This is the story of some brothers -
- who by nature had not been dealt the best hand.
In fact they had not received any cards at all.
But still they dreamed as everyone else about making it big, about accomplishing something.
and also about the smaller things.
How to survive and eventually find a purpose in life.
MEN & CHICKENS
Dad. It's Gabriel.
Gabriel?
It's OK. You don't have to speak.
Is Elias coming too?
Elias is coming soon.
He should be here.
Most people are ok with it, but some people get scared when they see the wheelchair.
I was chatting with someone the other day And he logged out when he saw my picture.
- But I am glad that we can meet. - You wrote that you're a psychotherapist?
- Yes - Well, I have a reoccurring dream. Over and over. Night after night.
I am in a darkened room, and suddenly a bird flies over to me.
A wild bird with huge wingsÉand an immense human head.
- It sounds like an angel. - You interrupted me.
I'd rather you didn't do that again. It's very rude.
Sorry. But did you just meet me to tell me about your problems?
What do you mean? No, that's completely absurd.
Do you ... You can't be serious, right?
So I shouldn't internet date psychotherapists and save myself 875KR an hour plus VAT?
This is very offensive.
May I be allowed to continue without interruption? Good.
I try to hug this bird, but it pulls away from me.
Then I discover that it is my brother. And then something gets hold of me.
I turn it and bind it, and then I break its wings.
The sound is very realistic. Like when you cut a chicken into pieces.
- And then I start raping it. - Raping the bird or your brother?
That's absurd. Can I please continue without being interrupted?
You're a really bad therapist if you always interrupt. Your job is to listen.
Do people in wheelchairs always interrupt like this?
- Yes, hello. Who is it? - It's Gabriel.
- Gabriel? Hi. - I'm calling from the hospital, Elias.
- You have to come. - I'd like to, if you're there.
Are you feeling well? I am on a date ... again.
She's pretty tasty. She has wheels on.
Dad's dead, Elias.
Oh ... There there Elias. There there.
- Then it happened? - Yes. - And I didn't even say goodbye.
It doesn't matter. Just sit down, ok?
Ok, Elias? Just sit down. Elias, let me go.
- Let go of me, for heaven's sake! - Sorry.
Will you please go and wash your hands?
So did he say anything?
No. He left us a video tape which we have to watch.
Shall we watch it together? At your house?
Did Dad say what it was he'd rented?
- Is Tanja coming too? - It's been over for three months.
Well, that's her loss.
- Did you want children? - Can you just be quiet?
Perhaps it's good that Tanja left you too.
She split us apart, Gabriel.
All your lovers have been secretly in love with me.
And when you tell them that you can't have children ...
Éthen they start to look at me because I can.
- So can we see each other a little more now? - It's starting.
No thanks.
Gabriel and Elias, when you see this then I have been taken home to God.
The past should be a cornerstone of every human life.
But in my case, I did not have good prospects
when it came to creating a family.
The fact is that I have never told you the truth -
- about your past or your birthright.
I am not your biological father.
Your real father is called Evelio Thanatos.
And mum was not your biological mother.
In fact, you don't have the same mother. Elias's mother died in childbirth.
And two years later, Evelio met your mother Gabriel, and you came into the world.
It can't just stop there.
What about my mother? There must be more.
We're still brothers. We still have the same father. Not two, Gabriel.
It makes complete sense.
I've always said that we couldn't be brothers. We look nothing like each other.
Yes, we do. We're the spitting image of each other.
- And we both have brown eyes. - You're a head taller than me.
- I am your brother. - You are my half-brother.
From now on we are only two half-brothers. Remember that.
Listen to this: "Evelio Thanatos, Danish-Italian geneticist."
"One of the pioneers of stem cell research. Residing on the island of Ork."
- He's still living there? - Ork, it's in the south.
It's part of the commonwealth. 42 inhabitants on the 1st March.
- Are you going to go there? - He's our real father.
So? Why hasn't he written to you, if he's such a real father?
I have to go. You stay here. I'll call you.
- I'll go with you. - You shouldn't.
Let's sort out the last of the papers, and then you can catch the last bus home.
- I would really like to come on this trip. - No, Elias.
I couldn't find anything about my mother.
Our father was expelled from the Academy in 1966 -
- because of a scientific dispute.
But the picture is clear of a very shy family.
There are no photos of them, but the story was very sympathetic
-It's probably not good that he was expelled.
Many great thinkers have been ostracised by their contemporaries.
Copernicus, Tesla, Spinoza, Darwin. Even I've struggled with the system.
- Darwin was a loser. An idiot. - Darwin was no idiot.
He was just lucky he hit on the right idea.
If he'd spent 15 years working on the wrong thesis, would he have been so famous?
It was pure luck that he stumbled over the whole species thing.
Like with Einstein, and his theory of relativity.
- Einstein won the Nobel Prize in physics. - Yes, in 1921
Slowest year ever in the world of physics. They're all fools.
You just can't see it, because you're so naive.
It's time again. Just pull over up here.
Hello. Can we still get on?
- There is no room unfortunately. - When does the next ferry sail?
We sail Monday and Thursday. You can park there and buy some tickets to ride on foot.
