[birds chirping]
Narrator: The Compson domain, as it was called by the locals,
once consisted of 640 acres of forests, open fields
and the land that would one day be the center
of the town of Jefferson, Mississippi.
The Compson home would become known as the governor's house in the 1850s
when Quentin Maclachlan Compson
rose to that position of prominence.
He would be the last Compson,
as fate or blood would have it,
who would not fail at everything he touched.
The governor's son would become a general.
It was Jason II who failed at Shiloh in '62,
and failed again at Resica in '64.
It was Jason II, failed brigadier,
who would spend the next 40 years
selling off fragments of the family land to keep up
the mortgage on the remainder.
[thunder rumbles]
His son, Jason Lycurgus Compson III,
would be the one to oversee the final stages
of the family's long fade into irrelevance.
What was left of the 640 acres
was now known merely as the Compson place,
the once vast property encroached upon by nature,
neighbors and the expanding town of Jefferson itself.
Caroline Bascomb Compson, his wife, married him
for the Compson name and all that it promised,
and would then curse that same name for the rest of her days.
He would father four children.
He would sell the last of the surrounding pasture land to finance
his daughter's wedding
and his eldest son's Harvard education,
and then he would die, killed by drink and grief.
[panting]
Caddie!
[whispering] Caddy. Caddy smelled like the trees.
Caddie!
[whispering] She smelled like the trees.
[grunts]
Listen to you. Now ain't you somethin'.
Thirty-three years old and goin' on that way.
If you don't hush up, Grammy ain't gonna throw you no birthday for you,
and I'm gonna eat that cake all up, including the candles.
Now, come on. Help me look for my quarter.
[grunts]
Come on, you old lump.
[grunts]
Wait a minute.
You snagged on that nail again.
Every damn time.
Oh, Benjy, you got snagged on the nail again.
You got your hands all dirty.
Here, wipe 'em off.
There, like that. See?
Hey, Caddy, not too far, now.
[whispering] She smelled like the trees.
[grunts]
I need that quarter. We were down here yesterday.
It's gotta be here somewhere.
Come on, Benjy.
[whispering] She smelled like the trees.
[grunts]
Here, you big baby. Take this.
Stop, Benjamin. Stop, Benjamin!
Give him a flower. He wants it. It'll quiet him up.
Poor baby.
Why is you callin' him a baby?
He's a man, big as Versh.
We're goin' to the cemetery.
I know you won't come, but if you did...
What?
I'd feel safe.
Safe from what?
[groans]
Stop it, Mother, before you start the damn loony bawlin'
while you drive down the middle of the street.
- Stop, Benjamin. - [groans]
Get on, Russell.
[whispering] Caddy, Quentin, Father.
Dilsey said they were gone. Where'd they go?
Any one of y'all seen a quarter down here?
Quarter?
Yeah, the one I had here yesterday.
If I don't find it, I ain't gonna be able to go to the show tonight.
Caddie!
[groans]
What's he moanin' about?
Who knows with him. He been at it all mornin'.
- [groans] - Worse than usual.
Probably 'cause it's his birthday, I reckon.
How old is he?
Thirty-three.
You mean he's been three for thirty years.
[groans]
I don't know. I just go by what my grammy say.
Come on, Benjy. Let's get you in the water.
Maybe that'll shut you up.
Yeah, that's right.
Weird old man.
You just stare at those feet a bit.
[whispering] The water was cold. We were small.
Caddy said the water made everything better.
Jason, come on!
Yeah, come play with us.
Uh-uh. I hate swimmin'.
[whispering] Jason was always alone.
Now Caddy, you know your mama gonna whip you you get that dress wet.
- Is not. - How do you know?
I know 'cause I know, Quentin. What do you know?
I know 'cause I'm older and I go to school.
Well, I'm seven and I'm goin' to school next year, ain't I, Versh?
Quentin!
Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!
Hope you're happy. Now we'll both get whipped.
I don't care. I'll run away.
Sure you will.
That's right, I'll run away and never come back.
[groans]
Hush, now. I'm not gonna run away.
I'm gonna stay with you forever. Okay, Benjy?
[whispering] She smelled like the trees.
Quentin.
Quentin!
Where'd Quentin go?
He's poutin' down at the tree.
Quentin! Come on!
Oh, let the old skizzard stay there if he wants.
[whispering] Quentin loved the shadows.
Come on, Benjy, have another.
- [groans] - Come on.
There's plenty more in the cellar.
[groans]
We'll just say Dan drank it. He a smart dog.
Maybe he drink champagne.
[groans]
Have another.
[groans]
You know what this weddin' need, Benjy?
It need one of them dancin' bears.
Now, think about it, Benjy.
One of them bears walk right in this barn.
[growling]
Benjy, be a bear for me. Come on, Benjy. Be a bear.
[groans]
Come on. Come on, Benjy. Up. Get up, Benjy.
[laughs]
Come on, Benjy.
Have fun with me, Benjy.
Come on. Be a bear.
[groans]
Versh.
Quentin. Why you look so sad?
A man's supposed to be happy at his sister's wedding.
[grunting]
Shut up! You shut your mouth, Versh.
You shut up! You shut your mouth!
Have some champagne.
Shut up, Versh. I'll kill you, Versh.
Versh! Get on out here before I whip you.
Come on, now. Come on, you big ox.
Let me get you on your feet. There you go.
[groans]
Come on, Benjy.
Now, child, you have to be real quiet tonight.
- Why? - Never mind you why.
You's gonna know why in the Lord's own good time.
Come on, now. Eat up.
- Dilsey. - Yes, honey?
When did I start talkin'?
Seem like you been talkin' all the time.
What about Quentin?
What are you up to? Why is you askin'?
When will Benjy start talkin'?
Well, don't you worry about Benjy, Miss Caddy.
Now, he's gonna be talkin' in his own sweet time.
Y'all's all talks enough, anyway.
Benjy don't talk, maybe, but knows all the same.
How? How does he know?
I'm not sure how he knows, Mr. Quentin, but knows he does.
[whispering] Mother cried while Grandma slept.
Benjy, I can't go to the show if I don't find that quarter.
How'd y'all get back out?
We've got company.
Is that stoddy old grandma's funeral yet?
- Frony. - What's a funeral?
It's where they moan and sing and stuff.
Oh, that's just for coloreds. White folks don't have funerals.
- White folks-- - Frony.
Mama say we not supposed to say nothin'.
White folks die, too.
What's she talkin' about?
Where are we goin'?
To the tree. Come.
Caddy, what we doin' here?
Shh! Versh, push me up.
[whispering] Caddy, be careful.
I am, silly goose.
I'm gonna tell on her.
Caddy, what do you see?
Nothin'. Mother's cryin' again.
Grandma's sleepin'.
Why won't she wake?
[whispering] Mother slept but would not wake.
Father slept but would not wake.
[loud groans]
Come on.
Can you take him out, please?
Man can't work with all that hollerin' a goin' on.
That's what I'm tryin' to do.
[loud groans]
Someone's makin' the bed so he can sleep down in--
Now, you hush, Benjy, okay? Go on downstairs.
[groans]
Come on, Benjy. It's gonna be all right.
It's gonna be okay, Benjy.
[groans]
There you go. Now you got the whole night
and 20 acres of pasture to bellow in.
Might as well do it now before they start in buildin' that golf course.
[Benjy groans]
[whispering] Roscoe said the pasture would make the noises stop.
[groans]
[whispering] The grass smelled like honey.
Time's up. Let's go. Jason will be home soon, Benjy.
You know he don't like you out here watchin' folk.
We'll go search in the woods.
Come on, you old turf.
You know they gonna send you to Jackson after your ma dies. Don't ya?
Mr. Jason say so nearly every day.
[whispering] Caddy says Father and Quentin will take care of me,
but Dilsey said they went away.
[groans]
Come on. Come on, now.
No. Benjy. Benjy. Benjy!
[roaring]
[laughs] Benjy!
[screams]
You. Benjy! Where you goin'?
Ah. Ah. Ah, hell.
Stop. Please.
[whispering] Caddy loved to swing in the wind.
Benjy, how'd you slip out? Where's Versh?
[groans]
Benjy, this is my friend Dalton. You know Dalton.
[groans]
Oh, my, go back over there. You're scaring him.
[groans]
Benjy, this is my friend Dalton.
I need to stay here and talk with him a while, okay?
Stop.
Are you crazy? He can see.
He don't know nothin'. He can't even talk.
Let me go.
- [groans] - Come on.
I'm takin' him back to the house.
I'll be waitin'.
I don't want to ever hear that he's around this house.
- Ever! She's ruined. - Well, you won't ever hear that he's around the house.
We're ruined with that scoundrel.
This is all your fault, Jason.
Calm down, Caroline. Let's talk rationally about this.
- Rationally? - Rationally.
You tell me, what are we going to do?
She's ruined.
- Ruined. We're all ruined. - Nowhere to go.
You're ruined, I'm ruined. We've been ruined since the day we was born.
[whispering] Caddy. She didn't smell like the trees.
Benjy. I'm tellin' you, you do not want to go over there.
Benjy, stop, stop.
[groans]
You crazy old loon.
Luster, I'm gonna tell Dilsey that you let him follow me around everywhere.
I couldn't stop him. I tried. I swear.
Come on, Benjy.
You two have been snoopin' around after me.
