Wild Mountain Thyme (2020) Movie Script

[man]
Welcome. Welcome to Ireland.
My name's Tony Reilly.
I'm dead.
They say, if an Irishman dies
while he's telling a story,
you can rest assured,
he'll be back.
Once upon a time in Ireland,
there were two farms.
The Muldoon farm where Rosemary
lives with her mother, Aoife,
and her father, Chris,
who was at war with the crows.
And right down the road,
on the sweetest rise of land
you ever saw, was my farm,
where my wife Mary sang
until she conquered the house.
All the flowers
Of the mountain...
[singing continues, faint]
[Tony] And where, upstairs,
my son Anthony asked his
lonely question of the stars.
Mother Nature,
why did you make me so?
The real answer was just
down the road maybe.
Little Rosemary Muldoon.
Anthony.
Besotted with love.
[girl] Anthony!
- Fiona!
- Look at your nose.
You look like a clown.
[woman] What's this?
- [gunshot]
- [crows cawing]
Chrissy, Chrissy.
We have a problem.
- Anthony pushed Rosemary down.
- [Fiona] Hmph!
- Why?
- Because Rosemary went after Fiona.
Rosemary? What's the matter?
I have no purpose.
I'm just a girl.
The world is full of girls.
You are not just a girl.
You are a queen.
What kind of queen?
It was my mother's.
[blows]
It's full of swans.
[Tchaikovsky's
Swan Lake playing]
And you, Rosemary...
for better or for worse,
you are the white swan.
What does it mean
to be the white swan?
Well, it means
no one can stop you.
The world is yours.
You can do anything.
[music continues playing]
[whinnies]
[makes kissing sound]
Hyah!
[horse whinnies]
[thunder rumbling]
[music continues playing]
[Tony]
Look at that weather coming.
It reminds me of the night
we buried Chris Muldoon.
Muldoon didn't leave
the Reillys much.
Two gates to open
and a sky full of rain.
[thunderclap]
[Tony] You should've
left the gates open.
[Anthony] They're Muldoon gates
and the Muldoons like them shut.
I can't believe you took a widow's ham.
Have you no shame?
- [Tony] She offered!
- [Anthony] You asked!
[Tony] Hurry up!
Hurry, is it?
Why don't you get the gate?
It's barely raining.
[thunderclap]
[grunts]
- [dog barking, whimpering]
- [Anthony] Get down, Flossie!
[Tony] Look at you.
You can't even love a dog.
Would you look
at this kitchen?
Your mother would die again
if she saw the state
of this house.
They'll think us tramps.
- How's my face?
- A fright.
- Where's my pipe?
- Upstairs and you're not getting it.
Look at me.
I look like a badger.
I'm freezing.
- Why'd you let the stove go out?
- Would you burn down the house?
You had to invite
the Muldoons over?
The funeral wasn't
enough for you?
Are you that selfish, Daddy?
- [clattering]
- [stove ignites]
- Jesus.
- [Anthony coughs]
Would you see the smoke.
I can't believe
Chris Muldoon is dead.
Who's going to kill the crows?
It's true, Chris Muldoon
did like to shoot the crows.
- He tore holes in the sky with that gun.
- [vehicle approaching]
- [both laughing]
- [Rosemary] Mam, wait.
Stop.
What's funny?
You all right, Aoife?
All right, is it?
I'm in pieces.
Get the door
afore the night comes in.
Aoife, come. Sit by the heat.
Can't sit all the way down.
My legs lock.
- Were you having a laugh?
- We were.
- We were not.
- [Aoife] What about?
- Will you take a stout?
- In the bottle or the can?
- The bottle.
- [Aoife] No thanks.
The bottle tastes of glass.
Does glass have a taste then?
It does.
Glass tastes like teeth.
Oh, the taste of glass.
Sure, I know it.
- You know the taste of glass?
- I do.
You do not.
So no to the stout.
Well, I'm making some tea.
- You'll have one.
- What's that smoke?
The chimney's crusted shut.
- [Aoife] Mine is worse.
- [coughing]
I'm working
for every breath.
Look at her.
She'll be dead in a year.
[Aoife] I don't mind.
Except to desert Rosemary
- and leave her orphaned altogether.
- You look fine.
Oh, sure, the fruit still looks
good when the worm starts its work.
And what about you?
When are you packing up?
I'll be dead by Christmas.
Just don't.
- Where's Rosemary?
- [Aoife] Outside.
- [thunderclap]
- In the rain?
She won't smoke in front of me and she's
always smokin', so I never see her.
That's her. Stubborn.
[thunderclap]
[cow mooing]
She's out there, all right.
- She is. Smokin'.
- [Anthony] She'll catch pneumonia.
Nah, she's crazy.
The cracked ones never get sick.
Crazy? Never noticed that.
That's because you never notice
anything, Anthony.
You're famous across Ireland
for what goes by you.
Famous. As if.
Tony, have you signed
the farm over to Anthony?
What? Just like that
you ask him?
I'm thinking tonight
about arrangements.
- Right.
- [Aoife] Or, are you going to leave it to him?
Who else would he leave it to?
The others have all fled.
I haven't made up me mind.
- You haven't what?
- I would've thought Chris Muldoon would have
you know, made out a plan.
He did. What was his
to leave, he left to me.
- As he should have done.
- It's only arrangements for Rosemary I'm thinking of now.
What do you mean you don't know
if the farm comes to me?
I don't see a clear path.
From where to where?
- From me to you.
- Stop.
[Tony] It has to be said.
Your face is not right.
You come up
from some other people.
You're more Kelly than Reilly.
[Aoife] It's true,
you're a Kelly in the face.
- In my face?
- He likes to fish.
That's the Kellys.
It's well known.
John Kelly
thought he was a fish.
- My name is Reilly. I'm a Reilly.
- [Tony] No, you're a Kelly!
You take after John Kelly and
that man was mad as the full moon.
Drowned himself!
- In the Royal Canal.
- He fell in.
- He had a rock tied to his neck.
- I'm not a Kelly!
You're not a farmer,
that's what you're not.
Now, Tony.
[Tony]
You don't stand on the land
and draw strength from it.
As I did. Till Mammy died.
You'd rather read
your goddamn magazines.
[Aoife] Easy now.
Don't criticize me, Daddy.