How can you have such a small ferry? Why are we the only one's traveling?
That's when the world's worst argument, that she was here first.
My brother's car weighs 274 kg less than the maximum weight specified.
Evelio is a legend on the island. He'll be 100 next year.
- Yeah, yeah. And what about his wife? - I don't know anything that.
- He's had a few over the years. - A few?
I know him because of my medical practice.
But he's fine?
Yes. They still live up on the hill in the old sanatorium.
- And how many wives has he had? - He's crazy that guy. He's hiding from me now.
- Wait, Elias. - So...
How exactly are you related to Evelio?
- We're his sons. - The apple and the tree, and all that.
One couldn't say that we're a bad lot. And if you happen to have any daughtersÉ
Now he sticks his head out the window. Hello! Hey, I'm talking to you!
This isn't the sort of place anyone stays. There won't be anyone to sleep with here.
Thanks for the lift, Ingrid.
- Elias, it's probably best you wait here. - Why?
- Just so they don't become frightened. - What is there to be frightened of?
They're old people. Maybe it'd be a bit much if we go in together.
Well, I'm going to have to use the toilet again after all that. With her.
Can't you just go behind that tree there?
And then you can keep watch out here. Like when we were little.
- Do you promise you'll come and get me? - Yes, I promise.
Can I help you?
- Is there something wrong? - No, no, no!
I'm looking for Evelio Thanatos. Does he live here?
Yes, but he's got an infection, so he's sleeping.
- Thank you for coming. - What kind of infection does he have?
- Trypanosomiasis. - Trypanosomiasis? It is serious.
Has he had a molecular or biological test of the species-specific parameters?
- Are you from the hospital? - No, I ... Who are you?
I am Gregor, his son. Is there something wrong with that?
No no. Not at all. It's just because ...
I'm also his son. I think.
My name is Gabriel.
Franz!
If it's the hospital, tell them to go. We require local attention.
Franz, come here!
- Short summary, please. - His name's Gabriel. He's not from the hospital.
But he asked if we tested the molecular biology of father's infection.
- It was that that caused my alarm bell to ring. - Leave us alone.
Dad feels bad. He's sleeping.
- He also says that we are all brothers. - Yes. I can see it.
This ... is also your brother, Elias. He is standing out by the road, waiting.
- Is that you, this? - Yes, it's me. I'm two years old there.
There's me. And Elias was five.
So how come you look so good now?
Cosmetic reconstructive surgery. I've had four operations.
Why do we only got a saw, Franz?
- Because it works fine with one. - It doesn't work fine. Well, that's just...
- Are you saying my brother is ugly? - No, no. Yes. - There, I interrupted you. Don't do that.
There, the conflict is resolved. Off you go back to the hospital. You have nothing on us.
- Why do you have a nosebleed? - It's nothing. Come on, we're going.
Who gave you the bloody nose? Just say it. I'll end them.
No, I fell. You mustn't do anything.
- Was it him? Dad? Did he do it? - No, he was sleeping.
Some's coming in.
It's a BMW, I think. You're the one who sees best in the dark.
They've seen us.
- What was that? - It was just a rabbit.
That's was a fucking big rabbit.
That was them, the one's Aunt Ingrid talked about. Stop the car, Ellen.
Gabriel! Gabriel!
No, no, no!
He's dead. He's dead, he's dead ...
No, there is no shit fucking wrong with him. He's up and about.
Welcome to the island. My name Flemming. My sister gave you a ride from the ferry.
Come on. Come and meet Ellen.
It's about 40 years since we last had an accident here on the island.
But Ellen is still afraid to go out.
She's afraid of being subjected to a violent assault. But as I say:
"Violence is not getting fucking worse. People are just becoming bigger whiners."
Before I became mayor, I went on a sailing trip to Mexico.
- Are you the mayor on the island? - Yes, for 32 years.
She's gorgeous. Is it okay if I do her before we get the boat home?
She's the Mayor's daughter.
You can go inside with Ellen. I'm just going to check on the right tower.
- What kind of a tower is it? - It's a stork tower.
The island has a stork. It came once, when my sister and I were small.
But then it disappeared. I put straw up there in case it ever comes back.
It's not coming back. It's long dead.
Then its children or their children's children will come. They always come back.
Yes, Franz can turn really fast. He does ballroom dancing.
So, all the boys were there. Did they beat you with the coot?
No, it looked more like a pair of mute swans.
- Well, either way they're all backward. - Is their mother also up in that house?
None of them have the same mother.
Plus they all died long ago. Franz's mother anyway.
And Gregory and Joseph's mother died both in childbirth they say.
As did Elias's mother also. That's statistically most unlikely.
Well, there it is. The old here on the island call Evelio the 'Weiner of Death'.
Yes, well. Humour is pretty basic here on the island.
The 'Summer Revue' was always fucking shit.
There's insanity up there in that sanatorium.
If you have any other family somewhere, then visit them instead.
You should get off this island. It's dying. People who stay here, die with it.
Stop chasing people away from the island, Ellen.
Franz and the boys are a lot of things. They just need a firm hand.
