Savage Grace Script - Dialogue Transcript

Savage Grace Script

  
  
(Man) I was eating a tomato
at teatime a few weeks ago,

  
and I suddenly realized
that Mummy is not dead at all...

  
just very, very mysterious.

  
(humming)

  
(man) Papa spoke languages,
climbed mountains.

  
He was an adventurer.

  
But Mummy was
such a gifted person socially.

  
She was a master
of the understatement,

  
an adventuress.

  
And he was cold and dark,

  
and she was warm and light.

  
And I was "little Tony."

  
- (phone ringing)
- Bye. Your mummy loves you.

  
I was the steam
when hot meets cold.

  
(phone continues ringing)

  
(woman) Midge? Well, hello.

  
The reason that I called, darling,
is that Aschwin,

  
Prince Aschwin Lippe -

  
his brother is Prince Bernhard -

  
well, Aschwin thought it would be lovely
to meet at the Stork Club tonight.

  
He so wants to know you and Joost,
and asked if I could...

  
Well, of course.

  
Shall we say... 10:30?

  
Is that too Continental?

  
(laughs)

  
Be as catty as you want, but Tony
can hear every word you're saying.

  
Can you imagine
the world he's growing up into?

  
Brooks and I will see you tonight.

  
Brooks...

  
darling.

  
I gather that
you're making commitments for me.

  
Sans permission,
sans consultation.

  
Prince Aschwin de Lippe, please.

  
You may say
Barbara Baekeland is calling.

  
Don't get difficult,
not tonight, darling.

  
Please forgive the intrusion
and the damnably short notice,

  
but we are having supper
with Midge and Joost van den Heuvel,

  
and they would so like
the pleasure of your company.

  
They'll be delighted.

  
As will I.

  
As will Brooks.

  
Thank you, darling.

  
People say now that I must have hated
them because of what... transpired...

  
We won't be back too late,
I promise.

  
... but everything that happened
happened because of love.

  
Do I...

  
Do I look like a monkey to you?

  
Then why on earth should I get dressed up
in a fucking monkey suit just to eat?

  
You don't have to wear your tux.
And no need to be vulgar.

  
- In front of the b-o-y?
- Just wear your uniform.

  
- I will not.
- You look so handsome in your uniform.

  
The war is over.
Had you not heard?

  
You have a right.
You won the war.

  
I mean, you volunteered,
so you have a right to wear your uniform.

  
Your father looked so handsome,
so dashing.

  
So dashing.

  
Is the little paragon coming with,
or do you plan on leaving him here alone?

  
Nini will be here at nine.

  
In that case,
I'm glad that I shall be dining out.

  
(Tony gurgles)

  
Tone. Tony, Tony...

  
Mother, do you think
we should call him "Antony"?

  
"Antony" will be his full name,
his formal name, his name to the world.

  
And "Tony" will be his name as a child...
and among intimates.

  
When I refer to him,

  
when I am asked
if I have a photograph, do I say...

  
You say, "This is Tony."

  
And they will say,
"What an angel!"

  
Oh, yes.

  
An angel.

  
What an angel.

  
- What an angel you are.
- (Tony gurgles)

  
- We may be out late.
- "Shall."

  
Oh, yes... your mummy loves you.
(kissing and cooing)

  
Barbara.

  
Good night, Tony.
You are in good hands.

  
Enjoy the Stork Club.

  
And you may stay out
as late as you wish.

  
Fuck!

  
(jazz)

  
Mr. and Mrs. Baekeland.
Right this way, ma'am.

  
She's gorgeous.

  
(whispering)

  
Hello.

  
Wonderful to see you.

  
How do you do?

  
- I'm Barbara.
- Simone.

  
How do you do?

  
Why, it was with Dieter that Brooks
went on his great adventure, in Peru,

  
in the Villa...

  
(sighs) Darling, you know
I'm not at my best with geography.

  
Brooks, help me. Villa?

  
Darling, don't press. Maybe your husband
doesn't feel like in midst of dinner.

  
Brooks, please,
if you don't feel like performing...

  
- Vilcabamba.
- Ah.

  
Dieter and I,
we went to the Vilcabamba in Peru.

  
So tell us, man,
what was your "little adventure"?

  
It was nothing.

  
Well, I lie.
It was something.

  
I was intrigued by a 400-year-old mystery -
what became of Manco Inca.

  
I wanted to find the ruins
of the lost city.

  
This is actually true.
Give him a dirt road and he'll go up it.

  
(man) That's very good.

  
- Would you, Simone?
- Oh, I don't know.

  
Your husband asked you a question.

  
This seems... unfair.

  
This seems...
(cherry plops into drink)... tedious.

  
- Hmm... but would you?
- (husband) Yes, would you?

  
Would I eat a pound of human flesh
for $10 million?

  
No, I would not.

  
I have eaten horse flesh, you know.

  
There is a difference between eating
the cheval and eating the chevalier.

  
Brooks, for $10 million,
would you sleep with Simone?

