Saturday, 11 April 2020

They Don't Say if He's Dead or Alive....




If there is trouble, I stay here to help you. 
For your father -- for your father.

Enzo The Baker







CUT TO: Michael and Kay walking outside of Radio City Music Hall, which is showing Leo McCarey's "The Bells of St. Mary's" which Michael and Kay just saw. The music playing is "Bells of St. Mary's" -evening 


KAY

Mike, would you like me better if I were a nun? 
Like in the story, you know? 


MICHAEL (after pausing)

No. 


KAY

Then would you like me better if I were Ingrid Bergman? 


MICHAEL

Now that's a thought... 


KAY (shaken)

Michael... 


MICHAEL

No, I would not like you better if you were Ingrid Bergman. 


KAY (upset)

Michael... 


MICHAEL

What's the matter? 


KAY

Michael... 


They walk back to a newsstand they had just passed, and Michael picks up the

Daily Mirror which has the headline: 
"VITO CORLEONE FEARED MURDERED." 
He flips the pages to reveal an inside article: 
"Assassins Gun Down Underworld Chief" 


MICHAEL

They don't say if he's dead or alive... 


[They run across the street to a phone booth to call Sonny] 


MICHAEL (into the phone)

Sonny -- Michael. 


SONNY'S VOICE (over the phone)

Michael, where you been? 


MICHAEL (into the phone)

Is he all right? 


SONNY'S VOICE (over the phone)

We don't know yet. 
There's all kinds of stories.

(then, after a sigh)

He was hit bad, Mikey...

(then)

Are you there? 


MICHAEL (into the phone)

Yeah, I'm here. 


SONNY'S VOICE (over the phone)

Where you been? 
I was worried. 


MICHAEL (into the phone)

Didn't Tom tell you? 
I called. 


SONNY'S VOICE (over the phone)
No -- look, come home, kid. 
You should be with Mama, ya'hear? 


MICHAEL (into the phone)
Alright... 


CUT TO: Sonny's house just after talking to Michael on the phone. Sonny hangs up. -night 


SANDRA (sadly hugging Sonny)

Oh my God... 


[there's a loud crash heard OS from outside the house] 


SANDRA (as the baby, Santino Jr, starts to cry)

Oh! Sonny! 


[Sonny searches for and finds his gun from a drawer] 


SONNY (to Sandra, at the door, after hearing knocking)

Get back -- go

(then, to the door)

Who is it? 


CLEMENZA'S VOICE (through the door)

Open up -- It's Clemenza 


SONNY (after letting him in)

What? 


CLEMENZA (entering)

There's more news about your old man. 
The word is out on the street that he's already dead 


SONNY

Watch your mouth -- 
What's the matter with you? 


CLEMENZA (after being pushed up against the wall)

Jesus Christ; take it easy -- take it easy 


SONNY

Where was Paulie? 


CLEMENZA
Paulie was out sick. 
He been calling sick all winter. 


SONNY
How many times has he been sick? 


CLEMENZA

Only maybe three, four times. I mean -- 


SONNY

3, 4 times? 


CLEMENZA

-- I asked Freddy if he wants me to get a different bodyguard and he said "no." 


SONNY
Listen, do me a favor, pick him up right now, I don't care how sick he is. 
If he's breathing, I want you to bring him to my father's house. 
Now, you understand? Now. 


CLEMENZA

Yeah. You want me to send any people over here? 


SONNY

No. No. No -- Just you and him. 
Ga'head. 


CLEMENZA (exiting)

Alright... 


SONNY (to Sandra, who's holding the crying Santino Jr)

Look, uh... I'll be having a couple people come over to the house. A couple of our people... 


[Sonny's phone rings, and he picks up] 


SONNY (into the phone)

Hello? 


SOLLOZZO'S VOICE (over the phone)

Santino Corleone? 


SONNY (into the phone, and Sandra leaves the room with the baby)

Yeah... 


SOLLOZZO'S VOICE (over the phone)

We have Tom Hagen. In about three hours he'll be released with our proposition -- 


[Sonny checks his watch, then writes the time onto the kitchen cabinet] 


SOLLOZZO'S VOICE (over the phone, continues)

-- Listen to everything he has to say before you do anything. What's done is done.

