Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

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There are more people alive now

than have died in all of human history.

But the number of dead people

is increasing.

One day, there isn't going to be any room

to bury anyone anymore.

So, what about skyscrapers

for dead people that were built down?

They could be underneath the skyscrapers

for living people that are built up.

You could bury people

...and a whole dead world

could be underneath the living one.

--father of our Lord, Jesus Christ,

who has blessed us all with the gift of....

Doesn't anybody know

there isn't anybody in the coffin?

We should've filled it with his shoes

or something.

It's like a pretend funeral.

For a goldfish or something.

This is just what it is, Oskar.

It doesn't make sense.

What if you could ride an elevator

down to visit your dead relatives...

...just like you take the bridge

to see your friends in Brooklyn...

...or the ferry to Staten Island?

Dad once told me that New York

used to have a Sixth Borough...

...right next to Manhattan.

But you can't visit that anymore...

...because it floated away

and no one knows where it is.

Okay, you think you're so smart?

Let's find the Sixth Borough.

Okay.

And? What?

"And what" what?

What am I supposed to find?

What are the clues?

Mm.

He shrugged his shoulders like he had

no idea what I was talking about.

I loved that.

This was my favorite game

Dad and I would play.

We called it

"Reconnaissance Expedition. "

I found something from every decade

in the 20th Century.

You rock.

He rocks!

The search for the Sixth Borough

was the greatest expedition ever.

All right, I've got

amateur entomologist, Francophile...

...amateur archeologist,

computer consultant.

Why "amateur" everything?

It's a compliment.

Amateur pacifist?

"Pacifist."

-Amateur inventor.

Inventor. Good one.

Okay, you're all set.

Dad designed my expeditions

so I would have to talk to people...

...which he knew

I had a hard time doing.

What do you want?

What do you think?

Could be useful.

Can't you even tell me

if I'm on the right track?

But if you don't tell me,

how can I ever be right?

Well, another way of looking at it is...

...how can you ever be wrong?

Mm?

There you go. Thank you very much.

Central Park didn't use to be

where it is now.

Dad said it used to rest

in the center of the Sixth Borough.

Enormous hooks were driven

deep into the ground...

...and the park was pulled by

all the people of New York...

...like a rug across the floor,

from the Sixth Borough into Manhattan.

I found something. Over!

What area, Oskar? Over!

Zone E-3. Over!

Dad said it's only because

of the clues in Central Park...

...that we know

the Sixth Borough existed at all.

Where's this from?

Oh, that was my father's.

Grandma gave it to me when I was little.

Never had much use for it.

What's this?

Oh. Grandma's old home movies.

Haven't seen these in years.

Do you know what your father

Booked like?

Nope, not a clue.

Here's what I do know:

He was from Dresden,

which was in Germany...

...went through some really bad stuff...

...and decided he wasn't up

to having a family.

That's it?

-That's it.

Did you always want to be a jeweler?

I might have liked

to have been a scientist.

I'll never know.

Why is that?

Because I'm a jeweler.

Strawberry Fields.

Belvedere Castle.

What's he looking for?

Well, when he finds it, let him tell you.

Gonna send him all over the park...

...and he'll have to talk to

every single person he meets.

It'll be the greatest

Reconnaissance Expedition.

Don't make it so hard on him.

If it was easy,

this wouldn't be worth finding.

And what kind of adult

is he gonna turn into?

I don't know.

That's what I have you for.

He'll be one of those guys who falls in love

with the very first bossy--

-Watch it.

-I mean, beautiful...

...flaxen-haired lady

who tells him what to do.

Like write the check?

Oh....

-How much?

-It's the last one. It's 71.40.

-$71.40.

-Where are you going?

Bedtime!

Was there really a Sixth Borough?

Well, as with anything, if you want

to believe, you can find reasons to.

What reasons?

The clues, of course.

What clues?

What clues? The clues!

The peculiar fossil record

of Central Park.

The incongruous pH balance

of that reservoir.

And that brings us to the swings.

According to the paper of record, ahem...

...a note was found beneath

one of those swings in Central Park.

And because of many scientific tests...

...which you are too young

and I am too simple to understand...

...they were able to determine

that the note must have been written...

...in the Sixth Borough.

What did it say?

What a fantastic question.

Let's find out.

Ah.... It doesn't say.

It ought to, but it doesn't.

-Can I see that?

-You want to see what?

Wanna see this? No?

That was the last conversation

we ever had.

-Give it!

-It's behind you, behind you! Hold on.

The next time I heard my dad's voice...

...was when I got home from school

that morning on the worst day.

Spaz!

Because of what was going on,

they let us out of school early.

Again, that's the incident,

that's what we are hearing.

This is terrible.

You're not supposed to smoke in the lobby.

You'll get in trouble.

There's no such thing as trouble today.

Where are your parents?

Is anybody downtown?

My mom's at work.

My dad's at a meeting somewhere.

Anyway, it's none of your business,

dip shiitake.

Eff you, Oskar.

Succotash my ball sack.

Oh, God.

Message one, September 11th, 8:56 a.m.

Are you there? Hello?

If you're there, darling, pick up.

Ugh. I just tried the office,

but no one was picking up.

Uh, listen, uh, something's happened.

I'm okay.

They're telling us to stay where we are

and wait for the firemen.

I'm sure it's fine. I'll give you another call

when I have a better idea of what's going on.

I wanted to let you know that I'm okay

and not to worry...

...and I'll call again soon.

All right, bye-bye.

Message two, September 11th, 9: 12 a.m.

Are you there? Are you there?

It's me again.

Hello?

I was hoping you would be home. I don't

know if you heard about what happened...

...but I wanted you to know that I'm okay.

Everything is fine. We're still waiting

to find out what we're supposed to do.

It's pretty chaotic. Firemen

are supposed to be coming. What-

If the sun were to explode...

...you wouldn't even know

about it for eight minutes...

...because that's how long it takes

for light to travel to us.

For eight minutes,

the world would still be bright...

...and it would still feel warm.

It was a year since my dad died...

...and I could feel

my eight minutes with him...

...were running out.

Democrats argued

that Estrada is too conservative...

...and not answering all of their questions.

Estrada was first nominated

for the position in May, 2001.

The Bush administration has asked for a

--from 365 billion dollars

to 380 billion dollars.

That figure does not include....

I hadn't gone

into my dad's closet since the worst day.

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