GUARD: You're going to be side by side
all the way to Australia.
ESTELLA: I intend to find a rich man,
have him take me as from here as I can go.
Cairo looks nice.
Could you take me to Cairo?
- ESTELLA: Herbert. - Will you just stop?
MISS HAVISHAM: So, Pip, are you in love with her yet?
PIP: I told you, my intention is not to fall in love.
MISS HAVISHAM: Love is not always the result of intention.
Do you love her?
(WHISPERS) Oh, Pip.
MR. PUMBLECHOOK: She conducts her business
through a Mr. Jaggers. He's King's counsel.
Your signature,
or your shame.
Miss Havisham says to tell you that your education is over.
Estella, no, no.
Estella, Estella, stop.
I'm in love with you.
I am looking for a boy by the name of Pip Gargery.
(HORSE HUFFS)
(WOMAN LAUGHING IN DISTANCE)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(EXHALES)
(WOMAN LAUGHING)
(GASPS)
MR. JAGGERS: Ladies and gentlemen,
who among you wasn't just as foolish at this age?
You take your fucking hands off me.
I was sent by Miss Havisham and Miss Estella.
Let's go somewhere quiet.
That rum is on my father's slate.
Nothing in your life is any more on your father's slate.
From this moment on, everything in your life
is on my slate.
Who are you?
The mouth of the Thames tastes the best rum,
but you marshland savages drink it all
before it gets to London.
- How do you know Miss Estella? - (CHUCKLES)
Did you ever go hunting sparrows in the fog?
Boy, look at me.
I swear to God, I will get an answer.
(CHUCKLES)
Who are you?
He has the ear of God.
The knife came as a gift with this brand new suit.
It slips into the boot.
A knife such as gentlemen carry.
I asked you a fucking que...
(OBJECTS CLATTERING)
Not actually a knife such as gentlemen carry, Pip.
Soon, you will learn to tell the difference.
If you want to defend yourself with a knife made of tin,
try it, by all means.
But if you want £5,000,
an apartment in the heart of London,
a position in my practice,
and a pathway to the heart of the girl you love...
If you want all of those things, as I know you surely do...
Sit down, Pip.
Now, I know you can read,
so you will see the sum is drawn for my company account.
The true identity of your benefactor
is to remain a secret
at the insistence of the benefactor.
Who else on Earth other than Miss Havisham
would give me such a sum?
The Earth is a big place, Pip.
That you will learn.
You will learn it because I will teach you.
Teach me what?
Teach you first to be a rat,
then a snake,
then a vulture
and then, with blood dripping from your beak,
I will teach you how to be a gentleman.
But now the night is cold.
I suggest you take a swig of this
before we mount up and ride.
- Ride at this hour? - Yes.
We have urgent business in London.
Come.
(STAMMERING) I need to gather my things and say goodbye.
No.
- My sister... - Your sister and her blacksmith
will wake to find a check of compensation
on their doorstep.
There is a girl who deserves explanation...
There is a girl called Biddy.
And she is of no consequence.
Not at all.
The moment has come, Pip.
The most important moment of your life.
Either you come with me now or give me back the check.
You have ten seconds.
(CHURCH BELL TOLLING)
Will you allow that same old church bell
to peel away your whole life,
hour after hour?
I will write my explanations.
Yes.
And the next time you see any of the poor people
from this miserable little village,
you'll be looking down on them
from a very, very great height.
Come on, Pip.
I like to ride quickly.
As if the Devil were chasing me.
(HORSES WHINNYING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(CHATTER CONTINUES)
Your horses appear not to need rest.
Yes.
I start them young, worked them hard,
as I will with you.
I will give my horse a rest.
Thank you.
Pip, you should know, in London, horse troughs are mostly piss.
Having spent nine hours on a muddy road with you,
I am curious.
Why did my mysterious benefactor think it wise
to make a man like you my guardian?
Because I am known to be evil.
Celebrated for it.
And your benefactor knows
that in an evil place like London,
attachment to virtue would be fatal.
You mentioned an apartment. I need to rest.
No.
You will rest in your grave and not before.
I hope your new boots are waterproof.
We are walking through water?
No.
We'll be walking into our appointment
through rivers of blood.
