb you.
You disturb me when you disappear!
I didn't disappear.
I went for a walk. - A walk?
Is that all? Just a walk...
Virginia, we must go home now, Nelly is cooking dinner...
She's already had a difficult day. It's just our obligation to eat Nelly's dinner.
There's no such obligation.
No such obligation exists!
Virginia, you have an obligation to your sanity. -I've endured this custody!
Endured this imprisonment. -Oh, Virginia!
I am attended by doctors.
Everywhere I'm attended by doctors who inform me of my own interests!
They know your interests. - They do not!
They do not speak for my interests. - Virginia, I can...
I can see that it must be hard for a woman of your...
Of what? Of my what exactly? - Of your talent
to see that she must not be the best judge of her own condition!
Who then is a better judge?
You have a history.
You have a history of confinement. We brought you to Richmond because you may have
fits, moods, blackouts, hearing voices...
We brought you here to save you from the inevitable damage you intended upon yourself!
You tried to kill yourself twice.
I live daily with that threat.
We set up...we set up the printing press not just for...
itself...not just purely for itself
But so that you might have a ready source of absorption and a remedy!
I need to work.
It was done for you!
It was done for your betterment!
It was done out of love!
If I didn't know you better I would call this ingratitude!
Am I ungrateful?
You call me ungrateful!
My life has been stolen from me.
I am living in a town I have no wish to live in. I am living...
a life I have no wish to live.
How did this happen?
It is time for us to move back to London.
I miss London.
I miss London life.
This is not you speaking, Virginia.
This is an aspect of your illness... It's me, it is my voice!
Not you... -It's mine, mine only...
It's a voice you hear. -It is not! It is mine.
I am dying in this town.
If you were thinking clearly, Virginia. you'd recall it was London that brought you low.
If I were thinking clearly?
If I were thinking clearly... -We brought you to Richmond to give you peace.
If I were thinking clearly, Leonard, I would tell you:
that I wrestle alone...
in the dark, in the deep dark and that only I can know...
only I can understand my own condition.
You live with the threat, you tell me. You live with the threat of my extinction.
Leonard, I live with it too.
This is my right.
It is the right of every human being.
I choose not the suffocating anesthetic of these suburbs...
but the violent jîlt of the capital, that is my choice!
The meanest patient, just even the very lowest, is allowed some say
in the matter of her own prescription.
Thereby she defines her humanity.
I wish, for your sake, Leonard, that I were happy in this quietness
but if it is choice between Richmond and death...
I choose death.
Very well, London then.
We go back to London.
Are you hungry?
I'm a little hungry myself.
Come along.
You cannot find peace by avoiding life, Leonard.
Train to London in platform 1.
Mommy. Mommy.
Hey, hey there, Bug, what's wrong?
Hi, Mrs. Latch, sorry I'm late. - He's fine. He's been fine.
He's just happy to see you. -Oh, couldn't have been that bad, could it?
So you got a cut then? - Oh, yes, yes.
It looks great. - They didn't have to do very much.
Well, we had a fine time together.
Thank you very much.
So that wasn't too bad, was it?
I wàsn't gone too long.
No, you weren't long. -That's right.
At one point...
I don't know...
There was a moment I thought I might be longer.
I changed my mind.
What is it, honey?
Mommy, I love you.
I love you too, baby.
What's wrong?
What?
Don't worry, honey, everything's fine.
We're gonna have a wonderful party.
We've made your daddy such a nice cake!
I love you, sweetheart.
You are my guy.
Mommy. Mommy.
Richard, it's me!
I'm early.
What the hell is going on here?!
Richard!
What are you doing here?
You're early!
What is going on...
...what are you doing? -I had this wonderful idea...
I needed some light!
I needed to let in some light!
Richard, what are you doing?
I had this fantastic notion.
I combined my madness and my magic to solve the riddle...
until finding the coincidences.
Richard...
Don't come near me!
It seemed to me I needed to let in some light.
What do you think?
I cleared away all the windows.
Allright, Richard, do me one simple favor...
Come, come sit!
I don't think I can make it to the party tonight.
You don't have to go to the party...
you don't have to do anything you don't wanna do.
You can do as you like!
But I still have to face the hours, don't I?
I mean the hours after the party...
and the hours after them.
You do have good days still,
you know you do!
Not really.
It's kind of you to say so, but...
it's not really true.
Are they here?
Who?
The voices.
Oh, the voices are always here.
And it's the voices you're hearing now, isn't it?
No, no, no, no...
Mrs. Dalloway, it's you.
I've stayed alive for you...
but now you have to let me go.
Richard ...I...
No, wait, wait, wait.
Tell me a story.
What about?
Tell me a story from your day.
I... I got up...
Yes?
And...I went out...
and went to buy flowers...
like Mrs. Dalloway in the book, you know.