Some of us don't have joy,
but we do what we must.
Is a man who does what he must
but feels no pleasure
less of a man
than one who's happy?
That's it.
If only for want
of better company,
I'm getting Rosemary.
Anthony, Anthony.
Rosemary.
Anthony.
What are you doing out here
away from the house?
Smoking.
In the rain?
There's a bit of roof.
It's dark as tar.
I can see.
You're smoking a pipe now?
[bull bellowing]
It's Da's.
That bull of yours
is coughing like pertussis.
I dosed him for worms.
He's coughing them up.
Doesn't sound good.
Don't say it.
[bull wheezing]
[bull bellows]
How long
since you dosed him?
Three weeks.
His lungs should've cleared.
I don't know.
Should I call the vet?
The morning's soon enough
to spend money.
Go in, you'll catch your death.
No.
Have you heard from Fiona?
Never.
Not since our childhood days.
- Do you know where she is?
- She's in Wicklow.
With a husband
and three daughters.
- [bull grunts]
- He thinks we're talking about him.
Well, men always think
the subject's number one.
- [whimpering]
- [thunder rumbling]
[Aoife] Are you seriously
begrudging Anthony the farm?
I gave him his mother's ring
three years since.
He's done nothing with it.
He's a bachelor to the bone.
- You're going the wrong way.
- This is my family's farm 121 years.
It won't stop with Anthony.
Things end
when God says they do.
Aoife. Aoife.
I can't believe
my Chrissy's gone.
Aoife. Oh.
Oh, Aoife.
Half my house is gone.
Aoife.
[Flossie barks, whimpers]
What's Flossie about?
She's after the ham.
She can't get it.
It's in the fridge.
Would you have a piece?
If you want ham,
have it!
Don't be offering me
me own ham!
Listen, I'm so sorry
about your da.
Thank you, Anthony.
Jesus. When my mother died,
I couldn't see colors anymore.
Where do we go when we die?
The sky?
The ground.
Then what's the sky for?
It's for now.
The sky is for now.
You know, it was me
that found him.
Mam came up. Her face was white as
snow, so I gave her water.
But didn't the glass
have his teeth in it.
- No!
- She was wild.
She won't drink
from a glass since.
I can testify to that.
- Says it tastes like teeth.
- Tastes like teeth.
Well, I'll get her. She won't sit
anywhere but her own chair, so...
we should go.
Right.
And you'd let me go,
wouldn't ya?
- Well, you said you were going.
- Don't you know better
than to listen to people?
Who is that?
It's Bad News Cleary.
Why do you call him that?
Because he only
brings bad news.
Hello, Rosemary.
Sorry for your trouble.
Listen, that horse of yours
has jumped the fence again.
Don't say it.
Yeah. I thought
you'd want to know.
Yeah,
thank you, Cleary.
You should go inside to see her mother.
She's in there.
I will not! Good night.
- You see? Bad News Cleary.
- Do you have a halter?
- I do.
- You'd best give it here.
What about your mother?
Would you take her home?
I don't mind.
Thank you.
[Tony] You're sure
you don't want some ham?
Cut a piece for the dog.
No, it's too good for her.
It's too good
for either of you.
Should we speak of it?
What?
There was no point
while Chris was alive.
Are you proposing?
What? Jesus, no.
Then get off your duff and say
what you mean, you gobshite fraud.
That piece of land that
blocks me from the road,
sell it back to me.
You only have to open the gates.
Have you gotten
out of my car in the rain
and drowned yourself
working those damn gates?
It rains on us all.
I'll give you a fair price.
- Did your broach this with Chrissy?
- I did.
No reply.
No reply is a reply.
I need to pass the farm down
as it was given me.
So you're
passing it down now?
- I was always passing it down.
- To Anthony.
Rosemary asked me
to take you home.
- Where is she?
- Her horse got loose again.
That horse is Satan
on four feet!
Think on what I said.
- I won't.
- Why not?
You don't need me
concerning those gates.
- You need Rosemary.
- Why's that?
The frontage Chrissy
bought from you,
I do not own.
All the rest is mine,
but not that.
He sold it?
He gave it to Rosemary.
Rosemary?
What are you saying?
Chris Muldoon signed
that strip of dirt
between the gates
over to Rosemary
when she was not more
than ten years of age.
He gave a ten-year-old girl
my right of way?
She'd have it
and I can tell you why.
It was the spot where
Anthony pushed her down.
- Me?
- You pushed a little girl?
I did not. When?
When she was ten!
You did it!
And you're banished
from that spot.
Now take me home before
me pacemaker runs down to zero.
Bye, bye, bye,
bye, bye, bye, bye, bye.
Bye.
[Rosemary]
Good boy, Blister.
Oh, such a good boy.
You're so beautiful.
You stay right there.
All right.
All right.
It's okay, my love.
- [snorts, whinnies]
- May you burn in hell,
you shite horse!
There's a good boy.
Okay. Shh, shh, shh,
shh, shh, shh, shh.
[clicking tongue]
[shouting, faint]
Anthony!
[exclaims]
[geese honking]
Are you all right?
- I'm fine.
- What were you doing out there?
- Fishing.
- That was fishing?
- Yeah.
- Without a rod?
- Who were you talking to?
- I wasn't talking.
You looked to be talking,
then swatting, then you jumped in.
I did not. It's the Kellys
that jump in. I'm a Reilly.
- You're a Reilly.
- What are you doing down by the river?
What I've been doing.
After this one.
- You're not still from the night before?
- I am.
Well, God in heaven!
You look the worse for it.
Well, thanks much.
You don't look perfect yourself.
You have some fine-looking
cattle this year, Anthony.
Not too bad. Why does your
horse keep jumping the fence?
He's restless.
- I know that one.
- Do ya?
I hear a voice sometimes
when I'm out here,
and the voice says, "Go."
Go?
Do you not love the farm?
Love? Sure hate it
for a prison.
Came up out of it like a tree
and here I am with it around me.
Why don't you leave
and follow the voice?
- No.
- Why no?
There's
these green fields...
and the animals
living off them.
And over that there's us...
living off the animals.
And over that there's
that which tends to us...
and lives off us maybe.
Whatever that is...
it holds me here.
You should go.
Once you're on your own
you should sell the farm,
leave Ireland entirely.
