All language subtitles for Small Island s01e01.eng

'Put the word mother in
front of the word country,

'you think of somewhere safe,

'where your potential will be
nurtured and your faults excused.

'Hortense had never
known the love of a mother.

'Perhaps that's
why she had so long

'cherished a dream
of coming to england.

'But would it be the rainbow's end
for everything she aspired to be?'

this programme contains
some scenes of a sexual nature

'Sometimes, to make
a dream come true,

'you must swallow your pride.

'Hortense told herself that love
was a luxury she could not afford.'

doorbell rings

good evening.

Is this perchance the
household of Gilbert Joseph?

You're never his
wife? I am she, yes.

The lazy lummox didn't come
and meet you off the boat?

He did not. Huh! Come on in.

No, I prefer to wait
here, thank you.

Gilbert! Your wife is here!

Hortense!

"I will be at the docks
to meet you," he says.

Hortense, let me tell you, I
go to the dock this morning,

no ship was there! They
say come back tomorrow.

You want everyone in
england to know our business?

I'm mrs bligh.

People call me queenie.

Mrs bligh.

Come now, I show you
your new home, hortense.

And the rest?

Where are the other rooms?!

There are no other
rooms, hortense.

This is it. This is
where I am living.

Just this?

You bring me all the way
across the world for just this?

Everybody live like this!
There has been a war.

Plenty people live worse than this.
Some have no roof over them at all.

Look see, we have
all we need right here!

The gas ring,
that is our kitchen.

Sink over there.

Table, chairs - dining room.

And the, er, bedroom.

Compact but efficient, nah?

And the lavatory? Downstairs.
But we have this if we need to.

Me so sorry, I forget...

You wash your cup in the same place you throw
your... I usually take it down to the toilet when...

I cannot believe you bring me
all this way to live like an animal.

That you think so little of me!

Listen here, miss high and
mighty, stick your nose up in the air.

You will wash your plate, your vegetables
and your backside in that basin too!

And what you don't know yet, because
you just come off a boat, you are lucky.

One day, not now but
one day, you will know that.

There will be snow in hell before
that day comes, Gilbert Joseph.

Queenie: Don't forget
this trunk, Gilbert!

'And god said,
"let there be light".

'And god saw that
the light was good

'and separated
it from the dark.'

and he called the light day...

And the darkness
he called night.

Amen.

Don't slouch, hortense.

In point of fact, pa,

it is the rotation of the earth
which causes night and day.

They taught you that at that
fancy boarding school I sent you to?

They taught me many things.

For example, it has now
been irrefutably proved

that man is not descended from
Adam and Eve but from monkeys.

Apes to be exact.

You dare to sit and mock the
Bible in my presence, Michael?

Is an enquiring mind not... I will
not have such blasphemy at my table!

Is it blasphemy to
acquire knowledge,

to want to understand how the
world works? Leave the table!

Don't hurt him, please.

I have a mind of my own now, pa.

And I will not be beaten into
submission. Not any more.

Door creaks open

I'm grown now, hortense.

I can fight my own corner.

As you must learn to do.

Bell rings

I hope you are not
neglecting your duties

by escorting me to work
every day, Michael Roberts.

It is a pleasure, not a duty.

Be a good girl now.

I am grown too now, Michael!

How comes everyone
sees that but you, hmm?

Children sing: ♪ till
we have built Jerusalem

♪ in england's green
and pleasant land. ♪

Very good, children!

Now take your seats, please.

Today we are looking
at the reign of the tudors.

An urgent warning just came
on the wireless. It's a hurricane!

Everyone must return
home immediately!

You heard mr Ryder. Gather
your things, quickly now!

Stay here with hortense, my love. Secure the
shutters, bolt the doors. That's it, chop, chop.

Wind howls

Michael always say, storms is
just god shifting his furniture around.

Talk to me, hortense.
Tell me about your brother.

Oh, Michael is not
my brother, mrs Ryder,

although we share
the same house.

See, my parents,
they were teachers...

'So she talked to
calm mrs Ryder.

'About how her parents had tragically
died when she was a young child.

'She did not tell her

'that she had been born out of
wedlock in Savannah-la-mar.'

my mother actually died
holding me in her arms...

'That her father was a
government official and her mother,

'a poor country
girl in his employ.

'How she had pleaded that he send hortense
to his cousin mr Roberts to be raised,

'so that she might
learn to read and write.

