The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1976) - full transcript
Widowed now for close to four years, Anne Osborne, who now operates the antiques shop formerly owned by her husband David, and their son, Jonathan Osborne, live in a small, English seaside town. Both Anne and Jonathan still miss David even after all these years. Going through puberty, Jonathan uses something he finds in his bedroom to explore the emerging thoughts of sexuality going through his mind. Although Anne knows Jonathan sneaks out of the house early in the morning against her orders, she is unaware that he is attending meetings of a secret society of five boys, who refer to each other only by a cardinal number, their rank within the group as assigned by "The Chief", number one. The Chief is an arrogant, sadistic pseudo-intellectual who needs to show his power and dominance over the other four in whatever means possible. He largely considers them immature as he spouts off his Nietzschean philosophies, centering on that adults create rules that ultimately disrupt the natural order of life. When the US based merchant ship the Belle docks in port, Anne and Jonathan meet Second Officer Jim Cameron. Jonathan, who is fascinated by the sea, becomes enamored with what Jim represents to him, the natural order the Chief speaks of, specifically of the sea. Anne becomes romantically involved with Jim while he is in town. Their encounters lead to Jim critically evaluating his life and future. As Jonathan believes Jim may be attempting to disrupt that natural order he so admires, Jonathan believes it is his duty to change Jim back to restore that natural order, and if that is not possible, to correct the impending disorder by whatever means necessary.
You're late, number three.
Sorry.
Sorry's not good enough.
Where's number five?
I think his dad's on to him.
On to him or not,
his responsibility is to us.
Ready?
All right then, over here.
Get round that end.
God!
Look at that.
I thought it was locked up
with the other medical books.
It was.
Father keeps the key
in a little secret drawer in his desk.
There are keys to all sorts
of things in that drawer.
Oh.
Yuck.
Wow.
Whoal
is that how it's done then?
Wait, wait, wait.
Wow.
God, god, just look at that.
On.
Doesn't look as if
they're enjoying it much.
Hold on, hold on.
Not so...
Hey.
You bloody twits!
Is that all you can do?
Well, what do you expect?
Come on, let's see the rest.
I expect a little intellect.
I'm ashamed of you, all of you.
I hope your boyish curiosity
about such trivia is satisfied.
I can see there's a long way
to go before you're ready.
Any of you.
Idiots!
Bloody idiots!
Jonathan.
Just stay right there, young man.
Mrs. Osborne.
He's been out again.
Oh, Jon-0, Jon-o0, Jon-o.
That's twice in the last week.
Where do you go?
Just to the beach, mother.
With whom?
Who do you meet there?
No one.
You're lying.
No one, honest.
Go to your room this instant.
Quick march.
I have lost all Patience
with you, Jonathan.
Give me the key.
This door will be locked tonight
and every night for a month.
I will not have this lying!
Do you hear me, I won't have it.
Good night, Elisabeth.
Good night, Mrs. Osborne.
The chief is right.
The behavior of adults is awful at times.
Subjected to cruel questioning.
The chief's identity
must remain secret at all costs.
I've been locked in my room.
The chief brought a book tonight.
It had,
it was...
Good morning.
Good morning, Jonathan.
Here's your porridge,
there's rolls in the oven.
Good morning, Jon-o.
There's some chicken in the fridge.
We'll be away most of the day.
The boys are going
over to blackpool sands.
I thought...
Jon-0, you will spend
today inside this house,
doing your homework and
putting your room in order.
Woe betide you if you step
one foot outside the door.
Do you understand me?
May I have my kiss?
Wonder if I am being too hard?
If you'll excuse me, Mrs. Osborne,
I sometimes think you're not
being hard enough on the lad.
He has a mind of his own, that one.
You'll have to hold a tight rein,
tight rein for his own good.
Damn, damn, damn.
Good morning, Richard.
Good morning.
Good morning, Mary.
Good morning, Mrs. Osborne.
Who forgot the alarm?
Sorry, it's my fault.
Bad night, moppet?
Oh, dear.
Does it show that much?
The vicissitudes of puberty.
Yours?
Jonathan's and mine.
So this is the lot?
Yes.
This looks interesting.
I like that very much.
Have a look at the regency.
Rosewood, and all the
brass inlay is intact.
Mmm!
How much did we have to pay for this?
Lot 278.
Oh, clever, Richard, aren't you?
Astute would be more accurate.
Well now, we'll just have to see
how outrageous we can be
with the London buyers.
I must say, Jon-o,
I have never seen your
room in such good order.
Homework easy?
What else did you do today?
Got into my book on flag signals.
Pick a color.
Red.
Right.
A red burgee means
I'm taking in or discharging explosives.
Red and white quartered,
you're standing into danger.
Red-yellow, man overboard.
That's very good, Jon.
Black or white?
Oh, uh, black.
Black too.
You'll have chocolate.
Uh,
you cheat just like your father did.
Do you still miss him?
Yes.
Very much.
You?
I dream about him sometimes.
Good dreams or bad?
Good.
We're in the dinghy fishing,
walking along the beach.
Whose go is it?
Mine.
Jonathan, have you got
nothing to tell me about last night?
Nothing at all?
It, it would be telling.
On whom, Jon-0?
I'm sorry, mother.
Please.
Amoeba proteus, belonging
to the sub-kingdom protozoa.
It feeds by phagocytosis
ingesting minute plants
such as desmids or small organic fragments.
It multiplies by the simplest form
of asexual reproduction called fission.
When conditions are good,
amoeba enlarges rapidly,
ceases activity and forms
itself into a round shape.
The process is as follows,
the pseudopodia come together
drawing food down into a food vacuole
formed by the enclosure
of environmental water.
Once trapped and enclosed,
digestion of food begins.
Amoeba live and move
with the tips of several
pseudopodia in contact with the substrate.
Who did it?
Answer Mel
stop it!
You look like a bloody easter egg.
You do now, you really do.
It's not funny.
When I call a meeting, it means everyone.
I expect you to remember
that next time, number five.
I tried to get out, I got caught.
I'm not interested in your excuses.
I'll never get this off!
Punishment completed.
We meet Friday after school at my house.
I advise you to be there, number five.
I advise all of you.
The chief says
we must have strong, hard hearts.
He's right.
I sometimes think of my heart
as an anchor of stainless steel
that sinks into the mud of the estuary,
into the broken glass and
tins and bottle cans.
Pure, shiny, never rusting.
Last night, mother stood
for the longest moment
looking out to sea.
Then something happened.
I can't explain.
It was strange,
sad.
What's about Mr. wickstead?
Gone for the day.
And father's at his surgery.
Don't worry, we'll be alone.
Number two?
All right then.
Topics for discussion.
Suggestions?
Loyalty amongst friends.
How about headmaster's nose?
How about his ass?
Idiots.
What about the power of the sea?
My god, number three.
You're the romantic, aren't you?
The pure and perfect order of the world.