Did my uncle send you two to spy on me? Did he? Did he?
Luster, if you don't get him out of here right this minute--
I can't do nothin' with him. Here, you try.
Oh, come on, now, let him stay. He ain't harmin' no one.
You like that fire, huh, Jack? Look here.
[whispering] Caddy smelled like the trees.
What do you see up there, Benjy? They gonna see you.
You know you're supposed to stay away from all that 'til they get done.
Now, come on, Benjy.
I'll let you drink some champagne if you come down.
[groans]
Shh! Benjy, it's okay. See?
Still me. I'm still your Caddy.
It's all right.
[knocking]
[groans]
[thunder rumbles]
Why can't you ever do like I ask, Benjy?
I'm the one who should be doin' the moanin'.
Come on, Benjy.
How the quarter gonna be up in the tree?
[groans]
Benjy! I'm sick of it. You want somethin' to cry about?
I'll give you somethin' to cry about.
Caddy, Caddy, Caddy, Caddy.
[groans]
Caddy, Caddy, Caddy, Caddy,
Benjy, no. Quiet. Benjy. Benjy.
Shh! Benjy. Benjy...
I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it.
Come on, Benjy. Calm down. Calm down.
[whispering] Caddy said she would never leave.
[groaning]
Hey, Benjy, where you goin'?
She done gone.
Starin' at that gate ain't gonna do no good.
Versh! Where's he goin'?
Can't you play with him and keep him quiet?
He want to go down yonder, stare at that gate.
Well, he can't. We can't have him down there
where the whole town can see.
He think if he go down yonder by that gate,
Miss Caddy gonna come home.
Nonsense. Go get him.
Benjy! Come on back now, Benjy.
[whispering] Caddy said she would come back.
[groans]
Benjy. No, no, not now. Father, Father, help.
Benjy, no, no, stop, stop. Stop, Benjy, not now.
- [groans] - Benjy, no. Father, help!
- Your sister-- - Benjy, no.
Careful, now. Let's leave her be.
It's all right. It's all right, Benjy.
- [groans] - Come on, now.
Let's leave her be. That's my Benjy.
Come on.
He can't get out. He won't hurt anybody anyway. Come on.
I'm scared. Look at him.
[groans]
[girls scream]
[girl screams]
[whispering] I was trying to say her hair shined.
She fell. I fell.
It went dark.
Well, how did he get out?
Did you leave the gate unlatched when you came in?
Of course not. Don't you know I got better sense than that?
The girl was more scared than anything, thank God.
Worse.
Christ, this family's bad enough without
the idiot accosting girls on the street.
Hm? I could have told you it was a matter of time
before somethin' like this happened.
You've got to send him to Jackson.
You can't say no any longer.
Or we'll see if Mr. Bergus don't shoot him first.
That's enough.
Well, if you don't send him to Jackson,
we'll just have to take other precautions.
That's enough, Jason.
That is enough, Jason. Enough!
You think you're better than everybody else just because you're ten.
Shut up, Jason. You're a dirty little beast.
Caddy, you be nice to your brother.
He cut up all of Benjy's dolls!
- You're a skizzle! - I'll slit his skizzle!
- Caddy! - I will! I swear!
- He did it just to be mean. - All right. All right.
Now, you come over here now.
You come here, Caddy. We are a family.
Your sister and your brothers
are all we got in this world.
Well, Father. Speak to me now.
What are you gonna do?
Nothin'? Not a goddamn thing?
Hell.
Well, if you're not willin' to, I'll do it myself.
[groans]
Poor Benjy.
[groaning]
[whispering] They hurt me. Everything was cold.
Jason said this would help.
[groans]
* Jesus loves me
* Yes, I know
* For the Bible tells me so *
* Little one, to him belong *
* They are weak, but
* He is strong *
All right, Benjy, now, go on to sleep.
Go on to sleep, baby.
[humming]
I need you all to be especially quiet tonight. Real quiet.
[whispering] Father smelled like the rain.
I love each and every one of you.
Goodnight, Benjy. I love you.
[whispering] She smelled like the trees.
[bell tolling]
I give you...
the mausoleum of all hope and desire.
I fear it may fit your individual needs
no better than it fit your grandfather's
or his father's.
I give it to you not that you may remember time,
but that you might forget it now and then,
and not waste all your breath tryin' to conquer it,
because no battle is ever won.
They are not even fought.
The field is.
They are only to reveal to man his own folly and despair.
And victory...
victory is just an illusion
of philosophers and fools.
Christ was not crucified.
He was worn down by the minute ticking
of little wheels.
You goin' on a trip?
No, I was, uh, just spring cleaning.
[clears throat]
What, is this a wedding or a wake?
