Rumours (2024) Movie Script

1
(loud thump)
(eerie music)
(eerie music builds)
(eerie music continues)
- Well, that's finished.
- The crisis awaits.
Down to work.
- It's dinner first.
- A working dinner, Edison.
- Mmm, really?
- Tony?
- Yes.
- What do you say?
Working dinner?
- Yes. Working dinn--
- Actually, I do have
just a little surprise
for you first.
- What is it, Hilda?
- This is just a little surprise
on the way to the gazebo.
It's just a short walk.
We should be clear
with the communique,
but not so clear
that we put ourselves
in an awkward position.
- Yes of course, exactly.
This crisis is not one that can
be classified so simply.
- No.
- And so we must keep
our options open.
- What we talk about?
- That's the question,
isn't it, Antonio?
What are we really
talking about here?
What is the true na--
You know, for me,
this is quite difficult.
We have many important
things to discuss,
things that only
we can understand
as world leaders.
And yet we are
surrounded at all times
by the storm of questions
and interruptions.
Some privacy would be nice.
- Yes.
- Yeah...
- Cardosa!
- Would you excuse me
for a second?
- Yes.
- So, how have you been?
- Good, Maxime. How's Eloise?
- She's fine.
Yeah.
You and I haven't talked much
since the Rimini Summit.
- Maxime, I think
we should forget Rimini.
Not forget it.
I don't mean that...
It was a meaningful
and beautiful thing.
It is something that
I needed very much at the time.
And the consolidated annual
report on Global Partnership
is a document I'm very proud of.
Proud of the work we did.
But that's all.
I think we have to move on.
This isn't summer camp.
- Of course, we're here to work.
- Yes.
- So?
- Well,
this is a very exciting find.
It's not that exceptionally
rare in the area, but--
- Sylvain, you seem to know more
about this curious
undertaking than our host.
- Ah well, in fact I did
come early to have a look
and a short discussion
with the supervising
anthropologist, Dr--
- Dr. Boofelfullmen.
- Boofelfullmen.
As you may know,
I am writing a book.
It's a kind of psychogeography
of graveyards
and burial customs.
- I'm sure it will
be as fascinating
as all your other books.
(all laugh)
- So what is this?
It's quite gruesome.
- Well, this is an example
of what we call bog bodies
or bog people.
There are many of them
scattered around
the North Saxony region.
- Oh dear. It's quite revolting.
- Well, it is from the Iron Age.
- Is made of iron?
- Yes, it almost looks like
iron, doesn't it, Antonio?
But no, it is in fact
a mummified body
from the Iron Age,
almost 2000 years ago.
- That's right.
The acids in the bog
have entirely dissolved
all the bones in the body,
but have perfectly preserved
the surface details:
all the hair, the skin...
- The fingerprints.
- The fingerprints
of the man or woman.
Well, in this case...
It's hard to...
- It's a male.
- It's a man in this case.
- If you look here,
you'll see his penis
has been severed
and hung around his neck.
- It sounds like a man to me.
- Yes, with bog bodies,
evidence of torture and
disfigurement is quite common.
I don't mean to make anyone
nervous, but in some cases,
the bodies appear to be those
of the chieftains or leaders,
sacrificially murdered
for failing to deliver
the promise of a good harvest.
- Okay, so we would like
to make another photo
here at the dig site.
Please. And then, on to dinner.
Tatsuro?
- I mean, that would be weird,
discovering what this...
You know what I mean?
Somewhere in history,
we'd wanna find where...
I think it's a great way to...
- Perhaps that's
something that you can
bring up after dinner.
Please, please.
- And one last photo.
- Hello.
So let me begin
by welcoming you all
to Dankerode Castle.
And thank you all for coming,
especially under
the difficult...
or somewhat difficult
circumstances
of the present crisis,
which, of course...
What about you, Tatsuro?
Well, since the theme
of this year's summit
is regret,
do you have any regrets?
- I suppose my biggest regret
is that I never learned
how to ride a horse,
never had a chance,
never had the opportunity.
Always want to, but, uh,
getting a bit too old now.
- Oh.
- No, no, no, no.
- Sylvain?
- I regret being
a disdainful teenager,
especially towards my father,
who I realize finally now
lived amid
difficult circumstances,
teaching at the Department
of Sociology at the Sorbonne.
He was probably a fine man,
and he did not deserve my scorn.
I wish he was alive
so I could tell him.
Antonio?
- I dress up like Mussolini
to costume party.
- Well, you didn't mean any
harm, did you, Antonio?
- I think it's a funny costume.
- But Antonio
you can't beat yourself up.
These sorts of sensitivities
that people have,
these sensitivities to history.
I mean, it isn't
that they're not important.
I would never say that. But...
(speaking French)
(speaking French)
I suppose...
Things are a little
different now.
I speak of progress.
I mean, look at us...
America, Germany,
Italy, the United Kingdom,
Japan,
Canada,
the Republic of France...
The esteemed leaders of...
each of these great nations
gathered here around the table,
great food,
laughing,
catching up with old friends.
- Yes.
- We're quite lucky to be here.
- We are.
- We are blessed.
- We are blessed.
- Blessed.
- Well, I don't mean
to change the subject
or to dampen the mood,
but we are also here
to produce a draft outline
of a provisional statement
regarding the present crisis.
We should not forget that.
- No, but I think regarding
the statement and the crisis,
it is important to say
what we mean.
- Yes, of course.
- Yes.
- It's at times like this
that people look to us
to provide clarity and surety.
- Certainly.
- Exactly.
- What I mean to ask is this:
Have we defined the crisis?
Have we determined concretely
or even abstractly
of what it consists?
- Of what it comprises.
Yes, yes, exactly, exactly.
- Precisely...
- Maxime, what is it?
- Hmm? Huh?
- Is everything all right?
- I was just...
Forget it.
- No, no, no. Go ahead.
What's troubling you?
- I thought I...
Never mind.
It's not important.
- We're the G7, Maxime.
Everything is important.
(all chuckle)
- Maxime?
Why don't you just take
a moment and clear your head?
Yeah, okay?
- Yeah, I will.
Thank you.
- So sorry.
- He feels the burden
of leadership.
- Don't we all?
- No, it's not that.
It's something a little
more personal. You know?
- Tatsuro? What do you think?
- Contemplative gaze
means heavy burden.
- Antonio?
- Yes.
- You agree?
- Yes.
- So...
- It's his final summit,
isn't it?
- Yes, I think so.
- What?
- He's going to step down.
- Step down?
What on Earth for?
- It's the scandal.
What's it called?
The fixed--
- The carried interest scandal.
- Good Heavens!
- What it is?
- Tony, you don't want to know.
- Yes, well, it's...
quite complicated.
The...
The Senate Ombudsman's office
had taken out
an insurance policy
for the purpose
of chamber renovations,
but the insurance company,
they contracted then themselves,
procured a contract of indemnity
against the original policy.
- It's astonishing!
- Yeah, but these two
insurance companies
had a joint tenancy agreement
with an agency controlled
by a private equity firm
from whom Maxime's
mother-in-law had received...
carried interest.
- Outrageous!
The very face of evil.
- Well, I mean,
you joke, Edison,
but it is this it's
quite serious for him.
There's talk of proroguement.
- Prorogation, exactly.
- Well, should we make some
headway with the statement?
I'm sure Maxime will join us
when he feels restored.
- Excellent. Yes.
- Now, previously, we discussed
smaller work groups.
Hilda and I will work together?
- Yeah.
- Maxime can join up with us
when he returns.
Tatsuro, you and Sylvain?
Yes. And that leaves you
with Antonio, Edison.
Is that...?
- Oh, fine.
Dante and Hemingway!
- Yes!
(all chuckle)
- Hello?
Hello.
(all chatting)
- We might say first
that it's hard to know
where to begin.
- Yes, very good.
It's important to get it right.
We don't want to start
with the wrong--
- No, exactly. It's just
a provisional statement for now.
And even then, whatever
ideas we come up with now,
are just smaller notions
which can be edited
and revised and peer reviewed,
and anyway can be built up
with more detail later.
- Yes. So we simply
write forward and...
- Yes, exactly. We just ...
- Maybe we...
(laughing)
- Voila!
- Start with...
some sort of
personal reflection.
- Yes.
- Or experience.
I mean, to say, you know,
(laughs)
when I was younger,
I was an actress.
- Really?
- Yeah.
And I was in a play about
the immigration experience
I was portraying a villain,
a problematical scientist.
And I had to deliver
these sort of
terrible monologues,
you know, racist diatribes
full of expletives
and offensive terminology
and, you know,
eugenical explications
of racial intelligence
and natural hierarchies.
And, well, I can remember
some lines from the play
if, well, if that helps.
- And do you think
that would be...
appropriate for the statement?
- Well, I...
I thought, you know,
it was from
a celebrated playwright.
And I just... you know,
some of the play's themes,
you know, there's
a political dimension
and the sort
of immigration experience.
But no, of course not.
- Don't know what I was
thinking.
- No.
- Forgive me.
- Here comes the cavalry.
- Sorry to keep you
waiting, ladies.
- Oh, no, don't mention it.
Is everything all right?
Do you want a...
- I could use a drink. Yes.
Excuse me for
going off like that.
- Don't mention it. You feel
things more than others do.
Yeah.
- Is there anyone?
- I don't know,
it's strange, I haven't
seen anyone for a while.
- Yeah.
- I'll call Lucien.
He must be with
the delegation at the chateau.
He can send someone.
- No answer?
- No.
- Well, you can finish
my drink, if you like.
- Mmm.
Very good.
- What you mentioned
the other time.
- The I.T. and integration.
- Yes, yes, yes. Excellent.
- How about
the framework agreement?
- We probably start
with the date.
- Yes.
- I would think that would be
a good idea, today's date.
Start with that. And...
Yes, now, Antonio,
you're new to this,
but I know these kinds
of statements
and people pay no attention
to them at all.
What people want
is concrete action.
- Yes.
- Not vague promises
or proposals
and long drawn-out
strategies that...
Offer people the Earth and...
Bought it over people.
- Mister Edison.
- Excuse me.
Excuse me.
You can't swim there.
Oh no!
That's for the troops
to sleep in.
- For the troops...
- It's a sleep tank
for the troops.
- Sleep tank for the troops.
- Do you have a slip
for the sleep tank?
- Slip for the sleep tank.
- Quarter of nine
is when we start.
- And don't start until...
- Don't start.
...everything is announced.
- Everything.
- All the names...
have to be announced.
- Okay.
- Sometimes I think, Maxime,
you are too hard on yourself.
You can't solve
all the world's problems.
You can't even solve
all of Canada's problems.
You should worry about
your own well-being.
Are you and... Eloise...
- Eloise wants things
that I cannot give her.
- What kind of things?
It's a particular delicacy
from Dankerode.
- Pineapples?
- No, there's no pineapple.
Oh, Sylvain!
What happened?
- I believe we are in a crisis.
- Well, we already
knew that, Sylvain.
That's why we have these
summits in the first place.
There's always a crisis.
- Yes of course, but...
- All right, what happened?