Comments?
Didn't think so.
Very well.
The world is like
amoeba proteus eating its victim.
Now, do you think that the amoeba worries
that its victim might not like being eaten?
Ridiculous!
That would mean it has a
sense of right and wrong.
A sense of what adults called morality.
I'm telling you, there's no such thing.
Morality is nothing more
than a set of rules
adults have invented to protect themselves.
A set of rules for the weak.
You see, if you're strong,
really strong, you don't need protection.
You're not afraid of a world
where the only reality
is life feeding life,
weak life feeding strong life.
Like that amoeba.
It's pure and perfect.
It acts the way it does
because of what it is.
We have to be like that.
And there's only one way to do it.
Break the rules one by one.
Case in point.
You might not believe it,
but poor old Cedric
here used to hunt for
his food in the woods.
But now he's in the house
almost continually.
He no longer hunts.
He's lost his purity,
his sense of the order of things,
betrayed them for a saucer of warm milk
and a rub behind the ear.
What you see here is a fat,
soft cat posing as life.
Do you understand?
My god!
My god, you're thick!
Bloody cretins, the lot of youl!
You don't have any idea of
what I'm talking about,
do you?
Do you?
Get out.
Go on, get out!
You'll never understand me, any of you!
Stupid!
Stupid!
Stupid!
She's a big one!
I'll be right back.
When did she come in?
Came in this morning
when you were at school.
Oh, mother, I love you.
Thank you.
I love you too.
The captain's busy,
Mr. Cameron will take care of you.
Thank you.
Yes?
I'm Anne Osborne and
this is my son Jonathan.
I have a note from Mr. Chapman,
the harbormaster.
You want a kind of a tour?
Well, yes, if you're not too busy.
Guess I can show you around.
Thank you.
Watch your step.
Ladder's kind of slippery.
Exhaust piston.
Bnw, 752,000, two-stroke.
What?
Bnw 750s.
What happened?
We cracked a sonar liner last night
at about 10 miles out.
Where were you going?
Plymouth.
We were lucky to get in here.
That way.
Boy knows this stuff, doesn't he?
Does he want to be a deep water sailor?
Well, it's a miserable life.
We've coming up starboard fast.
Hard left, mister.
Hard left.
That's it.
Half a head, now all stop.
Did I do all right?
Great.
Just aim for the light of the lighthouse.
Thank you very much, Mr. Cameron.
It was wonderful.
Don't mention it.
Thank you, it was very good of you.
Pleasure.
Good bye.
Bye.
Mr. Cameron, I know all
this was an imposition,
and I'd like,
well, I'd like to show my gratitude
by inviting you to dinner tonight,
if you're free.
It is Mrs. Osborne, isn't it?
I am a widow, Mr. Cameron.
I've got watch six to eight.
Five past eight on the quay?
And she had marconi type radar
and vhf on the bridge and smoke detectors.
And the depth finder
and the sonar, beep, beep, beep!
And the autopilot.
And the barigrade!
Barograph.
Oh, whatever.
That's to measure up
the straight pressure.
And Mr. Cameron, he's splendid, isn't he?
Splendid!
The belle, that's her name.
Isn't she super?
She's super!
Well, I'm away to my sister's.
I'll see you Monday morning.
All right.
Give her my regards.
Bye, Mrs. Palmer.
Oh, bye.
And you behave yourself.
1 will.
Did you see the scar above his eye?
Bet he got it knife-fighting.
I bet anything!
Fantastic!
Fantastic!
Mother, thank you for today.
Thank you very much.
Hey, you're welcome.
You're welcome very much.
Your bill, sir.
I hope you enjoyed your meal.
We did.
Thank you very much.
He was such a patient man.
It happened quite suddenly.
Two days, some kind of occlusion.
Whenever he gained consciousness,
he'd smile and apologize for being ill.
When he felt it coming on,
he just said goodbye, simply,
as though he were taking
the next train to London.
Anyway, I took over the shop.
Life here can be a bit
claustrophobic at times
but there's always the
countryside and the sea.
Strange, I haven't spoken
of any of these things
to anybody since David died.
That was over three and a half years ago.
There's a signal that's sent between
vessels passing on the high seas.
Where bound?
Jonathan's convinced that you got
that scar in a knife fight.
What's your name?
Jim.
I ran into a hatch after a
three-day drunk in Panama.
We had a little place just
outside of Topeka, Kansas.
You know where that is?
Just about 2,000 miles
from the nearest ocean.
What made you go to sea, then?
Just that, I guess.
Long nights on a farm reading
Jack London, Conrad,
people doing things I'd never done,
places I'd never seen.
The sea to me was the unknown,
like deep space.
If you work the land,
you accept its limits, boundaries.
You're buried where you're born.
Anyway, one day I knew that.
I knew it was time to leave.
And it was good for a while.
And then?
It's crazy.
You get the land that never changes
and the sea's never the same.
And after you sail a while,
you come to feel like
you don't belong in either place.
Yet you stay.
Why?
You get caught by it.
By what?
By the idea of it, I guess.
Ah, dreams of glory.
Something like that.
Is there something else?
Did I say something funny?
It's my shark.
What?
My dream of glory if you
want to call it that.
I don't understand.
I saw it off the azores
on a midnight watch three years ago.
Grey shark coming up the ship,
from way out on the horizon,
and the fin was shining.
I thought it was the moonlight,
and then as we got closer,
I could see the whole shark was glowing.
Just kept getting closer.
I mean, dead on.
And then what happened?
Nothing.
I guess it's still out there.
Will you stay with me tonight?
You knew I'd ask, didn't you?
When?
When you asked me for supper.
I knew when I saw you
coming out of the cabin.
You're off, then?
Back at six.
Bye.
Bye.
And he looked fantastic.
His muscles, scars all over his body,
and then he took her to bed
just like the picture in your book.
He's wonderfull
I have a feeling he's
going to do something,
something great.
Like what?
What he'll do is get
into your mom's knickers.
It doesn't matter.
He is part of the pure and
perfect order of things.
The sea...
Rot!
Nothing more than another
broken-down adult.
You don't understand.
Is that right?
Since when is it your place to tell me
what I understand and what I don't?
I just meant that...
You're ridiculous.
There's no such thing as a hero.
Adults just pose as these things.
You're a child, number three.
A soppy, ignorant child.
I am not!
Prove it.
Any time.
And the rest of you,
want to prove it, too?
I'm game.
Yes.
Sure.
All right.
We'll see.
We'll just see.
That way!
Come on, there he is.
Grab him.
Get him!
Over here!
Come on, he's over here.
Come on, he's over here.
Come on, he's over here.
Grab him!
You did that on purpose.
Did not, you clod!
I'll get you for that, number three!
Get this instead.
Get him!
Get him!
Quickly.
I'll get you, I'll get you.
Oh, god!
Stop it!
Stop it!
Damn you.
What the hell do you think you're doing?
Make a line across there.
Stay together.
Get that cat now!
He won't get past us.
Here, Cedric.
Come on, Cedric.
Come on, Cedric.
Come on, come on.
Come on.
Pssst.
Come on, Cedric.
Pssst.
Cedric?
Got him!
I got him!
Gloves.
I got him, it was me that got him.
Oh, shut up.
Milk.
All of it.
Hold him.
It won't take long.
He's out.
Over here.
Hold his legs.
I told you, it sometimes becomes
necessary to take things apart,
like rules and other things,
to find truth,
to find the center of reality.
Watch closely now.
The external abdominal muscles!
Wonderful, isn't it?
We're almost there.
Serratus and the intercostals.
The pericardium.
You've seen life posing as a cat.
Now,
now I'll show you,
There.
This is the core,
the center of life that
makes the pose possible.
Beautiful.
Isn't it beautiful?
Fantastic.
Hey, Jonathan.
This is Mr. Cameron,
second officer of the belle.
Jim.
Maybe I can explain
Jonathan's reluctance
in introducing us, Jim.
We five have a sort of a secret club.
We don't use names, we refer to each other
by number to maintain security.
I'm sure you understand.
Got you.
Well, we must be off.
Pleasure to have met you, Jim.
Anchors away, mates!
Gotcha!
Gotcha!
Gotchal
The boy who spoke to you,
you won't tell mother I
was with him, will you?
Why?
She doesn't like him much.
Says he's too precocious for his own good.
She might be right.
He's just got a first-rate mind.
Sometimes it's hard for adults
to understand that in children.
You won't tell, will you?
When do you leave?
Tomorrow morning, as
soon as we get the tugs.
You doing anything now?
Let's go around the point,
I got something I want to show you.
Is it hard to
learn all those instruments?
No, it just takes a little time.
You know, men were at sea
about 1,000 years before
the magnetic compass.
A sailor could read the clouds
and the wind, the stars.
He could tell a lot just by
looking at the moon, a rainbow.
You leave in the morning.
Shhh.
I bet sailors get bored
with the ladies saying that all the time.
I'll bet you say that to all the sailors.
I've never had a sailor.
I've never had a lady.
Isolated!
I've been left alone with Mrs. Palmer,
while they've gone off to some hotel.
Blunder, a stupid blunder!
He's tampering with the perfection.
It's wrong, dangerous.
If you feel like it, you can write to me
at the address that I gave you.
Bye, Jim.
Bye, Jim.
Hang in there, skipper.
"The sea was running like huge mountains,
"and we had to hold the
engines at high revs
"to keep the ship into the wind.
"And it comes on like that.
"The storm nearly wrecked the belle."
And then?
He survived.
Else number three's precious hero
wouldn't have been able to write.
These letters,
this profuse volume of literature
well, it seems a little odd
from a seafaring man, doesn't it?
What do you mean?
Sounds to me as if he's
planning to come back.
That's a liel
he's never once mentioned coming back.
Of course.
I'm sure he's much cleverer than that.
Take that back.
You forget yourself, number three.
Take it back, I said.
The hell I will.
Stop it, I say!
Now who's responsible?
Who struck the first blow?
I did.
Then I'm sure you're willing
to accept the consequences.
You lot outside.
Move along.
Be quick about it.
Go on!
Where's that?
Uruguay.
Here, blow.
Nambia.
Namibia.
Where is Namibia?
Just below Angola.
Ah, just below Angola.
Tis.
Is it?
Yes, mother.
It's the belle.
Oh, you smell good.
How's Jonathan?
Jonathan is in bed with a cold.
Elisabeth, this is Mr. Cameron.
Jim, this is Mrs. Palmer.
Hello.
How do you do?
Uh, Mr. Cameron
will be staying with us for a few days.
I'll make up the guest room.
That won't be necessary.
Shall I make some tea?
Not for me.
Jim?
No, thanks, no.
Will you be eating at home?
Yes.
Well, then I better phone the butcher's.
Excuse me.
Why don't you go
upstairs and see Jonathan?
I won't be a minute.
Yes?
Hiya, skipper.
He's for you, from piranha.
Thank you.
How are you feeling?
I had a temperature yesterday.
You ought to drink lot of orange juice.
Vitamin c.
It works.
Hey, what's this?
Hey, this is pretty good,
just about got it perfect.
La across north pacific, right to Yokohama.
What's that?
It's an iguana.
The Indians wear them on their heads
during their ceremonies.
You ought to see them, Jonathan,
they got Jaguar's teeth around...
When will you be sailing again, Mr.
Cameron?
Jonathan.
I don't really know yet.
We got to unload,
pick up some navigational gear.
I have a terrible headache, mother.
Well, go downstairs and ask Mrs. Palmer
to give you some aspirin, and
then have a little sleep.
Come on, Jim.
See you later.
I have to go.
What?
I have to sign some drafts
in the shop before the bank closes.
I have to, honestly.
But I'll be through by four.
There's a tea shop.
Ferguson's.
Tea shop?
Yes, it's opposite the chart house.
I'l meet you there at four o'clock.
Oh, Jim.
Four o'clock.
Great place for a funeral.
I'm showing you off.
To them?
What the hell do they matter?
That's the whole point.
They don't anymore.
Hey, I want you.
Let's get out of here.
Indulge me just for a few minutes more.
Either we leave here right now...
Or what?
Okay.
Jiml!
Don't jump around now.
Just act natural.
Jim, please.
For god's sake.
Mm-mm.
You want to stay here, we'll stay.
Jim.
Please.
Jim, I beg you.
It's too late.
Easy now, you're gonna attract attention.
Just relax.
I can't.
Please.
Shhh.
Please.
Shhh.
Out there, I kept thinking
about how silky you feel,
the sounds you make, the smell of you.
More cakes, my dear?
No, thank you.
We're fine, just fine.
Easy now.
That's it.
You're getting it.
Good girl.
Did you see your shark this time?
I just kept thinking about you
and how far away you were.
I could see myself,
and all that time at sea,
loving something that
doesn't love you back.
Just going round and 'round,
year after year, until you.
All of a sudden I was in a
place I'd never been before.
I didn't have any choice.
You see, I've been pushing at that door.
It opens in to feelings,
feeling things that I've never felt,
that I didn't even know you could feel.
And you did that.
And I need you in my life.
Because I need that place.
Marry me.
Christ, say something.
When?
What?
When do you want to marry me?
Are you sure?
Yes!
And you?
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh.
Jonathan.
Oh, I must find the right time for that.
We got time.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
I'll tell you, no matter
how long you've been at sea,
you'll never get used to the big storms.
The absolute terror,
the savagery of all that power
and the beauty of it,
till you know it's over.
But this one was like
nothing I'd ever seen.
In the beginning there was
nothing you could see,
but the barometer kept
dropping like somebody
pulled the cork out of a bottle.
We started taking cross swells
and the ship was getting water on her deck,
so we put her into the
swells trying to keep way.
Seas got heavier,
there was tons of water coming down on her,
pounding her decks,
tearing at the hatches.
We lost a boat, then another one.
The rails were twisted,
bridge ladders gone.
She'd go down in the gully of a wave
like she was going over
the edge of the world.
I had to go up on the
deck, check some hatches
and I got trapped hanging
onto a ring bolt for my life.
I thought, this time the old girl's had it.
No way she can make it through this.
But of course she did.
Because god protects the
fools and the sailors.
It's wrong of him to come back.
He's tampering with the perfection!
Can't he see that?
What's he doing here?
One Indian story, one storm,
like a peddler with a pack of wares.
It's criminal.
Charges against second officer Jim Cameron.
Coming back, answering he wasn't sure
when asked when he would be sailing again,
causing me the humiliation of
having to face the chief now.
Sententious drivel.
Just pushed a button
and out come one of those things
fathers are expected to say.
My father still
won't buy me an air rifle.
Mine beat me yesterday.
Beat you?
He slapped me around the face.
Why don't you do something about it?
I'm not big enough or strong enough.
You don't have to be strong, just clever.
In any case, there are worse
things than being beaten,
lots worse.
You're lucky, number three.
Your father's dying let you off.
Oh, I see the belle has returned to us.
Has your great hero
done anything super on his last trip?
You know he has,
that fantastic hurricane off south America.
Well?
Well, he almost died.
He had to fight to stay alive.
And you think that's exceptional?
The rats on that ship do as much.
I'm sick to death of your
defense of this man.
He's back, isn't he?
All tucked in and cushy
in your mother's bed.
And you had the gall to question
my judgment about him.
Your behavior is unforgivable.
I'm demoting you.
Five is four,
four is three.
And you, slug, are number five
and will remain number
five for as long as I say.
Hey!
Hey!
Come on.
Come on.
Hey, only half.
He can handle it.
Jon-o0, um,
I want you to listen very carefully.
What I'm gonna say is quite important.
Jim and I are going to be married.
I know you've often thought
how good it would be
to have somebody, to be a real family.
Jon-o, please try to
understand what I'm saying.
Jim is the first man I've ev,
well, I love him very much, Jon-o,
and I hope one day you will too.
Well, I suppose that's all
there is to say really,
except we've talked it over
and we've decided to get married
at the end of the month.
Aren't you going to say anything?
Will you go back to sea afterwards, Jim?
No.
I hope you'll be very happy, mother.
You too, Jim.
I'll drink to that.
To us.
Let's try and be happy now, Jon-o.
Hmm?
We'll make a fresh start.
It is possible, you know?
To be happy, I mean.
What will Jim do now?
I don't know.
We've talked about it a great deal.
He's interested in so many things,
just finding the right thing.
Anyway, there's plenty of
time to think about that.
Night-night, my darling.
Good night.
I love you.
It was all a joke.
Just a game to tease you with, my darling.
How could we possibly get married?
Your world would crack open.
Jim on land?
Impossible.
He must go back to the sea.
That's where he belongs.
It was only a game, my
darling, only a game.
It's ruined.
He's destroyed it all.
The perfect order is gone.
How could he?
I don't understand.
Continuing the charges
against second officer Jim Cameron of the,
against Jim Cameron.
What a day.
I'm tired.
I'm not.
What's that?
Hmm?
Where is that coming from?
What are you doing?
What the hell do you think you're doing?
You've been watching us, hm?
Answer Mel
how dare you?
How dare you?
Hold it!
Hey, cut it out!
What the hell is going on?
He has been spying on us, watching us.
Oh, god, I,
I feel sick.
Jonathan, how could you?
Answer me when I speak to you!
Or by god, I'll make you answer!
Hey now, take it easy.
Hold on there.
Is she right, Jonathan?
You been watching us?
From the beginning?
And before that, even?
Before Jim came?
Oh, goddamn you!
Wait a minute.
Calm down, would you, just a second?
Jonathan, you know what
you're doing is wrong.
Wrong?
It was evil!
Hey!
It was wrong!
He knows it and we know it,
there's not a hell of a
lot more to say about it.
I think you owe your
mother an apology, son.
Jonathan, where are you?
What is going on in there?
I don't know you.
I don't know you at all.
Say something.
Please.
Come on, that doesn't solve anything.
How about that apology, boy?
Sorry, mother.
She didn't hear that!
I'm sorry, mother.
Now you close those doors.
Okay, that's a start.
Tomorrow I'll fix that hole.
But right now let's just break clean,
and try and start over
again in the morning.
What do you say?
The chief is right.
There are worse things than being beaten.
I shall never doubt him again.
Never!
Terrible, terrible.
Awful.
Well, there it is.
But for number five,
he was a person of considerable importance.
For a short while, he seemed
to have shown him a glimpse
of the pure and perfect order of life.
But now, well, there's no question,
he's betrayed number five completely,
and himself as well.
I know what you're feeling.
How painful it must be.
The betrayal of adults always is.
I have to save him.
Change him back.
I have to.
How?
Well, it's obvious, isn't it?
We have to make sure
this sailor remains true
to himself, to his core.
You mean like Cedric?
When does his ship sail?
Tomorrow afternoon, around two.
Perfect.
Jim, I was telling my mates at school
about your last trip and the storm.
And, well, it's not the
same as when you tell it.
They've asked to hear
it from you, would you?
Sure.
When?
Tomorrow, after school.
Tomorrow is a bad day.
Your mother's got a load of stuff planned,
the belle's sailing, I'd
like to see her leave.
You can.
There's a place just above the old castle
where we could all watch her leave.
Please.
Okay.
And you mustn't tell mother.
It's sort of a secret just between mates.
Understand?
Gotcha.
And would you wear uniform?
Would you?
Sure.
Meet you at the
quay, just after school.
It's a deal.
What's this line?
It's a tangent between
the observer station
to the heavenly body.
Jeez, is that kid sharp.
I think everything's
gonna be all right now.
Everything is going to be just fine.
This is it.
Terrific.
We can really see her from here.
Can't we, number two?
Yes.
So you're the second officer, huh?
Aye.
Then you'll need this.
Looks good.
It's a sight, isn't it?
Adios, lady.
Tell us about the storm, Mr. Cameron.
Yes, yes, the storm!
Okay, okay, gather round.
Hey, that's great.
Do you guys know what they mean?
Tell them.
The blue Peter means I'm about to sail.
That's for the belle.
And the red one means you're
standing into danger.
That's for the story.
Yes, the story.
The story.
Okay, settle down.
This was a storm we hit off
the coast of south America.
Jonathan's heard all this before.
It doesn't matter.
Go on.
This was a bad one.
Tea, Mr. Cameron?
Great, thanks.
The worst I'd ever been in.
The captain too.
She came out of cape
horn to the south of us.
