An Ordinary Man Page #4

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- Please, don't.

That tribunal would blush

if they knew

just how far off they were,

the real numbers.

I mean, if we're gonna

get it right,

- let's get it right, people.

- Stop.

And for that service,

that level of dedication,

why, I should only assume

my country's perpetual

gratitude, no?

This fine lifestyle.

Be very, very careful.

And now, maid, if you'll

do me the kind service

of helping me off

this f***ing bed.

[woman singing in

foreign language]

Who was this man,

to have such a daughter?

There's something else

for you, I forgot,

in the living room,

on the floor.

Thought I recognized

that shape in your apartment.

Matter of fact, it was

the only thing I recognized.

It was yours, right?

Not a weapon.

From Mum and Dad, I presume.

Would you?

- [maid] No.

- Why not?

I don't play

in front of others.

You're not

in front of others.

You're utterly alone, remember?

I don't exist.

Please.

[violin plays]

Do you own a car, ma'am?

Hey, for all I know,

you're a cabbie.

Nothing would surprise me

at this point.

- And why do we need a car?

- Time for a trip.

Yes, that's exactly what they

don't want you doing right now.

- Precisely.

- Your heart won't stand

- another round like last night.

- All the more reason.

The noose is tightening.

Your words, verbatim.

Well, then,

there's no time to waste.

I'm still your employer.

I've stated my desires.

So, maid, make it happen.

And where are we going?

[engine revving]

[tires squealing]

You wanted a car.

Yes, and you've taken Miro's,

my driver.

He won't

be needing him now. Go.

[upbeat music]

Same rocks, same hills,

different name.

Idiocy.

You'll never know

your true homeland.

Ethnic division, dirty little

secret, Christian, Turk.

Before all this, nobody gave

a shite who their neighbor was.

They just were, it worked.

Then the breakup,

out come the maps,

lines pulled out of their asses.

Suddenly we're "ethnic,"

divided.

No different, just with guns

at each other's heads

fighting over map creases

we never knew existed.

- At the end, we eliminated...

- I eliminated.

Don't take credit where credit's

not due, it's unbecoming.

Wasn't the battle already lost

when the order was given?

Don't be coy.

I gave the order.

Go on, then, finish it.

The massacre's what you meant,

isn't it?

God, you're just like

my daughter.

They polluted the lot of you.

Massacre.

Numbers are irrelevant.

It was a deposit

on the future.

How dare you judge me?

Is that why your parents died,

so you could judge my actions?

- I'm simply trying...

- I could throw you out of this car right now for treason.

Well, they weren't alive

to explain it, so forgive me.

Doesn't reflect so well on you,

then, does it?

Throw yourself into a mission

you're clueless about,

just to figure out

who the hell you are.

I'm only asking

the question a country

of young people

don't understand.

I owe them nothing.

They owe me.

All of you.

Yeah, go on, drive, drive.

Yeah, make yourself useful.

Can you please tell me

where we're going?

You're the bookworm,

you tell me.

In the spring of '42,

the General was born in

the simple village of...

- Brusnica.

- Brava.

- We're...

- Going home.

- Unprotected.

- Whatever do you mean? I've got my maid.

- You've never been back.

- God, no, far too dangerous.

- Please tell me why now.

- I have a ride.

Well, I said

my wife was there,

but you know, I don't even

know whether that's true.

Communication,

the first casualty of war.

Or maybe that's just

a bullshit excuse.

When the first fight broke out

and I was shipped north,

my daughter was just

starting graduate school.

Talking to her then,

whoa, that was tough.

And trust me, it had nothing

to do with combat.

Young people never wanna

talk to your parents, do you?

Why should she

be any different?

And eventually,

the only communication she had

was what she read about me

in the morning paper.

News...

You're too young to remember

when news became entertainment,

good guys, bad guys.

Suddenly, the whole

f***ing thing's a bad Western,

and everyone wants a villain.

A melodrama right there,

on the nightly news,

and hooray,

we need a villain.

It's casting, the whole

thing's just casting.

And guess who

plays the villain?

She's supposed

to hear all this,

a young woman,

good, sweet young woman.

She's supposed to swallow

all this and survive.

Suicide...

They killed her,

they took her,

every last one of them.

The West, the media,

the merchants of shite.

Then they took her funeral,

which meant, of course,

I couldn't get near it,

couldn't bury my own daughter.

And that unforgivable fact

took my marriage.

So you tell me,

which is the more tragic?

That after all this, we neither

won nor lost the war,

or that 10 years on,

the homeland's biggest hero

has no home left to speak of?

Take a right up ahead.

Hungry?

You can't be serious.

Here? It's not even open.

It's always open.

[door opens]

Do you not see

where we are?

Twenty kilometers

from my village.

Thank you.

When I was young,

that woman knew

every stupid move I made

on this road, at this table.

Now she'd never forgive me.

The good memories die first.

If you'll excuse me.

You know we can't stay long.

Oh, um...

0-6-4-2-6-4-6-1-9-3.

Yeah, a local call.

[woman on phone]

Hello? Hello?

Hello?

Thank you.

Now we go back.

- What?

- Back.

We came, we saw.

- Just drive.

- No.

- I'll take the car.

- It's a suicide.

- It's my right.

- You have no rights.

You lost those years ago.

You're a... a fugitive,

you're a responsibility.

You're here by the grace

of a handful of loyal friends

who have put their families

and lives at risk to protect you

and feed you and nurse you,

and you have done nothing

but sh*t on every last

one of them.

Now, I'm sorry for

your many losses,

but this is what is:

We go back.

Leave me.

I can't do that.

Why? Why, if I'm such

a f***ing burden?

Do you think those idiots would

actually try and take me here?

It's too obvious,

they don't do obvious.

Tanja, my beloved maid...

all that you see here

I lost many years ago

in service to my country.

I don't ask for pity.

How can I?

I'm nothing now.

What harm can it do

to let a ghost wander?

- Get down.

- Oh, you too?

Stay down.

F*** me, how do we do this?

- [General] Follow my words.

- What?

[General] I guide, you drive.

Slow down.

First place ahead,

market on the left.

Old buggers hanging

around outside, right?

- Turn there.

- Turn?

[General] Right.

- And?

- Straight.

Now, the road's gonna curve.

Curve...

now.

[chuckles]

Old Ganovich place

overhead on the right.

Should be laundry day.

End of the block,

building on the corner.

- Police station.

- F*** me.

[General] Take the turn.

- Now wait.

- What?

[General laughs]

Almost there.

Now, just up on the right,

caf with a green sign.

- Caf?

- Yeah, old drunk on the bench,

- definitely asleep by now.

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