Why are you covered in mud?
- It is not mud.
I went off following the wind,
to try and grasp
the pages of notes that
Tatsuro and I had produced.
I was frustrated because
Tatsuro and I,
with our brainstorming efforts,
brought forth into the world
and possibly
the global community,
some very good ideas
for the statement.
- Global warming?
- More like,
bilateral management.
- Okay.
- And global jurisdiction.
What we do is, or should be,
independent
of the financial world.
But, you know,
it's hard to nowadays
ignore the domestic opposition.
- And domestic violence.
- Yeah, domestic violence.
You know,
supply chain management,
you know, in the grand scheme
of geopolitical issues...
And those other things
that are really important.
(Sylvain):
And with the pages blown free,
and scattered around me
in all directions...
like the sound of birdsong
in the forest...
I could remember only
the smallest fragments
of what then seemed to me
as the embers of
my inspiration went dark,
a visionary capacity
that would never be restored.
My shoes were filthy.
(speaking French)
I was despondent.
(speaking French)
(speaking French)
(coughs)
(screams)
(tense music)
(speaking French)
Hello?
Hello?
Anyone?
Hello?
Is that you?
Hello?
Hmm.
- Is this some kind of joke?
- A joke?
No, Maxime.
I would joke at such a time?
(phone beeps)
- I didn't bring my phone.
- It's no matter, Antonio,
it wouldn't have helped anyway.
- I can bring it next time.
- Hello!
- Maxime...
- Anyone?
- So, we have been
abandoned here at the gazebo?
- Yes, it seems...
- Does this happen often
out here, Hilda?
Is it a local custom?
- Happen often?
No, I...
They just built this gazebo.
We are the first to use it.
- At the chateau, you didn't
think to try the phone?
- It was dark.
The place was
totally abandoned and...
I must say.
I was a little shaken by the--
- Yeah, frightening.
- And it was one of the people
from the ground
that we saw earlier?
- Yes.
- And it attacked you?
- Well no, not attacked, but...
Or I thought so at first.
I don't really know.
It ended up on me
and we rolled around together.
I swear I could feel it
struggling with me.
- Well, shouldn't we all just go
back to the house together?
- No one there.
- We walk out on the road.
- No, no. It is 20 kilometers.
It would take hours.
I think there has simply
been some kind of a...
Some kind of...
- Some kind of what?
- And we're all together now,
and we have light
and we have shelter,
and they obviously
know we're here.
So shouldn't we just wait here?
- Wait for who?
- For the authorities.
(chuckles)
(snores)
- This is what you wrote?
- Yes.
"Number one: break it
down into steps."
"Number two: change
your environment."
"Number three: create
a detailed timeline
with specific deadlines."
"Number four: eliminate
your procrastination pit stops."
(laughs)
Well...
- I'm certain there
was more, but...
- Tatsuro, do you remember more?
- No, no. I don't remember.
- Wasn't there more?
- I don't remember!
Remember only the phrase,
"procrastination pit stop."
- Enough.
(gasps)
- I'm going to find some help.
- Maxime, wait.
We have to stay together.
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
- Then come with me, Cardosa.
- I meant we must all stay
together, as a group.
It's not safe.
We don't know what's going on.
- You always do that.
You always find a reason
not to be alone with me.
- Maxime, no, I don't.
- You do!
Everything you say to me is
an attempt to push me away
or to escape from me.
In every movement of your body,
there's a haste
to be finished with me.
(grunts)
- Maxime!
The house is the other way.
Maxime!
- Hilda, don't! Just leave him!
(scoffs)
- This happens
every time he drinks.
He gets like this.
He gets emotional
and he runs off.
(panting)
(eerie music)
- Who's there?
Oh, it's you.
- Yeah.
You're disappointed.
"It's better to burn out
than to fade away."
Oh, Maxime.
Have you done this before?
- Done what?
- Written this,
this kind of note,
the suicide note.
- Yeah. I've many such notes.
I write them...
Every time I approach the edge.
I'm sure it looks silly to you.
The quote and everything.
- I think it's...
It's quite a nice quote.
It's cool.
Very rock and roll.
You seem tense.
Do you think...
Do you think
a massage might help?
- I don't know.
You are tense.
Is that part true?
- What part?
- That you view death
with inexpressible serenity?
- I don't know. Probably not.
No. Does anyone?
- I think that's good.
The line about
women and minorities?
- Yeah.
Too often they get forgotten.
- Should we say a little
something about...
The private sector?
Nothing major, just...
Some words of encouragement.
- Why did you follow me?
What do you want?
- And here we are.
Cut off. Alone.
- Well, I have to say,
I didn't expect
to wake up
to this kind of thing.
- Well, I shall do
the leaderly thing
and get this out of this muddle,
as Wolcott men have always done.
Going right back
to the first of us
who helped establish
the Virginia colony.
- By all means, Edison,
my good friend, lead us.
What do you have in mind?
- What I have in mind, dear boy,
is that we go back
to le chateau together,
and there,
we find a comfortable spot,
a spot conducive to the kind of
productive diplomatic colloquy
that befits our station
as leaders,
until such time as help arrives.
- Uh.
- What?
- The statement.
- The what?
- The provisional statement.
- What about it?
- We haven't finished it yet.
- Is there any point?
We always trot out
the same nonsense anyway.
- Edison!
- Well, we do.
- The statement is important.
It shows the world
that we are working together.
It quiets our domestic critics.
But this is an emergency.
We have to wait for Maxime
and Hilda anyway.
We could work on it for a few
minutes here while we wait.
Then, as you say, perhaps we can
finish it back at the house.
All right. Fine, the statement.
We must have something.
Yes, of course. We've all been
working very hard on it.
Okay. So, I have here...
And this is something
I've been working on
with Maxime and Hilda.
Well, it's a kind of framework
for conflict resolution
in a troubled marriage.
What?
This is for
the provisional statement?
Yeah. I mean, ostensibly,
we have here
a number of ideas for restoring
non-sexual physical affection
in this case, between
a husband and a wife
who are having trouble
with sexual compatibility.
- This is Maxime's stuff again.
- He and Eloise
are having problems.
- Yes, of course,
all marriages have problems.
But the provisional statement
is hardly an appropriate forum
for devising their solution.
(distant howling)
- What is that?
- Where's everybody?
What the hell?
- Looks like
there was a struggle.
- Hey, who's out there?
- Don't shoot!
I am Antonio.
- Prime Minister Lamorte,
what are you doing down there?
- Shh. Follow me.
And I take you to the others.
(all arguing)
Look... Look...
(panting)
- There you are.
You're all right?
Hilda? Maxime?
- Yeah. We're fine.
What happened?
We sent Tony back to get you.
He's good at
keeping out of sight.
- Is true.
- We had to flee the gazebo.
We were attacked
by dark, shadowy figures.
- Protesters!
- That's what
I thought too at first.
But they didn't have signs.
They didn't chant any slogans.
And if they objected
to any specifics in our program,
they didn't say so.
- I believe they were
protesters,
if a little unconventional.
- They were not protesters.
- What then?
The press? Spies? Goblins?
- Shh!
This is serious, Maxime!
- What were they then?
Terrorists?
- Something less than terrorists
and something more.
- Yeah.
- But you say
that they attacked you?
- Well, attacked...
They loomed, threateningly.
- Their demeanor was
quite aggressive, quite hostile.
- Very grumpy.
- They were grumpy?
- No, they were violent,
more than grumpy.
- Very grumpy. Scary.
- But hey were people, ja?
Human beings?
They looked like the bodies.
The ones dug up from the ground.
- What are we doing here?
Why don't we get out of here?
- Because we were
waiting for you!
- Sylvain!
- You're the ones who
ran off crying like teenagers!
- We weren't crying.
We wanted to talk.
- I'm sorry.
I know you had your reasons.
Anyway, we were about to
head back to the castle, but...
- That's where they came from.
The protesters.
- They were not protesters!
- So we are cut off.
Trapped.
(sharp inhale)
(speaking German)
- What?
- What?
(speaking German)
- Chocolate cake?
- No, no, no, it's not a cake.
It's a kind of a ferry.
Well a raft, actually.
But it goes through the marsh.
Right to the main highway.
Yeah. I've ridden it myself.
- A raft?
- How far is it?
From here?
Two, maybe three kilometers...
- Four kilometers.
- ...through the woods.
There's a path.
Here.
- I have
a brainstorming exercise
that might help us
write the statement.
It's something I picked up
at a workshop I attended
after losing
the general election in 2018.
It's just
a word association game,
but with a more directed focus.
Now, since we want
to produce material
relevant to
the provisional statement,
I'll suggest some
G7-themed prompts
for our associative wordplay.
So I have here a list
of all the G7 summit locations
going back to
Rambouillet in 1975.
- Rambouillet.
- It was, of course,
the G6 back then,
before Canada.
- Sorry, Maxime.
- You know, the declaration
of Rambouillet remains for me
the most incisive and inspired
in the history of G7 statements.
"In these three days...
...we held a searching
and productive exchange of views
on the world economic situation,
on the economic problems
common to our countries,
on the human, social,
and political implications,
and on plans
for resolving them."
- Ah, Rambouillet...
- Yeah, it's a remarkably
prescient statement.
Still relevant today.
(clears throat)
- Venice, Montebello.
Anyone can jump in any time,
anything that comes to mind.
Versailles,
Williamsburg, London.
Bonn, Tokyo, Venice,
Toronto, Paris.
Houston. London.
- Another one.
- Maxime.
Maxime.
It's safe.
Dead for what, a thousand years?
- Two thousand.
- Probably more afraid of us
than we are of him.
- Imagine what he went through.
The rope around his neck...
And look at the cuts on his...
(all groan)
(panting)
- Do you suppose that's normal
for it to dribble like that?
- I'm afraid so.
- Could what we just saw have
been something like groundwater
draining from the specimen?
- Could be. Could be.
- Imagine holding it in
for that long.
I can't even make it
through a film.
In fact, when Julie
and I went--
(screams)
- Sylvain? What is it?
- What?
Sylvain, what is it?
- I don't know.
I confess, I had been feeling
somewhat afflicted
after my encounter...
(screams and groans)
I'm sorry. It's my leg.
- Does it hurt?
- It burns! It burns!
My bone.
My leg bone, it feels wrong!
- Wrong how?
- Look! You see?
- See? What?
- The bone is obviously
dissolving.
My leg is flaccid, rubbery!
- And you can't walk?
- Absolutely not!
It's out of the question.
- Okay.
We don't know what's out there.
At ease.
(groans)
(breathing heavily)
(both speaking French)
(speaking French)
- Mr. Wolcott?
Are you hungry?
- I have some meat.
- How very gracious
of you, Antonio.
Is this traditional
Genovese salami?
- I don't know.
I get it off
the buffet table at the hotel.
- Oh you crafty thing!
You're a worthy heir
to Garibaldi.
- Cardosa, this is for you.
Meat!
- Thank you.
- Nothing. Tatsuro? For you.
Look, look, look.
I find a wheelbarrow!
Oh!
Oh.
- Cardosa?