The barometer kept dropping,
so we knew we were in for something big.
Then we started getting
these huge cross swells.
And we really started to take a beating,
she was listing nearly 40 degrees
and the sky started turning black,
black as any night.
Goodbye to you too, lady.
Where was I?
And the seas got heavier,
Then the ship
started taking water on her decks.
She was under from stem to stern.
Tons of water on her decks and hatches.
Go on.
What then?
Go on, Jim.
And the bridge ladders
were washed overboard.
And then,
Then...
Go on.
About the waves.
She'd go,
She'd go down into the trough of a wave,
down,
down like she was going
over the edge of the world.
I was
trying to get...
To get what?
To get
My breath.
Ohh.
Jim?
Jim?
Sorry.
Sorry's not good enough.
Where's number five?
I think his dad's on to him.
On to him or not,
his responsibility is to us.
Ready?
All right then, over here.
Get round that end.
God!
Look at that.
I thought it was locked up
with the other medical books.
It was.
Father keeps the key
in a little secret drawer in his desk.
There are keys to all sorts
of things in that drawer.
Oh.
Yuck.
Wow.
Whoal
is that how it's done then?
Wait, wait, wait.
Wow.
God, god, just look at that.
On.
Doesn't look as if
they're enjoying it much.
Hold on, hold on.
Not so...
Hey.
You bloody twits!
Is that all you can do?
Well, what do you expect?
Come on, let's see the rest.
I expect a little intellect.
I'm ashamed of you, all of you.
I hope your boyish curiosity
about such trivia is satisfied.
I can see there's a long way
to go before you're ready.
Any of you.
Idiots!
Bloody idiots!
Jonathan.
Just stay right there, young man.
Mrs. Osborne.
He's been out again.
Oh, Jon-0, Jon-o0, Jon-o.
That's twice in the last week.
Where do you go?
Just to the beach, mother.
With whom?
Who do you meet there?
No one.
You're lying.
No one, honest.
Go to your room this instant.
Quick march.
I have lost all Patience
with you, Jonathan.
Give me the key.
This door will be locked tonight
and every night for a month.
I will not have this lying!
Do you hear me, I won't have it.
Good night, Elisabeth.
Good night, Mrs. Osborne.
The chief is right.
The behavior of adults is awful at times.
Subjected to cruel questioning.
The chief's identity
must remain secret at all costs.
I've been locked in my room.
The chief brought a book tonight.
It had,
it was...
Good morning.
Good morning, Jonathan.
Here's your porridge,
there's rolls in the oven.
Good morning, Jon-o.
There's some chicken in the fridge.
We'll be away most of the day.
The boys are going
over to blackpool sands.
I thought...
Jon-0, you will spend
today inside this house,
doing your homework and
putting your room in order.
Woe betide you if you step
one foot outside the door.
Do you understand me?
May I have my kiss?
Wonder if I am being too hard?
If you'll excuse me, Mrs. Osborne,
I sometimes think you're not
being hard enough on the lad.
He has a mind of his own, that one.
You'll have to hold a tight rein,
tight rein for his own good.
Damn, damn, damn.
Good morning, Richard.
Good morning.
Good morning, Mary.
Good morning, Mrs. Osborne.
Who forgot the alarm?
Sorry, it's my fault.
Bad night, moppet?
Oh, dear.
Does it show that much?
The vicissitudes of puberty.
Yours?
Jonathan's and mine.
So this is the lot?
Yes.
This looks interesting.
I like that very much.
Have a look at the regency.
Rosewood, and all the
brass inlay is intact.
Mmm!
How much did we have to pay for this?
Lot 278.
Oh, clever, Richard, aren't you?
Astute would be more accurate.
Well now, we'll just have to see
how outrageous we can be
with the London buyers.
I must say, Jon-o,
I have never seen your
room in such good order.
Homework easy?
What else did you do today?
Got into my book on flag signals.
Pick a color.
Red.
Right.
A red burgee means
I'm taking in or discharging explosives.
Red and white quartered,
you're standing into danger.
Red-yellow, man overboard.
That's very good, Jon.
Black or white?
Oh, uh, black.
Black too.
You'll have chocolate.
Uh,
you cheat just like your father did.
Do you still miss him?
Yes.
Very much.
You?
I dream about him sometimes.
Good dreams or bad?
Good.
We're in the dinghy fishing,
walking along the beach.
Whose go is it?
Mine.
Jonathan, have you got
nothing to tell me about last night?
Nothing at all?
It, it would be telling.
On whom, Jon-0?
I'm sorry, mother.
Please.
Amoeba proteus, belonging
to the sub-kingdom protozoa.
It feeds by phagocytosis
ingesting minute plants
such as desmids or small organic fragments.
It multiplies by the simplest form
of asexual reproduction called fission.
When conditions are good,
amoeba enlarges rapidly,
ceases activity and forms
itself into a round shape.
The process is as follows,
the pseudopodia come together
drawing food down into a food vacuole
formed by the enclosure
of environmental water.
Once trapped and enclosed,
digestion of food begins.
Amoeba live and move
with the tips of several
pseudopodia in contact with the substrate.
Who did it?
Answer Mel
stop it!
You look like a bloody easter egg.
You do now, you really do.
It's not funny.
When I call a meeting, it means everyone.
I expect you to remember
that next time, number five.
I tried to get out, I got caught.
I'm not interested in your excuses.
I'll never get this off!
Punishment completed.
We meet Friday after school at my house.
I advise you to be there, number five.
I advise all of you.
The chief says
we must have strong, hard hearts.
He's right.
I sometimes think of my heart
as an anchor of stainless steel
that sinks into the mud of the estuary,
into the broken glass and
tins and bottle cans.
Pure, shiny, never rusting.
Last night, mother stood
for the longest moment
looking out to sea.
Then something happened.
I can't explain.
It was strange,
sad.
What's about Mr. wickstead?
Gone for the day.
And father's at his surgery.
Don't worry, we'll be alone.
Number two?
All right then.
Topics for discussion.
Suggestions?
Loyalty amongst friends.
How about headmaster's nose?
How about his ass?
Idiots.
What about the power of the sea?
My god, number three.
You're the romantic, aren't you?
The pure and perfect order of the world.
Comments?
Didn't think so.
Very well.
The world is like
amoeba proteus eating its victim.
Now, do you think that the amoeba worries
that its victim might not like being eaten?
Ridiculous!
That would mean it has a
sense of right and wrong.
A sense of what adults called morality.
I'm telling you, there's no such thing.
Morality is nothing more
than a set of rules
adults have invented to protect themselves.
A set of rules for the weak.
You see, if you're strong,
really strong, you don't need protection.
You're not afraid of a world
where the only reality
is life feeding life,
weak life feeding strong life.
Like that amoeba.
It's pure and perfect.
It acts the way it does
because of what it is.
We have to be like that.
And there's only one way to do it.
Break the rules one by one.
Case in point.
