Iris Page #2

I wouldn't say you'd had me exactly.

Have you danced before?

It was all right, wasn't it?

Oh, I think so.

Broke the ice, so to speak.

-"Ice"?

-What?

It'll do.

Aren't you particular

about words at your college?

I'm only here under sufferance really,

as a tutor and guide.

I get all the Americans

and Frenchmen to mother.

You love words, don't you?

If one doesn't have words, how does one think?

Shall I do that?

What is your novel about?

About?

How to be free.

How to be good...

...and how to love.

Well, that's all there is, I'd say.

Language is all very well, you know, but...

...it's not the only way

of understanding each other.

There's sight and...

...and smell and...touch, of course.

I love your nose.

It's snub.

Snubby...

...snubby, snubby.

it's snubby, snubby, snubby.

Let me do that to you.

Take off your jacket.

If we were, as it were, married...

...we could do this all the time.

Perhaps?

We should be doing it nearly all the time.

Yes, but if...

Thank you.

Look.

I'm stopping you working.

Yes, well, I don't mind.

How's it coming along?

It's harder to write than all the others. Much.

Have you noticed?

Just that you've seemed...

puzzled every now and again.

That's it, yes.

Puzzled.

Puzzled. It's a funny word.

All words are like that

when you take them by surprise, aren't they?

Have you got a title?

'A lot of trees...

...seem near.'

We must stop it.

What to do?

The window, John, the window!

We must stop it.

No. See...

...it's gone.

We all worry about going mad, don'twe?

How would we know...

...those of us who live in our minds anyway?

Other people would tell us.

Would they, John?

I don't want to set the world...

Sorry.

...on fire.

John Bayley.

Haven't seen her for ages.

Jolly good -- nice.

Takes all sorts. Not that I ...

...we're all men at St Anthony's.

Do you like women?

I mean, do women like you?

You mean lesbians?

Yes.

Would it bother you if they did?

Oh no, the some thing happens with me.

With homosexuals, I mean.

And do you go to bed with them?

Lord no.

At the college... they are all,

as somebody once said to me...

..."Old fashioned lesbians of the highest type".

And do you go to bed with them?

-Dame Iris?

-Yeah.

It's this way.

She's written philosophy and plays and poetry...

...but her novels are her lasting literay legacy.

Iris Murdoch is acknowledged

as the foremost English novelist...

...of her generation.

A little excessive, don't you think?

What do you reckon, shall I take that again?

Her novels embrace the subjects of freedom...

...and what it means to be good.

And they're all studies

in the successes and failures of love.

She's written philosophy and plays and poetry...

...but her novels are her lasting literay legacy.

People, ofcourse,

are very secretive and for many reasons...

...want to appear what they call 'ordinary'.

Everybody has thoughts they want to conceal.

Perhaps even

quite simple aspects of their lives.

People have obsessions and fears and...

...and passions which they don't admit to.

I think any character

is interesting and has extremes.

it's a novelist's privilege to...

...see how odd everyone is.

In your novels you yourself...

...were very exacting your use of language...

...but in general terms, do you think

the language is becoming debased?

Reading and writing...

...and the preservation of language

and its forms...

...and...

...the kind of eloquence

and beauty that language is capable of...

...is something terribly important

to human beings...

...this is connected to thought.

If children are not taught...

What did you say? Did you ask...?

I was asking about the importance of language.

John.

John. John.

Iris?

John.

-Oh, you're there. I'm back.

-What is it?

-Much earlier than I thought.

-Yes, I came straight back.

I didn't know why I was there.

You were going to do an interview.

-Well,what interview?

-I don't know.

And see your publisher?

-Was it your publisher?

-So I came back.

I didn't expect you back for ages.

-Has Norah rung?

-I didn't answer.

Iris, Norah's dead.

Oh, so she is. Oh,that is sad.

Of, well, nevermind.

It must have been Ed.

What for?

Oh, so I came back.

What is...

...the name of the Prime Minister?

-Are you asking me?

-Yes, I am.

I know.

Okay, what is the name of the Prime Minister?

I don't know. Ask John. Surely It doesn't matter.

Okay. Well, no, not really.

Someone will know.

Who would you like to see?

-I mean, is there anyone...?

-I don't know.

Shall I look up some names, talk to someone?

I've got a lot of ideas,

but they won't come together.

It happens all the time, forgetting names.

So, does it happens all the time?

Does she mean "writer's block"?

I suppose she does, but...

-Iris can always write, Doctor.

-Oh, I know.

-Iris is a person of some...

-Yes. But it doesn't work like that...

But surely in her case,

a woman with a first-class mind?

We'll have to be certain.

There'll have to be tests, scans.

Well, I don't think I can...

I mean it's a little beyond my competence.

Iris finds her new book very tiring and difficult.

Basically, I'll arrange something.

Iris has a very clear mind...

...mine's a muddle but not hers.

She does everything, always has.

Food, shopping...

...tickets for things...

I never know how she manages

and does her books as well.

Well, they can get your help.

No, nobody would suit. We're odd, you know.

There's a very good place,

a specialist nursing home, Vale Hose.

-Not necessary.

-Oh, no, not yet.

-Not your fault. I'm sorry.

-I'm orry.

Well...take care.

Goodbye, Doctor.

Thank you. Careful. Goodbye.

Iris!

I'm sure the country won't go to the dogs.

Not knowing the Prime Minister's name

is not a capital offence.

-Absolutely.

-I know the names that matter.

It'll be all right.

Well, it will be if you stop worrying.

I've got a book to finish.

...Tony Blair. So there.

Iris, are you comfortable?

I'm going to start the scan now.

Just keep nice and still.

Try to relax.

It'll take about fifteen minutes.

John.

-Oh Janet.

-I'm sorry.

Is Iris still...? I'm so sorry I'm late.

I don't know what's going to happen, Janet.

I've left the car outside - the engine's running.

-...won't be a mo.

-Right.

-See you out there.

-Yes.

-John, I'm frightened.

-Everyone's doing their best.

Janet's got the car.

It will -- be...

-It's done.

-You're finished?

I thought you were close.

So far it hasn't made any difference.

Here's to it.

Must try and keep working.

-You must.

-I will.

And here's to the next one.

Just keep working,

keep talking, keep the words coming.

Keep at it.

I shall come on

like a deprived animal if I can't write.

Be liked a starved dog.

No, no, no. I'll keep you at it.

I feel...

...as if I'm sailing into darkness.

Thing you eat with.

animal

An-im-al.

Toothbrush.

...no...

Yes.

Por...

No. See...

Portrait

Tennis thing.

dog

God.

Iris is getting tired, I'm afraid.

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