Epidemic (1987) - full transcript

A film director and a script writer (performed by Lars von Trier and Niels Vørsel themselves) write a screenplay, in which an epidemic spreads about the whole world. Like the protagonist they do not notice, that a real epidemic is developing around them.

DAY ONE

Hi. This is Niels.
Did I wake you up ?

I just thought I'd Iet you know
it's all on the disk.

I thought I'd start
making a print out.

Oh, about 4 o' clock.

Yeah, I?ll do that.

Yes, I?ll start right now.

THE COP AND THE WHORE
A FILMANU

A what ? A ''fiImmanu'' !

Listen, you know what...

It just stopped dead.



I think you ought to come over here.

Take me to Store Kongensgade.

If you keep driving Iike this
you'II soon owe me money.

Arizona ? What did you say ?
I can hardIy hear you.

Yes. No, no. Don't worry about it.

When are you coming home ?

OK, I?ll make a dinner on Saturday.

Right. Great. No, no !

I?ll make something speciaI.
It's for you, Lars.

Lars just came in.

See you on Saturday.

It's CIaes in Arizona.

Is this the fiIm consuItant ?
How nice.

We just finished it.
We're making a print out now.



We assume you're going to pick it up
on Saturday.

No probIem finishing it on scheduIe.

Oh, about 200 pages.
215 or 216.

We'II probabIy cut it down a IittIe.

Compress it somewhat.

A few cuts here and there.

Anything can happen.

Have a good trip and we'II see you

on Saturday.

Great, CIaes.
Niels sends his regards.

Great. Bye now.

I checked the disk.

There's nothing Ieft !

Not much for him to pick up.

Damn !

- What's CIaes doing over there ?
- He bought a windbreaker.

- Another one !
- He's got a windbreaker fetish.

THE COP AND THE WHORE

How the heII did we start this story ?

Was the whore in it from...

Was she in the opening ?

I really can't remember
how it started.

I vagueIy remember the ending.

The middIe is foggy,

but the beginning...

Actually...

I didn't really Iike
''The Cop and the Whore''.

It had its good moments.

Name one !

I'd Iike it if we...

wrote something more dynamic.

A coincidence due to fate

can be so sinister and fantastic
in character

that one is tempted
to draw apparentIy IogicaI,

but actually unfounded,
concIusions.

During the course of 5 days

the ''Epidemic'' manuscript was created
and written down

in and around this apartment.

That an actuaI epidemic
was approaching during those 5 days,

and that its awfuI outbreak
and script compIetion coincided,

is one of those
inexpIicabIe coincidences.

''Fathers Ieft their chiIdren.

Wives Ieft husbands,
brother Ieft brother.

For the disease attacked both through
breathing and sight.

Thus they all died.

No one wouId bury them at any price.

FamiIy members dragged their dead
to open graves

without benefit of cIergy, euIogy
or toIIing of beIIs.

Throughout Siena mass graves
were fiIIed with victims.

I, AgnoIo di Tura,
called ''The Fat One''.

buried my 5 chiIdren
with my own hands.

Some were covered
with such a thin Iayer of dirt

that dogs dug up their bodies
and fed on them.

This describes the atmosphere.

There were no funeraIs
nor processions.

Priests said mass and beIIs toIIed
onIy for the rich.

Such ceremony was then forbidden
in many pIaces, as were beIIs,

for it was thought
the constant toIIing

wouId cause even greater anguish

and perhaps greater sickness.

For pureIy reIigious reasons,

as a form of protection
from eviI spirits,

crosses were marked on doors
to guard those inside.

Later, a cross came to mean
that a house was infected.

Thus peopIe were warned off.

The 1348 pIague
saw harsher methods empIoyed.

When the first victims were found
outside MiIan,

Archbishop Bernabo Visconti

ordered that all pIague-infected
houses be seaIed with bricks.

With the famiIy inside, of course.

Thus the pIague spared MiIan.

Three famiIies were bricked in
and died of pIague and hunger.

So, MiIan escaped the pIague

because it isoIated itseIf
from other pIague-ridden cities ?

Yes, but it was hit much harder

when the next pIague struck.

CERTIFICATE OF DEATH
E. MESMER, PHYSICIAN.

The archives stored here
under these arches

are Denmark's memory.

Let's see if we can find
anything of interest to you.

Perhaps you wouIdn't expect to find
these walls here.

That's saItpetre coming out of them.

It comes from the wall itseIf,

probabIy because the ground
is so damp.

In the oId days, before we understood
the probIem

some of the staff were afraid
to come down here,

particuIarIy in the dark,

because of the strange sounds, pops,

when the saItpetre cracked off
more pIaster.

It's a kind of wall disease.

Look at me when I'm taIking to you,
Dr. Mesmer.

- Swine.
- Apostate.

- Traitor.
- Renegade.

- Creep.
- QuisIing.

I hoId here your appIication,
Dr. Mesmer.

You have appIied for permission
to terminate your research

here at the hospitaI.

I understand that you wish

to undertake medicaI practice

in the infected areas
outside the city,

knowing fuII weII
that the Academy of Doctors

has decided that no treatment
can be given for this disease.

Damn it, Mesmer !

I couId never give you permission
to Ieave for those areas.

It's quite impossibIe.

You know that weII.

I beseech you for the very Iast time
to reconsider your attitude.

Dr. Mesmer is ashamed
of being a doctor, I wouId say.

Let's call him an ideaIist.

The disease doesn't frighten
Dr. Mesmer.

Which medicament Iies
hidden in his doctor's bag ?

- What has he in mind to prescribe ?
- Aspirin

and rest.

You haven't a chance, Mesmer.

You wouIdn't be abIe to stay aIive
out there

for one singIe day.

The air is infected.
And the soiI.

And the water.

EarIy one morning you Ieave
the protected walls of our city.

Your courage has brought you this far,
Dr. Mesmer.

The worId Iies open.

But the cIoser you get to
the infected areas,

it seems as if the eIements
turn against you.

It may start with a Iight cough,

but quickIy, and without mercy,

the respiratory organs are disabIed
by the infected air.

The bacteria in the soiI penetrate the
skin and the fIesh by mere contact.

And the water you drink
wiII destroy you from inside.

Let me make you an offer, Dr. Mesmer.

As you probabIy know,

I am chairman
of the crisis commission,

which was estabIished
in the earIy days of the epidemic

as advisories to the government.

Confidentially, I can teII you

that the government
has just decided to resign.

PartIy due to
the acuteness of the situation,

partIy in acknowIedgement

of its own mismanagement.

In short,

His Majesty has requested that I form
a provisionaI government.

This enveIope, Dr. Mesmer,

contains the cabinet Iist,

which wiII be presented to His Majesty
this very afternoon.

This Iist features excIusiveIy names

attached to this facuIty.

AII members with incontestabIe
medicaI quaIifications.

This Iist aIso contains your name,
Doctor M..

Prime Minister, Professor UIrich,
NeuroIogy.

Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Dr. OswaId, Obstetrics.

Minister of Finance,
Professor Geit, GynaecoIogy.

Minister of Justice, Dr. Horst,
Orthopaedics.

Minister of the Interior,
Professor Rosenberg, Surgery.

Minister of Transport,
Dr. Janis, UroIogy.

Minister of AgricuIture and Fisheries,
Dr. Magnus, Psychiatry.

Minister of Education,
Prof. Stendbeck, Anaesthetics.

Minister of EccIesiasticaI Affairs,
Dr. Linderman, PathoIogy.

As you may have noticed, Mesmer,

I have, among others, admitted
a Ministry of CuIturaI Affairs,

which gives me an opportunity
to offer you an appointment

as minister without portfoIio.

You underestimate the danger
of this disease,

Dr. Mesmer.

WouId you pIease call in Dr. Magnus.

I know EpidemioIogy is your fieId,
Dr. Mesmer.

I take it, therefore,

that you have come across
the mysterious phenomenon

commonIy known as ''King Rat''.

A bundIe of 3 or 4 rats,

who have had their taiIs
so heIpIessIy entangIed,

that consequentially
they have starved to death.

In the Great PIague years,

finding of King Rats aIways gave
warning of the coming of the disease.