You might not believe it,
but poor old Cedric
here used to hunt for
his food in the woods.
But now he's in the house
almost continually.
He no longer hunts.
He's lost his purity,
his sense of the order of things,
betrayed them for a saucer of warm milk
and a rub behind the ear.
What you see here is a fat,
soft cat posing as life.
Do you understand?
My god!
My god, you're thick!
Bloody cretins, the lot of youl!
You don't have any idea of
what I'm talking about,
do you?
Do you?
Get out.
Go on, get out!
You'll never understand me, any of you!
Stupid!
Stupid!
Stupid!
She's a big one!
I'll be right back.
When did she come in?
Came in this morning
when you were at school.
Oh, mother, I love you.
Thank you.
I love you too.
The captain's busy,
Mr. Cameron will take care of you.
Thank you.
Yes?
I'm Anne Osborne and
this is my son Jonathan.
I have a note from Mr. Chapman,
the harbormaster.
You want a kind of a tour?
Well, yes, if you're not too busy.
Guess I can show you around.
Thank you.
Watch your step.
Ladder's kind of slippery.
Exhaust piston.
Bnw, 752,000, two-stroke.
What?
Bnw 750s.
What happened?
We cracked a sonar liner last night
at about 10 miles out.
Where were you going?
Plymouth.
We were lucky to get in here.
That way.
Boy knows this stuff, doesn't he?
Does he want to be a deep water sailor?
Well, it's a miserable life.
We've coming up starboard fast.
Hard left, mister.
Hard left.
That's it.
Half a head, now all stop.
Did I do all right?
Great.
Just aim for the light of the lighthouse.
Thank you very much, Mr. Cameron.
It was wonderful.
Don't mention it.
Thank you, it was very good of you.
Pleasure.
Good bye.
Bye.
Mr. Cameron, I know all
this was an imposition,
and I'd like,
well, I'd like to show my gratitude
by inviting you to dinner tonight,
if you're free.
It is Mrs. Osborne, isn't it?
I am a widow, Mr. Cameron.
I've got watch six to eight.
Five past eight on the quay?
And she had marconi type radar
and vhf on the bridge and smoke detectors.
And the depth finder
and the sonar, beep, beep, beep!
And the autopilot.
And the barigrade!
Barograph.
Oh, whatever.
That's to measure up
the straight pressure.
And Mr. Cameron, he's splendid, isn't he?
Splendid!
The belle, that's her name.
Isn't she super?
She's super!
Well, I'm away to my sister's.
I'll see you Monday morning.
All right.
Give her my regards.
Bye, Mrs. Palmer.
Oh, bye.
And you behave yourself.
1 will.
Did you see the scar above his eye?
Bet he got it knife-fighting.
I bet anything!
Fantastic!
Fantastic!
Mother, thank you for today.
Thank you very much.
Hey, you're welcome.
You're welcome very much.
Your bill, sir.
I hope you enjoyed your meal.
We did.
Thank you very much.
He was such a patient man.
It happened quite suddenly.
Two days, some kind of occlusion.
Whenever he gained consciousness,
he'd smile and apologize for being ill.
When he felt it coming on,
he just said goodbye, simply,
as though he were taking
the next train to London.
Anyway, I took over the shop.
Life here can be a bit
claustrophobic at times
but there's always the
countryside and the sea.
Strange, I haven't spoken
of any of these things
to anybody since David died.
That was over three and a half years ago.
There's a signal that's sent between
vessels passing on the high seas.
Where bound?
Jonathan's convinced that you got
that scar in a knife fight.
What's your name?
Jim.
I ran into a hatch after a
three-day drunk in Panama.
We had a little place just
outside of Topeka, Kansas.
You know where that is?
Just about 2,000 miles
from the nearest ocean.
What made you go to sea, then?
Just that, I guess.
Long nights on a farm reading
Jack London, Conrad,
people doing things I'd never done,
places I'd never seen.
The sea to me was the unknown,
like deep space.
If you work the land,
you accept its limits, boundaries.
You're buried where you're born.
Anyway, one day I knew that.
I knew it was time to leave.
And it was good for a while.
And then?
It's crazy.
You get the land that never changes
and the sea's never the same.
And after you sail a while,
you come to feel like
you don't belong in either place.
Yet you stay.
Why?
You get caught by it.
By what?
By the idea of it, I guess.
Ah, dreams of glory.
Something like that.
Is there something else?
Did I say something funny?
It's my shark.
What?
My dream of glory if you
want to call it that.
I don't understand.
I saw it off the azores
on a midnight watch three years ago.
Grey shark coming up the ship,
from way out on the horizon,
and the fin was shining.
I thought it was the moonlight,
and then as we got closer,
I could see the whole shark was glowing.
Just kept getting closer.
I mean, dead on.
And then what happened?
Nothing.
I guess it's still out there.
Will you stay with me tonight?
You knew I'd ask, didn't you?
When?
When you asked me for supper.
I knew when I saw you
coming out of the cabin.
You're off, then?
Back at six.
Bye.
Bye.
And he looked fantastic.
His muscles, scars all over his body,
and then he took her to bed
just like the picture in your book.
He's wonderfull
I have a feeling he's
going to do something,
something great.
Like what?
What he'll do is get
into your mom's knickers.
It doesn't matter.
He is part of the pure and
perfect order of things.
The sea...
Rot!
Nothing more than another
broken-down adult.
You don't understand.
Is that right?
Since when is it your place to tell me
what I understand and what I don't?
I just meant that...
You're ridiculous.
There's no such thing as a hero.
Adults just pose as these things.
You're a child, number three.
A soppy, ignorant child.
I am not!
Prove it.
Any time.
And the rest of you,
want to prove it, too?
I'm game.
Yes.
Sure.
All right.
We'll see.
We'll just see.
That way!
Come on, there he is.
Grab him.
Get him!
Over here!
Come on, he's over here.
Come on, he's over here.
Come on, he's over here.
Grab him!
You did that on purpose.
Did not, you clod!
I'll get you for that, number three!
Get this instead.
Get him!
Get him!
Quickly.
I'll get you, I'll get you.
Oh, god!
Stop it!
Stop it!
Damn you.
What the hell do you think you're doing?
Make a line across there.
Stay together.
Get that cat now!
He won't get past us.
Here, Cedric.
Come on, Cedric.
Come on, Cedric.
Come on, come on.
Come on.
Pssst.
Come on, Cedric.
Pssst.
Cedric?
Got him!
I got him!
Gloves.
I got him, it was me that got him.
Oh, shut up.
Milk.
All of it.
Hold him.
It won't take long.
He's out.
Over here.
Hold his legs.
I told you, it sometimes becomes
necessary to take things apart,
like rules and other things,
to find truth,
to find the center of reality.
Watch closely now.
The external abdominal muscles!
Wonderful, isn't it?
We're almost there.
Serratus and the intercostals.
The pericardium.
