(Steam hissing)
(Water dripping)
(Steam hissing)
- Oh! - Sorry.
It's all right. You have very cool hands for a masseur.
- Permanent staff, aren't I? - Beg your pardon?
I've been here six months, since we opened.
You'll find all the permanent staff here has got a touch of the cools.
- It's a cold house. - It's a warm house.
It's really extremely comfortable and warm.
Yeah, well, we've all got a touch of the cools.
Some more than others.
It's really extremely comfortable and warm.
A home from home.
One might say so much. One pays for that, of course.
- (Woman) Pays for it? - Oh, on the bill.
- No other way. - Yes, I suppose you do.
My brother looks after that. I just look after the guests.
And very well, if one may say so.
Thank you'.
However, it's easy for me.
- I've always enjoyed people. - Enjoyed them?
Having them. I've always enjoyed having them.
Oh.
Excuse me.
In a place like this, one misses the company of young people, of course.
Though one knows they would never be able to afford it.
(Gong banging)
(Jewellery clinking)
Oh, I hadn't realised one dressed for dinner.
(Woman sobbing)
Such quaint old-fashioned ways.
Oh, in my own case, as far as my own work is concerned,
one might say, if I may paraphrase Dr Johnson,
if one can do anything, anything at all,
to help people get by, get through...
- Through? - (Paul) Life.
The whole aim of my own work is simply to help people get through life.
What kind of life is it that people need helping through?
My sister means that if life is something merely to be got through,
then the only agreeable aspect of it might be its end.
Perhaps you should assist people
to end their lives, not to get through them.
Perhaps you do.
Perhaps that is what our guest wishes us to understand, Jessica.
- You're joking, I think. - In bad taste.
My brother has very little sense of what is proper. Please forgive him.
I think we may agree that for most people, life is seldom pleasant.
Life in an urban industrial society,
capitalist or not, it makes no difference,
is, at its best, boring and trivial.
The incidence of mental illness is horrifying and is increasing.
For many, many people, life is not at all pleasant.
But it is pleasant for some.
(Moaning)
Ah'. God'.
You've certainly got a touch of the cools today, Bob.
- A touch of the ices. - Sorry.
I'm sorry.
Help me.
- What? - I need help.
- Assistance. - In what respect?
To get away.
I urgently require assistance to get away from here.
- I can't do it on my own. - Is anything wrong?
Oh, nothing, sir. Nothing. A touch of the cools, that's all.
Allow me.
Hmm, delightful.
(Tapping at window)
(Tapping continues)
(Distant screeching)
(Sighs heavily)
Country noises.
Oh, he has gone off. Disappeared.
We may assume that he had had enough of it here.
One understands that.
The English countryside has become very isolated.
Except to weekenders with cars, now that the buses have ceased to run.
Our guests come in search of that.
Isolation and peace.
But the permanent staff find peace oppressive.
It may be difficult to replace him.
Well, he may return.
He wouldn't have come in the first place
if there had not been something here to attract him.
If not, we shall advertise.
Meanwhile, as you have observed,
I am well able to handle that side of things myself.
Have you seen the ice house?
(Paul) Extraordinary. (Clovis) The vine?
(Paul) Of what variety?
(Clovis) It is a little-known variety.
It is not known at all. It was brought from abroad.
It has been here as long as the ice house itself.
Most interesting.
A vine, certainly.
A trumpet of some sort.
And hardy.
It is a south-facing wall, but even so...
- Dare one ask for a cutting? - No.
(Snorts)
It is not cut.
It would not flourish.
It is grown from seed?
The flowers bear fruit and you propagate from seed?
They are brother and sister. They do not bear fruit.
Oh, those are rules we humans make for ourselves, my dear.
They're not observed by the rest of the animal kingdom
and certainly not by flowers.
By these flowers, yes.
(Clovis) They are not self-pollinating, if that is the word.
They persist until they are replaced.
(Jessica) Why should our vine bear fruit? It does not die.