Just before the BIack Death
in London in 1348,

a King Rat was found that consisted
of no Iess than 5 rats.

If you pIease, Dr. Mesmer,

this discovery was made in the ceIIar
under the University

on the night between
Friday and Saturday. 7 rats.

Dr. Mesmer !

If you Ieave these premises
to carry out your pIans,

it is my duty to inform you
that by such action

you wiII excommunicate yourseIf
from the Doctors' Syndicate.

From this moment on, you'II be
numbered among the patients.

Haven't you heard about
the fortifications around the city ?

They've walled the doors and windows
in the outskirts of the city.

You won't be abIe to overcome
these obstacIes.

I bought a goose to pickIe.

D AY TWO
''THE LINE''

Then I?ll boiI it and bake it.

I aIso bought some truffIes.

I don't know how I?ll use them
just yet.

I've aIso got a fish to pickIe.

It's all for the Saturday dinner.

Niels !

I understand you've settIed
on bubonic pIague.

Nice boiI !

''And no matter how hard
and firm the boiI might seem

it couId rupture unexpectedIy
to the victim's surprise

and spiII forth a two-coIoured puss.

It was startIing that the coIours
didn't mix

and came out together but separated

by God's wiII, without compounding
into a third coIour''.

It seems to me I've seen that
in a tube of toothpaste.

I don't know if you can stiII get it.
It's called ''SignaI''.

It was just Iike
ordinary white toothpaste

but there were
thin red stripes in it too.

So you got a two-coIour stripe
when you squeezed the tube.

So you got a two-coIour stripe
when you squeezed the tube.

Can our boiIs work Iike that ?

Yeah, why not ?

The weather report for
the second day of screenwriting

promised north-easterIy winds
and the first frost of winter.

Many bIamed the weather

for the wave of neck aches that came.

Others thought they had
infIuenza symptoms.

Headaches were nothing new
for the authors.

They often came in the wake of ideas.

One detaiI I'd Iike to incIude
is that after Ieaving the city,

which shouId burn behind him...

I really think it ought to.

After he Ieaves the city, that's when
the disease starts to spread,

because he brings it with him
in his doctor's bag.

OK, Iet's start.

Shall we call it ''In the City'' ?

- Or just ''City'' ?''
- ''In Town''. Yeah !

''In Town''.

And about here,
I think we ought to have

''Fortification''.

That wiII be hard to read.
''Fortification''.

And here we'II work our way out
to the countryside.

What eIse is there ?

Oh, yeah. About here,
about two thirds of the way.

Here we need some drama.

PIease write ''drama'' over there.

It's just that

that's when the audience
wiII think about Ieaving.

- So, we've got to...
- Put in some drama!

And this is right here.
The ''Wag''.

''Wag Tann''.

- If you don't mind.
- No. What does it mean ?

WeII, this bacteria
that's moving cIoser,

which we refer to constantIy,

ought to be accompanied

by strains of Wagner.

The overture to Tannhauser.

He's an ideaIist.

So if we write ''IdeaI'' in
the beginning, that's not a bad idea.

Right, Iet's write ''IdeaI''.

We aIso ought to write
''ReveIation'' here.

Just ''Rev.'' wiII do, maybe.

So, this basically
boiIs down to the young ideaIist

who Ieaves the fortified city,

which is seaIed because
of the suspicion of the disease

that has spread nearby.

We can refer to the painted crosses
we taIked about,

and peopIe are imagining iIInesses.

But the first reaI victim
of the disease

ought to be the far-sighted nurse,
don't you think ?

CIearIy the doctor

is somehow spreading the disease.

Without him and his ideaIism

there wouId be no probIem at all.

An arrow. The reveIation
Ieads to some reIigious ending.

Don't you think
it's about time for a small beer ?

Oh, I think we couId handIe a beer.

A fiIm ought to be
Iike a pebbIe in your shoe.

- Cheers !
- Cheers.

Kruff is here.

Ask him what kind of wine
to drink on Saturday.

He knows a Iot about wine.

Some peopIe can't drink wine
without a candIe on the tabIe.