You've seen life posing as a cat.
Now,
now I'll show you,
There.
This is the core,
the center of life that
makes the pose possible.
Beautiful.
Isn't it beautiful?
Fantastic.
Hey, Jonathan.
This is Mr. Cameron,
second officer of the belle.
Jim.
Maybe I can explain
Jonathan's reluctance
in introducing us, Jim.
We five have a sort of a secret club.
We don't use names, we refer to each other
by number to maintain security.
I'm sure you understand.
Got you.
Well, we must be off.
Pleasure to have met you, Jim.
Anchors away, mates!
Gotcha!
Gotcha!
Gotchal
The boy who spoke to you,
you won't tell mother I
was with him, will you?
Why?
She doesn't like him much.
Says he's too precocious for his own good.
She might be right.
He's just got a first-rate mind.
Sometimes it's hard for adults
to understand that in children.
You won't tell, will you?
When do you leave?
Tomorrow morning, as
soon as we get the tugs.
You doing anything now?
Let's go around the point,
I got something I want to show you.
Is it hard to
learn all those instruments?
No, it just takes a little time.
You know, men were at sea
about 1,000 years before
the magnetic compass.
A sailor could read the clouds
and the wind, the stars.
He could tell a lot just by
looking at the moon, a rainbow.
You leave in the morning.
Shhh.
I bet sailors get bored
with the ladies saying that all the time.
I'll bet you say that to all the sailors.
I've never had a sailor.
I've never had a lady.
Isolated!
I've been left alone with Mrs. Palmer,
while they've gone off to some hotel.
Blunder, a stupid blunder!
He's tampering with the perfection.
It's wrong, dangerous.
If you feel like it, you can write to me
at the address that I gave you.
Bye, Jim.
Bye, Jim.
Hang in there, skipper.
"The sea was running like huge mountains,
"and we had to hold the
engines at high revs
"to keep the ship into the wind.
"And it comes on like that.
"The storm nearly wrecked the belle."
And then?
He survived.
Else number three's precious hero
wouldn't have been able to write.
These letters,
this profuse volume of literature
well, it seems a little odd
from a seafaring man, doesn't it?
What do you mean?
Sounds to me as if he's
planning to come back.
That's a liel
he's never once mentioned coming back.
Of course.
I'm sure he's much cleverer than that.
Take that back.
You forget yourself, number three.
Take it back, I said.
The hell I will.
Stop it, I say!
Now who's responsible?
Who struck the first blow?
I did.
Then I'm sure you're willing
to accept the consequences.
You lot outside.
Move along.
Be quick about it.
Go on!
Where's that?
Uruguay.
Here, blow.
Nambia.
Namibia.
Where is Namibia?
Just below Angola.
Ah, just below Angola.
Tis.
Is it?
Yes, mother.
It's the belle.
Oh, you smell good.
How's Jonathan?
Jonathan is in bed with a cold.
Elisabeth, this is Mr. Cameron.
Jim, this is Mrs. Palmer.
Hello.
How do you do?
Uh, Mr. Cameron
will be staying with us for a few days.
I'll make up the guest room.
That won't be necessary.
Shall I make some tea?
Not for me.
Jim?
No, thanks, no.
Will you be eating at home?
Yes.
Well, then I better phone the butcher's.
Excuse me.
Why don't you go
upstairs and see Jonathan?
I won't be a minute.
Yes?
Hiya, skipper.
He's for you, from piranha.
Thank you.
How are you feeling?
I had a temperature yesterday.
You ought to drink lot of orange juice.
Vitamin c.
It works.
Hey, what's this?
Hey, this is pretty good,
just about got it perfect.
La across north pacific, right to Yokohama.
What's that?
It's an iguana.
The Indians wear them on their heads
during their ceremonies.
You ought to see them, Jonathan,
they got Jaguar's teeth around...
When will you be sailing again, Mr.
Cameron?
Jonathan.
I don't really know yet.
We got to unload,
pick up some navigational gear.
I have a terrible headache, mother.
Well, go downstairs and ask Mrs. Palmer
to give you some aspirin, and
then have a little sleep.
Come on, Jim.
See you later.
I have to go.
What?
I have to sign some drafts
in the shop before the bank closes.
I have to, honestly.
But I'll be through by four.
There's a tea shop.
Ferguson's.
Tea shop?
Yes, it's opposite the chart house.
I'l meet you there at four o'clock.
Oh, Jim.
Four o'clock.
Great place for a funeral.
I'm showing you off.
To them?
What the hell do they matter?
That's the whole point.
They don't anymore.
Hey, I want you.
Let's get out of here.
Indulge me just for a few minutes more.
Either we leave here right now...
Or what?
Okay.
Jiml!
Don't jump around now.
Just act natural.
Jim, please.
For god's sake.
Mm-mm.
You want to stay here, we'll stay.
Jim.
Please.
Jim, I beg you.
It's too late.
Easy now, you're gonna attract attention.
Just relax.
I can't.
Please.
Shhh.
Please.
Shhh.
Out there, I kept thinking
about how silky you feel,
the sounds you make, the smell of you.
More cakes, my dear?
No, thank you.
We're fine, just fine.
Easy now.
That's it.
You're getting it.
Good girl.
Did you see your shark this time?
I just kept thinking about you
and how far away you were.
I could see myself,
and all that time at sea,
loving something that
doesn't love you back.
Just going round and 'round,
year after year, until you.
All of a sudden I was in a
place I'd never been before.
I didn't have any choice.
You see, I've been pushing at that door.
It opens in to feelings,
feeling things that I've never felt,
that I didn't even know you could feel.
And you did that.
And I need you in my life.
Because I need that place.
Marry me.
Christ, say something.
When?
What?
When do you want to marry me?
Are you sure?
Yes!
And you?
Uh-huh.
Uh-huh.
Jonathan.
Oh, I must find the right time for that.
We got time.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
I'll tell you, no matter
how long you've been at sea,
you'll never get used to the big storms.
The absolute terror,
the savagery of all that power
and the beauty of it,
till you know it's over.
But this one was like
nothing I'd ever seen.
In the beginning there was
nothing you could see,
but the barometer kept
dropping like somebody
pulled the cork out of a bottle.
We started taking cross swells
and the ship was getting water on her deck,
so we put her into the
swells trying to keep way.
Seas got heavier,
there was tons of water coming down on her,
pounding her decks,
tearing at the hatches.
We lost a boat, then another one.
The rails were twisted,
bridge ladders gone.
She'd go down in the gully of a wave
like she was going over
the edge of the world.
I had to go up on the
deck, check some hatches
and I got trapped hanging
onto a ring bolt for my life.
I thought, this time the old girl's had it.
No way she can make it through this.
But of course she did.
Because god protects the
fools and the sailors.
It's wrong of him to come back.
He's tampering with the perfection!
Can't he see that?
What's he doing here?
One Indian story, one storm,
like a peddler with a pack of wares.
