Medicine Man (1992) Movie Script
Goodbye. Enjoy your stay.
The foundation for whom I work
supports a botanist...
named Robert Campbell, once of some note.
But on separating from his wife
and long-time research partner...
he'd withdrawn his station
deeper into the bush.
And until last month's message,
no one had heard from him in three years.
He asked for an assistant
and a gas chromatograph...
and pointedly refused to say why.
I'm surprised they sent a woman.
For Dr. Campbell.
Please don't lose it.
Wait a minute. Aren't you coming with me?
I'm afraid he was adamant about that.
Tanaki will guide you from here.
Come on, you, go.
Come on.
Careful.
Are we here?
Okay, ready? Here you go.
Indian?
Oh, boy.
- Who are you?
- Who am I? Who are you?
I asked you first.
- You're Dr. Campbell, right?
- I know who the hell I am.
- I'm asking who you are.
- Crane.
No, toucan.
- No, that's my name.
- Toucan?
- How odd.
- Crane. Dr. Rae Crane.
I do wish you'd make up your mind.
Maybe it's best we talk
in the morning, Doctor.
This is from Ornega.
How about a place to sleep?
Ornega?
Are you from Aston?
- He sent you?
- I tell you. They sent a girl.
- They sent a girl?
- Yes.
- I'm not a girl.
- The hell you're not.
- I'm your research assistant.
- The hell you are.
- Where's your mask?
- I don't have one. I just got here.
No one comes in here
without a surgical mask.
God knows what bugs you're carrying.
Jahausa, get her a mask.
- Relax. This is as close as we get, Tonto!
- Not for me, you hussy!
- For the indians.
- Hussy?
One outsider with a common cold
can decimate an entire tribe.
- And what about your shots?
- What about a place to sleep, God damn it?
To sleep?
Sleep.
Yes, of course, please forgive me.
There's no need for you to leave
till tomorrow.
I must tell you how grateful I am.
I've been waiting for these.
They get lost in the forest, you see?
The forest is so vast
and they're just so very small.
Dr. Campbell?
No, Palala. Back to the boat.
You had no right to unpack that equipment.
Where are you going?
- No.
- That's all right. He's loading the boat.
- No boat.
- Palala, only those boxes are staying.
Come on, up.
Luggage down. Come on, put it down.
Would you do me a favor
and ask him to put my luggage down?
Sorry, I forget women
like to carry their own now.
I think I should introduce myself.
You're the so-called research
assistant from Aston.
- You don't remember last night?
- Do I appear senile?
Drunk.
- Intoxicated, yes.
- There's a difference?
The Peach Palm Festival
is a religious ceremony.
Are those bags too heavy?
Shall I call Palala back?
No. I'm not getting on a boat. No boat.
It's the only available transport,
and you certainly can't remain here.
- Why? Because I'm not a man?
- Because you're not one of three men.
I requested Dr. Alan Sealove.
If he was unavailable, Dr. Gregory Hoffman.
I'm published more extensively
than Dr. Sealove.
I hold degrees from CCNY,
Berkeley, and Cambridge.
I'm the recipient...
of the Thurman Award in '82 and '86.
The first and only time it's ever been given
to the same person twice.
Is there anything else
you'd like to know about me?
- Do those boots come with a manual?
- No.
I thought of snakes.
When was the last time
you did field research?
Or when was the first time?
I did a month in La Salva.
A whole month?
You didn't need me.
- You needed a caddie.
- Palala will carry your bags to the boat.
You send me back on the basis of
my gender, that's called sex discrimination.
Look, I understand your reservations.
I heard about your wife.
My wife? Good God, she left me.
I wish you'd follow her example.
Are we finished?
- You have a boat to catch.
- No boat.
- I want a meal and a bath.
- This isn't a hotel.
- I'll leave when I'm damn well ready.
- I know, after a meal and a bath.
I'm not a 19-year-old grad student
working up a resume.
And I don't expect to be
treated as if I were.
I'm hungry, I'm tired...
and I've been in these clothes
for more than one dance.
Palala will see that you get some breakfast.
I said, and a bath.
Unbutton your shirt.
Excuse me?
Do you want to bathe in their water supply?
You'll take a medical first.
Sit down. Here.
- Is he gonna watch?
- Don't you want a nurse present?
- I'll risk it.
- I won't.
Deep breath.
Now I understand why you've been
so secretive about your research here.
You found the cure
for the common hangover.
Look up.
Left.
Right.
- Open your mouth.
- There's nothing wrong...
Say "ah.' '"
Let me see your carnet.
- My what?
- It's in your passport.
Your vaccine card.
This is completely unnecessary.
The principal cause of death
among aboriginals is imported disease.
What do you see?
I thought we did the eye examination.
Come on, you won two Thurman Awards,
show off.
What am I analyzing?
Did you run a base line?
No.
Next time run a base line
to calibrate the machine.
There's a glucose solution
specifically for that.
Is that the substance you're analyzing?
Yes.
- What is it, a plant extract?
- Full marks. Continue.
Okay.
We're looking at...
49 compound.
Okay, what we've got here is...
Where was I? Okay, 49 compound.
No.
Nearly all of these are identifiable.
In short, nothing new.
Is this why you wanted the chromatograph?
You said "nearly all identifiable.' '"
Yeah.
Just this one, Peak 37.
Looks like an acid derivative.
Although those side...
You must have thought
you were onto something.
- I'm sorry.
- Can it be synthesized?
This one's mother nature's kitchen.
End of story.
Why?
- What is it you think you've got?
- I don't think.
- I know.
- Share it.
What's the problem?
Even as a child, I didn't like to share.
It was deep-seated, I suppose.
What is it, a secret?
I'll cross my heart and spit on the floor.
You said breakfast and a bath.
You saving it for Sealove?
Don't, he's not coming.
Then I'll settle for Robinson.
You were lucky you got me
and last year's chromatograph.
I give up.
I believe our deal was
bath, breakfast, and boat.
I didn't come here to make deals.
Then why did you come here?
I'll leave the chromatograph
for the time being.
I'm asking you a question.
You have no idea, have you?
Aston's considering pulling your funds
and shipping you out.
I'm your judge and jury.
- Winslow would never permit that.
- Winslow!
Winslow retired last year.
If you hadn't cut off incoming,
you would have known that.
- Who replaced him?
- Me.
You don't send progress reports.
You move your damn station
wherever and whenever you like.
You don't send in a record of expenses!
And you don't respond
to requests for information.
So here I am!
- Put this on. I want to show you something.
- I've seen it.
Put in on!
Please.
Follow me.
This is Kalana...
wife of Jahausa, mother of Imana.
Palpate her throat.
I'm not a medic.
Good God, woman, must everything
be a full-scale debate with you? Just do it.
Feel anything?
Nothing.
Six months ago, she came to see me.
Couple of lumps on her throat.
I sent her down river with
a Franciscan missionary to the hospital.
Then she made her own way back.
It took her a month.
And the nodes were almost double the size.
Two injections of that sample
you just tested...
and the lumps disappeared within a week.
No boosters, no side effects.
That's just swell.
What am I supposed to report
to the Foundation?
Dr. Campbell showed me a cured patient...
who claims a history of undiagnosed,
undocumented lumps in her throat?
- You're untiring.
- Here it is.
- You're untiring.
- Here it is.
Her scan report.
She brought it back from Manikovi.
That's delightful.
I'll bring it with me. If you'll contact...
Stage 2, anterior and posterior lymphomas.
Here. Check her biopsy report.
What for? It could be anybody's.
- Okay.
- You think I'm lying?
You're a man
who's allowed his personal problems...
to get in the way of his clinical judgment.
That's what I think.
Stay here.
Stay here.
He talks to me like a dog.
500,000 scientists in this world...
and I end up with Dr. Mengele
with a ponytail.
Now what? Good God!
Feel that?
What is it?
- A supraclavicular node. Malignant.
- How do you know?
I gave it to him.
Transplanted tissue, I gave it to them all.
You will biopsy the lot. I insist.
That is your control group.
And this lucky bugger
gets an injection by nightfall...
and tomorrow, in the morning,
you will examine him.