'And she did not tell her
how she was determined

'to honour the sacrifice her
mother had made for her.'

I was five years old
when first I met Michael.

He has such plans!

He wants one day
to live in england!

When I am older,
I will join him there.

And we will share a
home again, he and I.

This time it will be
as man and... Rattling

oh, dear god! What was that?

It is the door! Mr
Ryder has returned!

Don't leave me, hortense!

I am quite capable of
looking after myself...

I saw your husband at the bus stop with the
children. I thought he'd left you here alone.

I did not know you
were so well acquainted

with mrs Ryder, Michael?
We met in church.

Did I blink and miss that day?

Does it matter where we met?

Make yourself useful, go
and fetch some blankets!

Go on!

I'm here now, I'm
not going to leave you.

If Jeffrey comes back...

I'll say I am here for hortense.

Only for her.

'Hurricanes never
come without warning.

'And so it is in life.

'But just when you think it
has wreaked its damage,

'there's often worse to come.'

where is mrs Ryder?

We must speak
with mrs Ryder, child!

Her husband was on
his way back to school,

when a truck got out of control.

He stood no chance. We
must inform her of his death.

Oh, he is an angry god!

A fearsome god!
This is his punishment!

Hortense, be
calm. Is she inside?

She is there with
Michael Roberts!

They're alone there together!

This is god's
punishment for their sin!

Did you know that my son

was committing a mortal
sin with that woman?

No, sir, I did not.

Not until today when...

When you took it upon yourself

to tell the pastor and
his wife about them.

Now the whole island knows!

We are disgraced.

My son is lost to me.

Lost?

It is time he learnt what
the word "duty" means.

A war is coming in Europe, the mother
country needs men to fight for her.

The royal air force are
recruiting volunteers in Kingston.

I have spoken to the
appropriate people.

He's to go overseas.

As soon as arrangements
can be made,

you too shall leave
this house, hortense.

You have overstayed
your welcome here.

I will have my dinner
now, miss Jewel.

Oh, will you mind my paint
work, please! Sorry, queenie.

Easy. Lift it. Nice and
easy. Don't push too fast...

Aaaargh! Sorry. Sorry, queenie.

Pull it! My leg! My leg, man!

They continue to argue

'how people's lives entwine
together is one of life's mysteries.

'But they say god works
in mysterious ways.

'If there is no god,

'someone is having a
fine joke at our expense.'

In Hertfordshire, herefordshire,

and Hampshire... ohhh, queenie!

In Hertfordshire,

herefordshire and Hampshire,
hurricanes hardly ever happen.

Three grey geese in
a green field grazing.

In... hertfordshire,

herefordshire and Hampshire,

hurricanes hardly ever happen.

I think I'm really getting
the hang of it now.

Elocution lessons may change
the way you speak, queenie,

it won't change who you are.

But it changes how
people think of you, auntie.

Which will open doors for me.

I can get a job. Travel.

See the world.

Door opens

that man is like clockwork!

For the till.

Don't judge a book by its cover.

Afternoon, queenie.

Bernard. And a
quarter of barley twists.

Mr bligh, I thought I heard
your voice. How are you today?

Very well, mrs
Montgomery. Thank you.

Do you think there will be a
war? Or is it blather and talk?

The way things are developing,
another war is inevitable.

Even mr Chamberlain...
Fourpence ha'penny.

See you later, queenie?

Mm.

The way you are with him, queenie.
So offhand! You'll drive him away.

I know he's decent,
auntie, and dependable.

And I'm fond of
him, I am. It's just...

All these months. All our walks in
the park, the bus rides, the boat trips.

All I know about him
is he works in a bank,

lives with his father
and likes barley twists.

Let him slip through your
fingers and you'll regret it, queenie.

Seize the day. Carpe diem!

Carpe diem!

Why is it you never talk
about Yorkshire, queenie?

Your life there, your
family, the farm?

It was a pig farm.

Everywhere you went,
everywhere you looked,

filth and blood.

My mother used to make me
watch my father slaughtering the pigs.

For my own good, she said.

I needed toughening up.

Well, it worked.

When I left school, I
knew I had to get away.

There was so much I
wanted to do and experience!

I wrote to aunt Dorothy,
begged her to help me.

She sent me the fare
to come to London.

She saved me.

And here you are.

Since meeting you, queenie...

You've bought out feelings
in me I never knew I had.

It's a gift you have.

I-I know I'm not as gay and
worldly as other men or...

But no-one will care for you
as I... Bernard, don't think...

No, please let me finish.

All I pray is that one day,
should you ever, um...

I'll wait for you, queenie.

However long
it takes, I'll wait.

It belongs to you now, queenie.

No-one else.

Good night then, Bernard.

God bless you, queenie.

Bernard! The door is jammed.

Something's blocking it.

Stay there, queenie.

No...

No, please.

Not this.

Anything but this!

Thank you, queenie.

All right, queenie?

Have you met Bernard?

My mother.

You'll be needing
to pack, queenie.

Then we'll get off home.
There's a train this afternoon.

Your dad will pick
us up at the station.

The landlord wants
you out of here.

You've no roof over your head,
no means of supporting yourself.

Time to face the
world as it is, queenie.

Not as you wish it to be.

She will have a roof over her
head, mrs buxton. She'll be with me.

We're getting married.

Isn't that right, queenie?

Directly we get a licence.

So you don't need
to worry any more.

I'll be looking after
her from now on.

Lily, Lily!

Is that truly what
you want, queenie?

Oh, er...

Carpe diem, auntie.

Carpe diem!

This was your mummy's quilt.

I been saving it for
when you get married.

I is not going to
see that day now.

Go to Kingston, study
hard at that college.

Them make you a fine teacher.

Miss Jewel,

when Michael comes back...

He's not coming
back, child, not ever.

Put him from your mind now.

Michael?

Michael?

Michael!

Michael!

Can I help you?

Sorry...

Man, you've landed on
your feet, Gilbert, go after her!

Queenie hums

Hmm, talk of using the
underground for bomb shelters.

I thought I'd make our
own under the stairs.

You'll help me, won't you, dad?

We can give it a go
when you've cleared it.

We can spend a night in it,

have a midnight
feast. It'll be fun!

Hardly fun, dear.

Why is it you don't use the
rooms at top of house, Bernard?

Well, we used to, when we took in
lodgers. But since mother's death...

His shell shock got a lot worse and
his behaviour was so unpredictable,

especially round strangers.

It was better to be private.

We could open them up, make
it into a proper family home.

No point in change for
change's sake, is there?

Radio: 'We interrupt this
programme for a special broadcast

'by the prime minister.'
Oh my god, this is it.

This is it, queenie!
It's really happening!

'This morning, the British
ambassador in Berlin

'handed the German
government the final note

'stating that unless we heard
from them by eleven o'clock,

'that they were prepared at once
to withdraw their troops from Poland,

'a state of war would
exist between us.

'I have to tell you now,

'that no such undertaking
has been received

'and that consequently this
country is at war with Germany.

'You can imagine...'

things will have to
change now, won't they?

Whether we like it or not.

Muffled explosions

Loud explosion

oh, god, it's the roof.
We've lost the roof..

I'll go see.

No, queenie. Queenie, no.

Come back,
queenie, it's not safe.

I can see it, Bernard,
the roof is still there.

It's still there.

They've not given us the all
clear yet. You must come back.

I can't breathe in there.

In Hertfordshire,
herefordshire and Hampshire,

hurricanes hardly ever happen.

To fight for your
own country, yeah.

To see black skin in
the governor's house,

doing more than
sweep the floor, yeah...

That is worth a fight.

We should be
fighting the British,

instead of going
licky-licky to them.

You know what Hitler
call us coloureds, elwood?

Anthropoids.

I look it up in the library.

"Resembling a human,
but primitive, like a ape."

We don't fight this war, I tell
you, we all end up slaves again,

and that is worth fighting for.

And what I got going
for me here anyway?

All I ever wanted was to
go to college and study law.

I cannot even afford
the books I need.

This way, I fight for my
country and I learn a skill.

When the war is over, I can
fund myself for my studies.

How else I get
such an opportunity?

Gilbert, we have opportunities
here, with our own cab,

and you even have night
school for your studies.

How many times I been to
night school this year, elwood?

Never. Not one time did I get to
night school, because every night,

I have me face stuck in that
damn taxi engine, trying to fix it.

The only law I know is that
of the combustion engine.

Fine, do what the hell you want.

Remember this, Gilbert,
the English are liars.

Every last one of
them is a damn liar!

Good morning to you sir,
you're joining the royal air force.

'The game's afoot, follow your
spirit and upon this charge, '

cry, "god for Harry,
england and Saint George."

