MotherFatherSon (2019) s01e05 Episode Script
Episode 5
If you did separate, I'd stay with you? Your father and I are not going to separate.
I don't want you to go.
Why can't I stay with you? Why do we make a mistake? Why do "we", or why do I? Lack of information.
Stupidity.
Or as a protest.
Because he's wasted 20 years trying to be the man - that you wanted him to be.
- He needs to find out who he is.
Sometimes I speak, not think.
Don't tell Father.
- Your son can't be trusted.
- What have you done? She doesn't believe it yet, but she will.
We need to talk.
The three of us.
You don't know him.
Not like this.
Not the man who's about to arrive.
[RHYTHMIC CLANGING.]
Morning, Max.
Good morning, Mr Goldstein.
CRASH, YELLING [ALARM BUZZES.]
That's enough.
Right, back to work, everyone.
- Let's go.
- Come on.
Back to work! [ALARM STOPS.]
[CAWING.]
Your father's on his way.
[DOOR OPENS.]
- How are your lessons, Max? - Very good, sir.
- And how's Mr Goldstein? - He's an excellent teacher, sir.
You're fond of him? His lessons are thorough, sir.
I have a lesson for you.
- Yes, sir.
- I need you to deliver this letter.
- To Mr Roberts, sir? - He works in this factory.
You're to wait for his reply.
Can you do that for me? Mr Roberts! Mr Roberts! Letter for Mr Roberts! Mr Roberts? Mr Roberts? A letter, sir.
For you, sir.
And I'm supposed to wait for your reply.
Sir? I need your reply.
I can't lose this job.
My family depends on me.
- You tell your fa - [HE GASPS.]
Sir, Mr Roberts says, "I can't lose this job.
My family depends on me.
"Tell your father, my family depends on me.
" A worker lost his hand today.
- Yes, sir.
- Whose fault is it? Is it my fault? No, sir.
So it's Mr Roberts' fault? Yes, sir.
So he had to go.
Yes, sir.
- Put your hand in my pocket.
- Sir? Put your hand in my pocket.
What is it? Iron ore, sir.
- The raw material for this factory.
- Yes, sir.
Pure iron is soft, you can bend it, shape it, but add impurities, carbon, dirt, and you make it stronger.
- You make it steel.
- Yes, sir.
Look at your tutor.
Would you say he's iron or steel? A clever man.
Learned in poetry and literature.
A kind and gentle man.
Your friend, it seems.
Right now he thinks that I'm cruel.
A cruel father to such a sensitive young boy.
Yet why doesn't he speak out? Is that the kind of man YOU want to be? Is that the man YOU want to be? No, sir.
You're iron, my son.
I'm going to make you steel.
Can I come in? Right now we're standing here, the three of us.
At this moment, nothing's happened, nothing's been decided.
The two of you have spoken, I understand that.
You've shared information, that's fine.
People talk, it doesn't matter.
What matters is what people do.
And all you've done is to invite me up to this house for dinner.
- Dinner? - Yes, right.
- Max, there's no dinner.
- Well, there could be.
A family dinner? I want us to take a moment, yeah.
To do what? To appreciate this.
There's no no yelling, no crying, no-one getting angry.
No-one's no-one's making threats.
Just silence.
Are we going to stand here all night? Sure, I can do that, I can do whatever you want me to do.
I'm yours, right? There, see? You called me up here.
I'm not going anywhere.
I'm in no rush.
So, why not just take a moment? I want to make sure.
I need for all of us to make sure that this is a line we want to cross.
Have you eaten? - No.
- I don't want to eat.
When was the last time the three of us actually had a meal together? - A long time ago.
- What, about 20 years? - Yeah, something like that.
- Yeah, I remember.
I remember actually the last meal as a family.
So come on.
We'll eat.
And we'll think and decide.
OK.
What have you got? Are you all right? Sorry.
I got it.
How long before the three of us will sit like this together again? Depends on tonight.
That's what I've been trying to tell you.
Do you know why you remember our last meal? Because you knew you were going to divorce me the next day.
You didn't know? I thought we had something worth saving.
Yes, we had something worth saving.
We also had something that couldn't be saved.
Did you give that a chance to discuss it? That's what we're going to do now.
Talk.
I have a suggestion.
- That we don't talk.
- Not talk? Not right now.
Not after the meal.
- Not at all.
- I told you! - That's why you're here.
- That's why we called you.
- That's why you called me.
Yes.
- To talk.
- But that's not why I'm here.
- Why ARE you here? To tell you that I don't think we should talk.
- This meal is a trick! - No, it's not a trick.
- So we feel close.
- It's not a trick! Like a real family.
The plate, the plate, the dropped plate.
What about the plate? The plate you dropped, it was deliberate.
It wasn't the stroke.
Be honest.
Max, you can't do this again.
- You dropped it deliberately.
- Refuse to talk.
- To let us all know.
- Let you know what? That this was not going to end well.
You don't want it to end well, do you? But it can.
We can just eat our meal here, we will say our goodbyes and go back to our lives.
Our broken lives.
Caden, you're in love.
You're getting better, things are looking up! Why would you want to fight with me? Over what? My work? - We have to talk about this.
- If we talk, we fight.
This is the line, this is it, this is the decision.
Do you want to go over that line or not? If you go over the line, there's no coming back.
How does it end? The way all fights end.
Badly.
Unless not another word? Then good for you.
Good for me? Good for you too, good for all of us.
- A cover-up? - Cover-up! Families are a cover-up.
Families are hundreds of cover-ups.
Let's just finish our meal.
And then we talk.
All right.
Let's do it.
Let's just get it over with.
Let's talk.
I'm not going to stop you any more.
That's it! I was trying to help you out, but that didn't work, so let's Come on, let's go in the other room and we will talk.
This is you.
Your mother's doing it for you.
No.
Fuck you, Dad.
Great.
OK.
Thank you.
Well, there we have it.
We can pretend that this is about the news or, er, ethics, journalism, society, whatever, but, no, this is about an angry son wanting to tell his father to go fuck himself.
And that's all.
Well, now you've done it.
"Fuck you, Dad.
" Good.
Do you feel better? Fine.
Now be a man.
- Now be a man? - Be a man.
Tell your mother you don't need her to fight your fights, - and we can all go home.
- All this make-believe.
All this fake family.
- What's fake? - This family.
- It's not true.
- There's no love.
- That's not true.
- And there never was.
You hear him? He's wrong.
He can't make decisions like this.
His thinking is not clear.
I'm sitting right here! I'm not part of your conspiracy.
And I'm not afraid of you.
Should I be afraid of YOU? Is that what you want? We are going to talk about extortion, blackmail - Oh, Kathryn! - .
.
bribery - Kathryn!, KATHRYN! Stop! - .
.
theft Stop! Right now! We have one more chance.
Please end this before it starts.
You're brilliant.
You're a brilliant bully.
I'm belligerent when I'm right.
I'm right about this.
Are you ever wrong? I didn't realise you wanted to save our marriage.
You really are something else.
Why are you doing this? Are you doing it for him? It won't help him.
You're trying to protect us? Yes, yes, I am.
And I'm afraid.
For who? For us? For you, for him The only person who could hurt us is you.
[PIANO PLAYS SOFTLY.]
Happy Birthday, Max.
Thank you, sir.
17 years old.
Yes, sir.
It can't have escaped your attention that you've led a sheltered life.
Sheltered in what sense, sir? Well, you know, the world outside my factories The passions, the pleasures What do you need me to know? You're a small-town boy, and it shows.
In particular, you know nothing of women.
Women, sir? As a man talking to another man, tell me, what do you know of love? Nothing, sir.
Russian caviar.
Foie gras Shaved Italian white truffles And here we have, poached in butter, the lobster tail, and steak tartare with accoutrements.
Do these foods impress you? I've never tried them, sir.
Today you try them.
You try them all.
Your birthday present.
Top-floor suite.
I'll wait here.
[SOFT JAZZ PLAYS.]
Hello? [WATER SPLASHES.]
You were expecting me? Someone like you, yes.
A prostitute, you mean? Yes, ma'am.
Were you hoping for a younger woman? Ma'am, I wasn't hoping for anyone.
Have you ever seen a naked woman? I have, yes.
Not a magazine, in the flesh.
Yes, ma'am.
May I ask where? There's a lake near our house.
Last summer I saw a young woman swimming.
- She thought she was alone.
- Are you sure? Of what? That she thought she was alone? You are the most eligible bachelor in the state.
You go for regular walks? Country strolls? - Yes? - Yes.
Your father is not the only one who leaves nothing to chance.
Pass me my towel.
Dry me.
It's not an errand.
Your father worries you'll fall in love with the first naked lady who swims in a lake.
That you're vulnerable.
Susceptible.
He's right, of course.
I understand his concerns.
He wants you to enjoy the many pleasures on offer.
But under conditions he controls.
So that you'll never mistake these feelings for love.
Because I'm old and a woman you couldn't possibly love I'm going to teach you something.
Something I was forced to learn.
Aren't you going to ask what it was? What did you learn, ma'am? How to become numb.
Sex doesn't influence me.
Doesn't influence the way I feel.
Doesn't influence my moods or my decisions.
It's just a smell, a sound, a sensation.
I keep my real self far away, in another body.
One that no-one else can ever see or touch or know.
I'd like to thank you for your time, but I'm sorry, there's been a mistake.
Well, then.
Our business here is done.
And I'm sure you'll still be paid the full amount.
I'm always paid the full amount.
Thank you, sir.
I appreciate all the thought that's gone into these arrangements, and I promise I won't make any rash decisions of the heart.
I knew you'd say no.
You're pretending it's because you're a proper young man, but, er, you're a nervous virgin, shy and overwhelmed.