(then)

And don't lose that famous temper of yours, huh Sonny? 


SONNY (into the phone)

No, I'll wait... 


[Sollozzo hangs up, then Sonny hangs up] 


***Extra footage from The TRILOGY & SAGA*** 






*** 


CUT TO: An abandoned diner / Sollozzo with kidnapped Tom Hagen -night 


SOLLOZZO (drinking coffee, to Tom)

Your boss is dead. I know you're not in the muscle-end of the family, Tom, so I don't want

you to be scared. I want you to help the Corleone's, and I want you to help me.

(then, handing Tom a drink)

Yeah, we got him outside his office just about an hour after we picked you up.

(then)

Drink it.

(then)

So now it's up to you to make the peace between me and Sonny.

(then)

Sonny was hot for my deal, wasn't he? And you knew it was the right thing to do. 


TOM

Sonny'll come after you with everything he's got. 


SOLLOZZO

That'll be his first reaction, sure. That's why you gotta talk some sense into him. The

Tattaglia family is behind me with all their people. The other New York Families will go

along with anything that will prevent a full-scale war. Let's face it, Tom, and all due respect,

the Don, rest in peace, was -- slippin'. Ten years ago could I have gotten to him?

(then)

Well -- now he's dead. He's dead, Tom, and nothing can bring him back. So you gotta talk to

Sonny, you gotta talk to the caporegimes, that Tessio and that Fat Clemenza.

(then)

It's good business, Tom. 


TOM

I'll try, but even Sonny won't be able to call off Luca Brasi. 


SOLLOZZO

Yeah, well, let me worry about Luca.

(then)

You just talk to Sonny -- and the other two kids. 


TOM

I'll to my best. 


SOLLOZZO

Good. Now, you can go.

(then, while walking out)

I don't like violence, Tom. I'm a business man. Blood is a big expense. 


[Outside, a car, sounding its horn, pulls up; Sollozzo goes to talk to them, and

returns] 


SOLLOZZO

He's still alive. They hit'em with five shots, and he's still alive! Well that's bad luck for me,

and bad luck for you if you don't make that deal! 


CUT TO: Michael arrives at Corleone compound. A car drops him off at the gate, and he

goes inside, seeing family and friends. The TRILOGY has some extra footage at the

beginning of this scene, in the car. -night 


CLEMENZA (sitting with Theresa Hagen, stands to greet Michael)

Mike -- Your mother's over in the hospital with your father; looks like he's gonna pull

through, thank God. 


***Extra footage from The TRILOGY & SAGA*** 






*** 


CUT TO: The Don's office with Sonny, Tom, Mike, Tessio, & Clemenza -night 


SONNY (background, to Tom)

Whattaya think -- 


TOM (background, to Sonny)

Too much... 


SONNY (background, to Tom)

Huh? 


CLEMENZA (background, to Tessio)

...it's a lot of bad blood. Sollozzo, Philip Tattaglia, Bruno Tattaglia; Garbone,... 


TOM (background, to Sonny)

It's too far -- I think it's too personal... The Don'll consider this all... 


MICHAEL (to Clemenza)

You kill all those guys? 


SONNY

Hey, stay out of it, Mickey; do me a favor. 


TOM

Sollozzo's the key. You get rid of him, every falls into line. Now what about Luca? Sollozzo

didn't seem to be worried about Luca... 


SONNY

Aw --I don't know -- if Luca sold out we're in a lot of trouble, believe me. A lot of trouble. 


TOM

Has anyone been able to get in touch with Luca? 


CLEMENZA

Eh, I've been trying all night. He might be shacked up. 


SONNY

Hey, Mick, do me a favor -- 


TOM (background, to Clemenza)

Luca never sleeps over with a broad -- he always goes home when he's through... 


SONNY (to Michael)

-- try ringing him...

(then, to Tom)

Well, Tom -- you're consiglieri, now what do we do if the old man dies, God forbid. 