It's criminal.
Charges against second officer Jim Cameron.
Coming back, answering he wasn't sure
when asked when he would be sailing again,
causing me the humiliation of
having to face the chief now.
Sententious drivel.
Just pushed a button
and out come one of those things
fathers are expected to say.
My father still
won't buy me an air rifle.
Mine beat me yesterday.
Beat you?
He slapped me around the face.
Why don't you do something about it?
I'm not big enough or strong enough.
You don't have to be strong, just clever.
In any case, there are worse
things than being beaten,
lots worse.
You're lucky, number three.
Your father's dying let you off.
Oh, I see the belle has returned to us.
Has your great hero
done anything super on his last trip?
You know he has,
that fantastic hurricane off south America.
Well?
Well, he almost died.
He had to fight to stay alive.
And you think that's exceptional?
The rats on that ship do as much.
I'm sick to death of your
defense of this man.
He's back, isn't he?
All tucked in and cushy
in your mother's bed.
And you had the gall to question
my judgment about him.
Your behavior is unforgivable.
I'm demoting you.
Five is four,
four is three.
And you, slug, are number five
and will remain number
five for as long as I say.
Hey!
Hey!
Come on.
Come on.
Hey, only half.
He can handle it.
Jon-o0, um,
I want you to listen very carefully.
What I'm gonna say is quite important.
Jim and I are going to be married.
I know you've often thought
how good it would be
to have somebody, to be a real family.
Jon-o, please try to
understand what I'm saying.
Jim is the first man I've ev,
well, I love him very much, Jon-o,
and I hope one day you will too.
Well, I suppose that's all
there is to say really,
except we've talked it over
and we've decided to get married
at the end of the month.
Aren't you going to say anything?
Will you go back to sea afterwards, Jim?
No.
I hope you'll be very happy, mother.
You too, Jim.
I'll drink to that.
To us.
Let's try and be happy now, Jon-o.
Hmm?
We'll make a fresh start.
It is possible, you know?
To be happy, I mean.
What will Jim do now?
I don't know.
We've talked about it a great deal.
He's interested in so many things,
just finding the right thing.
Anyway, there's plenty of
time to think about that.
Night-night, my darling.
Good night.
I love you.
It was all a joke.
Just a game to tease you with, my darling.
How could we possibly get married?
Your world would crack open.
Jim on land?
Impossible.
He must go back to the sea.
That's where he belongs.
It was only a game, my
darling, only a game.
It's ruined.
He's destroyed it all.
The perfect order is gone.
How could he?
I don't understand.
Continuing the charges
against second officer Jim Cameron of the,
against Jim Cameron.
What a day.
I'm tired.
I'm not.
What's that?
Hmm?
Where is that coming from?
What are you doing?
What the hell do you think you're doing?
You've been watching us, hm?
Answer Mel
how dare you?
How dare you?
Hold it!
Hey, cut it out!
What the hell is going on?
He has been spying on us, watching us.
Oh, god, I,
I feel sick.
Jonathan, how could you?
Answer me when I speak to you!
Or by god, I'll make you answer!
Hey now, take it easy.
Hold on there.
Is she right, Jonathan?
You been watching us?
From the beginning?
And before that, even?
Before Jim came?
Oh, goddamn you!
Wait a minute.
Calm down, would you, just a second?
Jonathan, you know what
you're doing is wrong.
Wrong?
It was evil!
Hey!
It was wrong!
He knows it and we know it,
there's not a hell of a
lot more to say about it.
I think you owe your
mother an apology, son.
Jonathan, where are you?
What is going on in there?
I don't know you.
I don't know you at all.
Say something.
Please.
Come on, that doesn't solve anything.
How about that apology, boy?
Sorry, mother.
She didn't hear that!
I'm sorry, mother.
Now you close those doors.
Okay, that's a start.
Tomorrow I'll fix that hole.
But right now let's just break clean,
and try and start over
again in the morning.
What do you say?
The chief is right.
There are worse things than being beaten.
I shall never doubt him again.
Never!
Terrible, terrible.
Awful.
Well, there it is.
But for number five,
he was a person of considerable importance.
For a short while, he seemed
to have shown him a glimpse
of the pure and perfect order of life.
But now, well, there's no question,
he's betrayed number five completely,
and himself as well.
I know what you're feeling.
How painful it must be.
The betrayal of adults always is.
I have to save him.
Change him back.
I have to.
How?
Well, it's obvious, isn't it?
We have to make sure
this sailor remains true
to himself, to his core.
You mean like Cedric?
When does his ship sail?
Tomorrow afternoon, around two.
Perfect.
Jim, I was telling my mates at school
about your last trip and the storm.
And, well, it's not the
same as when you tell it.
They've asked to hear
it from you, would you?
Sure.
When?
Tomorrow, after school.
Tomorrow is a bad day.
Your mother's got a load of stuff planned,
the belle's sailing, I'd
like to see her leave.
You can.
There's a place just above the old castle
where we could all watch her leave.
Please.
Okay.
And you mustn't tell mother.
It's sort of a secret just between mates.
Understand?
Gotcha.
And would you wear uniform?
Would you?
Sure.
Meet you at the
quay, just after school.
It's a deal.
What's this line?
It's a tangent between
the observer station
to the heavenly body.
Jeez, is that kid sharp.
I think everything's
gonna be all right now.
Everything is going to be just fine.
This is it.
Terrific.
We can really see her from here.
Can't we, number two?
Yes.
So you're the second officer, huh?
Aye.
Then you'll need this.
Looks good.
It's a sight, isn't it?
Adios, lady.
Tell us about the storm, Mr. Cameron.
Yes, yes, the storm!
Okay, okay, gather round.
Hey, that's great.
Do you guys know what they mean?
Tell them.
The blue Peter means I'm about to sail.
That's for the belle.
And the red one means you're
standing into danger.
That's for the story.
Yes, the story.
The story.
Okay, settle down.
This was a storm we hit off
the coast of south America.
Jonathan's heard all this before.
It doesn't matter.
Go on.
This was a bad one.
Tea, Mr. Cameron?
Great, thanks.
The worst I'd ever been in.
The captain too.
She came out of cape
horn to the south of us.
The barometer kept dropping,
so we knew we were in for something big.
Then we started getting
these huge cross swells.
And we really started to take a beating,
she was listing nearly 40 degrees
and the sky started turning black,
black as any night.
Goodbye to you too, lady.
Where was I?
And the seas got heavier,
Then the ship
started taking water on her decks.
She was under from stem to stern.
Tons of water on her decks and hatches.
Go on.
What then?
Go on, Jim.
And the bridge ladders
were washed overboard.
And then,
Then...
Go on.
About the waves.
She'd go,
She'd go down into the trough of a wave,
down,
down like she was going
over the edge of the world.
I was
trying to get...
To get what?
To get
My breath.
Ohh.
Jim?
Jim?