(PIG SQUEALING)
There, Pip. Our business is at hand.
Central Court.
Chief Justice's office.
The doors will be unlocked.
Leave the beastly business to me, Mr. Jaggers.
MAN 1: Mr. Jaggers, sir!
- MAN 2: Sir, please. - WOMAN: Mr. Jaggers, I beg you.
My son has been convicted wrongly
on the word of a watchman who coveted my daughter.
I take no petitions outside of my chambers.
Please, Mr. Jaggers.
Boy, you'd be better letting it out
than swallowing it down.
Because the horrors of this morning
have only just begun.
I have in my hand three keys.
This is the first of them.
It is the key to the door
of the outer perimeter of the Old Bailey.
I read that within these walls, only blind justice prevails.
Oh, Pip.
Your awakening will be truly heart-wrenching.
It's not just the history of the place that impresses.
It is the spirit of dread.
The joy of reprieve,
the horror of the death sentence,
which makes the hairs stand on end.
Prepare yourself, Pip, for your first practical lesson
in the wicked ways of this wicked city.
PIP: Dear God.
MR. JAGGERS: Yes.
"Dear God."
Was Chief Justice.
One of the four most powerful in the Bailey
Over these past years, he has been of great use to me.
You knew he was here hanging?
Yes.
I came yesterday forenoon and found him.
But I had business. Fetching you from the marshes,
(VOMITING)
- (OPENS DRAWER) - MR. JAGGERS: Ah.
Why didn't you tell someone?
Because I need the old man to sign some papers.
Petitions for pardon.
These are the last two he will ever be able to help me with.
Alas.
You will forge the signature of a dead man?
Yeah.
Like so.
And so.
With the steady hand of a painter.
And in case his absence from any subsequent inquiry
leads to questions of veracity,
I will also need the signature of a witness.
My young Pip.
An honest boy from the marshes,
who saw with his own two eyes,
the old Judge sign these petitions for pardon
at precisely...
5:35 in the a.m.
Nine hours ago I was drunk in The Three Jolly Bargemen.
And now...
And now you are in the world of gentlemen and commerce.
Your earnest wish come true, yes?
By signing the parchment,
you will be saving the lives of two men.
- Men who are innocent, yes? - Oh, Pip.
I'm a lawyer.
Innocence and guilt are not my concern.
I have read books about...
about murder.
It's not murder. It's suicide.
When they find the body hanging,
they will be able to tell how long he's been dead.
They will not find the body hanging.
The butcher we met in the meat market
is coming to collect it.
Sign the parchment.
Not yet 6:00, and already a profit of £20.
Come.
MAN 1: Mr. Jaggers, please. You're my only hope, sir.
- Please, just listen to me. - MAN 2: Please.
MAN 3: Mr. Jaggers, did my wife speak to you?
Our only son hangs at Newgate tomorrow.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR LOUDLY)
Yes, sir. I think she did.
MR. JAGGERS: You. Hush.
Mr. Jaggers, you said if we raised, uh, £10...
Pip, you do not speak unless you are being paid.
We've raised, uh, £7 and four shillings.
Penny a word, farthing a pause, halfpenny for a raised eyebrow.
He's only 15 years old, Mr. Jaggers.
- (RESUMES KNOCKING) - Sir!
MAN 3: In the name of God...
In the name of who?
(DOOR UNLOCKS)
Please, please appeal to Mr. Jagger's heart.
Hmm?
- (CLAMORING) - MAN: Sir, please!
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
Mr. Jaggers?
Be frugal with words here, Pip.
Spend them like gold sovereigns.
Mr. Jaggers, that man outside in need of £2 and 16 shillings.
Since I am now quite wealthy,
I'd be happy to give him that amount
to save his son from the gallows.
Give me the check.
It is such a small amount compared to this, Mr...
Pip.
There. Pity.
- Compassion. - Mr. Jaggers, sir,
I spoke out of weariness.
Empathy.
Charity.
And the worst of all, the unkindest cut of all,
- kindness. - No, please, please.
Mr. Jaggers.
Please, I won't make such a suggestion again.
I will explain to Mr. Rutherford at the bank
the check was damaged in the pursuit of the education
of a poor young boy from the provinces.
Mr. Jaggers, I'm not thinking properly,
Hmm.
It has been a very... eventful day.
And a half.
And I really, really need to rest.
My assistant, Mr. Wemmick, will be here shortly
to take you to your apartment.
I have left suitable clothing there.
He will have you change and then return.
When you get back here, you can begin work, copying.
Where are you going?
To save the lives of two men
and to find a replacement for the hanging judge.
Father...
Mr. Jaggers has made me believe London is a very wicked place.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, you may get cheated, robbed and murdered in London,
but there are plenty of people anywhere who do that for you.
Only if there is bad blood.
There's not much bad blood.
They'll do it, if there's anything to be got by it.
That makes it worse.
You think so?
Much about the same, I would say.
Mr. Wemmick, you seem to be very plain-speaking.
And there is a question I really need a plain answer to.
It is not unusual for a wealthy benefactor
to wish to remain anonymous, and that is how it will stay.
But you know who it is.
No, I do not.
You've heard of a Miss Havisham?
Indeed, I have.
And a Miss Estella?
Actually, it was I who drew up the papers
for Miss Estella's legal adoption 18 years ago.
Does Miss Estella ever come here?
Why would she ever come here?
I don't believe she's ever been to London.
Though I suppose she might soon come to visit
to buy her wedding dress.
Now, this is yours to keep.
Mr. Wemmick, what wedding dress you're talking about?
Miss Estella is due to marry. It's all arranged.
I just completed due diligence on her future husband.
And he... He is a very, very respectable gentleman.
Made his money from the import of nutmeg.
Will this fucking day never end?
Behold, Pip.
Your new home.
There. There.
Yeah. The, uh, pipe from here to the river is ruptured.
It is on my list.
It's a long list.
One of many lists.
Pip, I have a list of lists.
Come on.
Oh, mind that.
Pip Gargery, you made it.
It's me. Herbert.
Good God, the boy from the brewery.
What the hell is he doing here?
You know him?
Yes, I'm afraid I do.
HERBERT: Well, come on in.
I even have butter for the toast.
(PANTING)
(EXHALES)
I could hardly sleep knowing you were coming.
Yeah.
Come in!
I kept the eggs warm in my hands.
I thought you would be earlier.
On arrival in London, I discovered
I already had urgent business.
Uh, Pip tells me you two have met.
I think we are connected via Mr. Jaggers.
Hmm. Pip beat me.
Oh, beat you at what?
Oh, I mean he beat me with his fists.
I was provoked.
Well, it was over a girl that we both, uh...
loved.
No, I didn't love her then.
Should... Should I stay and referee?
No, we will be fine.
We are fine.
Everything is fine.
Thank you, Herbert, for making me breakfast.
Thank you, Mr. Wemmick, for showing me to my apartment.
Now, if you both wouldn't mind, I just need to...
Eat your breakfast and get some sleep.
Mr. Jaggers won't return until after dark.
I'll do the copying and credit you.
No matter what Mr. Jaggers says, even in London,
kindness has its place.
Then I will try to keep a place for kindness in my heart.
If you promise not to tell Mr. Jaggers.
(HERBERT CHUCKLES AWKWARDLY)
(PIP CLEARS THROAT)
It would be a shame to let the eggs go cold, Pip.
I feel you are not quite yourself today, Pip.
One day ago, I was safe with Joe and Biddy.
But now, I
I am looking at a boiled egg,
and seeing the face of a high court judge,
strangled.
Goodness.
Herbert, would you mind terribly if I went and laid down?
Of course. I saved you the best bed.
Uh, it's just the first door on your left.
(CRYING)
- (BIRDS CAWING) - (MAN BL
(HORSE CARRIAGE APPROACHING)
- (HORSE WHINNIES) - (GUNSHOT)
(GUNSHOT)
Step out of the carriage.
I'd know that voice anywhere.
Make your peace with God, Mr. Compeyson.
Gentlemen, if this man does me harm,
his name is Magwitch. Abel Magwitch.
Transportee. Escaped from Norfolk Island.
Magwitch, my friend,
you are quite the miracle worker.
How the hell did you track me down?
Because a man like you will always make enemies.
I escaped the colony the day after you did
and followed a trail of men you'd robbed and swindled.
I read gold had been struck in Bathurst beyond the pass.