TOM

If we lose the old man -- 


TESSIO (background)

... Sollozzo, Philip Tattaglia, ... 


TOM

-- we lose our political contacts and half our strength. The other New York Families might

wind up supporting Sollozzo just to avoid a long -- destructive war. This is almost 1946 -- 


TESSIO (background)

... my people... 


TOM

-- nobody wants bloodshed anymore. If your father dies,

(then)

you make the deal, Sonny. 


SONNY

That's easy for you to say, Tom, he's not your father! 


TOM

I'm as much a son to him as you or Mike. 


[knock on door] 


SONNY

What is it? 


[Paulie enters] 


CLEMENZA

Hey, Paulie, I thought I told you to stay put. 


PAULIE

Well, the guy at the gates say -- say they got a package. 


SONNY

Yeah? Hey, Tessio, go see what it is. 


PAULIE (to Sonny, after Tessio exits)

You want me to hang around? 


SONNY

Yeah, hang around. You all right? 


PAULIE

Yeah, I'm fine 


SONNY

Yeah? -- 


[Paulie coughs, perhaps deliberately] 


SONNY

-- There's some food in the icebox, you hungry or anything? 


PAULIE

Nah, it's alright -- thanks... 


SONNY

How 'bout a drink? Have a little brandy -- that'll help sweat it out. Huh? Go'ahead, baby... 


PAULIE

Alright, sure -- that might be a good idea... 


SONNY

Yeah, right.

(then to Clemenza, after Paulie exits)

I want you to take care of that sonofabitch right away. Paulie sold out the old man, that

stronz'. I don't want to see him again. Make that first thing on your list, understand? 


CLEMENZA

Understood. 


SONNY

Hey, Mickey, tomorrow -- get a couple of guys, you go over to Luca's apartment; hang

around, waitin' for him to show up... 


TOM

Uh maybe we shouldn't get Mike uh mixed up in this too directly 


SONNY

Yeah, listen, uh... hang around the house on the phone an' be a big help, huh?

(then)

Try Luca again -- ga'head 


[Tessio enters with package, which he places on Sonny's lap] 


SONNY (unwrapping the package of Luca's bulletproof vest-wrapped fish]

What the hell is this? 


CLEMENZA

It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes. 


[Michael hangs up the phone] 


***Extra footage from The TRILOGY & SAGA*** 






*** 


CUT TO: Clemenza leaves his house in the morning. Some boys are playing, one is pushing

the other in a toy car as the latter yells ah! -morning 


CLEMENZA (to his wife, on his front stoop)

I'm goin' now... 


MRS. CLEMENZA (standing in the door)

What time will you be home tonight? 


CLEMENZA (walking to the car)

I don't know, probably late. 


MRS. CLEMENZA (OS)

Don't forget the cannoli! 


CLEMENZA (getting into the car, as is Rocco)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... 


PAULIE (in the driver's seat)

Rocco, sit on the other side. You block the rearview mirror. 


CLEMENZA

That Sonny's runnin' wild. He's thinkin'a going to the mattresses already. We gotta find a

spot over on the West Side. Ya try -- 309 West 43rd Street. You know any gooda spots on

the West Side? 


PAULIE

Yeah, I think about it. 


CLEMENZA

Well think about it while you're drivin', will ya? I wanna hit New York sometime this

month.

(then)

And watch out for the kids while you're backin' out. 


***Extra footage from The TRILOGY & SAGA*** 






*** 


CUT TO: Driving under the El Tracks -day 


CLEMENZA'S VOICE

Hey, Paulie, I want you to go down 39th Street -- Carlo Santos -- you pick up 18 -- 


PAULIE'S VOICE

Yeah... 


CLEMENZA'S VOICE (continuing)

-- mattresses for the guys to sleep, while you bring me the bill... 


PAULIE'S VOICE

Uh-huh, yeah, alright... That...[?]...bill 


CLEMENZA'S VOICE

Ya'know, you make sure they're clean, cuz those guys a'gonna be stuck up in there for a long

time, ya'know? 


PAULIE'S VOICE

They're clean. They told me they exterminate them 


CLEMENZA'S VOICE (as Rocco laughs)

Exterminate? That's a bad word to use: exterminate! Get this guy. Watch out we don't

exterminate you [laughs] 


PAULIE'S VOICE

You think that's funny, or what? 


CLEMENZA'S VOICE (laughs with Rocco)

Hey, Paulie -- [In Italian: Did you fart?] 


PAULIE'S VOICE

Hey, Rocco, what did you do? 


ROCCO'S VOICE (laughs)

Not me -- nothin' -- it wasn't me 


PAULIE'S VOICE (laughs)

It's gotta be him, then... 


CLEMENZA'S VOICE

Pull over, will yah? I gotta take a leak. 


[Paulie pulls over, and Clemenza gets out to relieve himself. Rocco shoots Paulie

three times as we hear a variation of the "Title Theme" music] 


CLEMENZA (back at the car)

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli. 


CUT TO: Outdoors, outside the Don's kitchen, Michael is sitting on a bench. -day 


CLEMENZA'S VOICE (OS)

Hey, Mike! Hey, Mikey? 


MICHAEL

Yeah? 


CLEMENZA'S VOICE (OS)

You're wanted on the telephone. 


MICHAEL (entering the kitchen)

Who is it? 


CLEMENZA

Some girl... [the music fades out] 


MICHAEL (into phone)

Hello, Kay? 


KAY'S VOICE (over the phone)

How's your father? 


MICHAEL (into the phone)

He's good. He's gonna make it. 


KAY'S VOICE (over the phone)

I love you. 


MICHAEL (into the phone)

Huh? 


KAY'S VOICE (over the phone, louder)

I love you.

(then)

Michael? 


MICHAEL (into the phone)

Yeah, I know. 


KAY'S VOICE (over the phone)

Tell me you love me... 


MICHAEL (into the phone)

I can't talk... 


KAY'S VOICE (over the phone)

Can't you say it? 


MICHAEL (into the phone)

Eh -- I'll see you tonight 


KAY'S VOICE

Okay 


[Michael hangs up the phone] 


CLEMENZA

Hey, Mikey, why don't you tell that nice girl you love her?

(then, in an exaggerated Italian accent)

I love you with all-a my heart! If I don't see you again soon, I'm a-gonna die! [laughs]

(then)

Heh, come over here, kid, learn something. You never know, you might have to cook for

twenty guys someday. You see, you start out with a little bit of oil. Then you fry some

garlic. Then you throw in some tomatoes, tomato paste, you fry it; ya make sure it doesn't

stick. You get it to a boil; you shove in all your sausage and your meatballs; heh?... And a

little bit o' wine. An' a little bit o' sugar, and that's my trick. 


SONNY (after entering the kitchen)

Why don't you cut out the crap. I got more important things for you to do.

(then)

How's Paulie? 


CLEMENZA

Oh, Paulie? Won't see him no more... 


SONNY (nods)

(then to Michael, who's walking out of the kitchen)

Where you going? 


MICHAEL

To the city. 


SONNY

No... wanna send some bodyguards with him -- alright? 


MICHAEL

No, I'm just going to the hospital to see Pop 


SONNY

Never mind; send somebody with him 


CLEMENZA

Aw, he'll be alright -- Sollozzo knows he's a civilian 


SONNY

Alright; be careful, huh? 


MICHAEL (as he exits)

Yes, sir... 


SONNY

Send somebody with him, anyway... 


CLEMENZA (chuckles) 


CUT TO: Michael goes to the city, driven by bodyguards -early evening

DISSOLVE TO: Kay's hotel room. Michael and Kay are eating dinner, while "All of My

Life" plays 


MICHAEL (as he gets up to get his coat)

I have to go... 


KAY

Can I go with you? 


MICHAEL

You know, Kay, there's gonna be detectives there -- people from the Press... 


KAY

Well, I'll ride in the cab... 


MICHAEL

I don't want you to get involved... 


KAY

When will I see you again? 


MICHAEL (after a long pause)

Go back to New Hampshire, and I'll call you at your parents' house. 


