Madagascar Skin (1995) - full transcript

(upbeat dance music)

(man panting)

(music stops)
(men cheering and clapping)

(men panting)

(Harry groaning)
(bed creaking)

(Harry panting)

(Harry sobbing)

(Harry grunting)

(engine whirring)

(engine idling)

(engine revving)



(metal clanking)

(key jingling)

(window creaking)

(waves gently crashing)

(waves crashing)

(seagulls squawking)

- "Is that whiteness which invests him,

a thing expressed by the name he bears?

The albino is as well made as other men.

There's no substantive deformity.

And yet, this mere aspect
of all-pervading whiteness

makes him more strangely hideous

than the ugliest abortion."

(metal thudding)



(man panting)

(footsteps crunching)

(seagulls squawking)

(wave splashing)

(man breathing heavily)

(Harry shouts)

(man coughing)

(man panting and shivering)

(man shivering)

(seagulls squawking)

- Is this right?

Is this right?

Give me my shirt.

He got you too.

(coughing)

(spitting)

What do you think that is?

Jellyfish or squid?

(groans)

I think I'm going to cough
up something big later on.

Fuck!

I was seeing me mother out there.

(spitting)

Now, that's what I call conscientious.

My name's Flint.

As in "rub two flints together,"

though I wouldn't do that if I were you,

they're randy buggers.

- I wouldn't hang around.

- You what?
- I wouldn't hang around.

They may come back to
see what they caught.

- And you're hooked on me, aren't ya?

- [Harry] I wouldn't stay here.

- Ah, plaster.

Cement.

Tar.

Something for me poor head.

(grunting)

- What about an ambulance?

- No.

No, no, no.

- I'll be a while.

- [Flint] Get some cigs!

(seagulls squawking)

(metal clanking)

(seagulls squawking)

(carnival music)

(people chattering)

- [Girl] Look at that man's face, Mummy.

Look at that man's face, Mummy.

Look at that man's face.

Look at that man's face, Mummy.

Look at that man's face.

(seagulls squawking)

- He will be there.

He won't be there.

He will be there.

He won't be there.

Will be.

Won't be.

Will be.

Won't be. Will be.

(panting)

(grunting)

Will be.

Never trust rabbit shit.

(whistling)

(whistling)

(whistling)

(whistling)

(birds chirping)

Where are we going?

(Harry grunting)

- What do you think?

It's a palace, isn't it?

All it needs is a lick of paint.

And I'm a daft hand with me tongue.

A little muscle here,
a little muscle there,

it'll be a real picture in no time.

Can I help?

I can very much.

Because I know now
you've got a letter box.

What do you live on?

Winkles?

- Tins of soup, mostly.

- Yeah, I thought so.

I thought there's a man
that lives by his tin only.

You've ever worked?

- Yeah.

Once or twice, yeah.

- [Flint] What was that?

- I worked for a university,
for an animal laboratory.

Had to look after the animals.

They'd all these rabbits

and they kept pulling their tails off

and sewing them back
on in the wrong place.

Once they made a mistake

and sewed it back on in the right place.

Sometimes they'd get so carried away,

that all that grew back
was a ball of fluff

with a couple of eyes and two electrodes.

Then I had to give them a
carrot, but, no, not my carrot.

One of their carrots.

What do you do?

- I'm a scaffolder.

- You've got the built for it.

- I ate the right carrots.

- A head for heights?
- It runs in the family.

Me dad was a steeplejack.

His dad, too.

All of us, mad on erections.

- Do you want some soup?

- Feed these first.

Ow!

- It'll hurt.

- You are a bit late with that.

- You keep nicking my watch.

- Oh, is this yours, mate?

(liquid splashing)

You're sure that's the right stuff?

I can't read.

- It says, yes. I'm the right stuff.

- [Flint] You know, I can tar roofs.

- Let's make it an all night together.

- I knew I could with a bit of reshaping,

you know what I mean?

You ever thought about it?

They could do all sorts now.

They can peel your skin off

and grow you some more in a plastic dish.

Not that it bothers me, though.

I wouldn't have said about it
had it bothered me, would I?

Stops you looking like a poof.

(Flint sighs)

- It's like they did an oil painting.

- Yeah, but some people use a brush.

- Well, you don't have to watch.

- It's my ears I'm worried about, Harry.

- Bit of a dog's dinner
yourself, all those tattoos.

- Sydney.

Hong Kong.

San Francisco.

I got that one in Bangkok.

How about you?

Madagascar?

- The shops.

- The shops Honolulu?

- The shops where I live.

Sometimes I go to the shops down the road

and sometimes I've been right across town.