  
- For $10 million, would you...
- Don't, Barbara.

  
Please, don't be tedious.

  
Would you go home with the first person
you met going through a nightclub door?

  
Yes, I would.

  
So... shall we get on with our drinks?

  
Brooks, Barbara,
have you ever been to the Engadin?

  
Oh, I was practically born in Gstaad!

  
She practically loves
the ski instructors.

  
(Barbara laughs)

  
(man) Thank you for coming this evening.

  
(Barbara) Bye.

  
(Brooks) Barbara.

  
You said you'd go home
with the first person you met

  
- at a nightclub.
- No...

  
So I thought I might go home
with the first person...

  
Hello!

  
Hello, I'm awfully thirsty.
Would you buy me a drink?

  
Aschwin, Simone.

  
- Barbara!
- Brooks.

  
(horn honking)

  
Lovely to see you all.

  
(laughing)

  
(extended laughing)

  
Nini.

  
- Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
- Quite all right.

  
- I must have...
- You fell asleep. Quite natural.

  
It's late.
It got late, you fell asleep.

  
- I trust your evening was...
- Oh, we had a fine time.

  
I can hold down the fort.

  
- Where's Barbara?
- She's returning separately.

  
- May I get your coat?
- I'll just go.

  
- And was the prince there?
- Excuse me?

  
The prince.
The prince of Amsterdam.

  
- Ah.
- Was he there?

  
I think you're thinking of Prince Bernhard,
Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands.

  
He was Count Lippe-Biesterfeld, of course,
before he married Juliana.

  
The man with whom we dined,
Aschwin Lippe,

  
is just Aschwin Lippe,
younger brother -

  
a prince in title, but not in any way...

  
- Oh, because Barbara said...
- "Barbara said"!

  
Decent man, nonetheless.

  
I see.

  
Good man.

  
(clock chimes five)

  
(door shuts / footsteps approach)

  
(car drives away)

  
(Tony coughs)

  
Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

  
Hey, kid.

  
Oh, what a life.

  
Thirsty? Hm? Thirsty boy?

  
Tony a thirsty boy?

  
Papa used to say, "For $2, the court fee,
and $10 for a wedding band,

  
"I made your mummy into
'Mrs. Brooks Baekeland'...

  
S'il vous plaît!

  
"...and myself for the next 30 years
into 'Barbara's husband. '"

  
(policeman gives directions in French)

  
Oh!

  
You are an angel.

  
- Where's Papa?
- He went to visit Durán.

  
What shall we do today?

  
Ah. Well...

  
tonight we're going to l'Hippo
with Marcel and his wife Teeny.

  
- You remember them.
- Ceux-là ne me plaisent pas.

  
En anglais, s'il vous plaît.

  
- Doesn't sound like much fun for a kid.
- You don't have to come.

  
- But when you leave me alone...
- Tony.

  
...I feel no bigger than a lima bean.

  
Oh... you won't be alone.
You'll be with Clothilde.

  
Maybe since I'll be with
boring Clothilde,

  
we can balance it out with something
more fun during the day?

  
Ah... I see where this is going.

  
- I need time to paint.
- I'd like to go on the Ferris wheel.

  
- Really?
- And for lunch, I'd like some ice cream.

  
Ah!

  
But you had ice cream for breakfast.

  
- (laughs)
- Please don't tell Papa.

  
I won't.
It will be our secret.

  
As will the aspirins
you're going to fetch...

  
From the bathroom,
next to the sink.

  
Your mother
has a shocking hangover.

  
Mummy...

  
I shall cure you.

  
- Ha!
- Oh!

  
Ha!

  
OK! OK, OK.

  
I concede, I resign.

  
Well, sir, I'm pretty expert.

  
So there's no embarrassment
in losing, if that's a concern.

  
- Do you love me?
- Of course.

  
Will you still love me when my hair is gray
and my tits are sagging?

  
Well, of course.

  
- Do you remember the dog?
- What dog?

  
- Which dog?
- The one we had in Italy.

  
Giotto.

  
I remember when Giotto died.

  
- He was old.
- No, he wasn't.

  
In dog years.

  
- We still have his collar.
- I know.

  
- Somewhere.
- I know where.

  
Leo was famous.
Not like you're famous, of course.

  
Well, I'm not...

  
For heaven's sake.
You won the Premio Nadal.

  
You know Picasso, you know Camus,
you know Malraux, you know Dali.

  
Pilar knows them.
I just write.

  
What I'm saying, Carlos,
is that Leo's fame, like yours,

  
was a function of achievement,
came from what he did.

  
So Leo's stroke of genius

  
was the notion that the formaldehyde
might stabilize the phenol, give it strength.

  
But they never mixed. Leo thought,
"Let's try putting it under pressure."

  
Poof! Long chain molecules,
Bakelite, plastic.

  
The telephone, bracelets,
radios, records,

  
coffins, submarines,
the housing for the atom bomb -

  
the world as we know it today.

  
- That was your father?
- No, that was my grandfather.

  
My father is a crapule.
My grandfather decidedly was not.

  
- What does Papa do?
- How do you mean?

  
- Well, François at the...
- At the école?

  
- François asked me...
- You can tell him, "My father writes.

  
"My father explores.

  
"My father has
a very refined knowledge of mathematics."

  
Oh.

  
And you can tell him that your mother
was almost a movie star.

  
(men grunting)

  
Do you find my wife attractive?

  
Most men do.

  
But what she doesn't...

  
what Barbara doesn't realize...

  
is that women find me...

  
you know...

  
attractive.

  
Some people's fathers,
some people's mothers,

  
they have to go to an office or a factory
or a store, I guess, every day.

  
But we are fortunate...

  
because what we do
is what we love.

  
What does François' father do?

  
- He works.
- Ah, well, we worked.

  
I mean, Father worked, Nini worked.
There was no other way.

  
I kind of had to raise myself,
and then I worked, too - at Filene's.

  
Then when I could, I left.

  
I just left.

  
Nini wanted what was best for me -
only what was best for me.

  
"Find the mon," she'd say.

  
She meant "man," I guess,
and she meant "money."

  
The rich, they don't have
pet names for money.

  
Did you know Leonardo da Vinci
wrote backwards?

  
So you could only read it in a mirror.

  
(speaking Spanish)

  
- Entrez.
- Hi.

  
Carlos!

  
Pilar!
My, you're looking swell!

  
Gracias.

  
Mrs. Baekeland, permit me
to introduce Monsieur Souvestre.

  
Jean-Pierre,
I am so happy to meet you.

  
Please, come in.

  
I have been dying to ask you
about Marcel Proust,

  
your biography of whom
I have yet to read

  
as my French reading skills
are not what they will be.

  
It is not necessary
to apologize for that.

  
Brooks reads the language
like a native.

  
And our Tony is mastering it every day
at the école bilingue.

  
But for poor moi, I must confess,
it's been a struggle, n'est-ce pas?

  
Understood.

  
What was I saying?
Oh... yes.

  
Jean-Pierre,
was Proust truly a homosexual?

  
Qu'est-ce que tu penses?

  
So you met Carlos here in Paris?

  
I was at the Sorbonne, the adoring
graduate student writing about his work.

  
But then... we woke up one morning
and none of that seemed to matter.

  
I think I knew he was serious

  
when he introduced me
to Marcel and Teeny Duchamp.

  
Oh! I ran into them today,
at I'Équipe.

  
They said they might
stop over... later.

  
Je peux lui telephoner?

  
You may be assured
they were only being polite.

  
I don't want to be impolite, but
M. Souvestre has the early day tomorrow.

  
He's off to Vittel.

  
It is regrettable,
but what Mrs. Durán says is the truth.

  
Un petit café for the road?
And you've yet to meet Tony.

  
Excusez-moi.

  
(in French)

  
Monsieur Souvestre, permettez-moi
de vous présenter mon fils, Tony.

  
Did I get it right?
Did I get the order right?

  
The younger is presented to the older,
the less distinguished to the more so.

  
Exception: a gentleman
is always presented to a lady.

  
Exception to the exception: unless the man
is a president, a cardinal or a sovereign.

  
So, then, it's right.

  
Well, everyone, this is Tony.

  
Say hello.

  
Buenas noches,
señor y señora Durán.

  
Buenas noches.

  
Bonsoir, M. Souvestre.
Enchanté de faire votre connaissance.

  
- (Jean-Pierre) Bonsoir.
- Told you his French is better than mine.

  
Perhaps you'd like to read something.

  
Perhaps Tony would prefer
to get his sleep.

  
Especially as M. Souvestre
has an early start.

  
(Barbara whispers) Please.

  
For me.

  
Thank you, Tony.
It was gracious of you to volunteer.

  
You are welcome, señora.

  
Your mother's a bit tired, as are we.

  
As, I'm sure, are you.

  
- Um...
- Then we call it an evening.

  
As your friend,
Monsieur Duchamp, says...

  
(speaks French)

  
Your husband or your son
will translate.

  
Don't you dare.

  
Don't you dare condescend to me.
Fucking French!

  
They tell you how to raise your child,
and then they stare at your ass.

  
Yes, cul -
I know the word!

  
It's sick.
This society is sick!

  
Excuse me.

  
"Move-ez"!

  
I shall be leaving too.
Tell Tony his father says good night.

  
Un momento, por favor.

  
Vos clés.

  
(door creaks open)

  
(slow footsteps approaching)

  
What are you doing
in my hotel room?

  
You bribed the concierge,
didn't you?

  
- (soft moan)
- (inhales deeply)

  
(groans)

  
(spits)

  
(Barbara panting)

  
(Barbara) Hello?

  
Hello?

  
(Tony) Mummy?

  
Mummy?

  
- Bonjour, Maman.
- Bonjour.

  
Who's that boy?

  
François.

  
From the école?

