World on Fire

ROBINA: What's going on here?

Explain yourselves!

I have been working for MI5 for this man.

There was a Polish woman I befriended and now she's dead.

PEARL: You left your baby?

(crying): I wasn't a good mum to her.

You must go back.

DAVID: Yes, I must.

(explosion pounds) Stan... RAJIB: Your men have lost their sergeant.

They need you-- pull yourself together!

You killed him-- you killed him!

(Harry screams) (gun fires) (telegraph beeping) HARRY: I don't understand.

You're shipping out casualties from Tobruk.

Why would I be on that ship?

BRIGGS: Word has it that you're in no fit state to lead your men at the moment.

And whose word exactly?

Amongst the men, mutterings in the officers' mess.

Loss of your sergeant has hit you hard, is what I'm hearing.

Rumors you may have been a bit fast and loose with treatment of prisoners.

Who is saying this?

Doesn't matter who's saying it.

It matters that it is being said.

It means the men have lost confidence in you.

Sir, this is nonsense.

I know your history.

I know your father responded in a certain way.

This has absolutely nothing to do with my father.

(voice rising): You have no right to bring him into this!

Before you say anything else, and I kick you out for gross insubordination, I will remind you of your options.

(softly): Sir.

You agree to be shipped out with the casualties-- we'll blame your leg injury-- regroup, shape up for a month, and return to the fray as the excellent officer that you are, or I can have the psychiatrist take a look at you.

Order a medical discharge-- with full honors, but your war is effectively over.

BRIGGS (voiceover): So... Are you going to be on that ship?

Or are you going to end your war right now?

JAMES: You leave in two weeks.

You will be dropped over Poland with radio equipment.

Take only your false papers.

There will be no turning back.

So I will ask you one more time: Are you sure about this?

KASIA: Yes, I'm certain.

(water dripping) It is time.

Are you sure?

One flashlight-- I saw.

We don't have long.

No, I mean, are you sure we don't just run and disappear?

I am sure.

(birds calling) I hate sailing.

That's why I joined the R.A.F.

You don't have much choice.

Go, get down to the beach.

They will get as close to shore as they can.

Good luck!

I will see you in Paris.

After the war.

I will come back and I will find you.

I know you will.

(water dripping) (panting) (speaking German) (Henriette gasps) (soldiers shouting in German) (breath trembling) STAN: Dear Eileen, If you're reading this, it means I've bought it.

I'm a soldier, and we both know how that can end.

I want you to know I love you.

From the first time I met you until this very moment, I've been able to do nothing else.

I hope you have a good life-- without me, I mean.

I don't want you to hold on to something that's gone.

You and Dot and Patricia all have so much life to live.

I'll always be watching over you, God willing.

Lots of love, your Stan.

Are you sure he wrote this?

Every man wrote a letter to be sent home if he died in action.

Well, you must have helped him-- it's spelt right, for a start.

I was there when he wrote it.

He wanted to tell you how much you and the kids meant to him.

Well, he didn't have to tell me.

You should have seen him here with them.

Jumping all over him.

Never stopped laughing-- none of them did.

Go and sort the little one out, will you, Dot?

There's a good girl.

(door opens and closes) (clears throat) Were you there, when he died?

Yes.

And it was quick.

He wouldn't have known anything about it.

And he was brave.

Not just very daft?

He was very daft.

(chuckles) When he needed to be.

But on this occasion, he was brave.

He was the bravest man I ever met.

The man who killed him.

Did he see Stan?

I don't know why that matters, but it does.

He was close.

And he died, as well.

Is that good?

Should I be pleased?

Or is there some German widow sitting somewhere over there talking to a very well-spoken lad like you who can't wait to get out of here?

No, I'm here for as long as you want me to be.

He liked you.

He didn't to begin with, but he said you shaped up.

Right.

I'm glad to hear it.

(voice trembling): And I'll be all right.

I can just pretend he's still away.

Still pretend he's coming back.

I think I'll carry on doing that for the rest of my life.

It was a privilege to know Stan.

It was a privilege to fight alongside him.

Harry.

Sir.

Please don't blame yourself.

For him dying.

Stan was a soldier.

He wouldn't want you carrying that.

(door opens) (dog barking, children playing) Ah, well, well, well, Lois.

Finally here.

