[silence]
[electronic ambient music]
[birds chirping]
[light orchestral music]
[metal scraping] [Robert breathing heavily]
♪ Ooh ooh ooh
♪ Ooh ah ooh ooh
♪ Ooh ooh
♪ Ooh ooh ooh
[liquid pouring]
♪ Ooh ooh
♪ La la ooh
♪ Ooh ooh ah ooh ooh ooh
[light sitar music]
[water lapping] [electronic tone resonating]
[drill buzzing]
[cymbal clanging]
- Hi Dad.
Dad!
Why didn't you answer the phone?
- Hello, darling.
- Hello.
- What are you doing here?
- [exhales] How much?
[Poppy and Robert chuckle]
- Rich people think they can buy anything.
- Yeah, they can.
This is a compulsory checkup.
I've been instructed by party headquarters.
[clock chiming]
- And that's how it all started.
Hope he didn't think another Panadol would be sufficient.
Anne says she organized my old friend Dr. James
to check me out.
Well darling, let's have a cup of tea.
James insisted I go to the hospital.
I remember thinking, "This is foolish.
"I shouldn't listen to him, I've things to do."
[patients and doctors chattering]
- We found a few small spots on your liver.
Nothing serious, but we would like you to stay in overnight.
We wanna repeat a scan, a few more tests.
How do you feel?
- What about my gallbladder?
- Your gallbladder's fine.
- Um, but it is better to be safe.
- [Robert] Stupid question.
"How do you feel?"
I was left in the emergency ward for the night
with the raw sound of the wounded
and the sick [man shouting]
in this huge factory of human misery.
[woman crying]
The whole human catastrophe flowed past me that night.
What a murky show.
- It's your fault. - How's it my fault?
[couple shouting at the same time]
- You don't love me!
- What?
[grunts] Jesus Christ!
- Fuck off!
- I'm here with you now, aren't I?
[woman mumbles]
What else do I have to fucking do?
- Hey!
- [Man] [groans] Jesus.
- Stop it.
Stop screaming.
- [Man] What are yous lookin' at?
- [Woman] Stop yelling at me!
[mumbles] dickhead!
[machine beeping]
[woman speaking in foreign language]
[woman screaming]
[ambient noise rumbles]
[seagulls squawking]
[train rumbling]
[water sloshing]
[ambient noise rumbling]
[train screeching]
[curtain hooks scraping]
[patients and doctors chattering]
- Where are we going?
- Down to level two.
- What happens there?
- I don't know, mate, I just work here.
[patients and doctors chattering]
Ah, you going to the meeting?
- I'm not a member.
I don't have time for all the silly meeting.
- [Robert] Some small spots on my liver.
Nothing serious.
What small spot?
[fluorescent lights buzzing]
In another journey through hospital corridors
into space, into big black holes.
Inner space and outer space, probably the same.
[somber ambient music] [water rumbling]
[birds chirping]
What's Hannah doing here?
I'll give you a ring, darling.
- [Poppy] I'll come with you.
- [sighs] It's fine.
I'll give you a ring.
- Dad.
- [Robert] Hannah, what are you doing here?
- Well, I thought I could help.
- [Robert] Hannah, you weren't invited.
- I'm sorry, I...
- [Robert] Okay, what if I broke into your place?
- Well ya did once.
You almost smashed down the door.
- [Robert] Yeah, I didn't have the key.
- Come on, tell me the verdict, how you feel.
- Please don't ask me how I feel.
I feel fine.
- Well, what did they say?
Do you want me to talk to someone?
My God, why didn't Poppy come in?
When are you due back at the hospital?
Are you all right?
- Why did ya come?
- Well Poppy called and I, I...
Oh please, Robert, just tell me
what they said at the hospital.
I'm still your wife, we're still married, and I wanna help.
- Well everything's fine.
I get some more news next week
and I've nearly finished my sculpture, and um--
- I know, I saw it at the studio.
It's beautiful.
[water running]
- What are you doing?
- I'm getting you some dinner.
I don't want you to be on your own.
Come on, Robert.
We decided that we'd be friends
and friends look after each other, remember?
- Yeah.
Yeah, of course.
- I still miss living with you. [chuckles]
And sleeping with you.
Just feeling secure beside you.
- Hannah.
Hannah, you said you were happy on your own only last month.
- Shh.
Shh.
[soft orchestral music]
[rain pattering]
[children chattering]
[rain pattering]
[phone ringing]
- Hello?
- [Poppy] Hi Dad.
How are you?
- Ah, Poppy my darling, I'm fine.
I'm tip top.
- [Poppy] What time are you going into hospital?
- I'm not going into hospital.
It's an appointment, not an incarceration.
I'll see ya there at 10.
- [Poppy] No, I'm coming to pick you up.
- Poppy, I'm not sick.
I know how to drive a car.
- I'm on my way.
[phone beeps]
Information, it's that way.
[woman on loud speaker chattering]
[hospital visitors chattering]
- Here, go get yourself a coffee.
- Do you want anything?
- No, I'll be okay. - No?
[loud speaker chiming]
- [Woman] Respond blue, 22, outpatient department.
[woman on loud speaker mumbling]
Respond blue, clinic two, outpatient department.
[child squealing]
[ominous ambient music]
[child crying]
[group chattering]
[hospital visitors chattering]
[bell ringing]
- Even if it is cancer, cancer's not what it used to be.
Enormous advances have been made.
We could probably burn the spots.
