Six Degrees Of Separation Page #4

Dad's not in till tomorrow at the Sherry.

250

00:
17:20,120 -- 00:17:24,671

I came down from Cambridge. I thought

I'd stay at some fleabag for adventure.

251

00:
17:24,800 -- 00:17:27,394

Orwell, iDown and Out.../i

252

00:
17:27,520 -- 00:17:32,594

I don't really know New York. I know

Rome, Paris and Los Angeles a lot better.

253

00:
17:32,720 -- 00:17:36,030

Well, we're going out to dinner.

You'll come.

254

00:
17:36,160 -- 00:17:38,515

- Out to dinner?

- Out to dinner.

255

00:
17:38,640 -- 00:17:42,235

- The new Italian looked cheery.

- Good. We've made reservations.

256

00:
17:42,360 -- 00:17:47,036

- They wrap up ravioli like saltwater taffy.

- Six on a plate for a few hundred dollars.

257

00:
17:47,160 -- 00:17:49,310

But why go out to dinner?

258

00:
17:49,440 -- 00:17:53,319

Because we have reservations. What time

is it? Have we lost the reservations?

259

00:
17:53,440 -- 00:17:57,433

There's nothing in the house. And it's 16th

century Florence, genius on every block.

260

00:
17:57,560 -- 00:18:00,199

- Don't mock.

- You must have something in the fridge.

261

00:
18:00,320 -- 00:18:02,311

A frozen steak from the Ice Age.

262

00:
18:02,440 -- 00:18:06,718

But why spend $100 on a bowl of rice?

Let me into the kitchen.

263

00:
18:06,840 -- 00:18:12,153

Cooking calms me. And what I'd like to do

is calm down. Pay back your kids.

264

00:
18:12,280 -- 00:18:16,353

- Two at Harvard. A daughter at Groton.

- Who've been wonderful.

265

00:
18:16,480 -- 00:18:18,630

- They never mentioned you.

- What'd they say?

266

00:
18:18,760 -- 00:18:24,551

"We know the son of Sidney Poitier,

barrier-breaker of the '50s and '60s"?

267

00:
18:24,680 -- 00:18:27,069

Your father means

a great deal in South Africa.

268

00:
18:27,200 -- 00:18:30,795

I'm glad of that. Dad and I went

to Russia once, to a film festival.

269

00:
18:30,920 -- 00:18:33,070

He was amazed how much

his presence meant.

270

00:
18:33,200 -- 00:18:38,593

No, no. Tell us stories of movie stars

tying up their children, being cruel.

271

00:
18:38,720 -- 00:18:41,837

- I wish.

- You wish?

272

00:
18:41,960 -- 00:18:46,192

If I wanted to write a book about him, I

really can't. No one would want to read it.

273

00:
18:46,320 -- 00:18:47,958

He's decent, and I admire him.

274

00:
18:48,080 -- 00:18:53,234

Oh, he's married to an actress. She was

in... um... um... She's white. Am I right?

275

00:
18:53,360 -- 00:18:57,638

That's not my mother. It's his second wife.

He met Joanna making iThe Lost Man,/i

276

00:
18:57,760 -- 00:19:02,197

and left my mother, who'd stuck by him

in the lean years. I had just been born.

277

00:
19:02,320 -- 00:19:06,472

iThe Lost Man/i is the only film of my

father's I can't bring myself to see.

278

00:
19:06,600 -- 00:19:09,194

- I'm so sorry. We didn't mean...

- No, no, no.

279

00:
19:09,320 -- 00:19:16,271

We're all good friends now, his kids

from that marriage and us - the old kids.

280

00:
19:17,680 -- 00:19:20,433

I'd love to get into that kitchen.

281

00:
19:21,280 -- 00:19:25,159

- What should we do?

- It's Geoffrey's only night in New York.

282

00:
19:25,280 -- 00:19:28,078

- I vote to stay in.

- Good!

283

00:
19:28,200 -- 00:19:30,634

We moved into the kitchen.

284

00:
19:34,280 -- 00:19:36,635

- We watched him cook.

- We watched him chop.

285

00:
19:36,760 -- 00:19:39,149

He did a sort of wizardry.

Leftovers. Onions.

286

00:
19:39,280 -- 00:19:40,872

- i(Ouisa)/i Peppers.