I knew you'd go there.
I knew.
Not to dig but to swindle those that did.
Magwitch, you know me well.
A gold rush attracts the simplest sort of men.
Oh, taking gold from them wasn't even a challenge.
And so behold
six boxes of gold nuggets.
Money enough for a lifetime.
Why don't you put your guns away,
and we'll split down the middle
like we always used to when we were rogues in London?
GUARD: Compeyson, it's not all yours to split.
No need to talk of division.
I'm not here for gold.
I'm here for one thing.
Vengeance.
See you in hell, Compeyson.
Fucking bast...
(BOTH GRUNTING AND PANTING)
(SCREAMS)
(BOTH GRUNTING AND SCREAMING)
(KNIFE SQUELCHING)
(SCREAMING)
- (KNIFE SQUELCHING) - (SCREAMING)
- (GUNSHOT) - (MAGWITCH SCREAMS)
(PANTING)
(MOANING IN PAIN)
What the fuck are you looking at?
GUARD: Compeyson.
What did you do to that man that was so wrong?
It was an affair that started with a girl.
And now a boy.
It is the boy who I am traveling to see.
Don't spare the horses.
(CHICKENS CLUCKING)
PIP: My dearest Biddy,
it is now two weeks since I left home,
and all is going splendidly.
And London is not the place I imagined it would be.
BIDDY: "London is bigger, wilder, madder
"and more beautiful than anything
"that can ever be written down.
"And so, I will not even try to express it."
"My guardian, Daggers..."
Actually I think it's "Jaggers".
It says,
"Mr. Jaggers has put me to work in the counting...
"Counting houses of London."
Pip is in the counting house
counting out his money with the King.
Like in the nursery rhyme with the maid and the blackbird.
Joe, we don't have a king, we have a queen.
But then who is Pip in the counting house with?
PIP: I'm conducting business in the counting houses
with Herbert Pocket.
In the exchanges,
I am becoming the more well-known of the two of us.
And I have found I have an affinity
for brokerage and ship insurance.
"I am learning to weigh and measure
"and count and assign.
"I helped judge the fitness of ships to sail.
"A difficult task made easier
"by all the time I used to spend at my bedroom window..."
What on Earth did he do at his bedroom window?
"...where I used to gaze out over the Thames
"and watch and record all the ships
"that came and went to serve our mighty empire."
Oh, how he loves the empire.
"I used to write down the names of the ships
"and their size and seaworthiness.
"I see the same names on the inventories.
"Mr. Jaggers is quite astonished
"at my knowledge of Thames traffic.
"So, perhaps all those years were not wasted after all.
"But now, Miss Havisham, to a more somber matter.
"It is something that weighs heavily on my heart.
"In fact, a weight beyond measure
"I heard from Mr. Jaggers' assistant, Mr. Wemmick, that..."
Go on.
"I heard from Mr. Jaggers' assistant, Mr. Wemmick,
"that Estella is very soon due to be married..."
There was no point troubling you with it
until it had all been confirmed.
"...married to a very respectable gentleman."
And so he is.
The gentleman is indeed very respectable.
What's the matter?
Haven't you always said you wanted nothing more
than a wealthy gentleman to come along
and take you off to Cairo or somewhere?
Am I allowed to know who this very respectable gentleman is?
Or do I meet him first at the altar?
Do you know, your generation are so supremely ungrateful.
I deliver a man dripping in gold
- and nutmeg... - Nutmeg?
Yes, He made half his money from nutmeg.
- I hate nutmeg. - And now I have
all the bona fides and the financial confirmations
as to the state of his company affairs,
the wedding can take place.
How dare you presume...
Do I need to remind you?
If it weren't for me pulling you up
from the running gutters of Lewisham,
you would be selling your pretty ass
for two shillings a time, five times a night.
As it is, you will sell yourself just the once,
for an income of £200 a year.
You will travel to London
and you will smell the money and the nutmeg
and you will tarry just long enough
to try your wedding dress!
I do this, I do all of this to ensure
that you wear your wedding dress for just one day!
And I shall be buried in mine.
Girls of your birth really don't have choices.
LKING INDISTINCTLY)
(PIP MUTTERING) "£40 a ton built, 1,200 tons.