I helped them as handy man, then Franz worked in the nursery.
Ellen used to go up as their cleaning lady.
But she stopped when she and Franz fell out.
We didn't fall out. He jammed a stuffed beaver right into me.
I still have difficulty chewing poperly.
- What was that you're saying! - You damn well had it coming, Ellen. Admit it.
No, Elias, no. Just sit down and wait.
No,no. Leave the young people alone.
Take another macaroon. Here. Ellen baked them.
They're good, right?
It's just me.
- Who hit you with an animal? - It doesn't matter ...
No. I can help you if someone is beating you with animals.
This is a lovely room you have, isn't it?
- Should I make something to eat for us? - You can cook?
- Yes, yes. Can you not see that? - I hadn't really thought about it.
But I just ate some Patty Shells over at my aunt's, so ...
- What is it that you want? - I can hardly..I can hardly answer.
Maybe not so good after all.
I must apologize for my brother. Did he hurt you?
No. I just think I've had too much to eat.
You have some coconut macaroon there.
You also have...something there.
Oh, it's just some asparagus.
You bake much?
Yes, when I have then time.
Gabriel, come! Just come away from that one. She throws up on everyone.
Get away from my brother! We don't have a change of clothes with us.
- Get away from us, you pig. - No, Elias.
You're an old pig.
I can promise you that she has ... Christ, she has a lot of rolling pins.
- Dreaming again? - Yes. Just the usual.
- What about you? Do you still never sleep? - No.
It's just so sad here.
There were 1,754 people on the island in 1938 when the sanatorium closed.
Now there are only 41 left.
They don't even have a church anymore. It burned down in 1984.
What sort of man lets his daughter eat eight tartlets with cream filling?
He is a bad mayor. It's bad leadership.
Elias. It might be a good idea if you tried to talk to our brothers.
You want to back out?
The stuff about our mothers makes no sense.
Of course they couldn't have all died in childbirth.
This is suicide.
Elias is good with conflict. He speaks their language.
I know you're in there. And I think you can probably hear me.
But we mean you no harm, and I'm not from the hospital.
Franz? I'm not mad because you beat Gabriel with those mute swans.
We all get like that sometimes. But we're your brothers.
So we have just as much right to see our biological parents as anyone.
Gabriel has a number of questions about our mothers which Evelio has to answer right now.
Let us behave like adults, and let common sense prevail here tonight.
So, 20 seconds from now you're going to open the door.
Otherwise, the house will be surrounded ...
Hey, hey. That's industrial wrought iron!
If that pot had hit meÉ
- What are you doing? - Didn't you see how big that pot was?
- But you know them. - We'll come back when they've cooled down.
Elias!
Now wait a minute. Gregory! Not the pan. I'm also your brother.
Hello?! Can you hear me?
Give me some room to work.
What the hell did you hit me with?
- A rolling pin. - A what?
Oh, a rolling pin.
Well. That's pretty cowardly, but it worked well.
Thanks.
I suppose I'd better get home to Ellen and put my teeth into a few plaice.
- Should we get a doctor to look at him? - Shut it. He's not hurt.
- No, he just drink some tea. - Of course I should see a doctor. I can't feel my legs.
It's the ligaments that support your back that are torn. It'll pass.
I would like to talk to our father now. And then I want to go to hospital.
- Can you call your sister? - Ingrid? No, I can't do that.
You should take it easy. Has Evelio not got an old wheelchair?
- Yes, he's got a few. - Then chuck him into one of them.
Goodbye, Flemming.
It's nice that you've worked it out. A family should stay together.
And if you are living here, you should sign the population register.
- Go home now. - Sign up for the register. Say hi to Evelio.
He's desperate to get people to move to the island.
The Geodetic Institute deletes all cities on the map with under 40 inhabitants.
- What time does father wake up? - He can sleep through the whole day.
- And you're not at work? - No.
Ingrid Abott got me sacked from the kindergarten -
- she'd like to have us forcibly removed. We have to be careful.
- What do you do? - Elias doesn't do much of anything.
I teach philosophy and evolutionary psychology at the university.
- And I'm also a writer. - What are your book about?
I've only written one, and it is basically about -
- How people are struggling to find answers.
- Answers? - Yeah.
And whether we seek it in philosophy, science or with God -
- we all need answers.
We're all trying together.
- Trying to do what? - Everyone's trying to find meaning.
- The meaning of what? - of everything. Of life, right?
Of who we are, and where we come from.
- And who knows it? God? - God? No, us humans. Everyone.
All of us human beings. You and me.
You haven't really thought that through.
- You'd be better off writing a book about cheese. - About cheese?
Have you ever had any education? Or schooling?
Do you have any relationship to science or to philosophy? Or God, for example?
We had a nice donkey once. That relationship was a little along those lines you could say.
Come on out, Joseph.
How has such a huge house only got one toilet? It's very poorly designed. Very poorly.
Get away from the door. You strain our new relationship with your stubbornness Elias.
Yeah ok, fair enough
- What about upstairs? - We can't go upstairs.
Father should not be disturbed. Now step away from the door and endure the toilet situation.
Can I get some toilet paper? Would that be ok?