I have some suggestions to deal with the issues you raised.
I was thinking that if I met someone, I'd introduce her to you first, before I became too attached.
Passions are powerful forces.
You think you can control them better than other men? Better than me? I fell in love once.
With your mother.
She was a dancer in Chicago at a club called Chez Paris.
I saw her one night, under bright lights, and lost my mind.
For many months I thought of little else.
I neglected my business.
Travelled to Chicago as often as I could.
In the end, I married her, brought her home, as if I were her saviour.
But she belonged on stage.
She was addicted to the adoration of many men.
At home, with nothing to do, drink took hold of her.
So strong on stage, so weak in real life.
You see, Max, there are only two types of marriage, those that add, those that take away.
I thought a child might steady her, but you only made her worse.
And one day, I came home to find her in the kitchen, sitting there, a drink in one hand, cigarette in the other.
She'd placed you on a breadboard, a tiny baby, as though you were a little loaf of bread, with a knife by your head.
When I told her she'd never see you again, you know what she said? Nothing at all.
My mother's alive? She's dead.
Like I said.
Dead to the real world.
She's in a sanatorium.
Now, son, I want you to go back upstairs and fuck her.
[DOOR OPENS.]
[SOFT JAZZ PLAYS.]
[HE RETCHES.]
So he told you about your poor mom? Take off your gown.
Take off your gown.
Yes, Max.
How did you know? How did I know what? That I'm in love.
You said at dinner, "You're in love.
" How do you know? I haven't told you.
But I already know how, don't I? You taught me but who would you have used? Andrew.
My friend.
My ONLY friend.
Someone I like.
Someone close to me.
His job was to help me.
Help me walk and talk.
Someone for me spying for you.
Max, is that true? Max.
Is it true? My bedroom, is it bugged? A hospital? Spying in a military hospital? And what about here? In this house? Do you listen to Mum's phone calls? Max?! Answer! What was I supposed to do? Let Caden tell every pretty nurse everything about me? We know the secrets of nations.
The private lives of presidents and prime ministers.
We could break governments.
It's not an exaggeration, or showing off, it's true.
So I took precautions, that's all.
Sensible precautions.
You think I did this to find out what you say about me or who you sleep with? I have a duty to my secrets.
Tell me her name.
You really are in love, aren't you? You're doing this for her.
To show how much she means to you.
To show how you're different from me.
You're a lover now.
It's fine, Caden.
You don't want to follow the same path as me, I'm OK with that.
Tell me her name.
Her name is Orla, Orla Reid.
She was born in Belfast.
The youngest of three children.
She's 25 years old.
Her mother died when she was seven.
Joined the Army when she was 16.
I've seen all the assessment reports, her medical files.
I know her better than you.
And and what did you find out? Everything you should have.
You couldn't let me have a friend.
You couldn't even let me have a lover.
She doesn't love you.
Caden! Caden! Are you OK? Jesus! What were you doing? Caden! I tried to make you great.
I'm not trying any more.
You were angry when I tried.
You're angry when I don't.
You're just an angry, angry boy! - Tell Mum how you tried.
- Tell me what? Tell Mum how you tried to make me a man.
What are you talking about? Tell her about your lessons.
You don't have to do this.
All you do is print other people's secrets! And you expect me to keep yours! No, no secret, no.
A bond, a father and a son.
- A bond.
- What lessons? What are you talking about? He divorced you so he could teach me his lessons.
The same lessons his father taught him.
How to be a man.
How to succeed in this world.
He divorced you to get you out of the way.
It had nothing to do with It had nothing to do with what? It had nothing to do with losing the baby.
He was always planned to get you out of the way.
Max, I need you to explain what was just said.
I need you to explain what my son is talking about.
What lessons? What is it? "A report on the future of steel by Maximilian Finch.
" - I didn't ask this of you.
- No, I thought it prudent.
You thought it prudent.
Sir, today the US steel industry employs 350,000 workers.
When I was born, it employed When you were squeezed out, pushed out, rejected.
Birth is a form of rejection, is it not? When I was born, it employed over 550,000.
"Steel production in the United States is set to drop by half.
" - Says who? You? - Yes, sir.
"Capital investment in Finch's Factories has remained at 2%.
" We spend only to patch them up.
But for the past 20 years, the Japanese have been building new plants, new furnaces, energy efficient, faster, cheaper.
"Today Japan produces 136 tonnes of steel for 1,000 man hours.
" Is that so? At our factories, we produce 96 tonnes.
40 tonnes less.
Yes, and it's not the men, sir, they're good men, it's their tools, it's the equipment.
Well, if it isn't the men, who is it? Well, sir, it's us.
You mean, I think, more accurately that it is me.
US Steel are diversifying out of steel.
My source at the company tells me they're moving into real estate, chemicals and oil.
They're planning to buy Marathon Oil for 4 billion.
Their long-term ambition is for only a third of their profits - coming from steel.
- Your mother She passed away.
When did she pass, sir? One month ago.
A month? More like two.
And the funeral? A small affair.
- Who attended, sir? - I was there.
No-one else.
She'd no family, no friends, no loved ones.
How was the service, sir? Quiet.
Dignified.
I was profoundly moved by it.
She's at peace now, peace she never found in life, and quite frankly, it's a relief.
Do not stand at my grave and cry I am not there I did not die Do not stand at my grave and cry.
[THUD, GROAN.]
[LABOURED BREATHING.]
Help [HE SPLUTTERS.]
Help [HE GRUNTS AND GROANS.]
[RINGING TONE.]
You know the rest.
Bought my first newspaper and built my life.
You were abused, physically, mentally.
It was abuse, and your mother would've stopped it.
My mother? My mo Mother couldn't take care of herself.
Did it ever cross your mind that maybe he was lying? Maybe she never tried to kill you? Maybe she loved you? That's why he got her out of the way? Because she loved you, because she would've protected you? Because no mother would've let that happen to her child.
No.
No.
That's not right, I After my father died, I went to my mother's hospital.
It wasn't a lie.
That he had her committed? Oh, no, I don't doubt it.
That's what powerful men did when they wanted women out the way.
He was one of the most powerful men in the state.
She was a dancer from a club.
What chance did she have? What chance did I have? You see everyone.
But you don't see him.
You watched your father die? That's what you said.
You looked him in the eyes as close as we're standing now? Closer.
All that pain.
What would I have done? You did more than watch, Dad.
You made sure.
Why would I save him? Why would I do that? He wouldn't have saved that man.
It was an opportunity.
A business opportunity, to be free.
And I took it, as he taught me.
It took steel to do that.
You've been wanting to tell that story your whole life, haven't you? I'm so sorry.
The pain I caused you.
But I protected you from some of it too.
All I wanted was for us to be like this.
Why couldn't we be like this? Why can't we be like this? The lessons he taught you YOUR father's lessons? No.
You were never your father to me.
I censored his lessons.
I tried to teach you those ideas without his cruelty.
I compromised, because I cared about you so much.
The lessons failed.
You needed cruelty, cruelty was why those lessons worked.
Cruelty was the whole point.
You look at this family and you think cruelty's missing? It never crossed my mind to pity you, but right now, I do.
I pity you because you never stood a chance.
A chance for what? Being a father.
What do you know about being a father? What do you know? You know nothing.
I hated my father.
He was a monster, but he was right.
About this world, about how to succeed.
Have you ever? How many men are like me in this world? I'm sorry, I wanted you to be the same.
Did you make him fire people? Did you hire prostitutes? He was 17, he was not a child any more.
He learned how to how to be safe, how to be careful.
So you taught him how to fight and fire and fuck.
- I taught him how to succeed.
- Please.
Mum and Dad, I don't want us to fight any more! Oh, I'm not just fighting your father.
I'm fighting his father.
I'm fighting all these fucking fathers.
Just let him go.
- I hated him.
He was cruel.
- Yes.
But he was right.
- He wasn't kind.
He wasn't gentle.
- I'm coming after you, not because of what was done to my son or because of what was done to you.
- It's not gentle.
- Because it keeps on being done.
It is the way.
Then let's find another.
I came up here to tell you we shouldn't talk, because I could see where this would end.
Now here we are! After everything I told you, you still want to come after me? Oh, I'm coming after you because of everything you told me.
Be careful.
Be very careful.
Kathryn, ask yourself, is this a man I want on my side or a man I want to fight with? This is your father talking.
You'll become a threat, like any other threat.
- Your father.
- And I deal with threats all day long.
- How many threats do you deal with? - None like you.
And the people you care about? Orla? Scott? - How hard will it be to break them? - Listen to yourself! If you hurt them, if you so much as utter her name again, I will spread your most damaging secrets all over the fucking news.
Caden for the first time, you sound like a man.
Max.
Max? There's a news story.
Right now, I want to ask, would you run it or not? What's the story? You met the Prime Minister, both of you, and his son, Saif.
Long time ago.
Saif was a boy.
Yeah, well, he's at Cambridge now.
Studying to be a doctor.
Yeah.
Smart kid.
Good kid.
There was a time when he was struggling.
What, he started drinking? One night, drunk, the son of the first Muslim Prime Minister of the United Kingdom started browsing fanatical Islamic websites.
In 10 Downing Street.
So, why? Why would the son do that? Did he suddenly decide to become a terrorist? No, of course not.
No.
The son did it because he knew how damaging it would be to his father, how it could bring down his father's career.
The son knew.
Here's my question, would you run that story? Nope.
Caden? The son made a mistake.
Yes, he did.
Max, listen to me.
I'm always listening.
You can't print that story.
It's not my world.
I don't shape it, it shapes me.
I don't run it, it runs me.
If it wasn't me, it would be someone else like me but it won't ever be anyone like you.
Max I would run the story about you.
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we, also, should walk in newness of life, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.
My father was a great man.
I don't want you to go.
Why can't I stay with you? Why do we make a mistake? Why do "we", or why do I? Lack of information.
Stupidity.
Or as a protest.
Because he's wasted 20 years trying to be the man - that you wanted him to be.
- He needs to find out who he is.
Sometimes I speak, not think.
Don't tell Father.
- Your son can't be trusted.
- What have you done? She doesn't believe it yet, but she will.
We need to talk.
The three of us.
You don't know him.
Not like this.
Not the man who's about to arrive.
[RHYTHMIC CLANGING.]
Morning, Max.
Good morning, Mr Goldstein.
CRASH, YELLING [ALARM BUZZES.]
That's enough.
Right, back to work, everyone.
- Let's go.
- Come on.
Back to work! [ALARM STOPS.]
[CAWING.]
Your father's on his way.
[DOOR OPENS.]
- How are your lessons, Max? - Very good, sir.
- And how's Mr Goldstein? - He's an excellent teacher, sir.
You're fond of him? His lessons are thorough, sir.
I have a lesson for you.
- Yes, sir.
- I need you to deliver this letter.
- To Mr Roberts, sir? - He works in this factory.
You're to wait for his reply.
Can you do that for me? Mr Roberts! Mr Roberts! Letter for Mr Roberts! Mr Roberts? Mr Roberts? A letter, sir.
For you, sir.
And I'm supposed to wait for your reply.
Sir? I need your reply.
I can't lose this job.
My family depends on me.
- You tell your fa - [HE GASPS.]
Sir, Mr Roberts says, "I can't lose this job.
My family depends on me.
"Tell your father, my family depends on me.
" A worker lost his hand today.
- Yes, sir.
- Whose fault is it? Is it my fault? No, sir.
So it's Mr Roberts' fault? Yes, sir.
So he had to go.
Yes, sir.
- Put your hand in my pocket.
- Sir? Put your hand in my pocket.
What is it? Iron ore, sir.
- The raw material for this factory.
- Yes, sir.
Pure iron is soft, you can bend it, shape it, but add impurities, carbon, dirt, and you make it stronger.
- You make it steel.
- Yes, sir.
Look at your tutor.
Would you say he's iron or steel? A clever man.
Learned in poetry and literature.
A kind and gentle man.
Your friend, it seems.
Right now he thinks that I'm cruel.
A cruel father to such a sensitive young boy.
Yet why doesn't he speak out? Is that the kind of man YOU want to be? Is that the man YOU want to be? No, sir.
You're iron, my son.
I'm going to make you steel.
Can I come in? Right now we're standing here, the three of us.
At this moment, nothing's happened, nothing's been decided.
The two of you have spoken, I understand that.
You've shared information, that's fine.
People talk, it doesn't matter.
What matters is what people do.
And all you've done is to invite me up to this house for dinner.
- Dinner? - Yes, right.
- Max, there's no dinner.
- Well, there could be.
A family dinner? I want us to take a moment, yeah.
To do what? To appreciate this.
There's no no yelling, no crying, no-one getting angry.
No-one's no-one's making threats.
Just silence.
Are we going to stand here all night? Sure, I can do that, I can do whatever you want me to do.
I'm yours, right? There, see? You called me up here.
I'm not going anywhere.
I'm in no rush.
So, why not just take a moment? I want to make sure.
I need for all of us to make sure that this is a line we want to cross.
Have you eaten? - No.
- I don't want to eat.
When was the last time the three of us actually had a meal together? - A long time ago.
- What, about 20 years? - Yeah, something like that.
- Yeah, I remember.
I remember actually the last meal as a family.
So come on.
We'll eat.
And we'll think and decide.
OK.
What have you got? Are you all right? Sorry.
I got it.
How long before the three of us will sit like this together again? Depends on tonight.
That's what I've been trying to tell you.
Do you know why you remember our last meal? Because you knew you were going to divorce me the next day.
You didn't know? I thought we had something worth saving.
Yes, we had something worth saving.
We also had something that couldn't be saved.
Did you give that a chance to discuss it? That's what we're going to do now.
Talk.
I have a suggestion.
- That we don't talk.
- Not talk? Not right now.
Not after the meal.
- Not at all.
- I told you! - That's why you're here.
- That's why we called you.
- That's why you called me.
Yes.
- To talk.
- But that's not why I'm here.
- Why ARE you here? To tell you that I don't think we should talk.
- This meal is a trick! - No, it's not a trick.
- So we feel close.
- It's not a trick! Like a real family.
The plate, the plate, the dropped plate.
What about the plate? The plate you dropped, it was deliberate.
It wasn't the stroke.
Be honest.
Max, you can't do this again.
- You dropped it deliberately.
- Refuse to talk.
- To let us all know.
- Let you know what? That this was not going to end well.
You don't want it to end well, do you? But it can.
We can just eat our meal here, we will say our goodbyes and go back to our lives.
Our broken lives.
Caden, you're in love.
You're getting better, things are looking up! Why would you want to fight with me? Over what? My work? - We have to talk about this.
- If we talk, we fight.
This is the line, this is it, this is the decision.
Do you want to go over that line or not? If you go over the line, there's no coming back.
How does it end? The way all fights end.
Badly.
Unless not another word? Then good for you.
Good for me? Good for you too, good for all of us.
- A cover-up? - Cover-up! Families are a cover-up.
Families are hundreds of cover-ups.
Let's just finish our meal.
And then we talk.
All right.
Let's do it.
Let's just get it over with.
Let's talk.
I'm not going to stop you any more.
That's it! I was trying to help you out, but that didn't work, so let's Come on, let's go in the other room and we will talk.
This is you.
Your mother's doing it for you.
No.
Fuck you, Dad.
Great.
OK.
Thank you.
Well, there we have it.
We can pretend that this is about the news or, er, ethics, journalism, society, whatever, but, no, this is about an angry son wanting to tell his father to go fuck himself.
And that's all.
Well, now you've done it.
"Fuck you, Dad.
" Good.
Do you feel better? Fine.
Now be a man.
- Now be a man? - Be a man.
Tell your mother you don't need her to fight your fights, - and we can all go home.
- All this make-believe.
All this fake family.
- What's fake? - This family.
- It's not true.
- There's no love.
- That's not true.
- And there never was.
You hear him? He's wrong.
He can't make decisions like this.
His thinking is not clear.
I'm sitting right here! I'm not part of your conspiracy.
And I'm not afraid of you.
Should I be afraid of YOU? Is that what you want? We are going to talk about extortion, blackmail - Oh, Kathryn! - .
.
bribery - Kathryn!, KATHRYN! Stop! - .
.
theft Stop! Right now! We have one more chance.
Please end this before it starts.
You're brilliant.
You're a brilliant bully.
I'm belligerent when I'm right.
I'm right about this.
Are you ever wrong? I didn't realise you wanted to save our marriage.
You really are something else.
Why are you doing this? Are you doing it for him? It won't help him.
You're trying to protect us? Yes, yes, I am.
And I'm afraid.
For who? For us? For you, for him The only person who could hurt us is you.
[PIANO PLAYS SOFTLY.]
Happy Birthday, Max.
Thank you, sir.
17 years old.
Yes, sir.
It can't have escaped your attention that you've led a sheltered life.
Sheltered in what sense, sir? Well, you know, the world outside my factories The passions, the pleasures What do you need me to know? You're a small-town boy, and it shows.
In particular, you know nothing of women.
Women, sir? As a man talking to another man, tell me, what do you know of love? Nothing, sir.
Russian caviar.
Foie gras Shaved Italian white truffles And here we have, poached in butter, the lobster tail, and steak tartare with accoutrements.
Do these foods impress you? I've never tried them, sir.
Today you try them.
You try them all.
Your birthday present.
Top-floor suite.
I'll wait here.
[SOFT JAZZ PLAYS.]
Hello? [WATER SPLASHES.]
You were expecting me? Someone like you, yes.
A prostitute, you mean? Yes, ma'am.
Were you hoping for a younger woman? Ma'am, I wasn't hoping for anyone.
Have you ever seen a naked woman? I have, yes.
Not a magazine, in the flesh.
Yes, ma'am.
May I ask where? There's a lake near our house.
Last summer I saw a young woman swimming.
- She thought she was alone.
- Are you sure? Of what? That she thought she was alone? You are the most eligible bachelor in the state.
You go for regular walks? Country strolls? - Yes? - Yes.
Your father is not the only one who leaves nothing to chance.
Pass me my towel.
Dry me.
It's not an errand.
Your father worries you'll fall in love with the first naked lady who swims in a lake.
That you're vulnerable.
Susceptible.
He's right, of course.
I understand his concerns.
He wants you to enjoy the many pleasures on offer.
But under conditions he controls.
So that you'll never mistake these feelings for love.
Because I'm old and a woman you couldn't possibly love I'm going to teach you something.
Something I was forced to learn.
Aren't you going to ask what it was? What did you learn, ma'am? How to become numb.
Sex doesn't influence me.
Doesn't influence the way I feel.
Doesn't influence my moods or my decisions.
It's just a smell, a sound, a sensation.
I keep my real self far away, in another body.
One that no-one else can ever see or touch or know.
I'd like to thank you for your time, but I'm sorry, there's been a mistake.
Well, then.
Our business here is done.
And I'm sure you'll still be paid the full amount.
I'm always paid the full amount.
Thank you, sir.
I appreciate all the thought that's gone into these arrangements, and I promise I won't make any rash decisions of the heart.
I knew you'd say no.
You're pretending it's because you're a proper young man, but, er, you're a nervous virgin, shy and overwhelmed.
I have some suggestions to deal with the issues you raised.
