The Spiral Road (1962) Movie Script
1
Oh, back so soon, Jano?
The boat docked
right on schedule.
The totoks will be up
as soon as they unload.
It never fails.
There's always
at least one in a pith helmet.
What did they send us this year?
A little better than average.
There're several seem fairly bright.
And one is a gold medal winner.
Took top honors
for four straight years.
Really?
Walking next to your
friend with the pith helmet,
the tall one, Anton drager.
Gentlemen, welcome to Batavia.
My name is Dr. Kramer.
Dr. Sordjano, our assistant
director, you've already met.
Dr. Martens, in charge of our
expedition and field service.
Dr. Sanders, resident personnel.
I won't ask you your names now,
one, because I'm not very good
at remembering names,
and two, because your arrival
brings our service staff
to 341 physicians.
So for the present, I'll address
you simply as "doctor."
The rest of the staff will
probably refer to you as "totok."
Take no offense.
It simply means newcomer.
You will discover there is still
much to learn about being a doctor
in this part of the world.
We'll see to it that you learn.
Now...
Doctor.
Doctor.
Dr. Drager.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Please don't apologize.
I can easily unterstand
your interest in our map.
In time, some of you will
be assigned to the field,
but for the next six months you
will be here on hospital duty.
Dr. Sanders will now
show you to your quarters.
Good day, gentlemen.
This way, please, gentlemen.
There's one thing more.
There'll be a dinner at the
country club this evening
where you'll meet the staff of
the hospital and their families.
8:00. That's all, gentlemen.
And if you'll cooperate
just a little, Dr. Drager,
you may find colonial life
quite pleasant.
As attractive as you personally
make it, Mrs. Kramer,
I didn't come out here
to attend dancing school,
or join the country club.
You make it sound like
a fate worse than death.
I don't believe in fate.
What do you believe in?
Anton drager,
and the government
health service
and my contract, which,
quoting loosely, states,
"in consideration of the monies expended
by the government on your behalf,
"you will upon graduation report to the
Netherlands east indies health service
"for a period
of not less than five years."
Isn't it a little late
for regrets?
Oh, I don't believe in
regrets either, Mrs. Kramer.
I intend to get full value
out of those five years.
Nothing more definite than that?
Very definite.
I want to work with Dr. Jansen.
Oh.
Louise,
Sordjano and the usual gang
are hankering for poker. Will
you get the wives organized?
Some bridge, perhaps?
Right, darling.
Dr. Drager here has just been telling
me something very interesting.
He wants to work with brits.
And he's
quite definite about it.
So you want to work
with Dr. Jansen, huh?
Well, I intended to discuss it
with you some other time, sir.
Why not now?
Because the answer is no.
You'll be assigned
as all the new men are
according to our needs
and your qualifications.
But I feel I am qualified, sir.
How do I go about
proving it to you?
I don't know that you ever will.
But since it is a unique
request, why brits Jansen?
Because he's top man out here
in tropical medicine,
and certainly the world's
foremost authority on leprosy.
But isn't it true, sir, that except for a
few tracts written almost 20 years ago,
he hasn't recorded anything
about his work,
his successes, his failures,
methods of diagnosis,
proposals for future research?
Well, now, you're reckoning
with the man himself.
We've been after him
to do that for a long time.
Then let me work out
my five years with him, sir.
Let me get to know what he knows
and I'll see that it's done.
I'll do it with him.
Dr. Drager, you intend to leave
here at the end of five years?
Yes.
When you step off
that boat back home,
you're liable to find tropical
medicine is hardly a lucrative field.
But in research, sir?
If a man like brits Jansen
were in Holland right now,
he'd be offered millions
for research.
And the same is also possible for a
young man who stepped off the boat
wrapped in the aura
of brits Jansen's knowledge.
Dr. Kramer,
I don't intend to get off that boat
with just a wrinkled white suit
and the hope of
getting over malaria.
Is there anything wrong
with that?
Dr. Martens, will you come
over here a minute, please?
Who are you
sending up to Jansen?
Stappel.
He leaves in the morning.
Well, cancel him out.
We're sending up a volunteer.
Drager?
That's right.
You can carry on
with Dr. Martens.
Good luck.
Thank you, sir.
Your plane leaves
at 8:00 in the morning.
Be at the expedition
and field office at 7:00.
That's 7:00 sharp.
Oh the dot, doctor.
You're sending
a totok to Jansen?
Exactly.
I don't understand.
Marty,
our gold medal winner
wants to win some more medals.
If he can get along with brits,
I'll pin one on him myself.
If not, he'll come running back,
ready to work and behave himself.
Oh, did you get inoculated? No.
Take care of it at Macassar.
You'll have a couple of hours there
before the train leaves for Rokul.
I've had all my shots.
On, not for plague, you haven't.
Plague at the leper colony?
Jansen isn't there.
He's three weeks upriver
at Rauwatta village.
There. There. He's got a
pip of a plague epidemic.
Worst in years.
On, we radioed Krasser at Rokul.
Runs the hotel there. He'll
outfit you for the trip up.
Well, that does it.
Sixteen anti-plague, the jungle
kits, your personal gear,
and that last is the PC. You.
Those crated tins, the p.G., that's
the most important to old brits,
so you guard it with your life.
All right. On your way.
Thank you.
Hey.
I forgot to ask. What's P.G.?
Hi. You the new doc?
Mr. Krasser?
Yeah. Come on in.
They'll take care of that,
doc. Come on in.
Hey, doc?
Doctor?
That train still got
all its wheels?
Last I saw. Good.
It's taking me
out of here tomorrow.
You're a new one, huh?
How are things back home?
Changed much?
Depends on how long
you've been away.
Ten years. Three of them here.
River master.
Bet you'll be glad to get home.
I'm not going.
I thought I was,
until three or four days ago.
But now I'm going into batavia
for reassignment.
And don't ask me why I changed my mind.
I wouldn't be able to tell you.
Do you like Beethoven, doc?
Take it or leave it.
Well, you better take it.
Well...
Shower's at the end
of the hall, doc.
Thanks.
By the way, my name's drager.
Mine's Harry Frolick.
Pleased to meet you.
Why don't you try some food?
Do I sense
disapproving advice, doctor?
No. Just a prescription.
You can have a lot more fun with
that if you mix it with this.
I'm allergic to advisors and
prescribers, my new-found friend.
Here comes the most illustrious
prescriber of them all.
Good evening, Harry.
Captain Willem Wattereus
of the salvation army.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Good evening.
Well, join us.
Bring up your throne in heaven.
I came to say goodbye.
It's very solicitous of you,
captain. I'm touched.
They told me you've changed
your mind about going home.
That's right.
A glorious decision.
I wish you'd reconsider it.
You see?
"For he hath clothed me
in the garments of salvation
"as a bride adorneth herself with
jewels." Isaiah 61:10. Right, captain?
Please, harry.
Come on, let's sing
the song of Solomon.
"Behold, thou art fair, my love."
"Thy lips are like
a thread of Scarlet."
"Honey and milk
are under thy tongue."
Try it.
Taste for yourself, captain.
"A heap of ripe wheat,
seated about with lilies..."
That's all, Frolick.
"Fools make mock at sin, but among
the righteous there is favor."
That's enough.
Your lips are dry, Willem.
The dew of desire
is on your brow.
That's all, Frolick.
Well.
"Blessed are the merciful."
"And blessed are the meek, for
they shall inherit the earth."
Come on, Harry.
That's for your beatitudes,
captain salvation.
Well, that was
a ridiculous exhibition.
Poor harry.
He's going through a hell,
all his own,
trying to prove
that god doesn't exist.
For if god doesn't exist,
then Harry's sins don't exist.
That's why he's so violent
and unhappy.
You understand.
I'm afraid not, captain.
To me, Harry Frolick is just a poor
idiot who can't hold his liquor.
Good night.
A few tips on your boys, doc.
If they ever hear you're headed for a
plague area, they'll run out on you.
So for the next three weeks, you
better do your sleeping during the day
and stay awake at night.
Get in, doc. They're ready.
Keep that rifle handy.
That they all understand.
Don't worry, I'll manage.
That's right, totok.
You just keep acting like you
planted every tree out there.
Just like a 200,
only bigger, huh?
I'll let you know
when I get back.
Hey. Haven't you got a hat?
Never wear one.
You will now.
Move on!
Dr. Jansen?
Who did you expect?
Robinson Crusoe?
Where's the P.G.?
Did you bring it?
Yes, sir.
Well, send it on up here.
All right, I'll take it.
Now what did you do that for?
Well, I brought it this far and
I wasn't about to let it...
A totok.
Great balls of betel nut!
They sent me a totok.
What is that, doctor?
They didn't tell me.
Gin.
Gin?
P.g., pure gin.
If you're gonna faint on me,
you better have some.
Dr. Jansen.
What is it you want me to do?
Oh, it's you. What did
you say your name was?
Anton drager.
Have you handled dynamite before?
No.
Well, you can start now.
It won't hurt you. Nothing happens
until it's capped and the fuse is lit.
What'll I do with it?
Son, don't tempt me
or I'll tell you. Bring this.
Did you ever try to split a native family,
separate the sick from the healthy?
Yes, dynamite is magic.
And there are times out here
when you need magic.
Now take over and don't use
it unless you have to.
And try not to blow yourself up.
All right, doctor, you can stop
the wrestling. Let him up.
Stick him.
Stick him!
Magic, doctor. Remember?
Keeping a diary on all your
adventurous exploits?
No, sir, just a letter.
Amounts to the same thing.
Yep, there she is. Never fails.
Every totok has his honey-lamb waiting
for those brave, exciting letters.
Given one jot of encouragement,
he'll start talking about his sweet
honey-lamb till she turns to mutton.
You will observe you are not
being given any encouragement.
I didn't ask for any.
You will.
I am an authority on totoks.
I've wet-nursed
a half a hundred in my time.
Which reminds me,
you haven't asked
the one big question yet.
What question?
"Doctor, do you think
I'm suited to this work?"
Well, go on. Ask it.
I don't give a damn whether you think
I'm suited to this work or not.
Well said. Well said.
There's some hope for you,
my boy.
Now get yourself dressed up
neat and pretty.
We're going to see the sultan.
And don't boil over this early.
You'll run out of steam.
He's a cagey old devil.
I've hated his guts and he's hated
mine for the past 30 years.
That makes us pretty close.
You know, totok,
as you get older,
it's the relationship that
counts, not the nature of it.
Just the fact that it exists.
He and I are the only ones
left from the old days.
I see you, sire.
I see you, sappo-lidi.
Yeah, let's face it. We see one
another through and through.
Sire, I told you yesterday
if you wanted to stay alive
you'd have to move out.
I told you the black sickness
is carried by fleas
and the fleas
are carried by rats.
The way things are going, soon
you'll have no subjects left.
Sultan not like subjects.
Sultan like billiards.
And her majesty the queen.
You like her.
She's an old woman now.
How would you like to go to
Holland again and see the queen?
Sultan too old to see old queen.
Sire, you'd better be out
of the palace by morning
because I'm going to burn every
flea-infested, stinking stick of it,
and the village, too.
Village, yes. Palace, no.
We play billiards, yes?
No.
We play billiards for palace.
Yes?
Now I know what you're after.
Why, you crazy little runt.
You want revenge, huh?
Thirty years ago, when I first came
here, we played a game of billiards.
A thousand up.
The stakes were whether
he and his people
would accept
the government health service.
We played all night, didn't we?
You thought you were unbeatable
but I won in a canter.
And now after all these years,
you want your revenge.
All right.
We'll play for the palace.
If sultan win, sappo-lidi stay.
Play with sultan forever,
till last darkness.
All right. All right.
Anything you say.
You break, sire.
Supposing he wins?
He seems pretty good.
He is good.
But there's not a man east of Singapore
that I can't take at this game.
Well, you're losing your grip,
sire. You left me a set-up.
Go on, totok. You've got work to do.
Make sure that everybody's out.
Hey.
And lay a fire right under
the floor of this palace.
A couple of decent runs and I'll still
wipe that smile off of your face.
Sappo-lidi need over 500.
Sultan need only 18.
And may I speak, sir?
No, you may not.
What is it?
Just that the village is evacuated
and everything's ready.
It'll be daylight
in a half an hour.
Just a minute.
This royal ringtail
has me over a barrel.
No wonder.
I'd say he knows his table better
than you do. Look at this.
Bumps. Look over here.
Little manufactured bumps.
And you know the location of every
one of them to a hair's breadth.
All right, you cheating old buzzard.
That settles it.
You have a half-hour
to get out of the palace.
Because in 30 minutes, I'm burning
this billiard parlor once and for all.
And if you want to do me a favor,
you can stay here and fry!
Come on, totok.
Well, totok, let's check on
what you've done.
No need to check.
The trench around
the village is all set.
We'll fire that first,
then the buildings.
The only place left for the rats
to go is into the open ditch.
All right, go!
Come on!
Have you seen
the sultan anywhere?
No, I haven't.
Nobody seems to have seen him.
The poor, proud little bandit.
Maybe he took me at my word.
I see you, tuan totok.
I see you, sir.
Tea, please.
Go, please.
Dr. Jansen, you can stop worrying.
The sultan is in your tent.
Are you sure?
Yes. I just poured him some tea.
Drinking tea, is he?
I'll drown him in it.
I'm afraid I gave him your cup.
I wouldn't have done
it if I'd known.
Known what?
Well, it was only when I gave him the
cup that I noticed he was a leper.
You noticed what?
That he has leprosy.
Didn't you know?
No, I didn't know,
you young fool,
because he no more has leprosy
than I do.
Then take a good look
at his right hand.
Listen, Toto k.
You can diagnose fallen arches,
head colds, athlete's foot,
bumps on billiard tables,
anything you like except leprosy!
Is that clear?
I see you, sappo-lidi.
Yeah, I see you,
you little wart.
Nice tea.
I had you cremated
and stashed away in an urn.
More tea.
All right, totok.
How did you know?
I saw his hand.
What did you see?
The beginning of a lesion,
discoloration, softness of tissue.
That could have been anything.
Yaws, filariasis, the beginning
of any ordinary skin rash.
What made you so certain
it was leprosy?
I just knew, that's all.
You mean you guessed.
No. I knew.
An intuitive diagnosis?
Call it what you like.
Very well.
I'll say you made
an intuitive diagnosis.
That's a rare gift, Dr. Drager.
He'll stay in my tent
till we can leave here.
I'll bunk in with you.
I snore like an elephant,
but that's your problem.
No more tea, sire.
Double rations of p.G. Tonight.
There's no sleeping through that.
How long is he gonna keep it up?
He's praying, the old rascal.
Making peace with his gods.
I finally had to break it to him that
he was going to the leper colony.
How did he take it?
Badly, at first,
until I assured him he would
be the only sultan there
and promised to get him
a billiard table.
I wonder if he'd like it if
Willem put him in the choir.
What choir? The leper colony.
It's run by the salvationists.
Salvation army?
Yeah. They'll give him
his belly full of singing.
Tell me, is there
a captain Wattereus there?
He's in charge.
Well, I doubt if he'll
welcome me with open arms.
Why? I met the captain.
Krasser's place.
We had
a definite difference of opinion
as to why a drunk was drunk.
The captain gave me
a little sermon about a man
fighting the existence of god.
I said the only thing he was fighting
was a bottle and nothing else.
I take it
you don't believe in god.
Frankly, no.
I see.
Back in so-called civilization, you
can ignore god and get away with it.
But out here in the jungle,
god takes people
who say he doesn't exist,
pokes them with his finger, and
makes them squirm a little.
There are times out here when you can
almost hear the old boy humming.
Oh, by the way,
Willem Wattereus and his wife,
Betsy, they're my closest friends.
These are your servants, sire. They
will escort you to your quarters.
I'll see you later.
Thank you, sappo-iidi.
This way, sire.
Oh, Ali,
don't let him know you're
burning his clothes, huh?
No, doctor.
Hey! you grinning Buddha.
Did you miss me?
The silence has been gold for the soul.
How was Rauwatta?
Well, we put our thumb in the dike
and sealed her up. Meet Dr. Drager.
How do you do, doctor?
How do you do.
Brits!
Willem.
Good to see you.
And you. God bless.
So you're Dr. Drager.
We meet again, sir.
You know, ever since
that night with poor Frolick,
I've often thought of the young
man who was so kind to me
and I didn't even thank you.
Well, come along. Betsy knows you're
here and she's anxious to see you.
Well, come on, drager. Betsy's
always interested in visitors.
Well, here I am, Betsy.
Full of jungle rot
and smelling like a crocodile.
But I said to myself,
Betsy'll forgive me
if I skip the soap and water
and drop in on her first.
Hi, luti. Welcome, doctor.
Well, it's good to be back.
Had a miserable trip down.
Ran out of p.G.,
you'll be glad to know.
Drager, here.
Betsy, this is Dr. Anton drager.
He's... he's a totok, but he's
got a chance to grow out of it.
Doctor, Betsy Wattereus.
How do you do, Mrs. Wattereus?
Speak up, boy.
Betsy can't see you
or talk to you,
but she can hear every word
you say if you speak up.
How do you do, Mrs. Wattereus?
Anton's fresh out from home.
Tall fellow,
about six foot fourish,
dark hair and eyes.
Got the west-country look
about him.
What town you from?
Hillegom.
The tulip country.
Do you hear that, bets?
You wouldn't think you could
grow tulips out here, would you?
No.
Betsy did. Well, close to it.
Out there in the courtyard.
Oh, she sent for the bulbs, the soil
chemicals and everything. Remember?
We had a Chinese cook from
Krasser's at the time, eh, bets?
And what did that idiot do but go out
and pull them up, bulbs and all?
He thought they were onions!
Luti. Yes, doctor.
There, Betsy. You'll sleep now.
I'll see you in the morning and
tell you all about Rauwatta.
She's worse.
There she lies dying, mutilated, rotting
away, and I can't do a thing about it.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing,
except sit there and make lame jokes
that she can't even laugh at now.
God, how she loved to laugh.
She still does, brits.
She hasn't changed.
You can start work
on the report in the morning,
a privilege of being
the junior doctor.
Kramer expects
full details in triplicate.
Oh, you'd better start
learning how to forge my name.
I can't bear reading them.
They're making their
daily pilgrimage to Betsy.
For years
she gave them her love.
Now they're returning it.
Here they are
when I first met them.
Way up north of here, right
out in the middle of nowhere.
Innocents abroad.
Collecting lepers
like kids with postage stamps.
I didn't know there was
a white man within 200 miles,
and I was in no mood
for amateurs.
So I asked them what the
devil they were doing there
and who gave them permission,
and what precautions they had
taken for their own protection.
"None," she said.
"God protects us."
Then I looked at her hands.
"Well, your god's made a fool out of
you," I said, "because you've got it."
I almost got a satisfaction
out of telling her.
"Don't you understand?"
I said. "You're a leper."
She was kneeling beside some poor
creature, bandaging the stump of his arm.
"You're going to rot away
just like he is," I said.
And then she looked up
at me and smiled.
I've never seen
such beauty and peace.
And every time
I go into her room,
I feel it again.
Perhaps it's that humming
that I was telling you about.
You ever thought of
putting her out of her misery?
Once.
I actually had
the needle to her skin.
Couldn't bring myself to do it.
I'll do it if you like.
I think you mean it.
I do.
Then let me tell you why I
couldn't go through with it.
It was three years ago.
She could still
talk a little then.
She opened her eyes
and she looked at me.
And she knew.
Then she asked god
to forgive me.
Even for the thought of it
to forgive me.
You see, she reminded me
of something
that for that moment
I had almost forgotten.
"The lord giveth
and the lord taketh away."
And I had no right to play god.
Doctor. Come along, brits,
I want to meet your sultan.
Hey, hat, why don't you
show Dr. Drager around?
I'm sure he'd be interested.
Yeah, do that, hat.
He's got a lot to learn.
From batavia, doctor.
Your handwriting
will drive me blind.
Cholera's been reported
in southern Sumatra.
Possible epidemic.
Kramer wants me back.
We'll be catching
a plane in the morning.
Guess we'd better get down
and see the sultan.
Be with you in a minute.
Oh, by the way, doctor,
these records
are all at your disposal.
Case histories of every leper in the
archipelago for the last 30 years.
Thank you.
Tell me about Dr. Jansen.
Hasn't he done anything about
compiling a work on all that?
Well, I suppose you can call it that.
There it is.
By a loose definition of the word, you
might refer to it as a "compilation."
Any time he makes an observation or
gets an idea, he stuffs it in there.
Once I offered to sort them out,
but he swore he'd break
my neck if I touched them.
Well, it's time for me
to make a round of the wards.
Would you care to come along?
What? Oh, yes.
But Dr. Kramer,
there must be some way to get
word to Anton that I'm here.
I'm afraid not. He and Dr. Jansen
are on their way down river.
It'll take at least two weeks
for them to reach Labuan Redjo.
But I have to go home the end
of the month with the Boosmans.
That would mean I wouldn't
get to see Anton at all.
Now, Kramer,
I assured this poor child
that drager would certainly
be back in batavia by now.
Unfortunately, your excellency,
an outbreak of cholera
turned into a full epidemic.
It took them five months
to bring it under control.
Piet, excuse me.
Herr Boosmans, doesn't your tour of
inspection include a stop in Sumatra?
Yes, of course.
Well, if you could rearrange
your trip slightly,
you could be in Labuan Redjo
about the same time as Anton.
Why not?
Oh, wonderful. Good.
I'll send a message to your young
man to wait for you there.
Thank you.
I knew it. So honey-lamb's arriving.
Coming swiftly at your summons.
You couldn't wait, could you, boy?
Will you listen?
I didn't send for her. I don't
even know what it's all about.
You blasted totoks
are all the same.
A few months in the jungle
and all you can think of
is getting out
and getting married!
I have no intention of getting out
or getting married, not now, anyway.
So just calm down. Here.
Read it yourself.
All Kramer says is
eis is here for a vislt.
She's traveling with the Boosmans.
They dock tomorrow afternoon.
Doesn't even say
how long she's staying.
Who's this Boosman?
Friend of els' family.
Connected with
the colonial office, I think.
First name Hendrik?
Yeah. You know him?
I've heard about him and I'll make
a good guess why he's out here.
Becrudded bureaucrats.
I'll see you at dinner.
Where are you going?
To get some dress whites
if! Can find a shop open.
Afraid to have honey-lamb see
you in your working clothes?
Well, go on, you blinking fool!
I'm taking the morning plane
to Manpuko
and you can get up there as soon
as you can drag yourself away!
All right!
Just a visit, huh?
A visit, my left elbow.
Get me the Garrison.
Major? Brits Jansen.
What am I doing? I'm just
about to save your skin!
So wash the gin
out of your ears and listen!
Come on, boys, come on.
Clear it, let's go!
What is this? You didn't send
a message ahead, did you?
No, sir. Dear, what is all this?
Present arms!
Major vlormans at your service.
How do you do?
Welcome, your excellency
and Mrs. Boosmans.
Welcome to Labuan Redjo!
seen her yet?
Yes, she's standing right there.
But she hasn't seen me yet.
I thought you took off
for Manpuko.
I got to the airport and then I heard
there was going to be a big party
and I couldn't miss it.
What party?
Oh, the planters
and the major there.
They got together and decided to throw a
real welcome for old Boosmans tonight.
Your excellency, we hope your
visit will be a pleasant one.
Give the lady the flowers.
Ready. Aim.
On. Fire!
Order! On, I'm so sorry!
This way. Right this way,
your excellency.
Els! Els! Els! Els!
Els!
Els! Anton.
I'll see you at the hotel!
I'll see you at the hotel!
And so, at this happy moment,
I give you the question.
Do we drink to his excellency,
herr Boosmans,
a beneficent leader and
emancipator of our problems?
Yes!
And to madame Boosmans,
always at her husband's side,
a vast reservoir
for his faith and courage?
And to miss Els Van Duin, a breath of
lovely gossamer from the mother country?
And now are we going to
make a night of it?
Yes!
Well, drink her down.
A few words from you, major?
Yes, yes.
Ladies and gentlemen,
distinguished...
Ladies and gentlemen...
Please. Please.
I think we should take time for a little
more serious note here in appreciation...
Sit down! Music! More music!
Perhaps some of us have gained a
little more momentum than we should,
but if... keep quiet.
Keep quiet! Sit down!
Please.
I'm sure his excellency and
his charming wife will be...
Perhaps after we've had
a little bit more to eat.
Later, perhaps.
Don't mind these
frontier folk, dear lady.
Just boys at heart, excited
by your delicate presence.
Well, great heavens, it's a relief
to see a pretty girl down here.
But they don't last long.
But the men, they thrive on it.
But the women...
Like those two
on either side of Anton there.
They either puff up
like rising dough
or train down to something
you could put a saddle on
and jump fences with.
Great soot. Let me out of here!
Look, doc, it's a boy!
Madame, he has your eyes.
Yes.
Yes, that's what I came for.
You know, I don't think your Dr. Jansen
likes the idea of you and me.
At least, not me down here.
And you don't know
how right you are.
He staged that brawl just to scare you.
I'm convinced of it.
Well, you can tell him he was very
heavy-handed and he didn't scare me a bit.
Forget him.
He's just a crusty old bull.
And he's forgotten the loveliest
of biological functions.
How long can you stay?
Two weeks?
The Boosmans
are leaving tomorrow.
Tomorrow?
This was the last stop
on their tour.
Well, you don't have to
go with them.
Yes, I do.
My family only let me come
because I'd be with them.
I'm lucky to have gotten
a chance to see you at all.
Oh, Anton.
Now that I'm here,
don't let me go back.
Don't let me go back, please.
I'd be crazy if I did.
And so I, Els Van Duin,
in the sight of god
take thee, Anton drager, for
my lawfully wedded husband.
And I, Anton drager,
in the sight of god
take thee, Els Van Duin
for my lawfully wedded wife.
I, Anton drager,
take thee, Els Van Duin...
In the sight of god take thee.
In the sight of god, take thee, els
Van Duin for my lawfully wedded wife.
You are now united
in holy wedlock.
Hey, during the ceremony I
thought that was pretty sneaky.
What?
You trying to
keep god out of it.
I was in a hurry.
I'll make a believer
out of you yet.
What is it?
Message, tuan. Important.
Hold my place for me.
Yes?
Message from fat doctor
with beard.
He in jail. He's what?
He in jail.
Did you hear that?
Serves him right!
He say you come bail him out.
He say you give me guilder, too.
All right.
Tell him I'll be over
as soon as I'm dressed.
I ought to let him sweat
for a while.
No, I can't wait
to hear him holler
when he finds out his little
plot kicked back at him.
I ought to be back
in about a half an hour.
Oh, no, you don't.
I'm going with you.
I wouldn't miss the expression on
his face for anything in the world.
Besides, don't you think it's about
time you bought me a wedding ring?
Talk about woman triumphant.
I'm going to shame him into the
fanciest wedding present you ever saw.
Well!
It's about time you showed up,
even though you've just interrupted
a whale of an amusing story.
Meet my friend,
Stegomyia Fasciata,
so called because of his resemblance
to the yellow mosquito.
An admirable fellow,
except for his fleas
and the fact that he smells
like a dancing bear.
First, you've got to get a
bath if you're working for me.
We pay his fine, too? Yes, sir.
You both may go.
Come along, Stego!
Well, that was some shindig last
night, but it was worth it.
Well, I guess their excellencies
and honey-lamb
have departed by now,
duly impressed
by their rousing reception.
Yes.
The Boosmans left,
but not honey-lamb.
And honey-lamb
has a new name now.
Mrs. Anton drager.
We were married last night.
And I'm happy to say that this
woman is thriving on your climate.
Aren't you going to
wish us happiness, doctor?
Of course, of course.
But I hadn't counted on...
I had plans for your continuing
to work with me and it...
Well, this doesn't change
things a bit, sir.
I explained everything to els.
I said you and I would be gone
for months at a time
and she'd have to
stay in batavia.
Well, I'm all for that.
After all, it's much nicer
waiting in batavia married
than waiting at home
not married.
At least we'll be able to
see each other now and then.
No, it wouldn't work out at all.
It... it never has.
But it will, sir.
You can count on me, doctor. Everything's
going to work out perfectly.
No.
A man in the field
has to be of one mind.
He can't be worried
about a wife back in batavia.
He can't have any ties with the
work that I have planned for him.
He must be a man alone.
And I somehow got the feeling
that you were.
That's why I thought
perhaps some day you could...
Well, but that's that, I guess.
All right. You go on back
and report to Kramer.
He'll have use for a good
man at the hospital.
Doctor, please.
You can't be serious.
Well, I just explained.
I have to be.
Look, honey-lamb,
I wish you both happiness.
And now that you've found it,
hold onto it.
Come along, Stego.
Let's get some of
the hair of the dog.
Well, there's his
fancy wedding present.
Come on, Jano,
give us a few words.
Yes, Jano, please.
My wife and I are deeply touched
by this, your tribute to us
on our 15th wedding anniversary.
Were I my grandfather, you
might have been called upon
to tender several such
celebrations throughout each year.
As you know, we moslems, under
the teachings of the koran,
are permitted
to take four wives.
But, possibly influenced
by a lifelong association
with dear friends from the west,
I am forever grateful that Allah
has left no room in my heart
but for one.
Hello, brits. Hello, Marty.
The car is over here.
Have a good trip?
Fine.
Well, honey-lamb.
Dr. Jansen, can I talk
with you a moment, please?
Sure, sure.
Stego, go alongside doctor Tuan.
Anton with you?
No. He went up to the leper
colony a few days ago.
Then what are you
doing out here at this hour?
I heard you were coming in
and I had to talk to you.
Well...
Well, let's have it.
Dr. Jansen,
I want you to take Anton back.
You've got to. Please.
What's wrong? Everything.
It just isn't working out,
our marriage, I mean.
I don't know what to do.
He's so unhappy, he's changed.
What's going on? Another woman?
No, if it was something like that,
I think I could cope with it.
This is something else. And
there's no way I can help him.
I don't think that boy of yours has
ever accepted help from anyone, has he?
No.
I used to be so proud of that.
But now I'm frightened.
I don't know why,
but I'm afraid for Anton.
I'm awfully afraid.
Dr. Jansen,
you've got to take him back.
He came down here
with just one thought in mind.
That was to work with you.
That's all he ever talked about.
There, there, child.
Everything will adjust.
You just give him time.
You'll find
I made the right decision.
No, you didn't.
Because you didn't take
the trouble to know me
and to know
that I could do what I said
and that Anton
could go on working with you.
Because you're stubborn and you're
bull-headed and you know it.
Now, don't get the pressure up.
I will get the pressure up.
Now, I'll make
a bargain with you.
You take Anton back and I'll stay here
and I swear I won't make any trouble.
And if it doesn't work out, you
just tell me and I'll leave.
I'll go back home if I have to. But
just take him back, that's all.
I love him
and I want to see him happy.
And I mean every word
that I say.
Anybody home?
Hey! Honey-lamb!
Anybody home?
Hello.
It's me, Dr. Bullhead.
What are you doing here?
Get out! Out, out, out, out!
Dr. Jansen.
Yes, honey-lamb, it's me.
First time I ever knocked down a
female's door just to admit I was wrong.
Had to stay up all night and
get a little drunk to do it,
but I surrender.
You mean Anton can come back?
Don't rub it in, girl.
You forced a bargain.
Now, get dressed
before you start a riot.
All I want is another bottle of gin
and a half a ton of breakfast.
Oh, yes. Anything! Anything!
Dr. Jansen, I love you.
Fetch me another bottle of gin,
you pint-sized peeping Tom.
Welcome, stranger. Have a drink!
Join the celebrations!
What celebration?
Dr. Jansen wants you
to come back to work with him.
What? It's a fact, boy.
A couple of those
stethoscope bed-pan plumbers
Kramer sent up there just won't do.
So I thought of you.
I says, "brits, you stubborn old bullhead,
you've got to eat crow." So here I am.
Seriously, we're kicking off
something big over on Borneo.
Will you come with me? Will I?
No, Chun. Leave it.
I don't unpack, Tuan?
No. Never mind.
I have some things I want to
sort over myself. Thanks.
Heard you were up at Manpuko.
Yes. I went up there to do a little
research, look over the files.
Yeah. Betsy and Willem?
The same. Nothing new.
I'm sure you two
have things to talk over.
I'll just... no, no.
I've got the feeling you two
have the talking to do.
We'll be pulling out tomorrow evening.
Come along, Salome.
Let's get rid of your veil.
See you in the morning
in Kramer's office, 9:00.
Sir?
Food here. You eat. Later.
Put it on...
Who's this?
Laja. Old cook's daughter.
Old cook go home.
Laja cook now.
A very pretty cook. Pretty?
Yes, yes, yes. Pretty. Pretty.
Put it on the bunk.
Pretty. She so pretty.
No, not her.
The food, you idiot.
Now get out of here.
Doctor.
Excuse me, but a message just
came through from camp five.
Dr. Jansen left there four days ago.
He should be here some time tomorrow.
So the old boy
is finally coming in, huh?
Thank you.
That's what I came for. I've
stepped on every stone in Borneo.
Looks as if you've been busy.
Yes, your magic is working.
They've been coming in in droves.
You reported four cases of
smallpox last month. Any more?
No. They all came off one canoe.
They'd been up near
the Mamawi country.
How's Sordjano doing up there?
Last message I had from him, he was
set up and trying to make contact.
I think he'll do
the job for us, boy.
Good.
That feels good.
Well, as long as you're
comfortable and in a good mood,
I've got something
for you to read.
Don't bother me with reports, boy.
I've been up to my neck in them.
Well, it's not that, exactly.
Just read it.
"Jansen oh leprosy."
"Edited by Anton drager, m. D."
These are my notes.
My notes from Manpuko. Granted.
I told you I went up there
to do some research.
And who may I ask gave you
permission to take my notes?
Nobody. I just took them.
Why, you sneaking,
arrogant young upstart.
All right.
Call me what you like later.
I'm not hiding anything, am I?
I worked on those
for the last four months
and all I'm asking you to do
is read them.
Well? It's good.
It's very good.
Damn it, it's fine.
Have one on me.
You haven't finished it.
I've read enough.
Be interested in what you
think of the last chapter.
I've drawn some conclusions
of my own.
"And it is suggested strongly that
the management of all medical centers
"now under control of religious
or charity organizations
be taken from them
"and turned over to the administration
of the government health service."
Why, this is directed
at Willem Wattereus.
I'm afraid he must be included.
Why?
We both know why. The leper
colony is overcrowded.
There are patients there in whom the
disease was arrested years ago.
Instead of moving them out
to make room for others,
Wattereus has kept them there.
He's running the place on
sentiment, not practicality.
I realize this sort of paternalism
goes with his calling,
but there's no place for sentiment
in an effective institution.
Drager,
you're talking about these
lepers as if they're numbers.
They're not numbers,
they're people.
And arrested cases or not, where
do you think they could go?
Well, I'll tell you. Nowhere!
They were even rejected
by their own families,
driven from place to place
through fear and superstition.
But with Willem,
they found a home,
some understanding
and some love.
And in my book, that's where they
stay, and that's where Willem stays!
Let's get that clear.
I don't mean this as an attack
on captain Wattereus.
After all, he's irrelevant.
The point is...
What do you mean,
"he's irrelevant"?
I mean, let him stay on as is. Only
put the control where it belongs,
in the hands of
the health service.
We both agree a bigger allotment is needed
for added space, equipment and staff.
You've been hollering your head off.
Well, you can get it,
because when this is published
and I get back home,
I'll be in the position to hammer...
Wait a minute.
What do you mean, "get back home"?
Just that.
To Holland.
And when do you plan on that?
When my contract is up.
I thought you came out here
just to work with me.
Well, I did. Oh, no.
This is what you came for.
This is all you wanted.
This and what it'll bring you.
Isn't it?
You don't give a damn about what
we're trying to do out here.
I don't intend to
Bury myself forever,
sweating my life away
in these islands.
For what? I thought you
knew, but you don't.
And there's no way
that I can explain it to you.
Explain what?
Killing yourself for people
who can't even say your name?
I know my name.
But I'm beginning
to forget yours fast,
because I don't know what you
care about or who you care about.
But there's one thing I do know.
You've got to care about something
or someone to stay alive,
especially out here.
Willem said
you had a cross to bear,
and you do.
And sooner or later,
it's going to break you, boy.
But not here. I can't afford it.
I'll get a replacement
as quickly as I can.
Stegomyia? Mandur?
Food, Tuan?
Laja.
Drager.
Well, inspector Bevers, as I
live and attempt to breathe.
Hi, doc.
I've brought your replacement.
Dr. Drager? I'm Dr. Schutters.
So they sent a totok
to take over, huh?
Yes, I'm very grateful
for the opportunity. I...
Well, take over, doctor.
It's all here.
Her name's Laja, by the way.
How do you do?
I mean, where should I
put the supplies?
Over there.
Thank you.
Excuse me.
I'm through. Take it away.
Drink, inspector?
Thank you, no. I haven't time.
And neither have you, doctor. We've
got to get started right away.
I'm ready. What's your rush?
I have a 10-day detour to make up to
Kokoto before I can start you down river.
The river master up there seems to have
disappeared or is in some trouble.
Central office hasn't
heard from him in some time.
Last set of messages they did get from
him didn't make any sense at all.
At first they thought he might
have made a trip into the bush
but it's six weeks now
and they're worried.
So as soon as you can
get your gear packed...
I've been packed for weeks.
Wake up, doc.
No canoes,
not a dog, not a chicken.
Well, at least he's here.
His gramophone is going.
What's this fellow's name?
Frolick.
Harry Frolick?
Yeah, you know him?
Met him.
Uh-oh.
What is it?
Witchcraft.
Black magic.
Frolick?
Frolick?
He's got to be here somewhere.
You stay here, doc. I'll have
a look through the village.
Frolick? Harry Frolick?
Remember me?
Drager.
At Rokul.
Anton drager.
Stop it, Frolick.
Frolick.
Stop it.
Frolick.
My god.
Gentlemen, just a moment.
All we're trying to do is to
determine what happened to the man.
And I just told you.
A psychotic state induced by
excessive use of alcohol.
And that's your diagnosis?
That's what goes into the report?
Yes.
No! It's not that simple.
I'm no doctor, but you can't write Harry
Frolick off as some drunk gone mad.
He went through hell and
somebody put him through it.
The only thing
Harry Frolick went through
was as many bottles
as he could lay his hands on.
All right. But where did
he get those bottles?
Take a look at that import label, doctor.
That's dated 1916.
A whole boatload of that stuff
was shipped up there
20 years ago
by the Mamawi mining company.
I happen to know that it never got there.
It was lost somewhere up in the jungle.
Somebody found it
and used it on Frolick.
Somebody clever enough
to use it to drive a man mad.
