Passchendaele Page #3

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And I'll tell you something else:

...if I didn't have this stump, I'd be

right between you and Highway...

...on the firing step,

right in the middle of it.

That'd be me.

I know you don't dance

with soldiers,

...but do you think maybe

you could go ride with one?

Did you carve this?

No.

No, it was whiskey carved that.

I ran a mining camp

up near Rocky Mountain House.

The gold ran dry about the same

time the war started up, so...

I figured I'd go sign up and...

...go get killed.

Can I ask you something,

Sergeant?

Do you think

maybe you could call me,

...uh, you could call me Michael?

Were you at Vimy Ridge?

I did attend that fight, yeah.

What was it like?

It was cold.

But we took that ridge

and we held it. Nobody else did that.

The British couldn't do it;

the French couldn't do it.

It was just us,

the Canadian Corps.

You should be proud

of your father.

I am.

And it's not common,

by the way.

What isn't?

This feeling.

Would you do something for me?

I think I'd do just

about anything for you.

Tell me about this.

Paint me a picture of it.

I'm not a painter.

I'm not all that particular.

Okay.

Um...

In this picture,

there is a river and, uh,

...there's a horse,

and there's a man sitting that horse,

...and together they ford that river.

And all these things

are in the Foothills.

And the man rides to a place...

...he thought he knew

like the back of his hand.

There's something

about this day that's different.

Why this day?

There's a woman with him.

Is this woman frightened?

You'd have to ask her.

What about him?

Well...

...see, that's the thing.

He doesn't have a word for this,

for what he feels.

All day long he searches for it,

...and it's not 'til he's sitting

next to the woman...

...and they're looking over a river

he can finally put a name to it.

You should stop.

In a heartbeat

I could fall so hard...

...but I'm- I'm not...

I'm broken... somewhere.

Quite broken.

So I'd start to think

you were stupid for loving me.

Then I'd begin to resent you

and eventually, I would hate you.

I should go.

Really, I'd...

I really rather you didn't.

I know.

I'm, uh...

I'm just gonna sit here for a bit.

You can keep that horse.

The soldier in

the modern battlefield...

...is beset with many challenges,

...most notably artillery.

Tissue damage results

from shell fragments,

...which are irregular in shape.

Wounds are therefore jagged

or, at best, unpredictable.

In the soft parts,

...wounds show deep

and extensive attritions...

...and are marked

by extensive effusion...

...of blood and/or serum.

Invariably, shell fragments

will introduce...

...foreign matter into the wound...

...making infection inevitable.

Your father wrote this. Jesus.

Pretty scary, eh?

Are you scared?

- No. Are you?

- No.

Do you want to introduce

some foreign matter into me?

Why should we wait?

Contused wounds

are vast erosions,

...large lesions...

...forming a cul-de-sac...

They are abrasions

with torn surfaces...

...and quivering

and herniated muscles.

They are doomed to suppuration...

...and are threatened

by grave complications...

...such as gangrene and tetanus.

In summary, artillery shells...

...will splinter,

...amputate, decapitate,

bisect...

...quarter or otherwise

grossly mutilate...

...the human frame.

In the worst of cases,

...a direct explosion

will obliterate the man.

The soldier will simply disappear.

Thank you.

Sergeant, you have anything

to add to this subject?

No. No, that's pretty

much what it does.

So you would agree

that artillery represents...

...the greatest challenge

to an individual on the battlefield?

Sergeant, do you agree?

No, sir. I'm sorry, I don't.

Um...

The single greatest challenge

to an individual on the battlefield...

...is trying to keep

his matches dry.

"Keep your matches dry?"

One of the wittier phrases...

...Dr. Walker singles out as

having turned his lecture into a farce.

Sir, I didn't mean.

- You have permission to speak?

- No, sir...

These are the drawings

of your machine?

They are.

- You had a diagnosis, did you not?

- Yes, sir. Neurasthenia.

And I think, we both know

what "that" means.

Your draftsmanship

is impressive.

- You're holding them upside down.

- So I am.

I'm not saying that

you're a coward, Sergeant.

I'm simply saying that I have been

keeping a very close eye on you,

...and what I see disturbs me.

You'll notice I've left out

certain mechanical secrets...

...that can only be revealed upon

payment of one million dollars.

A lovely round figure.

And what exactly will this invention

of yours accomplish?

It will bring the war

to an end in 48 hours.

Delightful. And how exactly

will it achieve that?

With this machine,

...an individual

can circle the globe...

...in exactly 15 minutes.

Sparkling.

We'll be in touch.

Thank you. Thank you.

No, I thank you!

- Thank you very much.

- No! Thank you!

The very ground we are

standing on is shifting.

Civilization hangs in the balance...

...so I offer a word of warning:

Do not plow a foreign field.

Sir, I just don't see what

this has to do with dry matches.

For God's sake, man!

We are talking about

our nation's security,

...which means we are talking about

a certain lady named Sarah Mann,

...on whose attendance,

I am reliably informed,

...you have been dancing.

More specifically,

we are talking about her father.

Her father was a soldier

who fought on the same ridge I did.

The only difference I'm aware of

is that he died and I didn't.

The only difference

you're aware of?

Carmichael!

"Martin Mann was born

in Ingolstadt, Bavaria.

"He returned

to his native land in 1915...

...and was assigned to the Second

Bavarian Reserve Regiment. "

He fought for the enemy.

The blood is tainted, Sergeant.

Ottawa mandates

that we must root out...

...the Hun in sheep's clothing,

and root him out we will.

Like a pig.

With regret our mandate

is uncompromising.

You regret nothing.

I don't expect a woman

to comprehend this,

...but our country

is rife with saboteurs.

When did nursing wounded soldiers

become a threat to the homeland?

If I'm so dangerous,

why don't you lock me up?

At the moment internment

is not under consideration.

Listen to him!

Listen to the sound of his voice!

How long has he been living

in this country?

My duration of residency

is hardly the point.

I've lived here my entire life!

I'm a Canadian!

Technically, yes.

But here's the sticky wicket.

Whereas I was born under

the sun of the British Empire,

...you, Miss Mann,

...were born under

the cloud of Germany.

We could move.

Start over. Or I could try

to find another job.

Doing what?

I don't know.

Cleaning maybe?

Cleaning...

This is our home.

These are our neighbors.

You can't hate

a dead man, David.

And where is that writ,

oh sister of mine?

Don't talk like that.

You sound ridiculous.

I don't hate our father.

He shames me.

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