Matthew Macfadyen: Daniel

Death at a Funeral

Daniel

Daniel: My father was an exceptional man!
[pause]
Daniel: He may not have been a perfect man, but he was a good man, and he loved us. All I wanted to do today was to give him a dignified send-off. Is that really so much to ask? So, maybe, maybe he had some things he liked to do. Life isn't simple, it's complicated. We're all just thrown in here together, in a world full of chaos and confusion, a world full of questions and no answers, death always lingering around the corner, and we do our best. We can only do our best, and my dad did his best. He always tried to tell me that you have to go for what you want in life because you never know how long you're going to be here. And whether you succeed or you fail, the most important thing is to have tried. And apparently no one will guide you in the right direction, in the end you have to learn for yourself. You have to grow up yourself. So when you all leave here today, I would like you to remember my father for who he really was: a decent, loving man. If only we could be as giving and generous and as understanding as my father was, then the world would be a far better place.

[first lines]
Daniel: [giving instructions to the pallbearers] Just, uh, straight through there and to the left, please.
[they set the coffin down]
Undertaker: Would you like to...?
[Daniel nods, the Undertaker opens the lid]
Daniel: [looking] Who is this?
Undertaker: Pardon me?
Daniel: That's not my father.
Undertaker: [checking] Oh shit, we've taken the wrong one.

Daniel: [about Peter] I've just been with him in the study.
Robert: Yeah...
Daniel: He showed me these pictures.
Robert: Yeah...
Daniel: Of him and Dad.
Robert: Right.
Daniel: Of him and Dad together.
Robert: Right.
Daniel: Of him and Dad at parties in Kensington...
Robert: Look, Daniel, is this going anywhere, because I'm...
Daniel: For God's sakes, Robert, he was shagging Dad!
Robert: [laughing] Fuck off!
[Daniel just looks at him]
Robert: Are you shitting me?
Daniel: No, I'm not shitting you, I'm telling you. He showed me the pictures, I feel sick.
Robert: So what are you saying, that... Dad was a gay?
Daniel: Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
Robert: And he was cheating on Mum?
Daniel: Well, evidently!
Robert: With that little...?
Daniel: Yes!