Yes.
And it was a beautiful morning...
Was it?
Yes, it was so beautiful...
it was so fresh.
Oh, fresh, was it?
Yes.
Like a...like a morning on a beach?
Oh, yes.
Like that?
Yes.
Like that morning...
when you walked out of that old house and you were eighteen...
and maybe I was nineteen.
Yes.
I was nineteen years old...
and I'd never seen anything so beautiful.
You, coming out of the glass-door in the early morning still sleepy.
Isn't it strange?
The most ordinary morning in anybody's life.
I'm afraid I can't make it to the party, Clarissa.
The party...
doesn't matter.
You've been so good to me, Mrs. Dalloway.
I love you.
I don't think two people could've been happier than we've been.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday, honey.
This is perfect, this is just perfect.
Do you think so?
Sure.
You must've been working all day.
That's what we were doing, right, Bug? We were working all day.
This is just fantastic.
That's what I've always wanted.
One day Ritchie, I'll tell you...
I'll tell you how it all happened.
Don't.
I wanna tell him the story.
What happened? When I was in the war...
a war I found myself
thinking of that girl I'd seen and never met her...
at high school.
This strange, fragile looking girl
named Laura McGrough.
She was shy...
and she was interesting.
And, your mother won't mind if I tell you this, Ritchie...
but she was the sort of girl
that you would see sitting mostly on her own.
And I tell you, sometimes
when I was in the South Pacific
the fact is that I used to think about this girl.
Dan...
I used to think about bringing her to a house
to a life...
pretty much like this.
And it was the thought of the happiness
the thought of this woman...
the thought of this life...
that's what kept me going.
I had an idea of our happiness.
Why does someone have to die?
Leonard...
In your book, is it someone have to die?
Why?
Is this a stupid question?
No.
I'm making that question stupid.
Not at all. -Well?
Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more.
It's contrast.
And who will die?
Tell me.
The poet will die.
The visionary.
What are you doing?
I'm brushing my teeth.
Are you coming to bed?
Yeah, in a minute.
Come to bed, Laura Brown.
I ran into Ray, he said
Kitty will go to the hospital.
I know.
Nothing serious, he said,
just to check up.
I am terrified.
Why?
Only I wish you could disappear...
Maybe you could go see her in the morning, honey.
I was going to.
I was gonna stop by.
I've had a wonderful day...
and I have you to thank.
Come to bed, honey.
I'm coming.
Are you coming?
Yes.
What?
I was thinking you were going to bed...
I am.
I am going to bed.
What then.
All else is clear.
Only one thing's left unclear in the story...
Mrs. Dalloway's destiny must be resolved.
You are Laura Brown.
Yes, I am Richard's mother.
Of course.
I am Clarissa Vaughan.
Please, come in.
My friend Sally is in the kitchen...
with my daughter.
We were having a party.
We were going to have a party.
I was lucky I got the last plane from Toronto.
the monster.
I hope I did the right thing
Found your number in this phone book.
Yes, he had it.
We didn't speak often.
It's a terrible thing, this phone...
we could have been a great family.
Richard's father died.
Yes, he died of cancer quite young.
And Richard's sister is dead.
Obviously I feel unworthy
curse your feelings of unworthiness.
You survive... and they don't.
Have you read the poems?
Oh yes...oh...I also read the novel.
You see...
people say the novel's difficult.
I know.
They say that.
I know.
He had me die in the novel.
I know why he did that.
It hurt, of course,
I can't pretend it didn't hurt.
But I know why he did it.
You left Richard
when he was a child.
I left both my children.
I abandoned them.
They say it's the worst thing a mother can do.
You have a daughter.
Yes.
But I never met Julia's father.
You so wanted a child.
It's great.
You are a lucky woman.
There are times you don't belong
and you think you're going to kill yourself.
Once I went to a hotel
Later that night I made a plan.
The plan was I would leave my family
when my second child was born.
That's what I did.
I got up one morning, made breakfast...
went to the bus stop, got on the bus.
I'd left a note.
I got a job in a library
in Canada.
It would be wonderful to say
you regret it.
It would be easy...
But what does it mean?
What does it mean to regret
when you have no chîice?
It's what you can bare.
There it is...no one is going to forgive me.
It was death.
I chose life.
Why don't you take your coat off?
I thought you might like a cup of tea.
Oh my goodness! Thank you, dear.
I fell like I'm stealing your room.
We put all the food away,
so if you're hungry,
I'll just make you some.
Oh, thank you.
Where will you sleep?
On the sofa.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Good night, sweetheart.
Good night.
Dear Leonard...
to look life in the face,
always... to look life in the face...
and to know it... for what it is...
at last to know it...
to love it... for what it is...
and then...
to put it away.
Leonard...
always the years between us
always the years...
always the love...
always the hours...