Excellent, hortense.

A most entertaining diversion

and an apt choice
at such a time.

Thank you, miss Morgan.

Finished, miss Morgan.

Then start more, dear. Huh.

England is a very cold country, we
must ensure that our boys are kept warm.

I came here to learn to teach,

not knit wretched socks.

Celia. It could be a brother or
a lover out there facing death.

I shall knit a pair a day.

All of them Ruby red,

like the red chest
of our humming bird.

Celia.

Celia!

I cannot find him, Celia.

Celia!

I look everywhere
but he is gone.

Celia!

She gets a little bit confused.

Your father's gone.

Mother, I told you never to
come here. Let's go now, all right.

Didn't I always
tell you he would?

Didn't I always say that good-for-nothing
man would do this to us one day.

He's with that strumpet from
Spanish town. All is lost to us, Celia.

God has turned his back on us.

Marching band
plays rule britannia

think of all they will
see in england, Celia.

Trafalgar square,

Buckingham Palace.

One day I will see them too.

I will be a teacher in

a fine English school.

And I will live in a fine
house with electric lights and

a bell at the front door
and I will ring that bell.

Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling!

It's a dream Michael and I
share since we were children.

When the war is over,

he will realise his mistake
and come back for me.

From what you tell, he is not one
to learn from his mistake, hortense.

He'll be back, you will see.

This island is too small if
you have big dreams, Celia.

Without dreams,

we are nothing.

They're moving people
out all over the place.

You get bombed
out in rotherhithe,

you should be relocated in
rotherhithe, not somewhere else.

Some idiot of a pen pusher at the ministry
ordered them to be rehoused at number 29.

This is the start of
it, Mark my words.

Be your house next, then mine.

Those bombed-out
families from rotherhithe?

Mr Todd's getting a petition
for the ministry of housing,

get them sent somewhere else.

They need a roof over their
heads like anyone else, don't they?

You seen the state of them?
Crawling in lice and god knows what.

Enough with the polacks
and Jews invading us,

without damned cockneys
taking us over too.

The residents committee
will be in touch. Much obliged.

Mrs bligh.

We should be offering to
help those people, Bernard.

Not make things worse for them.

All that space we've
got upstairs. It's not right.

They're not our responsibility. It's
up to the authorities to deal with them.

Tell me, Bernard,
have you ever thought

what we'll tell our children if they
ask what we did for the war effort?

I for one will be stuck
for a bloody answer.

'War means different
things to different people.

'To some it threatens to
destroy everything they hold dear.

'For others, it can mean new
freedom and new experiences.

'For queenie, too, needed
a lifeline into the future.

'It meant relinquishing
old dreams for a new one.'

I'm worried there's a problem.

It's hardly the best
time to start a family.

Time isn't something
I'm short of.

I doubt that a young healthy woman like
yourself has a physical problem, mrs bligh.

We've been married over a year.

You have regular conjugal
relations with your husband, I take it?

And how is it?

Do you enjoy it?
Is it pleasurable?

If a wife does not partake fully and enjoy
relations with her husband, mrs bligh,

she greatly reduces her
chances of procreating.

That a medical fact, is it?

A fact of life.

You're not pregnant, are you?

I need to prove I'm up to it.

Not to me, Bernard.

No but, to our children I do.

Ah, dad.

That's a grand job
you've done now.

I'll be the envy
of the squadron.

Look at the shine
on those, queenie.

'There are times in life when a moment can
be missed and an opportunity forever lost.

'Such a moment can be fleeting

'but its legacy
can last a lifetime.'

Why is it always socks they
knit for us? Never gloves?

Cha, man, what is this?

I swear, fulton, you learn nothing since you
been in england. This here is your boiled mush.

Here you have the white
mush, here the brown

and this is the greatest delicacy
of all, is your green mush.

How the English run an empire,
when their bellies full of this shit?

Listen, it take years,
centuries even,

to develop their advanced system
of cooking everything in boiling water,

thereby ridding it entirely
of taste and goodness.

That is some achievement,
man, face it. That don't come easy.

Even for a white man.

Which one of you is Joseph?

That would be me, sir. Sergeant.

Sorry, sir,

sergeant.

You lot, back to work.

It says here you can
drive. Is that true?

Yes, sir.

Your orders have come through.

You're to report to ground
transport. They need a driver.

There must be some
mistake, sergeant.