Why?
It's a terrible place
for a decent person.
Are you not decent?
Me? [scoffs]
I'm mad.
- You could walk us home.
- I can't be leaving the boat.
I'll see you at church.
- You were talking out there.
- See you at church.
"There's the green fields,
and the animals
living off them..."
[sighs] When he says
those things, Blister,
I know I must have him,
God help me.
[chattering]
[bee buzzing]
- What's that?
- Stew.
- You were a while.
- Stopped at church.
Have you taken it up?
It's no business of yours.
- Want stew?
- I would.
Are you
not going to open it?
- What?
- The letter from America.
- I'll get to it.
- You'll get to it?
How often do you get a letter from
your nephew and you'll get to it?
Me glasses are upstairs.
I'll get them.
I'll read it when I'm alone.
What's in it?
How would I know?
I haven't read it.
What's in it?
[indistinct shouting]
You can't!
Fine! Then get a wife!
Rosemary...
it seems like
maybe we should...
we should ma...
we should marry.
[exhales]
Rosemary...
we're known to each other
quite a while now.
No doubt you could do better,
but...
Well, you don't seem
to be doing much, so...
will you have me?
Damn it, is that
not enough for you?
All right, seems like you won't
be satisfied until I'm on my knee.
[braying softly]
Would you marry me?
[Cleary laughing]
So it's true.
You have the Kelly madness.
- Cleary!
- I thought Tony was having me on.
- What are you lurking?
- Your da's selling the farm from under ya.
I thought you'd want to know.
So you've taken up
with a donkey?
Watch out!
[Cleary laughs]
I didn't know Cleary
could run like that.
[Anthony] Tony, you bastard!
- [Rosemary] What?
- [Anthony] He's selling the farm to Adam.
Well, then go and face
the old fool down!
- I don't like a fight.
- Well, who does?
- Half of Ireland, just not me.
- I'll go.
- You will not! Rosemary!
- What?
Nothing. Nothing.
Leave it!
- What's he on about?
- I hope you have no part in this, Mother.
Tony means to sell the farm
to his brother's son.
- Adam? In America?
- Yeah.
That's why he wants
the land back.
The Yank doesn't want to be
bothering with gates.
Oh, he'll be...
He'll be bothering.
There's much
of your father in you.
Proud to know it.
- Two bulldogs.
- No, I'm a swan.
Why would you think
of denying Anthony?
- Leave it.
- Well, if you want to talk to me
about these gates,
you'll talk to me about Anthony.
What there is to say,
I won't say.
You've kept him down
with the promise of this farm.
Not a word of truth.
Don't cross me, Tony Reilly.
- Are you in love with Anthony?
- It's more than love.
Don't be. Now go while
your damn gates are open.
I'm not done with you!
- He's not normal!
- I don't care!
He'll never marry.
Well, then neither will I,
and he will be in his house
and I'll be in mine.
[Aoife]
Rosemary!
Be quick! I need to pee!
And you'd sell to a Yank,
would ya?
- He's a Reilly!
- He's a Yank!
You're trespassing now!
Drop this plot
or I'll kill ya!
Would you have the place
go in auction?
- Anthony will never marry.
- Oh, he will.
Wake up!
Look to yourself.
If it comes to that,
I'll freeze my eggs!
- You'll what?
- I'll freeze my eggs.
If he's slow, I'll wait.
You should freeze
your whole body
if you're waiting
for that one!
I believe he will come to me.
I need this settled.
- I'm turning 75.
- Listen.
The farm goes to Anthony.
Just say it.
I can't.
Rose!
Take notice.
We're not done, sir.
We're not done!
How will we be done?
I need these gates down.
[bees buzzing]
[man on TV] It's high summer and
the honey flows at its height.
Their wing beats fan the hive
to keep it cool and ventilated.
They've swept gently after
their queen into their new home.
Tony.
You're right.
I'll never marry.
It's your land.
You do what you like.
I'll manage.
Smoking the bees
helps to pacify the hive.
Fancy that.
[singing indistinctly]
- Mam! - Jesus!
You're trying to kill me.
Never mind that.
Guess whose car I saw
parked at the church
on a weekday.
- Whose?
- Tony Reilly.
- Was there a funeral?
- He had the parking lot to himself.
I don't believe it.
Why would a heathen man like Tony
Reilly be kneeling in a church?
- He knows he's wrong.
- He knows he's wrong.
Hmm.
[customers chattering,
laughing]
[humming]
How you doing, laddie?
Perfect.
- What's the drink?
- Uh...
Don't really know.
It's called an orange blossom.
I'd have one.
Well, you presume,
don't ya?
That's right.
It's Saturday night and I do presume.
Cheers.
[folk music playing]
Where's Anthony?
Killala.
Why'd he go to Killala?
Why does anybody
go to Killala?
I wish Mary was here.
She loved a tune.
She did.
What do you think
she'd think of you
selling the farm away
from Anthony?
I can't think about it.
That's the question,
isn't it?
What would Mary Kelly say to see the
farm just taken from her only son?
Because he was a Kelly.
Like herself.
I came out to eat a meal,
hear some singing.
Leave off.
Gorgeous, gorgeous.
And now we'll hear one
from a local beauty.
Rosemary Muldoon.
- [applause]
- Wish me luck.
What's she doing?
She's going to sing.
My neighbor, Mary Reilly,
may she rest easy
in heaven,
she sang this song
into the ground,
and when she passed it was like
the birds lost their voices.
So I'll sing it now
to remember her.
Now the summertime
Is coming
And the flowers
Are richly blooming
And the wild
Mountain thyme
Grows around
The blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go
I will build my love
A bower
By the clear
And silver fountain
And I'll cover it over
With the flowers
Of the mountain
Will you go, lassie, go
- And we'll all go together
- [audience joining in]
To the wild mountain thyme
All around
The blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go
If my true love
He were gone
I would surely
Find another
To pull wild
Mountain thyme
All around
The blooming heather
Will you go, lassie
Go
[cheering, applause]
I'm only trying
to do what's right.
For who?
The farm.
The farm doesn't know a thing
about right and it won't know.
Do you know why my husband went
to war with the crows, Tony?
He was shaking his fist.
We'd lost a child.
A boy.
And he was shaking his fist.
You have your children
and you've had your life.
Do you want more
than that from God?
[woman laughing]
What time is it?
It's so late, it's early.
Where now?
- The cemetery.
- Perfect.
How high do you think
that wall is?
What's your name again?
Anthony.
Anthony, we are strangers.
That we are.
We'll never see
each other again.
No, we will not, no.
So I'll tell you
my worst secret.
Please do.
I've slept with a priest.
- No!
- I have.
Twice.
Shocking!
In my mother's bed.
Worse and worse.
- I'm a disgrace.
- You are.
But I can top it.
What do you got?
I have a tiny...
tininess in my brain.
A tininess?
[whispering]
[laughing]
[squeals]
- Yikes.
- [laughing]
[man] Here he is now.
[chuckles]
Hello, Anthony.
- Welcome to Ireland.
- You remember Adam?
- Of course.
- Nice to see you, Anthony.
- Welcome to Ireland.
- Thanks.
- How's New York?
- Terrific. You've got to come.
Yeah. Right, yeah.
Let's get you aboard.
Could you go ahead and take my dad?
I'm going to rent a car.
Okay.
Great, I'll see you
there, Pop, thanks.
Ah! It's good to be home.
Yeah, it's grand you came
for his birthday.
- Wouldn't have missed it. 75 years old?
- That's right, yeah.
- Still doing with the two gates?
- [Anthony] We are.
- Why?
- History.
There's a lot of history
in Ireland.
- [Tony] Who's this now?
- Tony!
- Welcome! It's pissing rain.
- Good day for the ducks.
- Where's Adam?
- He'll be along.
- [Anthony] He's renting a car.
- An automatic, I'll wager.
If he can get one.
Is it that much
to shift the gears?
How's Aoife?
She's falling apart.
[Anthony] Her heart.
And her legs
and lungs.
Blind in one eye.
- Are they coming to the party?
- They'll come.
[thunderclap]
- [laughter]
- [girl] Happy birthday.
[Cleary] There's nothing
left of Johnny O'Brien
worth calling
Johnny O'Brien.
First, half his herd was cut
across with tuberculosis.
Cut across with it.
Then he tried
to kill himself,
but the gun only
took off his lip.
It left him smiling all the time.
You wouldn't like to look at him.
Cleary, would you leave off?
You're scaring the children.
- [horn honking]
- [Cleary] What's wrong with a little scare between friends?
- Right, lads?
- [laughter]
Mother of Christ.
Would you look at this.
What do you think?
Would you see this.
Is it an automatic?
Anthony,
that is a Rolls-Royce.
A Rolls-Royce.
Can you believe the sound
of the words, Da? A Rolls-Royce.
It's the finest car
I've ever seen.
And that's how Anthony Reilly
fell in love with a donkey.
[all laughing]
[Adam] Anthony.
Got you
a little something.
What do you mean?
It's Tony's birthday, not mine.
- What is it?
- Open it.
- Huh?
- I am looking at it and I still don't know what it is.
Come on.
- It's a raincoat!
- It's white.
It's a white raincoat.
[Adam] Hi.
How are you?
- I'm Tony's nephew, Adam.
- Yeah, I know who are.
- Rosemary Muldoon.
- Yeah, I know who you are, too.
- You're on the next farm.
- I am.
And you own that little piece
of land between those gates.
- I do.
- And you're going to sell it to me.
- To who? You?
- That's right.
You're a little
confrontational.
- Do you think so?
- I do.
Too much so?
I don't know.
Look in my eyes
and ask me again.
Are you going
to sell me that land?
That was strong.
Hmm.
I don't know.
I might sell it, I might not.
I'm all aflutter.
[yelps]
[Adam] Jesus.
What's he doing?
He got himself a metal detector.
Huh. Did he lose something?
No, he's just shy.
[Adam]
I guess that's one word for it.
I'm sorry to hear
your mom's not feeling well.
It's nice you came
for the birthday.
Yeah. I wish I could stay
a little longer.
- I have to get back.
- That's too bad.
You should come to New York.
What would I do
in New York?
I could take you
to see The Lion King.
[laughs] I don't want
to see The Lion King.
And anyways,
who would see to my farm?
- You run that by yourself?
- Yeah, I do.
How many acres do you have?
I don't know.
How do you not know
how many acres of land...
Because it's just a number.
I'm all about numbers.
I manage money for a living.
Oh, does money need you
to manage it?
I'm not sure.
You seem set.
Waiting for that one?
I don't know.
Hmm.
I don't know.
What are you
waiting for?
Me, I don't wait.
Well, I do like that.
You should come
to New York sometime.
I don't want
to see The Lion King.
- What do you want to see?
- The ballet.
Hmm. Wouldn't have guessed that.
Never been to one.
[Adam] I've heard he's
fallen in love with a donkey.
Well, you heard wrong!
I'm sorry.
I don't understand you people.
You just seem to accept
these crazy things,
like that gate situation and...
And what?
Loneliness.
- Is that your car?
- I rented it.
Why'd you bring
such a fine car to a farm?
- For show.
- Yeah, I don't understand that.
Have you eaten?
No.
Steer clear
of the pudding.
I think it's off.
You know what?
I know it's off.
[man] An Irish picnic.
What kind of madness is this?
We've done it
for the Americans.
The Yanks thought it would
be nice to have a picnic.
- [man] Lord love them.
- Happy birthday, Tony.
Mammy sends her love.
- Tell her to feel better.
- I will.
- You going?
- I am.
[Adam]
How's Rosemary's mother?
[Anthony]
She's in a bad way.
- [Adam] How bad?
- [Anthony] Bad.
[cow moos]
What kind of cows
are these?
They're called Charolais.
Away, lads. Go on.
What are you doing?
Picking mushrooms.
Are they okay to eat?
Yeah.
It's a grand thing to do
with children.
- Pick mushrooms.
- Hmm.
What a beautiful spot.
Yep.
[Adam] That one looks
a little freaked out.
It's the coat.
He doesn't recognize me in the coat.
They're hungry, though.
Come on now.
So how many acres
do you have exactly?
I don't know.
How does nobody know
how many acres they have?
We're not a direct people,
you know.
Do you want to be
a farmer then?
- Yeah.
- No, you don't.
You want to own a farm.
It's not the same.
I could be a farmer.
Wake up.
You're no farmer.
It would be a bloody farce.
[chuckles]
Maybe you've been
a farmer too long.
How's that?
You been talking to Cleary?
What did he say?
Something about
you and a donkey.
I'm going to kill
that man one day.
The world will
thank me for it.
[no audible dialogue]
I can't sell you the farm.
Listen, Tony.
Even if I have to put up
with the gates,
- I'm still interested.
- No.
God would fault me.
Is it those two?
[Tony] I don't know what
they're going to do,
but I can't be the reason
they're apart.
Lord, help me.
Oh, help me.
[Tony] I was there
on Aoife's wedding day.
I never saw a lovelier bride.
[owl hooting]
[Tony] Anthony.
Anthony!
[Anthony]
You all right?
Bring me my pipe.
Are you serious?
Your pipe?
- You can't smoke with the oxygen.
- I don't want it.
What are you doing?
You need that.
Roll that tank out of my room.
I mean to do it.
Okay, I'll do it.
The nurse will have
my head, though.
The nurse won't come
till morning.
She'll smell the smoke.
Her perfume is worse.
It's late.
That it is.
I saw a star out the window,
down near the ground.
Have you ever seen
a star down low?
When I was a boy,
from that very window.
Light it for me.
All right.
I see it. The star.
[Tony] This was your room.
[lighter flicking]
[coughing]
- I'm choking.
- I told ya.
Don't matter. I like it.
No.
Sit by me, son.
I'm sorry to be leaving you,
Anthony.
Don't say it.
I'm sorry.
It's a lonely spot here and it'll be
hard to face the morning when I'm gone.
Jesus.
The farm is yours now.
I'm sorry to be leaving it
to you not as it was given me.
Don't think of it.
It's nothing.
Listen, son. Your mam.
I didn't love her.
- What are you saying?
- Truth.
The loneliness...
had gotten into me and I
don't know why she said yes.
I walked by her half the time
without so much as a nod.
She bore me children.
Trish, Audrey, you. I felt nothing.
Till one day...
something...
gave way.
Out in the fields
in the wet grass...
the quiet hand of God
touched me.
Something came
to save me, some...
And it'll come for you,
too.
I can't name the day
the rain let up.
The sun shone on me.
And I started in singing.
Just like that. That old song.
- Mam's song. Do you know it?
- Sure, I do.
And they'll all
Go together
To pull wild
Mountain thyme
Singing! In the field.
Me.
[coughs]
I was never that man
and I knew it was Mary's song.
And I sold off that bit
by the road
to Muldoon for 200 quid
and bought her...
a real ring of gold
and took the brass one from her.
Oh, what days we had
thereafter, the times...
in the kitchen,
in every room.
And I'm going to her now, son,
'cause I know she's waiting
by that old front door
for me yet.
Can you forgive me, Anthony?
For what?
Selling the right of way?
- It's nothing.
- For having no faith.
That you'd find your own way,
be your own man.
Am I proud of you too late, son?
I don't want you to die.
I'm sorry I sold
that bit by the road
and left you with two gates.
And that I thought
of taking the rest from you.
However I hurt you, I want to die
with a clean slate between us.
Surely,
I forgive everything.
I love you, son.
I can't say it enough.
I love you, my daddy.
My daddy, my daddy.
[Tony whimpering]
Sure I always have.
[sobbing]
Let go
before you kill me.
Right.
Good man.
You are a good son.
Thanks, Da.
I have faith
that love will find you
out in those fields
where you wander.
God bless you.
And you.
I'll sleep now.
Do you want the oxygen?
I'll try without.
[Anthony]
My daddy.
My daddy, my daddy.
[bleating]
[parking brake sets]
[engine off]
Good morning.
What's this?
Cleaned out the high pasture.
They're like locusts.
God love 'em.
[crows cawing loudly]
Crows have a lot to say.
Wish your father
had killed them all.
He tried.
Still smoking, I see.
Brought you some stew
on the bench there.
- I can cook.
- You don't though.
And now that Mam's gone I've got
no one to do for. It keeps me busy.
Right.
It's good
walking weather.
One place is
the same as another.
How can you say it?
I was down at the bog cutting turf.
The heather is everywhere.
You're cutting your own turf?
Who else?
- It's a bit late.
- Got to it.
It's a two-man job.
Or one woman.
Yep.
That's the world now.
- Men are useless.
- That's not so.
- What?
- Men aren't useless.
What's a man for now?
What's his place?
- That's for you to say.
- And I'm not talking.
Maybe the quiet around a thing is
as important as the thing itself.
Do you still hear
the voice in the fields?
I don't know.
It's not a modern idea.
I'm not a modern man.
You have the farm.
- I do.
- Are you happy?
No.
Why not go ahead, be happy?
[chuckles]
Don't know how.
There is no one left
to catch you laughing, Anthony.
True.
How many days do we have
while the sun shines?
It's not shining.
I believe that it is.
You all right then?
In what way?
Up there in the house,
alone.
I see you put
this gate between us.
- I did.
- Why?
I've been having
such dreams.
Dreaming about everyone
who ever lived.
That's a lot.
Ancestors, and more.
The whole circus.
The history of people.
And me at the front like the
leader of some marching band.
Jesus, I sat up in me bed.
Didn't know what to make of it.
Here I am,
alone as a castaway,
and my night is spilling over
with people.
We're known to each other
quite the while now.
Yeah, we are.
Have you ever thought about
what I said?
Which? We never speak.
I see you at church.
I wouldn't go if you didn't.
I think you should evacuate
this country altogether.
Do you mean it?
- Why not?
- Do you want me to?
Maybe you should.
Maybe I will.
Come by the house sometime.
- I will maybe.
- You won't.
You should
quit the smokes.
Maybe I will vacate
the country!
[engine starts]
[crows cawing]
Maybe I will.
[Swan Lake playing]
[music continues playing]
[music crescendos]
Today is the day.
[music continues playing]
[Rosemary]
It's like teeth, isn't it?
- Come again.
- The buildings look like teeth.
Okay. [chuckles]
What got you
on the plane?
I lost my sense of purpose.
I have to go back
tomorrow.
What? You're kidding.
No, I've hired a man
for two days, no more.
You came here for one day?
I did. I bought tickets
to the ballet.
Will you take me?
Okay.