- [Robert] The first visits were quite encouraging.
- We can otherwise--
- [Robert] But the small spots
on my liver had become small scars.
- [Doctor] Surgery is possible.
- [Robert] The new doctor thought the scarring
on the liver could be cancerous,
but I needn't worry too much.
- It's possible to operate.
- [Robert] He never looked at me.
Ah, that worried me.
I was quietly confused.
I certainly didn't believe the cancer scan.
- What do you think?
- Hm, it's interesting.
It's a little bit crazy.
- She brought this in, her City of Hope, for our group show.
I don't know.
What do you think?
- [Robert] Who is she?
- [Miriam] She's out the back, come and meet her.
She works at the aquarium on some exchange program.
- No thanks, I've gotta get back home.
- [Miriam] Robert, this is Maya.
- Hello. - Hi.
- I recognize you from your sculpture.
- [chuckles] How is that possible?
- [Miriam] You must invite her to your studio, Robert.
She's a big fan.
- Well, anytime.
Just give me a call.
- [Maya] Oh, thank you.
Would you excuse me, please?
- Sure.
- You've moved back into the house I hear.
- Uh, you've heard correctly.
Oh, I've always lived there.
It's close to the studio.
It's better than living in the city.
- And Hannah?
- She got the city apartment, of course.
You're a little out of touch, this is old news.
- Well it's news to me.
Consider it sold.
The Palmers want it, but complain about the price.
- [Robert] Well, perhaps it is too much.
- [Miriam] No it isn't.
[metal clicking] [light orchestral music]
[Robert breathing heavily]
[phone ringing]
- Yeah?
- [Derek] How do you feel?
- Oh.
Who told you?
- [Derek] Hannah of course.
- Oh did she?
- [Derek] Are you able to drive?
- Dad, I'm not an invalid.
I'll see ya next week.
- [Derek] Well we can come and see you anytime.
- No, I'll be there.
Bye.
- [Doctor] Now, you see where the lesions are.
It's actually quite difficult to operate there,
but we don't think the cancer has spread.
That's very fortunate.
That's great news.
- So it's official?
- What do you mean?
- I do have liver cancer?
- Well, that's what we think it is.
That's not the end of the road, you know.
As you know cancer's not what it used to be.
So what we're recommending is we introduce chemo
directly into the lesions in the liver.
It's a very simple operation but it'll buy us time.
- Chemo operation?
- It's not even an operation.
It's a very basic procedure.
We go up through the groin, up the main artery to the liver.
Now, if that all goes well and your lungs are clear,
we've got a very good chance
of getting on a transplant list.
- So, my liver didn't have small scars.
These are big cancerous lesions.
Difficult to operate.
The liver transplant list?
Buy me time?
What time?
Whose time?
Aw, this isn't happening.
Have you really turned gay or are you
just trying to cheer me up?
- Maybe I was joking.
I don't know, are you still seeing that woman?
- Huh? What woman?
[hammer tapping]
- That's what you called her, "That woman."
[Robert and Poppy chuckle]
- No, no, no, she wasn't my type.
Look, your mother wanted to come over but I told her not to.
I wanted to talk to you first.
I, um...
I saw a different doctor today, a surgeon,
and he's confirmed I've got cancer of liver
and I'll have to have chemo treatment.
The liver's in bad shape.
But if I get on the transplant list--
- A transplant?
- [Robert] Yeah.
- What sort of transplant?
- Well, a liver transplant.
- [Poppy] No.
- Yeah.
- [Poppy] I don't believe this.
- No, neither do I.
- [Poppy] What did James say?
- Well, I haven't told him yet.
[somber ambient music]
[mouse clicking]
[keys clicking]
[mouse clicking]
[speaking in foreign language]
[mouse clicks]
[speaking in foreign language]
[mouse clicks]
- Welcome to Dr. Kumar's Center of Excellence.
Our clinic offers a full range of services
in regards to organ transplantations.
Heart, kidney, lungs, liver, and all tissue transplants.
You name it and we can do it, and we do it so well.
Our clinic is like a luxury hotel.
Five golden stars.
We are fully equipped to save your life
and offer you a new future.
[machine whirring] [metal clicking]
[door slams] [cymbal clanking]
[machine whirring] [metal clicking]
[Robert grunts]
- You left the door wide open.
- Hi.
- Hello.
- Oh, how are you?
- Do you mind if I have a look around?
I'll be very quiet.
- Yeah, cut through here. [clock chiming]
I've got some pieces in here.
- Oh wow.
Thanks.
- When will it be ready?
- Well, it is ready.
- I'm sorry to hear the news.
- What news?
Eh, who told you?
- Is there anything I can do?
I'm here, Robert, you know that.
[phone ringing]
Oh, sorry.
Hello? What's the problem?
[animals chattering]
- Ah, I always wanted to be an artist,
but no, that wasn't possible.
No, I'm a biologist still.
Marine biologist.
I work at the aquarium 'til the end of the year
and then I head home.
- And where is home?
- Well, my family is from the north of India,
but we live in Thiruvananthapuram.
- You mean Trivandrum?
- No, Thiruvananthapuram.
- Oh come on, no one outside India can pronounce that.
- [scoffs] You just need to practice it.
I mean, people back home also have trouble saying it.
It's Thiruvananthapuram.
[Robert grunts]
[Maya laughs] - I'll work on it.
[door clangs]
- Ooh-ooh!
Terribly sorry, I have to get back.
Nobody ever listens.
We'll talk later.
Please look after Maya?
You'll have to take her to the station.
Is that all right, do you mind?
I must fly. [smacks a kiss]
I'll ring you.
[phone ringing]
Hello? Oh.
I tried to-- [door clangs]
- Hm.
Well, Miriam says she's one of your best friends.
- [chuckles] Well, that's the rumor.
No, Miriam sells my work but she knows very little about it.
[train whistle blows]
She's got a good heart, but I don't think
she really understands--
- Do you understand your work? [chuckles]
- No, no I don't really.
- That's good.
It's always good not to understand what you do.
- [Robert] And did Miriam also tell you I have cancer?
[train rumbling]
- No, no she didn't.
I'm sorry to hear that.
My uncle also has cancer.
- [Robert] What sort does he have?
- Stomach.
He's had a few operations.
He's fine.
He's old.
He's an old man.
- Oh, so am I.
[Maya scoffs]
- That's what you say but not what you think.
Can I touch?
- [Robert] Yeah go ahead.
All my work's meant to be touched.
[train whistle blowing]
You can open it if you like.
[water sloshing]
- [Maya] I like your work very much.
- Thank you.
Look, Miriam's introduced you twice.
I'm sorry, I still didn't get your name.
- Oh, I have two names.
You can call me Maya or Martha.
- And what's the difference?
- Well, Martha means the seeing eye
and Maya means illusion.
But illusion is more realistic, don't you think?
- [chuckles] Yes, realistic, yes it is.
Thiruvananthapuram.
[Maya laughs]
- Yeah, that's much better.
- Good boy.
That's a good one, come on.
[truck rumbling]
[dog barking]
- Robert.
So glad you came.
- How are ya, Dad?
- I'm fine, fine. - Good.
- Yeah, yeah, living it up.
- Good to see you. - You, too.
- Right.
Come on.
Louise is teaching me what to look for.
- I'm feeding him ham, though.
- We stargaze together.
[foghorn bellows]
A friend of mine is a surgeon at your hospital.
I'm having lunch with him tomorrow.
- Oh, I'm starting chemotherapy next week, Dad.
If I'm going to stop the rot for a while
should give me a chance.
- Is there anything at all I can do?
Look, you will get on the transplant list.
I'm sure of that.
- Even if I get on the list,
unfortunately there's just not enough donors around.
- Hannah says you're gonna need someone to look after you.
[Robert chuckles]
Now she said she would.
Look, Robert, I know it's none of my business but she cares.
She's family.
- Yeah, well I can look after myself, Dad.
- Family is important now.
- Yeah.
I'm not an invalid, yet.
[ominous ambient music]
Can't say what he feels.
It's always like that.
Reticent, enigmatic, distant.
He never said how he met Louise.
Where did he meet her?
Never tells the full story.
Never told me my mother was dying.
She just died, my mother.
My own mother.
I've always missed her.
Nobody knows anything.
Aw, nothing matters now.
I've got cancer, cancer of the liver they say.
I'll die soon.
No, no, no I'm not gonna die.
I must finish my sculpture, that's important.
Maya, she follows me.
She's always in my mind, who is she?
Oh!
What is this?
No, no, I gotta think.
The, uh, where?
It was, um, I can't.
- Are you all right. - I can't.
I'm fine, thank you.
[Robert groans]
I can't.
I can't then.
Oh yes.
Oh.
- [Nurse] I'll get you something to help you sleep.
- No, I'm fine, thank you.
Oh.
[water rumbling]
[soft ambient music] [wind rustling]
[chorus chanting]
[water sloshing]
[patients and doctors chattering]
- [James] I came yesterday but you were asleep.
- [chuckles] I wasn't asleep.
I was hallucinating.
How did you know where I was?
- Oh, I checked with the authorities.
They tell me you're doing fine.
- Oh, don't believe the authorities.
- [James] I'll let you go tomorrow, then.
Then I'll repeat the procedure in a couple of weeks.
[thunder rumbles]
I went to the gallery.
Miriam tells me that charmed this young lady.
- Oh nonsense.
- She's very beautiful I hear.
- Oh please, James.
- All right? - Please.
Oh.
- Oldie but a goodie.
[singing in foreign language]
- [Robert] Oh!
- I'm off. - Oh.
- [mumbles] all right?
- [Poppy] How are ya, Dad?
- I'm fine, my darling.
[thunder rumbles]
- They tell me it's okay and you go home tomorrow.
- Mm. - So I'll come
and pick you up.
- Okay. - Mom's just in the car.
- Why?
- We couldn't find a park.
- There's plenty of spots in the carpark.
Well she didn't wanna walk.
- You're being childish.
- No, no, I'm sorry, my darling.
[Robert exhales]
- What were you dreaming about last night?
- Why would you wanna know?
- [scoffs] Well you woke up the entire floor
with a lot of foul language and you scared a young nurse.
- Oh, I'm sorry. - Oh.
- Could you tell her I'm sorry?
- [scoffs] You can tell her yourself.
[Poppy and Robert chuckle]
- [Poppy] That is the right type of woman for you, Dad.
- Yeah, she's perfect.
[Poppy laughs]
You're a darling, thank you. - There you go.
You all right? - Yeah.
- [Poppy] I have to go,
but I'll come and pick you up tomorrow.
Would you please listen to the nurses and behave? [chuckles]
- [Robert] Yeah, I will, my darling.
See ya, Pops.
- [Poppy] Bye.
[smacks a kiss]
[somber piano music] [rain pattering]
[children chattering]
[finger squeaking]
[quirky electronic music]
- [Nurse] Just a sharp needle.
- [Robert] The world inside me.
Arteries become rivers.
The sea, sky, earth,
one form, one shape.
My blood.
My own blood.
How much blood?
Where did it come from?
Are they keeping my blood or are they throwing it out
once they're done with me?
Who has my blood?
[thunder rumbles]
- You're wife's here to pick you up.
- Hello, darling.
- What are you doing here?
I could've got a taxi.
- You know we can't let you go home alone.
- And he has an appointment, too.
- Thanks very much.
- Thank you.
Here ya go.
- Thank you.
[group chattering]
Another doctor talks to us.
I don't listen.
[clock ticking]
What am I doing here?
This isn't my life.
What is my life?
- You can sort of guess, okay it's roughly in the period
of two or three months or it's likely to last
about a year or two. - And how long
do you think Robert has to live?
- [Robert] Ah, trust her to ask a thing like that.
- That's a really hard question.
We don't know exactly, but I'll say
roughly about six months.
- [crying] Oh.
I thought... [Robert mumbles]
[Hannah sobbing]
- Hey, it's okay.
[visitors chattering]
[Hannah crying]
- Let me just help you.
- I'm just gonna do some work, eh?
- Why don't I make you a cup of tea or something?
[cymbal clangs]
- Hannah doesn't understand that I need
to be in the studio alone.
Poppy does.
Chemo clouds will allow me a little breathing time,
or dreaming time.
I'm starting to see things again.
I'm surrounded by warmth and love and hope.
This is, or was, my family but we're all alone now.
I can't sleep with Hannah.
She wants to but that time is gone.
[rain pattering]
Maya said she'd visit me.
Hm.
I'd pretty much like to sleep with her.
I feel very homesick 'cause I don't know where home is.
[somber ambient music]
The more important point is the fact
that the longer that you look at this painting,
as in any great painting, the deeper and richer
[door thuds] that painting will become.
[projector clicks]
Van Gogh's Sunflowers.
A very different painting, and yet,
we all think we know this painting
but if we allow ourselves to look at this painting
for a long time it will always become fresh and new.
Vincent himself said, "This is the kind of painting
"that rather changes to the eye
"and takes on richness the longer you look at it."
Later he wrote to his brother and he said,
"If at the end of my career I shall prove
"to be wrong, so be it.
"Then I shall find that not only the yards
"but everything else were only dreams,
"that one has nothing at all oneself.
"If we're as flimsy as that,
"there is nothing to be said
"against the unlimited possibilities of future existence."
We walked for hours, we talked for hours.
She's wise.
She's warm.
She's human.
And she believes in fate, that we can twist
the shape of fate but don't have much say in the matter.
Why did I meet this woman now?
[women chattering]
Life has changed just in a few weeks.
Oh, another blast of chemo.
It makes me sick, tired.
Hannah wants to look after me.
That's not a good idea.
Six months?
What are they saying?
My life, I'm losing my life.
That's not possible.
[ominous ambient music]
Oh, Maya.
Maya.
An illusion or the seeing eye?
[water sloshing]
[man speaking in foreign language]
- He's very weak.
Wants to see you.
[man speaking in foreign language]
- What a beautiful dream it is.
- A good one, Uncle.
It's me.
- So happy to see you.
See the spirit looms above
beyond matter.
- Yes.
- [chuckles] You look like a bride.
[Maya chuckles]
- Are you good?
- Time is marching on.
[gasps] Have you seen the orchards we planted together?
- Yes, yes.
[uncle grunting]
- It will be [mumbles] at once.
Weed it back this year.
We are all raising hope
it will do so once more.
Water glass, good [mumbles]. [groans]
[somber ambient music]
My explosion is finished.
- You called it confrontation before.
- It's both.
One with all.
[bell ringing]
[ominous ambient music]
[knuckles knocking]
- Hello. - Hello.
- [Robert] Come in.
I'm sorry, I didn't hear you knocking.
- Oh, I just knocked on every window.
- [Robert] I'm sorry, I didn't hear you.
- How are you feeling?
- Well, I feel much better now, thank you.
- Good.
Well, I got you some special Indian tea.
Dr. James said that you should be in bed
and that you're very stubborn.
- [chuckles] Oh, Dr. James is a pest.
He's more stubborn than any of us.
Did Miriam give you his number?
- No, I didn't wanna bother you.
- No, James is one of my oldest friends.
We have known each other for a few hundred years.
Go through.
[breathing heavily] Please.
- You should drink that tea.
Twice a day.
- Ah?
What does it do?
- It will restore your faith.
[couple chuckle]
- I haven't lost it.
- What is your faith, actually?
- Oh, I'm an informed agnostic, humanist.
Romantic. - Oh come on.
That's too easy. [chuckles]
[traditional Indian music]
Okay, you shouldn't exhaust yourself.
Come on.
You need to get to sleep.
- Yeah, I'll lie down.
Thank you.
- When you feel better I'll tell you everything.
- Oh, everything?
- I have no secrets.
- Oh everybody's got secrets.
Why don't you stay here?
- I have my instructions.
I'll sleep on the couch.
- Sleep with me.
[soft orchestral music]
- Get some rest.
You're a patient now, remember?
- Oh thank you.