He's great, right? That's our breeding bull, Isaac the Eighth
- Dad bred him. He's great, isn't he? - He's fine.
He's supplied sperm to more than 43,000 heifers throughout Europe.
Oh, okay. Did he do that?
But how many times a day can he do it, when it really counts, eh?
They come over from the mainland and take from him once a month. It's plentiful.
- How long are you going to be here? - I don't know.
We could use a little help. Dad is really not healthy.
- 43,000, you say that? - Yes.
Isaac is something special. That's why he's the only animal we don't touch.
- What do you mean? - No touching Isaac. Or we smoke one in the cage.
But we do have lots of chickens, and it's better because Isaac would probably kick a little.
Do you want to enter, and greet them?
Come on.
They like if you caress them just under the beak.
- Do not you want one? - Nah.
You don't have to be afraid.
I think I'd better not. I am.
It doesn't hurt them. There's plenty of room.
- They accustomed to laying eggs. - Right there, you said something ...
You've said too much, ok? What is it that there is 'room for'?
What the hell is this? Do you think I want to get it together with a nasty hen?
Do you think I want to get some with some nasty chickens?
We're just practicing, until we meet some girls.
OK, you should not have said that. You are a bad man, Gregor!
Let's start. It's just Gregor that was late.
Will Evelio not come down and eat?
No. We'll save a leg for him.
No thanks, I don't eat chicken on Fridays. Or on Tuesdays.
Oh ok, well there's cheese later. What about you, Joseph?
- I'm not hungry. - Eat up, otherwise there'll be no cheese later.
- I don't care. - Come on now, there's food.
I don't like it. It tastes bad on this plate.
Gregor, can't Joseph have the dog plate?
I'm using it. He has the chicken.
- Can we not just try it? - He had it all week.
Every evening the exact same conversation as the previous night.
- Yes, and tonight I have the dog plate. - He always has the dog plate.
So I will eat nothing. The chicken is rubbish.
It tastes the same, and the chicken is not rubbish.
Gregor, give the dog plate to Joseph. You're the big one.
- No. - Look, you can have mine. There's an owl on it.
I'm not a moron. The owl's even worse than the bloody chicken.
It's very sweet of you Elias, but the owl is the absolute worst.
Everyone wants the dog.
- Gregor, give Joseph the dog plate. - Why must it always be Joseph?
Joseph has the dog plate tonight. Job done.
If there is more of this, you can go and smoke one in the cage.
- No, Elias! - No cheese board for you then?
No.
What the fuck! Are you biting again? Stop it!!
- No! - Drop it! Drop it! Drop it!!
- Elias... Elias! - Gregor!
No...
Elias! Elias!
99.2% of all species that have ever existed on our planet are now extinct.
Mass extinction - defined by the death of 60-96% of all the Earth's species -
- has occurred at least 5 times in the last 440 million years.
The last time was when the dinosaurs became extinct. There is no clear cause.
- Yeah? - Storytime?
- Can I listen too? - Yes, of course.
- What about Gabriel? - He never liked storytime.
He prefers to read alone.
- Start the interpretation now Joseph. - Thank you Sir.
Let's now go back in time and let the glaciar drift over us -
- and consider how the outcome could have been different.
Species, genus, breeds die out not for a reason, but because it makes sense.
People, animals, plants. We're all subject to the same law.
- Thanks, Joseph. - Should I read another one?
- Yes. - No.
Yes.
Hello?
Evelio?
Hello?
Are not you coming down for storytime? We should not be up here.
- He sounds pretty chipper in there. Is he really sick? - Yes, the medication just lifts his spirits.
- We should not disturb him. - I just wanted to say hi.
You heard what I said. Come downstairs now.
We shouldn't be up here. Plus, it's bedtime now.
- Elias? Elias, come on now. - What now?
- We need to go upstairs and look. - We mustn't. He is sick.
Come off it. There's something very wrong here. Help me now.
God, it smells of cheese. Why are we in here?
Joseph gets into the cheese at night. So Franz wants to use us as a shield.
He should just lock the door and give us another room.
There aren't any other rooms. The animals live well.
Gabriel? There are lots of animals here.
Can you help me here?
- Come on. Kick it in. - So they can all hear us?
- Let's stick to the house rules. - Kick the door down. Do it now!
It was locked before.
Evelio?
Well, there's no shortage of reading material.
These books smell really weird. Come here and smell them.
This is all great literature. There's not a dull book here, Gabriel.
We won't get much out of him.
Are you upset?
Maybe we'll still be lucky and find your mother.
Gabriel, can we go back downstairs and go back to sleep again?
How did you get upstairs?
Give me dad's book.
You touched father's things, so you smoke directly into the cage. Understood?
Have they been in the cheese? It's really worrying to me having them in here.
- No. The cheese is progressing nicely. - What happened?
Ignore this situation, Elias. Just go back to sleep.
Come ...
The boss says 'come', Joseph.
Elias?
Out! Good morning, Gabriel. You slept like a log all night.
- Focus on the game, please. - Elias, come.
- Out! - It is not at all out.
I'm closest to it, so I call it. Service change.