Come on, I'm not proposing marriage.
I'm asking you to biopsy
a family of rodents.
Spend 12 hours in a perfectly
luxurious hammock.
You don't have to think
about that, just nod.
No ball.
What was in the tin?
The boys, you were giving them
something from the tin.
Candy coated ants.
Do you want some?
The tin is inside on the table.
I'll pass.
What about you?
What is it?
- Freeze dried ice cream.
- I'll pass.
Come on, the astronauts eat it.
It doesn't taste like ice cream.
When was the last time
you had a double dip?
The palate remembers.
That woman, Kalana?
She called you something.
What's it mean?
Medicine Man, that's me.
- Don't they have one of their own?
- What?
Medicine Man.
I gave Alka-Seltzer to a
kid with a bellyache.
You did what?
Alka-Seltzer. It cured him with one belch.
But it was the plop and the fizz
that really dazzled them.
The Medicine Man
was understandably pissed off.
I had taken his stick.
Stick?
Yeah, his self-respect. His place.
He just took off.
My intentions were well meant.
You take the hammock,
I'll sleep in the greenhouse.
- If I need anything, I'll let you know.
- You will?
Good. Thank you.
Dr. Campbell?
Already?
My name is Dr. Crane, Rae Crane.
Just in case
you need to address me directly.
I thought I'd just call you Brooklyn.
I'm from the Bronx.
Oh, well, Bronx.
It doesn't quite roll off
the tongue, does it?
Good night.
- What the hell are you doing?
- I'm covering my ass.
I don't want you accusing me of
playing switcheroo with your control group.
I get it, Peach Palm Festival, day two.
No festival, just a bedtime story.
You're staring at me.
Pyjamas.
I haven't seen pyjamas in...
a long time.
Jesus!
What is it now?
God.
It's all right. That's Henry.
He keeps the place free of rats.
Come on, old dear.
Look, I'll sleep with lizards
and I'll sleep with guinea pigs...
I understand.
A girl has to draw the line somewhere.
Come on, old dear.
- Sweet dreams.
- Go to hell.
Probably.
No.
You?
Why do you think that?
- That's very funny.
- Dr. Campbell?
Imana.
Get stuffed, both of you.
Jesus, Campbell.
I know.
You know?
You've found a cure for cancer,
and all you can say is I know?
- What is it?
- Bromeliad. The flower.
How'd you find it?
Get dressed.
Okay.
I came here six years ago. Why?
A freak tribe, no cancer.
- What about the woman you showed me?
- No, Jahausa married outside the tribe.
Kalana is an Exoti.
- Then it's genetic.
- No. It's environmental.
The tribes have always inter-married.
But as far as I can tell...
the bromeliad doesn't grow anywhere
except here.
So the Exoti don't use it.
Kalana still doesn't put it in the food.
She says it tastes bad.
So they eat this flower?
They ingest it.
Snuff.
And sometimes chewing tobacco.
It's in most of their food.
It grows wild, 100 feet up in the canopy.
Ten storeys up?
On the top shelf
of the pharmacological superstore.
It lives off a tree.
I've seen the old Medicine Man up there
gathering for his juju kit...
and there it was.
There's only one fly in the serum.
I can't reproduce it.
What do you mean?
None of the new samples work.
I have very little of the
original serum left.
That's what I mean when I say
I can't reproduce it.
Wait a minute, I don't understand.
What don't you understand?
I found a cure for the fucking plague
of the 20th century and now I've lost it!
Haven't you ever lost anything, Dr. Bronx?
You purse, your car keys?
It's rather like that.
Now you have it, now you don't!
- Your notes are gone?
- I have my notes.
I followed my notes.
- Your notes must be wrong.
- They're not.
Then explain it.
I can't.
Okay.
The first thing I do when I get to LA
is I get Dr. Crouse.
- His people can set up a real lab here.
- There's nothing wrong with this lab.
- We've got everything we need.
- Look...
this is major league.
You need help.
I promise you will get full credit.
Do you think I give a damn
about the immortal textbook quote?
Dare I insult you with a history lesson?
Better still, how about subtraction?
Nine million indians in the Amazon...
white men bring measles,
flu, polio, and chicken pox.
Now you've got 2,00,000 indians.
Without using your fingers,
just how many did we shove in the hole?
It's not like they'll be unvaccinated.
These people would work for Aston.
All precautions would be taken.
You don't remember Mocara.
Do you?
You're too young.
Some overeager son of a bitch found a
great little painkiller in the jungle.
Fifteen cents to make a $5 bottle.
Aston was on to it like a fly to dung.
All very scientific, all precautions taken.
Swine flu killed the entire village.
Much regret, so sorry.
The eager beaver still ended up
with his 10 cents on the dollar...
This isn't a painkiller.
This is the cure for cancer.
These people don't need
a cure for cancer, ask them!
There's a road coming into the area.
You're finished. Aston can stop that!
Aston will need the road. They'll ensure
that it leads right up to my palapa.
- How can I go...
- How can you go when I need you here?
What?
No.
I'm a damn good bio-chemist.
I'm not a field researcher.
I haven't done this work for years.
I'm not qualified.
I know, too many foundation fund raisers.
Too many sub-committees.
Take two guinea pigs
and call me in the morning.
When you're old and grey...
you'll put lilies on my grave
and wish you could thank me.
Yeah, well, I'll thank you now,
but I'm still leaving.
How?
Campbell?
- I'm not your prisoner.
- No...
you're my research assistant.
You're not afraid of heights,
are you, Bronx?
Right foot up.
There we go.
You give the counterweight a good yank...
and up you go.
Come on.
I want you to see.
Come on.
All right.
Dr. Bronx?
Left leg first.
And now the right.
All right?
Come on.
Oh, God!
Think of Neil Armstrong.
All right.
I'll give you one week.
Did you hear me?
They're not in abundance.
If you find one, pop it in the bag.
- Are you gonna tell me what they look like?
- Yes.
Like this.
Whatever this flower needs to fertilize,
it gets it up here.
Whether it's an enzyme
being transported by...
an insect for the pollen...
or God knows what leaking out of a tree.
It could be anything.
It could be everything.
That's the beauty of this system.
You can't beat it.
You can only wipe it out.
Is that the road?
You see the river?
No one can remember it ever being this low.
- What about all the rain?
- Every year it rains less.
Less rainforest means less rain.
The indians have asked me
to pray for a deluge.
Do you pray, Bronx?
There's so much smoke.
I didn't know the road was so close.
Yes, well, death is inevitable, Dr. Bronx.
But it's considered bad form
to discuss it over a man's sickbed.
Yeah, well, closing your eyes
won't make it disappear.
Neither will talk. Let's go.
- You're a lunatic.
- I'll show you a shortcut!
God!
- When was it made?
- What?
The eighth sample, when was it made?
Data sheets, green notebook, top left.
- You don't smoke, do you?
- No, I quit.
Good God, why? They've been missing
from the last three shipments.
I suspect Jahausa's got something
to do with it.
Your other left.
Last one.
Okay, look.
Here's the original extract,
the one that works.
Here's the eight subsequent ones
that don't work.
You notice anything?
I'll give you a hint.
It's missing from every failed sample.
Peak 37.
Did you vary the solution?
Do you think the bromeliad
changes chemistry during its life cycle?
It's not impossible.
But all these samples are dated
within two weeks of each other.
Maybe the first batch was contaminated.
Maybe Peak 37 is a fungus.
I screened every sample,
including the first one.
Yeah, maybe you used a dirty test tube.
Who knows?
There's gotta be 1,000 variations
on this plant extract.
And we've gotta make
and test every single one of them.
I tell you, we need help.
We're looking at too many possibilities.
Isn't that what science is all about?
Eliminating possibilities?
You said you needed help.
Jahausa, can you tell them
that I need them to break it from the root?
How are we doing?
Tell her if she breaks
the leaves it's easier.
Imana, what are you doing?
You're in my way.
Are you breaking them from the roots?
It's Kalana.
I don't understand. I'm sorry.
He wants to know if you have a date
for the prom, euphemistically speaking.
Why are they staring at me?
They've never seen a
virgin of your maturity.
I had to give them some excuse.
You should have said
she's engaged to be married.
Really? It's to be Mrs. Bronx?
- It will be, next winter.
- I don't approve of long engagements.
We would have married earlier,
but it wasn't convenient.
A marriage of convenience.
You probably know him,
or at least his family.
Tom Falon?
Tommy Falon!
Good God, he's about 95 years old.
You'll inherit before the honeymoon's over.
I take my hat off to you, girl.
His son.
His son? No, I don't know the son,
but I can well imagine.
Good stock. Good contributor.
Met at a fundraiser, did we?
What's the difference where I met him?
Don't get your knickers in a twist,
Mrs. Bronx.
Just remember,
breeding is no substitute for intelligence.
It's often the death of it.
Do you have an unlimited supply
of that stuff?
The saliva speeds up
the fermentation process.
- Pass.
- You might as well.
We can't test this lot for another 72 hours.
It'll go by just as fast
if we're testing the local fungus.
I told you, I screened every sample.
- There is another possibility.
- Which is?
A six-pack of peach Pernod...
and you were drunker than a skunk
when you did the test.
Pernod. The "d" is silent.
If you're gonna hang around with
the Falons, you'd better get it right.
Pernod.
- Thank you, Doctor.
- Shall I write it down for you?
What if the missing step
isn't here in the lab?
Your Medicine Man, the first day
you saw him collect the bromeliads.
What if he did something?
Something you instinctively copied
that first time...
and haven't done since?
What if it's in the harvesting?
I counted at least three what ifs.
You don't start an investigation
with "once upon a time"...
- What are you going to investigate?
- Not what, who!
Your merry men must know
where the Medicine Man is.
We should go and question him.
As you yourself pointed out, you're
scarcely a qualified field researcher.
And as you've pointed out,
research is a process of elimination!
Don't you presume to tell me
how to follow up.
Question the Medicine Man.
Don't you think
I questioned the son of a bitch?
Play somewhere else!
Relax!
- They know not to urinate in the water.
- That's not my concern.
It should be.
Urine attracts the spiky canderoo.
It's a relatively tiny fish
that enters any available orifice.
Can't you blow a whistle?
Maybe they'd like to fetch some golf balls.
The spikes are angled backwards
and have to be surgically removed.
It's a hell of a procedure.
- I came to apologize.
- Are you serious?
- I lost my temper.
- About the spikes?
No, about the Medicine Man.
- Damn it, Campbell, the spiky canderoo?
- Good God, where?
I must admit, I've never actually seen
one this far up river.
It's not a bad idea to
keep your knickers on.
All gone. Satisfied?
I didn't mean to jump down your throat
this afternoon.
Then I accept your apology. Let's forget it.
The Medicine Man,
he wouldn't answer my questions.
Until I got up to leave,
and then he spoke one word:
- "Mocara.' '
- The swine flu epidemic?
You told me.
He was afraid, you see, because in Mocara...
their medicine man
had shared forbidden juju magic...
with the eager beaver...
and swine flu...
was the Gods' punishment
for that indiscretion.
All right, he wouldn't talk.
- He might talk to me.
- A woman?
Look, what do you wanna do?
Sit on your hands for three days
and pray for Peak 37?
We could take Jahausa. He could plead
our case. You could say you're sorry.
I don't think he knows it was me.
I meant sorry for the Alka-Seltzer.
I thought you meant Mocara.
Same story as Imana.
Supraclavicular node, non-tender.
Adherent to the surrounding tissues.
- How big would you say?
- One centimeter.
I'll give it to you.
You can't, and you know it.
It's so close to his windpipe,
he'll choke to death...
before the cancer kills him.
It's not a weed, it's a tumor.
It can wait.
It's not a tumor,
it's a child.
The child can wait, too.
You use up the last bit of
the working serum and we have nothing.
- You can't use the last of it.
- We know the molecule.
A picture. A ghost in a machine.
For Christ's sake, Campbell, use your head!
The boy won't die in the next 48 hours.
If one of those beakers sprouts Peak 37...
you can give samples away for Christmas,
I'll help you wrap.
Suppose the new serums don't work?
You said yourself you found the cure
for the plague of this century.
It belongs to the human race,
not to one sick kid.
Come on, give me that syringe.
It'll be my sleepless night.
Jahausa's taken his son
to the Medicine Man.
When she woke up this morning,
they were both gone.
- She wants me to bring them back.
- Medicine Man?
Kalana, where's the Medicine Man?
- What is she saying?
- That Jahausa's is a fool.
For taking him there.
Who can show us
where the Medicine Man is?
Palala.
- Palala can show us.
- Can't hear you.
Get out of there!
If we leave now,
we can catch up to Jahausa!
Can't hear you!
You got some history, fine. It's history.
Will you drag it around
for the rest of your life?
If that man has the answers, we need them.
- I can't hear...
- Can you hear me now?
- What is it?
- Headache.
Keep your eyes down,
the focus won't change...
you won't get a headache.
- You might have mentioned it earlier.
- I'm sorry, I thought I did.
No, I've got something better.
- No, give it.
- No.
- What is it?
- Yoco tree.
The bark is 3% pure caffeine.
Cures headaches, fatigue, aches, pains,
neuritis, neuralgia.
Drink it. It'll keep you on your feet
till dinnertime.
- Pass.
- Drink it.
- Pass!
- Drink it.
Or Palala will force you on your back,
while I pour it down your gullet.
- Isn't that right, Palala?
- Gullet.
Go ahead.
- What's the name of this bark?
- It's called Yoco.
Yoco. You know, this would knock
Maxwell House right off the shelf.
If the narcs wouldn't stop me at the border.
This isn't a hallucinogen, is it?
- Which peak is his?
- None of the above.
The old man lives at the base of the gorge.
Downhill. Yeah.
We gotta talk about marketing this stuff.
Of course, you'd have to add sugar.
Your version tastes like shit.
Man, they don't spit in this one, do they?
- Spit, no. But...
- Okay, don't tell me.
Yocaf!
Yospresso!
Have you broken it down yet?
Look at that!
If I were the Medicine Man,
I would have taken that penthouse.
Why does he live at the bottom?
To get away from the constant gabbing,
most likely.
Sorry for disturbing you.
- You all right?
- I'm okay.
Go ahead, I'll catch up.
That Yocola sounds too much
like a kids' drink.
I'm more interested in the mass market in...
Okay, I'm more interested in the mass
marketing of this drink for the adults...
like a continental suave thing.
Is it difficult...
to process that Yoco bark?
Bronx?
- Where are you?
- I'm all right.
Don't play silly buggers. Where are you?
I'm all right.
I'm all right.
I'm okay.
Stay where you are.
I'm gonna lower a harness.
You've been to the circus?
This is a piece of cake
compared to the triple.
You can tell your kids
you worked without a net.
Except, they're not gonna believe you.
All right, here we go.
Use your left hand.
You can reach the harness.
Now, come on, reach back for the harness!
It's all right. Don't cry.
I promise you, when this is over,
you can cry all you want...
and I won't say a word.
Now come on. Reach for the harness.
No, I can't do it.
Change of plan.
Mohammed goes to the mountain.
The triple is easier.
All right, here I come.
- All right? Okay?
- No!
It's okay. Just let go.
- I can't do it, Campbell.
- You don't have to.
We'll both go down together.
It's a hell of a short cut.
God!
If I wanted to kill both of us,
I could have found easier ways, no?
Well, come on. Let go.
Come on! Let go!
Rae, let go!
Come on!
- Move!
- Okay.
You're okay. Just come down.
Come on.
There you go.
- Come on.
- I think I hate you.
Faster, let it go. Come on.
- I can't look.
- Come on.
- I can't look.
- Don't look. Work your hands.
- What happened?
- Nothing happened.
What happened?
- Just calm down.
- What're you doing?
What do we do now?
This is a rescue?
What's the matter with you?
What am I supposed to do, call 911?
You idiot!
- Calm down.
- Do something!
Give me your hand.
