Figures in a Landscape (1970) - full transcript

Two escapees (Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell) are on the run in an unspecified but seemingly Latin-American country. Everywhere they go they are observed and hounded by a menacing black helicopter.

Come on, boy. Come on, now!

Town boy, aren't you?

Brought up on a bloody bottle, I suppose.

Everything out of a packet.

Never saw a cow till you got out here.

Want me to drag you behind me in a bucket?

When I was your age,
I used to do 22 miles before breakfast.

You stay here.

I'll get up there
and I'll come back with a bus.

With all those women you had, I suppose!

All those dirty doorways.
Come on, Pocket Billiards!



Want me to carry you?

I must be old enough to be your father.

You want to rest, don't you?
Want a bloody mattress?

Come on, get your hands up.

I can't get at them. Come on, get them up.

We've got to keep going.

If I need your help, I'll ask for it.

Hey, boy...

there's fresh water on the other side.

- How do you know?
- Smelled it.

They didn't teach you much
in that school of yours, did they?

How far do you think they are?

Ten years, the way you're going.

Sorry I forgot your toothpaste.



Not too much, boy.

You've got to help me, boy.

No.

All right, then.

Watch!

He didn't have a knife.

I shouldn't have had to do that
all by myself. That wasn't right.

Wouldn't have been so messy
if you'd helped me.

Hate a messy killing. That wasn't fair!

What are you crying for,
you sentimental, useless, bloody idiot?

Bloody hypocrite!

I was the one who had to do it!

He'd have died in his bloody bed
before Christmas.

If you aren't going to help me,
what did you come for?

Did you think this was going to be
a Boy Scout picnic?

Do you think they'll find him?

Got to get higher.

Got to get higher.

The sensible thing
is to find different clothes.

The sensible thing is to find a village
and wait for the dark.

Do you think they'll try
and take us back alive?

Don't you want to stop
and polish your boots?

I don't like it down there.

You can't go around.

It's too open.

Let's just walk down the road.
They'll think we're workers.

Bastard!

Bastards!

I'll kill you!

Kill you!

Playing with us.

Playing a game.

He can't have heard
about your goatherd yet.

Just waiting.

I didn't know he could do that.

I didn't know anybody could.

He could have taken my head off.

I could have been running around
like a bloody chicken...

with my head bouncing
upon the ground in front of me.

I suppose he's calling them up
on his radio.

- What can we do, Ansell?
- Not much.

Wait for the dark, and then go fast.

Very fast.

If I could've got my bloody hands free,
I'd have pulled him right in on top of me.

I'd have rolled him right over.

Jumped up on those bloody skids
and I'd have ploughed him in.

- I might've tripped over it.
- What?

My head.

I could've kicked it.

I could've scored a bloody goal with it.

I'd like to kick my bloody head
right up into his Perspex.

Didn't that old man have
anything on him at all? Not anything?

If you stay here, I'll go and get a knife
and come straight back.

I'll bury that bastard pilot yet.

Let me go alone. Please.

Ansell, keep behind me. Twenty paces.

Ansell.

Quiet, old fellow. Quiet.

Quiet.

What happened to you?

Listen.

He had a picture of his grandchildren
and a piece of dried tobacco.

If you don't help me this time,
I'll kill you, too.

That's enough.

Watch while I drink.

Get down!

Got his best suit on, hasn't he?

Don't hurt her.

Don't touch anything in there.

You pig!

You stupid, half-witted,
half-brained, idiotic pig!

I wish he had taken your head off.

Stupid!

Stupid idiot.

Crazy, murdering pig.

He should have taken your head off...

and put it into a bucket of vinegar
and sent it to a museum!

What a fool!

Do you have any plan at all?

She'd never have done anything
if you'd left that bread alone.

We're both going to be caught tomorrow.
You do know that, don't you?

All right, then,
you can damn well give me half of it!

Hang on.

Split up the food.

Why?

Only needed you till my hands were untied.

You're quite sure?

- You can have the razor.
- I don't want the razor.

- I'm having the gun.
- I don't want the gun.