I was thinking that if I met someone, I'd introduce her to you first, before I became too attached.
Passions are powerful forces.
You think you can control them better than other men? Better than me? I fell in love once.
With your mother.
She was a dancer in Chicago at a club called Chez Paris.
I saw her one night, under bright lights, and lost my mind.
For many months I thought of little else.
I neglected my business.
Travelled to Chicago as often as I could.
In the end, I married her, brought her home, as if I were her saviour.
But she belonged on stage.
She was addicted to the adoration of many men.
At home, with nothing to do, drink took hold of her.
So strong on stage, so weak in real life.
You see, Max, there are only two types of marriage, those that add, those that take away.
I thought a child might steady her, but you only made her worse.
And one day, I came home to find her in the kitchen, sitting there, a drink in one hand, cigarette in the other.
She'd placed you on a breadboard, a tiny baby, as though you were a little loaf of bread, with a knife by your head.
When I told her she'd never see you again, you know what she said? Nothing at all.
My mother's alive? She's dead.
Like I said.
Dead to the real world.
She's in a sanatorium.
Now, son, I want you to go back upstairs and fuck her.
[DOOR OPENS.]
[SOFT JAZZ PLAYS.]
[HE RETCHES.]
So he told you about your poor mom? Take off your gown.
Take off your gown.
Yes, Max.
How did you know? How did I know what? That I'm in love.
You said at dinner, "You're in love.
" How do you know? I haven't told you.
But I already know how, don't I? You taught me but who would you have used? Andrew.
My friend.
My ONLY friend.
Someone I like.
Someone close to me.
His job was to help me.
Help me walk and talk.
Someone for me spying for you.
Max, is that true? Max.
Is it true? My bedroom, is it bugged? A hospital? Spying in a military hospital? And what about here? In this house? Do you listen to Mum's phone calls? Max?! Answer! What was I supposed to do? Let Caden tell every pretty nurse everything about me? We know the secrets of nations.
The private lives of presidents and prime ministers.
We could break governments.
It's not an exaggeration, or showing off, it's true.
So I took precautions, that's all.
Sensible precautions.
You think I did this to find out what you say about me or who you sleep with? I have a duty to my secrets.
Tell me her name.
You really are in love, aren't you? You're doing this for her.
To show how much she means to you.
To show how you're different from me.
You're a lover now.
It's fine, Caden.
You don't want to follow the same path as me, I'm OK with that.
Tell me her name.
Her name is Orla, Orla Reid.
She was born in Belfast.
The youngest of three children.
She's 25 years old.
Her mother died when she was seven.
Joined the Army when she was 16.
I've seen all the assessment reports, her medical files.
I know her better than you.
And and what did you find out? Everything you should have.
You couldn't let me have a friend.
You couldn't even let me have a lover.
She doesn't love you.
Caden! Caden! Are you OK? Jesus! What were you doing? Caden! I tried to make you great.
I'm not trying any more.
You were angry when I tried.
You're angry when I don't.
You're just an angry, angry boy! - Tell Mum how you tried.
- Tell me what? Tell Mum how you tried to make me a man.
What are you talking about? Tell her about your lessons.
You don't have to do this.
All you do is print other people's secrets! And you expect me to keep yours! No, no secret, no.
A bond, a father and a son.
- A bond.
- What lessons? What are you talking about? He divorced you so he could teach me his lessons.
The same lessons his father taught him.
How to be a man.
How to succeed in this world.
He divorced you to get you out of the way.
It had nothing to do with It had nothing to do with what? It had nothing to do with losing the baby.
He was always planned to get you out of the way.
Max, I need you to explain what was just said.
I need you to explain what my son is talking about.
What lessons? What is it? "A report on the future of steel by Maximilian Finch.
" - I didn't ask this of you.
- No, I thought it prudent.
You thought it prudent.
Sir, today the US steel industry employs 350,000 workers.
When I was born, it employed When you were squeezed out, pushed out, rejected.
Birth is a form of rejection, is it not? When I was born, it employed over 550,000.
"Steel production in the United States is set to drop by half.
" - Says who? You? - Yes, sir.
"Capital investment in Finch's Factories has remained at 2%.
" We spend only to patch them up.
But for the past 20 years, the Japanese have been building new plants, new furnaces, energy efficient, faster, cheaper.
"Today Japan produces 136 tonnes of steel for 1,000 man hours.
" Is that so? At our factories, we produce 96 tonnes.
40 tonnes less.
Yes, and it's not the men, sir, they're good men, it's their tools, it's the equipment.
Well, if it isn't the men, who is it? Well, sir, it's us.
You mean, I think, more accurately that it is me.
US Steel are diversifying out of steel.
My source at the company tells me they're moving into real estate, chemicals and oil.
They're planning to buy Marathon Oil for 4 billion.
Their long-term ambition is for only a third of their profits - coming from steel.
- Your mother She passed away.
When did she pass, sir? One month ago.
A month? More like two.