See I volunteered
for air crew duty.

To go overseas as a
wireless operator or navigator.

I was told the raf had need of such
men and that they would train us...

Guess what, you are overseas.

No, no, I, I mean overseas to
the front, sergeant. To the front line.

This is the bloody home front.

And you'll do as
you're bloody ordered.

Now get yourself cleaned up
and report to ground transport.

Yes, sir.

Sergeant.

Oh, there it is.

The billeting officer sent us.

Said you had lodgings
for servicemen?

Oh, of course, come in.

It's Walter actually, but
everyone calls me ginger.

And you? Kip. Short for kipling.

Mother was an ardent admirer.

Could have been worse.
She was also keen on trollope.

Doorbell rings

that'll be our mate, I suppose.

Ever punctual as usual.

Mrs bligh, I presume?

Sergeant Michael Roberts.

You have kip and
ginger with you, I believe?

Sorry, yes, I... Yes.

Oh, yeah, yeah, go on up,

they're waiting for you.

Good evening, mrs bligh.

I hope I'm not disturbing you?

I thought you were
all out for the evening.

The other two met up with
some lady acquaintances.

I decided to have
an early night.

We must be at Paddington
station by seven in the morning.

A token of my appreciation
for your hospitality.

Oh, that's really not necessary.

Please. I insist.

Good evening, sir.

Shell shock. The last war.

He is your father?

Husband's father.

Overseas.

Raf like you.

Can I perchance interest
you in a game of poker, sir?

I am a seven card
stud man myself.

Unless you prefer otherwise?

What are you doing, queenie?

I doubt he's up to
playing for money.

Your father-in-law is up to
rather more than that, mrs bligh.

He is cheating. I
don't yet know how.

Even if he was capable of it, it's
not in his nature to do such a thing.

Human nature is full
of surprises, mrs bligh.

In all the years I've known him,
I've never seen him do such a thing.

Arthur?

Well, now, I, I should
be getting to bed too.

You've not had your tea yet.

Please...

Now you can ask me all the questions
you have been thinking of since I arrived.

What, you not curious 'bout
this coloured man in your house?

Have you not heard the
expression curiosity killed the cat?

I prefer the one about
it having nine lives.

I come from an island in the
Caribbean, called Jamaica,

have you heard of it?

Well, you must miss it.

And your family.

Unfortunately you
can't choose your family.

Our disappointment
in each other is mutual.

But you must miss
being with your own kind.

My own kind? Oh, no, no, no.

I mean being so
far from home and...

And you, do you
miss your husband?

Yeah, of course.

So tell me,

am I the first black
man you ever see?

No.

I saw one first on a school trip to the
British empire exhibition at Wembley.

They'd, er, they made a jungle,
with an African village in it.

It was so real, it was like something
out of national geographic. Like real life.

And this, you know, this big black
man came out of one of the huts.

He looked like he was
carved out of melting chocolate.

I was terrified.

Then he smiled.

Then he took my hand and

he kissed it.

They said afterwards
he was a tribal prince.

But a prince, none the less.

I had such grand
plans as a child.

All the things I was
going to do, all the

places I'd travel and see.

I used to think
anything was possible.

You can still travel...

In here.

We have a bird in Jamaica.

A humming bird,
it's our national bird.

It's very small...

Barely this size,
but oh so beautiful.

When it flies,

its wings flicker so fast
the eye cannot see them.

The motion is so quick
you cannot detect it.

Then hovers, steady
as a man with a gun, then

sticks its yellow beak into the mouth of
the flowers and drinks up all their nectar.

Then this one time in
London, during the blitz,

everywhere death
and devastation.

You can barely
breathe from the dust.

You know what I see through it?

In the midst of all that rubble
and despair, a humming bird.

I thought my eyes was
playing tricks on me

but yet there it was.

I dare not move just in
case I broke the spell.

You want me to stay, queenie,

it is for you to say.

It must be your choice.

Stay?

Stay.

'There are two different kinds of
love, one is solid and enduring.

'Like the ground
beneath your feet.

'The other is like a hurricane,

'fierce and powerful.

'It may come only
once in your life,

'but it leaves a
footprint on your heart.'

Er, cup of tea?

I'm, er...

His train doesn't
leave till seven.

Missile screeches

Arthur. Arthur.

Arthur.

Arthur, it's all
right, I'm here.

I won't leave you.

It's all right.

