"D AY ONE" "Hi." "This is NieIs." "Did I wake you up ?" "I just thought I'd let you know it's all on the disk." "I thought I'd start making a print out." "Oh, about 4 o' clock." "Yeah, I'II do that." "Yes, I'II start right now." "THE COP AND THE WHORE A FILMANU" "A what ?" "A "fiImmanu" !" "Listen, you know what..." "It just stopped dead." "I think you ought to come over here." "Take me to Store Kongensgade." "If you keep driving like this you'II soon owe me money." "Arizona ?" "What did you say ?" "I can hardly hear you." "Yes." "No, no." "Don't worry about it." "When are you coming home ?" "OK, I'II make a dinner on Saturday." "Right." "Great." "No, no !" "I'II make something special." "It's for you, Lars." "Lars just came in." "See you on Saturday." "It's CIaes in Arizona." "Is this the film consultant ?" "How nice." "We just finished it." "We're making a print out now." "We assume you're going to pick it up on Saturday." "No problem finishing it on schedule." "Oh, about 200 pages." "215 or 216." "We'II probably cut it down a little." "Compress it somewhat." "A few cuts here and there." "Anything can happen." "Have a good trip and we'II see you on Saturday." "Great, CIaes." "NieIs sends his regards." "Great." "Bye now." "I checked the disk." "There's nothing left !" "Not much for him to pick up." "Damn !" " What's CIaes doing over there ?" " He bought a windbreaker." " Another one !" " He's got a windbreaker fetish." "THE COP AND THE WHORE" "How the hell did we start this story ?" "Was the whore in it from..." "Was she in the opening ?" "I really can't remember how it started." "I vaguely remember the ending." "The middle is foggy, but the beginning..." "actually..." "I didn't really like "The Cop and the Whore"." "It had its good moments." "Name one !" "I'd Iike it if we... wrote something more dynamic." "A coincidence due to fate can be so sinister and fantastic in character" "that one is tempted to draw apparently logical, but actually unfounded, conclusions." "During the course of 5 days the "Epidemic" manuscript was created and written down in and around this apartment." "That an actual epidemic was approaching during those 5 days, and that its awful outbreak and script completion coincided, is one of those inexplicable coincidences." ""Fathers left their children." "Wives left husbands, brother left brother." "For the disease attacked both through breathing and sight." "Thus they all died." "No one would bury them at any price." "family members dragged their dead to open graves without benefit of clergy, euIogy or tolling of bells." "Throughout Siena mass graves were filled with victims." "I, AgnoIo di Tura, called "The Fat One"." "buried my 5 children with my own hands." "Some were covered with such a thin layer of dirt that dogs dug up their bodies and fed on them." "This describes the atmosphere." "There were no funerals nor processions." "Priests said mass and bells tolled only for the rich." "Such ceremony was then forbidden in many places, as were bells, for it was thought the constant toIIing would cause even greater anguish and perhaps greater sickness." "For purely religious reasons, as a form of protection from evil spirits, crosses were marked on doors to guard those inside." "Later, a cross came to mean that a house was infected." "Thus people were warned off." "The 1348 plague saw harsher methods employed." "When the first victims were found outside milan," "Archbishop Bernabo Visconti ordered that all pIague-infected houses be sealed with bricks." "With the family inside, of course." "Thus the plague spared milan." "Three families were bricked in and died of plague and hunger." "So, milan escaped the plague because it isolated itself from other pIague-ridden cities ?" "Yes, but it was hit much harder when the next plague struck." "CERTIFICATE OF DEATH E. MESMER, PHYSICIAN." "The archives stored here under these arches are Denmark's memory." "Let's see if we can find anything of interest to you." "Perhaps you wouldn't expect to find these walls here." "That's saItpetre coming out of them." "It comes from the wall itself, probably because the ground is so damp." "In the old days, before we understood the problem some of the staff were afraid to come down here, particularly in the dark, because of the strange sounds, pops, when the saltpetre cracked off more plaster." "It's a kind of wall disease." "Look at me when I'm talking to you, Dr. Mesmer." " Swine." " Apostate." " Traitor." " Renegade." " Creep." " QuisIing." "I hold here your application, Dr. Mesmer." "You have applied for permission to terminate your research here at the hospital." "I understand that you wish to undertake medical practice in the infected areas outside the city, knowing full well that the Academy of Doctors has decided that no treatment can be given for this disease." "Damn it, Mesmer !" "I couId never give you permission to leave for those areas." "It's quite impossible." "You know that well." "I beseech you for the very last time to reconsider your attitude." "Dr. Mesmer is ashamed of being a doctor, I would say." "Let's call him an idealist." "The disease doesn't frighten Dr. Mesmer." "Which medicament lies hidden in his doctor's bag ?" " What has he in mind to prescribe ?" " Aspirin and rest." "You haven't a chance, Mesmer." "You wouldn't be able to stay alive out there for one single day." "The air is infected." "And the soil." "And the water." "early one morning you leave the protected walls of our city." "Your courage has brought you this far, Dr. Mesmer." "The world lies open." "But the closer you get to the infected areas, it seems as if the elements turn against you." "It may start with a light cough, but quickly, and without mercy, the respiratory organs are disabled by the infected air." "The bacteria in the soil penetrate the skin and the flesh by mere contact." "And the water you drink will destroy you from inside." "Let me make you an offer, Dr. Mesmer." "As you probably know," "I am chairman of the crisis commission, which was established in the early days of the epidemic as advisories to the government." "confidentially, I can tell you that the government has just decided to resign." "partly due to the acuteness of the situation, partly in acknowledgement of its own mismanagement." "In short," "His Majesty has requested that I form a provisional government." "This envelope, Dr. Mesmer, contains the cabinet list, which will be presented to His Majesty this very afternoon." "This list features exclusively names attached to this faculty." "AII members with incontestable medical qualifications." "This list also contains your name, Doctor M.." "Prime Minister, Professor UIrich, neurology." "Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. OswaId, Obstetrics." "Minister of Finance, Professor Geit, gynaecology." "Minister of Justice, Dr. Horst, Orthopaedics." "Minister of the Interior, Professor Rosenberg, Surgery." "Minister of Transport, Dr. Janis, urology." "Minister of agriculture and Fisheries, Dr. Magnus, Psychiatry." "Minister of Education, Prof. Stendbeck, Anaesthetics." "Minister of ecclesiastical Affairs, Dr. Linderman, pathology." "As you may have noticed, Mesmer," "I have, among others, admitted a Ministry of cultural Affairs, which gives me an opportunity to offer you an appointment as minister without portfolio." "You underestimate the danger of this disease," "Dr. Mesmer." "would you please call in Dr. Magnus." "I know epidemiology is your field, Dr. Mesmer." "I take it, therefore, that you have come across the mysterious phenomenon commonly known as "King Rat"." "A bundle of 3 or 4 rats, who have had their tails so helplessly entangled, that consequentiaIIy they have starved to death." "In the Great plague years, finding of King Rats always gave warning of the coming of the disease." "Just before the black Death in London in 1348, a King Rat was found that consisted of no less than 5 rats." "If you please, Dr. Mesmer, this discovery was made in the cellar under the University on the night between Friday and Saturday. 7 rats." "Dr. Mesmer !" "If you leave these premises to carry out your plans, it is my duty to inform you that by such action you will excommunicate yourself from the Doctors' Syndicate." "From this moment on, you'II be numbered among the patients." "Haven't you heard about the fortifications around the city ?" "They've walled the doors and windows in the outskirts of the city." "You won't be able to overcome these obstacles." "I bought a goose to pickle." "D AY TWO "THE LINE"" "Then I'II boil it and bake it." "I also bought some truffles." "I don't know how I'II use them just yet." "I've also got a fish to pickle." "It's all for the Saturday dinner." "NieIs !" "I understand you've settled on bubonic plague." "Nice boil !" ""And no matter how hard and firm the boil might seem it could rupture unexpectedly to the victim's surprise and spill forth a two-coIoured puss." "It was startling that the colours didn't mix and came out together but separated by God's will, without compounding into a third colour"." "It seems to me I've seen that in a tube of toothpaste." "I don't know if you can still get it." "It's called "signal"." "It was just like ordinary white toothpaste but there were thin red stripes in it too." "So you got a two-coIour stripe when you squeezed the tube." "So you got a two-coIour stripe when you squeezed the tube." "Can our boils work like that ?" "Yeah, why not ?" "The weather report for the second day of screenwriting promised north-easterIy winds and the first frost of winter." "Many blamed the weather for the wave of neck aches that came." "Others thought they had influenza symptoms." "Headaches were nothing new for the authors." "They often came in the wake of ideas." "One detail I'd Iike to include is that after leaving the city, which should burn behind him..." "I really think it ought to." "After he leaves the city, that's when the disease starts to spread, because he brings it with him in his doctor's bag." "OK, Iet's start." "shall we call it "In the City" ?" " Or just "City" ?" - "In Town"." "Yeah !" ""In Town"." "And about here, I think we ought to have" ""Fortification"." "That will be hard to read." ""Fortification"." "And here we'II work our way out to the countryside." "What else is there ?" "Oh, yeah." "About here, about two thirds of the way." "Here we need some drama." "please write "drama" over there." "It's just that that's when the audience will think about leaving." " So, we've got to..." " Put in some drama!" "And this is right here." "The "Wag"." ""Wag Tann"." " If you don't mind." " No." "What does it mean ?" "well, this bacteria that's moving closer, which we refer to constantly, ought to be accompanied by strains of Wagner." "The overture to Tannhauser." "He's an idealist." "So if we write "ideal" in the beginning, that's not a bad idea." "Right, Iet's write "ideal"." "We also ought to write "revelation" here." "Just "Rev." will do, maybe." "So, this basically boils down to the young idealist who leaves the fortified city, which is sealed because of the suspicion of the disease that has spread nearby." "We can refer to the painted crosses we talked about, and people are imagining illnesses." "But the first real victim of the disease ought to be the far-sighted nurse, don't you think ?" "clearly the doctor is somehow spreading the disease." "Without him and his idealism there would be no problem at all." "An arrow." "The revelation leads to some religious ending." "Don't you think it's about time for a small beer ?" "Oh, I think we could handle a beer." "A film ought to be like a pebble in your shoe." " Cheers !" " Cheers." "Kruff is here." "Ask him what kind of wine to drink on Saturday." "He knows a Iot about wine." "Some people can't drink wine without a candle on the table." "Some people can't live without a candle especially when they drink good wine !" "I'm not one of them." "It should have been decanted to let it breathe." "The bouquet is fantastic." "Yes." "Very fine indeed." " It's also very precise." " Yes." "It's a wine from..." "Marquis d'AngerviIIe." "It may be a clos des Ducs." "There are snails in it !" "Oh, it's leaking." "It's usually difficult to pour from a bottle like this." "well, doesn't look like it this time." "It's hard to see where the sediment is sitting, though." "Now, if one chose one like this as the red wine for the main course..." "One's better off than if one chose it as a white wine !" "One's better off than if one chose it as a white wine !" "Yes, of course." "It would have to be a great deal older for that." "Superb wine !" " A shame some was wasted." " You've got a point there." "well, if we had a white and then drank this, what white would you choose." "I suppose..." "well, there are two choices." "Either a PuIigny-Montrachet or a MersauIt-Santenots." "D'AngerviIIe also makes MersauIt-Santenots." "So, everything's kept in the family, so to speak." "This VoInay CIos des Ducs is better than it looks." "I'm very interested in epidemic diseases." "Wasn't there a plague that attacked the grapevine in France" "a few centuries ago ?" "In some cases an AusIese can be attacked by noble rot." "Dr. Thanisch's widow..." "She was once married to a doctor." "He grew great wines !" "I was once told by a waiter at Lasserre in Paris..." "He told me something." "A long time ago there had been a plague of some kind in Bordeaux." "It didn't strike the bottled wines, as it were, but the grapes on the vine." "It wasn't really a plague..." "It was a kind of vine pest." "PhyIIoxera." "I think the scientific name was "PhyIIoxera vastatrix"" "But it devastated French wine production for years, right ?" "Yes, PhiIIoxera is the pest of all pests in that regard." "D AY THREE "GERMANY"" "What are you doing ?" "We're taking a trip to Germany." "I thought you'd be writing." "One, two, three, four, five, six," "seven, eight, nine, ten." "We're driving through some of the worst areas in Europe." "Or perhaps the most interesting." "AII of Europe's industry is here in big splotches on the map." "We'II drive through Dortmund and Essen." "Then Duisburg, KrefeId." "KrefeId." "Neuss, DusseIdorf." "We'II also be going through Remscheid, SoIingen and Leverkusen." "There's the headquarters of Bayer chemicals." "From there we'II head towards cologne." "Our friend Mesmer is on his way out to the disease-ravaged Europe." "I think it's time for him to meet somebody." "I think I'd Iike to suggest that our friend here" "meets a theologian." "We've discussed the length of various forms of education." "The fact that... study for specific occupations has become very short" "in a society where one can plan only a few hours ahead because the disease spreads at record speed." "Let's suppose that this theologian has an education that took, say, an hour and a half." "This gives us the opportunity to make fun of religion and of the educational system too." "That way we can get a little humour into the tragedy." "Something else... during the plague people died in a matter of hours and were buried quickly." "In the rush, some were buried alive." "It might be a good idea if Mesmer's girlfriend, the nurse, met this fate." "That would fit in with Mesmer's mission." "On the third day the bacteria was incubated in the soil." "The city could be divided into zones, according to the degree of infection." "Modern transportation helped the bacteria to spread quickly." "In a matter of hours, the germs reach new parts of the globe." "NieIs !" ""signal plus"." ""ideal for prevention"." ""clinically tested"." "Thanks." "Now we'II reveal everything." "The secret !" "It's rather firm." "I'II make an incision here." " Tough tube !" " I'II make an incision here." "Very tough indeed." "Maybe that's part of the secret." "And we open it up here and we can now see that there are no stripes inside." "The white stuff is down here and the red's down here." "How do they combine ?" "Looks like a nozzle." "You've got a nozzle in which the white stuff pulls the red stuff along with it out through the opening." "Yes !" " And that's the story of "signal"." " "plus"." " hello." " hello." "Come in." "Cheers." "So, what are you doing in cologne ?" "well, we're writing a script." "Here ?" "No, we're just here for a short time." "But how are you ?" " My mother just died." " I'm very sorry." "She told me things she'd never told me before." "What things ?" "About the hospital, the day I was born." "She told me the roof collapsed." "In the evening she was in the hospital and they were collecting all the babies back into a different room, which my mother could see from her room through a glass wall." "Then she told me she saw a brick wall coming down, and the nurse wanted to protect the babies and jumped over it." "She was hit and there was a blood stream out of her head." "So, my mother was completely left in this corner, no way of getting out." "She was thinking, she told me, and she started scratching with her hands to make a hole in the wall." "And then she waved and people helped her to get out." "And then she waved and people helped her to get out." "Then she got out and she... told me that she was pressing me very strong to her." "She was in the hospital in Richard Wagner Strasse." "She was trying to get away, but everything was burning because it was the second english bombing of cologne." "As an experiment they were using for the first time phosphor bombs." "Everything was burning and she was just getting away from all this." "She found herself all of a sudden at this... you know the lake?" "It's at the end of Richard Wagner Strasse." "Yeah, I know where it is." "And if you go right to the end, there's this water place." "And she got close to this, and she told me then that she heard first the noises, people screaming, and she saw a Iot of people under the water." "They were instinctively going under the water, because of this phosphor that was burning their skins." "They were, you know, getting their head out to breathe." "And then... my mother told me a terrible thing." "She saw one hand sticking out of the water." "She was very close and could see the hand and she said it was only flesh, because all the skin was burned off." "And she didn't tell me all my Iife." "She waited until just before dying to tell me the story." "Here we are." "This is the area." "And of course all those houses were burning, and also on this side." "You can't see from here very well." "Let's go over there, we can see it better." "This is the place where hundreds and hundreds of people were standing in the water." "AII those people screaming in this lake." "They were not Nazis." "My mother was not a Nazi." "I think I know what to call the disease." "I'm still not quite used to being a priest." "You know, in half a day you're a dentist." "It takes a whole day to become an airline pilot" "and in two you're a priest." "I studied for two days." "They gave me this book and told me I was a priest." "I opened the book." "It was goddamn Latin." "I told them:" "this book is goddamn Latin." "They told me I was a catholic priest." "What the hell." "A week ago some 20 people tried to flee the D.I.N. disease by going to sea." "They built an artificial island with a couple of houses on it." "A few fields for crops." "Everything they needed." "But the island wasn't really constructed to overcome a storm." "Yesterday, I was told someone found a fragment of the wreck." "WouIdn't you call this a good opportunity to perform a ritual ?" "Yes, over there." "The ceremony will begin." "Your passport, please." "Thank you." "D AY FOUR "THE HOSPITAL"" " Where's NieIs ?" " He's at the hospital." "Did he forget to tell you ?" "But I don't think... he'II be long." "He made the appointment ages ago." " What's the matter with him ?" " Don't ask me !" " You don't know what's wrong ?" " I'm afraid not." " Is it his head or his legs ?" " His head, I'm afraid !" "Things were still quiet at the hospital on the fourth day." "The daily routine was still functioning smoothly." "Nothing was amiss yet." "What's wrong ?" "I had some small growths that itched and got bigger." "I've had them some time." "I had to have them removed." "It had been arranged for today." "I'd completely forgotten." "I don't particularly like being sliced open." "I fainted when I saw the scalpel." "He cut really deep." "well, if you feel up to writing something..." "OK." "I've certainly got the time." "I've certainly got the time." " What about the inspiration ?" " Oh, yes." "Indeed." "Thanks." "I told PaIIe we were writing a horror story." "He said you were welcome to go down and visit him." "He's down in pathology, if you're interested." "That's a nice offer..." "Are you squeamish about dissections ?" "Don't you want to go ?" "I'm not too sure." "I think it'd be very interesting, but unfortunately I can't go." "I just can't go, NieIs." "It's not for me... no." "Take the lift to the basement." "There's a shuttle train." "Get on and ask for "pathology"." "Gown, cap and mask" "It's in there on the Ieft." "There aren't any apparent symptoms." "No bodily functions impaired." "We only recently noticed glandular tissue changes, primarily in younger subjects." "The first case was the day before yesterday." "12 cases yesterday." "We've also had a few today with these tissue changes." "We call it "granuIa"." "I think I'II examine the lymph nodes in the groin, or here in the back of the sterno cIeido." "If this is another case, we ought to find something." "We don't usually carry out autopsies with masks and gloves, but this is a new phenomenon." "Its nature is unknown, so we have to take precautions." "I'II make an incision here." "Thank you." "hold right here." "Look at this." "Two nodules the size of a pea." "Maybe even a bit smaller." "These are the largest we've found up to now." "See, it's quite soft." "There you go !" "They tell me the idiot doctors set the city on fire." "How about that, Mesmer ?" "Caused quite a panic, they said." "The first believed D.I.N. victims were found within the city limits." "So the doctors set the infected areas on fire." "They know something about fire." "It's started spreading, Mesmer." "They tell me the fire has jumped from the cathedral to the University." "And from the University to the museum," "which the idiot doctors took over for administrative purposes." "Now organ boys have fled to the library." "It's silly, Mesmer." "To close the city and start playing with fire." "I guess the library is on fire too." "What the hell !" "AII a nigger needs are loose shoes, tight pussies and a warm place to shit !" "D AY FIVE - "THE DINNER" (THE GIRLS FROM ATLANTIC CITY)" "The authors had done what they could on the Iast day." "They had invented an incurable disease, described its spread and based their work on the suffering of others." "The deed was done." "I saw a movie, "The King of Marvin Gardens"." "It took place in atlantic City." "Seems an exciting place." "So I thought I would... get someone to write a book for me." "I'd Iike to see atlantic City, but I can't afford the trip." "I don't really want to go, but I'd Iike to know something about it." "Through knowledge by description." "Descriptions from others who lived there." "Or something like that." "I wanted to write about America in a way similar to Kafka's." "His uncle had supplied information about it." "But I'd do it by information I received by letter." "So I chose a limited area, atlantic City, found out the names of the local papers and wrote to them." "In my letters I pretended I was a 16-year-oId and got appropriate answers." "Most of them were from 13- to 16-year-oId girls." "I got a whole load of letters." "I got a whole load of letters." "So many girls." "About 70." "I answered all of them and used teenage handwriting." "I kept copies of my letters." ""I was happy to receive your letter." "Thanks very much !"" ""I'd better start telling a little about myself."" "Then I asked her..." ""I would also like to know what kind of candy you've got in your city."" "And got a detailed description of a Hershey bar." "But you had to stop writing at a certain point, didn't you ?" "Yeah, I'd got to the point where I couldn't continue." "It was too much after they'd described their carpets 17 times." ""Dear, NieIs." "How's everything been with you ?" "I really missed receiving a letter from you and I thought the reason was that either my letter to you or yours to me never arrived." "I sure hope that's the reason, because I want to continue corresponding with you." "I hope there wasn't some kind of problem in your family which made you not write me back." "I have quite a Iot to tell you and hope to receive a letter from you very shortly." "Your friend, Lisa"." "I didn't write to her long." "She was slower than the others." "In her first letter she said she was coming to Copenhagen in about two weeks." "She found my phone number and called." "I met her at her hotel." "She was touring Europe with her aunt." "She was 1 4, but looked 25 !" "She even had a little black moustache." "And I had to sit there and... they asked me questions as if I was 16." "So I had to act like a 16-year-oId." "tell them about my school, my homework and all that." "It was a little embarrassing." "It wasn't much fun." "We sat in the lobby on this hotel furniture right next to the guy who gives out the keys." "As we talked the aunt watched us like a hawk." "I styled my hair so I'd look younger." "But maybe I'd gone too far, so I said:" ""I must be getting home." ""I have some homework to do !"" "This is a recording of my voice." "I just thought I'd Iike to talk to you for a while." "I'm listening to the radio in my room." "It's a bit loud, I'II turn it down a little." "I really like writing to you." "Because it gives me something to do and look forward to." "I don't know, It's nice to Iearn about people who are different from you, because when you're born some place and you live there all your life, you don't get exposed to a Iot of different kinds of people or places." "So, the only way to do that is going there or get them to come here, or writing back and forth." "And, since my father won't let me come over there in the near future," "I'II keep writing." "But one day, when I'm in Europe, I'II look you up." "Then you'II see what I Iook like, 'cause those pictures are no good." "You don't look like what I thought you'd look like." "No, you do not look like what I thought you'd look like." "Let me see, how did I picture you ?" "First of all, you look older than you are." "How old are you ?" "I remember I sent you that article..." "You look older than that." "You look about 20, 21 ." "Are you goddamn talkin' to me ?" "well, oh." "I just didn't think you'd look like that." "I didn't know what you looked like." "Here I am here sitting on the floor." "My mother's calling me... asking me about something I didn't do." "She can go right ahead, I never do anything wrong." "If you want you can tape right on this one and send it back to me." "You don't have to keep this, you can erase right over my voice." "It's not going to be worth anything." " Hi, claus." "Come in." " Thanks." "We're sitting in there." " Can I take your windbreaker ?" " No, thanks." "I'II keep it on." "Let's start with some champagne." "a salon blanc de blanc." " Cured coaIfish." " What did you say ?" " Cured coaIfish !" " Sounds great." "well cheers !" "And welcome home." " Cheers !" " Thanks." "Terrific, hey ?" "You know, it's not a script in the traditional sense." "It's the written result of a year and a half's work." " Er... yes..." " twelve pages ?" "well, consider it... the technical description of the plot." "The skeleton of the film ?" "We were thinking of presenting the film in a less traditional way." " We planned a surprise." " What sort of surprise ?" "We've invited some people over." "They'II help us put the script in the right perspective." "well, I'm not against that." "Let me just say that we've invested a Iot of money in this and I've invested a Iot of trust in you guys." "And there's a board of directors running the film industry in this little country !" "Their rule is you've got to have a script of at Ieast 150 pages." "How is it ?" "I think it's great." "Nothing better than fresh truffles..." "Their scent fills a home." "Yeah, great flavour." "I'm crazy about truffles." "They've got to be fresh, mind you." "There are several varieties." "There are sinners who put them in tins." " Then they become inedible." " Don't exaggerate." " They lose their taste." " That is true." "well." "Let me tell you something about the film "Epidemic"." "Or rather, Iet me explain the ending." "Our hero Mesmer, after travelling in the infected environment is entrenched in this underground cave." "NieIs thinks he ought to make a mosaic down there, but that's just a detail." "After everyone else around him dies, he hides in a cave to avoid infection." "That's when he discovers he's the disease carrier." "He breaks out of the cave by crawling a Iong steep passage and comes up, kneels down and thanks God for the life which once had been." "He crawls out of a cave and thanks God ?" "Yes." "That's pathetic !" "I was expecting a little more action !" "A classic tragedy where all the main characters eventually die." ""God almighty, I'm dying !" Know what I mean ?" "people do die, but not on the screen." "You'd rather have a bloodbath ?" "A 12-page script with this kind of finale !" "I'm worried." "I was expecting something different." "well in films, Danish films in particular, that's what fate has forced me to work with, there are lots of stories" "where people don't die, or fewer people die than ought to die." "And there are fewer screams and not as much blood as one would Iike." "Things just ebb away, don't they ?" "As if an evening fog rolled in and everything just faded away." "We're waiting for our guests." " Why didn't you tell me ?" " It was a surprise." "In "The plague", Camus writes about a bookkeeper, a great artist who tried to write a book." "For decades he writes the same lines about a horse coming down a boulevard." "He never got any further." "I think you ought to open it." "This is Gitte and Svend Hamann." "This is Lars, and this is claus from the film Institute." "This is Suzanne." "please, sit down." " Sit down here." " Thanks." " Coffee ?" " No, thanks." "May we start ?" "Gitte, just relax and listen." "please, be quiet." "It must be quiet when we start." "No talking or moving, OK ?" "Gitte, relax and look at me." "Just relax." "You're closing your eyes." "You will hear everything I'm saying to you." "Concentrate on my voice." "Think about sleeping." "You will faII asleep now." "Just think about sleeping." "slump in the chair." "Just slump down." "Your head is getting heavy." "Now sleep." "sleep." "You are sleeping deeper and deeper." "Deeper and deeper." "You are now sleeping deeper." "You are in deep sleep." "You feel fine." "You relax." "AII unpleasant noise disappears." "AII unpleasant noise disappears." "You hear everything I say to you but can't hear what I'm saying to the others." "You only hear what I say to you." "Now you are in a deep sleep." "A deep, deep, sleep." "Now listen to me and concentrate." "You have read the words." "You have read the words." "Go into the film." "Go into "Epidemic"." "I'm walking down the street." "What do you see ?" "There are people." "They look terrible." "They're..." "They're screaming." "They're screaming loudly !" "They... cry out !" "What are they crying out ?" "They scream." "For God's help, I think." "They cry for help." "They're afraid." "And there are rats." "Rats with very long tails." "tails longer than their bodies." "Everyone walks on their own, no one wants to talk." "They're afraid of each other." "Scared of infection and death." "They're in terrible suffering." "It... it hurts me." "On some of the houses" "large crosses are painted." "Because illness has reached them." "There may be dead people inside." "Go in the house !" "She's covered with boils..." "She's lying there... staring." "The children begin to whine softly." "They're so terribly frightened." "Are there other sick people in the house ?" "The husband jumps up." "He starts removing the children's clothes." "They look even worse..." "They're almost black." "There are people across the street." "They are sick." "The carriage..." "That man is throwing people off." "20, 30, 40..." "I can't count." "Just throwing them off." "There are holes everywhere." "full of children !" "Human bodies." "They're dying on the streets." "They lie everywhere and they die !" "We all fall down !" "We all fall down !"