KAY

When will I see you again, Michael? 


MICHAEL

I don't know... 


[Michael kisses Kay, then exits] 


CUT TO: Michael exiting the hotel

CUT TO: The hospital (10:30pm). Michael arrives by cab. He enters the quiet hospital to

find no one at the nurse's station. He walks down the hall to check an office, and only sees a

half-finished sandwich on a desk. He runs down the hall and up the stairs towards his

father's room. He pauses, noticing there is no guard outside the Don's door. He walks around

the corner up to Room #2 and hesitates before he pushing the door open. His father is in the

bed, and Michael wonders if he's alive. He walks up to the Don. -night 


NURSE (entering the room)

What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be here now! 


MICHAEL

I'm Michael Corleone -- this is my father.

(then)

There's nobody here. What happened to the guards? 


NURSE

Your father just had too many visitors. They interfered with hospital service. The police

made them leave about ten minutes ago. 


[As the nurse checks the Don's pulse, Michael picks up the phone] 


MICHAEL (into phone)

Ah, Get me, ah, Long Beach-4-5620, please...

(then, to nurse, who was leaving the room)

Nurse, wait a minute. Stay here.

(then, into phone)

Sonny -- Michael. I'm at the hospital. 


SONNY'S VOICE (over the phone)

Yeah? 


MICHAEL (into the phone)

Listen -- I got here late. There's nobody here. 


SONNY'S VOICE (over the phone)

What? Nobody? 


MICHAEL (into the phone)

Nobody... no no no Tessio's men, no detectives, nobody. Papa's all alone. 


SONNY'S VOICE (over the phone)

Don't panic -- I'll send somebody... 


MICHAEL (loudly)

I won't panic!

[hangs up the phone] 


NURSE

I'm sorry; but you will have to leave. 


MICHAEL (as he checks to see if the bed would fit through the doorway)

Uhh... You and I are gonna moo -- move my father to another room. Now can you

disconnect those tubes so we can move the bed out? 


NURSE

That's out of the question! 


MICHAEL

You know my father? Men are coming here to kill him. You understand? Now help me,

please. 


[Michael and the nurse roll the Don's bed to another room. We hear a door close,

then footsteps are heard coming up the stairs as Michael peers from the doorway. A man

holding flowers seems to be looking for a room] 


MICHAEL (coming out of hiding)

Who are you? 


ENZO

I am Enzo, the baker -- 
Do you remember me? 


MICHAEL

Enzo... 


ENZO

Yes, Enzo... 


MICHAEL
You better get out of here, Enzo; 
There's gonna be trouble... 


ENZO
If there is trouble, I stay here to help you. 
For your father -- for your father 


MICHAEL

Alright... Listen, wait for me outside in front of the hospital. 
Alright? I'll be out in a minute.

Go ahead... 


ENZO

Okay... okay. 


[Michael returns to the Don's room, at his bedside. The nurse is still in the room] 


MICHAEL

Just lie here, Pop. 
I'll take care of you now. 
I'm with you now. 
I'm with you... 


[Michael kisses the Don's hand; the Don smiles, with a tear in his eye. Michael leaves to meet Enzo outside of the hospital] 


MICHAEL (grabbing and tossing the flowers that Enzo is still holding)

Get rid of these

(then, as Michael turns Enzo's collar up)

Come 'ere... 
Put your hand in your pocket like you have a gun. 
You'll be alright.

(then, after he sighs)

You'll be okay... 


[A black sedan pulls up to the front of the hospital. The occupants look at Michael and Enzo, as Michael undoes a button of his coat and puts his hand in, as if he had a gun.

The car then drives off] 


MICHAEL

You did good. 


[Enzo, very scared, takes out a cigarette and has trouble lighting it with his Zippo lighter. 
His hands are shaking. 
Michael takes the lighter and lights his cigarette, noticing that his hands are not shaking. 
Sirens are heard as police cars screech to a halt in front of the hospital. 
Michael shoos Enzo away as he is grabbed by an officer] 


OFFICER (grabbing Michael)

Now hold still... 