I'll take us away,

I'll take us somewhere safe.

Something I can do for you, sir?

Is it you are lost?

Let us come to an
arrangement, you and I.

You take this rock,

I will find somewhere
else to sit, how is that?

I have to tell you, sir, you are
beginning to try my Patience.

Calm yourself,
sir, it's just a plane,

a plane from the
base, that's all it is.

Sir, look, see, it's a plane.

Tell, tell me where you live.

I will take you home.

You know which way it is?

"My name is Arthur bligh.

"If found please return me
to 21 nevern street, London."

Man, you a long way from home.

I know that feeling.

Right, come.

Get out the way, come on.

Oh, you'll be the
death of me yet, Arthur.

What have you been up to?

Where was he? On the beach.

He took a shine to me, ma'am.

It's not him, Arthur.

It's someone else,
it's not Michael.

He's from London, gets
confused a bit. Go inside.

I'll make you something to eat.

Who he think I am?

Oh, just someone
we knew like you.

Another raf man? No, no,
no another coloured chappie.

I can assure you, ma'am, there is
no other coloured chappie like me.

Airman Gilbert Joseph
at your service, ma'am.

Queenie bligh.

Can I offer you a cup of tea
in return for mr walkabout?

I must get back to the base.

Maybe another time.

I commend you on
your efforts, my dear.

You've transformed it.

I do what I can.

I hope for better
when I get to england.

A letter came for you, hortense.

It was addressed to the
principal, but it is intended for you.

From your guardian, mr Roberts.

It is news of Michael!

Thank you, miss Morgan.

Would it be possible
to keep the letter?

Do you not want to
talk about it, hortense?

Any news of Michael
Roberts is welcome to me.

I have waited so very
long for it you see.

I don't think you have grasped
the significance of this letter, dear.

This young man has been
officially reported as missing.

Oh, he will turn up.
That is Michael for you.

The proverbial bad penny.

He is always off
making mischief.

We have plans to go
to england, you see.

When the war is over, he'll
be back to fetch me and then...

Sit, child.

Hortense...

'Hortense heard
the words spoken,

'but she would not accept
that Michael was lost to her.

'To do so would be to accept all
her hopes of their future together

'in england, were lost with him.

'The pain of lost dreams is too
much for any human soul to bear.'

She screams

A nigger who can write!

Now I've seen everything!

Arthur... Arthur!

Arthur! Arthur!

Don't say you lost him again?

I should really
keep looking for him.

We can watch out from here, see?

Tea and scones, please.

Scones are off.

Teacakes are off, crumpets
are off and muffins are off.

Off?

Are they bad? No, no
she means off the menu.

Finished.

May I ask what
is on? Rock cakes.

Two rock cakes, please.
There's just the one left now.

Just the one then...

For the lady.

You English why you say
all this "don't mind if I do"

or "it off"? Is it to
confuse we Jamaicans?

So, what is it you do
at the base, Gilbert?

I am a driver.

I was hoping for something
more but, er, needs must in a war.

My, my friend was
from Jamaica too.

The one Arthur mistook you for?

I only met him the
one time, but, erm...

When he talked about Jamaica
he made it sound so exotic...

What I want to know is
why would any of you,

want to leave such a place, to
come all this way and fight for us?

Well, it's like if you have a relative who
live far away, whom you have never met.

And this relation is so dear,
she is known as "mother".

On her birthday you sing
and party in her honour.

At home and school
everybody talk about her,

"she is so beautiful,
so refined, so cultured.

"Like the lord, she takes
care of you from afar.

"And she'll love you
all as her own children.

"And you must work hard
to be worthy of her love."

Then one day,

you hear your mother is in trouble,
she calling to you, she need you.

So you leave your home

and you travel the seas with
waves as big as mountains.

You are cold and hungry...

And you feel for the first time
in your mouth the taste of fear.

But you know you
are doing your duty.

That is why we come.

We can share.

She laughs

rock by name and by nature.

Ah, there he is!

Sorry, do you mind
if I just... No, go, do!

Arthur!

What am I to do with you, eh?

You must stay close to me!

You remember Gilbert?

He bought you home that day?

Shall we?

Why not?

You...

You're in the wrong line.

Go wait your turn with them.

Come again? They can
stay. You, go wait over there.

I am not American.

I'm with the British raf.

All coloureds sit
together, at the back.

This is not america! There is
no segregation in this country!

I will go where I please
and I will sit where I please!