Burubi? That's my guess.
Kokoto sits right on the edge
of Mamawi.
Now, it's my hunch that that old
devil is up and moving again.
But he never came
this far south before.
Who's Burubi?
He's the dukun up there.
Head man, witch doctor.
He's a powerful old snake.
He rules Mamawi.
The natives up there are terrified
of him and his black magic.
Do you think Sordjano's going up
there might have set him off?
Yes, that could be.
You heard from Sordjano lately?
Yes. Yes, about 10 days ago.
He said all was well,
that he'd made contact
with some natives.
He was taking half his crew into the
bush and heading for their village.
Sordjano knows his way around.
He'll be all right. I hope so.
Well, that's about all we can
do for the moment, I guess.
You gentlemen
both look exhausted.
And drager, I know you're
anxious to get home.
I don't want you reporting back for work
until you feel like it, understand?
Chun.
Is the doctor still sleeping?
Maybe, miss.
Darling.
Did you get any sleep? Some.
Well, that's not enough
and you know it, doctor.
You've hardly eaten or slept
since you've come home.
Anton, I know what happened
up there must be on your mind,
but please try to forget it.
You couldn't have acted
any differently.
For the last time, els,
you forget it, because I have.
Now, why don't we
get out of here tonight?
Out on the town. Dinner at the club.
See some people.
How does that sound? Wonderful.
Captain Wattereus.
When did you get back into town?
I'm in for my monthly check-up.
It's so good to see you again.
I met this dear man
while you were away.
Doctor, I called your home and your
houseboy told me you were here.
Oh, wonderful. Then you
can have coffee with us?
I'd like to, if I may.
Of course. Well, thank you.
Will you bring an extra cup
for the captain, please?
It's delicious coffee
they serve here.
I can never get the cook at the
colony to make it like this.
Thank you.
I ran into inspector Bevers
at the hospital.
He told me about Harry Frolick.
It must have been
terrible for you.
It wasn't pleasant.
I feel somewhat responsible.
I'm sure I could have
helped him, if I'd been wiser.
All you had to do to help
Frolick was work a miracle,
turn whiskey into water.
That wouldn't have changed
what happened to him.
You believe in that
"black magic" nonsense, too?
Yes, because it exists.
But I also believe in the
power of the human spirit.
And I know the weakness
of men without it.
Don't you see?
They tortured him out there
with silence.
They forced him to stand alone and
he had nothing to fight them with.
Nothing.
He cut himself off from god
and from people,
at least the love of people,
the only sources of strength
a man can call on.
And he was defenseless
against the wilderness.
It's frightening.
But then, we began in the wilderness,
all of us lost and afraid
but with a choice,
to take the spiral road upward
leading to god,
or to remain in the darkness and
degenerate back to the animal.
I know how terrifying it is
to look into the face
of a human being,
someone you know,
but can no longer recognize,
and to see in it the image
of what we can become.
What is it you think
we saw, captain?
The face of the devil?
A lost soul? The sinner?
That's the word, isn't it?
No, I didn't mean that. Why not?
Let's call a sinner a sinner.
We're all sinners,
aren't we, captain?
Sinner or Saint,
isn't that the choice?
Anton, please...
No, wait a minute.
I have something that might
interest the captain.
Back home,
just before I came out,
a gentle,
god-fearing little shopkeeper
committed a brutal sex crime.
It seems he'd been taking hormone
treatments for chronic prostatitis,
and an accidental overdose
was apparently responsible.
Now, if a simple injection
can change a saintly man
into a sinner,
then the reverse
should also be true.
Consider that.
It's quite possible that somewhere,
waiting to be discovered,
there must be a particular
combination of chemicals
that could change
a sinner into a Saint.
Think of it.
It would be the first biochemical
explanation of faith,
like putting god
into a test tube.
Religion would become nothing
more than a matter of glands.
One simple shot.
Ten en's of mm serum,
and heaven on earth.
That's something to
contemplate, isn't it, captain?
And now, if you'll excuse me,
I'd like to get a drink.
I don't know what to say,
captain Wattereus.
I don't know what got into Anton.
I do.
I'm afraid I deliberately
brought up the subject.
You've been very kind as always.
Good night, my dear.
Good night, captain.
Was that really necessary?
What?
Humiliating him that way.
I thought it was rather amusing.
It was cruel and offensive
and embarrassing.
It was an exercise
in probability, that's all.
Anton, you were deliberately
trying to hurt him.
Why?
To clear the air. You heard him.
Spouting all that spiritual
gibberish about poor Harry,
the man without god, punished for his
sins, struck down by some heavenly fist.
Why, he didn't say that.
That's what he meant.
All he said was that we all need some
faith in a power greater than ourselves.
That we need each other, that without
it we're alone and we can't live alone.
No one is strong enough.
I've heard stuff like that
since I was a kid
and it scared me then.
Love one another, love god or he
will destroy you. I heard it all.
My father would climb up
in that pulpit of his
and roar hell and damnation
at us until he was hoarse.
Love one another?
What a joke that was.
He'd beat me regularly trying
to teach me to love god,
save me from the fires of hell.
The old hypocrite.
He never loved a living thing.
Captain Wattereus isn't like your father.
He's not like that at all.
He's preaching the same stuff.
Only now it doesn't scare me.
I stopped that along time ago.
I was 10 years old
and I stopped it.
For once and for all.
I stopped it.
I knelt in that church of his with
him up in the pulpit screaming at us
and I dared god to kill me,
to strike me dead.
I said, "I don't love you, god.
Do you hear me?
"So kill me. I hate you, and I'm
afraid of you and I hate you.
"So go ahead. Burn me.
Crush me. Hit me. Go ahead.
"But I won't love you."
And so I knelt there
and I stuck my tongue out
behind my hands, and I said,
"go ahead. Do it now.
Go ahead, kill me."
And I waited.
And I got so frightened,
I started to cry,
but my father was yelling
so loud, nobody could hear me.
My mother was kneeling right next to me.
Even she couldn't hear me.
And I waited,
and nothing happened.
Nothing.
I kept that up
every Sunday for a month.
And then,
I knew.
I knew god couldn't touch me.
He couldn't hurt me.
And if he couldn't hurt me,
he couldn't help me.
Nobody could.
So I knew then I'd have
to take care of myself,
help myself. And I did.
I didn't need anybody.
Anton, we all need
help sometime.
We all become afraid
and need someone, don't we?
Don't you believe it.
You don't have to be afraid of
anything, not a thing in this world.
And you don't need anyone
because there's only you.
That's all there is.
You believe that, don't you?
You don't need anybody.
You don't need me, do you?
I didn't say that.
But you believe it.
You never let me
come close to you.
You never let me
become a part of you.
And now you won't
let me help you.
And I want to, Anton. I want to.
But how?
How? Just tell me now, please.
Tell you what?
What do you want to hear?
My adventures in the jungle?
I want to know
what's been happening to you.
All right. You want to know what's
been happening? I'll tell you.
All my work on Jansen
and his notes came to nothing.
He walked off.
I told him he was a stupid old fool
rotting away in these filthy islands
and that I wasn't going to, not
one minute longer than I had to.
Then I had to kill a man.
What would you like?
The gory details?
Never mind. I'm going home.
No, wait. You wanted to talk,
and I'm not through. One night
out there I took a native girl.
She didn't say a word, not for two weeks.
No talk, no questions.
Is that what you wanted to hear?
No, that's not
what I wanted to hear.
But I can forgive you that
because that's not
what I'm worried about.
What I'm worried about is you.
Anton, I'm afraid.
I keep thinking, if we could just get
away from here and go back to Holland.
That's the answer, els, for you, anyway.
Go back home to Holland.
You never should have come
down here in the first place.
It was a mistake.
I should've known it,
because you're right.
I don't need you,
or anybody.
So for both our sakes, go.
Go home.
Hello.
Yes, he's here. Dr. Drager.
Dr. Drager?
It's for you, sir. Dr. Kramer.
Yes, doctor.
Yes, of course.
I'll be right there.
Sordjano's in trouble.
We began getting weak signals
from Mamawi about an hour ago.
All that we could get
before the signals faded
was that he was very ill, he needed
a doctor, and he's up there alone.
What happened to his crew?
Deserted or killed. God knows.
Anton, you're the only man I
can get up there fast enough.
Do you feel up to it?
Of course. When do I go?
I'm putting some supplies
together right now.
Well, then, we can fly out
of here in the morning,
hit the emergency landing field
at camp four by afternoon,
pick up a crew
and start up river.
Moving night and day,
you might make it in 10 days.
I'm sure it's more of this
Burubi business,
and I've made up my mind.
You get up there, bring out
Sordjano and close the station.
That's old Burubi.
He's letting us know
that he knows we're here.
What's a rail road car
doing out here?
The mining company used it for a base camp
for the rail road they tried to build.
Drager. Come here!
Dasi. Bring my bag in here!
Ah, Burubi's been working on
him, all right, or trying to.
But Jano never touched them.
Bring that lantern.
I'll get a message off
to batavia.
This blasted set is dead.
Batteries are out.
There must be spares.
Spares are dead, too. Rain got
to them and they shorted out.
What happened, Jano?
Jano, I've got to know
what it is.
Bamboo. What?
In the food. Bamboo.
Late...
Good lord. So that's it. What?
They shave bamboo into the food.
Thousands of tiny slivers. You
don't even know you're eating it.
It works like ground glass,
only slower.
Cuts your insides to ribbons.
See if you can find his
identification card.
Get his blood type.
"0" type. General. So is mine.
Dasi, get some more light in here.
It'll be dark before long.
There was a plague.
I treated as many
as I could that day.
At night, they offered us food.
They were friendly.
We ate.
It was a mistake.
Careless.
Next morning they were gone.
Everyone.
I was alone.
Started back here,
began bleeding.
Don't know how long it took me.
Crew here deserted or killed.
I don't know.
Burubi knew I would not leave
so he tried to kill me.
He had to.
It was all he could do.
He has failed even at that.
Tomorrow I must show Burubi.
I will walk outside
and kneel there,
to give thanks to Allah.
We must stay here.
We must stay here.
Save those people from him.
Like children,
they are afraid of Burubi.
We must help them.
We must...
Drager, our orders were perfectly clear.
Close this place up and get out!
What are you trying to prove?
Nothing,
except there's no reason
to dick up and run,
so I'll keep my boys and wait.
And if there's plague in there, they'll
be coming out sooner or later.
You are asking for trouble. Why?
You saw what can happen.
You saw Frolick,
and now Sordjano.
I'm not Frolick,
and I'm not Sordjano.
I don't need liquor
or a prayer rug or the Bible.
I can handle this, and my way.
Dasi, Mara. Come.
Listen.
You have no assurance that
these boys will stay with you.
They're nervous now. If they
get more nervous, they'll run.
Then I'll handle it alone.
Goodbye, inspector.
You two will stay here with him.
We'll leave one boat and crew.
But you two will stay.
Understand?
Blasted idiot.
Come on, boys. Back to work.
Let's show them we're here to stay.
Right, Tano?
Yes, Tuan.
Dasi.
Mara! Tano!
Hey, Burubi!
Here's your black magic.
Dr. Kramer, I need your approval on this.
Will you sign it so...
Bevers' report just came through.
Sordjano is dead.
Oh, no.
Now, what about drager?
Get through
to Bevers right away.
Tell him to go back up to Mamawi at
once and pull drager out of there.
He can put him under arrest
if he has to.
Get me...
Get me Mrs. Sordjano, please.
You dukun?
Burubi?
That's just who you are.
The man, fever.
You want me to help him,
is that it?
You dukun.
You want me to bring medicine
to your village, huh?
How far is it?
All right.
Oh I just remember,
I don't get careless.
I eat what you eat.
Drager!
Drager!
Bring in the batteries.
This is inspector Bevers'
message just as we received it.
"No sign of drager.
"Camp completely deserted,
apparently for some time.
"Further search futile.
"Will stay till dawn
and pull out,
"leaving wireless in operating
condition should drager return.
"Please confirm. Bevers."
I confirmed.
That's all
that can be done, els.
Leave me alone!
Let me sleep!
Let me sleep!
You see? He won't answer.
He just keeps sending.
Same thing. "Anton drager,
"Anton drager, drager, drager,
drager, Anton drager."
Keeps repeating like that.
That's all.
Thank god.
At least he's alive.
Well, that's all I need to know.
Let's get organized.
I've got to get up there.
Keep contact as long as you can.
I must call els.
I'll kill you.
I'll kill you.
I'll kill you. I'll kill you.
No. No!
No!
It's
Me.
God,
help me.
Els.
Els.
Drager.
Anton? Anton, boy.
It's me. Brits.
Anton.
Look, girl,
you must get some rest.
No.
No, he won't let go,
and I'm afraid to.
I'm afraid...
Any change? No.
Els.
Els. I'm here, Anton.
Els. Don't let go.
Els. I'm here, Anton.
Els! Els! Els: Anton!
Els! Els! Anton! Anton!
Anton, please, I'm here.
I'm here! Please, please.
Hold onto me.
Els.
Els.
Els.
Oh, thank god.
Els.