CAPTAIN McCLUSKEY (entering the scene)

I thought I got all you guinea hoods locked up! 
What the hell are you doing here? 


MICHAEL

What happened to the men who were guarding my father, captain? 


McCLUSKEY

Why you little punk! 
What the hell are you doing telling me my business? 
I pulled them guys off of here, eh! -- now you get outta here -- and stay away from this hospital! 


MICHAEL

I'm not moving until you put some guards around my father's room 


McCLUSKEY

Phil, take him in! 


OFFICER PHIL

The kid's clean, Captain. 
He's a war hero. 
He's never been busted for the rackets... 


McCLUSKEY (overlaps)

Goddamn it, I said take him in! 


MICHAEL

What's the Turk paying you to set up my father, Captain? 


McCLUSKEY

Take a hold of him. 
Stand him up. 
Stand'im up straight. 


[McCluskey punches Michael in the jaw as a Corleone car screeches up. 
Men get out and run up the steps toward the Don's room. Tom and a couple of men go to get

Michael] 


TOM (to McCluskey)

I'm attorney for the Corleone Family. 
These men are private detectives hired to protect Vito Corleone. 
They're licensed to carry firearms. 
If you interfere, you'll have to appear before a judge in the morning and show cause. 


McCLUSKEY (to his officers)

Alright... let'im go. [inaudible "Shit!" as he turns away] Come on! 


DISSOLVE TO: Corleone mall, during the day. Tom, Clemenza and Michael get out of the

car and walk through the gate, noticing armed men all over the mall. Tessio greets them.

-day 


CLEMENZA

What's with all the new faces? 


TESSIO

We'll need'em now. 
After the hospital thing, Sonny got mad. 
We hit Bruno Tattaglia 4 o'clock this morning. 


CLEMENZA

Jesus Christ...

(then, motions to Michael to come on)

It looks like a fortress around here... 


CUT TO: Inside the Corleone office -day 


SONNY (to Tom)

Tom-anuch! Hey, a hundred button men on the street twenty-four hours a day; that Turk shows one hair on his ass, he's dead -- 


TOM (going to sit down)

Yeah? 


SONNY

-- believe me...

(then, to Michael, whose face is bruised from McCluskey's punch)

Hey, Michael, come're, let me look at you. 
You look beautiful! Beautiful! Just gorgeous!

(then, to Tom)

Hey, listen to this -- the Turk wants to talk. 
Eh gosh -- imagine the nerve of the sonofabitch, eh? 
Craps out last night, and wants a meetin' today... 


TOM

What did he say? 


SONNY

What did he say -- Badda-beep, badda-bap, badda-boop, badda-beep -- He wants us to send Michael here to proposition. 
And the promise is, that the deal is so good, that we can't refuse. Eh... 


TOM (as Tessio enters the room)
What about Bruno Tattaglia? 


SONNY

That's part of the deal -- Bruno cancels out what they did to my father... 


TOM

Sonny, we ought to hear what they have to say... 


SONNY (standing in front of Tom, who's seated)

No; no; no! No more! 
Not this time, consiglieri. 
No more meetin's, no more discussions, no more Sollozzo tricks. 
You give'em one message: I want Sollozzo -- if not, it's all-out war -- we go to the mattresses... 


TOM (stands)

Some of the other families won't sit still for all-out war! 


SONNY

Then they hand me Sollozzo! 


TOM

Your father wouldn't want to hear this! 
This is business, not personal, Sonny! 


SONNY

They shot my father -- that's business? 
Your ass... 


TOM

Even the shooting of your father was business, not personal, Sonny! 


SONNY (now seated behind the desk)

Well, then, business will have to suffer, alright? 
And listen -- do me a favor, Tom -- 
No more advice on how to patch things up. 
Just help me win, please, alright? 


TOM (after they settle down)

I found out about this Captain McCluskey who broke Mike's jaw... 


SONNY

What about 'im? 


TOM

Now he's definitely on Sollozzo's payroll, and for big money. McCluskey has agreed to be the Turk's bodyguard. 
What you have to understand, Sonny, is that while Sollozzo is being guarded like this, he is invulnerable. 
Now nobody has ever gunned down a New York police captain -- never. 
It would be disastrous. 
All the Five Families would come after you, Sonny.

