The Erlprince (2016) - full transcript
An exceptionally gifted teenage boy is about to start studying physics at university. He is working on the theory of parallel worlds, which are linked, he initially believes, by light. He has an extraordinary mind and a wounded soul, which his mother, who steers his life, is incapable of healing.
(wind blowing)
"Who rides there so late
through the night dark and drear?
The father it is,
with his infant so dear;
He holdeth the boy tightly
clasp'd in his arm,
He holdeth him safely,
he keepeth him warm."
Warm... warm...
(singer singing in foreign language)
Where're we going?
Home.
Again?
Where's our home?
Home?
Home.
Home?
- Home.
- Home?...
(engine roaring)
...I see. How old?
And nothing younger?
Just the one?
Because, actually...
I prefer them younger, so...
...the end of
the world is nigh?
"Preacher of the Universe",
as he calls himself,
Has changed his mind,
asserting that he made
A minor error and indicating
a new date for the Apocalypse.
It falls in just
twelve days time.
Well, What?
Just wanna hold it.
'I just wanted'.
I'll keep a hold on you.
"...Tis the aged grey willows..."
Get your legs off the dashboard.
- "Oh come, thou dear infant!..."
- What are you doing?
I told you to shift your legs!
"My father, my father,
he seizes me fast..."
- Turn that down.
- "Full sorely the Erl-King..."
- I told you to turn that down!
- "...has hurt me at last..."
"The father now gallops,
with terror half wild,
He grasps in his arms
the poor shuddering child;
He reaches his courtyard
with toil and with dread,
The child in his arms
he finds motionless..."
(dramatic music)
THE ERLPRINCE
(ringtone chiming in foreign language)
Hello.
- Ah, yes, good evening.
- Yes, good evening.
- Yes, it was me who phoned.
- Yes, it was me. Yes, yes.
- What can I say?
- What can I say about myself?
- Well, what can I say?
- Well... so... what?
- I'm experienced.
- I'm experienced.
- I've been doing it for... For...
- Well, for how long?
- ...for 14 years.
- For 14 years.
- I like spending time in...
- You like... shit.
- ...Drawing, playing with...
- Drawing, playing with booky-wookies...
- Yes.
- Just a moment... please.
Looking after children
gives me enormous joy
and tremendous satisfaction.
It's an extraordinary,
that... that...
...you watch yourself tying their
Shoelaces and then, in time,
you watch the child...
...the child doing it for themselves.
Or, for instance...
You help a child wee into the toilet
and then you see how
They're not scared of the toilet when
they'd been frightened of it before.
Yes.
Yes. I graduated
in early years education.
I've worked as an educator on...
nature camps and...
other camps.
Yes, yes. School camps.
Of course.
How about...
(intense music)
- [The Boy] One of the
greatest men of erudition.
In the history of humankind.
There's a competition coming up.
Write that paper!
And saving life, intelligent life
If he were capable of
comprehending his ideas.
But his discoveries changed the world
And everything around us.
(electric popping)
What problem could be so
difficult and so important
That this man of erudition
devoted years of his life
To solving it?
- Five, eight.
- [Computer] 11 days until
the end of the world.
- [The Boy] Who was he,
that mysterious man?
(birds squawking)
Where did you pick it?
Perfume at two hundred a bottle.
The square root of twenty-seven.
Work it out in your head.
You have to warm up.
Your mind has to start
calculating and thinking.
You don't answer, you don't eat.
Hologram.
The universe is a hologram.
An illusion.
A tunnel between universes.
Fabulous.
Gravitational waves,
ripples in the fabric of space.
Passing galaxies. Only light
can squeeze through the tunnel.
Nothing else.
Fantastic.
What happened?
Transported itself.
Transported itself where?
To another world.
A better one?
Perfect.
Where did you get this?
From a perfect world.
Who from?
Who from?
From someone.
Are you getting married?
Left.
- I know which one. I don't need to.
- You don't know. You do need to.
Left.
And give me the felt tip.
Which one?
The one you don't write with.
And not your leg.
- The square root of twenty-seven...
- 519615242.
Write.
- Kriskhow University gave a very precise
description of the supposed event.
An earthquake as a result of
which the Earth would collapse
In a fiery cataclysm
known as the big crunch.
But when the designated date passed
And the signs he had
predicted failed to ensue
he was asked to explain.
He was ready with an answer
to that difficult question.
- Such is the will of god.
He wishes to destroy this beautiful world.
I can't accept that, which is
why I'm leaving the church.
The end of the world has begun.
(mellow music)
♪ The end of the world has begun
in the spiritual dimension ♪
♪ Colors of fountains that
spreading aggression ♪
(boy humming)
(tense music)
It's terribly hot in here.
♪ The spiritual dimension ♪
♪ Colors of fountains and
spreading aggression ♪
(hair dryer blowing)
Like that.
You never sang to me.
Yes, I did. You were little.
You don't remember.
I do.
You never sang to me.
Did you get it?
I did. Three times a week.
Afternoons.
- I'm the best...
- Childminder, that's for sure.
Aren't you going to answer it?
I'm not. It's the bank.
Have you got a temperature?
Something stung me.
Something, or someone?
A bee.
Now?
What is it?
I don't know.
A sting.
A sting.
You know what you
have to wear tomorrow?
The Crown Princes are back.
And they'd like to send
their warmest greetings
to their parents and friends.
Flash your arses,
And remember that, today...
- [Computer] 10 days until
the end of the world.
(singer signing in foreign language)
I'd like to introduce
your new classmate.
Hi.
He's won numerous major school
competitions and distinctions.
And, as of tomorrow, he'll also be
a student at the Faculty of Physics...
(distorted voice speaking)
(ground cracking)
(dramatic music)
Strips.
(distorted voice speaking)
Licks.
Strips.
Bites.
Licks.
Doesn't know how to...
He'll only be coming to
some of our lessons.
And he'll be doing the
rest individually.
I hope you'll give him a warm
reception. There'll be plenty
Of chances for that. One
of them's a birthday party.
A ball. I'm inviting you all.
Shall we give out
the invitations.
A ball?
- What're you coming as?
- What am I coming as?
