A Master Builder Page #11

---

whom you happen to know.

Someone you don't have

the right to leave.

Maybe that's not true.

Maybe the truth is,

you really always do have the right.

But then it would...

It would...

God.

- God.

- If we could just fall asleep...

If we could just fall asleep,

this whole thing...

this whole thing could...

I know what you're going

to build next, Master Builder.

Really? What?

It's going to be a palace.

Tell me how you've imagined it, Hilde.

My palace will stand

very, very high up on a hill...

with nothing around it on any side...

so that I can see far, far off,

way out over the land.

And I'm sure there will be

a high tower on it.

Yes. Yes.

The tower, you see,

will be frightfully high up.

And way, way up at the top of the tower...

yes, a balcony will be there

encircling the whole thing.

And outside on the balcony,

that's where I'll stand.

My God.

That you would stand up there...

so horribly high up...

so dizzyingly high up.

That's where I'll stand, and of course,

you'll be able to come up also.

The master builder will be permitted

to come up to the princess?

Yes, of course.

But maybe he won't be able

to build anymore, poor Master Builder.

No. He will build.

Because, you see...

you and I are going to be partners now.

But what are we gonna build, Hilde?

Excuse me.

Look!

It's going to be so incredibly beautiful.

What are you doing here?

Well, I promised the foreman

I'd bring the wreath.

Now?

So...

is your father doing a bit better then?

Not really.

But, um, did the things I wrote

cheer him up at all?

No, they came too late, I'm sorry to say.

You mean...

When Kaya arrived, he

was already in a coma.

He'd had a stroke actually.

For God's sake,

go home and take care of him.

There's nothing more

I can do for him now.

Well, you ought to be with him.

Well, she's with him.

She's sitting by the bed.

- You mean Kaya?

- Yeah. Kaya.

But, you see, I don't have

anything for you to do here.

Yes, I know.

But I'm staying for the ceremony.

I see. Well, all right then.

I'll take this down to the men,

and I'll be back in a moment.

I would have thought you might

have thanked him at least.

Thanked him?

You think I should have thanked him?

Yes, of course.

You're probably the one

I should actually thank. Am I right?

- What do you mean?

- Where is he?

He took the wreath to the men

who are working down there.

He took the wreath?

What if he gets it in his head

to go up that scaffolding?

- I've got to stop him.

- I'm sorry.

Some visitors need attending to

at the front door.

- I can't.

- But the women have just arrived.

- They've come to see you.

- They've come now?

They've come to watch the ceremony.

- Can't you just ask them to leave?

- No, it's impossible.

They've come to my house. It's certainly

my obligation to look after them.

But you can stay here,

and when he comes back just hold on to him.

Don't let him go.

There are so many things

I need to be doing right now.

Excuse me.

Can we step in here for a minute?

Look, I don't want to upset you.

I just want to say I think

you ought to proceed with caution.

Because I'd be very surprised

if you really know him yet.

I know him better

than anyone in the world knows him.

You think I should have thanked him.

Can I tell you something?

This is the man who kept me

down at the lowest level, year after year.

He ruined my father's life.

He made my father lose his respect for me.

He made me lose whatever respect

I might once have had for myself.

And this man is such a coward...

he can't even climb the towers

he himself has designed...

not even this one for his own house.

I saw him climb up an enormous tower and

tie a wreath to a church's weather vane.

- You saw him do that?

- He's going to do it again today.

- We're all going to see it.

- Yes, but he won't. He can't.

Maybe at one time he could,

but now he can't.

There's something else

I have to tell you...

something I've just

learned this afternoon.

Is that right?

Do you have any idea

why he did everything he could...

to stop me from leaving this office?

He didn't want me to leave

because if I left...

he couldn't get his dirty hands

on my fiance.

That's not true. That's a lie.

She told me herself this afternoon.

She said he literally controls her soul.

No, it's all about you. He had to keep you

from setting off on your own.

Why?

My God.

It's what I've always thought.

He knew I would be a good architect.

He was afraid of me.

Well, everything is going

terribly well down there.

The foreman, Mr. Tesman,

is going to take the wreath up the tower.

It's all going to be fantastic.

Yes, that Tesman really is

a courageous fellow.

He's a man I admire.

He's an honorable,

upstanding, decent man.

What are you trying to say to us exactly?

Just...

Tesman is a man I respect.

So...

- What?

- It's true, isn't it?

The bookkeeper?

Kaya?

What are you?

Aline, I need that blue bottle!

Solness. Solness!

Are you really afraid to climb the tower?

Is that what you are,

you pathetic creature?

If that's how you see me,

I can't bear that.

Then let me see you differently.

Let me see you up there on that tower,

high up and standing free.

- No, I can't!

- That's what I want!

- That is what I want.

- But I can't do that. I told you.

This is the moment

everything is going to stop.

I am going to stop building!

No, this is the moment

when you're going to start.

Because you won't be alone.

I'll be with you, and we'll do it together.

But what are we going to build, Hilde?

We're going to build these

very special structures...

that will be more beautiful

than anything on earth.

- You mean...

- Yes.

We're going to build dream palaces...

that will be able to stand firmly...

right in the middle of the sky.

They will stand firmly

in the middle of the sky.

Solness!

If I were to try it, Hilde...

If I were to try to climb

the tower tonight...

If I were to make it

to the top of the tower...

I would stand there

and I would make a very simple vow...

to devote the rest of my life

to building the only structures...

which actually

can contain human happiness.

That's right.

Those extraordinary towers...

that stand firmly

right in the middle of the sky.

And I would vow to build them together...

with a princess whom I love.

I need that blue bottle!

Then I would wave wildly

to everyone below...

and I would climb down...

and I would throw my arms

around my princess's neck...

and I would kiss her and kiss her.

I've got it.

My master builder.

My master builder.

Mr. Tesman asked me to tell you...

he's ready to climb

the tower with the wreath.

Well, I'm going

to go down there myself now.

What are you going

to do down there, Halvard?

Well, I need to be with the men

who are working down there.

I mean, that's where I usually am

on these occasions.

You have to tell Mr. Tesman

he has to be so careful...

When he climbs that tower.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes