Every Good Boy Deserves Favor and Professional Foul (8 page)

ANDERSON:
Oh … well…?

HOLLAR:
I'm afraid so. But Peter Volkansky—he was with me, you remember—we came together in sixty-three—

ANDERSON:
Oh yes—Volkansky—yes, I do remember him. He never came back here.

HOLLAR:
No. He didn't come back. He was a realist.

ANDERSON:
He's at Reading or somewhere like that.

HOLLAR:
Lyster.

ANDERSON:
Leicester. Exactly. Are you in touch with him?

HOLLAR:
A little. He will translate it and try to have it published in English. If it's good. I think it is good.

ANDERSON:
But can't you publish it in Czech? … (
This catches up on him and he shakes his head
.) Oh, Hollar … now, you know, really, I'm a guest of the government here.

HOLLAR:
They would not search you.

ANDERSON:
That's not the point. I'm sorry … I mean it would be bad manners, wouldn't it?

HOLLAR:
Bad manners?

ANDERSON:
I know it sounds rather lame. But ethics and manners are interestingly related. The history of human calumny is largely a series of breaches of good manners…. (
Pause
.) Perhaps if I said correct behaviour it wouldn't sound so ridiculous. You do see what I mean. I am sorry…. Look, can we go back … I ought to unpack.

HOLLAR:
My thesis is about correct behaviour.

ANDERSON:
Oh yes?

HOLLAR:
Here you know, individual correctness is defined by what is correct for the State.

ANDERSON:
Yes, I know.

HOLLAR:
I ask how collective right can have meaning by itself. I ask where it comes from, the idea of a collective ethic.

ANDERSON:
Yes.

HOLLAR:
I reply, it comes from the individual. One man's dealings with another man.

ANDERSON:
Yes.

HOLLAR:
The collective ethic can only be the individual ethic writ big.

ANDERSON:
Writ large.

HOLLAR:
Writ large, precisely. The ethics of the State must be judged against the fundamental ethic of the individual. The human being, not the citizen. I conclude there is an obligation, a human responsibility, to fight against the State correctness. Unfortunately that is not a safe conclusion.

ANDERSON:
Quite. The difficulty arises when one asks oneself how the
individual
ethic can have any meaning by itself. Where does
that
come from? In what sense is it intelligible, for example, to say that a man has certain inherent, individual rights? It is much easier to understand how a community of individuals can decide to give each other certain rights. These rights may or may not include, for example, the right to publish something. In that situation, the individual ethic would flow from the collective ethic, just as the State says it does.
(
Pause
.)
I only mean it is a question you would have to deal with.

HOLLAR:
I mean, it is not safe for me.

ANDERSON:
(
Still misunderstanding
) Well yes, but for example, you could say that such an arrangement between a man and the State is a sort of contract, and it is the essence of a contract that both parties enter into it freely. And you have not entered into it freely. I mean, that would be one line of attack.

HOLLAR:
It is not the main line. You see, to me the idea of an inherent right is intelligible. I believe that we have such rights, and they are paramount.

ANDERSON:
Yes, I see you do, but how do you justify the assertion?

HOLLAR:
I observe. I observe my son for example.

ANDERSON:
Your son?

HOLLAR:
For example.
(
Pause
.)

ANDERSON:
Look, there's no need to stand out here. There's … no point. I was going to have a bath and change … meeting some of my colleagues later….
(
ANDERSON
moves to go but
HOLLAR
stops him with a touch on the arm
.)

HOLLAR:
I am not a famous dissident. A writer, a scientist….

ANDERSON:
No.

HOLLAR:
If I am picked up—on the way home, let us say—there is no fuss. A cleaner. I will be one of hundreds. It's all right. In the end it must change. But I have something to say—that is all. If I leave my statement behind, then it's O.K. You understand?

ANDERSON:
Perhaps the correct thing for me to have done is not to have accepted their invitation to speak here. But I did accept it. It is a contract, as it were, freely entered into. And having accepted their hospitality I cannot in all conscience start smuggling…. It's just not ethical.

HOLLAR:
But if you didn't know you were smuggling it—

ANDERSON:
Smuggling entails knowledge.

HOLLAR:
If I hid my thesis in your luggage, for instance.

ANDERSON:
That's childish. Also, you could be getting me into trouble, and your quarrel is not with me. Your action would be unethical on your own terms—one man's dealings with another man. I am sorry.
(
ANDERSON
goes back towards his door, which
HOLLAR
had left ajar
.
HOLLAR
follows him
.)

HOLLAR:
No, it is I who must apologize.
The man next door, is he one of your group?

ANDERSON:
No. I don't know him.
(
ANDERSON
opens his bedroom door. He turns as if to say good-bye
.)

HOLLAR:
My bag.

ANDERSON:
Oh yes.

(
HOLLAR
follows
ANDERSON
into the room
.)

HOLLAR:
You will have a bath …?

ANDERSON:
I thought I would.
(
HOLLAR
turns into the bathroom
.
ANDERSON
stays in the bedroom, surprised.
He hears the bath water being turned on. The bath water makes a rush of sound
.
ANDERSON
enters the bathroom and sees
HOLLAR
sitting on the edge of the bath. Interior bathroom
.)

HOLLAR:
(
Quietly
) I have not yet made a copy.

ANDERSON:
(
Loudly
) What?
(
HOLLAR
goes up to
ANDERSON
and speaks close to
ANDERSON
'
s ear. The bath taps make a loud background noise
.)

HOLLAR:
I have not yet made a copy. I have a bad feeling about carrying this home. (
He indicates his envelope
.) I did not expect to take it away. I ask a favour. (
Smiles
.) Ethical.

ANDERSON:
(
Quietly now
) What is it?

HOLLAR:
Let me leave this here and you can bring it to my apartment tomorrow—I have a safe place for it there.
(
HOLLAR
takes a piece of paper and a pencil from his pocket and starts writing his address in capital letters
.)

ANDERSON:
But you know my time here is very crowded—
(
Then he gives in
.) Do you live nearby?

HOLLAR:
It is not far. I have written my address.
(
HOLLAR
gives
ANDERSON
the paper
.)

ANDERSON:
(
Forgetting to be quiet
) Do you seriously—
(
HOLLAR
quietens
ANDERSON.
)
Do you seriously expect to be searched on the way home?

HOLLAR:
I don't know, but it is better to be careful. I wrote a letter to Mr Husak. Also some other things. So sometimes they follow me.

ANDERSON:
But you weren't worried about bringing the thesis with you.

HOLLAR:
No. If anybody watches me they want to know what books
you
give
me
.

ANDERSON:
I see. Yes, all right, Hollar. I'll bring it tomorrow.

HOLLAR:
Please don't leave it in your room when you go to eat.
Take your briefcase.
(
They go back into the bedroom
.
ANDERSON
puts
HOLLAR
'
s envelope into his briefcase
.)
(
Normal voice
) So perhaps you will come and meet my wife.

ANDERSON:
Yes. Should I telephone?

HOLLAR:
Unfortunately my telephone is removed. I am home all day. Saturday.

ANDERSON:
Oh yes.

HOLLAR:
Good-bye.

ANDERSON:
Good-bye.
(
HOLLAR
goes to the door carrying his bag
.)

HOLLAR:
I forgot—welcome to Prague.
(
HOLLAR
leaves closing the door
.
ANDERSON
stands still for a few moments. Then he hears footsteps approaching down the corridor. The footsteps appear to stop outside his room. But then the door to the next room is opened and the unseen man enters the room next door and loudly closes the door behind him
.)

4. INT. ANDERSON'S ROOM. MORNING.

Close-up of the colloquium brochure. It is lying on
ANDERSON
'
s table. Then
ANDERSON
picks it up. His dress and appearance, and the light outside the window, tell us that it is morning. Dressed to go out
.
ANDERSON
picks up his briefcase and leaves the room.
In the corridor he walks towards the lifts.
At the lifts he finds
CRISP
waiting
.
ANDERSON
stands next to
CRISP
silently for a few moments
.

ANDERSON:
Good morning. (
Pause
.) Mr Crisp … my name is Anderson. I'm a very great admirer of yours.

CRISP:
(
Chewing gum
) Oh … ta.

ANDERSON:
Good luck this afternoon.

CRISP:
Thanks. Bloody useless, the lifts in this place.

ANDERSON:
Are you all staying in this hotel?
(
CRISP
doesn't seem to hear this
.
CRISP
sees
BROADBENT
emerging from a room
.
BROADBENT
carries a zipped bag
,
CRISP
has a similar bag
.)

CRISP:
(
Shouts
) Here you are, Roy—it's waiting for you. (
BROADBENT
arrives
.)

ANDERSON:
Good morning. Good luck this afternoon.

BROADBENT:
Right. Thanks. Are you over for the match?

ANDERSON:
Yes. Well, partly. I've got my ticket.
(
ANDERSON
takes out of his pocket the envelope he received from the hotel
CLERK
and shows it
.)

CRISP:
(
Quietly
) You didn't pull her, then?

BROADBENT:
No chance.

CRISP:
They don't trust you, do they?

BROADBENT:
Well, they're right, aren't they? Remember Milan.

CRISP:
(
Laughing
) Yeah—
(
The bell sounds to indicate that the lift is arriving
.)
About bloody time.

ANDERSON:
I see from yesterday's paper that they've brought in Jirasek for Vladislav.

BROADBENT:
Yes, that's right. Six foot eight, they say.

ANDERSON:
He's not very good in the air unless he's got lots of space.
(
BROADBENT
looks at him curiously. The lift doors open and the three of them get in. There is no one else in the lift except the female
OPERATOR.
Interior lift
.)

BROADBENT:
You've seen him, have you?

ANDERSON:
I've seen him twice. In the UFA Cup a few seasons ago…. I happened to be in Berlin for the Hegel Colloquium, er, bunfight. And then last season I was in Bratislava to receive an honorary degree.

CRISP:
Tap his ankles for him. Teach him to be six foot eight.

BROADBENT:
Leave off— (
He nods at the lift
OPERATOR
.) You never know, do you?

CRISP:
Yeah, maybe the lift's bugged.

ANDERSON:
He scored both times from the same move, and came close twice more—

BROADBENT:
Oh yes?
(
Pause
.)

ANDERSON:
(
In a rush
) I realize it's none of my business—I mean you may think I'm an absolute ass, but— (
Pause
.)
Look, if Halas takes a corner he's going to make it short— almost certainly—push it back to Deml or Kautsky, who pulls the defence out. Jirasek hangs about for the chip to the far post. They'll do the same thing from a set piece. Three or four times in the same match.
Really
. Short corners and free kicks.
(
The lift stops at the third floor
.
BROADBENT
and
CRISP
are staring at
ANDERSON.
)
(
Lamely
.) Anyway, that's why they've brought Jirasek back, in my opinion.
(
The lift doors open and
MCKENDRICK
gets in
.
MCKENDRICK
'
s manner is breezy and bright
.)