I reckon the police won't get me for wearing my new suit one time.
Dressed like that, people might make you for a Harvard student.
Heaven forbid.
Is he comin' to class now, or are you too proud for classes, too?
I'll be there.
Yeah?
Don't wait for me.
All right, well, come on, Shreve.
Guess your husband can take care of himself, right?
Go on, Shreve.
Can I help you?
Hi, uh, may I please have four tailor's gooses,
uh, um, geese, geese, rather.
- Four. - Uh, yes, sir.
Okay.
Father: We have sold Benjy's pasture so that you may go to Harvard,
where the best of thought clings like dead ivy vines
to old dead brick.
Man, the sum of his climactic experience.
Man, the sum of...
What have you.
A stalemate of dust and desire.
Again, the saddest of all,
more than was.
Sometimes water is like breathin'.
The float slow, heeling out to the sea,
and the caverns and the grottos.
The displacement of water is equal to...
The somethin' of somethin'.
[chuckles]
"Reducto absurdum" of all human experience.
And two six-pound flat irons
weigh more than one tailor's goose.
[laughs]
You know what a tailor's goose is, boy?
It's a iron.
Iron weigh ten pound.
Two six-pound flat iron weigh 12 pounds.
That weigh more than a tailor's goose.
At least by my reckoning.
So, Quentin, how do you feel about your sister havin' the first car in town?
It's fine.
Isn't Herbert generous?
Did I write you and tell you
that he is going to put Jason into his bank?
Jason's going to make a splendid banker.
Yeah. How about you, Quentin?
You want to work in the bank, too?
No, I think I'll be fine. Thank you.
My two Harvard boys. I am so proud.
My own daughter engaged to such a fine young gentleman.
It's a dream come true, it really is, Caddy.
You know, Mrs. Compson, your daughter, uh,
talks about you quite a lot.
It's to be expected seein' as you raised her so well.
What she failed to convey was the full extent of your charm.
I mean, I had no idea that you were such a striking woman.
I might take you with me instead. Huh?
[laughs] Oh, Herbert.
- Somebody better drive this goddamn thing. - Herbert, take the wheel.
Somebody better take that wheel. Somebody better take it.
Herbert! [screams]
Somebody better drive this goddamn thing.
Somebody better drive it.
He's a liar, Caddy.
He was dropped from his club for cheatin' at cards,
and then he got caught cheatin' on his mid-term exam.
Caddy, he was expelled.
Well, what about it? I'm not gonna be playin' cards with him.
He's a scoundrel, Caddy.
Jesus, I don't need you to protect me.
I'm your older brother.
Quentin!
Are you gonna look after Benjy and father?
[scoffs]
Why do you care?
- Promise. - When have you ever cared?
Quentin, I'm--
I'm sick.
Sick? You can't marry him, then, if you're sick.
No, no, the sick is why I have to marry him.
Somebody, anybody, do you understand?
Whatever happens, don't let them take Benjy to Jackson.
Do you hear me?
Is it his?
Who's is it, Caddy?
It's his.
Dalton Ames.
Listen, Caddy. You, uh, you don't have to go through with this.
We can-- we can go away. You, me, Benjy, we can go--
we can go where nobody knows us.
With what? Your school money?
The money they sold the pasture for?
Look, don't you let them send Benjy to Jackson.
Do it for me, Quentin.
Quentin: If there could just be a hell beyond...
the two of us more than dead.
Beyond the clean flame.
Purity is a negative state, and therefore contrary to nature.
Virginity is a concept created by man.
Nature is hurtin' you, Quentin.
The world and all its sordid clarity.
Not Caddy.
Don't lash out at your sister
when it's the world you wish to punish.
Those are just words.
Exactly. As is everything.
You don't know.
Oh, I do.
And you will, too.
Quentin: I could smell the curves of the river beyond the dusk,
and I could feel water beyond the twilight.
When it bloomed in the spring and it rained,
the smell was everywhere,
like there was somethin' in the light itself.
Want a treat, don't you?
Like me to get you a treat?
All right, all right, you stay here.
Father: Man is the sum of his misfortunes.
One day you'd think misfortune would get tired,
then time itself is your misfortune.
You carry the symbol of your frustration into eternity.
Then then wings are bigger,
but who can play a harp?
His name is Dalton Ames.
He's crossed oceans.
He's been to India, Quentin, can you imagine?
Do you love him?
No.
Well, uh-- well, did he make you do it, then?
Hmm?
I'll kill him.
I will, I'll find him and I'll kill him.
Or I'll force him to leave forever.
Tomorrow, Caddy, I will tomorrow.
Ask me again.
Do you love him?
Do you love Dalton Ames?
No.
Well, do you hate him?
Oh, Quentin, you don't understand, do you?
Yes, I hate him.
I would die for him.
I've already died for him and I will over and over again.
- You'd understand if-- - If what, Caddy, if what?
You've never done that, have you?
With a girl.
Sure I have.
Lots of times.
Uh, Natalie, I-- I don't know. What if my sister--
Caddy?
Who cares about Caddy?
[gasps]
Caddy, wait.
You bastard!
Caddy. Caddy, wait!
Caddy, wait!
Caddy! Wait!
We weren't doin' anything.
I don't give a damn. I don't care what you do.
Caddy.
Why don't you care?
Why should I? I don't give a damn!
Well, I'll make you give a damn.
You--
[grunting]
Care now?
Do you care now, Caddy?
You care now, Caddy? Huh? Huh, you care now?
[spits]
Stop.
You care now?
Y'all look at us.
We're a mess.
[laughs]
I tried to scratch your eyes out.
She send you?
No. Nobody did.
This is just me.
I'm tellin' you to get the hell out of town.
I'll give you until sundown.
Now, what'll you do if I don't?
I'll kill you. Don't think I won't.
Things are that bad up there, huh?
I said I'll give you until tonight.
Look, kid.
Ain't no good gonna come from you takin' this so hard.
It's not your fault.
It's bound to happen to her sooner or later.
If it wasn't me, it would have been some other fella. Hm?
Take that cigarette out of your mouth.
Tonight.
[gunshot]
What for? I'm not gonna try to beat that.
I'm givin' it to you.
'Cause if you're seriously threatening me,
you're gonna need it.
Come on, now.
Quentin.
I mean it.
Take it.
Turn around.
You turn around and face me.
[grunts]
All right. All right, all right.
Oh, crap. Oh.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Just-- here.
[gasping]
Relax.
Just take it easy.
Quentin! Quentin!
Quentin. Quentin. I heard the gunshot.
- I'm fine, I'm fine. - Oh, I was afraid he'd shoot you.
- I said I'm fine. - Did he hit you?
No.
He didn't?
No, he didn't do anything. Wait, Caddy, Caddy.
Let me go. I have to catch him. Please, let me go!
Will you stay with me?
Hey!
Julio!
[yelling in Italian]
You steal my sister!
[yelling in Italian]
[speaks Italian]
Father: You will remember that for you to go to Harvard
has been your mother's dream since you were born,
and no Compson has ever disappointed a lady.
Harvard is such a fine sound.
And 40 acres is no high price for a fine sound.
We will swap Benjy's pasture
for a fine, dead sound.
Come on, Quentin.
Caddy...
Do you remember the day Grandmother died?
When I pushed you in the water in your drawers?
I could do you...
It wouldn't hurt, and then I could do myself.
Can you do yourself?
Yes.
The blade is long enough, it wouldn't hurt but a second.
Do it.
You want me to?
Do it.
I will.
Do it. Don't cry.
I'm not crying.
Do it, Quentin.
[sobbing]
Shh.
I'm not... I'm not crying.
I will look down and see my murmuring bones
in the deep water, like a roof of wind,
and after a while they will not be able to distinguish
even bones upon the lonely and inviolate sand
until on the day when he says rise,
only the flatirons will come floatin' up.
Father: All men are just accumulations.
Dolls stuffed with sawdust,
swept up from the trash heaps
where all the previous dolls have been thrown away.
The sawdust flowing from what wound
of what side that did not die for me.
You cannot bear to think that some day it may
not hurt you like this.
Man...
was conceived by accident.
Every breath a fresh cast of dice
already loaded against him.
No man ever does that from first fury of remorse
or despair or bereavement.
He only does it when he comes to realize that even his despair
or remorse or bereavement
is of no particular importance to the dark dice man.
No.
You will not know despair until you've come to understand
that even she is not quite worth despair.
[bell tolling]
Non fui. Sum. Fui. Non sum.
Father: Was is the saddest word of all.
There's nothin' else.
It's not despair until time,
and it's not even time until is is was.
[whispers] Caddy, Caddy, Caddy, Caddy.
[repeating "Caddy"]
Jason IV: Once a bitch, always a bitch.
That's what I say.
And mother says, "She's your own flesh and blood."
If I had my way, when people act like a nigger,
no matter who they are, you treat them like a nigger.
And mother says, "But she's just a child."
Do you want me to do anything with her or not?
If you do, then let me do things my way.
Please. Just another half a cup.
No, child. No 17 year old girl needs more than a cup of coffee.
Is that your school costume, missy?
Or is today a holiday no one bothered to tell me about?
And what in Christ is that hair?
I cut it.
Thought you'd go around town with my name
lookin' like a goddamn whore.
Now, you go on, child, get dressed for school.
You can ride in with Jason, you're gonna make yourself late again.