- Is it out when it's there? - It's just jumped in again. Try and follow.
- It is not out over there. - You should serve now.
- Joseph, don't interfere. - Shut up!
That was Satan. There, who interrupted you.
- Don't do it. - Yes, you don't go now. You shouldn't ...
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! What the hell is wrong with all of you?
Our father lies dead on the first floor, and you stand around here playing doubles.
Yes, I prefer to play singles and run around more.
- You burn more calories ... - Shut up!
Well he really got up on the wrong side of the bed.
Yeah, let him roll. Play on. 0-0.
Gabriel, you should apologize.
We would have told people before he began to smell.
Yes, because you're all completely mental.
Yes, I know. But we're your brothers, and you're almost healthy.
I have a lot I want to talk to you about.
Elias says you had a girlfriend.
It was me who opened the door for you up there.
Help us. Dad's gone. Not that there were any girls when he was here.
- Girls? How long has he been dead? - A long time. We just let him be.
We discovered that there wasn't a big difference from when he was alive.
Apart from the fact we didn't have to go in the cage any more.
And what about our mothers, Gregor? Do you know where they are?
We've always been by ourselves. They all died, when they bore us.
Of course they didn't. Tell the truth now.
I think they just left. Dad wasn't a nice man to be with.
And we probably weren't so sweet. We clamoured a lot as children.
And dad was always working on his experiments in the basement.
It was out! It was out!
Will not you help dad?
Don't stand in front of the door, Bo. Move away from the door to hell.
They're here.
It's an insane overreaction to start burying father now.
- The man turns 100 in about eight months. - No, he doesn't. Now let's go up there.
No girls come round when your father is dead. Isn't that right, Elias?
Some might like it. Otherwise you'd have to commute out to them -
- And try to get up into their rooms.
- Franz? - No.
- What about here? - Yes.
- And here? - Let's put it over here.
There's no doubt. It's definitely a trapped nerve.
Well, I'm glad you've come. I tried for years to have your brothers forcibly removed.
- But why didn't you do it? - It's complicated.
I have no authority outside the municipality, and Flemming wouldn't move them. But now you're here.
I never saw them so neat and clean when Evelio was here.
He'd let them sit in cages for days while he was working in the basement.
- Do you know what he was researching? - No, and I didn't want to know.
But now you've come, so they can finally be brought up nicely.
Can you give me your arms? Ok now? Good.
Look out for Dad!
Just go back and have a nap.
Everything's under control now Gabriel.
- What kind of book is that? - A Bible, I borrowed it from Bo.
- We shouldn't read that, Gabriel. - Why not?
Father allowed only non-fiction and philosophical treatises, but now father's gone.
- Exactly. Dad is gone now. - But you don't believe in God, Gabriel.
What I believe isn't important, changes are needed here. Come on.
What are you doing?
- Why is the basement locked? - Because we can't go down.
- Who says that? - I say. No-one goes into the basement.
And what's that book?
The Bible is the foundation of our Western ideological system.
It contains guidelines on how our civilisation works.
- I've always wanted to read it. - I'm going to as well.
We learn from the Bible about how one should behave.
It's excluded. You can't just come here and destroy our rules.
It is a very silly book, Gabriel.
Consider it as a manual for how to behave, Franz.
That book is banned. Job done. It's not up for discussion.
And what about "Wild Ducks", Gabriel?
"Wild Ducks"?
Yes. I've agreed to meet up with with Susan from the "Wild Ducks" kindergarten -
- The two of us going down there on Wednesday to talk about a possible reinstatement.
- That would be great. - I can't guarantee anything.
But we must stop all this beating each other. We must learn to communicate with each other.
What the hell do you mean?
Gabriel says that if we are to survive we have to try and communicate.
Our animal instincts are inherited of course -
- but we have to communicate, otherwise we will degenerate and eventually die out as a species.
- Is it something like that Gabriel, do you think? - Yes. Thank you, Joseph.
We must begin to use words instead of violence in conflicts.
There must be some order, and some system.
- We have a system, and we have order. - Hold on now, Franz.
If we learn these things, then there may be some girls.
Well, we can see about that. But we could start by cleaning up and washing our clothes.
The animals belong outside. The cheese belongs in the kitchen, and we should all wash our hands -
- After we have been to the toilet, and before eating.
- And you should stop sleeping together. - Now, stop right there!
- You sleep in the bed with Elias. - That also stops now.
You've all gone crazy.
- Does that mean we won't have storytime? - Ok. Storytime is fine, but we should ...
Can we establish a system where one puts a finger up -
- When one wishes to speak, instead of interrupting?
Yes, good idea. Brilliant, Joseph.
- I'm freezing cold. - Let's just try it. Go to sleep now.
Think of the kindergarten. And girls.
Franz, you'd better come come. He's looking at the basement.
Move away from the door. Away!
Why can't I see what our father did?
Because we also have some rules here.
And if you go in the basement, you smoke one in the cage.
Hello? Gabriel?
- But ... there was a hen ... - Yes, we can't keep them out of here.
It had ... hooves.
It's very possible, but they have just as much right to live here as we have.
It is a ridiculous rule. Move away from door now.
- Elias, will you come here? - No, I will not go in there.
- Oh, come on. - No.
Just look at this here.
There are more chickens with similar deformities. What the hell is going on?
You can not do it here.
Such mutations should die out when those with the mutant gene try to reproduce.
The mutants should number less than the normal ones, but here they are in the majority.
They wouldn't do a cat mischief. It'd be worse than with the bull.
See how it stands and mocks us with its eyes? It is a particularly nasty bull.
Father must have changed their genome and somehow broken the species barrier.
Enough about the father, it's just a chicken with a tail. We're talking about the bull now.
I'm going down in that basement.
Please don't, Gabriel. You'll smoke one in the cage.
- I'll send the animals out now. - No, no, it doesn't matter about the animals.
So...
What would you say if I helped you to get some girls?
Would you please help me to find the key down to the basement?
How many girls will you obtain?
- One. Is not that enough? - Yes, one is really good.
Abraham's undiagnosed schizophrenia escalates -
- because he has not been treated with anti-psychotics -
- and his condition is aggravated with the voices commanding him to slay his own son ...
- Where are you going, Gregor? - I'm just going to the toilet.
And maybe now someone else could read?
Up with your hand if you want to say something. It's Joseph now.
Should not we let someone else take over, Franz?
No. I've only got up to the bit where they come to Canaan and have a child.
Where the camel constantly needs water? That's so silly.
Let Joseph read now.
Thanks, Elias. After detaining Isaac, he voice says he should places him -
- on a non-ignited fire, lest he kill his son.
Probably because the thinner air on top of the mountain affects the brain -
- and makes the hallucination change character.
- Can't you just read it plainly? - Interrupting again now? Ridiculous!
- What do you mean, Gabriel? - Just tell it without your interpretation.
I haven't made any interpretation yet.
You wanted us to read this ridiculous book. Let Joseph doing it his way.
Thanks, Franz. There is not much more. It's very messy and unstructured here.
Abraham cuts the throat of a non-racially specified male goat -
- and sticks it inside a burning shrub.
Isaac is released, and Abraham ignites the goat. It's not impressive.
- But in chapter 23 ... - No, we stop right here.
- Interrupting again. - Yes, you must obey the rules.
Can not we try to talk about what we think these stories are about?
- Should I take minutes? - No.
I do not like this book, and that Abraham and Sarah had Isaac. It is unrealistic.
If you can not physically have children, it is nature that has said stop.
- Yes. The entire book is silly. - But this is good, Franz.
It's a miracle, that Abraham and Sarah get Isaac. That God hears them.
It's also crazy to run around and lavish miracles on people that way.
And that God plays Lord, and let's 100 year old people become parents.
Let's leave it a while here, but what do you think ...
Is it right that Abraham sacrifices his own son?
Would you sacrifice your own children and your own family for a higher meaning, Franz?
- I cried a little when the goat died. - Yes, that part was very touching.
- Is the goat important? - The goat is not so important here, no.
Joseph, think of yourself now. What does the story say to you?
The important thing is that you think about yourself and reflect.
So ...
So I would say that I think ... It will probably be something to do with the goat.
I love goats. Why do they not like goats?
- Gabriel?
May I come down and look?
- We won't É we won't touch anything. - No, no, of course not.
- Wow, he really liked animals.
What does "MT" stand for?
I think it was the mothers of the crosses. 'Mother To', M.T.
Should we go back up now?
Gabriel?
- How many crosses did he make? - I don't know. The dead ones are shown.
I think we just succeeded with chickens.
But the females ought to have expelled the fetuses. How has he done it?
It's sensational.
Oh stop it. Is he so clever really?
Because he made a few funny animals?
Plus they were stillborn. Look, this one is really poorly made.
But he managed it with the hens.
He managed to cross some species with laying vertebrates, such as chickens.
All others died. So ...
The results should be published, we can't just store them away Gregor!
How many species did he manage to cross? We have a pig with a hen.
- There's a bull with a turkey. - I don't know. Let go back up now.
Now we've seen it all, and now we will go back up.
Come and help me. There's something behind this bookcase.
I've kept my part of the bargain. Now it's your turn to find girls.
- That bookcase is very poorly made. - Oh no.
Wait a minute!
What the hell are you doing? Eh?!
This isn't right. Has he been downstairs sniffing around?
Yes, they've broken a door. Go and see.
Elias...
You can see how we make the rules now. Come on, let's throw them in the cage.
Joseph! Joseph, come over here!
Joseph! Joseph, let us out!
Joseph, let us out!!
Stupid idiot!!
If you shout, it takes longer to get out. You have to cool off completely.
This isn't happening.
- Where are we to find those girls? - We not finding any fucking girls.
- But you promised... - There are no girls.
- And they certainly wouldn't want you anyway. - What do you mean?
Have you ever seen yourself in the mirror, Gregor?
No. I thought not.
Ow!!! Let go! Stop it!!!
- No, they're the not cooled down yet. - Get off! Release me! Elias!
If you'd just take it easy, you come out faster.
- Open the door! Now! - You made rules too.
- Just sit down and wait out the cage situation. - No!