Who am I coming as?
- What?
- You're turning 15.
Exactly. I'm almost 15.
And I don't want balloons,
a ball and fancy dress.
Pretty.
- Who?
- Who?
- Pretty.
- Want to kiss her?
- What?
- Scared?
- No.
- I've invited her.
Mum.
I want some skates.
- Get in.
- But I want some skates.
- Are you listening?
- No way.
- Because?
- You're here to think
And not to go tearing around
getting your elbows skinned.
- You'll fall and bang your head and...
- And? And what? Goodbye talent?
Give it here.
Give it to me.
Hello?
Yes.
I'll hand you over.
The bank.
- I'm not here.
- Yes, you are.
Hello.
But you've already called me.
I see. All right.
When's the payment due?
No... I'll call you. All right?
I can't talk right
now, so excuse me.
Thank you.
Have a nice day.
There's not going
to be any ball.
There is.
Saturated acids: 4,8... 9.
Sugars: 17. Sugars: 15.
I'll take the aerosol.
Do you love me?
What?
Do you?
If you think I'm going
to buy you some skates,
Then you're wasting your time.
Frutti di Bosco.
Candied peel, nuts,
rich chocolate sauce,
Raisins from the sun-drenched
plantations of California.
So where's the 'Frutti'?
Have you chosen
a poem for school?
Nine days until the end of the world.
Why did you choose that poem?
I don't know.
Yet.
I'm sorry, but we have to go now.
What's that on your feet?
Skates.
So?
Is that it for now?
Yes.
- You'll hurt yourself.
- No, I won't.
Could have a word with you?
(fast paced music)
(singing in foreign language)
Look! Man,
get a load of this shit.
Fuck me, what's that lash-up?
How can you turn up here
in something like that?
Aren't you ashamed to
turn up in them?
Put some shoes on!
Or sandals!
Hey, were you born
with a mug like that?
Fuck off.
Fuck off.
(bell ringing)
(distant tire screeching)
(baby crying)
Hush now,
hush-a-bye. Hush.
Here I am. Yes.
Hush now.
It's so lovely.
Look.
See how lovely it is here.
So lovely.
What's wrong?
Just a little moment.
Hey!
Hey!
Shift yourself.
See how lovely it is, don't cry.
Look at the pretty sunshine...
What's going on here?
See what weirdy-weird
things are going on.
You could've shoved
it a bit harder.
See...
Smell it?
It's nappy time.
There we are. And off we go.
I'll be right back, be good.
- Not a dreamer, nor chap
who as a boy read
...Adrien-Marie Legendre's "Essay
on the Theory of Numbers".
Have you read it?
Do you speak French?
Anyway, Mr. Legendre's Essay
on the Theory of Numbers.
- 385 pages.
- In six days.
- Six surfaces through
which one cannot pass.
The upper surface, the lower surface.
The upper world, lower world.
A connection, a passage.
A tunnel between planes.
A tunnel of zero light-.
- Pleased to meet you.
- Hi.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
- I've been pondering as to
why the papers aren't signed.
Are they no good?
They aren't worthy of your name?
What are you working on at the moment?
My son has numerous projects.
- My son has many projects.
- Your son?
Ask the professor about
the European Physical Society award.
Ask.
- She wants to ask about the competition.
About the Annual European
Physical Society Award.
There's nothing in the regulations about
age, or academic degrees or titles.
Tell him that.
Tell him!
The regulations say nothing
about age and academic degrees
or titles.
- Yes.
So I think, I thought...
- What do you think or thought, madam?
- What did you think? He means...
- I know what I thought.
What's the prize?
A monetary award. A high one.
- This is very important for my son.
This award, this award for my son.
The award?
Or your son?
(singer singing in foreign language)
Sorry.
Yes.
- We're in the park.
- We're in the park.
- No, the weather's glorious.
- No, the weather's glorious.
- All right.
- All right.
- We'll be back before long.
- We won't be back.
All right.
I have to go, now.
You'll never see that child again.
Fuck ott.
- [Computer] Eight days
until the end ot the world.
(soft music)
"My son...
My son...
...wherefore seek'st
thou thy face thus to hide?
My son...
Look, Father...
Look, Father...
...the Erl-King is close
by our side!"
Articulate.
I don't understand a word.
"My son...
...wheretore seek'st
thou thy tace thus to hide?
Look, Father,
the Erl-King is close by our side!
Dost see not the Erl-King,
with crown and with train?
My son, 'tis the mist
rising over the plain."
Work on the tempo.
"My son wherefore seek'st thou
thy face thus to hide?
Look, Father...
Look... Mother.
The Erl-King,
is close by our side!
Dost see not the Erl-King,
with crown and with train?”
My son, 'tis the mist
rising over the plain."
This one? Or this one?
Well?
You look like a hooker.
Do you love me?
I do.
And I'll love you even when
your hair talls out,
Your boobs are drooping
and the end of the world is nigh.
And you?
(ringtone playing in foreign language)
"Oh, come, thou dear intant!
Oh come thou with me!
Full many a game
I will play there with thee;
On my strand, lovely flowers,
their blossoms unfold.
My mother shall grace thee
with garments of gold.”
- [Man] One of the greatest
men of erudition in
The history of humankind.
- The history of humankind.
- [Man] Few are capable of comprehending--
- [The Boy] Comprehending his ideas.
- But his discoveries--
- Changed the world
and everything around us.
- [Man] Once he was gone, his
unfinished notes continued
To lie on his desk.
What did that unfinished work concern?
What did those notes on the desk contain?
- [The Boy] A draft of
a unified field theory
which was intended to reveal
the nature of natural forces
ot light, ot gravitation.
From hydrogen atom to IC
1101, the largest galaxy
In the universe.
- [Man] Who was he, that mysterious man?
- [The Boy] The greatest
being in the universe,
Me and only me.
- How strange it must be, their world.
Spending your whole life in an aquarium.
Believing that the universe
is composed entirely of water.
Maybe they have the sense
that something more just might
Exist above the surface.
Me and the fish, just a
few centimeters separated.
And yet what divides us is a vast abyss.
We and the fish are in
two separate universes
Who never cross the borders.