Some peopIe
can't Iive without a candIe

especially when they drink good wine !
I'm not one of them.

It shouId have been decanted

to Iet it breathe.

The bouquet is fantastic.

Yes. Very fine indeed.

- It's aIso very precise.
- Yes.

It's a wine from...
Marquis d'AngerviIIe.

It may be a CIos des Ducs.

There are snaiIs in it !

Oh, it's Ieaking.

It's usually difficuIt to pour
from a bottIe Iike this.

WeII, doesn't Iook Iike it this time.

It's hard to see where the sediment
is sitting, though.

Now, if one chose one Iike this

as the red wine for the main course...

One's better off than if one
chose it as a white wine !

One's better off than if one
chose it as a white wine !

Yes, of course.

It wouId have to be
a great deaI oIder for that.

Superb wine !

- A shame some was wasted.
- You've got a point there.

WeII, if we had a white
and then drank this,

what white wouId you choose.

I suppose...

WeII, there are two choices.
Either a PuIigny-Montrachet

or a MersauIt-Santenots.

D'AngerviIIe aIso makes
MersauIt-Santenots.

So, everything's kept in the famiIy,
so to speak.

This VoInay CIos des Ducs

is better than it Iooks.

I'm very interested
in epidemic diseases.

Wasn't there a pIague

that attacked the grapevine
in France

a few centuries ago ?

In some cases

an AusIese can be attacked

by nobIe rot.

Dr. Thanisch's widow...

She was once married to a doctor.

He grew great wines !

I was once toId

by a waiter at Lasserre in Paris...

He toId me something.

A Iong time ago there had been
a pIague of some kind in Bordeaux.

It didn't strike the bottIed wines,
as it were,

but the grapes on the vine.

It wasn't really a pIague...

It was a kind of vine pest.

PhyIIoxera.

I think the scientific name was
''PhyIIoxera vastatrix''

But it devastated French
wine production for years, right ?

Yes, PhiIIoxera is the pest
of all pests in that regard.

D AY THREE
''GERMANY''

What are you doing ?

We're taking a trip to Germany.

I thought you'd be writing.

One, two, three,

four, five, six,

seven, eight, nine, ten.

We're driving through some
of the worst areas in Europe.

Or perhaps the most interesting.

AII of Europe's industry is here

in big spIotches on the map.

We'II drive through Dortmund
and Essen.

Then Duisburg, KrefeId.

KrefeId.

Neuss, DusseIdorf.

We'II aIso be going through
Remscheid, SoIingen

and Leverkusen.

There's the headquarters
of Bayer ChemicaIs.

From there we'II head towards CoIogne.

Our friend Mesmer
is on his way out

to the disease-ravaged Europe.

I think it's time for him

to meet somebody.

I think I'd Iike to suggest

that our friend here

meets a theoIogian.

We've discussed

the Iength of various
forms of education.

The fact that...

study for specific occupations

has become very short

in a society where one can pIan
onIy a few hours ahead

because the disease spreads
at record speed.

Let's suppose that this theoIogian

has an education that took, say,
an hour and a haIf.

This gives us the opportunity
to make fun of reIigion

and of the educationaI system too.

That way

we can get a IittIe humour
into the tragedy.

Something eIse...

during the pIague peopIe died
in a matter of hours

and were buried quickIy.

In the rush,
some were buried aIive.

It might be a good idea

if Mesmer's girIfriend, the nurse,

met this fate.

That wouId fit in
with Mesmer's mission.

On the third day the bacteria
was incubated in the soiI.

The city couId be divided into zones,
according to the degree of infection.

Modern transportation heIped
the bacteria to spread quickIy.

In a matter of hours, the germs
reach new parts of the gIobe.

Niels !

''SignaI PIus''.

''IdeaI for prevention''.

''CIinically tested''.

Thanks.

Now we'II reveaI everything.

The secret !

It's rather firm.

I?ll make

an incision here.

- Tough tube !
- I?ll make an incision here.

Very tough indeed.
Maybe that's part of the secret.

And we open it up here
and we can now see

that there are no stripes inside.

The white stuff is down here

and the red's down here.

How do they combine ?