Thank you for looking after her for a bit longer.

It's like I said on the telephone.

I just wanted a few days to make everything just right for her.

I've got a bedsit of my own, and I've made it nice and cozy for the both of us.

And I've even got a job, so I can support her.

A job?

In the entertainment business?

No.

Munitions.

How appropriate.

Is she asleep?

I can't wait to see her.

Uh, no, I'm afraid Vera is out for the day, with Joyce.

But I telephoned.

Yesterday.

I spoke to Joyce.

Didn't she say?

No, uh... No, I'm afraid there must have been some misunderstanding.

Thank you, Robina.

(door closes) I just saw a young lady walking down the drive.

(chuckles): Hardly surprising that you would notice a nice young lady.

She's Vera's mother, Harry's, um, legacy.

Oh, oh, I see.

I was thinking about your anger, and my part in it.

Oh.

I understood you didn't believe in looking back.

No, I don't.

I was thinking about your anger because it affected me in a surprising way.

And the surprise was that I cared.

And it occurs to me that your anger may well be evidence of you caring, too.

Well, I, I certainly care.

I care about secrecy and I care about my duty to my family.

And however much she rails against it, Kasia is my family.

And you care about me.

Your vanity is hardly the point.

But that is exactly the point.

I fear I haven't made it clear enough that I care about you.

So in order to make this whole arrangement less complicated...

I think we should get married.

(stammering) Your sense of humor is always bordering on the mystifying.

I mean it, Robina.

It makes perfect sense.

That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life.

So it's not a no, then.

(stepping audibly) (inhales sharply) (footsteps recede) (stepping audibly) (puts case down) (rain falling) (door closes) Hello, Mrs. Chase.

(footsteps approaching) Hello, Mother.

Hello, Harry.

Hm.

You need a haircut.

(chuckles): Oh.

(footsteps approaching) Ah, this is Sir James Danemere.

He's been billeted with us for his time in the North.

He works for the War Office, but that's all we know.

Oh, well, that's all there is, if I'm honest.

It's a great pleasure to meet you, Harry.

Robina talks of little else but how proud she is of you.

(chuckles): Um, it's a pleasure to meet you, too.

(Vera babbling in distance) Oh, excuse me.

(Vera babbling) Well, look who's here!

Conquering hero!

(chuckles): Expect you want a cuddle, Mr. Chase.

Oh, not right now.

My hands are dirty from the journey, so...

Bit of dirt never did a baby any harm.

Not from her daddy.

I really can't.

Don't be shy.

I know men look like a cat holding a fiddle when they first hold a little one, but you'll pick it up soon enough.

Just leave Harry alone, Joyce, for goodness' sake.

He's only just arrived.

He doesn't need you dangling Vera in front of him like some fairground prize.

(knock at door) (inhales deeply) HERR KUHNE (speaking German): FRAU KUHNE: MARGA: FRAU KUHNE: MARGA: FRAU KUHNE: HERR KUHNE: MARGA: (shouting): (breath gasping) (handcuffs rattling) (footsteps retreating) BARTHEZ (speaking French): HENRIETTE: BARTHEZ: HENRIETTE: (chuckles) (exhales) BARTHEZ: HENRIETTE: BARTHEZ: HENRIETTE: (chuckles) BARTHEZ: HENRIETTE: BARTHEZ: HENRIETTE: (struggling) FRAU KUHNE (through door, speaking German): HERR KUHNE: FRAU KUHNE: HERR KUHNE: FRAU KUHNE: (crying) (voice rising): HERR KUHNE: (sobbing) CONNIE: Smile!

(shutter clicks, film advances) One day you can show this photo to Vera and say this is the day you came to fetch her after you'd been on adventures in Africa.

After abandoning her.

None of that talk.

I didn't want you to go, but now I see.

I look at you and I see a bit more of the old Lois every day.

Loud and full of herself.

I prefer strong and full of fight.

Oh, I'm proud of you.

I'm proud of how you've sorted yourself out and got your bedsit nice for you and Vera.

Okay.

(birds chirping) (doorbell rings) (footsteps tapping, front door opens) ROBINA (in distance): Lois, I explained as well as I can.

You'll be hearing from my solicitor.

Now please, don't cause a scene.

LOIS: Cause a scene?

I've come for my child!

Of course I'm going to cause a bloody scene!

Lois?

What's going on?

I've come to take Vera home.

This is her home.

Where you left her to go off and do goodness knows what!

This is her home!

Lois.

Come in.

She walked out on her baby-- she left her.

She does not have the right to pick up motherhood when she feels like it and drop it again.

I know I was a mess, Robina.

I'm not denying that.

And I will be forever grateful that you looked after Vera.

It's quite straightforward.

You're not fit to be a mother.

(chuckles) And nothing you say or do will convince me otherwise.

Says the patron saint of wonderful mothers.

Harry.

That's not the point.

No, on the contrary, it's very much the point.

I know exactly what it's like to be a damaged and grieving woman bringing up a baby.

And I passed that damage on to you, Harry, but the damage can stop now.

If Vera stays here, the damage stops now.

I'm not you, Robina.

And Vera's not yours.

She's mine.

Harry, are you really going to let this happen?

Are you really not going to stand up for your daughter so at least she can stay in a home that's she's settled in?

The only decent home she's ever had?

You'll still see her, Robina.

Lois, why are you being so reasonable?

This is ridiculous!

LOIS: Because Robina clearly loves Vera.

I can see why you think I'm not the best thing for her.

Are you going to fight for what's best for your child?

Lois is her mother.

And I wouldn't wish it any different.

LOIS: Thank you.

For looking after her.

ISHWAR (speaking Hindustani): RAJIB: Try and say it like you mean it, Sergeant.

ISHWAR (speaking Hindustani): RAJIB: ISHWAR: RAJIB: (footsteps approaching) This is the map I was telling you about.

Oh, right.

It's impressive.

It's better than anything we had out there when we were fighting.

Jerry were closer in than that.

And you probably need a few more German tanks.

I will make some more.

Make sure you add plenty of blood to the map.

German blood, or...?

Doesn't matter, just... Just as long as it's nice and messy.

Are you sad about the war?

Or are you sad because you're married to my sister, you have a baby with Lois, oh, and you think you can keep it secret, but everybody knows?

Even me.

Especially me.

(explosions roaring) (audio distorts, Rajib groaning) I'm gonna need you to hold still, sir.

(panting) Can you hear me?

Captain Rajib, can you hear me?

(wailing) (dogs barking) WOMAN (speaking French): HENRIETTE: WOMAN: HENRIETTE: WOMAN: (people talking in background) ALBERT: HENRIETTE: ALBERT: HENRIETTE: ALBERT: HENRIETTE: ALBERT: HENRIETTE: ALBERT: HENRIETTE: ALBERT: HENRIETTE: ALBERT: HENRIETTE: ALBERT: HARRY: I know that you've grown very attached to Vera.

And that is wonderful to see.

Grown attached?

(yells): Grown attached?!

She's not some stray cat I've taken in because the neighbors stopped feeding her!

I love that child!

Well, if you love her as you say you do, then I think you know that supporting Lois and letting her be the mother that she can be is best for everyone.

Ah.

Did Lois take you in yet again with those twinkly eyes and that loose woman's mouth?

I know men are foolish when it comes to judging women, but you never cease to amaze me.

I can't talk to you when you're like this.

I know that you're angry and you feel betrayed, but that is in your nature.

There's nothing I can do to change that.

For a man who knows so very little about the people close to him, you have an extremely high regard for your own judgment.

What's that supposed to mean?

You think you know everything.

But you don't even know when your own wife is lying to you.

HARRY (voiceover): I brought you here because I wanted you to be safe, and you've found a way to put yourself in danger again.

I've found a way to be involved again.

By spying.

You could've worked on an ambulance or fire-watching...

I never hid how I felt about carrying on the fight, Harry.

I was never going to settle down and wait for your return.

I know.

I know, I know that, but this is...

I know how this ends.

Do you?

If you were my agent, and you had proved your worth, I would send you straight back to Poland.

Clear as day.

If it hasn't happened yet, then it'll happen soon.

I'm right, aren't I?

My country is bleeding.

And James says they're crying out for experienced people out there.

James?

What the hell has this got to do with James?

(birds chirping) ALBERT (speaking French): HENRIETTE: ALBERT: HENRIETTE: ALBERT: (playing softly, people talking in background) (footsteps approach) DAVID: Bloody hell, Grzegorz.

You're a better piano player than this fella.

(laughing): David!

You're alive!

I can't believe you're alive, man!

What, what... How did you get here?

What are you doing here?

I'm waiting for you to get me a pint.

Yeah, of course.

(chuckling): Wait a sec.

(piano continues) (front door creaking) Who are you?

(door closes) Just who the hell are you, exactly?

(lock turning) I'm sure you know better than most that I can't tell you that, old chap.

What is it that you're even doing here, old chap?

Why would you encourage a refugee to put herself at risk?

I didn't recruit Kasia.

She volunteered.

She was already chasing a mission before I was even a speck on the Chase family horizon.

But she rumbled me-- well, I was careless.

So the cat was very much out of the bag.

And since then, I have been keeping a special watch on her, not least because of the respect I feel for your mother and your family.

And a special watch includes sending her off to Poland.

Nobody is sending her to Poland.

She fought her way to that mission, and she sees it as her duty.

If you, her husband, of all people, cannot persuade her otherwise, then that is very much your business, not mine.

I don't want to argue, Robina.

I'm not here to argue.

I'm sorry to have been such a disappointment to you.

Oh, don't give it another moment's notice, Kasia.

I've long since abandoned expectations regarding Harry's choice of lover.

Or wife.

I'm sorry for the trouble I have caused.

I know exactly why you're doing what you're doing.

And I understand that there will be casualties as a result of the decision that you make, but I just...

I just wish my son wasn't one of them.

I'm setting him free.

(inhales sharply) (quietly): He doesn't want to be free.

He needs a sense of purpose, and you gave him that.

You should come with me, Robina.

We need tough women like you.

Were you actually going to tell me any of your plans?

Or were you just going to disappear into the night?

When I leave this time, you have to let me go.

And I have to let you go.

I can't go to war knowing you are waiting for me.

You waiting for me is the only thing that gets me through.

I've seen some terrible things.

I've done some terrible things.

I'm not sure if I can live with myself if it was all for nothing.

You fought the war because it was the right thing to do.

(exhales) Kasia, I'll never stop loving you.

The me you loved isn't here anymore.

Why can't you just admit that?

Why are you saying these things?

I knew I'd get punished in the end, but not like this.

Not by you.

I'm sorry, my love.

I'm so sorry, but I have to do this.

We have to do this.

Are we sharing?

Are you leaving?

Yes.

Then we're not sharing.

I want you to be brave, and stay here and do well at school.

And when Poland is free again, they are going to need young men with good education.

And then you and me and Grzegorz, we will all be together again.

JAN (speaking Polish): KASIA: JAN: (exhales) KASIA: (car horn honks) RALF (speaking German): (chuckles) HERR KUHNE: RALF: HERR KUHNE: RALF: (chuckles) FRAU KUHNE: RALF: (Marga sobbing) KASIA: I can't wear it anymore.

You should keep it on for safety.

Better off people thinking you're a married woman.

Less suspicious.

Here.

Nearly two years ago.

It feels like a lifetime.

Making promises we couldn't keep.

I don't feel any different about you to how I felt that day.

You feel different to me, Harry.

You feel angry, and lost, and sad.

And I don't think I can make that any better for you.

(softly): No.

We don't do this again.

Not now.

We say goodbye, and we wish each other well.

Sir?

(speaking Hindustani): RAJIB: (groans) ISHWAR: RAJIB: ISHWAR: RAJIB: ISHWAR: RAJIB: ISHWAR: RAJIB (voice breaking): (exhales) MARGA (speaking German): RALF: (door creaks, footsteps approach) HERR KUHNE: RALF: HERR KUHNE: ISHWAR (speaking Hindustani): (gun firing) (explosion roars) RAJIB: ISHWAR: RAJIB: ISHWAR: RAJIB: ISHWAR: RAJIB: ISHWAR: RAJIB: (chuckles) ISHWAR: RAJIB: (speaking English): Playing the British gentleman?

Jolly white chaps who stick to the rules?

Isn't that what you do?

(footsteps approaching) (exhales) Uh... Ha.

(sighs softly): I heard her leaving.

Kasia, first thing this morning.

Yes, well, you probably know more about her destination than I do.

Well, I was just wondering whether we might perhaps have a, a talk.

Just you and I. I'm not going to marry you, James.