- Yes, Sylvain?
- May I use your laptop?
- Well, it's in my bag.
Do... Do you need it?
- Yes. I'm having some thoughts
that might be helpful
for the provisional statement.
- Thoughts about
my present condition.
- Uh, sure.
- I'm... sorry.
I'm going to need to rest.
I'm not as young
as the rest of you.
- Of course, Edison.
We should have thought.
- Maybe we can find
another wheelbarrow.
- Antonio, listen,
it's one thing to wheel
the president of
the Fifth Republic around
in such an undignified manner,
but I am the leader
of the world's oldest democracy.
Sorry, Sylvain.
I'm sure you understand.
I say I'm sorry.
What the...
- I don't think
he can hear you, Edison.
That's how focused
he is right now.
He said he had some ideas
about the statement
and off he went.
(humming)
(humming)
- Mr. Wolcott?
Why you have this accent?
- Well--
- Shh!
(building eerie music)
(distant moans)
(distant grunting)
(distant shout)
(shouting)
(barking)
(growling)
(building orchestral music)
(music fades)
- Their ancient seed
has extinguished the flames.
- Foul plume.
(coughs)
Did we just see that?
- I don't know.
I don't know.
- What is all this?
What the hell is going on?
- A kind of ceremony,
I would say.
Some kind of gathering
of like-minded individuals.
Oh!
It might be worth
describing what we saw
and putting in the statement.
- I strongly disagree.
That is exactly
the sort of thing not to
put in the statement,
it would cause a panic.
- I do not understand
what we just saw.
- Exactly, Tatsuro,
that's the only sensible
thing to say about it.
- I saw nothing that
can't be explained
by the natural sciences.
- Yeah.
- A trick of the moonlight
playing on a grove
of Spanish moss
swaying in the wind.
Or one of those ethnic dances
they have at all
of these summits.
Lederhosen and castanets,
and those fans
they have in Japan.
Tatsuro, what are they called?
- Fans, yes.
- Exactly, there you are.
- I admire your hard-headed
American pragmatism, Edison,
but it's hard to share
from my position
here in the wheelbarrow.
- What have you got there?
- "The provisions of Treaty
of Maastricht."
- Maastricht?
- Yeah.
- What does it say?
- Here.
- Celestine.
- Celestine!
- Celestine? Who is Celestine?
- Celestine Sproule.
She's the President of the
European Commission, Antonio.
This must be her briefcase.
- Okay. It is G7?
- Ostensibly, yes.
It depends who you ask.
- The President of
the European Commission
has been attending
the G7 summits since 1981.
Roy Jenkins at...
- Montebello.
A beautiful mountain.
- Yeah.
- And Maxime like her?
- Does he like Celestine?
You could say that.
- He used to like her,
but he's over her now.
(laughs, then clears her throat)
- In my opinion, it was foolish
to have EU representation
before the establishment
of the single market in 1993.
At Tokyo 3?
It's an interesting
perspective, Tatsuro.
But of course,
we both know the real reason
you're preoccupied
with that particular year.
Nikkei Collapse?
- The lost decade!
- He's got the fire.
- Maxime, what are you doing?
These are Celestine's
private papers.
- Cardosa, let him.
We're all cold and tired.
Let us warm our bodies
in the glow of Maxime's passion.
- She's a private person.
She wouldn't want them
to fall into the wrong hands.
- This is cathartic for you.
You're still angry with her.
And you're taking it out
on her by destroying her work.
You were always
jealous of her work.
You pretend to be a feminist,
but you don't like strong women.
- I love strong women!
- No, no, no, no, no.
I love them too much!
- Yes, me too, old boy.
- Maxime!
- Me too.
Uh, we...
must not split up.
Maxime!
- Do you think it
might be illuminating
to view this
situation allegorically?
- What?
- Given that it is
quite a simple matter
to consider each of us
as personifications
of our respective nations?
- How would it be illuminating?
- It's important
to understand the link
between the self and the symbol,
don't you think?
- No.
(panting)
(sighs)
- He's too fast for me.
- Canada too fast for Germany.
- What does it mean?
- Doesn't mean anything.
- Hilda...
You know, you really
needn't run after him
every time he does this.
- Yeah, I suppose you're right.
I do tend to get a little
caught up in the dramatics.
- Germany caught up
in the dramatics.
We've seen this before.
- I only hope he can find us
when he runs out of steam.
I don't know about you, but
I don't feel safe waiting here.
- Celestine!
(gasps)
- This doesn't make any sense.
There should be helicopters
and search teams.
- And if they should find us...
they would find seven or six,
I should say...
huddled, frightened
men and women
who have failed...
not only in the writing
of the provisional statement,
which it was
their sole duty to complete,
but in most of
the fundamental categories
of humanity and decency.
- What makes you
say that, Sylvain?
We haven't eaten each other.
Or even struck each other.
Even our verbal disagreements
have been courteous.
It's not as if a World War
has broken out.
- Antonio has been
sharing his meats.
- You want?
- Thank you, Antonio, yes.
- I guess I get carried away
with my rhetoric.
It's a blessing and a curse.
The burden of
all great leaders.
- What day is it?
- Saturday.
(laughs)
- No, no, the date.
- It's the 21st.
What is it? What is it?
(sighs)
September 21st.
It's Maxime's birthday.
No wonder he's
been so sensitive.
Maxime's birthday's
very important to him, Antonio.
And with this whole
Celestine business,
I hadn't even made
the connection.
- What do you mean?
- Well, I knew Celestine
had been appointed
and that she would
be coming, but...
I didn't know Maxime
would find it so difficult.
- Well, their relationship
has always been one of tumult.