- Did you get a job?

- Only when I went to the dentist.

Do you know what I hate?

I hate, I hate,

I hate people who by the time they're 10,

have hitchhiked to India and back on foot.

I hate people who have adventure
and write books about them,

and then think we're interested
in their poxy little lives.

They go down rapids in
Tibetan lettuce leaves

and they go out up mountains on bikes.

I hate those backpacking young people

you see in the Underground.

I could push them onto the tracks.

I hate people who go through
life having a good time,

especially the like, the like...

Especially the young.

Especially the young.

Especially the young couples.

Especially the good-looking young couples.

Especially the good-looking
young couples that retch kiss.

I could see trains run over
them till they're bacon.

I just love it when planes crash.

Maybe it's filling them
all off to Timbuktu,

maybe they'll all come back all
mangled up and scratched up,

and their eyes all over the place.

- Harry.

Pudding.

- That's horrible!

Horrible!

What does it taste like?

- Like a bow tie with salt on.

(Harry laughing)

(Harry coughing)

Oh, he's laughing.

I had to go a long way to get that one.

Maybe I should get a tattoo for it?

(chuckles)

(pipe rattling)

- Oh, come off.

It'll all come off.

- [Flint] Harry!

- What?

Can I come in?

I'm coming in.

Coming in.

- That's all I could find.

Don't worry, it'll change
color once you're in.

(water splashing)

- Flint.

I feel strange.

- [Flint] Yeah, you will for a day or two.

- No.

No, I mean my mood.

I'm happy.

(Flint sighs)

(wind blowing)

(upbeat music)

(footsteps thudding)

(thunder rumbling)

(thunder rumbling)

(bell ringing)

(thunder rumbling)

(waves crashing)

(thunder rumbling)

(seagulls squeaking)

(bell ringing)

(alarm clock ringing)

(Flint sighs)

(door opens and closes)

(water running)

(birds chirping)

(classical music)

- I thought you'd like a bit of Mozart.

Did this in his prime, you know?

Not bad for a kid, is it?

It's for you, mate.

Fell off the back of a boat.

- Eh, no, thanks.

I've already got one.

- Scared or something?
- No.

- Crime of accepting stolen
driftwood and all that?

- [Harry] No.

- You want to learn to swim, Harry?

- I'll stick to paddling.

- There's no fun below your ankles, mate.

Not even if you're wearing
multi-colored socks.

Well, if you don't want it-

(music stops)

- It's bad for you in the sun.

- [Flint] It's all right for tomatoes.

- Do you fancy a cup of tea?
- No time.

(classical music)

Thanks.

(music stops)

Thanks a lot.

- Glad you like it.

- You sure you don't want some tea?

- Yeah, I, I don't mind if I do.

- Flint?
- Yeah?

- When you're working, you
are scaffolder, aren't you?

- I tell you what I'm not.
I tell you what I'm not.

I'm not someone who
can live on the lettuce

social security dishes out.

I like the Queen's cabbage meat.

I thought you were making some tea.

(Harry inhales deeply)

- What you thinking about?

- A woman on the beach in a bikini.

Oh!

She's taking it off.

You're thinking about
her now then, aren't you?

- Yeah.

- What's she doing now?

- She's putting it back on again.

- No!
- Yeah, she's got to go home.

She's got to do her shopping.

- Harry, no!

- Flint, there's something
I want to tell you.

You see, the thing is, (clears throat)

you see, the thing is I like fellas.

But don't worry.

There's nothing for you to worry about,

nothing for you to worry about.

No, after you.

I just like fellas.

(sighs heavily)

There's something I want to tell you.

Flint?

- [Flint] Hm?

- There's something I want to tell you.

- What is it, Harry?

- Look what I found?

My mother used to get
them when I was a kid.

Did you ever read the
letters on the back page?

Because I'll read you
one, I'll read you one.

"Dear Deidry, I have
recently married my husband

and we are very happy,
except for one problem,

I have found he likes to
masturbate while watching TV.

This would not bother me,
but I spend sleepless nights

worrying he may do it when
friends come to visit."

(chuckles)

Listen to this one. You'll like this one.

"Dear Deidre, can you help me?

I've tried not to but
I cannot stop myself.

I have fallen for this man.

He's a scaffolder.

I've always longed to love a scaffolder.

They seem like acrobats
up there in the sky,

and I have always wanted

to love one.

Now, out of the blue,

I have met this man who is a scaffolder.

I do not know, though,
if he can ever love me

because I am a man.

My heart will burst if I do
not tell him how I feel."