  
From the école bilingue?

  
I know where he's from.

  
When you left, and then when Mummy left,
I didn't want to be alone,

  
so I called François,
and he came over.

  
We listened to the radio.
It was Boulez -

  
one of those poems by René Char,
which Boulez set to music.

  
I rather like Boulez,
don't you, Mummy?

  
I know that some consider him
atonal and all that,

  
but I think they just don't know
how to listen, or what to listen for.

  
Your friend leaves.

  
Now.

  
Get him a towel.

  
( soft strumming)

  
( strumming ends)

  
That wasn't bad, you know.

  
Tony?

  
Do you have a cigarette for me?

  
Black.

  
I like black tobacco.

  
But sometimes I yearn for the brown.

  
- You know how they are.
- What?

  
- Fussing, always making a fuss.
- Not all women.

  
Damn near all.

  
Always telling us, you know.

  
Always telling us
where to put our cocks,

  
where not to...

  
and so forth.

  
I don't need to tell you.
You've seen, you know.

  
So what are you saying?

  
You'll soon be...
Hell, you're on your own.

  
I just wanted to give you a piece of...
what fathers tell sons.

  
Well, thanks.

  
I mean, your mother was an actress.

  
In some ways, is an actress.
Will mostly likely be...

  
Mummy can be histrionic,
but she's not...

  
Don't defend her.
You needn't defend her.

  
You love her, as do I,
but for the moment,

  
we're sitting here,
Brooks and Antony, two men.

  
Had she been on time,
we'd never have had this discussion.

  
Do you think she gets stoned?

  
Well, she's Spanish.

  
Worth a pull?

  
After you, pal.

  
¿Te gustaría fumar?

  
Sí.

  
Gracias.

  
(chuckles)

  
Taught by experts.

  
You know what this place needs?

  
Some music.

  
- I have one.
- Excuse me?

  
( "Ain't Nobody Home")

  
 Once upon a time
a long, long time ago

  
 Wherever you lead me
I would surely follow

  
 Girl, you put me through
some pain and misery

  
 And now you stand here
on my doorstep

  
 Telling me
how much you need me

  
 Ain't nobody home

  
 Girl

  
 Ain't nobody home

  
 How many times
I begged for you to come home

  
 But you laughed at me
and said, "Let me alone"

  
 Ain't nobody home

  
 Girl

  
- (Tony) I don't know.
- (Barbara) What's she like?

  
- I don't know. She's Spanish.
- Well, with a name like Blanca...

  
- Blanca what?
- I don't know Blanca what.

  
This is not a city, it's a port,
so when we hang out,

  
it's typically on a first-name basis.

  
And if what you're asking is,
"Does she come from bonne famille?"...

  
You know,
if that's what you're asking, well...

  
aren't there enough counts and countesses
in that stack of cartes de visite in the foyer,

  
just the way that Nini taught you?

  
The carte from Prince Bernhard is
always on top, and the bills on the bottom.

  
You will not
speak to your mother like that.

  
I will not stand for it.

  
Oh, piss off.

  
A mother knows.

  
Hm?

  
When her son...
when her son might like someone.

  
(tires screech)

  
(tires screech)

  
(tires screech)

  
(Brooks) The discovery, that was 1907.

  
In less than ten years
my grandfather was a very wealthy man.

  
1924, his face on the cover
of Time magazine.

  
1930, Coco Chanel makes all her
mannequins wear Bakelite accessories.

  
Then came the Depression,
which hit everyone except the Baekelands.

  
We were headed the other direction.

  
Our triumph -
and, of course, our downfall.

  
How do you mean?

  
Leo knew the social register,

  
but it wasn't what moved him,
it wasn't what he prized.

  
To him, all that was just la parade.

  
But not to George -
his son, my father.

  
He valued all that to a fault,
and in the process lost everything.

  
Camarero!
No one here is drinking enough.

  
Another round over here.

  
(softly) Tony, let's drink while your father
bores the shit out of your little friend.

  
- (Blanca) She's not very happy.
- Ah!

  
Then you understand.

  
Well, it's been a long night.

  
Bye, kiddo.

  
- Night, Blanca.
- Good night.

  
- Are you sure that?
- Yes!

  
(water running)

  
You know, I don't think
I've ever met a family like yours.

  
All this excitement,
all this history.

  
- Well, there is that.
- (chuckles) Yes.

  
(both giggle)

  
You really are
such a handsome boy.

  
Later, Mummy said
that I had brought Blanca home

  
like a kitten
that had killed its first mouse...

  
and laid it at your feet.

  
And you... and you took it.

  
(propeller airplane overhead)

  
Por favor. ¿Adónde hora
esta la aeroplane de Nice?

  
- Landing? When it lands?
- Oh, it's been delayed.

  
So, 6p.m.
Anytime after that.

  
(woman over PA) Paging Mr. Baekeland -
to the Aviaco counter, please.

  
Paging, please, Mr. Baekeland -
to Aviaco.

  
Your party is waiting.

  
Boarding time's at 1:30, no?

  
Let me see.

  
Yeah, it's 1:30.

  
Come, darling.

  
Coward!

  
¡Cobarde!

  
¡Cobarde!

  
That's right, that's you
I'm talking about you, little puta.

  
You little whore!

  
- Aún no estamos embarcando.
- Señor, por favor.

  
You are truly disgusting,
do you know that?

  
You and your little Spanish cunt.

  
- (whispers) You're speaking too loudly.
- I am speaking of a cunt, half your age.

  
She looked at Tony, looked at you,
thought for about five seconds,

  
and said to herself,
"Ha! That's where the money is."

  
¿Entiendes?

  
You go on about your grandfather
and the life of the fucking mind.

  
I go away for one week,
and what do you do? (sniffing)

  
Something very intellectual.
Very intellectual indeed.

  
Oh, does he fuck you up the ass?
¿Por el culo?

  
That's what he likes, you know.

  
He thinks it's very manly.

  
I think... quite the opposite.

  
She bats her eyes at you and says:

  
"Oh, Brooks, you...

  
"you big man, you."

  
And you honor the great
Baekeland tradition by fucking her.

  
(softly) OK... fuck her.

  
Fuck her. I understand.

  
But leave me?

  
Break my heart?
Break Tony's?

  
He never broke Tony's heart.

  
And neither did I.

  
Much of what you've just said
is an amalgam of paranoia and spite.

  
Sell yourself to yourself any way you like,
but in your heart, you know.

  
So does everyone else.

  
Also...

  
you're a little old for this,
don't you think?

  
¿No lleva equipaje?

  
(engine starts)

  
No tengo.

  
(gunshot)

  
(gunshots continue)

  
(engine starts)

  
(gunshot)

  
(propeller airplane overhead)

  
You are a very nice man.

  
Un... hombre... encantador.

  
Jake was like a devil...
or a magician.

  
Nothing is true.
Everything is permitted.

  
He wore little bones and things
on his vest - these certain little bones.

  
(Barbara) Tony! Jake!

  
- You might have knocked.
- I did.

  
(kicks phonograph / music stops)

  
I went to the airport today,
to pick up Sam.

  
Who should I see but your father?

  
We had a word or two,
I can tell you that.

  
You can tell me,
you are telling me.

  
- Don't get harsh with me.
- I'm sorry.

  
Are you defending him?
Are you taking his side?

  
You must have had a long drive.

  
Sit down and let me pour you
something to drink, OK?

  
So I told Sam
you'd be joining us for dinner.

  
I'll see you around nine.

  
How can you live in this shithole?

  
Sam was often called a walker-

  
one of those homosexuals who escort
wealthy women to dinner or to the opera

  
when their husbands are not able.

  
But Sam's devotion to Barbara
was never about the money.

  
In fact, he liked us more
when there was less of it.

  
Do you remember how it was
with Maxime de la Falaise?

  
There was a difficult period.

  
I helped her, as much as I could -
a few of us, we did what we could -

  
and now, well...

  
no one remembers
the sad period now, do they?

  
These are the facts we have to face.

  
One - we are dealing with
an insecure and capricious crowd

  
who, given any doubt or hesitation,
will always follow the money.

  
In this case, meaning Brooks.

  
Second, and this is in your favor...

  
you were,
to any sensible observer,

  
the charm and vivacity of the couple.

  
So, we must make that work
to your benefit.

  
- I'm so glad you're here.
- It's my pleasure.

  
Pop across to Cadaqués
for a day or two.

  
You need to be proud, not embarrassed,
to be seen in public.

  
And that will give people permission
to be seen with you.

  
Hola. Un café...

  
Let us think
who are those, you know,

  
from whom others take their cue?

  
Someone like Pilar Durán
would be terrific.

  
And then, of course,
we need a doyenne to seal it.

  
You do, of course,
know Teeny Duchamp?

  
Teeny Matisse Duchamp?

  
And I shall, naturally,
make sure that the word gets out.

  
As will others.
(chuckles) As will others!

  
You've got to start painting again.

  
- The difference between...
- An artist and a divorcée.

  
So you understand.

  
That's for starters.

  
Some of it will, I've no doubt,
be emotionally unpleasant.

  
Oh, please.
Where is he?

  
Oh, I'm sure he'll be along, Barbara.

  
He's just... being Tony.

  
Mummy,
what I don't understand is Brooks.

  
Of all the places
Brooks would want to go for the season,

  
why choose a place right near us,
and then not want to see us?

  
Why would Blanca want to go to Mallorca
when she hates me so much?

  
She doesn't hate you.

  
- And Brooks?
- He doesn't hate you either.

  
- Then why won't he...
- I've given up trying to understand him...

  
explain him, justify his ways.

  
Men do...
This is something you know very well.

  
Men do what... what men do.

  
Mummy?

  
I think he's writing us a letter.

  
I think he is writing us a letter,

  
but in another alphabet,
in Baekeland writing...

  
no one else can read.

  
- 'Cause the thing with Brooks is, he...
- Oh, please.

  
Mummy, don't be angry.

  
I'm not angry.

  
I love you.

  
Mummy, I love you.

  
( gentle guitar)

  
- You've been fantastic.
- You needn't...

  
I wanted to, really.

  
I can't begin to tell you
how much of an improvement...

  
Well, she'll be all right.

  
Well, she'll always be Barbara.

  
(chuckles) Yeah.

  
And... what of you?

  
What of life in the world
of Tony Baekeland?

  
Ça va.

  
"Ça va"?

  
"Pas mal"?

  
No, no, no, no!

  
That isn't good enough by half.

  
Tony takes care of Jake.

  
Tony takes care of Barbara.

  
Someone must take care of Tony.

  
What I would like to do, ideally,
is to place you with a gallery.

  
Or, failing that,
with a private dealer -

  
and that is something
I know I can do.

  
You shouldn't have done that.

  
Sam...

  
you should not have done that.

  
He's your child,
and he will always be your child,

  
but he is a grown man
with his own life and his own choices.

  
You don't know
what you're talking about.

  
- Tony is who Tony is.
- (plate shatters)

  
Tony is not who Tony is!

  
(soft music plays)

  
Dear Papa,

  
I don't know any other way to say this
but straight out.

  
Would you please
come back to Mummy?

  
She's so unhappy.

  
She needs you...

  
but is too full of pride to ask.

  
Do you remember our dog
whom you named Giotto?

  
The dog is gone,
but the collar remains.

  
For all the times we've moved,
I've taken it from place to place.

  
It's never gotten lost,
not even once.

  
I do not know why you fear me.

  
I do not fear you.

  
Sometimes I have a bloody mind
and I don't know what to do about it,

  
but I fight it with everything I've got.

  
With my best love, Antony.

  
Tony!

  
Tony!

  
Brooks!

  
(whispers)
Everything is going to be all right.

  
My mummy told me,
ever since I was seven:

  
"Hold your head up high."

  
A very strange thing
is when your charm ceases...

  
and, for one reason or another,
you become gloomy.

  
And people cease to understand you
when you need understanding the most.

  
I now realize that,
for many years,

  
I have been living a totally false life.

  
(bottle clinks / rolls on the floor)

  
Anyway...

  
for Mummy's sake, I've decided
to make a new person of myself.

  
We'll be bored rigid without you.

  
- It's harder to get people to come...
- Than it was in Cadaqués? I know.

  
I know.

  
It's time.

  
It's time.

  
(engine starts)

  
I'm glad he's gone.

  
I'm not sure, Papa,
you would want to know this,

  
but she used sleeping suppositories,
six or seven of them,

  
so that she wouldn't
change her mind - couldn't.

  
I remember she told me that her father,
my grandfather, had killed himself,

  
so I fear that...
all this ran very deep within her.

  
It was a miracle,
that I came home that night

  
instead of staying out till morning,
as is my custom.

  
And a miracle that when I did come home
she was still alive.

  
Taking care of Mummy
had been your job.

  
But when you left, Brooks,

  
taking care of Mummy
became my inheritance.

  
Barbara?

  
Hi.

  
We just missed each other.

  
À l'hôpital?

  
They told me
that you had been there.

  
This... must be very hard for you.

  
Your music? Your writing?

  
That!

  
Carlos thinks very highly of you -
always has.

  
- And I'm sure he'll...
- Have you seen Brooks?

  
Carlos saw him.

  
I don't think that Brooks
is liking me very much these days.

  
- He said I was a crapule.
- Oh, please!

  
To Brooks, everyone is a little shit.
Everyone in the whole wide world.

  
Including me, including you.
Including even Carlos, for God's sake!

  
But not Leo.

  
Not the sainted grandfather.

  
- (Barbara) What was it he said?
- (Tony) Who?

  
Hemingway, I think.
Or the other one...

  
- Fitzgerald?
- Yes. It was one of them.

  
- Who said?
- What it is I'm trying to remember!

  
God!

  
I'm turning into Nini.

  
Monsieur, encore.
Merci bien.

  
I know.
It was about Paris, I think.

  
"If you're tired of Paris,
you're tired of everything."

  
I remember.

  
"To say that one is tired of Paris

  
"is in fact to say
that one is tired of life."

  
Something like that.

  
Mummy hoped that with a new place
would come better things for us,

  
and she was right -
but not completely so.

  
But still,
Paris was a step up in the world.

  
It was in Paris that I started
writing backwards in my notebook

  
so that no one could
read my thoughts.

  
But Mummy seemed to be able
to read them anyway,

  
as if she were inside my head,
looking out.

  
My great-grandfather Leo once said:

  
"One of the uses of money is

  
"that it allows us not to live with
the consequences of our mistakes. "

  
But I fear that, in this,
Leo was wrong.

  
(Barbara) Tony?

  
Do you know
what I would really love?

  
What would you really love?

  
What do you think?

  
- This is so good.
- I'm glad.

  
It's exactly what I wanted.

  
Well, then I'm all the more glad
I was able to obtain it.

  
Is there a better ice cream
in the whole world?

  
- Is it Thursday?
- Yes, it is.

  
I have dinner with Ethel tonight.

  
- Ethel de Croisset.
- I'll make other plans.

  
- She won't mind if you tag along.
- I don't want to impose.

  
I don't like what happens
when you "make other plans."

  
Mummy... please.

  
The afternoon
of the longest laundry?

  
- I don't do that anymore.
- Mmm... Hm!

  
What does the G stand for?

  
- What, dear?
- The G.

  
"George" - like his father.

  
Do my wrists, would you?

  
(magazine drops on the floor)

  
That was lovely.

  
And now...

  
I need some privacy.

  
Scoot, so that I can get dressed.

  
Teeny. I'm so sorry.

  
Mummy always said that I should be
furious with you for stealing my girl.

  
But I said:

  
"Mummy, he didn't hurt me.

  
"He hurt you."

  
Still, Papa,
you should have come back.

  
I thought that one day
you'd wake up and know that, too.

  
But you never did.

  
And something else
I want you to know:

  
Giotto's collar has disappeared,

  
and I will not be able to sleep
until we find it.

  
(Barbara) Not the formal opening dinner -

  
that's me and 17 of the dealer's
closest friends getting pissed at Regine's.

  
(woman snickers)

  
This is different, more intime.

  
I was thinking that after the vernissage
I would gather together a small group -

  
you and Mishka, of course,
and Ethel de Croisset and the Duráns

  
and Bill and Rose Styron,
if they are still in town.

  
Not buyers -
not... not a business thing.

  
- Thank you.
- People you love,

  
and who I know would love each other.

  
I can't begin to tell you
how much Tony adores London.

  
I believe it's brought about
a sea change in him.

  
Do you remember, in Paris,
how down he could get,

  
how... pulled within himself?

  
And then, in the morning,
how agitated?

  
Well... that's still Tony,
of course.

  
But in London he eats,
he walks, he even shops.

  
This morning we stayed in bed until reading the newspapers.

  
For him, that's unheard of.
For me, paradise.

  
- Oh, thank you.
- It's a pleasure.

  
What do you think, Mishka,
of a small dinner following the vernissage?

  
What's not to like?
It sounds like a great idea.

  
Well, I was thinking
I might have it here.

  
I thought it might add
a note of class to my own little works,

  
which they in no way,
on their own merits...

  
Of course you can have
your little dinner over here.

  
I don't know how to thank you.

  
Tony will be thrilled.

  
(sighs)

  
(door shuts)

  
Well? Where is it?

  
Where is it?

  
Where did you put it?

  
It is not my responsibility
to keep track of your objects.

  
But it's not anywhere.

  
Missy Harnden
is the soul of graciousness.

  
When I mentioned that there would be
a vernissage after the opening,

  
she offered to host a little dinner...
chez Harnden.

  
I'm so happy for you, Mummy.

  
I like the way you've been dressing lately.
Is that from Gieves?

  
No. Actually, it's from Anderson,
from Anderson & Sheppard.

  
- Did you just walk in?
- No. You might just walk into Gieves,

  
but you're not going to walk into Anderson -
you get walked into Anderson.

  
In my case,
by Timothy Chalmers.

  
Have you been seeing a lot
of young Timothy Chalmers?

  
I don't think he's the kind of person
you want to learn from,

  
if what you want to learn
is how to be a man.

  
- What do you mean?
- I don't think Timothy likes women much.

  
Oh, he's English, is all.

  
He's the kind of person
that does things for people -

  
in the way that Missy Harnden
does for you.

  
I hope you haven't incurred
any obligation.

  
Mother, we're talking about
an introduction to a tailor, a clothier.

  
Well, I very much like
this material... this fabric.

  
- What would you call it?
- It's a worsted, I should think.

  
It's much nicer than
your other worsted.

  
Well, that's Anderson.

  
This is interesting.

  
Barbara... please.

  
You don't seem to mind it.
Part of you doesn't seem to mind it.

  
I suppose I don't... mind.

  
- You might even enjoy it.
- I might.

  
Ah, I'm finding some buttons here.

  
- How many?
- Five.

  
- They do them with five.
- That's five.

  
That's four.

  
That's three.

  
Hold that thought.

  
(door shuts)

  
God...

  
(door opens and closes)

  
I like the boxers you've chosen.

  
I picked them out for myself.

  
How does that feel?

  
I think you know.

  
(fast panting)

  
(panting fades)

  
Did you come?

  
No.

  
We can do something about that.

  
(Tony panting)

  
(groans)

  
(Barbara sighs)

  
You're the best.

  
You are.

  
You are the best.

  
Are you sure
you didn't put it anywhere?

  
Why do you care so much
about this thing?

