You Are Not I (1981) - full transcript

A young woman escapes from a mental hospital during the chaos of a nearby multiple-car accident. She is mistaken for a shock victim and is driven to her sister's house by a rescue volunteer. Then the real story begins...

[eerie music]

[Ethel]You are not I.

No one but me could possibly be.

I know that.

[foreboding music]

And I know where I have been...

and what I have done.

Ever since yesterday...

when I walked out the gate
during the accident.

[distant chatter]

[foreboding music]



[distant chatter]

[distant chatter continues]

[ominous music]

[siren blaring]

[indistinct chatter]

-[firefighter 1] Okay, go, go!
-[indistinct chatter]

[sirens blaring]

[flames roaring]

[foreboding music]

[Indistinct chatter]

[metal clangs]

[flames whooshing]

[fireman 1] You gotta move
right, you gotta move right.

[Inaudible dialogue]



[birds chirping]

[foreboding music]

[Ethel]Of course.

This is just a man's world.

[crows cawing]

[Ethel]If something real
should happen,

they would stop soon.

[birds chirping]

[ominous music]

[Ethel humming]

[continues humming]

[eerie music]

[Ethel humming]

[continues humming]

[eerie music]

[Ehtel humming]

[continues humming]

[Ethel]I always hated cars.

Hated to see them go by
down there.

[indistinct chatter]

[Ethel]
Hated to see them disappear

way off up the valley
toward the next town.

[ominous music]

[ominous music continues]

[Ethel]Made me angry to think,

all those people,

moving from one place
to another.

Without any right to.

Whoever said to them,

you may go and drive your car
this morning to Clifton?

You may drive wherever you want.

[ominous music]

[Ethel]No one.

I know that.

I know there is no chief

that says things
like that to people.

But it makes it pleasanter
for me...

when I imagine such a person
does exist.

Perhaps it would be...

only a tremendous voice.

Speaking over
public address systems

set-up in all the streets.

[wind whooshing]

[eerie music]

[eerie music continues]

[rattles]

[ominous music]

[clanks]

[sirens blaring]

[blaring stops]

[Indistinct chatter]

[chatter continues]

[eerie music]

[distant chatter]

[eerie music]

What are you doing?
Are you crazy?

My sister isn't dead!

[ominous music]

She's dead.

She's dead.

[foreboding music]

She's dead.

[Ethel]It seemed to me...

that life outside

was like life inside.

There's always somebody
to stop people

from doing
what they wanted to do.

That was just the opposite

of what I had felt
when I was still inside.

Perhaps, what we want
to do is wrong...

but why should they always be
the ones to decide?

[foreboding music]

[Ethel]For once,

I would decide what was right...

and do it.

[light music]

[light music continues]

[Ethel]I managed to countthe gas stations along the way.

And I found...

there's one more of them

than I remembered.

[light music]

[Ethel]All they had asked me
was my address.

And I gave my sisters address...

because its only
a half hour's drive.

Besides...

I stayed with her
for quite awhile

before I went away.

But that was years ago.

I think.

[gloomy music]

[woman 1 moaning]

[moaning continues]

[Ethel]The woman next to me
must have been a foreigner.

[woman 1 moans]

[Ethel]She was moaning
like a baby.

[moaning]

[Ethel]And there was not a drop
of blood on her

that I could see, anywhere.

[gloomy music]

[gloomy music continues]

[door closes]

-[background chatter]
-[dog barking in distance]

[birds chirping]

[indistinct chatter]

[dog barking in distance]

[dog whimpers in distance]

Are you sure she's all right?

They... they looked at her
all over at the hospital.

It's just talk. She'll be okay.

[dog barking]

But...

She don't look well yet to me.

Ah, she'll be all right.

Just don't let her get excited.

[Sister] Well,
that's what they...

that's what they always said!

She just does!

Lady, she ain't hurt at all.

[car door closes]

Hurt?

[car engine starts]

[car engine revving]

[Ethel]All I can feel...

that something
is about to happen.

And when I do,

I stay perfectly still...

and let it go ahead.

There's no use wondering
about it

or trying to stop it.

At this time,

I had no particular feeling

that a special event
was about to come out,

but I did feel...

that I would be more likely
to do the right thing

if I waited
and let my sister act first.

[dog barking]

[birds chirping]

[Ethel]Right away I saw,she had the whole thing rebuilt,

only backwards.

There's always a living room,

and a kitchen,

and now it was on the left.

The back door

was now at the right end
of the porch.

She had even switchedthe stairs and fireplace around

into each others places.

The furniture was the same...

but each piece had been put
into the position

exactly opposite to the way
it had been before.

I decided to say nothing

and let her do the explaining
if she felt like it.

It occurred to me...

that it must have cost herevery cent she had in the bank.

[laughs]

[Ehtel]And still, it looked
exactly the same

as it had been when she began.

[laughs]

[Ehtel]I kept my mouth shut.

But I could not help
walking around

with a good deal of curiosity...

to see if she had carried out
the reversal in every detail.

Sit down, Ethel.

I've got something to do.

[clears throat]

I'll be right back.

[Ethel]I knew already
where she was going.

She was afraid of me...

and she wanted Mrs. Jelinek
to come over.

[clears throat]

Oh, well, well, well, old time.
[chuckles]

[indistinct whispering]

[sighs]

[rattling]

[rattling continues]

[suspenseful music]

[stroller rattling]

[suspenseful music]

[humming]

-[sighs]
-[Ethel humming]

They were supposed to keep her.

I don't know.

[Ethel humming]

I thought so too, but...

That man, that man kept saying
she'll be all right.

[humming]

-She looks just the same.
-Sure.

[Ethel humming]

[sighs deeply]

[hums]

Well, I'm not going to put up
with it any longer.

[humming]

I need to tell Dr. Dunne
just what I think of him.

Call the home.

I surely will.

[humming]

I'll go see if Kate's in.
You stay here.

[Ethel continues humming]

[retreating footsteps]

[Ethel humming]

[Ethel]She meant Mrs. Schultz,

who lives on the other side
and has a telephone.

[humming]

[Ehtel]I did not even look up
when she went out.

I have made a big decision.

And that was...

to stay right in the house

and under no condition,let myself be taken back there.

I knew it would be difficult,

but I had a plan
I knew would work

if I used all my willpower.

I have great willpower.

The first important
thing to do...

was to go on keeping quiet.

Not to speak a word

that might break the spell
I was starting to work.

I knew I would have
to concentrate deeply,

but that is easy for me.

I knew it was going
to be a battle

between my sister and me.

But I was confident

that my force of character
and superior education,

had fitted me
for just such a battle,

and that I could win it.

All I had to do...

was to keep insisting
inside myself,

and things would happen

the way I willed.

[Ethel]This way,

I would have what I wanted.

"No one can stop you,"

I thought.

[foreboding music]

[both whispering indistinctly]

[whispering continues]

[Sister] I called Dr. Dunne,

and I couldn't say
that she was released.

[sighs deeply]
Well..

He told me to hold on to her
by all means,

because...

she wasn't discharged at all.

[Sister] Somehow got out.

Take it easy, Miss Ethel.

[Ethel]I knew she would
give me no trouble.

Mrs. Jelinek...

and Mrs. Schultz,

would not go any further
than my sister told them to.

And she, herself,
was terrified of me.

Although, I've never done her
any harm.

She had always been convinced

that someday I would.

It may be...

that she knew now,
what I was about to do to her,

but I doubt it,

or she would have ran away
from the house.

[no audible dialogue]

When are they coming?

As soon as they can get here.

I see where they have rescued
those flood victims.

Uh, remember the radio?

Huh.

[Ethel]The house was very ugly,

but I was already getting ideas
for making it look better.

I have excellent taste
in decoration.

I tried not to think
about those things...

and said, over and over,
inside my head...

[dog barking]

..."Make it work"

[dog barking]

[foreboding music]

[Ethel]I could have laughed
out loud...

when I thought of what they were
really waiting to see.

If they had only known it.

[vehicle door opens, closes]

[mumbling]

Where is she?

Well, hello.

[Sister] To wonder,
you couldn't be more careful.

When they get out like that,

how do you know
what they're gonna do?

[attendant 1] You want
to come with us?

Somebody wants to see you.

-[attendant 2] Want to help me?
-Aw, geez.

[ominous music]

[ominous music continues]

[birds chirping]

[screams]

[Ethel]I felt that
my front teeth were broken.

I could taste blood on my lips.

I thought I was going to faint.

I put my hand to my mouth,

and I knew...

that this was the turning point.

I shut my eyes very hard.

When I opened them,

everything was different.

[suspenseful music]

And I knew I had won.

For a moment,

I could not see very clearly.

But even during that moment,

I saw myself,
sitting on the sofa.

[eerie music]

As my vision cleared...

I saw that the men
were holding my sisters arms

and she was putting up
a terrific struggle.

[Ehtel's sister screaming]

[music box music playing]

No!

No! Don't!

No.

[sobbing]

[Ethel]My sister was yelling
and screaming in the car.

No, no.

No!

No, stop.

[panting]

[Ethel]As they left
the city limits,

she stopped...

and began to cry.

All the same.

She was really counting
the service stations

along the road,
on the way back to the home,

and she found

there was one more of them
than she thought.

When they came
to the great cross,

near the spot where
the accident had happened,

she looked out...

but the car was over the track

before she realized she was
looking at the wrong side.

Driving through the gate,

she really broke down.

They kept promising her
ice cream for dinner

but she knew better
than to believe them.

As she walked throughthe main door, between two men,

she stopped on a threshold.

Took out one of the stones
from her coat pocket

and put it into her mouth.

She tried to swallow it,
but it choked her,

and they rushed her
down the hall

and made her give it up.

The strange thing,

now that I think about it,

was that no one realized
she was not I.

They put her to bed
and by morning,

she no longer felt like crying.

She was too tired.

[rain pattering]

[Ethel]It's the middle
of the afternoon

and raining torrents.

She's sitting on her bed.

The very one I used to have
in the home.

Writing all this down on paper.

She never would have thought
of doing that

up until yesterday,

but now she thinks
she has become me,

and so she does everything
I used to do.

[rain pattering]

The house is very quiet.

I am still in the living room.

Sitting on the sofa.

I could walk upstairs

and look into her bedroom.
If I wanted to,

but it was such a long time
since I've been up there

and I no longer know how
the rooms are arranged.

So I prefer to stay down here.

If I look up...

I can see the stair window
of colored glass.

Over the stairs,
purple and orange.

An hourglass design.

Only the light
never comes in very much.

Yes, the house next door
is so close.

Besides...

the rain's coming down
hard here too.

[ominous music]

[ominous music continues]

[foreboding music]