"Ship's length to beam ratio, five and a half to one.
"Black Ball Line, East Indiaman.
"£40 a ton built, 1,200 tons.
"Liverpool to New York in 14 days.
"Three quarter ton of illicit cargo."
(PEOPLE TALKING INDISTINCTLY)
Thank you.
"Liverpool to New York in 14 days.
"Three quarter ton of illicit cargo."
(PEOPLE TALKING INDISTINCTLY)
And this document will certify
there will be no flammable molasses aboard this ship.
MAN 1: ...laden with precious ebony wood and then to Ceylon
for elephant tusks, then back to Tilbury.
- MAN 2: Shackles and manacles... - MAN 3: Indigo dyes,
drugs various and... slaves.
MAN 4: Slaves have to be discharged at New Orleans,
where the trade is still legal,
and the good ship Novalina to return to the Azores,
stripped of its chains and renamed The Primrose...
(GRUNTS)
Sir, forgive me. I'm looking for a Mr. Carmichael Jaggers,
care of Drummle and Co.
(SNIFFING)
(SNORTING)
(CLEARS THROAT)
(CONTINUES GRUNTING)
(SNIFFLING)
So...
What is it that's so good about this new boy?
What's good about him?
First of all, is that he is a quick learner.
- And second of all... - (SNEEZES)
Second of all, he has no religion
to get in the way of my instruction.
Hmm?
And third of all, he understands the river.
He grew up in its banks.
He knows the ships like a directory
and when it suits him,
he speaks the dialect of the men who sail them.
A common boy.
With ambition.
If he's so good,
why are you trying to sell him to me?
I'm not selling him, I'm renting him.
I have decided to go
into the marine insurance business.
(SNICKERS)
Then the Royal Navy fleet must be on guard
for unexpected holes below the water line.
The boy is my bridge into the business.
And you chose me as a broker because I am the best.
In the sense that you are the worst, yes.
Just as I am the worst attorney.
In the moral sense.
What is your immoral proposition?
For the majority of underwriters in this city,
the most obnoxious problem is fraudulent policy claims.
Indeed.
My proposition
is that you and I will only underwrite insurance policies
we already know to be fraudulent.
(CLEARS THROAT)
(SNIFFING)
Why would we do that?
Because if a voyage ends in shipwreck,
under a fraudulent policy,
I can always use my abilities in court
to deny the claim.
My point being,
if we only ever underwrite deniable claims,
then you will never pay out on a policy ever again.
How on Earth would we know in advance
that a policy we are underwriting is fraudulent?
In around ten seconds, you will find out.
(WATCH TICKING)
Three...
Two...
One.
- (KNOCK ON DOOR) - Come.
Pip, Drummle. Drummle, Pip.
Good morning, Mr. Drummle.
And a very good morning to you.
Snuff?
I don't.
Well, do.
I just told you.
I don't.
Bravo.
Sit.
Please do, take a seat.
I rowed out to the former East Indiaman
of the Black Ball Line,
anchored at London Bridge as you instructed.
And aboard, you got to talking to the captain
in the captain's cabin.
Yes.
It is a very interesting ship.
It was built at £40 a ton. She's 1,200 tons.
Her ratio beam to length is five and a half to one,
which is the new American dimension.
Designed in Boston, and...
Who the fuck discusses beams and lengths?
I do.
As I told the captain,
ships and their design is my interest.
Hmm.
Well, it is.
He took out some drawings of the ship to show me.
I was impressed.
I asked after his destination.
And then you asked about the cargo as I told you to.
Wedgwood porcelain,
silks of beams
and three quarters of a ton of illicit gunpowder.
The captain told you this himself?
Picture the scene, Mr. Drummle.
Pip sat there on the couch, sweetly.
The captain wanting to play the rogue.
He said if I didn't believe him, he would show me below.
Go on, Pip.
I went below and saw the powder for myself.
And then...
He led me to the shadows
and asked if I wanted to sail with him
and share his quarters.
Just as far as Liverpool.
He said he would pay for my passage back to London.
He tried to hold me.
Luckily, I'm strong.
I went back onto the deck and rowed to shore.
With your valuable knowledge secure in your head.
You see, Drummle,
when Pip was first put into my charge,
I wondered to myself,
"How can a man like me make use of such innocence?"