[ominous ambient music]
[water sloshing]
[somber orchestral music]
[dishes clanking]
[singing in foreign language]
- Good morning.
- [Robert] Good morning.
- I got you some special tea.
Did you see the sky last night?
It was amazing.
- [Robert] I was too busy sleeping.
- Well, you look well.
- [Robert] I think I feel a little bit better.
[singing in foreign language]
You're a very beautiful woman.
What are you doing here?
- What are we all doing here?
[singing in foreign language]
I don't like being away from them for so long.
You know they're old.
- Hm, how old?
- [Maya] [mumbles] absurd to ask you
all those questions, don't you think?
- [Robert] She was upset, didn't have to ask her.
Are you gonna tell me?
- [Maya] Tell you everything?
- [Robert] Mm-hm.
[Maya mumbles]
I'm all ears.
- [Hannah] I had no idea.
I wouldn't have gone in.
I let myself in.
- [Poppy] Well you shouldn't have left the flowers.
- [Hannah] Where the hell did he meet her?
Who is it?
- [Poppy] I don't know, Mum.
- [Hannah] What a dick.
- [Poppy] What does it matter, Mum?
- [Hannah] It matters because he lied to us.
[Poppy screams]
- Oh, my father is very ill.
He has cancer of the liver and he's dying.
What are you saying?
- I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
- Mum!
- I'm so sorry.
Oh my darling.
- Ah.
You're not gonna ask me how I feel are you?
- [Maya] How do you feel?
- Oh, I feel fine, thank you.
And you?
- [Maya] I'm good.
Thank you for asking.
- This is wonderful.
I've never been here before.
- Yeah.
Well it's much nicer when there are
no people around, you know.
People make too much noise.
Fish don't like noise.
- Can they hear us?
- Oh yeah, they hear everything.
Ludwig. [fingers snap]
[couple chuckles]
You know he's a really smart fish,
much smarter than most of the people that come here.
Hey, I have tickets to this concert,
friends of friends, Indian music.
Can you come?
- I'm not a prisoner.
[Maya laughs]
I'm allowed out.
No, I feel much better.
Only that's another illusion.
Yeah, I can come.
[water sloshing]
[Robert breathing heavily]
[phone chimes]
[phone snaps]
[Robert exhales]
[phone dialing]
[Robert clears throat]
- [Hannah] Hi, it's Hannah.
Please leave a message.
- Ah.
[phone beeps]
Hannah?
Hannah, pick up the fucking phone.
Jesus Christ, am I allowed to have friends?
Look, I'll finish this sculpture
and I'll play all the money I owe you.
Look, you won't have to worry much longer.
I've got officially three months left.
Oh, what a relief.
- Why don't you ring him?
- [Robert] Hannah?
Hannah, pick up the phone. - Oh shit.
- Ring him, Mum.
- I can't.
[ominous ambient music]
[water sloshing]
[bird squawking]
[water sloshing]
- Ah, don't you have a key?
- I've been told to respect your privacy.
- [Robert] That's ridiculous.
- Where have you been?
- Well, I had to go to the studio first.
I'm being auditioned as a potential transplant recipient.
- Oh.
- I have to prove I'm of sound mind.
- That could be a problem.
[Robert laughs]
- They also talk about family support.
Who is my family these days?
- [Poppy] Mum's just a bit pissed off.
- Yeah.
- You know she can't help herself.
- Yeah. - She cares a lot.
- Yeah.
How come you're so wise?
- If you get on the list how long does it take?
- Ah well with cancer you've only got
a small chance to get on the list
and, well, even then you can die waiting.
There's just not that many organs around.
People don't like to donate something
that they might need in their next life.
I felt all right before they told me I was ill.
- Do you love her?
- Huh, who?
- Come on, lover boy.
Answer my question.
James said she's a stunning blonde.
- [chuckles] Well James is a lunatic.
You're gonna have to teach me how to Skype.
- When am I gonna meet her?
- Who?
- How old is she?
- My stunning blonde?
- [Poppy] Mm-hm.
- Oh, she's a wise old soul.
[traditional Indian music]
- Can you see me?
- [Robert] Yes.
- Oh, well done.
- [Robert] Thank you.
- [Maya] How are you?
- Well, this is my first Skype.
I'm a bit apprehensive.
- [Maya] Mm, so now you're connected to the real world.
- Well I was connected, just didn't realize it. [chuckles]
- Are you being well looked after?
- Well my ex-wife, my daughter, they've been too good to me.
What would I do without them?
If I kiss the screen and you kiss it, too, will we connect?
[Maya laughs]
- Yeah.
[singing in foreign language]
- [Robert] Why didn't I meet her before?
Why now?
I could have loved her.
I could have loved her like mad.
I can't live like this.
I mustn't see her again.
Oh I love her, damn it.
[ominous ambient music]
[water sloshing]
They've violated every inch of my body.
I'm riddled with cancer, I'm sure of it.
It's everywhere.
I have to draw now.
I can't finish my sculpture.
When I work I'm not alone and I'm not afraid.
[bell ringing]
[water sloshing]
[woman chattering]
- [Woman In Blue Shirt] Can you come in, please?
Hi, just take a seat.
- [Hannah] Okay.
[woman chattering]
- It's very good that you brought the family, Robert.
- [Robert] The surgeon won't see you
unless you bring your family.
- Good, bad, or indifferent that the family's with you.
- [Robert] what is a family?
- [Surgeon] Now in this case--
- [Robert] I wish Maya was with me.