(Flint yawns)

(Flint sniffs)

(Flint laughing)

(Harry grunting)

- [Harry] Won't you ever learn?

I'm going to die, and no
one's ever touched me.

What's the point?

I'm not going back. I am not going back.

I'm not.

- You all right?

- [Harry] Yeah, I'm all right.

- I'm all right if you're all right.

I thought you had enough
because I was laughing.

I don't know what got into me.

I must have swallowed another spider,

a little tickle in me throat.

You like it?

(watches ticking)

- [Harry] Nice.

- You know what they call me?

The human magnet.

I walk down the street, and
things just stick to me,

pots, pans, kettles.

The fillings in your mouth if I like them,

even if I don't,

can't help it.

It's me natural-born talent.

Everyone's got a natural-born talent.

What do you think yours is?

I bet you're good at knitting, aren't you?

- Worrying.

(watches ticking)

Some thing's stuck to you.
- What's that?

- Something's written on your neck.

Can't get it off.

- Mark's and Spencer's?

- No.

Gross.

- Well, I'll grow some hair.

Bury and put turf on top, that's my motto.

Put your coat on and walk ahead.

That's another one.

Fucking A, I'm a walking philosophy today.

All right, all right, no, just...

Leave it, leave it. Now
you're making it sore.

Just leave it. Thanks.

I'll have to give June a ring.

June's my girlfriend.

Lives in Plaitford.

She's a goer.

- Yeah, you should.

Go walk into town.

- No, no.

Town's too hot.

Too hot for tomatoes,
if you know what I mean.

- I have to give Morrine a ring.

- Morrine your mum?

- She's my goer.

- You've got a goer?

Why ain't she down here with you then?

- Some (indistinct).

She got a job. Works in a bank.

- She must have got a lot
of germs on her fingers.

Knitting, worrying, or watching telly?

See these?

See these?

Footballer's legs, these
are footballer's legs.

(clicking tongue)

They'd run for smile.

- I'm all right.

(crank whirring)

(classical music)

(glass shatters)

Electrical crisps.

You didn't think that was funny, did you?

You're not impressed, are you?

- I'm not in the mood.

- He's not in the mood.

He's not in the mood.

(Flint sighs)

(Flint sighs)

Oh, yes. I can feel it.

A laughter on the way.

(Flint grunts)

Ah!

Mousse.

(Harry laughing)

- So when are you going to bed?

- Hours.

(Flint passes gas)

Ah, ooh, sorry.

My balls always make me fart.

I wonder what Ms. Black Bikini's doing.

I could do with her tonight.

Mouse must be an aphrodisiac.

(Harry sighs)

(door rattling)

(woman laughing)

(bed squeaking)

(woman laughing)

(woman laughing)

(woman laughing)
(wind rushing)

(bell ringing)

(waves crashing)

(seagull squawking)

(wires trilling)

(birds chirping)

(soft music)

(Flint whistling)

What do you think?

(liquid dripping)

(birds chirping)

(birds chirping)

(waves crashing)

(classical music)
(woman vocalizing)

(seagulls squawking)

(indistinct)

- You should learn to read.

Exercises the brain.

- Are you saying I haven't got

much muscle in that department?

I know all me dirty words.

I can spell 'em all.

- That'll help with Jane Austen.

- Did it at school.

"Pride and Produce."

- Prejudice.
- Not me.

I can watch a dog fuck a dog.

I miss your soup, Harry.

Must have been the way
you put it out of the tin.

- Just a flick of the wrist.

- So do you think you
might pop up later on?

- Yeah.

Yeah, I might.

- I've got the best China out.

- Tide's coming in.

- Good! I need a wash.

(opera music)

"Sea Nymph."

Hmm.

"Bluebells Woods."

Hm, nice.

(water splashes)

Mm-hmm.

(water splashes)

(static crackling)

(seagulls squawking)
(thunder rumbles)

(rain pattering)

(glass rings)

We're all in tune.

Pudding?

- We haven't gotten anything.

- Fancy a bit of cock?

- Yeah, all right.

- You don't even have to use a spoon.

(wind howling)
(thunder cracking)

(thunder cracking)

(thunder rumbling)

(thunder rumbling)

(thunder rumbling)

(soft choral music)

(birds chirping)

- His name's Harry.

- If he is Harry,

who are you?

- Simon.

(laughing)

Always fancied Simon.

- Sounds like a policeman to me.

- What be you?

- Terry.

Solid and dependable,

like a lamp post.

- A policeman and a lamp post.

You think we'll get on?

- Depends if you're trying to stop me

lighting up, doesn't it?

You won't stop me.

It's in the gray cells.