It might be killed. A frost, a fire.
Never has been.
- And the ice house itself... - Go closer, smell the flowers.
The perfume is pleasing.
It will surprise you.
- Well... - It is too high, Jessica.
The vine is strong. It is easy to climb.
However. The ice house.
A fine example.
One has known them converted to summer houses, opened up.
That always seems a pity.
- Locked? - No.
You use it for what? Storing garden furniture?
Dahlias?
We use it for ice. It was built for that.
We should go back to the house.
It is time for luncheon.
Er...yes.
All the same, you should think about your vine.
In time, everything dies.
Ice preserves.
I find that the house has become rather too large for me, since my wife...
Passed away?
- Went away. - Ah.
I have been thinking of selling, when the price is right.
Finding somewhere smaller.
With a garden, of course.
The market is bound to rise.
Many of our guests, as we discover, are rather isolated people.
Our advertisement appeals to them.
We have comparatively few so far.
Certainly fewer than we could accommodate.
But those who do come tend to stay.
- (Paul) You hear nothing of Bob? - You are concerned for Bob?
I fear my service does not please.
Oh, my dear fellow, you do, of course.
Then we shall not regret Bob. It is our pleasure to please.
Thank you.
After tea, you must go and see our vine.
We shall not come with you this time,
so that you will not feel obliged to praise it.
Hmm, yes.
(Door clicks)
Good evening.
(Woman sobbing)
Good evening.
The scent of your vine, its scent in the evening...
it's almost overpowering.
Yes.
(Inhales deeply)
Extraordinary.
(He grunts)
Oh, alas.
He has struck you. You must bear the penalty.
(Paul) You are my partner. We shall both suffer, I fear.
I shall not be able to return to your help if I'm struck off the lawn.
- Oh. - Not so far.
Thank you.
I confess...
I find it odd that a round of croquet should proceed
so entirely without malice.
You find it lacks edge?
No, indeed, surprisingly pleasant.
- One has known tears. - We abhor grief.
(Gasping)
Some trouble?
Nothing. It's passed.
It's what our friend Bob would've called a touch of the cools.
A touch of the cools?
Yes. You find that?
We try, you know, to keep the house warm.
Oh, it's a warm house.
(Paul) There's a hole in my window.
Oh? Extraordinary.
It's a small hole.
It's in the centre of the glass.
I cannot tell how it was made.
However it was made, it must be mended.
You have a touch of the cools already.
We must keep you from a chill.
Unhappily, the mending may take some time.
We have no glazier on our establishment.
Someone from the village?
The village people do not like to come.
It is a long way and they disapprove of our manner of life.
They're all chapel people in the village.
But you have so many conveniences here.
It is all modern.
A freezer, surely? A refrigerator?
More than one.
- What do you keep in the ice house? - Ice.
The electricity may fail, a tree fall.
There may be thunderstorms or industrial action.
Our guests should not suffer on that account.
Our prices are high, our standards must be higher.
Only ice?
How reluctant our guest is to believe us.
We fail him, Jessica, in some way.
You are free to look for yourself. The door is not locked.
I thought I heard it bang the other day.
- The other day? - Yesterday.
I tried it. It was in fact locked.
You are mistaken. It is never locked.
Well, then, I'm mistaken.
You do not cater for families here'.
They are solitary people who are enticed by our advertisement.
I have said so before.
In any case, our devotion to your comfort
would preclude the accommodation of children.
We will allow no children.
And no dogs.
It is easy to climb.
Will you not do so?
Thank you, no. Thank you.
But you enjoy the perfume.
- It is exceptionally seductive. - (Chuckles) Yes.
Will you try the door?
There is really no necessity.
Please.
Assure yourself.
Will you not enter?
I think not, no.
Not today, no.
I have a cold coming. I'm not at my best. I shall return to the house.
Perhaps I shall have a hot drink, a bath.
Perhaps I may lie down before dinner.
A hot drink. A toddy, yes.
