 |
|
Auctioneer?
|
 |
Home |
|
Investment |
|
Plot |
|
Cast & Crew |
|
Film Diary |
|
Director |
|
Guestbook |
 |
Lola Bashua
as
Lisa
|
| Paranoia: "I don't know who they are, but they're
out there, and they're trying to get me." |
| Pronoia: "I don't know who they are, but they're
out there, and they're trying to help me." |
| Sadie and Jude arrive independently
at a house in Hampstead, London, both to meet a man called Shelby, who
has promised to help them. Sadie believes him to be a therapist, who can
help her summon the courage to leave her abusive boyfriend, while Jude
believes him to be a financial adviser who might just be able to lend him
the money he so desperately owes his landlord. The truth gradually starts
to emerge about the mysterious Mr Shelby, who is neither counsellor nor
financial adviser, but something more... much more. |
| As they both wait in the seemingly
deserted house, expecting Shelby to return at any moment, Sadie learns
more about Jude, and how he came to be one of Mr Shelby's "clients". After
loosing his job and his girlfriend, and being threatened by his landlord,
Jude finds a card in a phonebox offering financial advice. He calls, and
is led to Shelby, who offers him as much money as he needs if he returns
the next day. |
| A mad-looking gardener, Tim, appears
and tells Sadie and Jude that he believes there are angels at work on the
streets of London. |
| But still there is no sign of Shelby.
Then his assistant, Lisa, and colleague, Maier, arrive and ask Sadie and
Jude if they will run an errand for them while they wait. Maier assures
them that no harm will come to them, "Its not company policy", he tells
them. "What is company policy?" they ask. "Unconditional love", he replies. |
| Sadie and Jude agree to the errand
and are sent to an antique shop to collect a mysterious package which has
recently arrived from Antwerp. On the way back Sadie tells Jude how she
came to meet Shelby. After admitting that she can't go on, as things with
her boyfriend, Danny, have become so bad, Sadie is offered the number of
a therapist by a friend. The therapist is Shelby, who tells her that all
will be well if she returns the following day. "Things are better taken
care of", he tells her, "than you can possibly imagine". |
| When Sadie and Jude return Shelby is
waiting for them. The package is revealed to be a lost Renaissance masterpiece
by Hubert Van Eyck. But Shelby and Maier have not recovered the painting
for financial gain, rather simply to treasure it and protect it from harm. |
| Sadie and Jude go for a walk in the
garden while Shelby takes a call. By now they are bewildered and paranoid.
Who is this man Shelby? He is definitely not a therapist nor is he a financial
adviser. Tim tells them he believes Shelby to possess angelic powers. Sadie
resolves to confront Shelby, but when they return to the house they run
into Danny instead, and it is revealed that he is Jude's landlord. Danny
owes money to a gangster, Van Vliet, who is pursuing him, and he begs Sadie
to return to him and help him. She refuses and Danny pulls a gun on her.
Shelby intervenes, and tells Danny there are two men waiting to see him.
It is Van Vliet and his henchman, Max. They drag Danny away, but Shelby
assures Sadie that they will do him no harm, they only want to frighten
him. |
| Feigning forgetfulness Shelby asks
Sadie and Jude what he can do for them. Realising that the help they really
needed - moral support, comfort - they had already given each other while
waiting for Shelby, Sadie and Jude reply, "Nothing, everything's sorted".
Sadie then asks Shelby who he is. He responds enigmatically, saying that
he and his company are "the mortar of the world", holding it together as
if it were simply a wall. He thanks them for retrieving the painting and
leaves, claiming his presence is needed elsewhere. |
| Sadie and Jude leave, but realising
he has forgotten his bag Jude returns to the house moments later. All traces
of Shelby and his associates have gone. Instead Jude is confronted with
an estate agent showing a client around the property, who asks Jude to
leave. Sadie and Jude retire to the beer garden of a local pub. "Beautiful
isn't it?" Sadie observes, enjoying the tranquillity. Jude nods in agreement.
There is no more to say. |
|