This isn't a rescue.
This is a suicide pact.
- You idiot!
- Calm down!
Give me your hand.
What for? What, are you crazy?
Well done.
Don't cry. You were marvelous. Really.
The best I've ever seen.
And I've been to the circus
a great many times.
You were spectacular. Really.
Don't cry.
You promised I could cry all I want.
Yes, I did. Okay, go ahead.
Knock yourself out.
Fortunately, Palala salvaged your haversack.
Careful, that's Peach Pernod.
- I lost it up there, I'm sorry.
- It's okay.
I'm trying to thank you.
That was a good job. Enough said.
Go easy on it.
Why? I'm not driving.
Or walking, apparently.
- Now I know why you like this stuff.
- What?
Don't make me laugh.
Don't make me laugh. It hurts.
Hold on.
That burns.
- I know.
- What is it?
It's magic.
Magic, yeah.
That old black magic
has got me in its spell
Old black magic that you weave so well
I know. Terrifying...
Icy fingers up and down your spine
Down my spine?
I'm in a spin, loving the spin I'm in
- All right, bed time.
- Come on, sing it, Campbell.
Really big finish. Come on, sing us a bar.
I should stay away, but what can I do?
I hear your name
I'm in a flame
Come on, sing it.
Get some sleep, Rae.
Don't!
What?
Don't call me by my given name.
Don't you like it?
Yeah, I like it.
Campbell?
Are you ready for visitors?
The Medicine Man?
He's in the neighborhood.
How do you know?
Call it a hunch.
- We might be in the wrong gorge.
- Somehow, I doubt that.
I mean, are you sure
Palala knows where he lives?
What if he doesn't? What do we do then?
I thought I was dreaming.
Campbell, I thought...
Okay, what's going on?
It seems there's going to be a fight.
Between you and him?
He's 3 feet tall, for Christ's sake.
- You wanted to pick his brains.
- Well, not off the sidewalk.
Ever mouth off to the Dean
and then need a grant?
- This is an eat crow, kiss ass contest?
- Exactly.
Remember what I told you
about taking his stick?
- I think this is about giving it back.
- So he's gotta win?
Okay. Bend over, take three whacks,
and let's cut to the info.
It doesn't quite work that way.
- The tricky part is...
- Is what?
Not getting my skull cracked in the process.
Tell him his mother eats army boots.
- This is what happens when cousins marry!
- For Christ's sake!
- I was helping.
- Well, don't!
- I don't need a bloody interpreter.
- I do.
- Don't push your luck, runt!
- Campbell.
Yeah, nice kiss.
What'd he say?
What'd he say?
Back to square one.
Where did I go wrong?
Eating crow, or the kissing ass department?
It wasn't a total loss.
My, my, isn't it all bright and shiny?
I cleaned up a little, that's all.
These first four extracts
will be ready to test by 7:00.
I'll set my alarm clock for 6:30.
Incidentally, the blue doesn't come off.
Get drunk somewhere else.
Hey, I live here.
Get sanctimonious somewhere else.
I tried to get drunk at Jahausa's,
as a matter of fact.
But I soon tired
of hearing him pray over his only son.
So I said to myself,
"Why not visit Dr. Bronx..."
"and her tabernacle of empirical evidence?"
- I'm not a monster, Campbell.
- No, you're not a monster.
And if I have, in any way,
labeled you monstrous...
by gesture or manner,
I sincerely beg your pardon.
I'd like to go to sleep now.
I have an early morning.
I wouldn't bother setting that alarm,
Monster Bronx.
He won't make it through the night.
You don't know that.
I picture you at Imana's age...
sitting in bed, awake,
arms crossed, whispering:
"I don't believe in ghosts.' '"
Where was I, when you were 6 years of age
and armed against the dark?
Probably hiding, like you are now.
In the jungle, or in the bottle?
To which hideout are you referring?
Does it matter?
It's not as difficult as you might think,
watching someone die.
After 70 or 80 men, women, infants...
you begin to feel quite numb.
When I left Jahausa's hut,
I was coming here to get the magic serum.
Save myself, of course, not the boy...
which makes me the monster.
You at least would save the world.
And the world is not one choking boy,
in the middle of a disappearing forest.
Even though it seems that way,
here in the dark...
against which you are so well armed...
and I've only this.
Enough. Give me that bottle.
You're not a murderer.
That's not why she left you.
What the hell do you know about it?
She left me...
because I wouldn't allow her to forgive me.
She very much wanted to, you see.
But I couldn't forgive myself.
Until I do, no one...
no one's allowed.
We've been invited to a prayer meeting.
I'll make your excuses.
Kalana!
Yes, he's okay. He'll be fine.
What's going on? Why is everyone running?
Time's up.
A miracle without proof is only a miracle.
- It does not stop bulldozers.
- Look, Ornega, I injected him myself.
I'm not doubting it.
This bromeliad, I've never seen it
growing anywhere else.
We can't transplant it to the lab.
Christ, I couldn't bring it down
100 feet from origin.
Now you move your roads through here,
and we've lost it.
Come on, Roberto, it's not my road.
We need time. We're testing new samples.
Se? Or Reyes has already been instructed
to move the villagers.
If a test is successful in, say,
the next 24 hours...
The bulldozers are running
night and day now.
I'm gonna retest.
It didn't work, Rae. It's not here.
You promised me a week,
you gave me a week.
Pack your bags, Rae,
before the road gets here.
You're always throwing me out.
It's for your own good.
- What do you know about it?
- Quite a bit.
You don't smoke, do you?
There's gotta be
a cigarette around here, somewhere.
Is this supposed to be me?
Supposed to be?
I think it's a very good likeness.
Well, take it if you want.
No, I'd rather you kept it.
Well, I certainly flattered you a bit
by idealizing your forehead...
but a man in love
wouldn't notice the disparity.
A man in love?
Tommy Falon the younger. Give it to him.
I'm sure he sees your forehead
exactly as I've drawn it...
and he probably never noticed...
that your left ear
is lower than your right ear.
And when he's smitten,
those are the details that...
What are you running?
Base line.
- What are you using?
- Sugar solution.
The same solution you've used each time?
No, I ran out. Why?
Where'd you get the sugar?
Campbell? It's a damn poor time
for having an iron man contest!
Have you ever lost anything, Ornega?
Your car keys, your wallet?
It wasn't the bromeliads, it was the ants.
You're certain?
I seem to have left the evidence
in my other suit.
Campbell?
Roberto?
It's me, Miguel.
We can go, whenever you are ready.
No, I know what I'm looking for now.
If those little orange bastards
exist somewhere else, I'll find them.
Look at yourself.
It's time out, my friend.
Six years and all your equipment.
- Aston isn't going to...
- Aston will replace all of it...
and provide him with a research assistant,
per his request.
Dr. Sealove, if I remember,
was your first choice.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
If you're ready, we should go.
Good luck.
Good luck to you.
You'll be in touch?
They won't relocate
where the government has indicated.
Sooner or later...
they'll have no place left,
then they'll go where they're told.
He says the Medicine Man
has found a place upriver.
Medicine Man? You mean Campbell?
No, that small one, over by the trees.
Give me a minute.
All right.
I'll tell him.
He said this was your stick.
He said it's all right now,
he's found a good place.
And if you behave yourself,
you can go with them.
He said he'll teach you big magic.
He said he's never met
a man like you before.
And maybe, he never will again.
I'm gonna need an addition, too.
A new chromatograph,
more scopes, callipers...
I'll make sure you get everything you need.
When I reach the city,
I'll contact Dr. Sealove.
I've reconsidered.
Dr. Sealove is my second choice now.
Come on, Bronx.
You think Tom Falon's
gonna walk down the aisle...
with a woman who has something blue
as a tattoo on her forehead?
I want joint publication.
You can have whatever you want.
What do you want?
A meal and a bath.
Unbutton your shirt.
Dearest Tom, we're pushing upriver
in search of those ants.
And with some luck, we'll get to them
before the lumber companies do.
And about our marriage...
I'm not so sure I'm ready for it yet.
Life is strange.