And while I remain flattered but also bemused by your proposal... Really?

I was very much under the impression that we, we rather hit it off.

You made me feel that I could have had a different life if different choices had been made.

But alas, they weren't.

(clears throat) But yes, we did hit it off, but I'm, I'm not sure that that's a firm enough basis for a proposal of marriage.

On the contrary, I think it's all that's required.

In fact, I would say it was more than enough, frankly.

And the rest is just window dressing.

(chuckling): Really?

Commitment, and mutual respect, and fidelity?

Not to mention all the legal niceties.

Well, I'm not after your money, Robina, if that's what you're worried about.

Maybe I'm flattering myself, but I think you seem to be a happier person now than when we first met.

Well, I...

I think that's neither here nor there.

Isn't it?

I think you're afraid to be happy, Robina.

Because I turned down your proposal of marriage?

I think you feel guilt for your husband taking his own life and for your son's misery.

And for those reasons, you refuse to allow yourself to be happy.

Please don't patronize me, James.

I know exactly how I feel, thank you.

But I have to choose between my happiness and my greater responsibilities.

Your happiness is your greatest responsibility.

Thank you, James, for your attention and your companionship.

And I hope you don't think my turning you down gives you the idea that I think any less of you.

(chuckles) For God's sake, Robina.

You've rejected my proposal of marriage.

Forgive me if I don't see that as a glowing testimonial.

(footsteps retreating) (breathes deeply) RAJIB (voiceover): But I was wrong.

(voice trembling): It wasn't less military discipline I needed, it was more.

If I had thought like a soldier, I would have shot the pair of them and my boys would still be alive.

ISHWAR (speaking Hindustani): RAJIB: (sniffs) ISHWAR: RAJIB: Just saw James.

He seemed in a hurry.

Barely acknowledged me.

Sir James is not easily distracted.

"Sir James."

Are you back on a more formal footing now?

Very.

I'm sorry.

Whatever it was you were hoping for with James... (quickly): No, no.

He thought he could make me happy.

Perhaps he could.

But I think happiness is a rather debased currency these days.

I wouldn't disagree with you there.

I don't know how to help you, Harry.

I'd like to, but I don't know how.

It would help me if you could tell me about my father.

(chuckles): You know about your father.

No, I don't.

We spoke of it once.

And you never said anything about why he did what he did.

Well, the one person who knows why is lying in South Manchester Cemetery, I'm afraid.

When he got back from the war, did he tell you anything?

He said he was a coward.

And did you ask him what he meant by that?

No, of course not.

Nor would he have told me if I had.

I could see there was something wrong, but I assumed he would snap out of it.

But of course, he was right all along, he was a coward.

Leaving me, leaving you, leaving the shame behind for us to live with-- what sort of a man does that?

A man who feels desperate.

A man who can't square the things he's done with the man he thought he was.

A man who just walked away without a scratch but feels like he's been killed inside.

Yes, this is exactly why we shouldn't talk about these things!

What are you scared of?

What are you scared of?

That if we talk about it, we, we might catch it somehow?

That suicide is contagious?

Yes, yes, yes!

That's exactly it!

And I didn't want you dwelling on it then, and I don't want you dwelling on it now.

It isn't a question of dwelling on it.

It is a question of trying to understand it.

There is no understanding it!

And that's what makes it so hard for people left behind.

For those of us who have to carry on.

And that's what we have to do, Harry, in the end.

Go on.

(dogs barking) (people talking in background) ALBERT (speaking French): (reciting Shabbat blessing in Hebrew) When do you leave?

Soon, I'm afraid.

Life's messy.

(Vera whimpers) (whispering): Hey, hey.

(chuckles) (vehicle rattling) (plane engine humming) RADIO NEWSCASTER: The Red Army is steadfastly resisting German savagery in Leningrad as Hitler continues to extend his evil reach across the Soviet Union.

It was announced this morning that Kiev has fallen.

The Nazis are having less joy in North Africa, where the fearless soldiers of Britain and empire continue to hold out against Rommel's dark forces.

Japan is continuing its attack on China, and talks openly about its imperialist ambitions as it grows ever closer to declaring war on the West and our allies.

America has committed to supporting the countries of the free world in resisting what Churchill has declared to be "methodical, merciless butchery."

"We are in the presence of a crime without a name."

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