- [Surgeon] Speaking of my--
- [Robert] A transplant's the only chance I have.
I know that.
Don't know what he's saying.
Can't hear him.
- [Surgeon] However, in this case--
- [Robert] Why is Hannah sitting in the middle?
I want to sit next to Poppy.
Oh, it's too late, too late.
- And in this case it is good news.
That is to say you've been activated.
We've put you on the transplant list.
So congratulations.
Well done.
- [Robert] Thank you.
- All right, Mum.
I gotta go.
Bye, Dad.
- You're not gonna be late for work?
- No, no, no, I'm getting picked up.
It's perfect timing.
Love you, Dad!
- I love you, Poppy.
[woman on loud speaker chattering]
Which way do we go?
- Let's go this way [mumbles].
- [Woman On Loud Speaker] Thank you.
[ominous ambient music]
- I'd give you half my liver if we had matching blood.
- Yeah, I know you would.
- You happy?
- Oh, I don't know what happy means.
[Robert cries out]
[Robert sobbing]
- Just sit down, sweetheart.
- I'm sorry.
Oh. [exhales]
- It's all right.
You just need a good rest.
Everything's gonna be all right.
- Oh yeah, yeah. - Everything.
I'm here, you're here, we're here.
Let me just make you a coffee.
Oh, it stinks in here, darling.
I have to open the windows.
[soft orchestral music]
- [Robert] Dad and I didn't talk
for years after Mother died.
- [Louise] I was going to ask you--
- [Robert] I don't know why.
- You chose marine biology?
- [Robert] I still miss her.
"If anything ever happens to you I wouldn't survive,"
she once told me.
She had cancer.
I think about her all the time.
"Family now, it's important,"
Dad tells me.
Now he hugs me.
But he still can't talk about my relationship
with Maya even in the face of death.
"Hannah's family."
"Yes, of course she is."
Then Maya asked him about Louise.
- So, how did you meet?
- Well, I was at this dinner party
and some of us carrying on about Star Wars.
- Mm-hm. - Yeah.
What an important film it was at the time
and how it had changed our concept of war and space,
and then someone raved on about those space creatures,
pointing their obscene guns at one another
and shooting at everyone and everything in sight.
And then Louise said something like,
"Why didn't they make Star Peace?
"Why take these silly games of war we have here on Earth
"into space and continue the madness up there?"
- It was a bit more complicated, but [chuckles]...
- I rang her the next day.
Didn't I?
- Aww.
- Well, that was it.
- That's amazing. - That's our story.
[ominous ambient music]
[traditional Indian music]
[water sloshing]
[Maya chattering]
- Well who lives a normal life?
Nobody lives a normal life.
Well maybe in hospital they do.
- [Maya] Why?
- Well because in hospital everybody gives and nobody takes.
They're very kind to me there.
- You know Uncle used to say kindness covered
all his political beliefs.
- Ah.
- Hm.
It requires a great deal of kindness
to be a doorman, don't you think?
- Yeah.
The idea that somebody has to die in order to save me
I find absolutely appalling.
Right now with you I feel really strong.
When I'm not I feel quite vulnerable.
- I like my men to be vulnerable.
- Thiruvananthapuram.
[Maya laughs]
- What will you do when I return home, when I'm gone?
- I'll come and I'll find you.
I'll come and I'll find you wherever you are.
[wings flapping]
- Is that you?
- Yes.
- All of you?
- Yes.
[waves crashing]
[wings flapping]
[waves crashing]
[choral chanting music]
- What are you doing?
- [Maya] I'm dreaming, Auntie.
- Dreaming of what?
- [Maya] Of doors opening and closing.
- I think you are in love.
Terribly in love.
- [Maya] How did that happen?
No one has ever made me shed a tear or caused me pain.
- No one?
- They all did in a way, but never touched me deeply.
- [Maya's Aunt] When did you know you loved him?
- It was the music, Auntie.
It's always the music.
[visitor knocking]
Auntie, just one sec, huh?
Hi.
How's the leg?
- Oh, it's good thanks.
Oh come.
Come and sit down.
- Ah, this is lovely.
- Oh, thank you.
Oh, Auntie said you should keep your leg up all night.
I told them about you.
Come say hi.
[ominous ambient music]
[water sloshing]
Uncle, it's me.
- Maya, darling child.
Death is a problem I'm not familiar with.
This is my friend, Robert.
- Hello.
- Is he your loved one?
- It's not yet known.
- The love that matters connects through space
and brings peace.
One sees
most activities of man
are absurd.
- Uncle was an enemy of the state,
of religion, of all conventional thinking.
He never accepted human condition for what it is.
He stalked our universe for years.
That made sense.
He says, "Modern life is a fraud,
"has veiled man's spirit."
He's kept us ready to go...
beyond.
- To find his true potential?
- Yes, to find the sublime.
[somber ambient music]
[water sloshing]
[mystical ambient music]
- [Maya's Uncle] Every galaxy
has a massive black hole at its center.
The gravity is so strong that nothing
can escape its pull, not even light.
Time and space are interrelated,
forming a single continuum.
Space, time.
All organic matters in nature.
The body and universe relate
and that is understood.
Life and death merge and become one.
[choral chanting music]
[high-pitched ambient music]
[water sloshing]
[somber piano music]
[wind whistling]
[choral chanting music]
[Robert breathing heavily]
- Why didn't you let me come and pick you up?
- I just felt like having a walk.
