Gold

Emily Meyer, I presume.

Wilhelm Laser. I'm the leader of the group.

We've been expecting you. Come along.

I have the honour to present Emily Meyer to you.

What a sight for sore eyes.

Gustav Muller.

I hung the flag from the wagon so you'd find us easily.

This is Joseph Rossmann.

It's a pleasure.

These are Maria and Otto Dietz.

Our cooks.

The man with the horses is our packer.

Let's put the formalities behind us.

And now, please, your payment into our gold prospecting concern...

for the purchase of land plots in Dawson, as agreed.

We are here.

Our path leads us about 1500 kilometres to the north.

Via Quesnel,

Hazelton,

Telegraph Creek.

From Telegraph Creek it's not far to Teslin Lake.

There we will switch to boats,

and travel downstream along the Yukon.

From there it's child's play to Dawson

and the goldfields of the Klondike.

Now that we're all present

I can only congratulate all members of our group

on having answered my newspaper announcement.

You were right to choose the inland route through Canada.

Enough horror stories have been told about the other routes to the Klondike.

They are considerably more expensive and most arduous.

We, however, will have a pleasant trip.

I assume that in six weeks

we will arrive at our destination of Dawson.

Well, ladies and gentlemen...

this is that which awaits you.

Give me your horse.

I'll look after it. - All right.

Go ahead.

Are you a child of the city, too?

May I ask where from?

Chicago.

I am originally from Bremen.

I come from Hanover.

But I've lived in America since my childhood.

I work for a German newspaper in New York.

We Germans have to stick together abroad.

I'm reporting on our trip.

It is worth keeping a record of for posterity.

What do you make of her?

Of whom? - "Of whom?" Her, of course!

Well? - Well what?

I asked you what you make of her.

A single woman joining a group of gold-prospecting strangers!

Gold attracts all kinds of people.

Yes, but don't forget she's surrounded by men.

It'll upset the group.

Let's drink to a successful voyage.

Muller, we'd agreed on a bare minimum of provisions.

There's no need for pettiness, Laser.

No one could object to a good beer.

And the sooner we've drunk it, the lighter my load will be.

Here's to the gold

that's waiting for us.

Fare ye well, beloved homeland mine

Oh homeland mine, farewell!

I take leave right now for foreign climes

Oh homeland mine, farewell!

We should stop. The horses need to rest.

We're coming along well. We should stick with it.

We won't get far on exhausted nags.

I hired you as a packer, Boehmer. I'll let you know if I need your advice.

Have a look at that. Didn't I tell you?

Here.

Thanks.

You should take a break, too.

Later.

Do you need help with the horses?

I'll handle it myself. It's what I'm paid for.

I understand. I didn't mean to intrude.

May I take a photograph of you?

Save your film for better shots.

Photographing someone like you could never be a waste.

You're only travelling so as to report on the journey?

You're not interested in gold at all? - Of course I am.

I can certainly imagine another life beyond that of a poorly paid scribe.

My wife and I have four children.

We live in a hovel in New York.

We have one single room.

It is damp and so dark that a light burns in it all day long.

The children are always ill.

I have to offer my family a better life.

I didn't mean to be impolite last time.

I didn't introduce myself even.

Carl Boehmer. - Emily Meyer.

Does your offer still stand?

What? - Your offer, does it still stand?

Which offer?

Of helping me with the horses.

I thought you can manage on your own.

It's what you're paid for.

Well?

You can take a blanket and rub down the horses.

Only leave that horse be.

He doesn't like strangers touching him.

I expect he's yours. - Yes.

We'll have to leave the wagon here.

I'm a carpenter.

I can try to fix the wheel.

There's no point. The wagon is just holding us up.

Are you mad?

How can we transport our cooking utensils without it?

You said, Laser, we'd be travelling on well-kept roads.

Is there a problem?

Everything is well.

Why don't we ride on, then?

Mind your own business, Rossmann.

The river is not on the map.

I thought you knew the area.

And indeed I do.

Boehmer!

What are we eating here?

Pulverised potatoes, crystallised eggs, dried onions.

This new-fangled stuff is inedible.

You'll have to get used to it.

We've a long trip ahead

and need food that keeps.

Where do you live when you're not travelling?

Where work can be found.

And you?

For the last five years, in Chicago.

I worked there as a maidservant.

A maidservant?

That seems unlike you.

How's that? - It just does.

It wasn't exactly my dream.

In Bremen there were offices hiring maidservants for America.

They hired me for a German family in Chicago.

I was with them for four years at one dollar a day.

Then I married.

That's about all there is to me.

And where is your husband now?

We're divorced.

Oh, I'm sorry. - You needn't be.

It wasn't a good time.

Muller, get up at last!

We're heading on.

We'll wait here.

Have you ever been around here?

This is my first time so far north.

Laser's too, it seems...

Where are these damn savages leading us?

We take the route to the interior.

It'd be wiser to heed the Indians' advice.

They know the terrain best. - We take the other route.

Indians only know their own terrain.

And we've no time for diversions. - Laser's right.

We shouldn't trust the Indians. They only want our money.

I bet there are more round the corner just holding out their hands.

The collarbone is probably broken.

I have to take care of the food.

No, you needn't. I'll do it myself.

Rest up.

We'll only ride on tomorrow.

I must confess I thought this journey would be rather easier.

It's good to unhitch for a while, isn't it?

Yes.

Allow me to give you a piece of personal advice.

I couldn't help but notice that our packer is making up to you.

Perhaps you misunderstand me,

but you should be wary of him.

There's something wrong about him.

He's no company for you.

We travel all day as a group.

I would like to be alone for a while.

Of course.

We all need peace.

Are you going to plunk away all day, or will you come hunting?

I can't stand our cooks' grub anymore.

What are you doing, Muller?

We were wondering where you were. - I'm examining the river.

I thought we might find gold, you never know.

You're out of luck here.

What makes you so certain?

The area.