No, no, she's not gonna be late.
We're gonna change that right now. Come here.
What for?
Put the cup down and get over here.
What you after now, Jason?
Goddammit, Quentin, you may think you can run over your grandmother,
but I ain't her.
I give you ten seconds to get over here.
When it's ten seconds, give me a whistle.
Now, Jason.
[screams]
Jason, no!
I'll hit you!
Now, you stop it. Jason!
You keep out of this. Keep out of this.
You're goin' to school. Come here, it's okay.
It's okay. Come here.
Now, I don't want no damn playin' out of school.
It's none of your business!
- You've been hidin' in the woods. - Goddamn you!
[shouting, screaming]
Stop, Jason!
Now, you run, child. Run, child!
Stop! Stop. Stop it!
[screaming]
You want to hit somebody? You want to hit somebody?
You hit me! You hit me!
You think I won't?
I don't put nothin' beyond you, Jason.
Jason, what's happenin'?
[panting]
All right. Okay.
I better not hear about you cuttin' class again,
slippin' around with one of those--
I don't slip around!
I don't!
Now, now, Miss Quentin. You don't worry about a thing.
He ain't layin' a hand on you as long as I'm here.
Dilsey!
You better watch yourself, nigger.
Mm-hmm.
Dilsey.
Hm?
All right. All right, I's comin'.
I's comin', Miss Caroline,
you go on back upstairs and go to bed.
You ain't got to worry yourself with this.
Dilsey...
It's all right. It's all right.
You didn't even see him?
You didn't even try to get him to make any provision for it?
She shall not touch his money, not one cent of it.
He can be forced to by law. He can't prove--
Oh, hush, Caroline.
[baby crying]
And what about Jason's job at Herbert's bank?
We'll worry about that later.
Jason IV: Ever since that night she dumped her on our doorstep,
we've been stuck with that ungrateful brat,
stuck in a crap job in this backwater town,
while my sister gallivants around the world
doin' God knows what.
[baby crying]
Hello, Jason.
[clears throat] What are you doin' here?
Why didn't anybody let me know?
I just happened to see it in the paper, just happened to.
Fine lot you care.
Come sneakin' on in here as soon as he's dead.
Don't think you can use this to come crawlin' back in.
Mother won't have it, I won't.
We don't even know your name in that house anymore.
Did you know that?
You'd be better off if you were down there with him.
Or Quentin.
You're still an angry child, aren't you?
You're right, though.
Jason, if you can get mother to let me have her back,
I'll give you a thousand dollars.
[scoffs]
You don't even have a thousand dollars.
Yes, I have, I will have, I can get it.
Hm. I have an idea, too, how you'll get it, too.
On your back, like you got her.
Go on.
Let it out.
It's no secret what you and I think about one another.
Jason, you just promise me
that you'll take care of her.
That is easy for you to say. You don't have--
What? Anything? You're right.
I have nothing. Nothing!
Okay, now listen, you get on home. Huh?
There's no place for you in Jefferson anymore.
Jason. If I send other checks beyond the ones
that Mother takes, can you use it if she--
Can you just make sure that she has nice things like the other girls?
Please, it--
If you fix it so that I can see her
for a minute, I'll give you 50 dollars.
- You don't have 50 dollars. - Yes, I do. Will you do it?
Let me see it, then. I don't believe you.
For one minute.
- Yes. - Hm.
Even just a glimpse, I'll go right away.
Give me the money first.
No, after.
Don't you trust me?
No. I know you.
I grew up with you.
Okay, then.
Stop.
Yes?
Promise me.
Give me the money.
Give me the money before somebody sees you.
Jefferson already has enough to talk about already.
No, no, please.
Every month for sixteen years she's been sending checks,
flaunting the money she gets from who knows where,
spoilin' a girl who's done nothin' to earn it.
We need nobody's charity.
Mm-hmm. No, Mother.
Certainly not that of a fallen woman.
Yes, Mother.
Mm-hmm.
It's exactly all we needed, Mother.
We get along as we have the past sixteen years, Mother.
Jason IV: So I let Mother burn the fakes and I cashed the checks myself.
It's for the best.
Someone has got to look out after our family's finances.
A new shipment just came in.
You better help Uncle Job sort it in the back.
It's fine.
Hey, Jason. I could use a hand.
Not right now, man, I've got some errands to run.
You're actually sayin' the White Sox
are gonna beat the Yankees. Let's just go over the facts.
Yankees got Babe Ruth. They got Lou Gehrig.
Babe Ruth, single greatest baseball player of all time.
I know what this guy's gonna say right now.
You're thinkin' about the Cardinals.
Well, I'm gonna tell you there is no way
the Cardinals are beatin' the Yankees.
Do you understand how baseball works?