  
For the same reason that
anyone cares about anything -

  
for its value,
its sentimental value.

  
We are talking about a dog collar...

  
We are talking about a collar
that belonged to Giotto,

  
- a dog I loved, and a dog that died!
- Inside voice, please.

  
Now the dog is gone,
but we still have the collar,

  
and we have moved
and moved and moved,

  
and we have never lost it!

  
Oh, Tony, please.

  
Go look for it.

  
Go!

  
Tony?

  
Tony!

  
Get your thumb
out of your mouth.

  
You are not a fucking baby!

  
You hid it.

  
You hid it in the cupboard. At the very back
of the cupboard, with Nini's silver.

  
- I did no such thing.
- Then how did it get there?

  
Well, maybe you put it there
for safekeeping,

  
and then you forgot.

  
Everything's gonna be all right.

  
- Let me help you. Tony. Tony...
- (dishes clatter)

  
After we fought this morning
you wrote something on a piece of paper.

  
And I was so angry...

  
that when you went out for lunch
I just had to tear it up.

  
We didn't fight this morning. We stayed in
and read the papers, remember?

  
You wrote it
in that backwards writing.

  
But I'm not stupid.

  
I know that you think
I'm not smart, but I'm...

  
smart enough to know that
if there is a piece of backward writing...

  
(sniffles)

  
...why, you just hold it up to a mirror.

  
So I tore it into little pieces,
and I flushed it down the toilet.

  
But you know how that toilet is, and
those pieces kept... kept floating to the top.

  
I don't know what you're talking about.
When you talk nonsense I can't...

  
- I'm not talking...
- I can't help you.

  
- I am telling you!
- You are spouting!

  
(children shouting in distance)

  
I'm going to call an ambulance.

  
(Tony) Yes.

  
83... Cadogan Square.

  
Thank you.

  
(hangs up phone)

  
(dialing)

  
Yes, I'd like to place an order.

  
To be delivered.

  
Yes. Baekeland.

  
I'm very hungry.

  
Yeah, those thin rice noodles
with pork, shredded pork.

  
Yeah, that would be it.

  
And some rice, some fried rice.

  
No, the large.

  
Dear Papa,

  
I'm hoping you receive this letter.

  
During the time
preceding what happened

  
a lot of rather strange things
were happening.

  
Earlier that afternoon

  
I had a telephone call
from a friend of ours who lives in Wales.

  
She told me
I had fallen down an elevator shaft.

  
- (doorbell rings)
- I thought this rather strange.

  
And yet it had
a profound effect on me.

  
I was in a dreadful state.

  
For a long time
I didn't know where I was.

  
Past memories
kept flooding my mind,

  
and I felt like I was re-enacting
parts of my former life.

  
You know I loved, and still love and adore,
Mummy more than anyone in the world.

  
Hello?

  
Hello?

  
Mr. Baekeland?

  
You would be Mr. Baekeland, sir?

  
Yes.

  
- And this would be?
- My mother.

  
I do wish
we could all be together again.

  
And another thing is,
I have so much in my head that...

  
to let it out would surely kill me.

  
Nevertheless, I feel better now...

  
and even feel that a great weight
has been lifted from my shoulders.

  
(man) Does anyone know who died?
Is it someone famous?

  
(man 2) No. They said to move on.

  
Yes, it is very boring here,

  
but I try to be good
and not to fret.

  
And you ask me what it's like
to be in prison. Well...

  
just exactly as one would imagine.

  
(Brooks) There will be a Mass given
by Barbara's friends who knew her well

  
and remember
what was lovable and brave in her

  
at St. Mary's,
Cadogan Gardens,

  
at 6:30 p.m. on November 30.

  
She would have been happy
to know you had been there, too.

  
( gentle guitar intro)

  
 Let's get out of town

  
 Go swimming, swimming

  
 Move your arms around

  
 We're wading so far out

  
 Nothing to cry about

  
 Mmm, mmm

  
 It barely makes a sound

  
 Let's get out of here

  
 Go flying, flying

  
 You're so pretty, dear

  
 And you're mine

  
 Aren't you, now?

  
 Higher than a cloud

  
 Mmm, mmm

  
 It barely makes a sound

  
 Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh, ahh

  
 Ahh-ahh, ahh

  
 Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh, ahh

  
 Ahh-ahh

  
 Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh, ahh

  
 Ahh-ahh, ahh

  
 Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh, ahh

  
 Oh, didn't you find me

  
 Drawn on lightly?

  
 Dragging it out

  
 Oh, didn't you know me?

  
 Nothing to show me

  
 Just gotta get out

  
 Ooh, ooh, ooh

  
 Let's get out of town

  
 Go sailing, sailing

  
 Throw the anchor down

  
 Head to heaven with me now

  
 Angel on the bow

  
 Mmm, mmm, mmm

  
 It barely made a sound

  
 Ahh-ahh

  
 Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh

  
 Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh

  
 Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh

  
 Ahh-ahh, ahh-ahh

  
 Ahh-ahh,
ahh-ahh