Oh, thank god.
Oh, back so soon, Jano?
The boat docked
right on schedule.
The totoks will be up
as soon as they unload.
It never fails.
There's always
at least one in a pith helmet.
What did they send us this year?
A little better than average.
There're several seem fairly bright.
And one is a gold medal winner.
Took top honors
for four straight years.
Really?
Walking next to your
friend with the pith helmet,
the tall one, Anton drager.
Gentlemen, welcome to Batavia.
My name is Dr. Kramer.
Dr. Sordjano, our assistant
director, you've already met.
Dr. Martens, in charge of our
expedition and field service.
Dr. Sanders, resident personnel.
I won't ask you your names now,
one, because I'm not very good
at remembering names,
and two, because your arrival
brings our service staff
to 341 physicians.
So for the present, I'll address
you simply as "doctor."
The rest of the staff will
probably refer to you as "totok."
Take no offense.
It simply means newcomer.
You will discover there is still
much to learn about being a doctor
in this part of the world.
We'll see to it that you learn.
Now...
Doctor.
Doctor.
Dr. Drager.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Please don't apologize.
I can easily unterstand
your interest in our map.
In time, some of you will
be assigned to the field,
but for the next six months you
will be here on hospital duty.
Dr. Sanders will now
show you to your quarters.
Good day, gentlemen.
This way, please, gentlemen.
There's one thing more.
There'll be a dinner at the
country club this evening
where you'll meet the staff of
the hospital and their families.
8:00. That's all, gentlemen.
And if you'll cooperate
just a little, Dr. Drager,
you may find colonial life
quite pleasant.
As attractive as you personally
make it, Mrs. Kramer,
I didn't come out here
to attend dancing school,
or join the country club.
You make it sound like
a fate worse than death.
I don't believe in fate.
What do you believe in?
Anton drager,
and the government
health service
and my contract, which,
quoting loosely, states,
"in consideration of the monies expended
by the government on your behalf,
"you will upon graduation report to the
Netherlands east indies health service
"for a period
of not less than five years."
Isn't it a little late
for regrets?
Oh, I don't believe in
regrets either, Mrs. Kramer.
I intend to get full value
out of those five years.
Nothing more definite than that?
Very definite.
I want to work with Dr. Jansen.
Oh.
Louise,
Sordjano and the usual gang
are hankering for poker. Will
you get the wives organized?
Some bridge, perhaps?
Right, darling.
Dr. Drager here has just been telling
me something very interesting.
He wants to work with brits.
And he's
quite definite about it.
So you want to work
with Dr. Jansen, huh?
Well, I intended to discuss it
with you some other time, sir.
Why not now?
Because the answer is no.
You'll be assigned
as all the new men are
according to our needs
and your qualifications.
But I feel I am qualified, sir.
How do I go about
proving it to you?
I don't know that you ever will.
But since it is a unique
request, why brits Jansen?
Because he's top man out here
in tropical medicine,
and certainly the world's
foremost authority on leprosy.
But isn't it true, sir, that except for a
few tracts written almost 20 years ago,
he hasn't recorded anything
about his work,
his successes, his failures,
methods of diagnosis,
proposals for future research?
Well, now, you're reckoning
with the man himself.
We've been after him
to do that for a long time.
Then let me work out
my five years with him, sir.
Let me get to know what he knows
and I'll see that it's done.
I'll do it with him.
Dr. Drager, you intend to leave
here at the end of five years?
Yes.
When you step off
that boat back home,
you're liable to find tropical
medicine is hardly a lucrative field.
But in research, sir?
If a man like brits Jansen
were in Holland right now,
he'd be offered millions
for research.
And the same is also possible for a
young man who stepped off the boat
wrapped in the aura
of brits Jansen's knowledge.
Dr. Kramer,
I don't intend to get off that boat
with just a wrinkled white suit
and the hope of
getting over malaria.
Is there anything wrong
with that?
Dr. Martens, will you come
over here a minute, please?
Who are you
sending up to Jansen?
Stappel.
He leaves in the morning.
Well, cancel him out.
We're sending up a volunteer.
Drager?
That's right.
You can carry on
with Dr. Martens.
Good luck.
Thank you, sir.
Your plane leaves
at 8:00 in the morning.
Be at the expedition
and field office at 7:00.
That's 7:00 sharp.
Oh the dot, doctor.
You're sending
a totok to Jansen?
Exactly.
I don't understand.
Marty,
our gold medal winner
wants to win some more medals.
If he can get along with brits,
I'll pin one on him myself.
If not, he'll come running back,
ready to work and behave himself.
Oh, did you get inoculated? No.
Take care of it at Macassar.
You'll have a couple of hours there
before the train leaves for Rokul.
I've had all my shots.
On, not for plague, you haven't.
Plague at the leper colony?
Jansen isn't there.
He's three weeks upriver
at Rauwatta village.
There. There. He's got a
pip of a plague epidemic.
Worst in years.
On, we radioed Krasser at Rokul.
Runs the hotel there. He'll
outfit you for the trip up.
Well, that does it.
Sixteen anti-plague, the jungle
kits, your personal gear,
and that last is the PC. You.
Those crated tins, the p.G., that's
the most important to old brits,
so you guard it with your life.
All right. On your way.
Thank you.
Hey.
I forgot to ask. What's P.G.?
Hi. You the new doc?
Mr. Krasser?
Yeah. Come on in.
They'll take care of that,
doc. Come on in.
Hey, doc?
Doctor?
That train still got
all its wheels?
Last I saw. Good.
It's taking me
out of here tomorrow.
You're a new one, huh?
How are things back home?
Changed much?
Depends on how long
you've been away.
Ten years. Three of them here.
River master.
Bet you'll be glad to get home.
I'm not going.
I thought I was,
until three or four days ago.
But now I'm going into batavia
for reassignment.
And don't ask me why I changed my mind.
I wouldn't be able to tell you.
Do you like Beethoven, doc?
Take it or leave it.
Well, you better take it.
Well...
Shower's at the end
of the hall, doc.
Thanks.
By the way, my name's drager.
Mine's Harry Frolick.
Pleased to meet you.
Why don't you try some food?
Do I sense
disapproving advice, doctor?
No. Just a prescription.
You can have a lot more fun with
that if you mix it with this.
I'm allergic to advisors and
prescribers, my new-found friend.
Here comes the most illustrious
prescriber of them all.
Good evening, Harry.
Captain Willem Wattereus
of the salvation army.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Good evening.
Well, join us.
Bring up your throne in heaven.
I came to say goodbye.
It's very solicitous of you,
captain. I'm touched.
They told me you've changed
your mind about going home.
That's right.
A glorious decision.
I wish you'd reconsider it.
You see?
"For he hath clothed me
in the garments of salvation
"as a bride adorneth herself with
jewels." Isaiah 61:10. Right, captain?
Please, harry.
Come on, let's sing
the song of Solomon.
"Behold, thou art fair, my love."
"Thy lips are like
a thread of Scarlet."
"Honey and milk
are under thy tongue."
Try it.
Taste for yourself, captain.
"A heap of ripe wheat,
seated about with lilies..."
That's all, Frolick.
"Fools make mock at sin, but among
the righteous there is favor."
That's enough.
Your lips are dry, Willem.
The dew of desire
is on your brow.
That's all, Frolick.
Well.
"Blessed are the merciful."
"And blessed are the meek, for
they shall inherit the earth."
Come on, Harry.
That's for your beatitudes,
captain salvation.
Well, that was
a ridiculous exhibition.
Poor harry.
He's going through a hell,
all his own,
trying to prove
that god doesn't exist.
For if god doesn't exist,
then Harry's sins don't exist.
That's why he's so violent
and unhappy.
You understand.
I'm afraid not, captain.
To me, Harry Frolick is just a poor
idiot who can't hold his liquor.
Good night.
A few tips on your boys, doc.
If they ever hear you're headed for a
plague area, they'll run out on you.
So for the next three weeks, you
better do your sleeping during the day
and stay awake at night.
Get in, doc. They're ready.
Keep that rifle handy.
That they all understand.
Don't worry, I'll manage.
That's right, totok.
You just keep acting like you
planted every tree out there.
Just like a 200,
only bigger, huh?
I'll let you know
when I get back.
Hey. Haven't you got a hat?
Never wear one.
You will now.
Move on!
Dr. Jansen?
Who did you expect?
Robinson Crusoe?
Where's the P.G.?
Did you bring it?
Yes, sir.
Well, send it on up here.
All right, I'll take it.
Now what did you do that for?
Well, I brought it this far and
I wasn't about to let it...
A totok.
Great balls of betel nut!
They sent me a totok.
What is that, doctor?
They didn't tell me.
Gin.
Gin?
P.g., pure gin.
If you're gonna faint on me,
you better have some.
Dr. Jansen.
What is it you want me to do?
Oh, it's you. What did
you say your name was?
Anton drager.
Have you handled dynamite before?
No.
Well, you can start now.
It won't hurt you. Nothing happens
until it's capped and the fuse is lit.
What'll I do with it?
Son, don't tempt me
or I'll tell you. Bring this.
Did you ever try to split a native family,
separate the sick from the healthy?
Yes, dynamite is magic.
And there are times out here
when you need magic.
Now take over and don't use
it unless you have to.
And try not to blow yourself up.
All right, doctor, you can stop
the wrestling. Let him up.
Stick him.
Stick him!
Magic, doctor. Remember?
Keeping a diary on all your
adventurous exploits?
No, sir, just a letter.
Amounts to the same thing.
Yep, there she is. Never fails.
Every totok has his honey-lamb waiting
for those brave, exciting letters.
Given one jot of encouragement,
he'll start talking about his sweet
honey-lamb till she turns to mutton.
You will observe you are not
being given any encouragement.
I didn't ask for any.
You will.
I am an authority on totoks.
I've wet-nursed
a half a hundred in my time.
Which reminds me,
you haven't asked
the one big question yet.
What question?
"Doctor, do you think
I'm suited to this work?"
Well, go on. Ask it.
I don't give a damn whether you think
I'm suited to this work or not.
Well said. Well said.
There's some hope for you,
my boy.
Now get yourself dressed up
neat and pretty.
We're going to see the sultan.
And don't boil over this early.
You'll run out of steam.
He's a cagey old devil.
I've hated his guts and he's hated
mine for the past 30 years.
That makes us pretty close.
You know, totok,
as you get older,
it's the relationship that
counts, not the nature of it.
Just the fact that it exists.
He and I are the only ones
left from the old days.
I see you, sire.
I see you, sappo-lidi.
Yeah, let's face it. We see one
another through and through.
Sire, I told you yesterday
if you wanted to stay alive
you'd have to move out.
I told you the black sickness
is carried by fleas
and the fleas
are carried by rats.
The way things are going, soon
you'll have no subjects left.
Sultan not like subjects.
Sultan like billiards.
And her majesty the queen.
You like her.
She's an old woman now.
How would you like to go to
Holland again and see the queen?
Sultan too old to see old queen.
Sire, you'd better be out
of the palace by morning
because I'm going to burn every
flea-infested, stinking stick of it,
and the village, too.
Village, yes. Palace, no.
We play billiards, yes?
No.
We play billiards for palace.
Yes?
Now I know what you're after.
Why, you crazy little runt.
You want revenge, huh?
Thirty years ago, when I first came
here, we played a game of billiards.
A thousand up.
The stakes were whether
he and his people
would accept
the government health service.
We played all night, didn't we?
You thought you were unbeatable
but I won in a canter.
And now after all these years,
you want your revenge.
All right.
We'll play for the palace.
If sultan win, sappo-lidi stay.
Play with sultan forever,
till last darkness.
All right. All right.
Anything you say.
You break, sire.
Supposing he wins?
He seems pretty good.
He is good.
But there's not a man east of Singapore
that I can't take at this game.
Well, you're losing your grip,
sire. You left me a set-up.
Go on, totok. You've got work to do.
Make sure that everybody's out.
Hey.
And lay a fire right under
the floor of this palace.
A couple of decent runs and I'll still
wipe that smile off of your face.
Sappo-lidi need over 500.
Sultan need only 18.
And may I speak, sir?
No, you may not.
What is it?
Just that the village is evacuated
and everything's ready.
It'll be daylight
in a half an hour.
Just a minute.
This royal ringtail
has me over a barrel.
No wonder.
I'd say he knows his table better
than you do. Look at this.
Bumps. Look over here.
Little manufactured bumps.
And you know the location of every
one of them to a hair's breadth.
All right, you cheating old buzzard.
That settles it.
You have a half-hour
to get out of the palace.
Because in 30 minutes, I'm burning
this billiard parlor once and for all.
And if you want to do me a favor,
you can stay here and fry!
Come on, totok.
Well, totok, let's check on
what you've done.
No need to check.
The trench around
the village is all set.
We'll fire that first,
then the buildings.
The only place left for the rats
to go is into the open ditch.
All right, go!
Come on!
Have you seen
the sultan anywhere?
No, I haven't.
Nobody seems to have seen him.
The poor, proud little bandit.
Maybe he took me at my word.
I see you, tuan totok.
I see you, sir.
Tea, please.