And the funeral? A small affair.
- Who attended, sir? - I was there.
No-one else.
She'd no family, no friends, no loved ones.
How was the service, sir? Quiet.
Dignified.
I was profoundly moved by it.
She's at peace now, peace she never found in life, and quite frankly, it's a relief.
Do not stand at my grave and cry I am not there I did not die Do not stand at my grave and cry.
[THUD, GROAN.]
[LABOURED BREATHING.]
Help [HE SPLUTTERS.]
Help [HE GRUNTS AND GROANS.]
[RINGING TONE.]
You know the rest.
Bought my first newspaper and built my life.
You were abused, physically, mentally.
It was abuse, and your mother would've stopped it.
My mother? My mo Mother couldn't take care of herself.
Did it ever cross your mind that maybe he was lying? Maybe she never tried to kill you? Maybe she loved you? That's why he got her out of the way? Because she loved you, because she would've protected you? Because no mother would've let that happen to her child.
No.
No.
That's not right, I After my father died, I went to my mother's hospital.
It wasn't a lie.
That he had her committed? Oh, no, I don't doubt it.
That's what powerful men did when they wanted women out the way.
He was one of the most powerful men in the state.
She was a dancer from a club.
What chance did she have? What chance did I have? You see everyone.
But you don't see him.
You watched your father die? That's what you said.
You looked him in the eyes as close as we're standing now? Closer.
All that pain.
What would I have done? You did more than watch, Dad.
You made sure.
Why would I save him? Why would I do that? He wouldn't have saved that man.
It was an opportunity.
A business opportunity, to be free.
And I took it, as he taught me.
It took steel to do that.
You've been wanting to tell that story your whole life, haven't you? I'm so sorry.
The pain I caused you.
But I protected you from some of it too.
All I wanted was for us to be like this.
Why couldn't we be like this? Why can't we be like this? The lessons he taught you YOUR father's lessons? No.
You were never your father to me.
I censored his lessons.
I tried to teach you those ideas without his cruelty.
I compromised, because I cared about you so much.
The lessons failed.
You needed cruelty, cruelty was why those lessons worked.
Cruelty was the whole point.
You look at this family and you think cruelty's missing? It never crossed my mind to pity you, but right now, I do.
I pity you because you never stood a chance.
A chance for what? Being a father.
What do you know about being a father? What do you know? You know nothing.
I hated my father.
He was a monster, but he was right.
About this world, about how to succeed.
Have you ever? How many men are like me in this world? I'm sorry, I wanted you to be the same.
Did you make him fire people? Did you hire prostitutes? He was 17, he was not a child any more.
He learned how to how to be safe, how to be careful.
So you taught him how to fight and fire and fuck.
- I taught him how to succeed.
- Please.
Mum and Dad, I don't want us to fight any more! Oh, I'm not just fighting your father.
I'm fighting his father.
I'm fighting all these fucking fathers.
Just let him go.
- I hated him.
He was cruel.
- Yes.
But he was right.
- He wasn't kind.
He wasn't gentle.
- I'm coming after you, not because of what was done to my son or because of what was done to you.
- It's not gentle.
- Because it keeps on being done.
It is the way.
Then let's find another.
I came up here to tell you we shouldn't talk, because I could see where this would end.
Now here we are! After everything I told you, you still want to come after me? Oh, I'm coming after you because of everything you told me.
Be careful.
Be very careful.
Kathryn, ask yourself, is this a man I want on my side or a man I want to fight with? This is your father talking.
You'll become a threat, like any other threat.
- Your father.
- And I deal with threats all day long.
- How many threats do you deal with? - None like you.
And the people you care about? Orla? Scott? - How hard will it be to break them? - Listen to yourself! If you hurt them, if you so much as utter her name again, I will spread your most damaging secrets all over the fucking news.
Caden for the first time, you sound like a man.
Max.
Max? There's a news story.
Right now, I want to ask, would you run it or not? What's the story? You met the Prime Minister, both of you, and his son, Saif.
Long time ago.
Saif was a boy.
Yeah, well, he's at Cambridge now.
Studying to be a doctor.
Yeah.
Smart kid.
Good kid.
There was a time when he was struggling.
What, he started drinking? One night, drunk, the son of the first Muslim Prime Minister of the United Kingdom started browsing fanatical Islamic websites.
In 10 Downing Street.
So, why? Why would the son do that? Did he suddenly decide to become a terrorist? No, of course not.
No.
The son did it because he knew how damaging it would be to his father, how it could bring down his father's career.
The son knew.
Here's my question, would you run that story? Nope.
Caden? The son made a mistake.
Yes, he did.
Max, listen to me.
I'm always listening.
You can't print that story.
It's not my world.
I don't shape it, it shapes me.
I don't run it, it runs me.
If it wasn't me, it would be someone else like me but it won't ever be anyone like you.
Max I would run the story about you.
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we, also, should walk in newness of life, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.
My father was a great man.