What are you ... Wait a minute, Gabriel. Where are you going? Come back now.
- Get away from me. - No-one is mad at you.
- You'll just go back into the cage again. - Piss off!
- Piss off? - Yes. Get away from me. I'm going home.
- Okay, then let's go home. - No! I don't want you!
I don't want you, you idiot.
- What are you saying? - I don't like you, Elias.
You've completely ruined my life.
All my friends, all my lovers. Everything! You've chased everyone away.
- No, I haven't. - Yes, you have.
And you're clammy. And you're ugly. And you're disgusting.
And you are absolutely impossible to be with.
Elias, stay here. You ... belong here.
No, I belong with you. You promised me that, when we were little.
It's you who are stupid. It's you who are ugly!
That's, Gabriel.
Gabriel? Gabriel?
So, Joseph. Now Gregor has the dog, and the chicken goes to Elias.
- He promised that girls would come. - It's not happening, Gregor.
It's your own fault.
You won't get your job in kindergarten again now.
Elias? Could you come to the meeting tomorrow? That would be a great help.
- He can't. He's like us. - I can do that.
- We need Gabriel. - Stop talking about Gabriel.
Elias, could you come?
- Yes. - Thank you, Elias.
- Can you also get girls? - Of course he can't.
I can do that if I want to.
Would you be able to obtain one for tomorrow?
I can, certainly. But it's that's stupid.
- Why? - Why's it stupid?
Because if you have one for one day ... then what?
They must be for ... we can do that. We'll do it tomorrow then.
But it's only in the morning that we can provide ladies.
And you'll come to the meeting in the nursery too?
- Hi. - Can I stay here until the ferry goes?
- Yes. I am just about to bake cakes. - Really? Lovely.
I'm really very happy -
- that we've finally had an opportunity to establish a dialogue.
I have never before experienced such a thing in the whole history of "Wild Ducks".
And I would therefore recommend that you send Franz for psychiatric treatment.
Thank you. But we don't pay for psychologists in our family.
And we feel this was a case of a wrongful dismissal.
I don't understand. Franz beat Carl with that stuffed fox.
We have all understood. But let's look ahead now.
And besides, it's wicked to have such a fox standing around in a nursery.
- You sound different on the phone. - No, I do not.
And maybe it was just for fun?
Carl had to have seven stitches, and all because he refused to taste a cheese.
As I hear it, Franz and Carl were equally to blame.
Carl is four years old. I have to go. All the children are terrified of Franz.
All the children ... there are lots of children here.
And you make it sound so serious. Children are afraid of lots of things.
Some are afraid of buttons, but everybody can't go around in ponchos.
Carl and Franz had a little fight. It should be up to "Wild Ducks" to accommodate this.
Live up to your name at least.
Remember: For the deaf, dancing seems crazy. Did you forget that, Susan?
Now let's see reason. Franz can come back to work tomorrow morning at eight o'clock.
I thought you'd come here to apologize. Where is the man I spoke on the phone with?
- He's sitting right here. Now listen. - I have to go now.
Well, so I think we have an agreement. And if we have, well then you get this from me.
What is it?
If you think hard, you can probably guess the last two digits.
Just think in centimeters. Call me, and I'll make some really good food for us.
It's my phone number, but without the last two digits.
- What does it mean? - Ok then. The last two digits are 21
35 87 56 21.
My old number was 39 17 02 02. That doesn't work as a joke though.
But with 21, I can say that I have a whopping ...
Get out, or I'm calling the police.
- She's an interrupter. Can you feel that? - That I feel.
- It's out of my hands now. - What's happening? What are you doing?
When can Franz start again?
When a position becomes vacant, he can rejoin. But, Franz?
When you start again, stay far away from the fox.
- This is just a beginning. - Yes. But thanks, Elias. Thank you very much.
- No-one's done anything like this for me before. - Well, families help each other out.
That was something that Gabriel never understood. Well, let's go and look at some girls?
- And if no one wants to be with us? - That's a good one.
It would then be the first time in history, I couldn't score.
It smells good here.
- There's an excellent choice. - No, there's only one girl.
- But in relation to the island's population ... - There's another one. There are two now.
I'd take away her puzzle. Take her knitting. She's delicious.
- Why should you choose first? - Excuse me. Are you here to visit someone?
Yes, of course we are. We come from the voluntary association bringing...
- Cheese. - It must be served first.
Have you been running around out there?
Yes, I struggle with the fact that I am anatomically challenged.
I also struggle with obesity.
- And I'm too thin. - Shame on you.
To make fun of the anatomically challenged.
We have sporting facilities here, if you'd like to see them?
- I would like to. - Come on.
Have you got a sauna?
Joseph? Do you not want any cheese then?
Let him go off with a thick-waisted pig-girl if he wants to. Cradle-snatcher.
I'll take jigsaw lady. Where's her knitting?
- She was ecstatic with Gregor. - I'll take her then.
- She's called Ingrid Lis. - Ingrid Lis, come here.
- She wants me. - No. Look, Ingrid Lis. I have cheese.
Stop that. She's lactose intolerant. She has allergies. Just go.
I prefer Franz.
It's fine. We report back to you. Yes. Goodbye.
Ok, so just get the hospital to send an ambulance with the ferry in the morning.
- There's no way out this time. - When they're gone, we'll be deleted from the map.
Can we be absolutely sure that cousin Susan didn't just have a fall?
I've seen her trip over those fucking kids before up there.
She has a concussion and she lost a tooth. They've crossed the line this time.
Without Gabriel in the house they're a ticking time bomb.
I agree with Ingrid. They belong in a hospital. All four of them.
It's your fault. Evelio was fine up in that room until you came.
- Keep your mouth shut Dad! - Haven't they spent long enough in a cage?
You can't just run away from your family.
And what about finding out where your mother went?
Oh shut up. You've driven this island up its own arse.
For the first time in your life, you can make the right decision. So do it now!
You're not coming in?
Thank you so much for today.
We're very grateful to you.
Okay.
Elias?
You can still change your mind, Gabriel.
Do you have no heart, man? It's your own family.
For god's sake shut up, Dad. Come on. The ferry's leaving.
Come now, Gabriel. Come now!
It's just as I said. It's back!
Ellen ... see, Ellen!
- Those are some weird feet. - Yes. He's returned home.
- That stork had human feet. - No, I don't think so.
- Come on, Gabriel. - And it had a harelip.
Let's get out of here. The ferry's sailing. Come now.
I'm sorry, Ellen.
We're cancelling the action. Go back to the hospital. The community will take over.
- Oh hell. You can't be. - Yes. Gabriel has come back.
- Now you fucking don't. - Ingrid, get your people and disappear.
What are you doing, Gabriel?
You shouldn't. Gabriel, no. Gabriel!
No, you mustn't go down there.
Gabriel, no!
- Come on.
Come on out, Elias. Is it comfortable in there?
What the hell has he done.
What's in there?
- What are those? - That's our mothers.
Why are they in there?
- Because our father was a very sick man. - Did Dad do that?
Why?
Dad was born sterile, just as we all are. But he found a solution.
He inseminated our mothers with different types of modified animal semen -
- Mixed with stem cells
But it didn't work, did it? Only with the hens.
No, not at first. He inseminated his first wife 14 times.
In October 1966 a failed experiment.
Then he created his first child. A son.
The semen from the bull Isaac, created the second
And three years later he repeats the experiment.
This time with an owl.
And get's another boy.
And then he writes in his notes here in 1969 -
- How his first two children did not live up to expectations.
So he gives them away.
he adopts out his 'human owl' and his 'man-bull', as he calls them.
And goes on trying to create a man.
So Elias is half bull?
Yes, he's a man-bull. Listen...
Elias is 11.4% bull -
- And 88.6% father, and her over there.
It says that he is the half-brother of Isaac, who is standing in the barn.
- He doesn't any more. - What am I?
You are 9.5% mouse, Joseph.
- Am I mice? - Yes, and you're dog, Gregor.
Labrador. Exactly 10%.
- I'm a dog? - Why didn't you say something?
I would like to have known that I was a dog.
What are you, Franz?
Franz is hen.
Yes, I'm hen! I'm 15% hen. I'm a Hman Hen!
15% is more that 9.5%.
Yes, Father tried to increase the animal percentage and he succeeded with me.
- I'm mice. It's better than hen. - You know that nothing about it Joseph.
- Dogs are the best. - You're only 10% dog.
I'm actually far more chicken than you are dog.
- Chickens aren't like dogs, Franz. - Stop this, dammit!
Gabriel must decide. So we get to know what he is, right?
We all know what he is. He's an owl!
- I am 7.1% owl. - And the owl is the absolute worst.
So perhaps it's not so bad to be hen.
How did they die? Why couldn't they feed us?
I think they could have. But the father couldn't perform complicated operations.
- So he performed a fatal caesarean. - That must have been painful.
Dad always said, "A life for a life."
Can we really never have children?
We're a cross between two species. Hybrids will almost always be sterile.
But father could, why can't we?
Why are you sitting there, Elias? Come on out.
- I'm sorry. - Don't worry about that now.
Then you should also apologise. It was a hard thing, what you said.
- Yes. - Yes, it was.
And it wasn't true. Much of what you said about me was not true.
Okay.
I by no means, I ...
I think that I have been very foolish with those chickens ... and with Isaac.
It's a fear I've always had. And I must say this so ...
Do not contradict me.
I'm not ...
I'm not quite normal, Gabriel.
I'm not.
Well, there's not really any of us, that is.
Come on out, Elias.
May I hug you?
I've not had a chance to wash my hands. But can I?
How did it happen -
- that brothers who by nature had been awarded an impossible hand -
- came together.
And with the help of Evelios' basement, were allowed to experience -
- How every life truly is a small miracle.
Every creature, beautiful as ugly, fat as thin, good as evil -
- Children and old people, animals and humans -
- And everything in between that was created by anyone, anywhere.
And although the old island was still afraid of the brothers -
- And of the things that everyone knew went on down in that basement -
- They respected that sometimes these things happen -
For the very simple reason that life is life.
And that the alternative, is not preferable.