Chinese Box

John, it's Mary. Not there, okay.

Don't forget to call the kids.

(machine beeps)

John, it's Jack again. I haven't

been able to get in touch for days.

What's going on? You've missed

the deadline twice already.

If you don't get in touch with

me by the end of today,

we're killing the story.

(typing)

(phone rings)

Yeah?

I know Morgan-Grenville

said they were releasing

the document today.

No. I would have said yesterday

if I'd meant yesterday.

Today.

Your today.

Yeah, put it somewhere

near the end.

Okay.

Bye.

Scores of British lawyers,

administrators and police,

all of them long-time employees

of the Hong Kong government,

boarded the ship, "Oriana,"

their destination: England.

But this was no

ordinary farewell.

Those sailing out

on the Oriana

are part of an exodus

of Britons leaving Hong Kong

as the colonial era

draws to an end.

There is a revenge

element in it, we think...

revenge in quotation marks...

that people in the past may have been

discriminated against

purely because they were

of a particular race.

Now the reverse

appears to be so.

Anchor:
The days of special privileges

for British citizens

here are over.

And as the Oriana sailed

into the sunset,

there was a palpable sense

of an era coming to an end.

John!

John, up here. Up here.

Someone you should meet.

This charming lady is

Amanda Everheart.

- Hello, Amanda Everheart.

- It's such a pleasure to meet you.

She wants to know everything

there is to know about Hong Kong,

and the clever thing started

by reading your book.

I wonder, would you mind

signing a copy for me?

- I'd just love that.

- I thought this was out of print.

- I found it fascinating.

- Listen, hold that will you?

You read it?

Yes, I did. I took a few tips and made a few

investments actually.

I particularly liked the chapter when you

talk about Hong Kong

as an honest whore.

Of course we're all

dying to find out

how she copes

with her new pimp.

Speaking of which,

here's a man who has very

strong views on that subject.

I'll leave you in his capable hands.

Don't let him get too close.

What will you do,

Mr. Spencer

when the sun rises over

Hong Kong on July 1st?

Well, Mr. Aristedes,

I think I should get out of bed,

have a bit of a fart,

a sh*t, a shave, and a shower.

And I'll look for my...

Listen, nothing is going

to be different, is it?

I mean the Chinese have

been here 10, 15 years.

- Nothing's going to change.

- I know that.

I mean this great big

department store

is just having a change of

management, that's all.

That's my problem,

I have a problem.

I cannot photograph

social crises

until somebody dies.

They gave me money. I'm not giving

it back. I'd rather give a kidney.

But I have a problem.

What am I going to do?

Where am I going

to get the real stuff?

The real stuff is the deals.

The deals happen

behind closed doors.

What deals?

You've been here what now, 15 years?

Because of deals?

John:
Of course it isn't

just the deals.

Sometimes you just

fall in love with a place

without really

knowing why,

without really ever

fully understanding it.

The way I fell

in love with Vivian.

How is it I want so badly

the one woman I can't have?

John!

How are you?

Nice to see you.

You are sober,

yeah?

We are about three minutes

and 20 seconds to go.

So John, why don't you

ask Vivian to dance?

You know I'm never good with this,

uh, this sort of...

- I might do that.

- I'll see you in a minute, right?

So much of Hong Kong

exists below the surface.

They don't know that this is

the woman I love above everything.

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