And though the thinnest of
barriers lies between us.
The surface of the water.
What's that?
- [The Boy] A key.
- Light.
- It's the light
That's the link between dimensions.
Between parallel worlds.
- [Older Man] Is that
what you're working on?
- I want to use light, a
hologram to show what's hidden
in other worlds.
- Demonstrate we can
simultaneously obverse the real
states of several quantum systems.
Different states of material
objects, which might mean
We could see different
states of living objects.
- People.
(lasers humming)
I have a obtained the
hologram which I shall now
Begin to cool.
With liquid nitrogen at a
temperature of 77 Kelvin.
As the temperature drops,
the shape of the hologram
Will change until finally
it splits into two
Self contained holograms.
(steam hissing)
(glass shattering)
(crashing)
- [Computer] Seven days
until the end of the world.
What're you doing here?
Get out!
Fuck off!
Go on, fuck off!
Why did you say that
I'm working on something?
I'm not working on anything
and I'm not going to!
Haven't you got enough diplomas?
I don't give a shit about
all those competitions of yours.
A shit?
A shit!
- We'll see.
- We'll see.
(crowd goers shouting)
(dance music blaring)
(dancers panting)
(eerie music)
(energetic dance music)
I'm not doing that.
I'm not doing that!
Get off me!
Son!
Son!...
- ...and the other one.
- No.
- Mum!
- Easy, now.
- That's my mum.
- My sympathies.
You're welcome to the police
to collect your mum.
- That's my mum.
- Go home, son!
- Son?!
- Son, go home.
Looking for trouble,
chum? Well?
That how mummy's brought you up?
The other hand.
You're not to go there again.
You're not to go there again!
- I won't...
- Promise?
You're going to win the
European Physical Society award.
10.000 euros.
I love you and
I fancy something sweet.
Is that your son, sir?
Yes. His son.
Your father.
Are you going to sign, sir?
Yes or no?
(siren blaring)
(radio playing song in foreign language)
- [Computer] Six days
until the end of the world.
(crowd talking over one another)
(soft music)
"My father, my father,
And dost thou not hear.
The words that the Erl-King
now breathes in mine ear?
Be calm, dearest child,
'tis thy fancy deceives;
'This the sad wind that sighs
through the withering leaves."
(birds screeching)
(meat squelching)
(man whistling)
(dog barking)
(tense music)
(howling)
(wolves growling)
- I wanted to catch a fish.
I wanted to see what happens.
What happens when one
of them goes missing?
What?
Without leaving so
much as a trace
No.
It vanishes.
Goes on a journey.
(soft music)
Where?
Does anyone notice?
Thrown back into the water,
it suddenly appears again.
Where from?
From nowhere.
It's a miracle.
But for the fish, seeing's believing.
Who?
All of you, but me, I simply believe.
A mystery, a riddle, the
fish swimming in the lake.
The unfinished notes on Einstein's desk.
A solution, the theory of everything.
On the last day, in the
last hour, minute, second,
Intelligent life will escape.
- [Computer] Five days
until the end of the world.
- I want my papers.
- Did you manage to obtain
two independent holograms?
- And you?
Light isn't a leak, and you
knew that from the start.
- So, what is?
Alcohol.
After my mother's been drinking,
she always vanishes.
THE SCHOOL'S NUMBER ONE BITCH
What's the matter with your son?
He doesn't take
an active part in class,
He doesn't do his homework.
And now this...
What does it say?
The school's number one bitch.
I'd like to talk to his father.
(swooping music)
(singer singing in foreign language)
(both laughing)
(bell ringing)
Come on my birthday and you'll see,
the fun we'll have, just you and me.
Who was it?
A carpet salesman.
Well? I'm opening the portal!
I'm teleporting myself out of here!
(bell ringing)
(dog barking)
Keep still.
Let him take your scent.
Show him the palm of your hand.
Slowly.
Try stroking him.
What's the dog doing here?
It's his.
His birthday present.
- [Computer] Four days
until the end of the world.
(cups clinking)
(man whistling)
Sit.
Stay.
Get him!
Get him, dog!
Go on, get him!
Dog!
Smell.
You have to smell the same.
You mean I have to put on
those piss-covered trousers?
If you want him
to listen to you.
Well, dog?
Do you like me now?
Come on, you like me, don't you?
Dog! Do you like me?
No.
You know what?
I don't need some stupid mongrel
that just stuffs itself and craps.
I get the fact that the size of his turds
is something to be proud of.
Leave them on the pavement so
that everyone can admire them.
But roundworms and tapeworms
don't fall within the
circle of my interests.
If you think that this
is the way to win me round
And that I'll start
calling you Daddy,
Daddykins! Daddypoohs!
Fucker! Cocksucker!
Where's the salt?
In the shop.
You don't have to call me "Dad".
Need anything?
Yeah.
Coke.
My friends threw
a birthday party for me.
They quite simply couldn't
come the other day.
They apologized.
Threw another party for me.
There were loads of guests.
Loads.
We had cake and ice cream.
Frutti di Bosco.
Minus the Frutti...
(singer singing in foreign language)
(phone buzzing)
Dog!
Dog.
Dog!
(dog whimpering)
Open it.
(dog barking and growling)
Run some water into the bowl.
What're you doing?
Open it.
Pour it over the wound.
Grab him by the muzzle.
Stroke him.
Easy, little dog, easy.
If you win the European Physical
Society award, you can keep him.
Give me that.
Give it to me.
(dryer blowing)
42.
The distance between
the centre of a button
And the centre of the buttonhole
On the other side of the collar.
Are you coming tomorrow?
- [Computer] Three days
until the end of the world.
(soft music)
There's a garden
and a big house.
Dogs guarding the
garden, the house.
There's a boy who'd
like to have a dog.
And a promise
that he'll get one.
The bitch is going
to have a litter.
It's a question of waiting.
Waiting.
The boy watches.
He chooses.
One that smells
like a little dog-?
With soft fur.
They feed him farina,
fix up a bed for him.
Cuddle him, clean up his wee.
They've got a dog.
They take him for walks.
The father comes.
The mother doesn't.
The dog gets bigger
and stronger.