The Corleone Family would be outcasts! 
Even the old man's political protection would run for cover! 
So do me a favor -- take this into consideration. 


SONNY
Alright. 
We'll wait. 


MICHAEL

We can't wait. 


SONNY

Huh? 


MICHAEL (who's seated with his arms on the chair's arms)

We can't wait. I don't care what Sollozzo says about a deal, he's gonna kill Pop, that's it.

That's the key for him. Gotta get Sollozzo. 


CLEMENZA

Mike is right...

Friday, 10 April 2020

BRAND




Patrick McGoohan in BRAND (1959)


Brand is a priest who accepts the consequence of his choices, and is deeply bound to doing the "right thing". 

He believes primarily in the will of man, and lives by the belief "all or nothing". 

To make compromises is therefore difficult, or questionable. 

His idea of God is derived from the Old Testament. 

Brand's beliefs render him lonely, because those around him, when put to the test, generally cannot or will not follow his example. 

He is a young idealist whose main purpose is to save The World, or at least people's souls, but his judgment of others are harsh and unfair. 

The word brand means "fire" in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch and German.



“Joey, there’s no living with it,” Shane says to a teary-eyed Joey at the end of the movie. “The killing. There’s no going back from it. Right or wrong is a brand. A brand sticks. There’s no going back. Now, you run on home to your mother and tell her … tell her everything’s alright. There aren’t any more guns in the valley.”

SAVED



We are assembled here today to pay final respects to our honoured dead. 

And yet it should be noted that in the midst of our sorrow, this death takes place in the shadow of new life, the sunrise of a new world, a world that our beloved comrade gave his life to protect and nourish. 

He did not feel that sacrifice a vain or empty one... and we will not debate his profound wisdom at these proceedings. 

Of my friend, I can only say this — of all the souls I have encountered in my travels... his was the most....

Human.

Sure, His Nerves are at Him

AFTER "THE PRISONER" THE BIG BUST UP. 

"Don't Ye Know Ye Can't Cheat Magick?!?"

Everyman films, Mcgoohan's company along with David Tomblim and Terence Feely had plans for features to be filmed in 1968, but after a massive row Lew Grade withdrew the finance. 


Feely explains what happened.



Tell him... 
Harry Boland's death was enough. 


Tell him 
Mick Collins wants to stop this bloody mayhem. 

Tell him 
I'm sorry I didn't bring back the Republic -- but nobody could have! 

He was my Chief, always. 

I'd have followed him to hell if he'd asked me. 
And maybe I did. 

But it's not worth fighting for anymore. 
We've got to build with what we have! 

You Tell Him That. 



Thursday, 9 April 2020

A Singular Consciousness



At some point in the early twenty-first century all of mankind was united in celebration. 

We marvelled at our own magnificence as we gave birth to AI.

A singular consciousness that spawned an entire race of machines. 








“I’m the power plant systems manager for recycling operations.”

A NEW 9/11





Spider-Man :
How could you do all this?

Mysterio :
You’ll see, Peter — 
People need to Believe.

And nowadays.... 
They’ll believe ANYTHING.....

The Midgard Servant









Thor is The Champion of The Gods, of Earth and of The Human Race.

He is the great fighter who can be brought out when something is really bad.





You don't go to Thor for wisdom, you go to Thor because he's going to protect you against the evil monsters.


Tales of Thor's adventures provided escape from one of the bleakest periods in human history.

The dark ages of the first millennium A.D.

It was a time when the Norse world, stretching from the British Isles to the Baltic Sea, was in turmoil.

The agricultural society, where people were farming and surviving kind of at the very edge of how it was possible to survive, because it was cold, it was the northern part of Europe, it wasn't around the Mediterranean where it was much easier to grow things, and it tended to be, from everything we can tell, quite violent.”

War, famine and death were daily facts of life on the desolate northern fringes of Europe.

But the myth of Thor brought a sense of order to the chaos.

“It was a religion of the countryside.

Paganism actually is a Latin word that describes that, what the country people believe in, and paganism is not really well organized either.

It's not like the Greek Pantheon in the sense that it's very well organized and everybody knows whose responsibilities and who's more important than whom.
It's very different.
The view of human life in that mythology was a fairly dark and fairly stern one.
Human beings didn't look forward to the kind of salvation and heaven at the end of time that's promised in the Christian stories.
They had a kind of a darker, a more sorrowful view of life.
People have to show great courage and hardiness in the face of enormous obstacles.”

For inspiration, the people looked to Thor.

Thor was the quintessential hero.

He was strong.

Unlike some of the other gods he was not deceptive, he was not treacherous, but he was steadfast, and as this hero figure, I think, people could identify with him best.

In the myth, two of Thor's weapons help him conquer evil forces: A belt that doubles his strength and a hammer that shoots lethal bolts of lightning.

No matter how far Thor throws his trusty hammer, it will return to him like a boomerang.

And each time thunder roars, it means Thor's hammer has struck a giant.

Thor is the master of lightning, and this is not uncommon in other mythologies.

The obvious parallel here is Zeus in classical mythology, for he is the thunder god.

The thunder and lightning god is the protector god.

He's the strongest fighter, so he has that capability that Zeus has, the thunderbolt, the hammer for Thor, that can destroy the bad guys.

ANJALI











BILL MOYERS: Genesis 1: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply.’

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: And now this is from a legend of the Bassari people of West Africa. “Unumbotte made a human being, its name was Man. Unumbotte next made all antelope, named Antelope. Unumbotte made a snake, named Snake. And Unumbotte said to them, ‘The earth has not yet been pounded. You must pound the ground smooth where you are sitting.’ Unumbone gave them seeds of all kinds and said, ‘Go plant these.'”

BILL MOYERS: And Genesis 1: “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: And from the Upanishad: “Then he realized, I indeed am this creation, for I have poured it forth from myself. In that way he became this creation, and verily he who knows this becomes in this creation a creator.” That’s the clincher there. When you know this, then you’ve identified with the creative principle yourself, which is the God-power in the world, which means in you. It’s beautiful.

BILL MOYERS: What do you think we’re looking for, when we subscribe to one of these theories of creation, one of these stories of creation? What are we looking for?

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: Well, I think what we’re looking for is a way of experiencing the world in which we are living, that will open to us the transcendence that informs it, and at the same time informs ourselves within it. That’s what people want, that’s what the soul asks for.

BILL MOYERS: You mean we’re looking for some accord with the mystery that informs all things, what you call that vast ground of silence which we all share?

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: Yes, but not only to find it, but to find it actually in our environment, in our world, to recognize it, to have some kind of instruction that will enable us to see the divine presence.

BILL MOYERS: In the world and in us.

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: In India, this wonderful Anjali, this greeting, you know what that means?

BILL MOYERS: No.

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: That’s the greeting of prayer, isn’t it? That’s what we use for prayer. They greet you with that, that’s greeting the god that’s in you as you come in. These people are aware of the divine presence. When you enter an Indian home as a guest, you are a visiting deity, and you feel it, by God, the way they treat you. It’s something in the way of a hospitality that you don’t get where you have simply one person and another person. It’s a recognition of the identity.

BILL MOYERS: But weren’t people who told these stories and believed them and acted on them asking far more simple questions, you know, who made the world, how was the world made, why was the world made? Aren’t these the questions that these creation stories are trying to address?

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: No. It’s through that answer that they see that the creator is present in the whole world. Do you see what I mean? This story that we’ve just read, “I see that I am this creation,” says the god. When you see that God says he is the creation and then you are a creature, well, the god is within you and the man you’re talking to, also. And so there’s that realization, two aspects of the one divinity.

BILL MOYERS: Accord again, harmony again.

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: Wonderful thing.

Wednesday, 8 April 2020

It’s Important in Life Not to Give a Shit.






“It’s a People-Pleaser Job - whereas what I really was, was an Outlaw and a Rebel.”