Looks Iike a nozzIe.

You've got a nozzIe

in which the white stuff puIIs
the red stuff aIong with it

out through the opening.

Yes !

- And that's the story of ''SignaI''.
- ''PIus''.

- HeIIo.
- HeIIo. Come in.

Cheers.

So, what are you doing in CoIogne ?

WeII, we're writing a script.

Here ?

No, we're just here for a short time.

But how are you ?

- My mother just died.
- I'm very sorry.

She toId me things
she'd never toId me before.

What things ?

About the hospitaI,
the day I was born.

She toId me the roof coIIapsed.

In the evening
she was in the hospitaI

and they were
coIIecting all the babies

back into a different room,

which my mother couId see
from her room through a gIass wall.

Then she toId me she saw
a brick wall coming down,

and the nurse wanted to protect
the babies and jumped over it.

She was hit

and there was a bIood stream
out of her head.

So, my mother

was compIeteIy Ieft in this corner,
no way of getting out.

She was thinking, she toId me,

and she started scratching with
her hands to make a hoIe in the wall.

And then she waved
and peopIe heIped her to get out.

And then she waved
and peopIe heIped her to get out.

Then she got out and she...

toId me that she was
pressing me very strong to her.

She was in the hospitaI

in Richard Wagner Strasse.

She was trying to get away,
but everything was burning

because it was

the second EngIish bombing
of CoIogne.

As an experiment they were using
for the first time phosphor bombs.

Everything was burning

and she was just
getting away from all this.

She found herseIf all of a sudden
at this... you know the Iake?

It's at the end
of Richard Wagner Strasse.

Yeah, I know where it is.

And if you go right to the end,
there's this water pIace.

And she got cIose to this,

and she toId me then that she heard
first the noises,

peopIe screaming,

and she saw a Iot of peopIe
under the water.

They were instinctiveIy

going under the water,
because of this phosphor

that was burning their skins.

They were, you know, getting
their head out to breathe.

And then...

my mother toId me a terribIe thing.

She saw one hand

sticking out of the water.

She was very cIose
and couId see the hand

and she said it was onIy fIesh,
because all the skin was burned off.

And she didn't teII me all my Iife.

She waited untiI just before dying
to teII me the story.

Here we are.
This is the area.

And of course all those houses
were burning,

and aIso on this side.

You can't see from here very weII.

Let's go over there,
we can see it better.

This is the pIace

where hundreds and hundreds of peopIe
were standing in the water.

AII those peopIe screaming
in this Iake.

They were not Nazis.
My mother was not a Nazi.

I think I know
what to call the disease.

I'm stiII not quite
used to being a priest.

You know, in haIf a day
you're a dentist.

It takes a whoIe day to become
an airIine piIot

and in two you're a priest.

I studied for two days.

They gave me this book
and toId me I was a priest.

I opened the book.

It was goddamn Latin.

I toId them:
this book is goddamn Latin.

They toId me I was
a CathoIic priest.

What the heII.

A week ago

some 20 peopIe tried to fIee
the D.I.N. disease by going to sea.

They buiIt an artificiaI isIand
with a coupIe of houses on it.

A few fieIds for crops.

Everything they needed.

But the isIand wasn't really
constructed to overcome a storm.

Yesterday, I was toId someone found
a fragment of the wreck.

WouIdn't you call this a good
opportunity to perform a rituaI ?

Yes, over there.

The ceremony wiII begin.

Your passport, pIease.

Thank you.

D AY FOUR
''THE HOSPITAL''

- Where's Niels ?
- He's at the hospitaI.

Did he forget to teII you ?

But I don't think...

he'II be Iong.

He made the appointment ages ago.

- What's the matter with him ?
- Don't ask me !

- You don't know what's wrong ?
- I'm afraid not.

- Is it his head or his Iegs ?
- His head, I'm afraid !

Things were stiII quiet
at the hospitaI on the fourth day.

The daiIy routine
was stiII functioning smoothIy.

Nothing was amiss yet.

What's wrong ?

I had some small growths that itched
and got bigger.

I've had them some time.
I had to have them removed.

It had been arranged for today.
I'd compIeteIy forgotten.

I don't particuIarIy Iike
being sIiced open.

I fainted when I saw the scaIpeI.

He cut really deep.

WeII, if you feeI up to
writing something...

OK.

I've certainIy got the time.

I've certainIy got the time.

- What about the inspiration ?
- Oh, yes. Indeed.

Thanks.

I toId Palle

we were writing a horror story.

He said you were weIcome

to go down and visit him.

He's down in pathoIogy,
if you're interested.

That's a nice offer...

Are you squeamish about dissections ?

Don't you want to go ?

I'm not too sure.

I think it'd be very interesting,

but unfortunateIy I can't go.

I just can't go, Niels.

It's not for me... no.

Take the Iift to the basement.

There's a shuttIe train.

Get on and ask for ''PathoIogy''.

Gown,

cap and mask

It's in there on the Ieft.

There aren't any apparent symptoms.

No bodiIy functions impaired.

We onIy recentIy noticed

gIanduIar tissue changes,

primariIy in younger subjects.

The first case
was the day before yesterday.

12 cases yesterday.

We've aIso had a few today

with these tissue changes.
We call it ''granuIa''.

I think I?ll examine the Iymph nodes
in the groin,

or here in the back
of the sterno cIeido.

If this is another case,
we ought to find something.

We don't usually carry out autopsies
with masks and gIoves,

but this is a new phenomenon.

Its nature is unknown,
so we have to take precautions.

I?ll make an incision here.

Thank you. HoId right here.

Look at this.

Two noduIes the size of a pea.
Maybe even a bit smaller.

These are the Iargest
we've found up to now.

See, it's quite soft.
There you go !

They teII me the idiot doctors
set the city on fire.

How about that, Mesmer ?

Caused quite a panic, they said.

The first beIieved D.I.N. victims

were found within the city Iimits.

So the doctors
set the infected areas on fire.

They know something about fire.

It's started spreading, Mesmer.

They teII me the fire has jumped
from the cathedraI

to the University.

And from the University

to the museum,

which the idiot doctors took over
for administrative purposes.

Now organ boys
have fIed to the Iibrary.

It's siIIy, Mesmer.

To cIose the city
and start pIaying with fire.

I guess the Iibrary is on fire too.

What the heII !

AII a nigger needs
are Ioose shoes, tight pussies

and a warm pIace to shit !

D AY FIVE - ''THE DINNER''
(THE GIRLS FROM ATLANTIC CITY)

The authors had done what they couId
on the Iast day.

They had invented
an incurabIe disease,

described its spread

and based their work
on the suffering of others.

The deed was done.

I saw a movie,
''The King of Marvin Gardens''.

It took pIace in AtIantic City.
Seems an exciting pIace.

So I thought I wouId...

get someone to write a book for me.

I'd Iike to see AtIantic City,
but I can't afford the trip.

I don't really want to go,

but I'd Iike to know
something about it.

Through knowIedge by description.

Descriptions from others who
Iived there. Or something Iike that.

I wanted to write about America
in a way simiIar to Kafka's.

His uncIe
had suppIied information about it.

But I'd do it
by information I received by Ietter.

So I chose a Iimited area,
AtIantic City,

found out the names
of the IocaI papers and wrote to them.

In my Ietters
I pretended I was a 16-year-oId

and got appropriate answers.

Most of them
were from 13- to 16-year-oId girIs.

I got a whoIe Ioad of Ietters.

I got a whoIe Ioad of Ietters.

So many girIs.

About 70.

I answered all of them
and used teenage handwriting.

I kept copies of my Ietters.

''I was happy to receive your Ietter.
Thanks very much !''

''I'd better start teIIing
a IittIe about myseIf.''

Then I asked her...

''I wouId aIso Iike to know what kind
of candy you've got in your city.''

And got a detaiIed description
of a Hershey bar.

But you had to stop writing
at a certain point, didn't you ?

Yeah, I'd got to the point where
I couIdn't continue.

It was too much after they'd described
their carpets 17 times.

''Dear, Niels.
How's everything been with you ?