You can have half the tins, the blanket...

suitcase, and the water.

Plenty of water up there.

Pockets big enough?

Hey! One for the road?

How are you going to open your tins,
country boy?

Bastard!

Bastard tin.

Blooming country boy.

All right, smarty.

How do I open it, then?

- What do you want for that?
- I want to come with you.

- I give the orders, then.
- Yes.

Give it to me.

Hey...

you want some?

Hey!

Here.

Always keep neat and tidy, boy.

Be careful of your tender little face,
won't you?

And don't forget down below.

What?

Don't want to get the rot, do you?

- Are you serious?
- I've already done mine.

You've got something worth saving
down there, haven't you?

We'll have to eat at night
and drink in the middle of the day.

Right.

And any time you've got something
to say to me, I shall listen to you.

Thank you.

Sometimes I'm very stupid.

I am. I know that.

My wife has told me that.

Oh, yes?

Yes.

- You see the main ridge?
- Yes.

- You see that bit of rock like a fist?
- Yes.

That's our objective today. Right?

What's the matter now?

I'm just following you,
like you told me to.

If you kill me, there's no point.

I'd just be lying here like that old man.

And all you'll have is twice as many tins,
a suitcase, and a razor.

Look.

Later on, I might consider it.

Consider a parting, a going of ways,
I might.

But not now.

Because I'm lonely.

I'll consider it in the mountains.

I don't think that thing will fire anyway.

Funny if it had gone off backwards!

You married?

What chance did I have to get married?

Think I wanted to get into this mess?

A boy of your age ought to be married.

Responsibility, that's what you boys need.

- That's all changed.
- What's all changed?

They don't want to get married now,
not since the pill.

You can have who you like,
you've only got to ask.

Models, wives, nurses,
secretaries, physiotherapists.

Think he saw us?

What he could be doing, you see.
Go up ahead, keep there.

He's coming back!

Go!

Right! Go!

Anybody can have a war now.

I mean, you just get a bit of equipment
and you start, don't you?

I bet he fancies himself.

Probably went to one of those schools.
One of those flying schools.

What do you think you can hit
with that thing?

Not too much.

Petrol tank is behind that cabin.
You've got to hit it from the side.

- Yes.
- You only get one chance.

He'd be off like a bloody bat.

But he doesn't know you've got it!
See what I mean?

My wife...

she had to have her face built up.

Plastic jaw.

An Alsatian dog sprang
right across the bar at her...

just as we were saying good night.

I'm sorry about that.

It was terrible.

Did you sue anybody?

Couldn't. It was her uncle.

Her uncle was the publican.
Couldn't sue her uncle.

I bet he's no bloody good on the ground.

Listen. This is what I'm going to do.

I'm going to twist, run, shout, act it up.

I'm going to go for that ridge.

He'll come over me,
playing his little game.

Then I'll bring him in to you, close.
Now, that's my plan. Understand?

Only go for the petrol tank.
That's the only important thing.

Stay here.

My leg!

I was lined right up on him!
I was lined...

right up on his bloody head!

Hey, boy.

In the last minute...

- Off like a bloody bastard.
- What the hell do you mean?

That's why I missed him.
I won't miss him next time.

I'd never miss him again
if I got another chance, boy.

What about this?

Bloody Christmas present.

If I'd had this...

I'd have wiped that bloody smile
right off his greasy face!

He was laughing at you, boy.

I hope this bastard is his brother.

But it was your job to get that tank,
not to worry about me, you stupid idiot!

No! He had something in his hand, you see.

Something in his pocket.
Might've gone off, boy.

Might've been a bloody bomb.
Pity I missed him.

4:22.

July 17.

It's a good watch, boy. It's a Swiss.

Come on, boy.

If I had hit that tank...

if I had, you might have gone up, too.

We didn't think of that, did we?

I'll tell you what, though, Mac.

There'll be no more games from now on.

I'll tell you something, boy.

He's not going to come in so close,
now I've got this.

Maybe he's gone home for a coffin.

Like to have a smoke?

How many did he have on him?

Three.