- Tuna. Olives.

287

00:
19:41,000 -- 00:19:44,231

- i(Ouisa) Ajar of sun-dried tomatoes./i

- iIt was wonderful./i

288

00:
19:44,360 -- 00:19:47,716

- So, you're from...?

- Johannesburg.

289

00:
19:50,480 -- 00:19:53,392

My dad took me to a movie

shot in South Africa.

290

00:
19:53,520 -- 00:19:56,830

The camera moves from

this vile rioting in the streets

291

00:
19:56,960 -- 00:19:59,474

to a villa where people picked

at lunch on a terrace.

292

00:
19:59,600 -- 00:20:05,118

The only riot, the flowers and the birds.

Gorgeous plumage and petals.

293

00:
20:05,240 -- 00:20:07,310

I didn't understand.

294

00:
20:07,440 -- 00:20:11,274

Dad said to me "You meet these young

blacks who are having a terrible time."

295

00:
20:11,400 -- 00:20:15,951

"They've had an inadequate education,

yet, in '76, the year of the Soweto riots,

296

00:
20:16,080 -- 00:20:20,710

they took on great political responsibility.

Just makes you wonder at their maturity."

297

00:
20:20,840 -- 00:20:24,310

It makes you realise that

the "crummy-childhood" theory,

298

00:
20:24,440 -- 00:20:28,479

that everything can be blamed in

a Freudian fashion on a bad upbringing,

299

00:
20:28,600 -- 00:20:31,876

just doesn't hold water.

300

00:
20:32,000 -- 00:20:33,956

May I?

301

00:
20:38,480 -- 00:20:42,029

What about being black in America?

302

00:
20:42,160 -- 00:20:46,631

Well, my problem is I've never felt

American. I grew up in Switzerland.

303

00:
20:46,760 -- 00:20:48,876

Boarding school. Villa Rosey.

304

00:
20:49,000 -- 00:20:53,630

There's a boarding school in Switzerland

that will take you at age 18 months.

305

00:
20:53,760 -- 00:20:58,675

No, no, no, no. That's not me. I've never

felt people liked me for my connections.

306

00:
20:58,800 -- 00:21:02,236

And movie-star-kid problems?

None of those.

307

00:
21:03,240 -- 00:21:07,199

I never knew I was black in that racist way

till I was 16 and came back here.

308

00:
21:07,320 -- 00:21:09,311

Very, very protected.

309

00:
21:09,440 -- 00:21:11,670

White servants.

310

00:
21:11,800 -- 00:21:15,429

After the divorce, we moved to

Switzerland - my mother, brother and I.

311

00:
21:15,560 -- 00:21:20,918

I don't feel American. I don't even feel

black. I suppose that's very lucky for me.

312

00:
21:21,040 -- 00:21:24,271

Even though Freud says

there's no such thing as luck.

313

00:
21:24,400 -- 00:21:27,915

Does Freud say that?

I think we're lucky having this dinner.

314

00:
21:28,040 -- 00:21:32,556

- Flan, can we eat in the dining room?

- Dining room.

315

00:
21:32,680 -- 00:21:35,752

Now, now, don't look at

the sewing machine.

316

00:
21:43,560 -- 00:21:45,437

So, is everything OK?

317

00:
21:45,560 -- 00:21:48,358

- This is the best pasta I've ever tasted.

- The best!

318

00:
21:48,480 -- 00:21:51,836

- My father insisted we learn to cook.

- He's from Jamaica, isn't he?

319

00:
21:51,960 -- 00:21:53,916

There's a taste of, um...

320

00:
21:54,040 -- 00:21:55,393

- The islands.

- Yes. Yeah.

321

00:
21:55,520 -- 00:21:58,796

Yes, before he made it,

he ran four restaurants in Harlem.

322

00:
21:58,920 -- 00:22:01,115

- You, sir, have good buds.

- "Good buds?"

323

00:
22:01,240 -- 00:22:04,038

I've never been

complimented on my buds.

324

00:
22:04,160 -- 00:22:06,116

- This is delicious.

- What about you?

325

00:
22:06,240 -- 00:22:08,595

Oh, no, no, no. The cook never eats.

326

00:
22:08,720 -- 00:22:12,872

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes