"( Knocks on door )" "Julia." "Hello, Dr. weston." "Sunil's outside smoking." "I wondered if we could speak for a moment." "Sure." " May I come in?" " Of course." "You obviously weren't expecting the wicked, insensitive daughter-in-law." "I have no doubt that's how he paints me." "Am I wrong?" "Can I ask what happened to your arm?" "Uh, we had an argument." "We?" "Who do you think?" " And..." " And things got out of hand." "When you say "things got out of hand," what..." ""out of hand" meaning he pushed me and I fell into a bookcase in front of the children." "Sunil pushed you?" "There was a nail head that wasn't hammered all the way into the wood." "A visit to the emergency room, three stitches." "And how did this... how did this argument begin?" "We're ending sunil's treatment." "Today will be his last session." "This should cover today and one more for the last-minute cancellation." "That's not really necessary." "It would make me more comfortable." "Take the check." "I'm not sure that I understand." "I don't think I could say it any more clearly." "Well, it's just that I've really started to make contact with him." "We're starting to build an alliance." "With all due respect, Dr. weston, if this is what happens when you build an alliance, then I feel for your other patients, not to mention their families." "He's gotten worse." "I have to respectfully disagree." "I think he's beginning to really... well, you don't live with him, do you?" "There's been a sharp decline in his behavior ever since he started treatment." "Can you be more specific?" "Have there been other incidents?" "He's been acting stranger and stranger by the day." "He's back to hiding out in his room." "When he does decide to come out, it seems perfectly timed." "Just last night he came out into the hallway after I put the children to bed." "He just stood there staring at me." "It took everything I had to muster the courage just to walk past him." "It's the way he looks at me." "He... he doesn't even blink." "I actually thought about calling the police." "I can't imagine what he's telling you." "I mean, what does he say about us?" "Um, unfortunately" "I'm not at liberty to disclose the details of my work with sunil." "But I'm paying for this." "God, what a waste." "$220 a week for him to get even crazier." "The simple fact is you have not been helping." "I need Arun to prescribe something stronger for his father... something that actually works." "So please take the check." "When you say that you considered calling the police... it went through my mind." "I wasn't really..." "I'm not as bad as you think I am." "There is a part of me that actually feels for sunil." "In what way?" "He's an attractive middle-aged man." "His life doesn't have to be over." "It's almost as though he chooses to be miserable." "And that, in turn, makes the rest of us miserable." "The whole situation has made me anxious." "I'm sorry to hear that." "I'm not sleeping." "I'm losing focus at work." "I'm finding it harder and harder to concentrate on my manuscripts, my authors." "Honestly, what would you do if you were in my position?" "Honestly, I would keep him in treatment." "And if you would like to discuss your issues with a professional," "I'd be happy to recommend somebody." "Right." "I would like to hear more of the details of this incident." "That's all right." "It's pretty clear you're only interested in one side of the story." "I... he obviously has you under his spell." "Julia, I would very much like to hear your side of the story." "I..." "( door closes )" "I suspect that she just informed you my therapy is over." "( Theme music playing )" "I'm sorry." "I didn't have time to make tea today." "Julia's visit was somewhat unexpected." "That is okay." "The fact that this is our last session feels peculiar to me." "I've come to look forward to these conversations." "Me too." "I cannot quite picture what I'll do now." "Maybe I'll go and speak to the guy who sells my candy on church Avenue." "( Chuckles )" "Something tells me it won't be as gratifying." "I understand there was... there was an incident at the house this week." "I've come to think of you as a man who possesses great wisdom." "So you don't... you don't want to talk about what happened?" "And I've been thinking quite a lot about my dream, the one with the dark-haired woman." "I believe you were right." "Oh?" "In what way?" "The woman has returned to my... to my thoughts over and over this week." "Mm-hmm." "You must be very very skilled to make me think of Malini so often after so many years." "The flower in her hair, the el Greco painting... it's... that was observant of you, quite powerful." "When you think about Malini, what emotions come up for you?" "Emotions such as...?" "You told me about the break-up, her death, but I don't know, I just..." "I have this sense that there's... there's more to the story." "I think it's interesting that she appeared to you as a threatening figure and that when you woke from the dream you were just about to strike her." "And now there's been a physical incident at home." "( Speaks bengali )" "Can you please..." "I said there's no point to this." "And why do you say that?" "This is our final session." "What is the point of all these questions we will have no chance to answer?" "You don't seem to want to answer." "I ask you about Malini and you evade." "I ask you what happened at the house and you don't seem to want to answer that either." "Did Julia not give you final payment?" " Yes, she did but..." " So it's too late, Paul." "It's too late." "Can you tell me what you think led Julia to make this decision?" "Does it have anything to do with the bandage on her arm?" "She has not already told you?" "Well, she said that you'd had an argument and that you pushed her into the bookcase." "I pushed her?" "Did you not push her?" "Okay, so I walked into the tv room." "Sam and Naya were watching this... their favorite animated DVD for the 18th time this month." "And I wanted to spend some time with them." "And I could not bear this movie anymore, so I switched it off." "This movie is about a clown fish." "And I've grown so tiresome of watching my grandchildren absorbing this senseless poison." "So instead I tried to teach them a bengali folk song." "I was halfway through my first verse when Julia came inside the room." "And she was furious." "Well, if I remember, she'd asked you not to teach bengali to Sam." "It's just a song, Paul." "It's a song." "You know, it's... ( Singing in bengali )" "It's a song." "It's saying goodbye to a friend, you know." "It has much more relevance to life than this foolish, ridiculous cartoon fish." "( Singing in bengali )" "See?" "Do you find this terrible?" "No, it's... no, it doesn't sound terrible at all." "So Julia quickly raised her voice." "So when Naya saw her raising her voice, she started crying." "Sam saw Naya crying, so Sam started crying." "And Julia told me to stop singing the song and I would not." "( Singing ) "Stop."" ""Stop." And I wouldn't." "My son came into the room and he joined Julia's side." "He said, "baba, you are scaring the children."" "I was scaring the children?" "I was scaring the children?" "Their yelling at me was scaring the children." "So when I tried to leave, Julia would not move out of the way, so I pushed past her." "She lost her balance." "She fell on this bookshelf." "So you're saying it was an accident." "Paul, it's not a deep cut." "Arun tried to tend to her, but of course she insisted on going to the emergency room, as if she was mauled by a tiger." "So after they returned from the hospital arun came into my room and told me that I was disrupting their marriage, that I was creating disharmony in their household and I must move down to the basement, further away from the children." "And what did you say?" "The irony is it's the same song Kamala and I used to sing to him when he was a small boy." "Saying goodnight was always difficult for him." "And how he used to beg to us to sing this song every night." "And now he's begging you to stop." "It was as if he didn't even recognize it." "And he tells me I am destroying his marriage, his family." "You said that Julia was in the way when you were trying to leave and that you pushed past her." "See, Paul, you need not concern yourself with this." "No, this is gonna be our last session." "I want this to be clear." "Did you push Julia?" "She would not move out of the way," "I wished to leave and I pushed by her." "But this is what I'm talking about when I say that you avoid answering my questions." "What's the difference between "pushed by" and "pushed"?" "Where were the children?" "Sam was crying and Naya was hanging onto her leg." "And did you ask Julia to move out of the way?" "They think her injured arm is proof that my time with you has not been helpful, that it has made me worse." "I woke up this morning and there was a note on the kitchen table from Julia, saying," ""sunil,"" "this is your last session with Dr. weston and I'm scheduling my early lunch" ""so I can meet you there."" "And how did you respond to the note?" "I crumpled it up and put it inside her espresso machine." "Let me ask you... do you think the work that we've done here has made you worse, would you say?" "You know, I have to tell you that I think ending treatment now would be a critical mistake." "It is out of my hands, Paul." "Well, I'd be happy to call arun and Julia on your behalf." "Once Julia makes up her mind about something, then it is the way things must be." "That's how she is." "I'm stuck." "I'm trapped and there's nothing to be done." "I don't think so." "I think that it's still possible if we approach her again..." "I refuse to beg her." "I'm not that pathetic, Paul." "Well, what about the possibility" " of your continuing pro bono?" " ( Lighter flicks )" "But what do you get out of it?" "The pleasure of my madness?" "I want to help you." "I think that we have a connection." "I know, Paul, you're a kind man." "You're a wise man." "You're a good-hearted man." "And I've come to... to think of you fondly," "but I refuse to become your charity case." "I understand that, but you have one more session that's in credit." "Julia paid me for canceling next week." "I..." "At least tell me that you'll think about it." "Can I ask you a favor, Paul?" "Of course." "I was wondering if you could please..." "Keep this for me." "After the argument on Saturday night," "I could not be in the same house any longer, so I walked into the park." "There's a field where South Asian men play cricket on weekends." "I knew it was late, but, I don't know why, I found myself walking towards that field." "The field s empty, but I found this." "I sat on a bench for a long time, just turning the handle of this bat over and over." "I thought, "why have they left this behind?"" "It's old, yes, slightly broken, but does it need to be discarded?" "Could it still not have some purpose?" "So I decided you should keep it, Paul." "Perhaps, once I'm gone, it will remind you of me." "That's why you want me to keep it?" "And also because... because I should not keep it." "Why shouldn't you have it?" "Arun is going for another conference to Chicago this weekend and Julia will surely enjoy her time with Mr. pale fox." "Are you telling me that you're worried that you might" "do something with this bat?" "I need you to explain what you mean by that." "Would you please keep it?" "Please." "Thank you." "What were you thinking about doing with the bat?" "You know, when Julia is in her study, she faces the window with her back to the door." "So if you are careful, you can enter without being heard." "And she is so transfixed by her manuscripts." "What... what do you mean," ""if you are careful"?" "Is it... is this something that you've actually done?" "I've imagined it." "Even a broken bat can be quite effective, and I have played cricket for several years." "( Lighter flicks )" "Paul, I have no idea why these... why my mind is seized with these... these terrible ideas, you know." "Do you think there's something terribly wrong with me, something seriously wrong with me?" "I think that what you're telling me today is disturbing." " You do?" " Yes, I do." "So perhaps they were right to discontinue my therapy." "No, I'm certain they weren't." "See, it's not your fault, Paul." "Sometimes our best intentions fall short because the other person is not capable of change." "You know, there's a saying in bengali... ( Speaks bengali )" "I don't want to hear the saying, okay?" "I want us to speak clearly in English." "I want to get to the bottom of what you are trying to say to me." "You've just asked me to hold onto a cricket bat because you're afraid you're gonna turn it on your daughter-in-law, that you're gonna use it against her." "Do you understand what you're saying?" "Do you understand the position that you put me in, not just as your therapist, but as a person?" "What position have I put you in?" " What am I doing?" " I wish I knew." "You know, you make these extreme statements, full of violence and-and... and rage." "You raise serious questions, but you don't give... you encouraged me, Paul." "You told me to express my anger." " That's not what I meant." " You asked em to change myself." "I'm trying to follow your advice." "There is a very big difference between... look, the things that you've told me over the past few weeks..." "I'm just not clear about any of it at the moment." "I don't know whether you would actually ever hurt Julia, whether you pushed her or pushed past her and what really happened with Malini." "With Malini?" "Yes." "What?" "I've had this feeling from the beginning there are things you're not telling me." "You said that you were in love with her, that she broke up with you, that she took her own life by jumping off a high bridge." "All of this is true." "That's what I told you." "And that the police came and they questioned you, and that she was wearing your jacket, that you'd had an argument." "You do not think I harmed her, Paul?" "Is that what you're saying?" "I don't know what to think, sunil, to be honest." "I'm just trying to piece this together from what you've told me." "I must..." "I must admit this makes me very sad, that you think that I'm a bad person." " I don't think you're a bad person." " No?" "No, but I do think it's crucial that you continue in therapy and that we have the time to sort through all of these conflicted impulses and emotions." "What's fact?" "What's fantasy?" "These feelings of anger, jealousy and loss... what are you are capable of handling?" "What needs serious attention?" "You know, I..." "I just have this very strong feeling that you're trying to tell me something, to get me to have a particular response." "I don't know what that is precisely, but I feel very clearly that you are actually asking me for help." "Would you say that that's true?" "Look, I understand your discomfort with this... waiving my fee." "That's not... wh... what if I charged you a small amount of money that you feel that you're capable of paying so it wouldn't feel like it's charity?" "I would pay you the allowance that Julia gives me?" "How would I afford my tobacco and my tea?" "We could meet outside the office, in a less formal situation." "We could have tea." "Yeah, there's always tea." "I wouldn't do this with any other patient, sunil." "I..." "I know." "Sunil, I want you to promise that you will come back next week." "You say Julia has already given you the money for one additional meeting?" "Yes, she has, yes." "I want to go." "I need some rest." "You know, in Julia's office, her window... what... what about it?" "It's the nicest window in the house." "You can see the trees swaying and the moonlight glowing so softly on the glass." "And sometimes when I cannot sleep" "I just go and stare at it." "Sunil, don't go in that room again." "If you have an impulse to go in that room, you pick up the phone and you call me." "Even if you have a fleeting thought of harming Julia, you must call me." "You have my cell phone and my office number." "This is my home number." "And I'll be here all weekend." "Don't worry, my friend." "( Grunts )" "Sunil." "Sunil." "I'll see you next week, right?" "You will have one final chance to help me, I assure you." "( Theme music playing )"