[Swan Lake playing]
[music continues playing]
I have to say, you looked like an absolute
goddess today watching that ballet.
[sighs]
She protected him.
- Who? The bird?
- The white swan.
You're the white swan.
How did you know?
- I was joking.
- I am, though.
Listen, Rosemary, I...
I'm from the school of thought
where it's best
not to let romantic ideas
ruin your life.
Who's doing that?
You?
But my head's
a lot harder than yours.
Right, but if you want
to be happy,
you have to be
a little more realistic.
[chuckles]
I'm not so sure
about love, but...
marriage is
a practical partnership.
"Who's gonna take out
the trash?"
- That kind of thing.
- What marriage?
Do you want to be married?
Is that a proposal?
No. I mean in general.
Do you want to be married?
- I suppose.
- Me too.
Anthony, however, I don't think
he's the marrying kind.
- How would you know?
- Because you're right there.
You are right next door.
And nothing happened.
I'm not next door now.
No, you are not.
And I find that
very promising.
Have you ever had a dream...
like since
you were a child...
and you couldn't let it go?
Sure.
What did you do?
- I let it go.
- Why?
Because the kinds of dreams
kids have make adults miserable.
Like a banker dreaming
of being a farmer?
Sure.
But let me ask you this.
Has your dream made you
happy or miserable?
Look at the lights
everywhere.
Everything to
your satisfaction?
'Twas grand.
The river is gorgeous.
Oh, my God.
What did you do?
You know
exactly what I did.
And now being the gentleman
that I am,
I'm going to walk you
back to your hotel.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
[line ringing]
[phone ringing]
Hello? Oh, hey, Adam.
Yeah, I'm flying over.
Is that right?
Well, all right.
I wanted to get your opinion
on something. Um...
I don't want to step
on anybody's toes, but...
Do you now?
Uh, uh...
No. No, no, no, no, no problem.
Uh-huh.
Well, uh...
Do you mean it?
Well, okay. All right, okay.
Bye.
[whinnies, snorts]
[Blister whinnies]
[grunts]
[Rosemary] Anthony.
Anthony.
[Blister whinnying]
[twittering]
[dog barking]
- [thunderclap]
- [cawing]
Anthony, I've seen ya!
- Go back down.
- Don't order me on my own property.
- Do you mind that much?
- Come down to the house.
- I can't. I have a full day.
- Don't you dare! I've seen enough of your back.
- I have a full day, I tell ya.
- Don't point that thing at Blister. He'll kill us both!
[woman] Irish Farmer.
You're not
an Irish farmer, though.
How do you know?
Well, for one thing you
don't look tired enough,
and for another your hands
don't look like feet.
Okay, well, everyone has a
fantasy, and mine is farming.
[scoffs]
What?
Most men's fantasies
aren't about farms.
[Blister whinnying]
[kicks against wall]
Open the shutters.
It's a good day
to keep them shut maybe.
I'll take what comes.
Go open them.
Open the shutters.
Take what comes.
Miss High and Mighty.
- [Blister whinnies wildly]
- [banging]
[kicking against wall]
[whinnying continues]
[thunderclap]
- Rosemary!
- Coming.
Mother of Christ.
- Rosemary!
- Hold on, hold on.
Jesus Christ!
Come in! Come in!
Did you see that?
I saw. It's rain.
Just give us the coat.
- You should see to your horse.
- She's all right.
- No, she's raising hell.
- There's nothing new there.
I can't stay.
Are you serious? Look at yourself.
Take off those boots.
Jesus. You've
every light burning.
It's in your honor.
It's a fortune in electricity.
I'm half blind with it.
Is that better?
- Just.
- [laughing]
- What?
- Jesus, would you look at the rain?
- It'd drown a fish!
- It would.
- Oh, God.
- [Flossie whimpering]
[Anthony]
Flossie! What's she doing?
She's jealous, I'd say.
Your horse is no better.
- Bad cess to her. Let her drown!
- I will not!
- You shouldn't have let her in.
- Why not?
I let you in.
- It's all right, Flossie.
- Come on now.
Here, make yourself useful.
Swab that floor.
[humming Swan Lake]
Mother of God, don't look.
The house is in ruins.
What are you talking?
It's a bloody showcase.
No, it's a sty.
If I'd known you were coming...
- Is it a bad time?
- Well, what time isn't?
You know, if it weren't
for rare signs from heaven,
I'd have nothing
in me mind but doom.
Rare signs from heaven,
is it?
And few they are.
Here, sit down.
Sit down. You're three quarters drowned.
Here's a towel.
I have a handkerchief.
Jesus God. How long has
that been in your pocket?
- I don't know.
- It's half alive.
Here. Give it. I'll wash it,
if it doesn't jump up and run.
- Look, I have to go. I'll come back another time.
- You'll come back, will you?
It's your first time here
since never.
Put down the weed whacker.
It's not a weed whacker.
It's a metal detector.
What are you after out there
besides the odd treasure?
Unexpected stuff.
- Coins maybe.
- Coins.
You're out looking for coins
in this weather?
- Rosemary, I...
- Just let me see if I have a Guinness.
I have a full day.
- [Adam] Why do you make everything so hard?
- [woman] Me?
Well, not you specifically.
The Irish.
It's like they never can really
seize the day, make a move.
Well, it's an island, you know?
You gotta be careful.
You don't want to call
attention to yourself.
Well, see, I like attention.
Of course you do.
You're an American.
I tell ya, I'm just here
for the minute.
You will visit
or I'll know why.
Now, they say this new bottled
Guinness is as good as the pub,
but that's a lie,
but it isn't too bad, maybe.
Does it taste of glass?
It does.
You know what?
Don't open it.
- I'm going to open it.
- Don't.
It's done. I've opened it.
- Jesus.
- It's useless but to drink now.
- All right, share it with me.
- Me? I couldn't.
- Pour it out into two glasses.
- You're only saying that
to divide the time
in half you'll stay.
Sit down and share it
or I won't touch it.
Look at you. You are a demon
tempting me with a drink.
[thunder rumbling]
- Slinte.
- Slinte.
Jesus,
have you got a rope?
It's a perfect day
to be hanging yourself.
Don't joke.
Do you think about it?
What? No.
Why? Do you think about it?
Suicide?
I think of little else.
- You're not serious. - Should probably
blow meself up and be done.
- With what?
- The shotgun.
Your father's old cannon?
You don't still have it?
I do. She lives in the hall closet.
Loaded and ready.
- I don't believe it.
- See for yourself.
Jesus.
Why do you keep it?
Against the depression.
What? You're depressed?
Are you serious?
I'm shattered with depression.
I'm shattered with black
clouds of depression.
But why?
Since I quit the cigarettes.
Oh, yeah, I heard you quit the damn smokes.
That's very good.
No, it isn't.
I've thought of taking poison.
I can't stand being alive. It's like a
kettle boiling blood that comes up into me.
You know, all these feelings.
Jesus, your own blood
turning against you.
- I can see it.
- Is it that plain?
Sit down again.
Don't stand over me.
It's only the rare signs from
heaven that give me hope.
What you've got is anxiety.
That's what it is.
- Is that the name for it?
- Sure.
It comes over me in waves.
It's nothing.
It's feelings boiling up,
isn't it?
Sure, I hate them.
Feelings are useless.
I think it's worse in a man.
I can't stand a man
with feelings.
A man with feelings
should be put down!
Can I make you a sandwich?
- No.
- I'm going to.
- I told ya, I have a full day.
- [silverware drawer slams]
[snoring]
- [whimpering]
- There you go, Flossie.
The Guinness is good.
- Do you like it?
- It's perfect.
It's not the pub.
No.
You should come by more.
A girl needs a chat.
Can I make you
another sandwich?
- Rosemary, I have to go.
- You do not!
I have to get to the airport.
My cousin is coming
from America.
- Who?
- Frank's son. Adam Reilly.
Him? The show-off?
The one with the grand car?
The one who missed
all the funerals?
Yes, that one. He's...
He's going to want
to be brought round.
- What do you mean?
- Well, he called me.
- He did?
- He's going to want to meet people.
Which?
- Well, you'd be good.
- Me?
We could swing by.
Swing by? You've never swung
by anywhere in your life.
All right, if you want to know
the utter truth...
I believe Adam is coming from
America in search of a wife.
That seems
a long way to come.
He has an idea an Irish woman
would be made of better stuff
than these girls
he meets in America.
- That's true. What about Mary O'Connor?
- Mary O'Connor?
Does she still have
that whistling tooth?
Yeah, she does. God love her.
No, I was...
I was thinking more
somebody like you.
Me?
What? Who's like me?
Well...
y-you are.
I was thinking that maybe I
might let him take a look at you.
Take a look at me
in what way?
Your beauty.
My beauty.
Well, this is the first
I've heard about beauty.
Oh, don't pretend
you don't know.
Do you want to put me
in a shop window
like one of those Euro
floozies in Amsterdam?
- What are you talking about? Amsterdam?
- I'm talking about your cousin!
And you'd bring him round to look me
over, would ya? Like I was a red heifer.
I see what you mean about
the smoking and giving it up.
- You're not yourself.
- How would you know?
- Your temper's rough.
- Did he offer you money?
- I've got to get the car. He'll be waiting.
- Don't walk out on me.
I have to go. Don't you make
me reach for that shotgun.
Jesus Christ, Rosemary. The shotgun?
What are you talking?
If you turn your back on me,
I swear by Satan,
I will blow a hole in ya.
Christ, Rosemary, if it's this
bad, go back on the cigarettes.
You'd put me back
on the smokes, would ya?
Bad cess to ya.
Hey, don't be cursing me!
After what I've been through
with the detoxification.
Just sit down.
You're upsetting Flossie.
He lands soon.
I still have to get the car.
I'll drive ya.
You'll be there. Sit down.
- You'll calm yourself then.
- All right.
Shh.
- You'll have another Guinness.
- I can't have two.
You haven't had one.
You had a half.
- Jesus Christ.
- Shh. Peace now.
[thunder rumbling]
[Blister whinnying]
[kicking against door]
Drink the Guinness.
Go on.
- Isn't that nice?
- Mm-hmm.
Are you a homosexual?
- What?
- Are you gay? Are you gay?
No!
No.
Don't stand over me.
Why would you try to give
me away to your cousin?
It's a solid idea.
He's a fine lad.
He's rich.
- So what?
- So what?
- Don't you want to be rich?
- No, I want a man!
- Adam's a man.
- Adam smells like soap.
He smells like
the lilies of the field.
Why do you want to
smell the cows on me
when you can smell
the lilies on him?
I'm the one who should smell good.
A man should stink.
- Like you!
- Oh, well, thanks for that!
- Don't provoke me!
- Me provoke?
The fact of you is enough
to put me off my game.
It's good
that you're tall.
Men are beasts.
They need that height to balance
the truth and the goodness of women.
There's no answer
to blather like that.
Hope, it's a force...
and women are the salvation
of the world.
I believe that.
I mean to make you believe it.
I'd like to believe it.
There's no truth to that business
of you and the donkey, is there?
- Who told you that?
- I never believed it.
I'll kill Cleary one day.
You should have come
for yourself.
No.
Thought maybe it was the
cigarettes put you off, so I quit.
- You did that with regards to me?
- I did.
Brought me to my knees. I can tell you,
my emotions were unspeakable, Anthony.
Unspeakable.
I was desperate.
I went to New York.
- What? When?
- Tuesday.
[thunder rumbles]
[electricity crackles]
There goes the electric.
You went to New York
on Tuesday? How?
On a plane
and back Wednesday.
You went to New York City
for one day?
- And I kissed Adam.
- You what?
I kissed him!
I kissed him, I kissed him.
[loud thunderclap]
[captain] Good morning, folks. We are
now starting our descent into Ireland.
Are you being met?
I am, yes. You?
No.
You snore.
[chuckles] Really?
Yes.
I don't think I do.
Well,
you must be single.
What stops you?
Is it Fiona?
- Are you still mooning over Fiona?
- No.
- I think it's Fiona.
- Oh, to hell with Fiona!
I opened my heart to her
and she was gone like yesterday.
What did you say to her?
Never mind.
- Say it to me.
- No.
Have you ever wondered...
what I wore
when I wore less?
- You've lost me.
- Have you seen me naked in your mind?
Oh, Jesus Christ, Rosemary. Naked?
Shut up with that. I see you at church.
You say I'm beautiful.
So have you thought about me?
Have you thought
about my shape?
- I don't know.
- Have you thought about picking me up
and carrying me off
to the moon?
No.
What is it? Just tell me.
Are you a virgin?
I'm past the time!
I've still to get the car!
No, I'm driving you!
- You kissed him!
- It was he that kissed me!
That's what got him worked up!
That's why he's coming!
Time is running out.
Now you tell me your secret, Anthony.
I told Fiona
and she ran like Satan.
I am off-kilter.
It doesn't matter how.
Is it because
you hate people?
No, I don't hate no one!
You can't shock me.
I have thought of everything.
I've made my peace with it.
Go on.
- What?
- [sniffling]
All right.
Okay.
I believe that
I am a honey bee.
Say that again.
I believe that
I am a honey bee.
I'll get the car.
I don't believe it.
You don't think you're a honey bee!
You're having me on.
You do? How long?
I don't know. I think that I'm a honey bee.
I always have.
- You are Anthony Reilly.
- Whatever I am, God knows me.
Is this why you never told me
I was beautiful?
Well, that and the nearness
of your farm to mine.
And it's true.
Bees don't like smoke.
Let me drive.
- No.
- Slow down.
I don't care if you think
you're a bee, Anthony.
You think you're a bee!
I mean, you think you're a bee!
Keep your eyes on the road.
Never mind! I don't care!
I'm half dying
with living for you.
[Anthony] Watch out!
Mind the road.
- Do you think I'm a bee?
- No.
- May I know what I am?
- You're a flower.
The most beautiful
bloom that grows.
- Do you really think that?
- Yes.
Anthony,
you are good for me.
No, I'm a disgrace! We'll get Adam.
You've already kissed him.
- He kissed me!
- You'll marry and go to America.
- Have you never thought to marry me yourself?
- I have.
- What stopped ya?
- I came to your house and when I looked
for my Mam's ring,
sure I'd lost it altogether.
Is that what you've been doing with that metal
detector? Looking for your mother's ring?
The fact that I lost it
said it all.
A man like me
should not marry.
- Watch out!
- [sheep bleating]
You're going to
bust the axle.
- Everybody thinks they're something they're not!
- But not a bee.
Watch out! Watch out!
[crash]
- You've destroyed the car.
- It's fine.
- It's not fine!
- It's my car!
- Look at it!
- To hell with the car!
- [thunderclaps]
- [whinnying]
What? Oh, perfect!
Perfect! Would you
make up your mind!
Are you raining
or shining on us?
Tell me, standing on
this holy land of Ireland,
why shouldn't you marry me?
I see things.
I'm delusional.
For the love of God, woman,
I think I'm a bug.
So what? Sometimes
I think I'm a house cat.
- You do not!
- But I don't stay with it.
Because I know I'm a swan.
You do not literally
think you're a swan.
I do. Does that make me
useless as a wife?
Don't muddy the waters.
Jesus Christ in heaven,
we're walking in circles.
We're standing on your land.
Just give us a chance.
[sighs]
If it was meant to be,
I'd have found the ring.
We say what's meant.
Life is here. We name it.
- But Adam is waiting.
- Look at me.
Look how I look at you.
I don't know if I can live
shut in a house with a woman.
You can have the winds
and the fields.
You just think of me
as the open door.
And here, fool.
You can have your ring, too.
- What's this?
- Found it by my gate.
My mother's ring.
Thought it heaven-sent
to give me hope.
What do I have to do? Do I have to
swat at you to get you to sting me?
- I'm afraid.
- Of what?
Of love.
Just think of the pleasure.
Take your ring.
Sure it's yours.
It always was.
That's it!
What are you doing?
- Look up that hill.
- What?
There's a bit of light
up there.
And I don't know about you, but I'm
goddamned tired of living in the rain.
I'd like to bring a fella up
here who knows one song, not two.
Don't let him escape.
Lock the door.
I'm told he's got
a singing voice,
but no one's heard it
save his wife.
And she's not talking.
[audience chuckling]
[cheering, applause]
Okay.
- I'm mad too, you know.
- How are you mad?
You'll find out,
when it's too late.
- Will you take down the gates?
- Never!
Stood up?
Maybe. I don't know.
Have you ever seen
the Ring of Kerry?
I have, yes.
Would you like to
see it again?
The voice I heard
in the fields,
it didn't say, "Go."
Not just that.
It said, "Go to her."
[Blister whinnying]
Look at that mad horse
of mine.
[whinnying continues]
Now the summertime
Is coming
And the flowers
Are richly blooming
And the wild mountain thyme
Grows around
The blooming heather
[Tony] They say if an Irishman
dies while he's telling a story,
you can rest assured,
he'll be back.
To pluck
Wild mountain thyme
All around
The blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go
I need you to come up.
Rosemary, come on.
I will build my love
A bower
By the clear
And silver fountain
And I'll cover it over
With the flowers
Of the mountain
Will you go, lassie, go
If my true love
She'll not come
I will surely
Find another
To pull wild mountain thyme
[all] All around
The blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go
And we'll all go together
To pull wild mountain thyme
All around
The blooming heather
Will you go, lassie, go
Will you go, lassie, go
Will you go, lassie
Go
["I'll Be Singing"
by Sinad O'Connor playing]
[woman]
Climb until your legs
Are weary
Climb until your heart
Goes mad
Climb because
You love me
Dearly
Up we'll go on a path
The good and bad
And when you come
To my window, laddie
I'll be singing
When you come
To my window, laddie
What a joy
Strength to strength
I'll go
And you'll go with me
Any length we'll go to
As the road leads on
With your old coat
And me beside you
Up the steep slope
Of the mountain
We will go
And when you come
To my window, laddie
I'll be singing
When you come
To my window, laddie
What a joy
With your old coat
And your eyes of fire
Up the steep slope
Of the mountain higher
We will go
We will go
And when you come
To my window, laddie
I'll be singing
When you come
To my window, laddie
What a joy
With your old coat
And your eyes of fire
Up the steep slope
Of the mountain higher
We will go
We will go
With your old coat
And your eyes of fire
Up the steep slope
Of the mountain higher
We will go
We will go
With your old coat
And your eyes of fire
Up the steep slope
Of the mountain higher
We will go
We will go
We will go