But down here...
it seems...
so very precious.
I'm coming!
The foundation for whom I work
supports a botanist...
named Robert Campbell, once of some note.
But on separating from his wife
and long-time research partner...
he'd withdrawn his station
deeper into the bush.
And until last month's message,
no one had heard from him in three years.
He asked for an assistant
and a gas chromatograph...
and pointedly refused to say why.
I'm surprised they sent a woman.
For Dr. Campbell.
Please don't lose it.
Wait a minute. Aren't you coming with me?
I'm afraid he was adamant about that.
Tanaki will guide you from here.
Come on, you, go.
Come on.
Careful.
Are we here?
Okay, ready? Here you go.
Indian?
Oh, boy.
- Who are you?
- Who am I? Who are you?
I asked you first.
- You're Dr. Campbell, right?
- I know who the hell I am.
- I'm asking who you are.
- Crane.
No, toucan.
- No, that's my name.
- Toucan?
- How odd.
- Crane. Dr. Rae Crane.
I do wish you'd make up your mind.
Maybe it's best we talk
in the morning, Doctor.
This is from Ornega.
How about a place to sleep?
Ornega?
Are you from Aston?
- He sent you?
- I tell you. They sent a girl.
- They sent a girl?
- Yes.
- I'm not a girl.
- The hell you're not.
- I'm your research assistant.
- The hell you are.
- Where's your mask?
- I don't have one. I just got here.
No one comes in here
without a surgical mask.
God knows what bugs you're carrying.
Jahausa, get her a mask.
- Relax. This is as close as we get, Tonto!
- Not for me, you hussy!
- For the indians.
- Hussy?
One outsider with a common cold
can decimate an entire tribe.
- And what about your shots?
- What about a place to sleep, God damn it?
To sleep?
Sleep.
Yes, of course, please forgive me.
There's no need for you to leave
till tomorrow.
I must tell you how grateful I am.
I've been waiting for these.
They get lost in the forest, you see?
The forest is so vast
and they're just so very small.
Dr. Campbell?
No, Palala. Back to the boat.
You had no right to unpack that equipment.
Where are you going?
- No.
- That's all right. He's loading the boat.
- No boat.
- Palala, only those boxes are staying.
Come on, up.
Luggage down. Come on, put it down.
Would you do me a favor
and ask him to put my luggage down?
Sorry, I forget women
like to carry their own now.
I think I should introduce myself.
You're the so-called research
assistant from Aston.
- You don't remember last night?
- Do I appear senile?
Drunk.
- Intoxicated, yes.
- There's a difference?
The Peach Palm Festival
is a religious ceremony.
Are those bags too heavy?
Shall I call Palala back?
No. I'm not getting on a boat. No boat.
It's the only available transport,
and you certainly can't remain here.
- Why? Because I'm not a man?
- Because you're not one of three men.
I requested Dr. Alan Sealove.
If he was unavailable, Dr. Gregory Hoffman.
I'm published more extensively
than Dr. Sealove.
I hold degrees from CCNY,
Berkeley, and Cambridge.
I'm the recipient...
of the Thurman Award in '82 and '86.
The first and only time it's ever been given
to the same person twice.
Is there anything else
you'd like to know about me?
- Do those boots come with a manual?
- No.
I thought of snakes.
When was the last time
you did field research?
Or when was the first time?
I did a month in La Salva.
A whole month?
You didn't need me.
- You needed a caddie.
- Palala will carry your bags to the boat.
You send me back on the basis of
my gender, that's called sex discrimination.
Look, I understand your reservations.
I heard about your wife.
My wife? Good God, she left me.
I wish you'd follow her example.
Are we finished?
- You have a boat to catch.
- No boat.
- I want a meal and a bath.
- This isn't a hotel.
- I'll leave when I'm damn well ready.
- I know, after a meal and a bath.
I'm not a 19-year-old grad student
working up a resume.
And I don't expect to be
treated as if I were.
I'm hungry, I'm tired...
and I've been in these clothes
for more than one dance.
Palala will see that you get some breakfast.
I said, and a bath.
Unbutton your shirt.
Excuse me?
Do you want to bathe in their water supply?
You'll take a medical first.
Sit down. Here.
- Is he gonna watch?
- Don't you want a nurse present?
- I'll risk it.
- I won't.
Deep breath.
Now I understand why you've been
so secretive about your research here.
You found the cure
for the common hangover.
Look up.
Left.
Right.
- Open your mouth.
- There's nothing wrong...
Say "ah.' '"
Let me see your carnet.
- My what?
- It's in your passport.
Your vaccine card.
This is completely unnecessary.
The principal cause of death
among aboriginals is imported disease.
What do you see?
I thought we did the eye examination.
Come on, you won two Thurman Awards,
show off.
What am I analyzing?
Did you run a base line?
No.
Next time run a base line
to calibrate the machine.
There's a glucose solution
specifically for that.
Is that the substance you're analyzing?
Yes.
- What is it, a plant extract?
- Full marks. Continue.
Okay.
We're looking at...
49 compound.
Okay, what we've got here is...
Where was I? Okay, 49 compound.
No.
Nearly all of these are identifiable.
In short, nothing new.
Is this why you wanted the chromatograph?
You said "nearly all identifiable.' '"
Yeah.
Just this one, Peak 37.
Looks like an acid derivative.
Although those side...
You must have thought
you were onto something.
- I'm sorry.
- Can it be synthesized?
This one's mother nature's kitchen.
End of story.
Why?
- What is it you think you've got?
- I don't think.
- I know.
- Share it.
What's the problem?
Even as a child, I didn't like to share.
It was deep-seated, I suppose.
What is it, a secret?
I'll cross my heart and spit on the floor.
You said breakfast and a bath.
You saving it for Sealove?
Don't, he's not coming.
Then I'll settle for Robinson.
You were lucky you got me
and last year's chromatograph.
I give up.
I believe our deal was
bath, breakfast, and boat.
I didn't come here to make deals.
Then why did you come here?
I'll leave the chromatograph
for the time being.
I'm asking you a question.
You have no idea, have you?
Aston's considering pulling your funds
and shipping you out.
I'm your judge and jury.
- Winslow would never permit that.
- Winslow!
Winslow retired last year.
If you hadn't cut off incoming,
you would have known that.
- Who replaced him?
- Me.
You don't send progress reports.
You move your damn station
wherever and whenever you like.
You don't send in a record of expenses!
And you don't respond
to requests for information.
So here I am!
- Put this on. I want to show you something.
- I've seen it.
Put in on!
Please.
Follow me.
This is Kalana...
wife of Jahausa, mother of Imana.
Palpate her throat.
I'm not a medic.
Good God, woman, must everything
be a full-scale debate with you? Just do it.
Feel anything?
Nothing.
Six months ago, she came to see me.
Couple of lumps on her throat.
I sent her down river with
a Franciscan missionary to the hospital.
Then she made her own way back.
It took her a month.
And the nodes were almost double the size.
Two injections of that sample
you just tested...
and the lumps disappeared within a week.
No boosters, no side effects.
That's just swell.
What am I supposed to report
to the Foundation?
Dr. Campbell showed me a cured patient...
who claims a history of undiagnosed,
undocumented lumps in her throat?
- You're untiring.
- Here it is.
- You're untiring.
- Here it is.
Her scan report.
She brought it back from Manikovi.
That's delightful.
I'll bring it with me. If you'll contact...
Stage 2, anterior and posterior lymphomas.
Here. Check her biopsy report.
What for? It could be anybody's.
- Okay.
- You think I'm lying?
You're a man
who's allowed his personal problems...
to get in the way of his clinical judgment.
That's what I think.
Stay here.
Stay here.
He talks to me like a dog.
500,000 scientists in this world...
and I end up with Dr. Mengele
with a ponytail.
Now what? Good God!
Feel that?
What is it?
- A supraclavicular node. Malignant.
- How do you know?
I gave it to him.
Transplanted tissue, I gave it to them all.
You will biopsy the lot. I insist.
That is your control group.
And this lucky bugger
gets an injection by nightfall...
and tomorrow, in the morning,
you will examine him.
