Original subtitles

Subtitles by explosiveskull www.OpenSubtitles.org

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

(BELL TOLLING)

(SOFT MUSIC)

Come on, get your red apple.

That enough for ya?

Bloody smog is going to kill all of us.

Bloody kill all of us.

What about two Bolex?

Two?

Where did you get that from?

What, are we going for the Cecil B de Mille shot?

On loan for tonight only.

Free Cinema, common people, the every day.

This is new rover.

Where's your shady producer?

We're meeting him this week actually.

He's skint.

JO: Am I part of the deal?

Not a bad idea.

Perfection is not a name, commitment is everything.

Long live Free Cinema.

Revolution in the working class.

JO: That is the future.

Why don't we give it to them?

Because we have become servile bastards to commercialism.

American factory of dreams.

Where's reality?

What is reality.

JO: In the name of art, you sound fucking sexy.

(SOFT MUSIC)

(SOFT JAZZ MUSIC)

(MAN LAUGHING)

Do you know if this is the only public bar on the block?

Like me to sketch your lady friend for you?

Oh, we're not together.

Oh, my apologies.

Do you happen to know

if this is the only pub on the street?

There's another one just on the corner.

In that case, I'd better be going.

I'm meeting someone.

Tough luck.

They're always waiting for someone.

I'm afraid so.

Thought she was one of these wealthy American students

who occasionally grace this dump.

DOREEN: He's not in that one either.

In that case, there is time for me to sketch you.

I charge half-a-crown for my portraits,

but if you don't like it, you needn't have it.

Sketch me?

I'm honored, why not.

But if my friend comes, I'm gonna have to be going.

JAMES: Lucky man.

Can I buy you a drink?

I got one, thanks.

I'll take half a bitter.

That's extremely decent of you, old boy.

Never like to drink too much when at work.

That comes later.

Is this what you do for a living?

When I feel like it.

What brings you to this joint?

I'm meeting someone.

I saw you losing your marble a minute ago.

I keep them for good luck.

Losing marbles can be tricky.

JAMES: Is he late?

- Who? - Your friend.

A little.

What will you do if he doesn't turn up?

I don't know, go home I guess.

Old friend?

No.

I met him last night.

In a pub?

We're going to the theater.

He's a gentleman.

JAMES: Those can be the worst kind.

What do you mean?

Here, things are not what they seem.

For example, why would he ask you to meet him in a pub?

You find all sorts of strange people in pubs.

Well, this one seems safe enough.

You got lucky.

The name's Street, James Street.

Thespian, artist, at your service.

Harry Preston, writer.

Doreen Taylor, student.

MAN: Ignore us, we're filming a documentary,

if you don't mind.

My name is actually James Compton-Street.

You wouldn't know it, but there's a street round the corner

with the same name.

My father owned the entire street long time ago.

He squandered his fortune in women, gambling and booze.

In that order.

Can't blame him though.

To go with a bang, I mean.

Isn't that what we are all striving for?

Voila!

I like it.

HARRY: Yeah, very good.

It's rather flattering, isn't it?

I don't think so.

Why don't you use the half-crown

to buy us coffee round the corner?

There's a band playing.

I can show you the real Soho.

Oh, the dark side of Soho,

where things aren't what they seem?

I don't know, I ought to give him another five minutes.

I suppose he won't come now anyway.

We might as well go.

Damn and blast.

Oh, here he is.

Can we meet here later in the week?

I'll complete the sketch then.

Yeah.

I was just having a chat with some friends.

Who are those guys?

They're scruffy locals, you shouldn't be talking to them.

We were just having a chat.

Pity.

We almost made it.

Still, she will come back, I can smell it.

The flower of youth and desire.

She'll be bored stiff with that toff.

I know the type, used to be one myself.

What did you think of our new friend?

Wonderful.

He's in love already.

Bad news.

Beauty always hides unknown dangers.

Like gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis.

I was talking about her personality.

Sure.

Hopeless.

I was like that once.

No good.

She's loaded, don't you think?

What do you mean?

Loaded, as in loads of money, loaded.

Probably a rich student living off her parents.

Does it matter?

I wouldn't mind her in bed with or without it,

if that's what you mean.

Still, money gives an added attraction,

a tangible je ne sais quoi.

Oils things along.

Adds to the beauty.

Or it can mess it all up.

Hey, Marcus, what's next?

We gotta rush up to the labs.

But what about your film contacts?

I'm working on them.

JAMES: Marcus isn't talking about your greasy spoon cafe.

But I couldn't say, squeaky clean, could I?

Tell your friends I don't wanna see

these Soho creature's spoon.

This is a respectable cafe.

If he doesn't like my bacon, he should say so to my face.

Give him some artistic license.

Apart from this bloody cafe, the only danger

you'll encounter in Soho, is Sohoitis.

Sohoitis?

You'll only know it when you catch it.

By then, it's too late.

There's no cure.

Let me guess, can I catch it from some of the local women?

Or the local men.

What's for sure, is that dogs can't catch it.

Although I have seen some close calls.

Anybody can pass it on to you.

Maybe a venereal disease of the spirit.

There's a subject for your studies, find out.

Tell me, in which direction are you going?

I think, in that direction.

Are you sure?

Yes!

In that direction.

I am then going in that direction.

We'll catch up at some point.

In the pub?

(SOFT JAZZ MUSIC)

This doesn't look like the kind of material

we should be shooting.

It's life, and it pays for the documentary.

That's not much of a commitment.

We can't eat commitment.

Wow, that's a big statement.

Where is it coming from?

Where is it going to, you better ask.

Well, it depends on what you believe in.

JAMES: Hey, Marcus.

Are you ready for your closeup Mr. Compton-Street.

Always.

Your film will be worth nothing without me.

I'm a walking slice of life.

Wow.

Marcus, not much commitment there.

What's wrong with filming beauty?

Writers?

Know many of them here.

As a matter of fact, I know him, Dylan Thomas.

He's a Sohoite.

Dylan Thomas?

That's amazing.

Sorry, a Soho what?

A Sohoite.

I know them all.

Bernard, Wilson, Pinter, you name them.

I proofread their prose, I send them on their way.

I'm a writer.

I'm their new publisher.

I'll proofread your prose too.

Soho seems to live in a world of its own.

Afflicted only by a terrible disease, Sohoitis.

A con, transmittable disease.

But perhaps something more insidious.

A disease of the spirit.

There is no exit strategy.

You can sneak in but you can never leave.

If the devil offered me to be complete master of London

on the condition that I renounce any other ambition,

I think I would accept.

Unfortunately there is no deviled attempt.

Nobody cares that much.

Bravo!

Perfect.

Philosophical reality.

I can deal with that.

(SOLEMN MUSIC)

Good God.

Must be six months since I saw you last.

I'm sorry, I don't think we've met before.

Really?

I could have sworn we got drunk together

at Tommy Duffy's party on the river.

I've only been in London for a couple of weeks.

My apologies.

You're a writer.

I can recognize my own sort a mile away.

Yes, trying to be.

Are you?

I'm just an avid reader.

The Philosophy of Dionysius.

Nietzsche.

The forces of darkness.

You study philosophy?

In an amateur way.

There's no other way.

Can you imagine a man making a living

from wondering why he's alive?

(LAUGHING)

Have you read Lautreamont?

Le Comte de Lautreamont

Born in opulence in Montevideo.

Died impoverished in Paris, late 1890s,

not before writing one of the most astonishing

literary works of the century.

I've heard of him, but no.

Would you like to buy a rare first edition?

"Les Chants de Maldoror".

Have you ever heard such a poetic title?

Sounds beautiful, don't you agree.

There's literary music to it.

It is not right that everyone

should read the pages that follow.

Only a few will be able to savor

this bitter fruit with impunity.

Consequently, shrinking soul,

turn on your heels and go back

before venturing further

into those perilous unchartered wastelands.

One of the best opening lines you'll ever read.

Vastly superior to his more famous contemporaries.

But there again, Lautreamont despised fame.

Not bad, not bad indeed.

Powerful stuff.

But this is incredible.

Don't you want to keep it.

I need the money.

Necessities of the flesh.

It's a first edition.

And the signature?

The Count himself.

Must be worth some money.

Is this how you make your living?

Trading in books?

(CHUCKLING)

Well, there you have a delicate point.

If I could bring myself to trade in them,

I might make some money.

Perhaps I should introduce myself.

My name is Robert De Bruyn.

I also have the right to a title but I prefer not to use it.

It creates antagonism around here.

Some people know me only as The Count.

They think it's a nickname.

I'm afraid I ought to go.

Thanks very much for the book,

but I have to refuse buying it.

Look, keep it as token of my friendship.

No obligations.

At least until you finish reading it.

I'm looking for a writing job.

If I find one, I'll be happy to buy it.

Oh, I couldn't possibly take it off your hands now.

You were born to read it.

It would be a crime.

Someday you'll be able to pay me for it.

Why do you want to get rid of it?

I've got two.

Makes no sense.

- Can I ask you a question? - Of course.

Do you know anything about something

that happens to people in this place, called Sohoitis?

Only true locals know about that.

But what is it?

No use explaining it.

No use fighting it, it just happens, I probably have it.

Some of the symptoms are already visible

to those in the know.

(SOLEMN MUSIC)

Count!

Count!

Take the book.

If you're a writer, you won't be disappointed.

(SOLEMN MUSIC)

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

This ain't what it used to be.

It's about the old days of Soho,

gone!

Forever.

We ain't got it up here.

We don't think enough.

We don't know enough about Karma.

And that will destroy Soho.

Finito!

Kaput!

What they mean is Mazouma, like the rest of London.

Could I interest you in some of my wares?

I'm a celebrity in Soho.

The King of Bohemia, they call me.

Yeah, yeah.

The King of Bohemia.

Into my prose to find me a publisher.

Soho is where things happen.

What are you doing?

I thought you were gonna proofread my prose.

I am, my dear young writer, I am.

I'm proofreading your prose.

Beautiful.

Are you really gong to introduce me to Dylan Thomas?

I will.

I will.

He's my hero.

I'm going to make you into a star writer.

(MOANING)

GIRL: Dylan Thomas.

MAN: You scared the shit out of these people with this.

I'm just scaring these people.

Just re-enforcing their preconceptions.

The sickle represents farming, and the hammer, industry.

It's that union what scares off the bourgeoisie.

Workers of the world,

you have nothing to lose but your chains.

Unite.

The revolution's coming.

Enjoy the lifestyle while you can.

You're gonna get your answers off me.

(BACKGROUND CHATTERING)

Next one is on me.

Oh my God.

Another one that exits Sohoitis.

We were right.

Couldn't find the exit door.

Considering what's on the other side.

Need a bed.

A proper one.

Don't worry, I'll find you one next week.

How much money have you got?

Not much.

It's disappearing fast.

All right.

Say your money will last you a week, 10 days at most,

here's what I suggest.

Two weeks, we both live on your money,

learn how to make it spin out.

Then, after that, for a fortnight, I support you.

How's that?

But you haven't got any money.

And you don't appear to have any visible means of support.

I support myself all the time without working.

It won't be much more trouble supporting you too.

I mean, what are friends for?

Why should I trust you?

Why shouldn't you?

You want to learn about Soho, you come to me.

The way things are going it's going to take you 100 years

to write your first novel.

We've got to speed up the process.

I know how.

How?

Let me tell you something my friend.

People round here like to place you.

Nobody sits on their own in a Soho bar

unless they're drunk or mad.

Even the chair you are sitting on is somebody else's turf.

Unless you can take care of yourself, they will fleece you.

What happens at the end of your fortnight?

At the end of my fortnight,

you'd be able to take care of yourself

in the middle of the Sahara Desert, if necessary.

Guaranteed.

You won't regret it.

Why are you doing this for me?

Let's just say I owe you one.

And besides, you like me, I can tell.

You find me an interesting subject.

And I tend to agree; I'm a wealth of material.

It's not for nothing that Street

is known to his fan club as The Sorcerer.

I suppose that makes me the sorcerer's apprentice.

I!

I call myself magician,

an angel free from all moral obligations,

but I can see that at least you're a quick learner.

The voyage of discovery consists

not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes.

That's good.

- It's French? - Correct!

That calls for the French House.

Let's have a celebratory drink.

We have a deal.

MAN: Away with the banks.

Sohoitis.

Sohoitis.

Danny, old boy.

♪ Crispy rice ♪

Ready when you are.

Could you put the crispy rice box

a bit closer to the center?

♪ Yummy, yummy cheap and nice ♪

Make sure the finger doesn't cover the brand, please.

♪ Save money, money crispy rice ♪

Is that all?

Standby.

Action.

♪ Nice ♪

Banana, banana, banana.

One, two, three, as many as you like.

MAN: Bananas.

Three pence a pound, all the way from Jamaica.

The sooner we set off a class war

in this country, the better.

It's so stifling that you can't breath.

Aristos and monarchists first.

Excuse me, this is an interview.

Show some respect for artistic expression.

Where was I?

Aristocrats in the guillotine.

Aristocrats and monarchists, yeah.

Cutting their heads off.

I suppose that wouldn't be very English, somehow.

Revolutions in England tend to fizzle out

before anybody fires a shot.

What are we waiting for?

Another capitalist world war?

Another nuclear war?

Another winner-takes-all?

In order to understand nature,

we must first understand the outsider's problems.

Let's put ourselves inside him to see as he saw.

Because the outsider's problems are real problems

that everybody confronts every day.

But under different names,

they can then avoid using the word, philosophy.

And not be ridiculed by others.

I am filthy.

Lice gnaw me.

Swine when they look at me, vomit.

The scabs and sores of leprosy have scaled my skin,

which is coated with yellowish pus.

I have not moved a limb for four centuries.

Parasites!

Parasites you all!

(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)

Hi, Jo.

Hi.

I like what you do.

I've been looking into that Free Cinema stuff.

I like the idea.

I might get involved.

Although the revolution will take

another 100 years that way.

The masses can't wait forever.

Action time now.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC)

This place has the power to draw in and fascinate.

The variety of beings loitering with intent,

or drinking themselves to stupefaction, puzzles me.

But, it's a trick.

The projectile vomiting, is to make sure

the day trippers never come back.

Visitors are despised here.

Soho is the fortress.

The last bastion after Soho, oblivion.

What are they waiting for?

Looking for something?

You talking to me?

They are Dr. Johnson's escapees of Happy Valley,

where life is controlled, ordered, predictable, attainable.

Is this a self-imposed exile?

Are they being kept in,

or are they keeping the rest of London out?

JAMES: At midnight, armed with a burning passion.

Hi, James.

I've got a problem.

I want you to engage Doreen in conversation.

The point is, Myra and I are mad for each other.

Not that it bothers me.

Noblesse oblige.

I'm afraid I lost you there.

No, you didn't.

I'm right here where I was.

Where were we?

Sorry?

Keep it simple.

Don't complicate it, don't analyze it,

just engage Doreen in conversation.

I'll slip away unnoticed with Myra.

I'll do the same for you one day.

That American plum is ready for the taking.

I can smell it.

Just go and do the business.

Stiffen your resolve, so to speak.

I know exactly how it all works.

My problem is that I know it too well what makes 'em tick.

Go get her, cowboy.

- You think so? - She thinks so.

She's been asking about you all evening.

I withdraw from that conquest.

I throw in the towel.

My hands are full.

(CHATTERING)

This is Harry, writer extraordinaire.

Boy-genius.

Published author.

He's on another level.

Immortal.

I discovered him.

- Hi, Harry. - Hi.

He is writing a massive new book about Western philosophy.

You know, Kant, Nietzsche, Russell, Hume, Plato,

what have you.

All that shit in one book.

He's gonna make a fortune.

Really, philosophy?

Well, I love philosophy.

Is it gonna be a bestseller, really?

I hope so.

I'm running out of money.

I'm gonna make it into a best-seller.

Not just a best-seller.

An unputdownable blockbuster.

I've been talking to some very, very powerful publishers.

Well, tell me a bit more.

Philosophy, the nature of freedom.

For example, Andreyev.

He believes life to be completely futile,

where people deceive themselves

until their illusions disappear,

when they're left with, well, nothing.

It's fascinating.

Really, you think so?

That's nice.

What do you study exactly?

A bit of everything.

Well, you're in the right place for that.

And how did you end up, well, here?

I jumped off the bus one evening,

thought it looked interesting.

You know, I'm trying to figure it out.

Are people in Soho the sane ones and everyone else is crazy?

And then I met you and James.

How did you end up in this joint?

A bit the same.

Room for rent.

Couldn't afford anything else.

Consider yourself lucky.

For the price of a pint, you're witnessing a great actor

at the peak of his powers.

Punters outside Soho pay any money to see me perform.

In more ways than one!

Soho!

You scum of the earth.

Why do I love thee?

Soho, you lover of the dilettante,

the unsuccessful, the complete failure.

What can you give me except nausea?

Soho!

You destroyer of the innocent, you powdered old lady.

I have no illusions about you.

You green finger-nailed, high-heeled, bug-ridden Soho.

(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)

- Hi, Jo. - Hi, Harry.

Where's everybody going?

Where's James?

I think I saw him leave with Myra.

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC)

♪ Freight train, freight train ♪

♪ Going so fast ♪

♪ Freight train, freight train ♪

♪ Going so fast ♪

♪ I don't know what train he's on ♪

♪ Won't you tell me where he's gone ♪

(VOCALIZING)

♪ Don't know where he's headin' for ♪

♪ What he's done against the law ♪

♪ Got no future, got no hope ♪

♪ Just nothing but the road ♪

(VOCALIZING)

♪ Freight train, freight train ♪

♪ Going so fast ♪

♪ Freight train, freight train ♪

♪ Going so fast ♪

♪ I don't know what train he's on ♪

♪ Would you tell me where he's gone ♪

(VOCALIZING)

♪ He lost his reason, lost his life ♪

♪ He killed his friend in more cool strife ♪

♪ He must not move not the rolling star ♪

♪ Just awaiting till he dies ♪

♪ Freight train, freight train ♪

♪ Going so fast ♪

♪ Freight train, freight train ♪

♪ Going so fast ♪

♪ I don't know what train he's on ♪

♪ You can tell me where he's gone ♪

♪ When he dies just bury him sweet ♪

And what about me?

What about my illusions?

I take these for illusions.

What about tomorrow?

All I know about tomorrow

is Harry's getting kicked out of this dump.

(BELL TOLLING)

She may have done you a favor, that bastard old witch.

Nothing to worry about.

Been in your situation many times.

Now the real fun begins.

MARTY: So, how did you get into Free Cinema?

I met some people.

People who want to cut the crap out of filmmaking.

Things can be different, you know.

Yeah, I know.

You need to wake up though.

The camera is much more subtle

than a hammer and a sickle.

Well, just with this?

Sounds easy.

It is.

So, what's this button for, here?

What's your relationship with Marcus?

We're friends.

That's the on/off switch.

It's kind of like a trigger

but it shoots different sorts of bullets.

You hold the camera like this,

and then make sure to focus here.

It uses 16 millimeter film.

Some new HP emulsions are doing a great job.

Emotions?

Emulsions.

It's the sensitive bit.

It's the same idea.

MARTY: How close can you get?

As close as you want.

WOMAN: Can I get four apples, please.

Yeah, it's a good choice.

Best one today, yeah.

Four darling.

Yeah, three pence, please.

WOMAN: Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

There's talk that there's gonna be war soon

in the Soviet Union, and that war will be nuclear.

Armageddon.

We need people to film the march.

They're looking for people

that have Bolex cameras like yours.

Do you wanna work as a team?

That's right.

We'd love you to be part of it.

Plus, you can keep Marty on check.

The eyes of the world will be upon us.

No politics, no banners, no chanting, no shouting.

There will be silence.

Now, just one placard designed for the occasion.

A peace sign.

The silence of the dead, if Armageddon is unleashed.

That's the message.

Are you both with us?

Count on me chief, I'll keep my mouth shut.

And I'm speechless.

Of course, you can count on me, I'd be honored.

I'll keep Marty on check.

Every man, every woman with a camera will be important.

Nothing like this has ever been attempted.

I've got to go.

I think I'm gonna cry.

I'm on the way out of your Porno Verite stuff.

What is that?

Is that God Almighty?

No, I've heard enough.

I don't wanna film porn,

and I don't want to film commercials.

The very idea makes me terribly sad.

I'll carry on with the documentary on my own.

With what money?

Commercials pay.

Commercials poison the soul.

I don't wanna see you losing it.

You'll never get it back.

It'll change you forever.

You don't have to be so dramatic about it.

Look, I love film too.

But I don't wanna see you crash against a brick wall.

Cinema is expensive and we can do bigger things.

Well, I'll guess we'll see in 10 years time

who was right.

You're a good seller, but I'm not buying.

♪ I was born in East Virginia ♪

♪ North Carolina added gold ♪

♪ There I met a handsome stranger ♪

♪ But his name I did not know ♪

♪ Well, I don't want the green buck dollar ♪

♪ And I don't want your diamond ring ♪

♪ All I want is your love darling ♪

♪ Won't you take me back again ♪

♪ I don't want your green buck dollar ♪

♪ I don't want your diamond ring ♪

♪ All I want is your love darling ♪

♪ Won't you take me back again ♪

♪ Well, his hair was dark of color ♪

♪ And his eyes were deep as blue ♪

♪ How I loved him oh so dearly ♪

♪ And he promised to be true ♪

♪ I'd rather be ♪

♪ In some dark corner ♪

♪ Where the sun ♪

♪ Refuse to shine ♪

♪ Than to find ♪

♪ You with another ♪

♪ Oh, when you promise to be mine ♪

♪ 'cause I don't want the green buck dollar ♪

The mattresses coming in the evening for the night.

Business is brisk.

I've got a customer who's a prince.

I suppose that makes me a princess.

- A real prince? - That's right.

I curtsy as you might expect.

It would be disrespectful not to do so.

The position helps.

Man has some sixth sense,

or some faculty apart from sense that must be satisfied.

Happiness doesn't come into this question at all.

In Soho, it is an elusive commodity.

The difference is that, here, people are not looking for it.

I feel the city would prefer to forget

there's an enclave stuck right in the middle of it,

intent on keeping doubt switched permanently on.

You kill doubt and you kill everything.

What are you left with?

A giant department store?

A gargantuan shopping mall?

To give man only his personal ends to serve,

is to condemn him.

I don't mind all the philosophical rubbish, really.

My requirements are, shall we say,

at this moment in time, more pressing.

Like finding a job and a place to live.

What am I doing here?

Good question.

The Windrush was an ambulant hellhole.

A slave ship on rewind.

Let's hope life here is better

than a sugar plantation back home.

The stinking ship sank a couple of years ago

just off the coast of Madagascar, or so I heard.

For Soho inmates, London does not exist

beyond a few blocks from Soho square.

It just doesn't register.

There's only one matter that occupies their attention,

Sohoitis!

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

Absolute monster.

Still, blaggards can't be choosers.

Not talking to the great actor today, my dear?

WAITRESS: I don't know, when's he coming in?

Feeling obstreperous today?

WAITRESS: Don't be insulting.

It was a compliment.

You obviously have a talent for acting.

How do you know?

Good poise, imposing manner, bags of confidence.

Surely, you could find somewhere I can rep.

That's an insult.

I'd rather wait in London

and wait for the West End to recognize me.

I don't like chasing things,

except women, of course.

Lovely piece of charver, that.

Charver?

Quite my own coinage.

It means, beautiful thing.

Surely appropriate.

James is half-American matinee actor

and half-French romantic poet.

Girls seem pleased rather than hypnotized by his attentions.

Perhaps he thinks it would be too easy to hypnotize them.

I must admit that at this moment in time,

my knowledge of feminine psychology is practically nil.

The only girl I've met in the last year is Doreen,

and I'm still none the wiser about her.

Words are useless.

It's animalistic action that matters.

Words can change the world.

But the world has nothing to do with words.

Time to go to bed.

It's four in the morning.

If it hasn't happened by now, it won't happen tonight.

- What? - Whatever!

You should know better than me.

We're not here to accept everyday consciousness.

Let's go and find the one that matters,

not the one we're told to choose.

Step outside of this madness

and you'll find the real lunatics.

The people who go abut their business like zombies.

They'll gladly talk to you about freedom.

But if they see a real free person,

they'll stone him to death, or her.

Is that your freedom?

No.

No, no, I don't think so.

But it's much better

than what the commuters out there are doing.

Look, it's your choice.

Go to work, follow fashion, watch movies,

spend money, act normal.

Repeat after me.

- I am free. - I am free.

Wow!

You're learning faster than I thought.

Do me a favor, Harry, we're going to close.

Just wait outside for a second,

I've got some romantic business to attend.

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

(CROWD CHATTERING)

(UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC)

(SOFT JAZZ MUSIC)

(OMINOUS MUSIC)

The young writer.

You've been studying it.

Are you buying it?

Well, yes, I have

but fortunately not yet.

I'll take a small advance.

A small advance, I promise.

I'll buy you a drink as well.

Ah!

Mandrake wine.

That should do as an advance.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

JAMES: How much money have we got in the kitty?

The kitty?

Marty hasn't eaten for three days.

He's been busy overthrowing the capitalist system.

We have enough for three, just.

That's great.

Marty, dinner's on us.

Three fish and chips, all trimmings...

And three teas please.

Well, thank you, that's very generous.

Ar you a communist?

Not that I know of.

Why?

A hunch.

But that's great.

Better than having all that Communist propaganda

in your head.

I thought you were.

No, my friend.

That's to confuse of the proletariat.

To keep the bourgeoisie out of Soho.

I kick their asses every time I see one.

To keep myself in shape.

Essentially, I'm a Babouvian, but keep that quiet

'cause very few know that.

A what?

A follower of Gracchus Babeuf, 1760-1797.

There was socialism well before the Russian Revolution,

did you know?

Yes, yes, I do.

Under different names.

That's right.

I think we understand each other.

Sure.

Cut the political crap.

We are here to eat good fish.

I've been to the kitchen.

A six by six foot room completely empty,

devoid of any cooking equipment

apart from disgusting tea on a permanently hot plate.

Whoever is up there is an undiscovered genius.

Huh!

One less star in the firmament it appears.

That's the way to go.

Have a couple of hits and bow out with a bang.

Buy an expensive car and smash it against a lamp post.

Spare yourself the ravages of old age, brilliant.

Live forever in a newspaper.

I'm gonna hang this on my fridge, to remind me.

But you don't have a fridge.

Thank God.

Imagine me with a fridge.

It will be the biggest day

in the history of social Britain since the war.

We will assemble at Trafalgar Square

in only a few hours' time.

There will be some speeches.

We expect many thousands.

The march will last four days over Easter Weekend.

It's going to be tough.

We will rely on the charity of strangers

who sympathize with the cause.

Some people will have to sleep rough

or find their own accommodation.

Food will be limited.

But we have a lot of people willing to make the sacrifice.

Our job is not just to take part in the march.

Our job is to film it.

These are the cameras.

We have about half a dozen.

We will beat the official version of events

by releasing our own material.

I remind you all that we are not political.

This is passive civil resistance.

It is the beginning of a long march.

A long march of non political resistance in this country.

Political banners will not be allowed.

No logo of any party.

This is what we will carry

to represent what we believe in

and what we are trying to do.

(SOFT MUSIC)

Especially designed for our campaign.

We will distribute banners and placards with this sign.

MAN: What does it mean?

It means peace.

Nuclear Disarmament.

A simple message to the world

that our commitment is everything.

Everything we stand for.

This is the banner to end nuclear weapons, to end all wars.

We will oppose all war of any nationality

or political persuasion with this banner.

Nuclear disarmament.

Peace.

We have new faces in our team.

Our own camerawoman.

(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

Oi, Street, Street, I want you out of here.

This is it, the waiting is over.

The plan is that the teams will leap-frog each other.

So every shot is important.

Nobody but you will have the same shot that you take.

You know the route, good luck.

And remember, an attitude means a style,

a style an attitude.

We will, boss.

♪ Last night as I lay sleeping ♪

♪ My heart was filled with dread ♪

♪ I dreamt that the bomb had fallen ♪

♪ And a million people were dead ♪

♪ Millions of people were mourning ♪

♪ A million were lying there dead ♪

♪ I looked at forcing over ♪

♪ And it was worth the said ♪

♪ We could have been happy and peaceful ♪

♪ The bomb could be candy for real ♪

♪ There goes politician ♪

♪ Did everything by the book ♪

♪ Then a voice came out of the rubble ♪

♪ They're not only to blame ♪

♪ We'll tell you those silly telltales ♪

♪ And then they all started shouting my name ♪

♪ You gave politicians their power ♪

♪ You sat back and watched the TV ♪

♪ You could have forced them to punish ♪

♪ You could have made them a view ♪

♪ Last night is our last meeting ♪

♪ My heart was filled with dread ♪

♪ I dreamt that the bomb had fallen ♪

♪ And a million people were dead ♪

I did this march in the Lockout, in 1926.

We slept on the Corn Exchange floor at Reading.

I was very proud of that march.

But I'd be thoroughly ashamed of myself

if I hadn't come on this march.

I wouldn't be able to look the children in the face,

if I'd not come on this march.

It's not much, but it's all I can do and is my best.

And if everybody did their best,

the children of the future will be saved

from the Atom and Hydrogen bombs.

JO: I never saw anything like it in my life before.

MARTY: Me neither.

It's very moving.

I almost cried.

Me too.

So, you decided to finish the documentary?

You left me with no choice.

My life would be worth nothing if I hadn't come.

Where's Marty when you need him?

He's busy.

We did the march together.

How'd it go?

Amazing.

Commitment is everything.

I'm glad.

Look, I wanna help you finish the documentary.

I owe that to you.

I finished the commercial last week

and I'm earning some decent money.

I bought you some precious film stock.

Thanks.

Who's the subject today anyway?

Because I can fuck with impunity.

(LAUGHING)

What do you think?

Do you expect me to live in suburbia?

Yeah, you can paint suburbia if you want.

It's your choice.

I've made mine.

I prefer the visceral reality of a vomit.

That's why I'm in Soho.

Not forever.

I may move out.

Maybe I will go to suburbia and disfigure it.

Safe mediocrity is the name of the game now.

It's going to get worse.

Give me the miserable face of the human soul,

in all its miserable gory.

Soho still offers that choice.

Booze, sex, drugs, human dereliction,

profanity, sin, excrement.

All at your doorstep.

I'm lucky I can paint it.

Others live it.

Come on, old chap.

British Museum.

The best private toilets in Central London.

Normally reserved for intellectuals.

I feel ashamed.

This is supposed to be the spiritual home

of Karl Marx and Bernard Shaw.

I suggest you have a wash.

Might be the last chance you get in a week, at least.

To get a ticket and be official,

say you want to study some obscure poet.

Your man Ducasse should do.

They get you to fill in a form, you become an intellectual.

Great place to doze off too, the Reading Room.

Quiet, warm, dimly lit.

(SOFT MUSIC)

I came here looking for freedom

and all I've found is 1001 ways of living

without actually doing anything.

I'm not sure if it's the same thing.

Sohoitis, finally uncovered.

Sohoitis?

I know what it is now.

I've worked it out?

Well, what is it?

Sohoitis is a transmittable disease

and you can only catch it here.

Wandering in Soho day and night getting nowhere,

that's Sohoitis.

Well, I've heard of worse diseases you can catch here.

RAOUL: Did someone mention Sohoitis?

Good God.

Who are you?

I am Raoul Montauban.

The greatest swordsman in all Europe.

But tomorrow I must fight a duel.

Could I persuade either of you to act as my second?

Can we do this later?

We were just talking.

There may not be a later.

I may be wounded mortally.

What are you talking about?

But if I die, bury me in this square.

No flowers, simply a modest head stone.

Here lies Raoul Montauban.

Musketeer.

He had a deep knowledge of superficial things.

Died after a long Sohoitis.

But you have the definition wrong, mon brave.

Soho is a place where great urban fighters come to rest

or to nurse their wounds.

They can leave any time they want.

But here there is food for the mind

and the rules can be bent to suit the needs.

You should treat them with more respect.

Some of them come here to die.

Extraordinary.

Exactly what I'm talking about, totally bonkers.

I think he was really poetic.

Dangerous stuff, Sohoitis.

♪ Freight train, freight train ♪

♪ Going so fast ♪

♪ I don't know what train he's on ♪

Everyday consciousness is a liar.

A master plan to keep us settled in our suburban dreams.

Maybe I am getting it all wrong.

Maybe there is a devil deceiving us

and Soho is the escape hatch.

That's why they all bunch up here.

A place where normal rules don't apply.

A chance to see the oddballs, the crazed, the unhinged.

To remind us that other options are available.

The non-conformists, the melting pot.

The talented flawed, the failures,

the lost souls, the vomit.

If I understand that, then I am free.

I find it difficult to believe

that Conan Doyle's London and what I see around me

are the same place.

Somebody must be fooling us.

I curse the entire educational system

for being in on the game.

To let me believe that such a world exists.

JAMES: Are you with us, Moriarty?

Sorry.

All charvered out?

Absolutely old stick.

She was delicious.

Turns out she was a virgin down for a last fling

before she signs her life away.

Personally, didn't enjoy it very much.

Professional virgins are bloody hard work.

Their sense of guilt is a hurdle to enjoyment.

Oh, it's no use shaking your head; she wanted me.

And do you know why?

Because I have an indefinable smell of freedom.

That's what these bourgeois swines from the city

and other places of work-worship don't understand.

I'm an enfant terrible.

Like, take this chap she's marrying.

He's got all the advantages society understands;

you know, a job, a pension scheme, a house in the suburbs,

apparently what every woman wants,

and yet Jennifer prefers me.

Why?

Freedom, that's why.

The unpredictable arse of life.

(CHUCKLES)

But what good's freedom if you don't know

where your next meal's coming from?

But I do.

You're buying it.

Ready when you are, James.

Give it the performance of a lifetime.

JAMES: Is the camera ready?

Yeah, the camera's already rolling.

It's gonna be Cinema Verite style.

Okay, standby everybody.

Let me say the magical words.

Action!

Ladies and gentlemen, until you move into the theater,

I shall endeavor to entertain you.

Your castle is surprised.

Your wife and babes savaged in a slaughter.

What man?

Nor put your heart upon your brow gives sorrow words.

All the clicking chickens in the famine one fell swoop.

I think I've got them.

However, I am sure you will show your appreciation

by carefully folding your donation,

and popping it into the Box Office of my charming assistant.

(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for your generosity!

Thank you.

Thank you.

(CHUCKLES) Bastards.

I thought you were brilliant back there.

Bloody brilliant.

If you did that twice a night, you'd make a good living.

You might even have your own rep company.

Once, if my memory serves me well,

my life was a banquet where every heart revealed itself,

where every wine flowed.

One evening, I took beauty in my arms,

I thought her bitter, and insulted her.

If I did it every night, I wouldn't enjoy myself.

It'd spoil the fun.

And frankly, I've had enough of Monarchy tales in rep.

I think they are brainwashing us.

Who is?

Shakespeare?

From the grave?

I'm more for a visceral kind of drama.

Angry young men; Pinter, Osborne anytime.

The future.

Shakespeare's corpse is as ravaged

as the people who play it today.

You have played the fool to the point of madness.

Rule number one, never let your guard down.

You ought to write a novel about us.

Show the way that society condemns

the men who won't live like hypocrites.

Describe the way the bourgeois treat us.

Show that society is rotten to the core.

Never give in, never falter.

Long live Maldoror!

People see us as tramps wearing funny clothes.

They can't help it if they've been conditioned.

Can you imagine the real Christ

or St. Francis in a Cadillac?

They were like us.

Drifters!

Come on.

I can't believe it.

First time ever.

Are you one of my fans?

Can I sign you an autograph?

I always was.

Are you one of mine?

Used to be.

Let's go for a drink.

I heard the news.

Sorry you didn't get the part.

I suppose my life is just another anecdote for you.

I'm deluding myself that you have anything

resembling a heart.

What do you live on?

Get a kick out of others?

I still have illusions.

I won't allow you to kill my illusions.

I used to have illusions.

I lost them on my travels.

But I can get them back.

I know I'm a bastard, but it's an act.

I'm soft inside.

Possibly.

But I'm moving on.

I don't expect it to be like before.

I may catch you later then.

May do.

So, what does she want me to do?

Cut my wrists?

Jump in front of a train and call it accidental death?

The prospect is dreadful.

Getting up at the crack of down every day for 20 years

to become a manager with a mortgage.

Marry a pretty girl and make the best of her

for the rest of her dreadful life.

The world slides on gently and silently, dreadingly.

Nothing to get excited about, not much to worry about.

Nothing gained, nothing lost, nothing matters.

Void.

Putting it like that, pass on the knife.

I'll slash my wrists after you.

Maybe the present reality cannot be sustained

for much longer.

Maybe.

(DRAMATIC GONG)

Terra Incognita.

Developed by the Americans with you in mind.

They call it direct marketing.

It's a new experience of such mind-bending qualities.

This will reach parts of your brain you didn't know you had.

It will twist you and tear you like a rag doll.

Unique, exhilarating.

This will be the rage of the next 10 years.

A true ground breaker.

Really?

Well, I am in the mood today.

Tomorrow, I might have some life-changing decisions.

Are you sure?

No.

Am I the first?

You bet.

I wouldn't give this to anybody else.

Well, I have to.

If I'm gonna leave center stage,

I better go with a bang.

A bang it will be.

A real bang.

Let the show commence.

Curtains up.

(OMINOUS MUSIC)

(CHATTERING)

Throughout his life, he has seen narrow-shouldered men,

without a single exception,

committing innumerable stupid acts,

brutalizing their fellow men

and perverting souls by all means.

They call the motive for their actions ambition.

Seeing these spectacles,

he wanted to laugh like the others

but he found that strange imitation impossible.

He took a knife with a sharp steel cutting-edge on its blade

and slit his flesh where the lips join.

For a moment he and I believed

he had achieved his objective.

He looked in the mirror at this mouth disfigured

by an act of his own will.

It was a mistake!

The blood flowing from the wounds prevented him

from discerning whether the laugh

really was the same as the others.

But after comparing them for a few moments,

he saw clearly that his laugh did not resemble

that of human beings.

He was not laughing at all.

(SOFT MUSIC)

I've got the manuscript ready.

Good, give it a try.

What are we gonna do with Sohoitis?

We can leave before it takes hold.

We still can.

I'll be back in a minute.

JAMES: At dawn, armed with a burning patience,

we shall enter the magnificent cities.

Hi, James.

JAMES: I want you to engage someone in conversation.

I am afraid I am with someone.

But good to see you.

JAMES: Oh, that's a shame.

Good to see you too, old boy.

(SOFT MUSIC)

(SOFT MUSIC)

Subtitles by explosiveskull www.OpenSubtitles.org

♪ Last night as I lay sleeping ♪

♪ My heart was filled with dread ♪

♪ I dreamt that the bomb had fallen ♪

♪ And a million people were dead ♪

♪ Millions of people were mourning ♪

♪ A million were lying there dead ♪

♪ I looked the whole scene over ♪

♪ And these are the words I sang ♪

♪ We could have been happy and peaceful ♪

♪ The bomb could be banned easily ♪

♪ But those politicians ♪

♪ Did everything but agree ♪

♪ But a voice came out of the rubble ♪

♪ They are not only to blame ♪

♪ I'll tell you who's really guilty ♪

♪ And then they all started shouting my name ♪

(UPBEAT MUSIC)

♪ Going straight on a 38 ♪

♪ Going steady like the ever readies in your tiny ♪

♪ My old man said ♪

♪ What's the plan ♪

♪ Well I'm going out tonight, dad ♪

♪ Never coming back ♪

♪ If I cancel ♪

♪ Say goodbye to Terry ♪

♪ Spike and Nan ♪

♪ And the pantry ♪

♪ Round and round and round we go ♪

♪ Call these streets, they are so busy ♪

♪ Round and round and round we go ♪

♪ He's got me in a proper tizzy ♪

♪ I met you ♪