Tilda Swinton (as Martha)

There's nothing interesting about death. We just stop. For me personally, death itself is not the star of the show. The dying is the interesting bit. And how do we die?

None of us are getting out of here alive. It's not just unlucky people who die. It's every living creature. And that's what life is. It's so banal to have to say this. But one does have to say it because there's so much denial around it. And I've heard so many people who...

None of us are getting out of here alive. It's not just unlucky people who die. It's every living creature. And that's what life is. It's so banal to have to say this. But one does have to say it because there's so much denial around it. And I've heard so many people who...

are living with a cancer that is finally going to take them away, that there is a sort of vernacular around this sort of battle terminology. And, you know, you're either a winner or you're a loser or it's all about fighting. And it's such a distraction. It's such a red herring, that attitude, because it brings with it the concept that We might win.

are living with a cancer that is finally going to take them away, that there is a sort of vernacular around this sort of battle terminology. And, you know, you're either a winner or you're a loser or it's all about fighting. And it's such a distraction. It's such a red herring, that attitude, because it brings with it the concept that We might win.

But more than an insult, I agree with you it's an insult. And it's just a waste because that's not the point of being alive. The point of being alive is that we know it's limited and there's no magic, you know, there's no rabbit up your sleeve that you can pull. I remember when I was with my mother, beside my mother when she was dying,

But more than an insult, I agree with you it's an insult. And it's just a waste because that's not the point of being alive. The point of being alive is that we know it's limited and there's no magic, you know, there's no rabbit up your sleeve that you can pull. I remember when I was with my mother, beside my mother when she was dying,

And I found that, you know, borderline traumatic, the fact that there was nothing that could be done. And I remember sitting there thinking, is there no mortality police we can call?

And I found that, you know, borderline traumatic, the fact that there was nothing that could be done. And I remember sitting there thinking, is there no mortality police we can call?

To just, like, this is not, this is barbaric, this death thing. Surely this is not right. And I remember feeling that with childbirth as well. I thought, what? This is, what? This is medieval, premedieval torture. Can't we have fixed it by now? This brutality?

To just, like, this is not, this is barbaric, this death thing. Surely this is not right. And I remember feeling that with childbirth as well. I thought, what? This is, what? This is medieval, premedieval torture. Can't we have fixed it by now? This brutality?

Well, it's so wonderful that you recount that back to me, David, because in the last few years, and it actually really started with my mother's departure, which was 12 years ago. My father died six years ago. I have realized that that was a complete ruse, that I was led to believe, not on my part, but I was sort of systematically misled.

Well, it's so wonderful that you recount that back to me, David, because in the last few years, and it actually really started with my mother's departure, which was 12 years ago. My father died six years ago. I have realized that that was a complete ruse, that I was led to believe, not on my part, but I was sort of systematically misled.

About being an artist. And I've realized since my parents died that there are artists scattered through my family. My great-grandmother was a great, great singer who had a salon with Gabrielle Foray in London. And she was a great singer of Lieder. in drawing rooms around the Belmond, around Europe. And she was born in St. Petersburg. She was a great muse of John Singer Sargent.

About being an artist. And I've realized since my parents died that there are artists scattered through my family. My great-grandmother was a great, great singer who had a salon with Gabrielle Foray in London. And she was a great singer of Lieder. in drawing rooms around the Belmond, around Europe. And she was born in St. Petersburg. She was a great muse of John Singer Sargent.

There's an incredibly beautiful portrait of her that hangs in the Art Institute in Chicago. And I'm privileged to say that I now have the custody of two extraordinary drawings by Sargent of her. They were very close friends. And one of these drawings was above the television in our family sitting room.

There's an incredibly beautiful portrait of her that hangs in the Art Institute in Chicago. And I'm privileged to say that I now have the custody of two extraordinary drawings by Sargent of her. They were very close friends. And one of these drawings was above the television in our family sitting room.

And she used to look at me over the top of the television for all of my teenage years when we were watching Starsky and Hutch and Morecambe and Wise and all the good stuff. But she had her eye on me. And her artistic... My eminence was underplayed by my parents, who were not artists, and I don't think they quite understood it.

And she used to look at me over the top of the television for all of my teenage years when we were watching Starsky and Hutch and Morecambe and Wise and all the good stuff. But she had her eye on me. And her artistic... My eminence was underplayed by my parents, who were not artists, and I don't think they quite understood it.

I think they were rather, honestly, I think they'd forgive me for saying, rather frightened of artists. Why? I don't know. I think they... Why? I remember very distinctly a moment when my father was a, he once had his portrait painted and a painter came to the house and I was about nine, I suppose. And I remember this sort of frisson in the air, a painter is coming to paint daddy.