Come on, I'm not proposing marriage.
I'm asking you to biopsy
a family of rodents.
Spend 12 hours in a perfectly
luxurious hammock.
You don't have to think
about that, just nod.
No ball.
What was in the tin?
The boys, you were giving them
something from the tin.
Candy coated ants.
Do you want some?
The tin is inside on the table.
I'll pass.
What about you?
What is it?
- Freeze dried ice cream.
- I'll pass.
Come on, the astronauts eat it.
It doesn't taste like ice cream.
When was the last time
you had a double dip?
The palate remembers.
That woman, Kalana?
She called you something.
What's it mean?
Medicine Man, that's me.
- Don't they have one of their own?
- What?
Medicine Man.
I gave Alka-Seltzer to a
kid with a bellyache.
You did what?
Alka-Seltzer. It cured him with one belch.
But it was the plop and the fizz
that really dazzled them.
The Medicine Man
was understandably pissed off.
I had taken his stick.
Stick?
Yeah, his self-respect. His place.
He just took off.
My intentions were well meant.
You take the hammock,
I'll sleep in the greenhouse.
- If I need anything, I'll let you know.
- You will?
Good. Thank you.
Dr. Campbell?
Already?
My name is Dr. Crane, Rae Crane.
Just in case
you need to address me directly.
I thought I'd just call you Brooklyn.
I'm from the Bronx.
Oh, well, Bronx.
It doesn't quite roll off
the tongue, does it?
Good night.
- What the hell are you doing?
- I'm covering my ass.
I don't want you accusing me of
playing switcheroo with your control group.
I get it, Peach Palm Festival, day two.
No festival, just a bedtime story.
You're staring at me.
Pyjamas.
I haven't seen pyjamas in...
a long time.
Jesus!
What is it now?
God.
It's all right. That's Henry.
He keeps the place free of rats.
Come on, old dear.
Look, I'll sleep with lizards
and I'll sleep with guinea pigs...
I understand.
A girl has to draw the line somewhere.
Come on, old dear.
- Sweet dreams.
- Go to hell.
Probably.
No.
You?
Why do you think that?
- That's very funny.
- Dr. Campbell?
Imana.
Get stuffed, both of you.
Jesus, Campbell.
I know.
You know?
You've found a cure for cancer,
and all you can say is I know?
- What is it?
- Bromeliad. The flower.
How'd you find it?
Get dressed.
Okay.
I came here six years ago. Why?
A freak tribe, no cancer.
- What about the woman you showed me?
- No, Jahausa married outside the tribe.
Kalana is an Exoti.
- Then it's genetic.
- No. It's environmental.
The tribes have always inter-married.
But as far as I can tell...
the bromeliad doesn't grow anywhere
except here.
So the Exoti don't use it.
Kalana still doesn't put it in the food.
She says it tastes bad.
So they eat this flower?
They ingest it.
Snuff.
And sometimes chewing tobacco.
It's in most of their food.
It grows wild, 100 feet up in the canopy.
Ten storeys up?
On the top shelf
of the pharmacological superstore.
It lives off a tree.
I've seen the old Medicine Man up there
gathering for his juju kit...
and there it was.
There's only one fly in the serum.
I can't reproduce it.
What do you mean?
None of the new samples work.
I have very little of the
original serum left.
That's what I mean when I say
I can't reproduce it.
Wait a minute, I don't understand.
What don't you understand?
I found a cure for the fucking plague
of the 20th century and now I've lost it!
Haven't you ever lost anything, Dr. Bronx?
You purse, your car keys?
It's rather like that.
Now you have it, now you don't!
- Your notes are gone?
- I have my notes.
I followed my notes.
- Your notes must be wrong.
- They're not.
Then explain it.
I can't.
Okay.
The first thing I do when I get to LA
is I get Dr. Crouse.
- His people can set up a real lab here.
- There's nothing wrong with this lab.
- We've got everything we need.
- Look...
this is major league.
You need help.
I promise you will get full credit.
Do you think I give a damn
about the immortal textbook quote?
Dare I insult you with a history lesson?
Better still, how about subtraction?
Nine million indians in the Amazon...
white men bring measles,
flu, polio, and chicken pox.
Now you've got 2,00,000 indians.
Without using your fingers,
just how many did we shove in the hole?
It's not like they'll be unvaccinated.
These people would work for Aston.
All precautions would be taken.
You don't remember Mocara.
Do you?
You're too young.
Some overeager son of a bitch found a
great little painkiller in the jungle.
Fifteen cents to make a $5 bottle.
Aston was on to it like a fly to dung.
All very scientific, all precautions taken.
Swine flu killed the entire village.
Much regret, so sorry.
The eager beaver still ended up
with his 10 cents on the dollar...
This isn't a painkiller.
This is the cure for cancer.
These people don't need
a cure for cancer, ask them!
There's a road coming into the area.
You're finished. Aston can stop that!
Aston will need the road. They'll ensure
that it leads right up to my palapa.
- How can I go...
- How can you go when I need you here?
What?
No.
I'm a damn good bio-chemist.
I'm not a field researcher.
I haven't done this work for years.
I'm not qualified.
I know, too many foundation fund raisers.
Too many sub-committees.
Take two guinea pigs
and call me in the morning.
When you're old and grey...
you'll put lilies on my grave
and wish you could thank me.
Yeah, well, I'll thank you now,
but I'm still leaving.
How?
Campbell?
- I'm not your prisoner.
- No...
you're my research assistant.
You're not afraid of heights,
are you, Bronx?
Right foot up.
There we go.
You give the counterweight a good yank...
and up you go.
Come on.
I want you to see.
Come on.
All right.
Dr. Bronx?
Left leg first.
And now the right.
All right?
Come on.
Oh, God!
Think of Neil Armstrong.
All right.
I'll give you one week.
Did you hear me?
They're not in abundance.
If you find one, pop it in the bag.
- Are you gonna tell me what they look like?
- Yes.
Like this.
Whatever this flower needs to fertilize,
it gets it up here.
Whether it's an enzyme
being transported by...
an insect for the pollen...
or God knows what leaking out of a tree.
It could be anything.
It could be everything.
That's the beauty of this system.
You can't beat it.
You can only wipe it out.
Is that the road?
You see the river?
No one can remember it ever being this low.
- What about all the rain?
- Every year it rains less.
Less rainforest means less rain.
The indians have asked me
to pray for a deluge.
Do you pray, Bronx?
There's so much smoke.
I didn't know the road was so close.
Yes, well, death is inevitable, Dr. Bronx.
But it's considered bad form
to discuss it over a man's sickbed.
Yeah, well, closing your eyes
won't make it disappear.
Neither will talk. Let's go.
- You're a lunatic.
- I'll show you a shortcut!
God!
- When was it made?
- What?
The eighth sample, when was it made?
Data sheets, green notebook, top left.
- You don't smoke, do you?
- No, I quit.
Good God, why? They've been missing
from the last three shipments.
I suspect Jahausa's got something
to do with it.
Your other left.
Last one.
Okay, look.
Here's the original extract,
the one that works.
Here's the eight subsequent ones
that don't work.
You notice anything?
I'll give you a hint.
It's missing from every failed sample.
Peak 37.
Did you vary the solution?
Do you think the bromeliad
changes chemistry during its life cycle?
It's not impossible.
But all these samples are dated
within two weeks of each other.
Maybe the first batch was contaminated.
Maybe Peak 37 is a fungus.
I screened every sample,
including the first one.
Yeah, maybe you used a dirty test tube.
Who knows?
There's gotta be 1,000 variations
on this plant extract.
And we've gotta make
and test every single one of them.
I tell you, we need help.
We're looking at too many possibilities.
Isn't that what science is all about?
Eliminating possibilities?
You said you needed help.
Jahausa, can you tell them
that I need them to break it from the root?
How are we doing?
Tell her if she breaks
the leaves it's easier.
Imana, what are you doing?
You're in my way.
Are you breaking them from the roots?
It's Kalana.
I don't understand. I'm sorry.
He wants to know if you have a date
for the prom, euphemistically speaking.