Are you familiar with the game of baseball?
'Cause I don't dabble in the sport.
I'm an expert at the sport.
Caddy: I've had no answer to the last two letters,
but the checks were both cashed.
Is everything all right?
Let me know at once or I'll come see myself.
You promised me you'd let me know if anything was wrong.
Please wire at once. Caddy.
- [cash register dings] - Good morning, Jason.
I reckon, unlike these fools, you got your money
on the Yankees to win the pennant this year.
Not this shot. You think your team can be that lucky forever?
No, that's why it's not luck.
Luck has nothin' to do with it, sir.
Mm, I wouldn't bet on anything with that Babe Ruth fella on it.
- Really? - Really.
Don't care for Babe Ruth?
I could care less for Babe Ruth, sir.
Well, he's just the single greatest athlete
in the history of humanity, but I could see why that would
not seem significant to some people, I suppose.
Babe Ruth is, uh... just a fat old fool.
What's your message, sir?
The message is, "All is well. Q will write today."
- "All is well--" - Mm-hmm.
- "Q will write today." - "Q will write today."
Make sure you send it collect. All right?
- Yeah. - Collect.
Collect.
- Send it collect. - I will send it collect, sir.
Bad news from the telegram office?
Now, why the hell would you think that?
No reason, you-- you look upset. I thought maybe you--
Maybe you think I care. What you think, Earl?
Sometimes I think you want me to fire you.
Seventeen years you been sayin' that.
Seventeen years.
That's right. Seventeen years.
Your telegram, sir. Sir, your telegram.
Fine. Thank you, son.
Hey! Come--
Quentin!
You and that scoundrel.
Quentin!
If you come out here right now,
I will only beat you for an hour.
And if that German wants some, too, he's welcome to it.
[engine turns over, car drives away]
[grunting]
Jason IV: Let her go to hell as fast as she pleases,
and sooner the better.
Just let me get back what's mine, what I'm owed.
Go on, stare.
Stare all you want, you no good bastards.
My family owned 600 acres here while you were running
your little shirt-tailed country stores, just a town full of hicks.
Mother...
[clears throat]
I truly want to thank you for comin' down this evening for dinner.
That's the least I could do.
[groaning]
[clears throat] What's wrong, Quentin?
Do you not like your meat?
I mean, we can get you a better piece if that one's not good enough for you.
It's fine.
Mm. Well, maybe you care for some more rice.
No.
No more rice for you, Miss Quentin? Hmm?
Quentin, you don't want some more rice?
I said I don't want anymore.
Well, here you go. We'll get you some more rice.
There you go. Eat up, now.
[groans]
Get some more rice. It makes you real strong.
Come on, eat your rice.
How about a little more, Miss Quentin?
Get some more rice for you. Now, go on, eat your food.
Go on, eat your rice, Miss Quentin.
[Benjy groaning]
I can't eat with him. It's like eatin' with a pig.
Hush now, Quentin. Benjy ain't gonna bother you none.
But he will. You use him to spy on me and I know you do.
Oh, Mother, that reminds me.
I saw the most curious thing this afternoon while out on a drive.
What's that?
I mean, it was truly curious.
Probably the most remarkably truly curious thing I've ever seen.
What is so curious?
I'll tell you later.
I don't like to discuss such matters in front
of Miss Quentin, her bein' so innocent and all.
- [Benjy groans] - May I be excused?
Oh, were you-- were you waitin' on us?
Why is he treatin' me this way, Grandmother?
If he doesn't want me here, then why won't he just let me go back to my--
- Enough! - [Benjy groaning]
Not another word.
Ooh, if he would just-- if he would just--
Just what? Just what? Go on, Miss Quentin, say it.
Say it in front of your uncle.
Say it in front of you grandmother.
Just what? What can I do for you, Miss Quentin?
Speak freely now, this is your family.
This is your family dinner, Miss Quentin.
Just what? Tell me.
Speak up, Quentin, I can't hear your little voice.
Speak up. Say somethin', Quentin.
Say a word or somethin'. Speak! Speak your face--
Stop! I hate you!
I wish I was dead!
I wish we were all just dead!
Well, that's the most sensible thing she's ever said.
Go on, eat your food, Mother.
[Benjy groans]
Mmm. Yes?
Did my... mother send a letter today?
Why, yes. Yes, she did.
- And? - And what?
Did she send any money?
Jesus, everyone's a beggar today.
Did she?
She did.
How much was it?
That's all you care about, isn't it?
So disappointing.
Come on.
Get your money.
Come on, Miss Quentin, get your money.
That's it? But this is--
But what? Do you know how old I was before I ever saw
a ten dollar bill?
You should be ashamed of yourself.
No, it's-- I just thought that--
You thought what?
What were you thinkin'?
Never mind.
Goodnight, Quentin.
[glass breaking]
Your name is Quentin, like my brother.
Quentin.
I love you.
Please don't ever forget that.
I have to go away now, and you need to stay
with your grandfather and your grandmother.
They'll take good care of you.
Pa.
It's gonna be okay now.
[sobbing]
[baby cooing]
* So busy praisin' my Jesus, So busy praisin' my Jesus *
* So busy praisin' my Jesus, ain't got time to die *
* Spend all my time praisin' my Jesus, *
* All my time praisin' my Lord *
* If I don't praise him the rocks are gonna cry *
* Glory and honor
* Oh, ain't got time
[humming]
* Oh, Lord, oh, Lord
Dilsey!
I's comin', Miss Caroline. Just give me a minute.
What in the goddamn hell, Luster, breakin' my window.
He can't do his one job, now he's runnin' around destroyin' my property.
What's the matter with him now?
He says me and Benjy busted a window in his room.
Well, how can that be if you ain't never goes in there?
That's what I said. He says we were outside chuckin' rocks.
You didn't do it, did you?
No, ma'am.
You ain't lyin' to me, is you, boy?
I swear. You can ask Benjy.
[groaning]
I still don't understand how your window was broken.
Are you sure it was yesterday?
There was that storm last week.
You reckon it would take me a week to notice
a busted window in my own room, Mother?
What kind of idiot do you take me for?
Dilsey!
Dilsey, you get Miss Quentin down here right now!
I can't understand.
It's as if someone had just broke into our house.
Jason!
[panting]
You goddamn--
* Oh, angel, roll that stone Roll that stone *
* Roll that stone away
* Oh, angel, roll that stone Roll that stone *
* Roll that stone away
* Twas on an Easter Sunday morning *
* When the angel Rolled the stone away *
Grab your hat, sheriff.
Grab your hat, sheriff, let's go.
They already got a 12 hour head start on us.
Sit down, tell me what the trouble is.
My niece and that asshole from the carnival
stole some money from my house.
Now, grab your hat, sheriff, and get in the goddamn car.
* Roll the stone
* Away
Jason, what you doin' with $3,000 hidden cash in your closet?
What? Where I keep my money is my business.
Your business is to help me find it.
Your mother know about this money?
Look, here. My house has been robbed.
Now, I come to a law enforcement officer
and this is what I get.
What you gonna do with that girl if you catch her?
- What am I gonna do? - Mm-hmm.
Nothing. The bitch has cost me a job and the one chance
that I had to get ahead in life.
Killed my father, that is shortening my mother's days,
that is makin' me a laughing stock in town.
Let her go. Hmm?
Good riddance to her, I just want what is mine back.
If I had some evidence I could act upon it,
but without that, I figure it's just like you say.
None of my business.
So that's it? That's your answer then?
That's it, Jason.
* Were you there
when they nailed him *
* To the tree
* Were you there
* Oh
* Sometimes it causes me
* To tremble
- * Tremble - * Tremble
* Tremble
* Were you there
* When they crucified my lord *
* Were you there
* When God raised him
* From the tomb?
* Were you there
* Oh, Were you there
* When God raised him
* From the tomb?
* Were you there
* Oh
* Sometimes it causes me
* To tremble *
* Tremble
* Were you there
* When they crucified my Lord *
* Were you there
Grammy, it was amazing.
After the man who played the saw got done,
there was another one who could play a washboard.
Just like this.
[imitates playing washboard]
- Benjy. - [Benjy groans]
Where he goin' now?
Ah, it's the window. He know Miss Quentin gone.
[groans]
Oh, Lord.
[groans]
Lord have mercy. I seen the first, I seen the last.
I seen the beginning, now I sees the end.
Come on, Luster.
[groans]
We's comin'.
Come on, baby.
It's gonna be all right.
[groans]
Now, Luster, you knows the way.
Up the street, 'round the square,
to the graveyard and straight home.
Sure, sure, same as always.
Now, you be sure to go the right way 'less
Benjy is gonna make a ruckus, now you hear?
Yeah, yeah, I got it.
- [clicks tongue] - All right.
And don't you dare go too fast.
Luster, boy, slow down!
Luster!
What I say? Luster, what I say?
Slow down!
[groans]
Benjy, it's just you and me.
What you say we take Queenie out for a real ride?
[groaning]
What's that, you say? Faster? Great idea.
[groans]
Woo! Woo.
Luster! Luster!
Slow down, goddammit!
Woo! Woo-wee! Woo-oo!
[groaning]
- Woo! - Luster!
You little nigger! Luster!
We're flyin' now, Benjy. Woo! Woo-oo!
Bring my brother back!
Bring him back.