Go, please.
Dr. Jansen, you can stop worrying.
The sultan is in your tent.
Are you sure?
Yes. I just poured him some tea.
Drinking tea, is he?
I'll drown him in it.
I'm afraid I gave him your cup.
I wouldn't have done
it if I'd known.
Known what?
Well, it was only when I gave him the
cup that I noticed he was a leper.
You noticed what?
That he has leprosy.
Didn't you know?
No, I didn't know,
you young fool,
because he no more has leprosy
than I do.
Then take a good look
at his right hand.
Listen, Toto k.
You can diagnose fallen arches,
head colds, athlete's foot,
bumps on billiard tables,
anything you like except leprosy!
Is that clear?
I see you, sappo-lidi.
Yeah, I see you,
you little wart.
Nice tea.
I had you cremated
and stashed away in an urn.
More tea.
All right, totok.
How did you know?
I saw his hand.
What did you see?
The beginning of a lesion,
discoloration, softness of tissue.
That could have been anything.
Yaws, filariasis, the beginning
of any ordinary skin rash.
What made you so certain
it was leprosy?
I just knew, that's all.
You mean you guessed.
No. I knew.
An intuitive diagnosis?
Call it what you like.
Very well.
I'll say you made
an intuitive diagnosis.
That's a rare gift, Dr. Drager.
He'll stay in my tent
till we can leave here.
I'll bunk in with you.
I snore like an elephant,
but that's your problem.
No more tea, sire.
Double rations of p.G. Tonight.
There's no sleeping through that.
How long is he gonna keep it up?
He's praying, the old rascal.
Making peace with his gods.
I finally had to break it to him that
he was going to the leper colony.
How did he take it?
Badly, at first,
until I assured him he would
be the only sultan there
and promised to get him
a billiard table.
I wonder if he'd like it if
Willem put him in the choir.
What choir? The leper colony.
It's run by the salvationists.
Salvation army?
Yeah. They'll give him
his belly full of singing.
Tell me, is there
a captain Wattereus there?
He's in charge.
Well, I doubt if he'll
welcome me with open arms.
Why? I met the captain.
Krasser's place.
We had
a definite difference of opinion
as to why a drunk was drunk.
The captain gave me
a little sermon about a man
fighting the existence of god.
I said the only thing he was fighting
was a bottle and nothing else.
I take it
you don't believe in god.
Frankly, no.
I see.
Back in so-called civilization, you
can ignore god and get away with it.
But out here in the jungle,
god takes people
who say he doesn't exist,
pokes them with his finger, and
makes them squirm a little.
There are times out here when you can
almost hear the old boy humming.
Oh, by the way,
Willem Wattereus and his wife,
Betsy, they're my closest friends.
These are your servants, sire. They
will escort you to your quarters.
I'll see you later.
Thank you, sappo-iidi.
This way, sire.
Oh, Ali,
don't let him know you're
burning his clothes, huh?
No, doctor.
Hey! you grinning Buddha.
Did you miss me?
The silence has been gold for the soul.
How was Rauwatta?
Well, we put our thumb in the dike
and sealed her up. Meet Dr. Drager.
How do you do, doctor?
How do you do.
Brits!
Willem.
Good to see you.
And you. God bless.
So you're Dr. Drager.
We meet again, sir.
You know, ever since
that night with poor Frolick,
I've often thought of the young
man who was so kind to me
and I didn't even thank you.
Well, come along. Betsy knows you're
here and she's anxious to see you.
Well, come on, drager. Betsy's
always interested in visitors.
Well, here I am, Betsy.
Full of jungle rot
and smelling like a crocodile.
But I said to myself,
Betsy'll forgive me
if I skip the soap and water
and drop in on her first.
Hi, luti. Welcome, doctor.
Well, it's good to be back.
Had a miserable trip down.
Ran out of p.G.,
you'll be glad to know.
Drager, here.
Betsy, this is Dr. Anton drager.
He's... he's a totok, but he's
got a chance to grow out of it.
Doctor, Betsy Wattereus.
How do you do, Mrs. Wattereus?
Speak up, boy.
Betsy can't see you
or talk to you,
but she can hear every word
you say if you speak up.
How do you do, Mrs. Wattereus?
Anton's fresh out from home.
Tall fellow,
about six foot fourish,
dark hair and eyes.
Got the west-country look
about him.
What town you from?
Hillegom.
The tulip country.
Do you hear that, bets?
You wouldn't think you could
grow tulips out here, would you?
No.
Betsy did. Well, close to it.
Out there in the courtyard.
Oh, she sent for the bulbs, the soil
chemicals and everything. Remember?
We had a Chinese cook from
Krasser's at the time, eh, bets?
And what did that idiot do but go out
and pull them up, bulbs and all?
He thought they were onions!
Luti. Yes, doctor.
There, Betsy. You'll sleep now.
I'll see you in the morning and
tell you all about Rauwatta.
She's worse.
There she lies dying, mutilated, rotting
away, and I can't do a thing about it.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing,
except sit there and make lame jokes
that she can't even laugh at now.
God, how she loved to laugh.
She still does, brits.
She hasn't changed.
You can start work
on the report in the morning,
a privilege of being
the junior doctor.
Kramer expects
full details in triplicate.
Oh, you'd better start
learning how to forge my name.
I can't bear reading them.
They're making their
daily pilgrimage to Betsy.
For years
she gave them her love.
Now they're returning it.
Here they are
when I first met them.
Way up north of here, right
out in the middle of nowhere.
Innocents abroad.
Collecting lepers
like kids with postage stamps.
I didn't know there was
a white man within 200 miles,
and I was in no mood
for amateurs.
So I asked them what the
devil they were doing there
and who gave them permission,
and what precautions they had
taken for their own protection.
"None," she said.
"God protects us."
Then I looked at her hands.
"Well, your god's made a fool out of
you," I said, "because you've got it."
I almost got a satisfaction
out of telling her.
"Don't you understand?"
I said. "You're a leper."
She was kneeling beside some poor
creature, bandaging the stump of his arm.
"You're going to rot away
just like he is," I said.
And then she looked up
at me and smiled.
I've never seen
such beauty and peace.
And every time
I go into her room,
I feel it again.
Perhaps it's that humming
that I was telling you about.
You ever thought of
putting her out of her misery?
Once.
I actually had
the needle to her skin.
Couldn't bring myself to do it.
I'll do it if you like.
I think you mean it.
I do.
Then let me tell you why I
couldn't go through with it.
It was three years ago.
She could still
talk a little then.
She opened her eyes
and she looked at me.
And she knew.
Then she asked god
to forgive me.
Even for the thought of it
to forgive me.
You see, she reminded me
of something
that for that moment
I had almost forgotten.
"The lord giveth
and the lord taketh away."
And I had no right to play god.
Doctor. Come along, brits,
I want to meet your sultan.
Hey, hat, why don't you
show Dr. Drager around?
I'm sure he'd be interested.
Yeah, do that, hat.
He's got a lot to learn.
From batavia, doctor.
Your handwriting
will drive me blind.
Cholera's been reported
in southern Sumatra.
Possible epidemic.
Kramer wants me back.
We'll be catching
a plane in the morning.
Guess we'd better get down
and see the sultan.
Be with you in a minute.
Oh, by the way, doctor,
these records
are all at your disposal.
Case histories of every leper in the
archipelago for the last 30 years.
Thank you.
Tell me about Dr. Jansen.
Hasn't he done anything about
compiling a work on all that?
Well, I suppose you can call it that.
There it is.
By a loose definition of the word, you
might refer to it as a "compilation."
Any time he makes an observation or
gets an idea, he stuffs it in there.
Once I offered to sort them out,
but he swore he'd break
my neck if I touched them.
Well, it's time for me
to make a round of the wards.
Would you care to come along?
What? Oh, yes.
But Dr. Kramer,
there must be some way to get
word to Anton that I'm here.
I'm afraid not. He and Dr. Jansen
are on their way down river.
It'll take at least two weeks
for them to reach Labuan Redjo.
But I have to go home the end
of the month with the Boosmans.
That would mean I wouldn't
get to see Anton at all.
Now, Kramer,
I assured this poor child
that drager would certainly
be back in batavia by now.
Unfortunately, your excellency,
an outbreak of cholera
turned into a full epidemic.
It took them five months
to bring it under control.
Piet, excuse me.
Herr Boosmans, doesn't your tour of
inspection include a stop in Sumatra?
Yes, of course.
Well, if you could rearrange
your trip slightly,
you could be in Labuan Redjo
about the same time as Anton.
Why not?
Oh, wonderful. Good.
I'll send a message to your young
man to wait for you there.
Thank you.
I knew it. So honey-lamb's arriving.
Coming swiftly at your summons.
You couldn't wait, could you, boy?
Will you listen?
I didn't send for her. I don't
even know what it's all about.
You blasted totoks
are all the same.
A few months in the jungle
and all you can think of
is getting out
and getting married!
I have no intention of getting out
or getting married, not now, anyway.
So just calm down. Here.
Read it yourself.
All Kramer says is
eis is here for a vislt.
She's traveling with the Boosmans.
They dock tomorrow afternoon.
Doesn't even say
how long she's staying.
Who's this Boosman?
Friend of els' family.
Connected with
the colonial office, I think.
First name Hendrik?
Yeah. You know him?
I've heard about him and I'll make
a good guess why he's out here.
Becrudded bureaucrats.
I'll see you at dinner.
Where are you going?
To get some dress whites
if! Can find a shop open.
Afraid to have honey-lamb see
you in your working clothes?
Well, go on, you blinking fool!
I'm taking the morning plane
to Manpuko
and you can get up there as soon
as you can drag yourself away!
All right!
Just a visit, huh?
A visit, my left elbow.
Get me the Garrison.
Major? Brits Jansen.
What am I doing? I'm just
about to save your skin!
So wash the gin
out of your ears and listen!
Come on, boys, come on.
Clear it, let's go!
What is this? You didn't send
a message ahead, did you?
No, sir. Dear, what is all this?
Present arms!
Major vlormans at your service.
How do you do?
Welcome, your excellency
and Mrs. Boosmans.
Welcome to Labuan Redjo!
seen her yet?
Yes, she's standing right there.
But she hasn't seen me yet.
I thought you took off
for Manpuko.
I got to the airport and then I heard
there was going to be a big party
and I couldn't miss it.
What party?
Oh, the planters
and the major there.
They got together and decided to throw a
real welcome for old Boosmans tonight.
Your excellency, we hope your
visit will be a pleasant one.
Give the lady the flowers.
Ready. Aim.
On. Fire!
Order! On, I'm so sorry!
This way. Right this way,
your excellency.
Els! Els! Els! Els!
Els!
Els! Anton.
I'll see you at the hotel!
I'll see you at the hotel!
And so, at this happy moment,
I give you the question.
Do we drink to his excellency,
herr Boosmans,
a beneficent leader and
emancipator of our problems?
Yes!
And to madame Boosmans,
always at her husband's side,
a vast reservoir
for his faith and courage?
And to miss Els Van Duin, a breath of
lovely gossamer from the mother country?
And now are we going to
make a night of it?
Yes!
Well, drink her down.
A few words from you, major?
Yes, yes.
Ladies and gentlemen,
distinguished...
Ladies and gentlemen...
Please. Please.
I think we should take time for a little
more serious note here in appreciation...
Sit down! Music! More music!
Perhaps some of us have gained a
little more momentum than we should,
but if... keep quiet.
Keep quiet! Sit down!
Please.
I'm sure his excellency and
his charming wife will be...
Perhaps after we've had
a little bit more to eat.
Later, perhaps.
Don't mind these
frontier folk, dear lady.
Just boys at heart, excited
by your delicate presence.
Well, great heavens, it's a relief
to see a pretty girl down here.
But they don't last long.
But the men, they thrive on it.
But the women...
Like those two
on either side of Anton there.
They either puff up
like rising dough
or train down to something
you could put a saddle on
and jump fences with.
Great soot. Let me out of here!
Look, doc, it's a boy!
Madame, he has your eyes.
Yes.
Yes, that's what I came for.
You know, I don't think your Dr. Jansen
likes the idea of you and me.
At least, not me down here.
And you don't know
how right you are.
He staged that brawl just to scare you.
I'm convinced of it.
Well, you can tell him he was very
heavy-handed and he didn't scare me a bit.
Forget him.
He's just a crusty old bull.
And he's forgotten the loveliest
of biological functions.
How long can you stay?
Two weeks?
The Boosmans
are leaving tomorrow.
Tomorrow?
This was the last stop
on their tour.
Well, you don't have to
go with them.
Yes, I do.
My family only let me come
because I'd be with them.
I'm lucky to have gotten
a chance to see you at all.
Oh, Anton.
Now that I'm here,
don't let me go back.
Don't let me go back, please.
I'd be crazy if I did.
And so I, Els Van Duin,
in the sight of god
take thee, Anton drager, for
my lawfully wedded husband.
And I, Anton drager,
in the sight of god
take thee, Els Van Duin
for my lawfully wedded wife.
I, Anton drager,
take thee, Els Van Duin...
In the sight of god take thee.