Can't do nothing about it.

- Oh, they can do all sorts now.

Can grow you a new
brain in a plastic dish.

- You'd have to be some warden, mate.

Some warden. (both laughing)

You'd better tell Harry
there's gonna be an earthquake.

(Harry laughing)

- Grass!

Grass!

Grass!

Grass!

(door opening and closing)

Grass.

Grass, grass.

Grass.

Grass!

(leaves rustling)
(birds chirping)

(knocking)

Grass!

(lock clicks)

- Jesus fucking Christ, Harry!

- Grass, it's grass in
your hair, isn't it?

Grass, grass, grass, grass.

- Oh, I got the idea, yeah.

Uh, long, green stalky stuff

you sometimes find under your feet.

Not always on your head.

I think you're a bit haywire.

- Now, you can stop doing that.

- Doing what?
- You know, I mean.

- What is the (indistinct)
for getting things wrong,

because I don't know what you mean!

- You went then as well, didn't you?

That's why they did it.

I should have known this!

I'd have left you under that bucket.

- Yeah, you should.

You could've had some rhubarb by now.

- I'm not gonna go back there anymore.

That's what you said. You promised.

- I can't help it.

It's like doing a picture.

I gotta finish it off.

And I know someone who said
they were gonna get a job.

Yeah, a job.

And not just that.

They promised they were gonna get a job!

I don't see any signs of that, Harry!

Unless this is it.

Spying on me!

- I don't want you to
get caught. That's all.

And you will.

I know you will!

- I will if you hang around here!

- What's the point?!

All you nick is always
junk, is always crap.

What's the use of another
fucking tea cup (indistinct),

tea cup for fucks sake!

- A few leaves, read me future.

- [Harry] Your future's
behind bars, I'm telling you.

- Yeah, well, you've been using tea bags.

- Yeah, all right,
right, make a joke of it.

But there's somebody

coming here any minute.

I can feel it!

They're gonna come here

and they're gonna catch you red-handed.

- [Flint] What do you think of that?

- That's what I think of it!

- You got angy.

(flies buzzing)

Must've been his ticker.

- [Harry] They'll think you did it.

- Will you come and visit me in prison?

- [Harry] I don't know how
you can sleep at night.

- I can't worry.

I can ride a bike, but I can't worry.

I could even knit a jumper if
I tried, but I can't worry.

- [Harry] Leave it to me.

- Look at 'em.

Look at the little so-and-sos

making a good meal out of it, aren't they?

To say there was nothing there.

Well, look at that big red fucker.

- [Harry] It's all
that's come to visit him.

- Well, he wasn't exactly
the sociable type.

Sewed the curtains up
and crapped in the bath.

You should have seen what he ate.

Cupboards full of condensed
milk and cat food.

I've never even seen one bleeding cat.

I wouldn't stay there if I was you.

They might take a fancy to you.

(engine rumbling)

Old mother, Harry.

Remind me to buy you a wishing well.

- [Harry] Shh!

- Fuck me!

(people chattering)

- [Harry] What they doing?

- [Flint] Well, what does it looks like?

They're turfing us out.

- [Harry] I didn't see this coming.

- Well, that's God for you, isn't it?

You've got yourself a cheese sandwich,

he's got to have a pickle on it.

(metal clanking)

- Are you going to sleep?

- Sometimes I just have
to put me head down.

- Why don't we take it to the beach then?

Put it with the other pebbles.

(metal clanking)

Come on!

- [Flint] Where?

- [Harry] Well, I know where we are now.

I've worked it out.

- [Flint] You said that sodding miles ago.

- Well, yeah, but now I know.

- I'm hungry.

- We could have some berries.

- I want proper food.

Let's find a chicken, pick some eggs.

- Flint?

Flint?

Pudding.

(laughs)

I can't. I can't.

(shudders)

I can't.

- Yes, you can.
- I can't.

- I'll help you.

(both laughing)

(both yelling)

- Get off! (laughing)

(birds chirping)

(sheep baaing)

- Are you cold?
- I'm cold.

- I'm cold if you are cold.

- Hold on.

- What are you doing?

(laughing)

- It's my trick.

Learned it in the Navy.

- Oh, you were in the Navy, eh?

Well, I never.

- You know, I never knew that.

(both laughing)

- Harry.

There's something I've got to tell you.

- Oh, as long as it's warm.

- Promise you won't run away?

- Must be hot.

- I never was a scaffolder.

Does it matter?

I have been up ladders.

I was a window cleaner.

Does that count?

- As long as you're straight.

(both laughing)

(upbeat music)

(both laughing)

(waves crashing)