They met
during the highly contentious
WTO ministerial conference.
- I didn't know Maxime
ever worked in the WTO.
- He didn't.
He was a protester,
the leader of
a black block cell.
Ja. He was pepper-sprayed.
Ja. And Celestine was with
the Dutch trade delegation,
and they met during
a violent encounter
and he became
infatuated with her
after she tended
to his rubber bullet wounds.
- Back then, you could really
get into a punch-up
with protesters.
Brave men and women
of high principle,
willing to sacrifice
everything for a cause.
They threw rocks,
dressed all in black.
It was striking to see.
"Hooded hordes swarming
across endless plains."
I injured quite
a few of them myself
and was in turn injured by them.
I should like
to have been assassinated.
Too late for that now I suppose.
Wouldn't be sporting.
- Assassinated?
Really, Edison?
- Instead of this ignominious
sloughing away.
I think of it
from time to time.
Arranging things, I mean.
A conspiracy of sly minds
in back rooms.
Shots ring out.
Bits of my brain on the tarmac.
And they find some piteous
wretch to pin it all on,
some nutcase
with an absurd grievance.
Too many bridges,
not enough protection
for songbirds.
Grandson afraid
of picture books.
But here I am.
Plowing on.
- You're still
the American president, Edison.
- Yeah, I suppose so.
(panting)
Celestine!
Celestine, it's me, Maxime.
Are you all right?
What happened to you?
Why are you here?
And what is this large brain
you have with you?
Where's the rest
of your delegation?
(muttering)
Maxime?
(speaking foreign language)
- Yes, it's me, Maxime.
Celestine. It's me, Maxime.
(speaking foreign language)
- What happened to you?
(speaking foreign language)
- What? I can't understand
you, Celestine.
(speaking foreign language)
(speaking foreign language)
- Okay, come.
We must catch up
with the others.
Okay? Come.
Come.
(speaking foreign language)
- Come, okay?
(speaking foreign language)
- Yeah, that's you.
(speaking foreign language)
- We must go, now.
(speaking foreign language)
- Come, Celestine.
(Maxime): Hello!
Maxime?
I found her huddled up
against a giant brain.
What?
- Celestine?
Are you all right?
What happened to you?
(speaking foreign language)
- She doesn't understand.
There's something
wrong with her.
She... can only speak gibberish.
(speaking foreign language)
Gibberish to our ears, but
perhaps there is sense within.
An ancient Iron Age
language, I suspect.
Perhaps Dacian.
- Galindian.
- Old Frankish?
- Or Burgundian.
Or Skaldian.
Some dead tongue only used
by the shamans in their
pagan fertility rituals.
(speaking foreign language)
- Good! Yes.
(speaking foreign language)
Interesting. The thieves tongue!
Perhaps. Perhaps.
(speaking foreign language)
- Swedish.
She's just speaking Swedish.
- Swedish?
- You think they're
making a move?
(speaking foreign language)
(speaking foreign language)
- What is she saying?
- Something about a king.
I don't think
she's making any sense.
- Where did you learn to
speak Swedish, Celestine?
(speaking foreign language)
- The Night Queen?
Who is the Night Queen?
Are you the Night Queen?
- Shh!
- Are you
the Night Queen, Celestine?
(speaking foreign language)
I think we should
just keep moving.
- Come, come!
- Wait!
(speaking foreign language)
(speaking French)
Sorry.
(sighs)
- What is this about a brain?
- I saw it. Not far from here.
A large brain.
I took a picture.
- How large?
- Almost the size of a car.
A small car.
- A whale's brain, perhaps.
Fossilized whale's brain.
Maybe a cargo plane
was bringing it
to the museum in Wiesbaden
and had some engine trouble?
- No, there was no wreckage.
- No?
- It looks more like
a human brain.
- A human brain?
Yes, it does, doesn't it?
- Yeah.
- Very interesting.
More like a...
a woman's brain, I would say.
- Why?
- Well, from the size, it's...
it's slightly smaller
than a giant man's
brain would be.
- It's quite large.
- Well, to be sure,
I'm sure it is.
But of course, the more
likely explanation
is that this is some kind
of stunt, a protest stunt
meant to mock,
well, to mock us,
the so-called brain trust
of the West.
Of the world, really!
(laughs)
- Made of latex?
- I don't know.
(speaking foreign language)
- Yes.
- What is she saying?
- She's very confused.
I don't think
she remembers much.
She talks about a coming war.
(speaking Foreign language)
- Antonio,
I hate to be a pessimist.
I hate to dump bad news on you,
but I have a feeling
that something apocalyptic
has occurred,
that there is nobody
out there to rescue us,
no homes to return to.
It is the cold, dark ending
our species rightly deserves.
Come at last.
Just as we were getting
to know each other!
- Yeah.
(grunts)
- You all right, Edison?
(grunts)
Yes, I'm fine.
Right as rain.
But I think
I'd like to stay here.
So you lot carry on without me.
I'll be quite content.
- Come on Edison,
don't be stupid.
The ferry is not far.
- I've had a good long run.
I've seen and done my share.
Now all I want is
to sit here a while,
fade into a beautiful sleep
and never wake up.
Become one with
the loamy ground.
My body made into something
useful for a change.
- Now you come, Mr. Wolcott.
- No, Antonio. Thank you.
I shall not come.
Please.
- Please Mr. Wolcott,
come with us.
- No, Antonio, I won't.
- Please, Mr. Walcott.
- Antonio, please,
just leave me.
I'll be fine.
- Do it for me.
- Antonio, look,
please leave me.
You have to come with us.
- Goodbye!
- It's okay.
It's okay, Antonio.