Tears up the cardboard
box he lives in.
There's not enough space.
He needs a garden.
A large one.
The dog doesn't like it
when people come home
or when they go out.
The dog has sharp teeth,
But the father's word is law.
The father sees to that.
The father makes sure of it.
The dog understands a lot.
It's obvious from his eyes.
Moist eyes.
Maybe the games with the water
from the cold well.
Or maybe that's
just the way he is.
The limp gets worse and worse.
The dog just lies there.
The dog limps.
One of his back paws.
Maybe the result of a game.
The mother brings him food.
The father wants to help,
To carry him somewhere, wash him,
move him, because he's in the way.
He blocks the hall.
Has to be stepped over.
Shifted.
Won't let the father
come near him.
Won't allow it.
The dog snarls at the father.
Bares his teeth and snarls.
The dog can't get up, so
the boy kinds of gets down,
The boy likes getting close to him
when he's lying there like that, tired.
He snuggles up to him.
Kind of crouches
and kind of kisses him.
And the dog loves that.
The boy strokes
the dog's head softly.
Softly.
And everything goes so quiet.
Silent.
The mother finds a phone number,
where anything can be dealt with.
She phones.
They take him away.
Take him.
He's gone.
Not buried anywhere.
There's no body.
Nobody wanted
to collect the remains.
The boy doesn't know.
He doesn't know.
He knows.
The dog disappeared.
Simply disappeared.
Let's go for a swim.
(water splashing)
(wind howling)
(men panting)
- Did you see?
- What?
- Did you see?
- No.
So open your eyes now.
(dramatic music)
(high whistling)
- [Computer] Two days
until the end of the world.
(hammering)
(dramatic music)
(dog barking)
Stay.
Stay!
Will you cut my hair?
Go and get the trimmer.
(razor buzzing)
"Wilt go, then, dear infant,
wilt go with me there?
My daughters shall tend thee
with sisterly care
My daughters by night
their glad festival keep,
They'll dance thee, and rock thee,
and sing thee to sleep."
- [Computer] One day until
the end of the world.
(audience applauding)
(audience murmuring)
- The ice is the body.
(steam hissing)
Vapor is the awareness.
The physical disintegration
of the body is not
the end of consciousness.
Consciousness exists
beyond time and space.
It is unattached to the
body, a quantum object
unconnected to anybody's.
In three dimensional
space, the ultimate power
Don't be so nervous.
Determining direction
in which a given quantum
System will head.
So, it is enough to change
one's state of concentration
And to move into another dimension.
It is that which is the
link between worlds.
After death, the consciousness
passes, neither to hell
Nor to heaven but to another world.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
(crowd murmuring)
- I've finished.
- No. No, you haven't.
- Get back there.
- No.
We had a deal.
Did we or didn't we?
You wanted the dog? You got the dog.
I agreed. I trusted you.
Did you go off on that trip?
I didn't phone, not once.
I didn't ask a single question.
- Get back there.
- No.
I'll hand that dog over
to the animal rescue.
I'll dump that lousy, stinking
mongrel at the rescue, understand?
I hate you.
(classical music)
Go and wait in the car.
Go.
Please.
Go away.
I'm going.
What are you doing?
I'm taking the tunnel.
Fuck off! I don't even want
to see your face!
See. Feel.
It's only a competition.
Another expanse, time.
Another space.
You're not going to tell me how to
bring up my son. He's my child.
Child.
Fuck off!
I know perfectly
well what he needs.
What?
Does a child going back...
Going back through the tunnel...
Does he return?
Does he return
to where he came from?
He doesn't want to.
(tires squealing)
(lively music on radio)
Stop!
Stop!
(foreign language over radio)
(singer singing in foreign language)
(ominous music)
"My father, my father,
And dost thou not see,
How the Erl-King his daughters
has brought here for me?
My darling, my darling,
I see it aright,
'Tis the aged grey willows
deceiving thy sight."
(panting)
♪ But that was a year
ago down in old Mexico ♪
♪ He just came to say ♪
♪ Say, say, say, say you will be mine ♪
- Hey, what do you think you're doing?
Get back in there.
- I'm finished.
- Oh no you haven't.
They're waiting for you.
(audience applauding)
♪ We wish you all the best,
we wish you lots of friends ♪
♪ We wish you everything you want ♪
- Come on, everybody!
♪ We wish you all the best,
we wish you lots of friends ♪
♪ We wish you everything you are ♪
Faster!
♪ Today's your happy day,
we know that you are great ♪
♪ You know we're always here for you ♪
We can do it!
♪ Today's your happy day,
we know that you are great ♪
♪ You know we're always here for you ♪
♪ I wish you all you want,
I wish you lots of love ♪
♪ I wish you lots of love and prayers ♪
(audience whooping and applauding)
- We've come to congratulate you.
♪ We're all here to say ♪
And to apologize.
♪ So, so sorry ♪
We quite simply couldn't
come the other day
♪ day, day, today ♪
(crowd murmuring)
(tense music)
- Happy birthday baby!
- One.
- [Crowd] Two, three!
(crowd cheering and murmuring)
- [Man] Go for it.
- Who's for ice cream?
- Frutti di Bosco, all around!
- Fruit without the fruits.
- This is great.
- Thank you.
(crowd murmuring)
(heavy breathing)
- [Woman] Remember how we met?
- [Man] By chance
- [Woman] Remember how
I fell in love with you?
- By chance, don't hold back.
Don't hold back, they are delicious.
I need everything, everything even you.
You need to look after the guests.
What about you?
- [The Boy] Hey.
- Us?
- We'll be there in a minute.
- A minute?
- [Both] A minute.
(tense music)
(static)
(heavy breathing)
(distorted voices)
(glass breaking)
(crowd vocalizing)
"Come with me,
Come with me,
no longer delay!
Or else, silly Child,
I will drag thee away,
O Father! O Father!
Now, now keep your hold!
The Erl-King has seiz'd me...
...his grasp is so cold!"
- [Computer] ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
Five, four, three, two.
(splashing)
"The father now gallops,
With terror half wild,
He grasps in his arms...
...the poor shuddering child;
He reaches his courtyard...
...with toil and with dread,
The child in his arms
he finds motionless, dead.
THE ERLPRINCE
(tense music)
"Who rides there so late
through the night dark and drear?
The father it is,
with his infant so dear;
He holdeth the boy tightly
clasp'd in his arm,
He holdeth him safely,
he keepeth him warm."
Warm... warm...
(singer singing in foreign language)
Where're we going?
Home.
Again?
Where's our home?
Home?
Home.
Home?
- Home.
- Home?...
(engine roaring)
...I see. How old?
And nothing younger?
Just the one?
Because, actually...
I prefer them younger, so...
...the end of
the world is nigh?
"Preacher of the Universe",
as he calls himself,
Has changed his mind,
asserting that he made
A minor error and indicating
a new date for the Apocalypse.
It falls in just
twelve days time.
Well, What?
Just wanna hold it.
'I just wanted'.
I'll keep a hold on you.
"...Tis the aged grey willows..."
Get your legs off the dashboard.
- "Oh come, thou dear infant!..."
- What are you doing?
I told you to shift your legs!
"My father, my father,
he seizes me fast..."
- Turn that down.
- "Full sorely the Erl-King..."
- I told you to turn that down!
- "...has hurt me at last..."
"The father now gallops,
with terror half wild,
He grasps in his arms
the poor shuddering child;
He reaches his courtyard
with toil and with dread,
The child in his arms
he finds motionless..."
(dramatic music)
THE ERLPRINCE
(ringtone chiming in foreign language)
Hello.
- Ah, yes, good evening.
- Yes, good evening.
- Yes, it was me who phoned.
- Yes, it was me. Yes, yes.
- What can I say?
- What can I say about myself?
- Well, what can I say?
- Well... so... what?
- I'm experienced.
- I'm experienced.
- I've been doing it for... For...
- Well, for how long?
- ...for 14 years.
- For 14 years.
- I like spending time in...
- You like... shit.
- ...Drawing, playing with...
- Drawing, playing with booky-wookies...
- Yes.
- Just a moment... please.
Looking after children
gives me enormous joy
and tremendous satisfaction.
It's an extraordinary,
that... that...
...you watch yourself tying their
Shoelaces and then, in time,
you watch the child...
...the child doing it for themselves.
Or, for instance...
You help a child wee into the toilet
and then you see how
They're not scared of the toilet when
they'd been frightened of it before.
Yes.
Yes. I graduated
in early years education.
I've worked as an educator on...
nature camps and...
other camps.
Yes, yes. School camps.
Of course.
How about...
(intense music)
- [The Boy] One of the
greatest men of erudition.
In the history of humankind.
There's a competition coming up.
Write that paper!
And saving life, intelligent life
If he were capable of
comprehending his ideas.
But his discoveries changed the world
And everything around us.
(electric popping)
What problem could be so
difficult and so important
That this man of erudition
devoted years of his life
To solving it?
- Five, eight.
- [Computer] 11 days until
the end of the world.
- [The Boy] Who was he,
that mysterious man?
(birds squawking)
Where did you pick it?
Perfume at two hundred a bottle.
The square root of twenty-seven.
Work it out in your head.
You have to warm up.
Your mind has to start
calculating and thinking.
You don't answer, you don't eat.
Hologram.
The universe is a hologram.
An illusion.
A tunnel between universes.
Fabulous.
Gravitational waves,
ripples in the fabric of space.
Passing galaxies. Only light
can squeeze through the tunnel.
Nothing else.
Fantastic.
What happened?
Transported itself.
Transported itself where?
To another world.
A better one?
Perfect.
Where did you get this?
From a perfect world.
Who from?
Who from?
From someone.
Are you getting married?
Left.
- I know which one. I don't need to.
- You don't know. You do need to.
Left.
And give me the felt tip.
Which one?
The one you don't write with.
And not your leg.
- The square root of twenty-seven...
- 519615242.
Write.
- Kriskhow University gave a very precise
description of the supposed event.
An earthquake as a result of
which the Earth would collapse
In a fiery cataclysm
known as the big crunch.
But when the designated date passed
And the signs he had
predicted failed to ensue
he was asked to explain.
He was ready with an answer
to that difficult question.
- Such is the will of god.
He wishes to destroy this beautiful world.
I can't accept that, which is
why I'm leaving the church.
The end of the world has begun.
(mellow music)
♪ The end of the world has begun
in the spiritual dimension ♪
♪ Colors of fountains that
spreading aggression ♪
(boy humming)
(tense music)
It's terribly hot in here.
♪ The spiritual dimension ♪
♪ Colors of fountains and
spreading aggression ♪
(hair dryer blowing)
Like that.
You never sang to me.
Yes, I did. You were little.
You don't remember.
I do.
You never sang to me.
Did you get it?
I did. Three times a week.
Afternoons.
- I'm the best...
- Childminder, that's for sure.
Aren't you going to answer it?
I'm not. It's the bank.
Have you got a temperature?
Something stung me.
Something, or someone?
A bee.
Now?
What is it?
I don't know.
A sting.
A sting.
You know what you
have to wear tomorrow?
The Crown Princes are back.
And they'd like to send
their warmest greetings
to their parents and friends.
Flash your arses,
And remember that, today...
- [Computer] 10 days until
the end of the world.
(singer signing in foreign language)
I'd like to introduce
your new classmate.
Hi.
He's won numerous major school
competitions and distinctions.
And, as of tomorrow, he'll also be
a student at the Faculty of Physics...
(distorted voice speaking)
(ground cracking)
(dramatic music)
Strips.
(distorted voice speaking)
Licks.
Strips.
Bites.
Licks.
Doesn't know how to...
He'll only be coming to
some of our lessons.
And he'll be doing the
rest individually.
I hope you'll give him a warm
reception. There'll be plenty
Of chances for that. One
of them's a birthday party.
A ball. I'm inviting you all.
Shall we give out
the invitations.
A ball?
- What're you coming as?
- What am I coming as?
Who am I coming as?
- What?
- You're turning 15.
Exactly. I'm almost 15.
And I don't want balloons,
a ball and fancy dress.
Pretty.
- Who?
- Who?
- Pretty.
- Want to kiss her?
- What?
- Scared?
- No.
- I've invited her.
Mum.
I want some skates.
- Get in.
- But I want some skates.
- Are you listening?
- No way.
- Because?
- You're here to think
And not to go tearing around
getting your elbows skinned.
- You'll fall and bang your head and...
- And? And what? Goodbye talent?
Give it here.
Give it to me.
Hello?
Yes.
I'll hand you over.
The bank.
- I'm not here.
- Yes, you are.
Hello.
But you've already called me.
I see. All right.
When's the payment due?
No... I'll call you. All right?
I can't talk right
now, so excuse me.
Thank you.
Have a nice day.
There's not going
to be any ball.
There is.
Saturated acids: 4,8... 9.
Sugars: 17. Sugars: 15.
I'll take the aerosol.
Do you love me?
What?
Do you?
If you think I'm going
to buy you some skates,
Then you're wasting your time.
Frutti di Bosco.
Candied peel, nuts,
rich chocolate sauce,
Raisins from the sun-drenched
plantations of California.
So where's the 'Frutti'?
Have you chosen
a poem for school?
Nine days until the end of the world.
Why did you choose that poem?
I don't know.
Yet.
I'm sorry, but we have to go now.
What's that on your feet?
Skates.
So?
Is that it for now?
Yes.
- You'll hurt yourself.
- No, I won't.
Could have a word with you?
(fast paced music)
(singing in foreign language)
Look! Man,
get a load of this shit.
Fuck me, what's that lash-up?
How can you turn up here
in something like that?
Aren't you ashamed to
turn up in them?
Put some shoes on!
Or sandals!
Hey, were you born
with a mug like that?
Fuck off.
Fuck off.
(bell ringing)
(distant tire screeching)
(baby crying)
Hush now,
hush-a-bye. Hush.
Here I am. Yes.
Hush now.
It's so lovely.
Look.
See how lovely it is here.
So lovely.
What's wrong?
Just a little moment.
Hey!
Hey!
Shift yourself.
See how lovely it is, don't cry.
Look at the pretty sunshine...
What's going on here?
See what weirdy-weird
things are going on.
You could've shoved
it a bit harder.
See...
Smell it?
It's nappy time.
There we are. And off we go.
I'll be right back, be good.
- Not a dreamer, nor chap
who as a boy read
...Adrien-Marie Legendre's "Essay
on the Theory of Numbers".
Have you read it?
Do you speak French?
Anyway, Mr. Legendre's Essay
on the Theory of Numbers.
- 385 pages.
- In six days.
- Six surfaces through
which one cannot pass.
The upper surface, the lower surface.
The upper world, lower world.
A connection, a passage.
A tunnel between planes.
A tunnel of zero light-.
- Pleased to meet you.
- Hi.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
- I've been pondering as to
why the papers aren't signed.
Are they no good?
They aren't worthy of your name?
What are you working on at the moment?
My son has numerous projects.
- My son has many projects.
- Your son?
Ask the professor about
the European Physical Society award.
Ask.
- She wants to ask about the competition.
About the Annual European
Physical Society Award.
There's nothing in the regulations about
age, or academic degrees or titles.
Tell him that.
Tell him!
The regulations say nothing
about age and academic degrees
or titles.
- Yes.
So I think, I thought...
- What do you think or thought, madam?
- What did you think? He means...
- I know what I thought.
What's the prize?
A monetary award. A high one.
- This is very important for my son.
This award, this award for my son.
The award?
Or your son?
(singer singing in foreign language)
Sorry.
Yes.
- We're in the park.
- We're in the park.
- No, the weather's glorious.
- No, the weather's glorious.
- All right.
- All right.
- We'll be back before long.
- We won't be back.
All right.
I have to go, now.
You'll never see that child again.
Fuck ott.
- [Computer] Eight days
until the end ot the world.
(soft music)
"My son...
My son...
...wherefore seek'st
thou thy face thus to hide?
My son...
Look, Father...
Look, Father...
...the Erl-King is close
by our side!"
Articulate.
I don't understand a word.
"My son...
...wheretore seek'st
thou thy tace thus to hide?
Look, Father,
the Erl-King is close by our side!
Dost see not the Erl-King,
with crown and with train?
My son, 'tis the mist
rising over the plain."
Work on the tempo.
"My son wherefore seek'st thou
thy face thus to hide?
Look, Father...
Look... Mother.
The Erl-King,
is close by our side!
Dost see not the Erl-King,
with crown and with train?”
My son, 'tis the mist
rising over the plain."
This one? Or this one?
Well?
You look like a hooker.
Do you love me?
I do.
And I'll love you even when
your hair talls out,
Your boobs are drooping
and the end of the world is nigh.
And you?
(ringtone playing in foreign language)
"Oh, come, thou dear intant!
Oh come thou with me!
Full many a game
I will play there with thee;
On my strand, lovely flowers,
their blossoms unfold.
My mother shall grace thee
with garments of gold.”
- [Man] One of the greatest
men of erudition in
The history of humankind.
- The history of humankind.
- [Man] Few are capable of comprehending--
- [The Boy] Comprehending his ideas.
- But his discoveries--
- Changed the world
and everything around us.
- [Man] Once he was gone, his
unfinished notes continued
To lie on his desk.
What did that unfinished work concern?
What did those notes on the desk contain?
- [The Boy] A draft of
a unified field theory
which was intended to reveal
the nature of natural forces
ot light, ot gravitation.
From hydrogen atom to IC
1101, the largest galaxy
In the universe.
- [Man] Who was he, that mysterious man?
- [The Boy] The greatest
being in the universe,
Me and only me.
- How strange it must be, their world.
Spending your whole life in an aquarium.
Believing that the universe
is composed entirely of water.
Maybe they have the sense
that something more just might
Exist above the surface.
Me and the fish, just a
few centimeters separated.
And yet what divides us is a vast abyss.
We and the fish are in
two separate universes
Who never cross the borders.
And though the thinnest of
barriers lies between us.
The surface of the water.
What's that?
- [The Boy] A key.
- Light.
- It's the light
That's the link between dimensions.
Between parallel worlds.
- [Older Man] Is that
what you're working on?
- I want to use light, a
hologram to show what's hidden
in other worlds.
- Demonstrate we can
simultaneously obverse the real
states of several quantum systems.
Different states of material
objects, which might mean
We could see different
states of living objects.
- People.
(lasers humming)
I have a obtained the
hologram which I shall now
Begin to cool.
With liquid nitrogen at a
temperature of 77 Kelvin.
As the temperature drops,
the shape of the hologram
Will change until finally
it splits into two
Self contained holograms.
(steam hissing)
(glass shattering)
(crashing)
- [Computer] Seven days
until the end of the world.
What're you doing here?
Get out!
Fuck off!
Go on, fuck off!
Why did you say that
I'm working on something?
I'm not working on anything
and I'm not going to!
Haven't you got enough diplomas?
I don't give a shit about
all those competitions of yours.
A shit?
A shit!
- We'll see.
- We'll see.
(crowd goers shouting)
(dance music blaring)
(dancers panting)
(eerie music)
(energetic dance music)
I'm not doing that.
I'm not doing that!
Get off me!
Son!
Son!...
- ...and the other one.
- No.
- Mum!
- Easy, now.
- That's my mum.
- My sympathies.
You're welcome to the police
to collect your mum.
- That's my mum.
- Go home, son!
- Son?!
- Son, go home.
Looking for trouble,
chum? Well?
That how mummy's brought you up?
The other hand.
You're not to go there again.
You're not to go there again!
- I won't...
- Promise?
You're going to win the
European Physical Society award.
10.000 euros.
I love you and
I fancy something sweet.
Is that your son, sir?
Yes. His son.
Your father.
Are you going to sign, sir?
Yes or no?
(siren blaring)
(radio playing song in foreign language)
- [Computer] Six days
until the end of the world.
(crowd talking over one another)
(soft music)
"My father, my father,
And dost thou not hear.
The words that the Erl-King
now breathes in mine ear?
Be calm, dearest child,
'tis thy fancy deceives;
'This the sad wind that sighs
through the withering leaves."
(birds screeching)
(meat squelching)
(man whistling)
(dog barking)
(tense music)
(howling)
(wolves growling)
- I wanted to catch a fish.
I wanted to see what happens.
What happens when one
of them goes missing?
What?
Without leaving so
much as a trace
No.
It vanishes.
Goes on a journey.
(soft music)
Where?
Does anyone notice?
Thrown back into the water,
it suddenly appears again.
Where from?
From nowhere.
It's a miracle.
But for the fish, seeing's believing.
Who?
All of you, but me, I simply believe.
A mystery, a riddle, the
fish swimming in the lake.
The unfinished notes on Einstein's desk.
A solution, the theory of everything.
On the last day, in the
last hour, minute, second,
Intelligent life will escape.
- [Computer] Five days
until the end of the world.
- I want my papers.
- Did you manage to obtain
two independent holograms?
- And you?
Light isn't a leak, and you
knew that from the start.
- So, what is?
Alcohol.
After my mother's been drinking,
she always vanishes.
THE SCHOOL'S NUMBER ONE BITCH
What's the matter with your son?
He doesn't take
an active part in class,
He doesn't do his homework.
And now this...
What does it say?
The school's number one bitch.
I'd like to talk to his father.
(swooping music)
(singer singing in foreign language)
(both laughing)
(bell ringing)
Come on my birthday and you'll see,
the fun we'll have, just you and me.
Who was it?
A carpet salesman.
Well? I'm opening the portal!
I'm teleporting myself out of here!
(bell ringing)
(dog barking)
Keep still.
Let him take your scent.
Show him the palm of your hand.
Slowly.
Try stroking him.
What's the dog doing here?
It's his.
His birthday present.
- [Computer] Four days
until the end of the world.
(cups clinking)
(man whistling)
Sit.
Stay.
Get him!
Get him, dog!
Go on, get him!
Dog!
Smell.
You have to smell the same.
You mean I have to put on
those piss-covered trousers?
If you want him
to listen to you.
Well, dog?
Do you like me now?
Come on, you like me, don't you?
Dog! Do you like me?
No.
You know what?
I don't need some stupid mongrel
that just stuffs itself and craps.
I get the fact that the size of his turds
is something to be proud of.
Leave them on the pavement so
that everyone can admire them.
But roundworms and tapeworms
don't fall within the
circle of my interests.
If you think that this
is the way to win me round
And that I'll start
calling you Daddy,
Daddykins! Daddypoohs!
Fucker! Cocksucker!
Where's the salt?
In the shop.
You don't have to call me "Dad".
Need anything?
Yeah.
Coke.
My friends threw
a birthday party for me.
They quite simply couldn't
come the other day.
They apologized.
Threw another party for me.
There were loads of guests.
Loads.
We had cake and ice cream.
Frutti di Bosco.
Minus the Frutti...
(singer singing in foreign language)
(phone buzzing)
Dog!
Dog.
Dog!
(dog whimpering)
Open it.
(dog barking and growling)
Run some water into the bowl.
What're you doing?
Open it.
Pour it over the wound.
Grab him by the muzzle.
Stroke him.
Easy, little dog, easy.
If you win the European Physical
Society award, you can keep him.
Give me that.
Give it to me.
(dryer blowing)
42.
The distance between
the centre of a button
And the centre of the buttonhole
On the other side of the collar.
Are you coming tomorrow?
- [Computer] Three days
until the end of the world.
(soft music)
There's a garden
and a big house.
Dogs guarding the
garden, the house.
There's a boy who'd
like to have a dog.
And a promise
that he'll get one.
The bitch is going
to have a litter.
It's a question of waiting.
Waiting.
The boy watches.
He chooses.
One that smells
like a little dog-?
With soft fur.
They feed him farina,
fix up a bed for him.
Cuddle him, clean up his wee.
They've got a dog.
They take him for walks.
The father comes.
The mother doesn't.
The dog gets bigger
and stronger.
Tears up the cardboard
box he lives in.
There's not enough space.
He needs a garden.
A large one.
The dog doesn't like it
when people come home
or when they go out.
The dog has sharp teeth,
But the father's word is law.
The father sees to that.
The father makes sure of it.
The dog understands a lot.
It's obvious from his eyes.
Moist eyes.
Maybe the games with the water
from the cold well.
Or maybe that's
just the way he is.
The limp gets worse and worse.
The dog just lies there.
The dog limps.
One of his back paws.
Maybe the result of a game.
The mother brings him food.
The father wants to help,
To carry him somewhere, wash him,
move him, because he's in the way.
He blocks the hall.
Has to be stepped over.
Shifted.
Won't let the father
come near him.
Won't allow it.
The dog snarls at the father.
Bares his teeth and snarls.
The dog can't get up, so
the boy kinds of gets down,
The boy likes getting close to him
when he's lying there like that, tired.
He snuggles up to him.
Kind of crouches
and kind of kisses him.
And the dog loves that.
The boy strokes
the dog's head softly.
Softly.
And everything goes so quiet.
Silent.
The mother finds a phone number,
where anything can be dealt with.
She phones.
They take him away.
Take him.
He's gone.
Not buried anywhere.
There's no body.
Nobody wanted
to collect the remains.
The boy doesn't know.
He doesn't know.
He knows.
The dog disappeared.
Simply disappeared.
Let's go for a swim.
(water splashing)
(wind howling)
(men panting)
- Did you see?
- What?
- Did you see?
- No.
So open your eyes now.
(dramatic music)
(high whistling)
- [Computer] Two days
until the end of the world.
(hammering)
(dramatic music)
(dog barking)
Stay.
Stay!
Will you cut my hair?
Go and get the trimmer.
(razor buzzing)
"Wilt go, then, dear infant,
wilt go with me there?
My daughters shall tend thee
with sisterly care
My daughters by night
their glad festival keep,
They'll dance thee, and rock thee,
and sing thee to sleep."
- [Computer] One day until
the end of the world.
(audience applauding)
(audience murmuring)
- The ice is the body.
(steam hissing)
Vapor is the awareness.
The physical disintegration
of the body is not
the end of consciousness.
Consciousness exists
beyond time and space.
It is unattached to the
body, a quantum object
unconnected to anybody's.
In three dimensional
space, the ultimate power
Don't be so nervous.
Determining direction
in which a given quantum
System will head.
So, it is enough to change
one's state of concentration
And to move into another dimension.
It is that which is the
link between worlds.
After death, the consciousness
passes, neither to hell
Nor to heaven but to another world.
Thank you.
Goodbye.
(crowd murmuring)
- I've finished.
- No. No, you haven't.
- Get back there.
- No.
We had a deal.
Did we or didn't we?
You wanted the dog? You got the dog.
I agreed. I trusted you.
Did you go off on that trip?
I didn't phone, not once.
I didn't ask a single question.
- Get back there.
- No.
I'll hand that dog over
to the animal rescue.
I'll dump that lousy, stinking
mongrel at the rescue, understand?
I hate you.
(classical music)
Go and wait in the car.
Go.
Please.
Go away.
I'm going.
What are you doing?
I'm taking the tunnel.
Fuck off! I don't even want
to see your face!
See. Feel.
It's only a competition.
Another expanse, time.
Another space.
You're not going to tell me how to
bring up my son. He's my child.
Child.
Fuck off!
I know perfectly
well what he needs.
What?
Does a child going back...
Going back through the tunnel...
Does he return?
Does he return
to where he came from?
He doesn't want to.
(tires squealing)
(lively music on radio)
Stop!
Stop!
(foreign language over radio)
(singer singing in foreign language)
(ominous music)
"My father, my father,
And dost thou not see,
How the Erl-King his daughters
has brought here for me?
My darling, my darling,
I see it aright,
'Tis the aged grey willows
deceiving thy sight."
(panting)
♪ But that was a year
ago down in old Mexico ♪
♪ He just came to say ♪
♪ Say, say, say, say you will be mine ♪
- Hey, what do you think you're doing?
Get back in there.
- I'm finished.
- Oh no you haven't.
They're waiting for you.
(audience applauding)
♪ We wish you all the best,
we wish you lots of friends ♪
♪ We wish you everything you want ♪
- Come on, everybody!
♪ We wish you all the best,
we wish you lots of friends ♪
♪ We wish you everything you are ♪
Faster!
♪ Today's your happy day,
we know that you are great ♪
♪ You know we're always here for you ♪
We can do it!
♪ Today's your happy day,
we know that you are great ♪
♪ You know we're always here for you ♪
♪ I wish you all you want,
I wish you lots of love ♪
♪ I wish you lots of love and prayers ♪
(audience whooping and applauding)
- We've come to congratulate you.
♪ We're all here to say ♪
And to apologize.
♪ So, so sorry ♪
We quite simply couldn't
come the other day
♪ day, day, today ♪
(crowd murmuring)
(tense music)
- Happy birthday baby!
- One.
- [Crowd] Two, three!
(crowd cheering and murmuring)
- [Man] Go for it.
- Who's for ice cream?
- Frutti di Bosco, all around!
- Fruit without the fruits.
- This is great.
- Thank you.
(crowd murmuring)
(heavy breathing)
- [Woman] Remember how we met?
- [Man] By chance
- [Woman] Remember how
I fell in love with you?
- By chance, don't hold back.
Don't hold back, they are delicious.
I need everything, everything even you.
You need to look after the guests.
What about you?
- [The Boy] Hey.
- Us?
- We'll be there in a minute.
- A minute?
- [Both] A minute.
(tense music)
(static)
(heavy breathing)
(distorted voices)
(glass breaking)
(crowd vocalizing)
"Come with me,
Come with me,
no longer delay!
Or else, silly Child,
I will drag thee away,
O Father! O Father!
Now, now keep your hold!
The Erl-King has seiz'd me...
...his grasp is so cold!"
- [Computer] ten, nine, eight, seven, six,
Five, four, three, two.
(splashing)
"The father now gallops,
With terror half wild,
He grasps in his arms...
...the poor shuddering child;
He reaches his courtyard...
...with toil and with dread,
The child in his arms
he finds motionless, dead.
THE ERLPRINCE
(tense music)