But make use of it you surely have.
MR. JAGGERS: The boy will hear many things.
Because who among us does not want
to impress the impressionable?
A captain running gunpowder to New York?
He would hang.
But blackmail...
It is too crude for gentlemen such as us, Mr. Drummle.
The letter I had Pip deliver to the captain
was a recommendation that he should have his ship insured
for the journey to Liverpool and New York
by Drummle Underwriters...
at premium.
A double premium policy which we know in advance,
can never be claimed against.
MR. JAGGERS: Because I have a rat in the river.
And should the claim ever come to court,
Pip would be our witness
that the ship was carrying a dangerous and illegal cargo,
which he saw with his own two eyes.
Innocent as an oyster knife.
Mr. Jaggers, may I welcome you to the world of marine commerce
with open arms?
MR. JAGGERS: And may I suggest
that if our relationship prospers,
you will make more money from this
than you ever did from the importation of nutmeg.
(MR. DRUMMLE CHUCKLES)
May I also welcome you, Pip,
to Her Majesty's Royal Exchange in all its glory.
PIP: That man imports nutmeg?
He made half of his fortune from it.
And let me guess, he's soon to be married?
Indeed, he is.
Mr. Jaggers.
You just deliberately introduced me to the man
who is planning to marry the woman I love.
Indeed, I did. Yes.
Other than the fact that you are evil
and celebrated for it, what is your reason?
And what did you know about that captain
before you sent me to his ship?
Pip,
let us find a more suitable place
for what really ought to be a celebration.
(EXHALES)
- (CHEERFUL MUSIC PLAYING) - (INDISTINCT CHATTER)
What exactly is it that we are celebrating, Mr. Jaggers?
We are celebrating the fact
that you and I, Pip,
are going to enter Drummle's marine insurance business
on a tidal wave of his own greed.
Once inside, we will eat it,
digest it,
then shit it out at the other end, for profit.
I said first, I would turn you into a rat.
That is now underway.
Next, a snake.
Betraying your business partner.
BOTH: Then a vulture.
We will turn your £5,000
into £50,000,
then £100,000.
We will use my money?
We are not using your money.
We are investing it.
For surety, I will match it from my own pocket.
Break the ice, Pip.
- (MUSIC STOPS) - (CHATTERING STOPS)
MR. JAGGERS: Carry on.
Put the pieces in the bucket.
When you have £100,000,
then, perhaps your desire to be a gentleman
will be fulfilled.
And once you are a gentleman,
the whole almighty British Empire
will be spread before your feet like the skin of a tiger.
Of course, you know that I have another desire.
(MR. JAGGERS CHUCKLES)
Estella.
Yes.
And if you help ruin Drummle's business,
Estella might be freed from her affiancement.
So, you are giving me two motivations.
Avarice...
and love.
Two fine horses to pull a heavy carriage.
It was I who recommended Drummle
to Miss Havisham
as Estella's future husband,
so that he might serve this very purpose.
You spend a great deal of time on your strategies.
I sleep very little.
Will you join me, Pip?
My head is still spinning.
MR. JAGGERS: In pursuit of avarice and love,
no matter what crime you commit,
I am the best lawyer in London.
And I will always find a way to have all charges dropped.
Put the champagne on ice, Pip.
Now, pick up your glass.
Come on.
To liberty, love and money.
In any order of priority you wish to put them.
(GLASSES CLINK)
(PIP EXHALES HEAVILY)
Pip, that gentleman over there is very well-connected
with the finest ladies in Wapping.
If you accompany him upstairs,
you will get to meet some of them.
And you can take your pick.
(COINS JINGLING)
Hello, handsome.
(KISSING)
I want to go home and...
and think about everything.
(EXHALES DEEPLY)
Go on.
And if I see you at the exchange tomorrow,
I will know I've got a partner.
(BIRDS CAWING)
(WATER SPLASHING)
(DOOR OPENS)
(DOOR CLOSES)
Pip.
Pip?
Pip, I... I've had a letter from Miss Havisham.
Estella.
She's coming to London.
When?
Uh, the letter didn't say. But she's coming.
I hear Miss Havisham has found her a suitor.
Which one of us do you think it is she will marry?
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)