Any photographs?

Yeah, a picture of his girl.

No money.

Got his lighter. And a watch.

I don't want to smoke. You can have them.

I'm not having one if you aren't, Ansell.

All right.

You can have this other one
in the morning.

My hands are still shaking.

It's good, isn't it?

Yes.

What time is it, then?

It's not working.

You know what we'll have to do?
We'll have to put these tins in order.

- Why?
- So we know what they are in the dark.

We have to know that.
We must balance our diet.

Look, I've told you, I know what they are.
Come on.

You do?

There are only three kinds.

Big ones are beans.

Square ones are beef.
Medium, condensed milk.

How do you know that?

I smelled them.

- I don't believe you.
- Oh, yes.

I used to work in Fortnum & Mason,
you know.

Best store in London.

Only did it for the experience, of course.

And what I could pick up.

- What you could pick up?
- Yes.

Used to get a lot of Norwegian girls
in there...

and Swedish.

I got this Australian girl once.

Took me to the Ritz. Paid for everything.

Father's a composer.

Lovely big baths they've got at the Ritz.

You can do anything in them.

I offered to pay. She wouldn't have it.

Got any daughters?

I'll bloody well keep my daughters
away from you.

Why?

I don't hold with all this.

With all what?

Hold with all what, Mac?

You give me that opener.

You say that these medium-size
are condensed milk?

I've told you that already.

Here.

Quite right, aren't you?

Why do you want to keep
your daughters away from me, Mac?

I'm a very good teacher.

How many are there?

Two.

They could do a lot worse, you know.

You must have given that bastard pilot
such a shock.

Ansell.

I'm not having you mess about
with any of my daughters.

Not flying so low now, is he?

I wish to hell he didn't know I had this.

He's all by himself.

Yes, and he wants us all for himself,
too, I'll tell you that.

Mac.

What's between us and the mountains?

Nothing.

What do you mean, nothing?

Villages.

No soldiers? No patrols?

Border patrol.

You don't know, do you?

No.

You don't know anything about it,
do you, Mac?

I know you're all right
once you get up in the snow.

Who's done it, Mac?

Who's ever done it before?

Why don't we just dig ourselves
a couple of graves and go to sleep?

Better cross over there
and get up the other side.

What?

Oh, Christ!

It's not funny, you know!

Oh, boy.

I've got to keep
my shirttails out of this.

I know you're right,
but I hate that low ground.

I know, Mac, but we've got no choice.

Let's go fast.

I hope we're not too sore.

You were right about that condensed milk.

He's a bloody field marshal now.

I lost my hat.

We'll never get through them,
not both of us.

Want to split?

We'd better get down here and lie up.

We've got to.

- I can't.
- We won't find a better...

I can't get down there
and let them walk right over me.

Come on!

Mac, get in there.

Last time we took your advice,
we got bayonets up our arse.

Whose fault's that?

If that black skeleton comes in over
the top, he'll drop mustard gas on us!

What would you suggest?

Why should I have to suggest anything?
You're the one who makes the suggestions.

You're the one who goes in those stores
making suggestions to young girls.

You've got no right
to take advantage of them like that.

I think you're stark, raving mad.

Bloody sex maniac!
You ought to be in court.

One of those fathers
ought to have locked you up.

- I think you ought to be analysed.
- What?

They should never have invented
that bloody pill.

Right.

- Are you hurt?
- No.

Well, those idiots saw us come in here,
didn't they?

Come on, boy! Come on!
Get yourself through the middle.

Come on!

Through here, Ansell!

- Water!
- Wait! Wait till he can't see us.

Hey, don't wait for me!

Look what I've got.
I'll put it under his bastard pillow, boy!

One of your little school friends.

Be quiet, for God's sake.
Shut up, you maniac!

If I find that bastard pilot...
Hey, you bastard!

Ansell, that pilot's trying
to burn up everything.

I can't take him up in the snow.

I can't take him up there, boy.
Too cold up there. Go on, then. Go on!

Goodbye. He's gone.
Goodbye, you little sweetheart.

Where's your gun? Where's your gun?

Can you hear me?
Get that mud out of your ears.

Get that muck out of your ears!

Can you hear me now?

- Yeah, I hear you.
- Where's your bloody gun?

It was the bloody farmers, wasn't it?

The farmers saved us, didn't they?
The poor old farmers.

My face hurts.

Yes...

well, you better...

put some mud on it.

Then the blisters can't...

See?

Put that mud on it!

You see him?

This time...

you've got to do it.

I'll cover you with the gun.

All right?

Go on, boy!

That was your first.

Here.

It's here, boy, I tell you that.

What we need is food, Mac.

It's here, I know it.

Unbolt the door!

No bloody order. No bloody discipline.

They buggered it up for him, didn't they?

Wish I'd got him.

Want to go back?

Well, I got a drink out of it, anyway.

He's probably down there with that thing
at this very minute...

crying over it.

I've got to sleep.

This'll keep the bastards in the holes
they were born in.

How far is the snow?

There isn't any snow. Snow's all melted.

Listen! I've got to sleep.

Well, you can't sleep here.

Come on, get up.

Give us your arm.

Wish I hadn't lost my hat.

I can see the bones in my fingers.

The tips are salty.

Don't look.

We smell like animals. Filthy!

Christ Jesus.

What have we done to ourselves?

All right, boy.

Not living. We're dead!

We should never have tried it!

We crawl along...

slice with razors...

blow our noses with our fingers.

Tear with our fingers!
Wipe ourselves with our fingers!

All right, boy, all right.

Oh, God! Oh, Jesus!

Oh, Christ!

We're worse than animals!

All right, boy, don't you worry.

My wife is five years older than me.

It's the face I always look for, Ansell.

The face, and then the legs.

She's got a pretty face,
but she hasn't got good legs.

Varicose veins.
That's because of the children.

She's always worrying about her legs,
she keeps shaving them.

The children haven't got good legs.

Not as pretty as their mother, either.

But they'll do all right,
because they've got her nature.

What happened was...

she was always going out
with American soldiers.

I took my father's raincoat
and I put on my father's hat...

and I went to a public telephone box
when I knew she was home.

I called her up,
put on an American accent...

I lowered my voice...

and I said, "Meet me in the park...

"3:30, Sunday afternoon...

"by the bandstand."

Well, it was raining.

No band. But she came there.

I was 16.

She was 21.

Came there in a white mackintosh.

When she saw me
in my father's raincoat and hat...

she laughed till she cried.

She went away.

I kept after her.

Then the Americans went away.

I had to join up myself.

And two years later,
I came home on leave...

and I was drinking a lot.

And one night she had to help me home.

I had to go out East.

She wrote to me...

twice a week.

I was away for a long time.

When...

she was...

thirty-seven...

yes, 37...

and I was...

Well...

anyway...

we went back to the park...

on a Sunday night...

and...

me and my wife, she...

Well, it was her idea.

I had her...

underneath...

bandstand.

How long have you been with your wife?

Years.

My children are all...

Children are all...

I've got old.

Yes, I've got old.

Come on, Pocket Billiards.

You see it?

Yes.

I never believed it.

Whose is it?

How do you mean?

I don't know whose it is.

Never did know.

Well, it's not theirs.

Come on.

- They won't shoot at us?
- No.

It's not theirs.

Come on, Mac!

Come on, Mac!

We've made it!

Come on!

Maybe I could hold them back.

There's no need. Come on, Mac.

Do you know what? In all that time...

all that war...

she waited for me.

She never went out with anyone else.

Get up here, Mac! It's all over.

We're free!

Come on!

Get up here, Mac! Come on!

The day I was free...

she knew it.

Nobody told her.

Thirty thousand miles away...

she telephoned her mother.

Get up here, Mac!

Come on!

Childhood sweethearts.

Thin air.

Air's thin up here, you see.

"Thank God," she said to her mother.

Great, black bat.

Leave it, Mac. You've got no chance.

Hey!

Mac, what about me?

Come on, then.

Bastard!

Say your bloody prayers!