- Well dinner's nearly ready.
- Thank you.
[Hannah sighs]
[Hannah clears throat]
- Ow, ah.
[pan thuds]
[phone ringing] - I'm sorry,
I'm not that hungry, Hannah.
- No, you have to eat to keep up your strength.
Simon.
Hola. [speaking in foreign language]
[liver splats]
[butcher knife thudding]
[ominous ambient music]
[egg splattering]
[butcher knife thuds]
[wheelbarrow squeaking]
[butcher knife thudding]
[creatures chattering]
[liver thuds]
[creatures chattering]
[Robert groaning]
Shh.
[Robert groans] Shh.
- You must be Poppy.
- Yes.
Dad really wanted me to meet you.
He's not feeling great.
I came to the aquarium once with my school.
- [Maya] Oh.
- Bonjour. - Hi, bonjour.
[speaking in foreign language] cappuccino?
- [Barista] [speaking in foreign language] cappuccino.
- [Poppy] We had to write an essay
about our favorite sea animal.
- Ah.
And what was yours?
- The seahorses.
- Ah, they're very sweet.
Good choice.
There's this big shark here that I've become friends with
and he listens to me.
I don't know if he really likes me, though.
[women laugh]
Robert talks about you a lot.
You're his best friend, he says.
- We've always been really close.
It's a genetic disorder. [chuckles]
He wanted me,
he told me,
he loves you.
He said, "Just in case."
He's mad about you. [crying]
I'll ask you one more time, please be my friend.
- [Man] Right, now you've made me mad.
I'm gonna pinch you on the nose.
- [Poppy] Oh!
Ah. Ah.
- What's going on? - Ah! Ah!
Choo! [water squirting]
[everyone laughs]
- [Man] That was funny.
Do it again, do it again!
- [Poppy] Ah choo! [laughs]
[audience applauds]
- [Robert] She's a wonderful woman, my daughter.
My daughter the puppeteer.
- Hi, Dad.
[Robert wheezing]
You okay?
[Robert wheezing]
Sit, sit.
- Well, I've,
I've done my will.
It's all organized.
- What are you willing away?
- All my fortune.
[Poppy laughs]
- if there's no fortune.
Then why leave a will?
- Well there's some old hammers.
There's some rolls of sticky tape.
There's tools.
[Poppy laughs] Broken clocks.
There's my assortment of screwdrivers.
There's some fine rubbish.
Yeah, lots of hard work.
- You mean your work.
- You know, most artists think that their work's important.
- Do you?
- Well this proves that I've lived.
That I've existed, huh? [Poppy chuckles]
- What about me?
- Oh. [both laugh]
I almost forgot.
You, my precious...
You are my life.
[Poppy crying] Yeah.
Forever waiting for the hospital to ring.
And now I'm slowly traveling backwards.
I feel so alone.
Except when Maya's with me.
Why does Hannah still have a problem with her?
I'll be dead in a few weeks.
Soon that tree'll start to blossom,
like the pear tree from my youth.
There was one in the garden next-door
and every spring petals would cross the rusty old fence
and dance down the garden like silent snowflakes.
As a child I'd catch those petals.
They'd vanish in the palm of my hands.
[traditional Indian music]
Maya insisted I come with her to the ocean.
"The ocean will wash away all wounds," she says.
Five months into the waiting game I'm still here.
My legs hurt terribly.
Can't drive too far out of the city.
Somebody could be dying right now
on this very road we've traveled on.
And they may call for me.
[traditional Indian music] [singing in foreign language]
[waves lapping]
[Robert crying out]
[Robert groaning]
- Sir, can you move it?
- No, it hurts.
No, it's hurting badly. [groans]
[ominous ambient music]
[Robert grunting]
Maya.
Ah.
I just went on the most incredible journey
to another century, another country.
You were there.
- [Maya] How is the pain?
- It's better.
- [Maya] How does pain get better?
[both chuckle]
- No, it is.
- The doctor says your immunity is down
and you have an infection there.
They're trying to find out what it is,
get you back on your feet.
- When do you leave?
- Tomorrow.
Uncle doesn't have much time.
He's waiting.
- I love you.
Remember, wherever you are I'll find you.
[traditional Indian music]
Eh, coulda been gone by now but I'm still here.
Loving madly and sadly.
Oh, I've been dreaming of hope and the feeling of hope.
Always moving towards a central point.
The village square, the center of town,
the heart of the matter.
- Hi, babe. - Hi.
- [Robert] But when I arrive the center
is always further away.
Why is everybody so kind?
That's not a good sign.
I need to get out of here.
I need to live.
I need to meet Maya somewhere to be with her,
to live with her, and die with her.
[phone ringing]
- [Nurse] Sorry to bother you, Doctor,
but Mrs. Brody, she's very ill
and she wants me to disconnect all support.
- [Doctor] Why is that?
- Well, she wants to see her daughter,
but she doesn't want her daughter to see her
or remember her as a patient.
- [Doctor] How old is her daughter?
- 10 or 12 I think.
- [Doctor] Is Sister Rankin around at all?
- No, she's gone to lunch.
- [Doctor] Okay, be quick.
- Okay.
- It's all right, sweetheart.
[girl crying]
I'm getting better.
I'll be home soon.
- [Girl] Yeah.
- Home soon.
[girl crying]
My darling.
You must go now.
My darling sweetheart.
Daddy's waiting for you.