Why are they staring at me?
They've never seen a
virgin of your maturity.
I had to give them some excuse.
You should have said
she's engaged to be married.
Really? It's to be Mrs. Bronx?
- It will be, next winter.
- I don't approve of long engagements.
We would have married earlier,
but it wasn't convenient.
A marriage of convenience.
You probably know him,
or at least his family.
Tom Falon?
Tommy Falon!
Good God, he's about 95 years old.
You'll inherit before the honeymoon's over.
I take my hat off to you, girl.
His son.
His son? No, I don't know the son,
but I can well imagine.
Good stock. Good contributor.
Met at a fundraiser, did we?
What's the difference where I met him?
Don't get your knickers in a twist,
Mrs. Bronx.
Just remember,
breeding is no substitute for intelligence.
It's often the death of it.
Do you have an unlimited supply
of that stuff?
The saliva speeds up
the fermentation process.
- Pass.
- You might as well.
We can't test this lot for another 72 hours.
It'll go by just as fast
if we're testing the local fungus.
I told you, I screened every sample.
- There is another possibility.
- Which is?
A six-pack of peach Pernod...
and you were drunker than a skunk
when you did the test.
Pernod. The "d" is silent.
If you're gonna hang around with
the Falons, you'd better get it right.
Pernod.
- Thank you, Doctor.
- Shall I write it down for you?
What if the missing step
isn't here in the lab?
Your Medicine Man, the first day
you saw him collect the bromeliads.
What if he did something?
Something you instinctively copied
that first time...
and haven't done since?
What if it's in the harvesting?
I counted at least three what ifs.
You don't start an investigation
with "once upon a time"...
- What are you going to investigate?
- Not what, who!
Your merry men must know
where the Medicine Man is.
We should go and question him.
As you yourself pointed out, you're
scarcely a qualified field researcher.
And as you've pointed out,
research is a process of elimination!
Don't you presume to tell me
how to follow up.
Question the Medicine Man.
Don't you think
I questioned the son of a bitch?
Play somewhere else!
Relax!
- They know not to urinate in the water.
- That's not my concern.
It should be.
Urine attracts the spiky canderoo.
It's a relatively tiny fish
that enters any available orifice.
Can't you blow a whistle?
Maybe they'd like to fetch some golf balls.
The spikes are angled backwards
and have to be surgically removed.
It's a hell of a procedure.
- I came to apologize.
- Are you serious?
- I lost my temper.
- About the spikes?
No, about the Medicine Man.
- Damn it, Campbell, the spiky canderoo?
- Good God, where?
I must admit, I've never actually seen
one this far up river.
It's not a bad idea to
keep your knickers on.
All gone. Satisfied?
I didn't mean to jump down your throat
this afternoon.
Then I accept your apology. Let's forget it.
The Medicine Man,
he wouldn't answer my questions.
Until I got up to leave,
and then he spoke one word:
- "Mocara.' '
- The swine flu epidemic?
You told me.
He was afraid, you see, because in Mocara...
their medicine man
had shared forbidden juju magic...
with the eager beaver...
and swine flu...
was the Gods' punishment
for that indiscretion.
All right, he wouldn't talk.
- He might talk to me.
- A woman?
Look, what do you wanna do?
Sit on your hands for three days
and pray for Peak 37?
We could take Jahausa. He could plead
our case. You could say you're sorry.
I don't think he knows it was me.
I meant sorry for the Alka-Seltzer.
I thought you meant Mocara.
Same story as Imana.
Supraclavicular node, non-tender.
Adherent to the surrounding tissues.
- How big would you say?
- One centimeter.
I'll give it to you.
You can't, and you know it.
It's so close to his windpipe,
he'll choke to death...
before the cancer kills him.
It's not a weed, it's a tumor.
It can wait.
It's not a tumor,
it's a child.
The child can wait, too.
You use up the last bit of
the working serum and we have nothing.
- You can't use the last of it.
- We know the molecule.
A picture. A ghost in a machine.
For Christ's sake, Campbell, use your head!
The boy won't die in the next 48 hours.
If one of those beakers sprouts Peak 37...
you can give samples away for Christmas,
I'll help you wrap.
Suppose the new serums don't work?
You said yourself you found the cure
for the plague of this century.
It belongs to the human race,
not to one sick kid.
Come on, give me that syringe.
It'll be my sleepless night.
Jahausa's taken his son
to the Medicine Man.
When she woke up this morning,
they were both gone.
- She wants me to bring them back.
- Medicine Man?
Kalana, where's the Medicine Man?
- What is she saying?
- That Jahausa's is a fool.
For taking him there.
Who can show us
where the Medicine Man is?
Palala.
- Palala can show us.
- Can't hear you.
Get out of there!
If we leave now,
we can catch up to Jahausa!
Can't hear you!
You got some history, fine. It's history.
Will you drag it around
for the rest of your life?
If that man has the answers, we need them.
- I can't hear...
- Can you hear me now?
- What is it?
- Headache.
Keep your eyes down,
the focus won't change...
you won't get a headache.
- You might have mentioned it earlier.
- I'm sorry, I thought I did.
No, I've got something better.
- No, give it.
- No.
- What is it?
- Yoco tree.
The bark is 3% pure caffeine.
Cures headaches, fatigue, aches, pains,
neuritis, neuralgia.
Drink it. It'll keep you on your feet
till dinnertime.
- Pass.
- Drink it.
- Pass!
- Drink it.
Or Palala will force you on your back,
while I pour it down your gullet.
- Isn't that right, Palala?
- Gullet.
Go ahead.
- What's the name of this bark?
- It's called Yoco.
Yoco. You know, this would knock
Maxwell House right off the shelf.
If the narcs wouldn't stop me at the border.
This isn't a hallucinogen, is it?
- Which peak is his?
- None of the above.
The old man lives at the base of the gorge.
Downhill. Yeah.
We gotta talk about marketing this stuff.
Of course, you'd have to add sugar.
Your version tastes like shit.
Man, they don't spit in this one, do they?
- Spit, no. But...
- Okay, don't tell me.
Yocaf!
Yospresso!
Have you broken it down yet?
Look at that!
If I were the Medicine Man,
I would have taken that penthouse.
Why does he live at the bottom?
To get away from the constant gabbing,
most likely.
Sorry for disturbing you.
- You all right?
- I'm okay.
Go ahead, I'll catch up.
That Yocola sounds too much
like a kids' drink.
I'm more interested in the mass market in...
Okay, I'm more interested in the mass
marketing of this drink for the adults...
like a continental suave thing.
Is it difficult...
to process that Yoco bark?
Bronx?
- Where are you?
- I'm all right.
Don't play silly buggers. Where are you?
I'm all right.
I'm all right.
I'm okay.
Stay where you are.
I'm gonna lower a harness.
You've been to the circus?
This is a piece of cake
compared to the triple.
You can tell your kids
you worked without a net.
Except, they're not gonna believe you.
All right, here we go.
Use your left hand.
You can reach the harness.
Now, come on, reach back for the harness!
It's all right. Don't cry.
I promise you, when this is over,
you can cry all you want...
and I won't say a word.
Now come on. Reach for the harness.
No, I can't do it.
Change of plan.
Mohammed goes to the mountain.
The triple is easier.
All right, here I come.
- All right? Okay?
- No!
It's okay. Just let go.
- I can't do it, Campbell.
- You don't have to.
We'll both go down together.
It's a hell of a short cut.
God!
If I wanted to kill both of us,
I could have found easier ways, no?
Well, come on. Let go.
Come on! Let go!
Rae, let go!
Come on!
- Move!
- Okay.
You're okay. Just come down.
Come on.
There you go.
- Come on.
- I think I hate you.
Faster, let it go. Come on.
- I can't look.
- Come on.
- I can't look.
- Don't look. Work your hands.
- What happened?
- Nothing happened.
What happened?
- Just calm down.
- What're you doing?
What do we do now?
This is a rescue?
What's the matter with you?
What am I supposed to do, call 911?
You idiot!
- Calm down.
- Do something!
Give me your hand.
This isn't a rescue.
This is a suicide pact.
- You idiot!
- Calm down!
Give me your hand.
What for? What, are you crazy?
Well done.
Don't cry. You were marvelous. Really.
The best I've ever seen.
And I've been to the circus
a great many times.
You were spectacular. Really.
Don't cry.
You promised I could cry all I want.
Yes, I did. Okay, go ahead.
Knock yourself out.
Fortunately, Palala salvaged your haversack.
Careful, that's Peach Pernod.
- I lost it up there, I'm sorry.
- It's okay.
I'm trying to thank you.
That was a good job. Enough said.
Go easy on it.
Why? I'm not driving.
Or walking, apparently.
- Now I know why you like this stuff.
- What?
Don't make me laugh.
Don't make me laugh. It hurts.
Hold on.
That burns.
- I know.
- What is it?
It's magic.
Magic, yeah.
That old black magic
has got me in its spell
Old black magic that you weave so well
I know. Terrifying...
Icy fingers up and down your spine
Down my spine?
I'm in a spin, loving the spin I'm in
- All right, bed time.
- Come on, sing it, Campbell.
Really big finish. Come on, sing us a bar.
I should stay away, but what can I do?
I hear your name
I'm in a flame
Come on, sing it.
Get some sleep, Rae.
Don't!
What?
Don't call me by my given name.
Don't you like it?
Yeah, I like it.
Campbell?
Are you ready for visitors?
The Medicine Man?
He's in the neighborhood.
How do you know?
Call it a hunch.
- We might be in the wrong gorge.
- Somehow, I doubt that.
I mean, are you sure
Palala knows where he lives?
What if he doesn't? What do we do then?
I thought I was dreaming.
Campbell, I thought...
Okay, what's going on?
It seems there's going to be a fight.
Between you and him?
He's 3 feet tall, for Christ's sake.
- You wanted to pick his brains.
- Well, not off the sidewalk.
Ever mouth off to the Dean
and then need a grant?
- This is an eat crow, kiss ass contest?
- Exactly.
Remember what I told you
about taking his stick?
- I think this is about giving it back.
- So he's gotta win?
Okay. Bend over, take three whacks,
and let's cut to the info.
It doesn't quite work that way.
- The tricky part is...
- Is what?
Not getting my skull cracked in the process.
Tell him his mother eats army boots.
- This is what happens when cousins marry!
- For Christ's sake!
- I was helping.
- Well, don't!
- I don't need a bloody interpreter.
- I do.
- Don't push your luck, runt!
- Campbell.
Yeah, nice kiss.
What'd he say?
What'd he say?
Back to square one.
Where did I go wrong?
Eating crow, or the kissing ass department?
It wasn't a total loss.
My, my, isn't it all bright and shiny?
I cleaned up a little, that's all.
These first four extracts
will be ready to test by 7:00.
I'll set my alarm clock for 6:30.
Incidentally, the blue doesn't come off.
Get drunk somewhere else.
Hey, I live here.
Get sanctimonious somewhere else.
I tried to get drunk at Jahausa's,
as a matter of fact.
But I soon tired
of hearing him pray over his only son.
So I said to myself,
"Why not visit Dr. Bronx..."
"and her tabernacle of empirical evidence?"
- I'm not a monster, Campbell.
- No, you're not a monster.
And if I have, in any way,
labeled you monstrous...
by gesture or manner,
I sincerely beg your pardon.
I'd like to go to sleep now.
I have an early morning.
I wouldn't bother setting that alarm,
Monster Bronx.
He won't make it through the night.
You don't know that.
I picture you at Imana's age...
sitting in bed, awake,
arms crossed, whispering:
"I don't believe in ghosts.' '"
Where was I, when you were 6 years of age
and armed against the dark?
Probably hiding, like you are now.
In the jungle, or in the bottle?
To which hideout are you referring?
Does it matter?
It's not as difficult as you might think,
watching someone die.
After 70 or 80 men, women, infants...
you begin to feel quite numb.
When I left Jahausa's hut,
I was coming here to get the magic serum.
Save myself, of course, not the boy...
which makes me the monster.
You at least would save the world.
And the world is not one choking boy,
in the middle of a disappearing forest.
Even though it seems that way,
here in the dark...
against which you are so well armed...
and I've only this.
Enough. Give me that bottle.
You're not a murderer.
That's not why she left you.
What the hell do you know about it?
She left me...
because I wouldn't allow her to forgive me.
She very much wanted to, you see.
But I couldn't forgive myself.
Until I do, no one...
no one's allowed.
We've been invited to a prayer meeting.
I'll make your excuses.
Kalana!
Yes, he's okay. He'll be fine.
What's going on? Why is everyone running?
Time's up.
A miracle without proof is only a miracle.
- It does not stop bulldozers.
- Look, Ornega, I injected him myself.
I'm not doubting it.
This bromeliad, I've never seen it
growing anywhere else.
We can't transplant it to the lab.
Christ, I couldn't bring it down
100 feet from origin.
Now you move your roads through here,
and we've lost it.
Come on, Roberto, it's not my road.
We need time. We're testing new samples.
Se? Or Reyes has already been instructed
to move the villagers.
If a test is successful in, say,
the next 24 hours...
The bulldozers are running
night and day now.
I'm gonna retest.
It didn't work, Rae. It's not here.
You promised me a week,
you gave me a week.
Pack your bags, Rae,
before the road gets here.
You're always throwing me out.
It's for your own good.
- What do you know about it?
- Quite a bit.
You don't smoke, do you?
There's gotta be
a cigarette around here, somewhere.
Is this supposed to be me?
Supposed to be?
I think it's a very good likeness.
Well, take it if you want.
No, I'd rather you kept it.
Well, I certainly flattered you a bit
by idealizing your forehead...
but a man in love
wouldn't notice the disparity.
A man in love?
Tommy Falon the younger. Give it to him.
I'm sure he sees your forehead
exactly as I've drawn it...
and he probably never noticed...
that your left ear
is lower than your right ear.
And when he's smitten,
those are the details that...
What are you running?
Base line.
- What are you using?
- Sugar solution.
The same solution you've used each time?
No, I ran out. Why?
Where'd you get the sugar?
Campbell? It's a damn poor time
for having an iron man contest!
Have you ever lost anything, Ornega?
Your car keys, your wallet?
It wasn't the bromeliads, it was the ants.
You're certain?
I seem to have left the evidence
in my other suit.
Campbell?
Roberto?
It's me, Miguel.
We can go, whenever you are ready.
No, I know what I'm looking for now.
If those little orange bastards
exist somewhere else, I'll find them.
Look at yourself.
It's time out, my friend.
Six years and all your equipment.
- Aston isn't going to...
- Aston will replace all of it...
and provide him with a research assistant,
per his request.
Dr. Sealove, if I remember,
was your first choice.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
If you're ready, we should go.
Good luck.
Good luck to you.
You'll be in touch?
They won't relocate
where the government has indicated.
Sooner or later...
they'll have no place left,
then they'll go where they're told.
He says the Medicine Man
has found a place upriver.
Medicine Man? You mean Campbell?
No, that small one, over by the trees.
Give me a minute.
All right.
I'll tell him.
He said this was your stick.
He said it's all right now,
he's found a good place.
And if you behave yourself,
you can go with them.
He said he'll teach you big magic.
He said he's never met
a man like you before.
And maybe, he never will again.
I'm gonna need an addition, too.
A new chromatograph,
more scopes, callipers...
I'll make sure you get everything you need.
When I reach the city,
I'll contact Dr. Sealove.
I've reconsidered.
Dr. Sealove is my second choice now.
Come on, Bronx.
You think Tom Falon's
gonna walk down the aisle...
with a woman who has something blue
as a tattoo on her forehead?
I want joint publication.
You can have whatever you want.
What do you want?
A meal and a bath.
Unbutton your shirt.
Dearest Tom, we're pushing upriver
in search of those ants.
And with some luck, we'll get to them
before the lumber companies do.
And about our marriage...
I'm not so sure I'm ready for it yet.
Life is strange.
But down here...
it seems...
so very precious.
I'm coming!