It shall be my pleasure to prepare it.
(Snorting)
(Inhales deeply)
(Rustling)
What?
(Shivering)
(Water dripping)
(Dripping)
Well, then, it is merely ice, as it's been said.
(Screams)
(Gasps)
(Breathes heavily)
- (Gasps) - You are in some distress?
- You will excuse me. - (Gasps)
If the door be not closed, the ice will melt.
I shall leave this house'.
Tomorrow'. I shall leave tomorrow'.
Yes. You shall.
Yes.
- My bill... - Shall be prepared.
- A cheque? Credit card? - Either.
The basis of your stay with us is trust.
Perfect trust.
On both sides.
- (Paul) The vine... - Overpowering.
- (Paul) What? - The perfume of our vine.
At night-time.
It is almost...
overpowering.
(Whimpers)
Tomorrow. Yes.
You shall leave tomorrow.
You are in distress.
Will you say nothing? Will you do nothing?
- About? - About the ice house?
About what is in the ice house?
But there is only ice in the ice house.
You are still in distress, I see.
Would you like me to sleep here with you?
Well...
Well, I shall remain until you are asleep, at least.
(Sighs heavily)
What did you use to light your way in the ice house?
A letter.
A letter from my wife.
Sleep now.
But there is only ice in the ice house.
The bill is all prepared. It is on the tray.
Your window is broken. We must have it mended.
We only want what is best.
- For whom? - For our guests.
I saw Bob.
What would Bob be doing in the ice house?
Who are these people, the people here?
Guests. They saw our advertisement and came to us.
- As you did. - You take no care of them.
You do not see the care we take of them.
Comparatively.
Your care is all for me.
You've given me individual attention.
Well, you are the most recent.
They have all been here some time.
He was frozen into a block of ice.
My brother Clovis spoke of that.
You had a nightmare and went walking. You were distressed.
That has distressed us.
If I am to have...dreams, you cannot be blamed for them.
That comes from the past, from the unconscious mind.
It is not rich food, as was believed, which causes dreams,
but the deep, deep...
There can be no blame laid to your charge.
You believe I hallucinated and so distressed myself?
Well...
- We have not said so. - You have thought so.
I clearly saw him.
Most clearly and certainly, by the light of my wife's letter.
Will you visit the ice house in my company before you leave?
I cannot believe that would distress you. It is full day.
Most kind.
This morning, then.
There is the electric light too, of course.
It will be so ordinary, it will disappoint you.
But you must wrap up warmly.
It will be cold in the ice house.
- (Door shuts) - There was no electric light.
Would you be kind enough to close the door? The ice...
- Melts? - Yes.
There's so little to see.
There is only ice.
They were...
The blocks stood upright.
- Separately? - (Paul) Yes.
They would not keep so.
They must be stacked together and so cool each other.
Yes.
Oh! If it's all to be removed, let us call the gardener.
No.
A hallucination, then?
It is not for me to say so.
I came here.
I had a dream. I came to the ice house.
The vine...
- Its perfume was... - Overpowering?
Yes. The door was open.
Perhaps I could not find the light switch and so thought...
...the blocks were upright, as they could not have been.
I thought I saw...
But even that, his hands were always cold.
Yet I truly believed I saw...
(Whispers) No.
Will you remain with us, then, for the full extent of your booking?
Of course.
How happy that will make us, my brother and I.
We had cancelled your treatment. I must arrange it.
Thank you.
Sauna, massage and facial.
I think we may give the orthopaedist a miss.
(Steam hisses)
(Gasping)
I'm so cold.
Help me.
I'm cold. Help me'.
I'm cold!
- Help me. - Yes.
We only want what is best.
My brother and I do not approve of death, you see.
"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes," is what is said.
But that is not true.
Flesh does not return to dust or ashes.
It putrefies.
It returns to maggots,
to stench and to slime.
We do not find that at all pleasing.
Therefore... we will not tolerate it.
Ice preserves.
Yes.