Don't make trouble son,
once you're inside, in the dark,

they won't know where
you're sitting, will they?

Get going, nigger! I
won't tell you again.

Hey, who you calling nigger,
asshole? Look, leave him alone.

Why don't you keep your legs
crossed, you nigger-loving whore!

That's enough! You
apologise to the lady!

Huh? Apologise right now...

Gilbert!

Get off him!

Get off him!

Gilbert! Gilbert!

Get Arthur!

Get Arthur!

Arthur! Arthur!

Arthur!

Arthur!

Gunshot!

Oh, god no.

Please god, no!

Stand back, give the lady room.

He caught a ricochet.

Get back!

Arthur!

Arthur!

Get away from her,
nigger! Get back!

'It's said, military training is
not just to prepare men for battle,

'but make them long for it.

'Everyone longs for peace,
yet no-one prepares for it.

'When you return from war,

'you see the life you left
behind through new eyes.'

Elwood.

Man, it's good to have you home.

Yeah, man. So damn good.

Like I never been gone.

So did the war office have
anything to say about Bernard?

They've got no idea
where he is either.

They confirmed his outfit got
back in the country six months ago,

that he was with them,
that he wasn't injured.

You know the chap gave me this pitiful look
as if to say "he's left you, love, face it".

He doesn't know
Bernard like I do.

Maybe you know him
less well than you think.

If he's back in the country
and not come home,

he's made his choice, hasn't he?

He's chosen a fresh start.

Your father has his heart set
on a new piggery, did I tell you?

Extra space for the grower pigs.

We'd more than halve the
time to their slaughter weight.

The country is crying out
for food, for fresh meat.

There's never been a
better time to expand.

Bernard's savings aren't going
to last much longer, are they?

Then what? Hmm?

Before he went, he put
the house in your name,

in case anything
happened to him, didn't he?

House this size should
fetch a pretty penny.

Hey, you could invest the money in
the farm, come home, help us run it.

And if Bernard comes back?

Isn't it enough he's lost his
father, without his home too?

It's your own flesh and blood
you should think on now, queenie.

Not some man who's
left you in the bloody lurch.

Huh, you always did think you
were too good for us, didn't you?

This, is my home, now.

'For Gilbert, home was no
longer a place of sweet sanctuary.

'For now that he had seen
something of the world,

'he could see how
small his island was.

'Every day, he could feel his hopes
for the future shrink within its borders.

'And with it, his potential.

'But then, hope is often
the last thing to die in a man.'

He has such stories
of england, hortense!

He was there in the thick of it,

in ground transport in the
royal air force like your Michael!

Michael was a navigator,
not stuck on the ground.

He flew many missions into
Europe, even over Germany itself.

It was coming back
from Germany when his...

There he is!

Gilbert!

Come... hortense Roberts,

Gilbert Joseph.

Miss hortense.

Did we meet some place before?

Sooner or later everyone
meets everyone here.

Well, now we are all acquainted,

shall we go and have
our picnic, Gilbert?

I should be proud to
escort you fine ladies to it!

Hortense has duties to
attend to back at our school.

School, school must be done?

Come, hortense,

think how every
man will envy me!

Them will say, here is one fortunate
man to have two such beauties on his arm.

Would you Rob me
of such a pleasure?

I never forget a face, you know?

We have not met before,
mr Joseph, I can assure you.

Since your return to
Jamaica, mr Joseph,

may I enquire how it is you've
managed to earn a living?

I have a share
in my cousin taxi.

And we can get a run in and
anyone have money to hire us.

I wonder now why I
come back here at all.

This country, poorer
now than before the war.

Celia, I have decided my best
chance is to return to england.

Look what it say in the paper...

The ss empire windrush.
Leaving for London on 28th may.

That is just a month away!

But the cost of the passage is only
twenty-eight pounds and ten shilling!

That is twenty-eight pounds
and ten shilling I don't yet have yet.

But I have four weeks
before that date to find it.

And somehow I will get it.

I have to get it.

They have just passed an act of parliament
there, the nationalities act they call it.

We Jamaicans are now not just citizens of the
empire, but citizens of the United Kingdom!

We're equal to all those
born and bred there!

We're British
now, just like them!

Is it true what they say,

that every room in an English
house have its own electric light? Cha!

More than one. Two,
three sometimes.

Oh, I would like to see that!

I could come with
you to england, Gilbert!

