The Looking Glass War

Northern Air Services.

Gents.

Brandy, Steinhaeger.

You bastards.

You're down safely, captain.

That's what counts.

Plane was full of kids.

Get your bloody hand off.

Doesn't seem much point in blowing

the whole job now...

...just as your skill and steely nerve

brought you down safely.

-Now, get a grip on yourself.

-That was the last time.

What's down there anyway,

l want to know.

What altitude?

Six thousand feet.

Two hundred and forty-six knots.

-No excuse for that.

-l'm through.

Look, l don't make the weather.

That's your end.

lf you thought it wasn't safe

to go off course in this muck...

...you shouldn't have done it.

No, you pay.

l don't even get taxi fares.

l'm walking to the hotel.

lt's all right, we won't ask you again.

-No overflights.

-We authorized one.

You brought us back the scandal

of a dead man in Finland.

What would you have done

in the war?

lf this were the war, we'd have

put a man over the border.

lt required nerve and money.

ln those days we had both.

We'd still do that today?

l think so. lt has the advantage

of being out of fashion.

Where would you find such a man?

lsn't that the sort of thing

you'd pay us for?

All right.

l don't want to know details.

-You certain?

-l don't deal in certainties.

l deal in doubt.

lf you feel able to say,

in the face of the indicators...

...the rockets are not there,

advise the minister accordingly...

...and l shall have done my duty.

-You will have done yours.

-Damn.

l suppose having put up the hare,

you better have a shot at it.

lf l should find a man to go over...

...there remains the problem

of resources.

Training, equipment, extra staff,

transport.

Why do you have to raise

so many difficulties?

ln practical terms, we'd need

the best part of 30,000 pounds.

Accountable?

l understand you wanted to

be spared details.

l suggest you send us a memo

on costs.

Sorry to disturb you.

Would you give us your attention

a moment?

Do you speak English?

The police informs

you jumped off your ship.

-Why did you do that?

-lt was very boring on ship.

You speak very good English.

l have the ear, it's easy for me.

l work in ski resorts and on ships.

Girls like to teach me.

English girls, French girls,

Russian girls.

Have you ever been arrested?

-Are you running from arrest now?

-No.

Forgive me,

but we must ask these questions.

Do you smoke?

Ask him if he always carries a knife.

-You have no police record?

-Everybody has a police record.

Do you understand?

We want to know why you are running.

Are you in trouble?

ls someone after you?

No, l want to live in England.

What on earth do you suppose

you'd do here if we let you stay?

Vote in free elections,

practice free enterprise.

Be a millionaire

and sleep with movie stars.

Your name?

Friedrich Wilhelm Leiser,

but l'm Polish.

-How old are you?

-Twenty-three.

-Family?

-Father.

-What's he?

-A hero.

Perhaps you would be kind enough

to explain.

Well, my father was in the last

Polish cavalry charge in history.

Polish cavalry against German tanks.

The Germans made a lot of heroes

that day. They killed everybody.

That was 30 years ago.

He was the only survivor.

Too bad.

l think heroes are only happy in parks

with pigeons sitting on their heads.

Religion?

Do you have religion, boy?

My father believed in God and cavalry.

Now they feed horses to cats,

so l don't know.

What do you want from me?

Perhaps if you would oblige us

with the truth.

Why did you jump ship?

l came to see a girl.

-What girl? An English girl?

-Yes.

But l do not love her, l love the baby

she is going to have for me.

Ask him, Adrian.

lf we were to ask you to do something,

a little job for us...

...in return for letting you

stay with your girl...

...what would you say?

Yes.

-Don't you care what it is we ask?

-No.

The morals of a b*tch on heat.

l don't care if you don't like it.

l am calm.

Six weeks, go back to East Germany.

Look at something we'll tell you

to look for, and return.

War rules.

You could be executed as a traitor

if caught.

We, of course, would deny knowledge

of your existence.

You are spies.

That's wonderful.

l've never been a spy before.

lt will be a new experience for me.

Good night, sir.

Lovely moon tonight, sir.

-Do you think he could be a plant?

-They can do better than his sort.

-Why would he do it?

-Biology.

Men change their politics, but sex--

Sex is something

you can depend upon.

He's a Pole. No matter what he says,

he hates Germans.

-What about the girl?

-Don't see her personally.

-lt would be most insecure.

-lnsecure for what?

There's no operation.

Adrian, my devil's advocate.

Torture me with logic,

keep me honest.

-We never should've sent Taylor.

-The ministry presses daily for results.

Now, we have two indicators.

lndicator one:

The photograph we purchased

in Hamburg.

From an East German...

...named Fritsche.

Taken through a window

of the rail shed in Kalkstadt...

...in East Germany.

Seven hundred miles from London.

Flared skirts, small fins.

Turned to the side,

it could look like this.

l give you something remarkably like

a Russian Sandal missile.

Remarkably unclear.

lf it were clear

l wouldn't need to know more.

-You said there were two indicators.

-Taylor's death.

The Pole couldn't stand his country's

discipline. He won't stand mine.

Good. Be a hammer.

Forge him into the instrument

we need.

Gentlemen,

we open Operation Mayfly.

Red security drill in force.

Your woollies, John.

l'm sending you to Helsinki.

Do you know anything

about Taylor's wife?

How's the chest?

l have exactly the same cough

l've had since 1 941 .

-That is mine, get out!

-Watch it!

Why would Taylor live in a place

like this?

Don't know, John.

-Perhaps we should have telephoned.

-Something one does face to face.

They died every day then.

ln the war.

l'm ashamed.

Can't even remember their names.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Where's your mother?

-Gone to work.

-Who looks after you, then?

-l do. l'm not to open the door.

Where is she?

Where does she go?

Work.

-Who tucks you up?

-What?

-Who puts you to bed?

-l do, like a good girl.

-Where's your father?

-He's gone on an airplane...

...to get money.

lt's a secret.

Tell your mother men were here

from your father's office.

We'll call again tomorrow, teatime.

-He's gone on an airplane.

-Yes, but it's a secret between us.

Don't tell anyone.

We'll come and see you later.

-You go to bed now. Good night.

-Good night.

-Good night.

-Good night.

The Swedish solution,

that's what we want.

Swedish?

What do you mean, Swedish?

Well, you know, free abortions,

socialism, free everything.

-Swedish.

-Well, what do you mean?

Well, disengagement.

-We can't fight, we can't negotiate.

-You're up late.

So disengage.

-No. That's a good point.

-Get out of NATO.

Hire a firm of business accountants.

What does John say?

-John? John.

-No one ever knows what John does.

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