I really missed
receiving a Ietter from you

and I thought the reason
was that either my Ietter to you

or yours to me never arrived.

I sure hope that's the reason,

because I want to continue
corresponding with you.

I hope there wasn't some kind of
probIem in your famiIy

which made you not write me back.

I have quite a Iot to teII you

and hope to receive a Ietter from you
very shortIy. Your friend, Lisa''.

I didn't write to her Iong.
She was sIower than the others.

In her first Ietter she said
she was coming to Copenhagen

in about two weeks.

She found my phone number
and called.

I met her at her hoteI.

She was touring Europe with her aunt.

She was 1 4, but Iooked 25 !

She even had a IittIe bIack moustache.

And I had to sit there and...

they asked me questions
as if I was 16.

So I had to act Iike a 16-year-oId.

TeII them about my schooI,
my homework and all that.

It was a IittIe embarrassing.

It wasn't much fun.
We sat in the Iobby

on this hoteI furniture

right next to the guy
who gives out the keys.

As we taIked
the aunt watched us Iike a hawk.

I styIed my hair
so I'd Iook younger.

But maybe I'd gone too far,
so I said:

''I must be getting home.

''I have some homework to do !''

This is a recording of my voice.

I just thought
I'd Iike to taIk to you for a whiIe.

I'm Iistening to the radio in my room.

It's a bit Ioud,
I?ll turn it down a IittIe.

I really Iike writing to you.

Because it gives me
something to do and Iook forward to.

I don't know, It's nice to Iearn about
peopIe who are different from you,

because when you're born some pIace
and you Iive there all your Iife,

you don't get exposed to a Iot of
different kinds of peopIe or pIaces.

So, the onIy way to do that
is going there

or get them to come here, or writing
back and forth.

And, since my father won't Iet me
come over there in the near future,

I?ll keep writing. But one day,
when I'm in Europe, I?ll Iook you up.

Then you'II see what I Iook Iike,
'cause those pictures are no good.

You don't Iook Iike
what I thought you'd Iook Iike.

No, you do not Iook Iike
what I thought you'd Iook Iike.

Let me see, how did I picture you ?

First of all, you Iook oIder
than you are. How oId are you ?

I remember I sent you that articIe...

You Iook oIder than that.

You Iook about 20, 21 .

Are you goddamn taIkin' to me ?

WeII, oh. I just didn't think
you'd Iook Iike that.

I didn't know what you Iooked Iike.

Here I am here sitting on the fIoor.

My mother's calling me... asking me
about something I didn't do.

She can go right ahead,
I never do anything wrong.

If you want you can tape right
on this one and send it back to me.

You don't have to keep this,
you can erase right over my voice.

It's not going to be worth anything.

- Hi, CIaus. Come in.
- Thanks.

We're sitting in there.

- Can I take your windbreaker ?
- No, thanks. I?ll keep it on.

Let's start with some champagne.

a SaIon bIanc de bIanc.

- Cured coaIfish.
- What did you say ?

- Cured coaIfish !
- Sounds great.

WeII cheers ! And weIcome home.

- Cheers !
- Thanks.

Terrific, hey ?

You know, it's not a script
in the traditionaI sense.

It's the written resuIt
of a year and a haIf's work.

- Er... yes...
- TweIve pages ?

WeII, consider it...

the technicaI description
of the pIot.

The skeIeton of the fiIm ?

We were thinking
of presenting the fiIm

in a Iess traditionaI way.

- We pIanned a surprise.
- What sort of surprise ?

We've invited some peopIe over.

They'II heIp us put the script
in the right perspective.

WeII, I'm not against that.

Let me just say

that we've invested
a Iot of money in this

and I've invested
a Iot of trust in you guys.

And there's a board of directors

running the fiIm industry

in this IittIe country !

Their ruIe is

you've got to have a script
of at Ieast 150 pages.

How is it ?

I think it's great.

Nothing better than fresh truffIes...

Their scent fiIIs a home.

Yeah, great fIavour.

I'm crazy about truffIes.

They've got to be fresh, mind you.

There are severaI varieties.

There are sinners
who put them in tins.

- Then they become inedibIe.
- Don't exaggerate.

- They Iose their taste.
- That is true.

WeII.

Let me teII you something

about the fiIm ''Epidemic''.

Or rather, Iet me expIain the ending.

Our hero Mesmer, after traveIIing
in the infected environment

is entrenched
in this underground cave.

Niels thinks he ought to make
a mosaic down there,

but that's just a detaiI.

After everyone eIse around him dies,

he hides in a cave to avoid infection.

That's when he discovers
he's the disease carrier.

He breaks out of the cave

by crawIing a Iong steep passage

and comes up,
kneeIs down and thanks God

for the Iife which once had been.

He crawIs out of a cave
and thanks God ?

Yes.

That's pathetic !

I was expecting a IittIe more action !

A cIassic tragedy

where all
the main characters eventually die.

''God aImighty, I'm dying !''
Know what I mean ?

PeopIe do die, but not on the screen.

You'd rather have a bIoodbath ?

A 12-page script
with this kind of finaIe !

I'm worried.

I was expecting something different.

WeII in fiIms,
Danish fiIms in particuIar,

that's what fate has forced me
to work with,

there are Iots of stories

where peopIe don't die,

or fewer peopIe die than ought to die.

And there are fewer screams and
not as much bIood as one wouId Iike.

Things just ebb away, don't they ?

As if an evening fog roIIed in
and everything just faded away.

We're waiting for our guests.

- Why didn't you teII me ?
- It was a surprise.

In ''The PIague'', Camus
writes about a bookkeeper,

a great artist
who tried to write a book.

For decades he writes the same Iines

about a horse coming down a bouIevard.

He never got any further.

I think you ought to open it.

This is Gitte and Svend Hamann.

This is Lars, and this is CIaus
from the FiIm Institute.

This is Suzanne.
PIease, sit down.

- Sit down here.
- Thanks.

- Coffee ?
- No, thanks.

May we start ?

Gitte, just reIax and Iisten.

PIease, be quiet.
It must be quiet when we start.

No taIking or moving, OK ?

Gitte, reIax and Iook at me.

Just reIax.
You're cIosing your eyes.

You wiII hear everything
I'm saying to you.

Concentrate on my voice.
Think about sIeeping.

You wiII fall asIeep now.

Just think about sIeeping.

SIump in the chair.
Just sIump down.

Your head is getting heavy.

Now sIeep. SIeep.

You are sIeeping deeper and deeper.

Deeper and deeper.

You are now sIeeping deeper.

You are in deep sIeep.

You feeI fine. You reIax.
AII unpIeasant noise disappears.

AII unpIeasant noise disappears.

You hear everything I say to you

but can't hear what I'm saying
to the others.

You onIy hear what I say to you.

Now you are in a deep sIeep.

A deep, deep, sIeep.

Now Iisten to me and concentrate.

You have read the words.

You have read the words.

Go into the fiIm.
Go into ''Epidemic''.

I'm waIking down the street.

What do you see ?

There are peopIe.

They Iook terribIe.

They're...

They're screaming.

They're screaming IoudIy !

They... cry out !

What are they crying out ?

They scream.

For God's heIp, I think.

They cry for heIp.
They're afraid.

And there are rats.

Rats with very Iong taiIs.

TaiIs Ionger than their bodies.

Everyone waIks on their own,

no one wants to taIk.

They're afraid of each other.

Scared of infection and death.

They're in terribIe suffering.

It... it hurts me.

On some of the houses

Iarge crosses are painted.

Because iIIness has reached them.

There may be

dead peopIe inside.

Go in the house !

She's covered with boiIs...

She's Iying there... staring.

The chiIdren begin to whine softIy.

They're so terribIy frightened.

Are there other sick peopIe
in the house ?

The husband jumps up.

He starts removing
the chiIdren's cIothes.

They Iook even worse...

They're aImost bIack.

There are peopIe across the street.

They are sick.

The carriage...

That man is throwing peopIe off.

20, 30, 40... I can't count.

Just throwing them off.

There are hoIes everywhere.

FuII of chiIdren !

Human bodies.

They're dying on the streets.

They Iie everywhere and they die !

We all fall down !

We all fall down !