[Mrs. Brody crying] [machine beeping]
[heartbeat thumping]
[water sloshing]
[somber piano music]
- It isn't Christmas yet, Poppy.
You know I'm not a fan.
- Christmas is fun.
I've got Maya's Christmas present in the car.
- What present?
- You're not allowed to open it until Christmas.
[both chuckle]
- Well, I don't think I'll last that long.
- How do you know?
- Oh the waiting game, it gives you insight.
- You're gonna be all right, Dad.
You'll get a transplant.
I'm sure you will.
- Yeah well, they say that Christmas is a good time for...
That's a dreadful thought.
I wouldn't see Easter they told me
and now it's almost Christmas.
I'm still here, my darling Poppy.
And back on the waiting list.
Please, Father Christmas, can I have three snowflakes,
five raindrops, a large passing cloud,
and maybe, maybe could you throw in
a new liver, medium sized?
- Here ya go.
- Oh. [Poppy chuckles]
I've never loved like this in my life.
Don't tell her I've opened it.
Oh.
[bird chirping]
[somber orchestral music]
- When Uncle is gone everything will change.
- Life moves on.
Thousands of candles can be lit from one single candle.
And the life of that candle won't be shortened.
Hm? [chuckles]
[children humming]
Love remains.
All that Uncle has received from life passes on.
It won't be wasted through death, huh?
[children humming]
[water sloshing]
- [Robert] Dad and Louise have gone out of their way
to make us all have Christmas dinner together.
It's never happened before.
It's the first time.
Dad's become warm and loving.
Will this be our last supper?
Oh, can't alter my thoughts.
It feels strange.
[family chattering]
[phone ringing] - Is there some reason
why you put orange in it?
- Yeah.
- It's already really sweet already.
- [Robert] Hello?
[Louise laughs]
Hello? - It's lovely.
- [Maya] Hello, darling.
- Ah, Maya.
Hey, it's lovely to hear your voice.
How are you?
- [Maya] I'm fine.
Merry Christmas.
- [chuckles] Merry Christmas to you, too.
Thank you for Vincent.
- Aw. - He's beautiful.
- [Maya] You're welcome.
So, what are you up to?
- Well, I don't normally celebrate Christmas,
but Dad and Louise have put on a Christmas dinner.
It's highly unusual but it's lovely.
- [Maya] Oh, that's nice.
- How's Uncle?
- Uncle will be leaving us soon.
He's passing on his truthfulness,
his forbearance, his love.
We will celebrate his life.
He wanted it like that.
[phone connection crackling]
I love you.
- Maya. [phone connection crackles]
[dial tone beeps] - Ugh.
[phone dialing]
[family chattering]
[phone ringing]
- Oh what have you done.
- Maya?
- [Woman] Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas to you, too.
Who is this?
[family chattering]
- [Woman] From the hospital.
- Yes?
[family chattering]
- [Derek] The love of three oranges.
- [Louise] I thought...
- [Derek] It must've been, though, wasn't it?
- [Hannah] Always out for himself.
- Uh, yes, yes, I can be there.
We're about two hours away but we can be quick.
Thank you.
- [Hannah] Robert?
[car rumbling]
[somber ambient music]
- They've made a mistake.
It's Christmas.
I don't have my toothbrush.
Why did I eat all that pudding?
Maya, Maya, Maya, where are you?
My life, my life.
Oh Poppy, Poppy my darling, my darling Poppy.
Wait, Christmas lights in a hospital?
Is this the right hospital?
Hannah, I must thank her, I must thank her.
So many people to thank, I don't have time.
It's always late, always too late.
- I'm Saskia.
I'm going to take you to the operating theater.
- Saskia was Rembrandt's wife.
- That's right.
That's how I got my name.
[Hannah laughs]
- May Rembrandt be with us.
[ominous ambient music]
[prayer beads rattling]
[flame whooshing]
[somber ambient music]
[church bells ringing]
[water sloshing]
[chimes tinkling]
[train rumbling]
[church bells ring]
[gate creaking]
[lighthearted orchestral music]
[somber ambient music]
[bells ringing]
[clocks chiming]
The birds are coming home.
Where do they go?
I wake up.
[chuckles] From where?
From what?
I feel nothing, I see nothing.
[chuckles] Why are these horses laughing?
No, I don't speak Russian,
but I understand every word you say.
How do you feel?
Oh, good as gold.
Volcanoes are spewing oil into the air.
The oil catches fire and lashes the earth like a whip.
What power is this?
What can you do with death?
[machine beeping]
I'm in Venice.
Why am I in Venice?
Who understands the true facts of life?
We all have a function.
Why this terrible sense of loss?
What reality is this?
Please help me.
Hold me.
I'm dying.
- Uncle's gone.
He died this morning.
We're thankful and we're celebrating.
I'm also celebrating Robert's miracle.
Please tell him to wait for me.
[Poppy smacks a kiss]
[bells ringing]
[somber ambient music]
[choral chanting music]
[water sloshing]
- Be careful.
Phone me as soon as you get there, okay?
Uncle's blessing will be traveling with you.
- Take care of yourself.
- [Maya's Aunt] You, too.
♪ Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
♪ Ooh ooh ah ooh ooh
♪ Ooh ooh ooh ooh
♪ Ooh ooh
♪ Ooh ooh ah ooh ooh ooh
- Mum?
- Maya.
Hello.
Oh, come here.
[women chuckle]
- Go in, okay.
[traditional Indian music]
[singing in foreign language]