In the sight of god, take thee, els
Van Duin for my lawfully wedded wife.
You are now united
in holy wedlock.
Hey, during the ceremony I
thought that was pretty sneaky.
What?
You trying to
keep god out of it.
I was in a hurry.
I'll make a believer
out of you yet.
What is it?
Message, tuan. Important.
Hold my place for me.
Yes?
Message from fat doctor
with beard.
He in jail. He's what?
He in jail.
Did you hear that?
Serves him right!
He say you come bail him out.
He say you give me guilder, too.
All right.
Tell him I'll be over
as soon as I'm dressed.
I ought to let him sweat
for a while.
No, I can't wait
to hear him holler
when he finds out his little
plot kicked back at him.
I ought to be back
in about a half an hour.
Oh, no, you don't.
I'm going with you.
I wouldn't miss the expression on
his face for anything in the world.
Besides, don't you think it's about
time you bought me a wedding ring?
Talk about woman triumphant.
I'm going to shame him into the
fanciest wedding present you ever saw.
Well!
It's about time you showed up,
even though you've just interrupted
a whale of an amusing story.
Meet my friend,
Stegomyia Fasciata,
so called because of his resemblance
to the yellow mosquito.
An admirable fellow,
except for his fleas
and the fact that he smells
like a dancing bear.
First, you've got to get a
bath if you're working for me.
We pay his fine, too? Yes, sir.
You both may go.
Come along, Stego!
Well, that was some shindig last
night, but it was worth it.
Well, I guess their excellencies
and honey-lamb
have departed by now,
duly impressed
by their rousing reception.
Yes.
The Boosmans left,
but not honey-lamb.
And honey-lamb
has a new name now.
Mrs. Anton drager.
We were married last night.
And I'm happy to say that this
woman is thriving on your climate.
Aren't you going to
wish us happiness, doctor?
Of course, of course.
But I hadn't counted on...
I had plans for your continuing
to work with me and it...
Well, this doesn't change
things a bit, sir.
I explained everything to els.
I said you and I would be gone
for months at a time
and she'd have to
stay in batavia.
Well, I'm all for that.
After all, it's much nicer
waiting in batavia married
than waiting at home
not married.
At least we'll be able to
see each other now and then.
No, it wouldn't work out at all.
It... it never has.
But it will, sir.
You can count on me, doctor. Everything's
going to work out perfectly.
No.
A man in the field
has to be of one mind.
He can't be worried
about a wife back in batavia.
He can't have any ties with the
work that I have planned for him.
He must be a man alone.
And I somehow got the feeling
that you were.
That's why I thought
perhaps some day you could...
Well, but that's that, I guess.
All right. You go on back
and report to Kramer.
He'll have use for a good
man at the hospital.
Doctor, please.
You can't be serious.
Well, I just explained.
I have to be.
Look, honey-lamb,
I wish you both happiness.
And now that you've found it,
hold onto it.
Come along, Stego.
Let's get some of
the hair of the dog.
Well, there's his
fancy wedding present.
Come on, Jano,
give us a few words.
Yes, Jano, please.
My wife and I are deeply touched
by this, your tribute to us
on our 15th wedding anniversary.
Were I my grandfather, you
might have been called upon
to tender several such
celebrations throughout each year.
As you know, we moslems, under
the teachings of the koran,
are permitted
to take four wives.
But, possibly influenced
by a lifelong association
with dear friends from the west,
I am forever grateful that Allah
has left no room in my heart
but for one.
Hello, brits. Hello, Marty.
The car is over here.
Have a good trip?
Fine.
Well, honey-lamb.
Dr. Jansen, can I talk
with you a moment, please?
Sure, sure.
Stego, go alongside doctor Tuan.
Anton with you?
No. He went up to the leper
colony a few days ago.
Then what are you
doing out here at this hour?
I heard you were coming in
and I had to talk to you.
Well...
Well, let's have it.
Dr. Jansen,
I want you to take Anton back.
You've got to. Please.
What's wrong? Everything.
It just isn't working out,
our marriage, I mean.
I don't know what to do.
He's so unhappy, he's changed.
What's going on? Another woman?
No, if it was something like that,
I think I could cope with it.
This is something else. And
there's no way I can help him.
I don't think that boy of yours has
ever accepted help from anyone, has he?
No.
I used to be so proud of that.
But now I'm frightened.
I don't know why,
but I'm afraid for Anton.
I'm awfully afraid.
Dr. Jansen,
you've got to take him back.
He came down here
with just one thought in mind.
That was to work with you.
That's all he ever talked about.
There, there, child.
Everything will adjust.
You just give him time.
You'll find
I made the right decision.
No, you didn't.
Because you didn't take
the trouble to know me
and to know
that I could do what I said
and that Anton
could go on working with you.
Because you're stubborn and you're
bull-headed and you know it.
Now, don't get the pressure up.
I will get the pressure up.
Now, I'll make
a bargain with you.
You take Anton back and I'll stay here
and I swear I won't make any trouble.
And if it doesn't work out, you
just tell me and I'll leave.
I'll go back home if I have to. But
just take him back, that's all.
I love him
and I want to see him happy.
And I mean every word
that I say.
Anybody home?
Hey! Honey-lamb!
Anybody home?
Hello.
It's me, Dr. Bullhead.
What are you doing here?
Get out! Out, out, out, out!
Dr. Jansen.
Yes, honey-lamb, it's me.
First time I ever knocked down a
female's door just to admit I was wrong.
Had to stay up all night and
get a little drunk to do it,
but I surrender.
You mean Anton can come back?
Don't rub it in, girl.
You forced a bargain.
Now, get dressed
before you start a riot.
All I want is another bottle of gin
and a half a ton of breakfast.
Oh, yes. Anything! Anything!
Dr. Jansen, I love you.
Fetch me another bottle of gin,
you pint-sized peeping Tom.
Welcome, stranger. Have a drink!
Join the celebrations!
What celebration?
Dr. Jansen wants you
to come back to work with him.
What? It's a fact, boy.
A couple of those
stethoscope bed-pan plumbers
Kramer sent up there just won't do.
So I thought of you.
I says, "brits, you stubborn old bullhead,
you've got to eat crow." So here I am.
Seriously, we're kicking off
something big over on Borneo.
Will you come with me? Will I?
No, Chun. Leave it.
I don't unpack, Tuan?
No. Never mind.
I have some things I want to
sort over myself. Thanks.
Heard you were up at Manpuko.
Yes. I went up there to do a little
research, look over the files.
Yeah. Betsy and Willem?
The same. Nothing new.
I'm sure you two
have things to talk over.
I'll just... no, no.
I've got the feeling you two
have the talking to do.
We'll be pulling out tomorrow evening.
Come along, Salome.
Let's get rid of your veil.
See you in the morning
in Kramer's office, 9:00.
Sir?
Food here. You eat. Later.
Put it on...
Who's this?
Laja. Old cook's daughter.
Old cook go home.
Laja cook now.
A very pretty cook. Pretty?
Yes, yes, yes. Pretty. Pretty.
Put it on the bunk.
Pretty. She so pretty.
No, not her.
The food, you idiot.
Now get out of here.
Doctor.
Excuse me, but a message just
came through from camp five.
Dr. Jansen left there four days ago.
He should be here some time tomorrow.
So the old boy
is finally coming in, huh?
Thank you.
That's what I came for. I've
stepped on every stone in Borneo.
Looks as if you've been busy.
Yes, your magic is working.
They've been coming in in droves.
You reported four cases of
smallpox last month. Any more?
No. They all came off one canoe.
They'd been up near
the Mamawi country.
How's Sordjano doing up there?
Last message I had from him, he was
set up and trying to make contact.
I think he'll do
the job for us, boy.
Good.
That feels good.
Well, as long as you're
comfortable and in a good mood,
I've got something
for you to read.
Don't bother me with reports, boy.
I've been up to my neck in them.
Well, it's not that, exactly.
Just read it.
"Jansen oh leprosy."
"Edited by Anton drager, m. D."
These are my notes.
My notes from Manpuko. Granted.
I told you I went up there
to do some research.
And who may I ask gave you
permission to take my notes?
Nobody. I just took them.
Why, you sneaking,
arrogant young upstart.
All right.
Call me what you like later.
I'm not hiding anything, am I?
I worked on those
for the last four months
and all I'm asking you to do
is read them.
Well? It's good.
It's very good.
Damn it, it's fine.
Have one on me.
You haven't finished it.
I've read enough.
Be interested in what you
think of the last chapter.
I've drawn some conclusions
of my own.
"And it is suggested strongly that
the management of all medical centers
"now under control of religious
or charity organizations
be taken from them
"and turned over to the administration
of the government health service."
Why, this is directed
at Willem Wattereus.
I'm afraid he must be included.
Why?
We both know why. The leper
colony is overcrowded.
There are patients there in whom the
disease was arrested years ago.
Instead of moving them out
to make room for others,
Wattereus has kept them there.
He's running the place on
sentiment, not practicality.
I realize this sort of paternalism
goes with his calling,
but there's no place for sentiment
in an effective institution.
Drager,
you're talking about these
lepers as if they're numbers.
They're not numbers,
they're people.
And arrested cases or not, where
do you think they could go?
Well, I'll tell you. Nowhere!
They were even rejected
by their own families,
driven from place to place
through fear and superstition.
But with Willem,
they found a home,
some understanding
and some love.
And in my book, that's where they
stay, and that's where Willem stays!
Let's get that clear.
I don't mean this as an attack
on captain Wattereus.
After all, he's irrelevant.
The point is...
What do you mean,
"he's irrelevant"?
I mean, let him stay on as is. Only
put the control where it belongs,
in the hands of
the health service.
We both agree a bigger allotment is needed
for added space, equipment and staff.
You've been hollering your head off.
Well, you can get it,
because when this is published
and I get back home,
I'll be in the position to hammer...
Wait a minute.
What do you mean, "get back home"?
Just that.
To Holland.
And when do you plan on that?
When my contract is up.
I thought you came out here
just to work with me.
Well, I did. Oh, no.
This is what you came for.
This is all you wanted.
This and what it'll bring you.
Isn't it?
You don't give a damn about what
we're trying to do out here.
I don't intend to
Bury myself forever,
sweating my life away
in these islands.
For what? I thought you
knew, but you don't.
And there's no way
that I can explain it to you.
Explain what?
Killing yourself for people
who can't even say your name?
I know my name.
But I'm beginning
to forget yours fast,
because I don't know what you
care about or who you care about.
But there's one thing I do know.
You've got to care about something
or someone to stay alive,
especially out here.
Willem said
you had a cross to bear,
and you do.
And sooner or later,
it's going to break you, boy.
But not here. I can't afford it.
I'll get a replacement
as quickly as I can.
Stegomyia? Mandur?
Food, Tuan?
Laja.
Drager.
Well, inspector Bevers, as I
live and attempt to breathe.
Hi, doc.
I've brought your replacement.
Dr. Drager? I'm Dr. Schutters.
So they sent a totok
to take over, huh?
Yes, I'm very grateful
for the opportunity. I...
Well, take over, doctor.
It's all here.
Her name's Laja, by the way.
How do you do?
I mean, where should I
put the supplies?
Over there.
Thank you.
Excuse me.
I'm through. Take it away.
Drink, inspector?
Thank you, no. I haven't time.
And neither have you, doctor. We've
got to get started right away.
I'm ready. What's your rush?
I have a 10-day detour to make up to
Kokoto before I can start you down river.
The river master up there seems to have
disappeared or is in some trouble.
Central office hasn't
heard from him in some time.
Last set of messages they did get from
him didn't make any sense at all.
At first they thought he might
have made a trip into the bush
but it's six weeks now
and they're worried.
So as soon as you can
get your gear packed...
I've been packed for weeks.
Wake up, doc.
No canoes,
not a dog, not a chicken.
Well, at least he's here.
His gramophone is going.
What's this fellow's name?
Frolick.
Harry Frolick?
Yeah, you know him?
Met him.
Uh-oh.
What is it?
Witchcraft.
Black magic.
Frolick?
Frolick?
He's got to be here somewhere.
You stay here, doc. I'll have
a look through the village.
Frolick? Harry Frolick?
Remember me?
Drager.
At Rokul.
Anton drager.
Stop it, Frolick.
Frolick.
Stop it.
Frolick.
My god.
Gentlemen, just a moment.
All we're trying to do is to
determine what happened to the man.
And I just told you.
A psychotic state induced by
excessive use of alcohol.
And that's your diagnosis?
That's what goes into the report?
Yes.
No! It's not that simple.
I'm no doctor, but you can't write Harry
Frolick off as some drunk gone mad.
He went through hell and
somebody put him through it.
The only thing
Harry Frolick went through
was as many bottles
as he could lay his hands on.
All right. But where did
he get those bottles?
Take a look at that import label, doctor.
That's dated 1916.
A whole boatload of that stuff
was shipped up there
20 years ago
by the Mamawi mining company.
I happen to know that it never got there.
It was lost somewhere up in the jungle.
Somebody found it
and used it on Frolick.
Somebody clever enough
to use it to drive a man mad.
Burubi? That's my guess.
Kokoto sits right on the edge
of Mamawi.
Now, it's my hunch that that old
devil is up and moving again.
But he never came
this far south before.
Who's Burubi?
He's the dukun up there.
Head man, witch doctor.
He's a powerful old snake.
He rules Mamawi.
The natives up there are terrified
of him and his black magic.
Do you think Sordjano's going up
there might have set him off?
Yes, that could be.
You heard from Sordjano lately?
Yes. Yes, about 10 days ago.
He said all was well,
that he'd made contact
with some natives.
He was taking half his crew into the
bush and heading for their village.
Sordjano knows his way around.
He'll be all right. I hope so.
Well, that's about all we can
do for the moment, I guess.
You gentlemen
both look exhausted.
And drager, I know you're
anxious to get home.
I don't want you reporting back for work
until you feel like it, understand?
Chun.
Is the doctor still sleeping?
Maybe, miss.
Darling.
Did you get any sleep? Some.
Well, that's not enough
and you know it, doctor.
You've hardly eaten or slept
since you've come home.
Anton, I know what happened
up there must be on your mind,
but please try to forget it.
You couldn't have acted
any differently.
For the last time, els,
you forget it, because I have.
Now, why don't we
get out of here tonight?
Out on the town. Dinner at the club.
See some people.
How does that sound? Wonderful.
Captain Wattereus.
When did you get back into town?
I'm in for my monthly check-up.
It's so good to see you again.
I met this dear man
while you were away.
Doctor, I called your home and your
houseboy told me you were here.
Oh, wonderful. Then you
can have coffee with us?
I'd like to, if I may.
Of course. Well, thank you.
Will you bring an extra cup
for the captain, please?
It's delicious coffee
they serve here.
I can never get the cook at the
colony to make it like this.
Thank you.
I ran into inspector Bevers
at the hospital.
He told me about Harry Frolick.
It must have been
terrible for you.
It wasn't pleasant.
I feel somewhat responsible.
I'm sure I could have
helped him, if I'd been wiser.
All you had to do to help
Frolick was work a miracle,
turn whiskey into water.
That wouldn't have changed
what happened to him.
You believe in that
"black magic" nonsense, too?
Yes, because it exists.
But I also believe in the
power of the human spirit.
And I know the weakness
of men without it.
Don't you see?
They tortured him out there
with silence.
They forced him to stand alone and
he had nothing to fight them with.
Nothing.
He cut himself off from god
and from people,
at least the love of people,
the only sources of strength
a man can call on.
And he was defenseless
against the wilderness.
It's frightening.
But then, we began in the wilderness,
all of us lost and afraid
but with a choice,
to take the spiral road upward
leading to god,
or to remain in the darkness and
degenerate back to the animal.
I know how terrifying it is
to look into the face
of a human being,
someone you know,
but can no longer recognize,
and to see in it the image
of what we can become.
What is it you think
we saw, captain?
The face of the devil?
A lost soul? The sinner?
That's the word, isn't it?
No, I didn't mean that. Why not?
Let's call a sinner a sinner.
We're all sinners,
aren't we, captain?
Sinner or Saint,
isn't that the choice?
Anton, please...
No, wait a minute.
I have something that might
interest the captain.
Back home,
just before I came out,
a gentle,
god-fearing little shopkeeper
committed a brutal sex crime.
It seems he'd been taking hormone
treatments for chronic prostatitis,
and an accidental overdose
was apparently responsible.
Now, if a simple injection
can change a saintly man
into a sinner,
then the reverse
should also be true.
Consider that.
It's quite possible that somewhere,
waiting to be discovered,
there must be a particular
combination of chemicals
that could change
a sinner into a Saint.
Think of it.
It would be the first biochemical
explanation of faith,
like putting god
into a test tube.
Religion would become nothing
more than a matter of glands.
One simple shot.
Ten en's of mm serum,
and heaven on earth.
That's something to
contemplate, isn't it, captain?
And now, if you'll excuse me,
I'd like to get a drink.
I don't know what to say,
captain Wattereus.
I don't know what got into Anton.
I do.
I'm afraid I deliberately
brought up the subject.
You've been very kind as always.
Good night, my dear.
Good night, captain.
Was that really necessary?
What?
Humiliating him that way.
I thought it was rather amusing.
It was cruel and offensive
and embarrassing.
It was an exercise
in probability, that's all.
Anton, you were deliberately
trying to hurt him.
Why?
To clear the air. You heard him.
Spouting all that spiritual
gibberish about poor Harry,
the man without god, punished for his
sins, struck down by some heavenly fist.
Why, he didn't say that.
That's what he meant.
All he said was that we all need some
faith in a power greater than ourselves.
That we need each other, that without
it we're alone and we can't live alone.
No one is strong enough.
I've heard stuff like that
since I was a kid
and it scared me then.
Love one another, love god or he
will destroy you. I heard it all.
My father would climb up
in that pulpit of his
and roar hell and damnation
at us until he was hoarse.
Love one another?
What a joke that was.
He'd beat me regularly trying
to teach me to love god,
save me from the fires of hell.
The old hypocrite.
He never loved a living thing.
Captain Wattereus isn't like your father.
He's not like that at all.
He's preaching the same stuff.
Only now it doesn't scare me.
I stopped that along time ago.
I was 10 years old
and I stopped it.
For once and for all.
I stopped it.
I knelt in that church of his with
him up in the pulpit screaming at us
and I dared god to kill me,
to strike me dead.
I said, "I don't love you, god.
Do you hear me?
"So kill me. I hate you, and I'm
afraid of you and I hate you.
"So go ahead. Burn me.
Crush me. Hit me. Go ahead.
"But I won't love you."
And so I knelt there
and I stuck my tongue out
behind my hands, and I said,
"go ahead. Do it now.
Go ahead, kill me."
And I waited.
And I got so frightened,
I started to cry,
but my father was yelling
so loud, nobody could hear me.
My mother was kneeling right next to me.
Even she couldn't hear me.
And I waited,
and nothing happened.
Nothing.
I kept that up
every Sunday for a month.
And then,
I knew.
I knew god couldn't touch me.
He couldn't hurt me.
And if he couldn't hurt me,
he couldn't help me.
Nobody could.
So I knew then I'd have
to take care of myself,
help myself. And I did.
I didn't need anybody.
Anton, we all need
help sometime.
We all become afraid
and need someone, don't we?
Don't you believe it.
You don't have to be afraid of
anything, not a thing in this world.
And you don't need anyone
because there's only you.
That's all there is.
You believe that, don't you?
You don't need anybody.
You don't need me, do you?
I didn't say that.
But you believe it.
You never let me
come close to you.
You never let me
become a part of you.
And now you won't
let me help you.
And I want to, Anton. I want to.
But how?
How? Just tell me now, please.
Tell you what?
What do you want to hear?
My adventures in the jungle?
I want to know
what's been happening to you.
All right. You want to know what's
been happening? I'll tell you.
All my work on Jansen
and his notes came to nothing.
He walked off.
I told him he was a stupid old fool
rotting away in these filthy islands
and that I wasn't going to, not
one minute longer than I had to.
Then I had to kill a man.
What would you like?
The gory details?
Never mind. I'm going home.
No, wait. You wanted to talk,
and I'm not through. One night
out there I took a native girl.
She didn't say a word, not for two weeks.
No talk, no questions.
Is that what you wanted to hear?
No, that's not
what I wanted to hear.
But I can forgive you that
because that's not
what I'm worried about.
What I'm worried about is you.
Anton, I'm afraid.
I keep thinking, if we could just get
away from here and go back to Holland.
That's the answer, els, for you, anyway.
Go back home to Holland.
You never should have come
down here in the first place.
It was a mistake.
I should've known it,
because you're right.
I don't need you,
or anybody.
So for both our sakes, go.
Go home.
Hello.
Yes, he's here. Dr. Drager.
Dr. Drager?
It's for you, sir. Dr. Kramer.
Yes, doctor.
Yes, of course.
I'll be right there.
Sordjano's in trouble.
We began getting weak signals
from Mamawi about an hour ago.
All that we could get
before the signals faded
was that he was very ill, he needed
a doctor, and he's up there alone.
What happened to his crew?
Deserted or killed. God knows.
Anton, you're the only man I
can get up there fast enough.
Do you feel up to it?
Of course. When do I go?
I'm putting some supplies
together right now.
Well, then, we can fly out
of here in the morning,
hit the emergency landing field
at camp four by afternoon,
pick up a crew
and start up river.
Moving night and day,
you might make it in 10 days.
I'm sure it's more of this
Burubi business,
and I've made up my mind.
You get up there, bring out
Sordjano and close the station.
That's old Burubi.
He's letting us know
that he knows we're here.
What's a rail road car
doing out here?
The mining company used it for a base camp
for the rail road they tried to build.
Drager. Come here!
Dasi. Bring my bag in here!
Ah, Burubi's been working on
him, all right, or trying to.
But Jano never touched them.
Bring that lantern.
I'll get a message off
to batavia.
This blasted set is dead.
Batteries are out.
There must be spares.
Spares are dead, too. Rain got
to them and they shorted out.
What happened, Jano?
Jano, I've got to know
what it is.
Bamboo. What?
In the food. Bamboo.
Late...
Good lord. So that's it. What?
They shave bamboo into the food.
Thousands of tiny slivers. You
don't even know you're eating it.
It works like ground glass,
only slower.
Cuts your insides to ribbons.
See if you can find his
identification card.
Get his blood type.
"0" type. General. So is mine.
Dasi, get some more light in here.
It'll be dark before long.
There was a plague.
I treated as many
as I could that day.
At night, they offered us food.
They were friendly.
We ate.
It was a mistake.
Careless.
Next morning they were gone.
Everyone.
I was alone.
Started back here,
began bleeding.
Don't know how long it took me.
Crew here deserted or killed.
I don't know.
Burubi knew I would not leave
so he tried to kill me.
He had to.
It was all he could do.
He has failed even at that.
Tomorrow I must show Burubi.
I will walk outside
and kneel there,
to give thanks to Allah.
We must stay here.
We must stay here.
Save those people from him.
Like children,
they are afraid of Burubi.
We must help them.
We must...
Drager, our orders were perfectly clear.
Close this place up and get out!
What are you trying to prove?
Nothing,
except there's no reason
to dick up and run,
so I'll keep my boys and wait.
And if there's plague in there, they'll
be coming out sooner or later.
You are asking for trouble. Why?
You saw what can happen.
You saw Frolick,
and now Sordjano.
I'm not Frolick,
and I'm not Sordjano.
I don't need liquor
or a prayer rug or the Bible.
I can handle this, and my way.
Dasi, Mara. Come.
Listen.
You have no assurance that
these boys will stay with you.
They're nervous now. If they
get more nervous, they'll run.
Then I'll handle it alone.
Goodbye, inspector.
You two will stay here with him.
We'll leave one boat and crew.
But you two will stay.
Understand?
Blasted idiot.
Come on, boys. Back to work.
Let's show them we're here to stay.
Right, Tano?
Yes, Tuan.
Dasi.
Mara! Tano!
Hey, Burubi!
Here's your black magic.
Dr. Kramer, I need your approval on this.
Will you sign it so...
Bevers' report just came through.
Sordjano is dead.
Oh, no.
Now, what about drager?
Get through
to Bevers right away.
Tell him to go back up to Mamawi at
once and pull drager out of there.
He can put him under arrest
if he has to.
Get me...
Get me Mrs. Sordjano, please.
You dukun?
Burubi?
That's just who you are.
The man, fever.
You want me to help him,
is that it?
You dukun.
You want me to bring medicine
to your village, huh?
How far is it?
All right.
Oh I just remember,
I don't get careless.
I eat what you eat.
Drager!
Drager!
Bring in the batteries.
This is inspector Bevers'
message just as we received it.
"No sign of drager.
"Camp completely deserted,
apparently for some time.
"Further search futile.
"Will stay till dawn
and pull out,
"leaving wireless in operating
condition should drager return.
"Please confirm. Bevers."
I confirmed.
That's all
that can be done, els.
Leave me alone!
Let me sleep!
Let me sleep!
You see? He won't answer.
He just keeps sending.
Same thing. "Anton drager,
"Anton drager, drager, drager,
drager, Anton drager."
Keeps repeating like that.
That's all.
Thank god.
At least he's alive.
Well, that's all I need to know.
Let's get organized.
I've got to get up there.
Keep contact as long as you can.
I must call els.
I'll kill you.
I'll kill you.
I'll kill you. I'll kill you.
No. No!
No!
It's
Me.
God,
help me.
Els.
Els.
Drager.
Anton? Anton, boy.
It's me. Brits.
Anton.
Look, girl,
you must get some rest.
No.
No, he won't let go,
and I'm afraid to.
I'm afraid...
Any change? No.
Els.
Els. I'm here, Anton.
Els. Don't let go.
Els. I'm here, Anton.
Els! Els! Els: Anton!
Els! Els! Anton! Anton!
Anton, please, I'm here.
I'm here! Please, please.
Hold onto me.
Els.
Els.
Els.
Oh, thank god.
Els.
Oh, thank god.