We could go
together on this ship!

You have enough
money for that, Celia?

I will ask my father to pay
for it! He owes me that at least!

We let hortense write to us of
hurricanes and rice shortages

while we take tea
in the fine hotels

and visit the king in
Buckingham Palace, please!

All right. Yes!

I am coming too!
Yes, yes! Oh, my lord.

I'm going to england!

To england!

What about your mother, Celia?

You tell me your
mother is dead, Celia.

Oh, Celia's mother is very much
alive, mr Joseph. But she is...

How to put it, Celia?

Not quite right in her mind.

A pitiful sight, truly.

And she is quite alone, her
husband having deserted her.

Is this true?

I will find somewhere for her.

We don't have to take her
with us. I will leave her here.

You would abandon
your mother? No, no.

I will find somewhere where
they look after people like her.

To be cared for by strangers?

I think I do not know you
as well as I thought, Celia.

Please, Gilbert.

Sometimes she doesn't even
know where she is or who I am.

I promised elwood I would
do a shift in the taxi today.

See you later, Celia.

Miss hortense.

You had to tell him, didn't you?

You cannot blame
me for your lie, Celia.

Mr Joseph?

Miss hortense!

If you have a moment, I would
speak with you, mr Joseph.

I hope you didn't give
as good as you got?

To what do I owe the
honour, miss hortense?

If you still want
to sail on that ship,

I will let you have the money
for your passage, mr Joseph.

See every week I place half
my wage into the building society.

Over the years, it mounts up.

I have near thirty
pounds saved now.

That is a lot of money to give to a
man you only... It is a loan, not a gift.

Here is my proposal.

I will lend you the money.

Before you depart...

..We will be married.

You will send for me to come to
england when you find a place to live.

It is not fitting for a single
woman to travel on her own.

But a married woman can
go anywhere she pleases.

And I have, for a long time,
harboured a dream to go to england.

Here is my lodgings.

Let me know what you decide.

Good day, mr Joseph.

Man, if that don't
beat everything!

She after a ride out of here

and she thinks you're it!

She trying to buy you, man!

She trying to buy you.

One small bag for
starting a new life

does not seem very
adequate, mr Joseph.

Well, I have you, mrs Joseph.

You are more than
adequate for my needs.

It's a big trust I give you.

Promise me, that
when you get to england

you will not forget me
and leave me here?

You are my wife now.

I have a duty to you.

I would like somewhere
with a garden.

A small garden will suffice.

And do not pick out
furniture for my house.

It can wait until I arrive.

I prefer to choose
myself what I...

Don't be alarmed, hortense.

It is just me manhood.

Keep that thing
away! Keep it away!

But I am your husband!

Do not come near me with that
thing! Ssh! You want everyone to hear?

Wait, wait! I never hurt you
hortense. I never lay a hand on you!

Look it gone.

It gone.

I will sleep here on the
floor, right? I won't touch you.

I give you my word.

Look, I give you
my raf salute, see?

Tomorrow, I will
be out of your hair.

I go to the mother country
to make ready our new home.

But, oh, boy, miss uppity high class,
I just hope england is ready for you.

'There are some thoughts
which once spoken aloud

'will split your world in two.

'There is the life
before you breathe them

'and the altered life
after they have been said.

'So hortense did not tell
the man she had married

'that he was a poor substitute for
the one she once so dearly loved.

He snores

'and on her first night in London,
keeping that thought unspoken,

'her dream of living in england,

'would stay intact.

'While beneath her,

'another soul had felt

'the force of a hurricane.

'Not once, but twice.

'She knew the havoc that
man had wreaked in her life

'had barely begun.'

You bring me to a
house with mice?

Me wife, hortense, she think she
know everything about england,

but she know nothing.

Sergeant Roberts.

I thought I'd seen
the last of you.

Just plain mr Roberts now.

And you thought wrong.

You owe me an apology, coon.

And I'm not hearing it.

Queenie!

No wife of my mine will go
on her knees in this country!

Not now, not ever!

Where on earth have
you been all this time?

Where's dad, queenie?

And they call this
a civilized country.

You are a fool, Gilbert Joseph.

I never stopped
loving you, queenie.

You think your white skin
make you better than me.

I was born in this house!
I will not have wogs here!

Wogs?! They need to
pack their bags and leave!

Let me go! This is my wife!

She pants all right!?

Go fetch a doctor, please, now!

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