Farewell to the King (1989)

Nigel Havers: Botanist

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Quotes 

• [last lines] 

  Capt. Fairbourne : I'll always know that he's out there. A free man. I hope he found his valley, somewhere. Farewell, my king. Farewell.

• Capt. Fairbourne : If you were a communist how could you be king?

  Learoyd : Only a communist would think of it.

• Capt. Fairbourne : Listen, you can no longer avoid history! I'm sorry. I've said that!

  Learoyd : Shut up. History? The world's so full of crap, sooner or later, you're gonna step in it. You call that history?

• Vivienne : You feeling alright?

  Capt. Fairbourne : Did Judas feel aright?

• Capt. Fairbourne : Do you trust me?

  Learoyd : Yes... If I have a choice between the good or bad in the man, I choose to believe the good.

  Capt. Fairbourne : The 'warrior king'.

  Learoyd : No, YOU're the warrior. I'm just king.

• Capt. Fairbourne : [Narrating]  Borneo. For most of you, Borneo doesn't exist. An imaginary name on a map, like Tibet or Tierra del Fuego. The ends of the earth. But I know the island exists. You see, I was there near the end of the Second World War. My war. My youth. I was a botanist before. I've been a botanist ever since.

  Capt. Fairbourne : [narration continues]  That's why they chose me, I suppose. Special Operations trained me. I was to help lead the tribes against the Japanese. But I didn't lead them, really. No, that was someone else. I knew him. He was the last King of Borneo. It's all right to tell his tale now. The wind has swept away the stench of the corpses. And all that we remember is the flare of our youth.

• Capt. Fairbourne : What do you want.

  Learoyd : Freedom, to be like we are.

  Capt. Fairbourne : Anything else?

  Learoyd : Guns. So they can't take the freedom away.

  Capt. Fairbourne : Well, I'll see what I can do.

  Learoyd : And grenades, mortars and mines, so they can't take the guns away.

• Capt. Fairbourne : The death agony of the Japanese army in Borneo was as sad as the sinking of a great ship. Bullets, explosives, poisoned arrows. Men stumbling through the night, mumbling incoherently. Hunger. Men eating weeds, leeches, insects - and each other. Despair, madness. For me, for us, the same period was as thrilling as a cavalry charge. May God forgive us.

• Capt. Fairbourne : [after the Japanese have sacked Learoyd's village]  Vengeance is futile. It never ends. You told me that. It's not man that counts, it's life, Learoyd. It's life!

  Learoyd : [Brushing right past him]  Blood must be answered with blood.

• Learoyd : Who's Vivienne? You kept mentioning her name.

  Capt. Fairbourne : She's my fiancée.

  Learoyd : So that's why you wouldn't... I said I never trusted a man who had no woman. I was beginning to worry about you.

• Capt. Fairbourne : [pushing Learoyd onto the deck]  Turn around: now give me those.

  Learoyd : I thought it was you.

  Capt. Fairbourne : [takes Learoyd's cuffs off]  How well do you swim?

  Learoyd : Well enough. They'll take away your DSO.

  Capt. Fairbourne : They've already given it to me, besides with a bit of luck, they'll never know.

  Learoyd : Why are you doing this?

  Capt. Fairbourne : [grinning]  For King and Country. God bless, now get going!

  Learoyd : [Grins]  Life, English!

  [jumps overboard] 

  Capt. Fairbourne : Life, Rajah.

  [smiles as he sees Learoyd has made it safely to shore]