Antonio.
We'll send someone for him right
as soon as we can get help.
- My friend.
(whispering)
(whispering in French)
(laughing)
(speaking French)
(speaking Foreign language)
- Look!
- Oh!
We're here.
- Where's the ferry?
- It must be on the other side.
- And how do we get it back?
- Someone has to bring it back
from the other side.
- But we're all here
on this side.
- One should be reminded
of the parable
of the scorpion and the frog.
- Shhh, Sylvain.
- The scorpion, he is--
- Sylvain, save your strength.
- ...among other things,
a wayfarer.
- Antonio. Can you take
him to a safe place?
Thank you.
- Deadly aggression...
- Sorry.
I disguise you. To keep safe.
(groans)
Wait.
- Uh, who is the best swimmer?
- I'll go.
- Maxime, are you sure?
Should someone go with you?
- I only can go backwards.
- I can swim.
- Yeah, well, you might not
have to do too much swimming.
It's not deep.
You just have to grab
onto the guide rope,
you have to hold on
to it anyway,
follow it, because we don't want
you getting lost in the fog.
Right.
Now be careful of your footing
because the bottom is going
to be extremely mucky.
It's...
Yeah.
- It's not deep.
- Chilly!
- Grab behind me, Tatsuro.
(grunting)
- How far, Hilda?
- About... 200 metres.
- Give us an hour.
If we're not back by then,
you must find another way!
(orchestral music)
- Look!
Anyone order a ferry?
- Hah! You are like
our "ferry" godmother!
- You okay? Did you see
anything on the other side?
- No, the fog is thick there
too. But there's a road.
I left Tatsuro there, he's
going to try to find some help.
Meet us at the dock.
How's Sylvain?
- Not good. He's...
He's been quiet,
but he's still breathing.
- So obviously you can see
the ferry can't take
us all at once.
We should be able
to make it in two trips.
Someone should
take Sylvain first.
(sighs)
(phone dings)
- Who is it?
What does it say?
- Maxime, what is it?
- It says, "help."
- What?
- I can't recognize the number.
- Respond, respond!
- I'll find mine.
- I still have no phone.
- "Who are you?
Where are you?"
(phone dings)
"My name is Astrid.
I'm only seven.
I was left at the chateau
all by myself."
- We can't leave her.
- No.
- We must save her.
- Wait, wait, wait.
This could be...
- "Where are your mom
and dad... Astrid?"
- Yes. Yes! It makes sense.
Listen.
Do you remember the item 11
on the summit agenda memo?
- 11... Yes.
That was the creation of the
road map
for the coordinated
something, the...
- The sex crimes thing?
- Yes.
The preliminary road map
for a coordinated
international response
to major cyber sex crimes.
Now as part of that conference,
which, of course,
we were too busy to attend,
a group of engineers
from Lbingen
unveiled an artificial
intelligence chatbot
designed to ensnare pedophiles
via automated text message.
- You mean?
- Yes!
That could be the chat bot
messaging you.
You know,
it seems quite similar.
- But I'm not a--
- Pedophile? No.
But the bot doesn't know that.
It uses AI to select
likely targets.
And of course, people like us,
people in positions
of great power like us,
you know, world leaders
and so, we, you know...
statistics show that we are
more likely to be pedophiles.
- So we should ignore it?
What if it's a real child
who needs our help?
- No, in fact,
we should not ignore it.
- If you can convince the bot
that you are in fact
a sexual pervert,
it will automatically
alert authorities
and they will
come investigate.
- We could be rescued.
- What if it is a real child?
- This is our dilemma.
So we must flirt with the child
enough to convince the bot
that we are sexual predators,
pedophiles, specifically,
and thus alert the authorities
to our whereabouts,
but not enough that in case
it is a real child,
we irreparably traumatize it?
- Yes, exactly.
We must be very, very careful.
(phone dings)
- "My mum and dad left.
I'm all by myself."
"Stay where you are.
I will come help you."
- Perhaps something...
something a little flirtier?
For the bot.
- "You seem like
a nice little girl."
Okay, Antonio.
You should take
Sylvain across now,
Cardosa and Hilda stay here
with Celestine,
I'll head back to
the chateau for the girl
as fast as I can.
No, no, I know the chateau well,
I know the security protocols.
I should come with you.
You know,
it's not far from here.
You know.
Now we know the way.
A straight line, and we'll
be there in 10 minutes.
- Well, I would like
to come too.
Perhaps we can finish
the statement on the way.
(grunting effort)
(phone dings)
- "You seem like a nice man.
Looking forward to seeing you."
- "Looking forward."
Would a small child say that?
- I think it's the bot.
- Come now, Celestine.
(phone dings)
(speaking foreign language)
- I was worried this would
happen. Celestine!
What does this mean to her?
What has she been telling you?
- She says that this brain
is the seat of power
of a new union,
which is poised to take
its place on the world stage.
(speaking foreign language)
- Celestine says she has
figures that invalidate
the Amsterdam Treaty
and the Treaty of Lisbon.
All the old political
orders will fall,
she says, in a great inferno.
(phone dings)
Well, except, of course,
the Treaty of Maastricht,
which really cannot be
overturned so simply.
(speaking foreign language)
"Please hurry."
(speaking foreign language)
- "I will be there soon."
- Tell her that she must
speak of you to no one.
- It must be your little secret.
- Yeah.
- No!
Celestine!
No! Celestine!
(choral music)
- Please! Please! Please!
- Hello?
(speaking foreign language)
- Speak English?
- Yes, I do speak.
- Phone, phone.
- Yes, I have.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Perhaps say the number
that you want to dial
and I can dial it for you.
- Central authorities.
Japanese Embassy!
No, no, no, no, no.
Police, police, police.
Ambulance too.
We have a sick man.
French President!
Violent protestors!
Floppy bodies!
Great big brain the size
of a hatchback!
- Please, slow down.
Okay?
- Okay. Okay.
- Sylvain?
You want?
No?
- Antonio!
Antonio!
Antonio.
Edison.
Edison.
- Cardosa, did you read
what Sylvain was writing?
- Haven't really had
a chance to look at it yet.
Let's have... a look.
- What is it?
- It appears to be...
a proposal for a monument
of some sort,
a tentative proposal
for the establishment of what
will be when it is completed
Western Europe's
largest sundial.
- A sundial. That's it?
- Yeah.
There's a lot of speculation
about possible locations,
groundskeeping concerns,
materials,
a list of artists
that might be commissioned,
and a long explanation
of how sundials work.
(phone dings)
- "Where are you?"
"We are coming."
(distant animal sound)
(screams)
(groaning)
- What do we do?
Where are we going?
Maxime, what are you doing?
- Excuse me.
I understand you're... upset.
Our presence here
has disturbed you somehow.
Maybe you think of this
as your land.
It's your ancestral home,
after all.
The... The traditional
home of your peoples.
And that's quite understandable.
And we have disturbed your rest
and somehow upset the balance
of your sacred energies...
for which affront
there can be no excuse.
So that's why we come to you now
and offer our profound apologies
for the hurt
and offense we have--
Run!
"I am outside.
Where are you?"
- Crap!
- Come, come, come!
Try zero-zero-zero-zero.
Zero-zero-zero-zero!
(buzzes)
- Yes! Yes!
This way.
- Astrid!
Hello?
- Glob?
- Here you are! Finally!
I'm sorry about the mess.
I'm having computer problems.
Sorry.
- Where's Astrid?
- Astrid?
- Yeah.
Astrid is the name
of the AI system
powering the union's new
predator entrapment chatbot.
I asked Astrid
to bring you here.
I begged her in fact.
It was the only way
to contact you.
Communication has
become complicated.
- What's going on?
Where's everybody?
- Astrid sent them away.
- Why? How?
- I don't know.
She likes to work alone.
Yet she won't let me leave.
It's not healthy.
She must find me useful.
For what reason? I don't know.
Look at me!
- And why did she bring us here?
- I don't know.
Did you do sex crime?
- What? No.
I think this is a trap.
- I think we should just leave.
- No, no, it's not trap.
That's her reason.
I have my own reason
to bring you here.
- Then what is it?
What do you want?
- I have something to give you.
- "Provisional statement
on the present crisis."
You wrote this, Glob?
- No, not really.
Computer did most.
Astrid. She has that power now.
(reading inaudibly)
It says things
about the Olympics.
It says they should be held
every three years
instead of four.
- Three? Wow, good idea.
- They're here.
- Maxime!
- So, is there any help coming?
- Help? No help.
- What do you mean?
- Everything on fire. Many dead.
(breathing heavily)
- So no one is coming?
- We didn't see anyone.
- No help.
- No help.
(loud bang)
(sighs)
(coughs)
- Mr. President?
- Yes, that's me.
Yes, I'm the president.
- Hey, you feel better?
- Yes. Thank you, Tony.
Not dead yet.
(groans)
You know, I feel as if
I could be president
for another hundred years.
Bloody term limits.
- There are snacks in these
and some other goodies.
- Thank you, Hilda.
- Thank you.
- We get something
for our pains.
- In case we need it.
- What is?
- Is vitamins?
- No, Tony,
not vitamins.
Potassium cyanide.
They hand them out
at all the summits.
- When this is over,
I retire early.
Spend some time
in the mountains.
(sighs)
- I'll probably join
the private sector.
Hilda?
What will you do?
- Your notes, Antonio.
Your statement notes, please.
Cardosa.
(building orchestral music)
(birds chirp)
(clears throat)
We, the leaders
of the Group of Seven,
met in Dankerode, Germany,
from the 21st
to the 22nd of September...
at a critical juncture
for the global community
to make progress
towards an equitable world.
If there is one message
that echoes forth
from this conference,
let it be that we,
as open democracies,
adhering to the rule of law,
are driven by shared values
and bound by our commitment
to the rules-based
multilateral order
and universal human rights,
and to eliminating,
wherever possible,
the procrastination pit stops
that have interrupted
our work over the years
and also to
cultivating opportunities
for non-sexual
physical affection
and the marriages across
the respective nations
and ensuring that everyone,
regardless of whether
you're a woman
or a minority or something else,
that everyone has access
to slips for the sleep tank.
Not to mention the importance
of finding an appropriate venue
for what will be,
when it's completed,
Western Europe's
largest sundial.
(music swells)
I know you're afraid.
I'm afraid too.
The sky is on fire.
The water of the ocean
is thick and black.
And death... is all around us.
Everyone is dying.
Everyone dies.
It cannot be stopped.
But I assure you...
hand to heart...
that if we nurture the sense
of common purpose and vision,
that has characterized
the discussions
we've had over these two days,
we have an opportunity
like none we've ever had before,
to foster competition
in the digital marketplace
and meet the death of our world
and species, head on.
Our vision clear and true,
our desire steadfast;
our stride unwavering;
our courage unbounded
and our patriotic hearts aflame
with the strength of kings!
And queens!
And queens.
And with a passion
unflinching and unyielding,
we will carry
ourselves fearlessly
into the dreadful inferno
that awaits us all.
"It's better to burn out
than to fade away!"
(gurgling)
(moans)
()