A nighttime confrontation between a mother and son. The son accuses her of having an affair with his uncle, and killing his father. He’s found a doctor in Chinatown who will be able to prove his father was poisoned. The mother claims she did it to end his pain.

The interior of a thumping, vibrating gay nightclub. A middle-aged gentleman sips his drink and turns to watch the dancers on the dance floor. Under the disco ball a young man, stripped to the waist, is dancing with abandon. The young man approaches and establishes immediate physical contact, which is uncomfortable. The older man needs more p...

An intimate encounter between two gay men.

Two male lovers come to terms with the fact that one of them is dying of AIDS.

A dying father and his son drink their last bowl of water. They need oil for the machines that will keep them alive and purify their water. A truck rolls past with a huge barrel of oil in the back. The son flags it down, only to discover the person driving the truck is a monstrous creature from the nation they’re at war with.

Elvet is struck with grief over the death of his newborn child, not yet named.

Two explorers close to the north pole - the explorer Peary becomes confused.

An ill and delirious Peary reminisces about his polar days; his wife remembers their early love.

Peary is unsure if they have reached the North pole.

Josephine asks for Henson's help, despite Peary's past bad treatment of him.

Minik remembers Greenland.

The explorers make a plan to bring the Inuit to America to make money.

Peary and Henson once again try to confirm they are at the North pole.

Henson helps Minik reach the land of the dead; Peary and Josephine argue about Peary's Inuit children.

Peary and Henson believe they have reached the North pole.

Josephine wonders what discovery is worth.

Filled with regret over his life, Manli sings of an abandoned love.

Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

Aboard a ship taking Chinese workers to British Columbia - they are hungry & thirsty. Ah Lum starts a fight with Lai Gwan, who is disguised as a young man, but they stop as the coast comes into view.

In Ottawa, Canadian politicians and moguls toast the launch of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The Railway Foreman James Nichol encourages the workers until the impenetrable Rocky Mountains block their way. The Bookman comes to supply the cheap Chinese labour that will allow Nichol to conquer “The Great Divide.”

The Chinese workers are led in and a disguised Lai Gwan challenges Manli the Bookman’s authority. He seeks revenge by assigning Lai Gwan to the most dangerous work in the camp: planting dynamite on the mountain face while suspended in a basket.

While she is bathing in a stream, Nichol disovers Lai Gwan is a woman - she asks for his help to find her father and to keep her secret. Manli interrupts them before Nichol decides what to do.

The Chinese workers decide to strike, led by Lai Gwan, after another death with no proper funeral. The strike is put down and Nichol stops Lai Gwan from being hung by Manli. She discovers Manli is her father.

Lai Gwan dreams of the conflicting desires of her mother, father, Nichol and herself.

As Manli and Lai Gwan argue about their situation, Lai Gwan tells of Ama's death, which crushes Manli. He decides to set the next explosive charge himself. Nichol and Lai Gwan recognise their love and follow Manli into the tunnel.

In the explosion rubble, Lai Gwan and Nichol declare their love depsite Ama's warnings. Nichol dies as the workers rescue Lai Gwan and Manli, who declares his renewed love for his daughter.

Workers watch the train come to Eagle Pass - while the whites are happy, the Chinese realize there is no more work for them.

Whites celebrate the finishing of the railway and officially dismiss the Chinese, who blame Manli for abandoning them.

Manli and Lai Gwan decided to make a life together in Canada. As they collect and bury the bones of Chinese workers they remember all the dead, including Ama and Nichol.

In her prime. At a post-gala cocktail party, Jackie ironically confesses she has a terrible disease: glissando-itis.

Comparing herself to Samson, Jackie and her husband have a tangled night of love one rainy night.

In her prime, Jackie admits she finds the pace of touring life dizzying. The sycophants at parties are starting to get to her.

On a phone call with her mother, Jackie is admonished. She begs her mother to visit. She’s alone with fragments of memory.

Delirious, Jackie envisions running to the ocean again through the fields, this time with her sister, Hilary. She asks that Hilary not tell Daniel about the disease.

Jackie tells us how she can blur the lines between fantasy and reality at will. She can escape the confines of her chair by dreaming of bathing in the sea. She wonders where Daniel is, and who he’s seeing.

Jacqueline, the child, tells her cello they will play great concert halls and make records.

Jacqueline remembers playing in the fields with her sister in her childhood, and the fragrance of wildflowers.

Jacqueline experiences symptoms, but her physical illness is undiagnosed, and she is instead told it is hysterical or psychosomatic.

Jacqueline enjoys telling a joke about some monks' sexual arousal.

Jacqueline remembers happy times with her cello in childhood.

Angry and frustrated at her physical inability to play, Jacqueline cancels her remaining performances.

Lisa is devastated to get 9 out of 10 on her math test. She insists that she answered the question correctly, and pleads with Mr. Herwin to change her grade. Mr. Herwin says that her "45" looked like a "43", and that everyone makes mistakes.

"A perfect score is all that counts." Lisa fixates on the consequences of her test and predicts that Annie and Caroline will banish her from "the circle of three" because of her imperfect score. She blames Mr. Herwin.

Mr. Herwin tells Lisa he knows she killed her friends with poisoned lemonade. Lisa tells him she has told people he is a pedophile.

A child walks on a beach, in search of their parents.

Dahlia's father encourages her to seduce Jason, and promises her she can have anything she wants.

On the eve of their departure, M'dea and Chase play a gruesome game imagining ways to kill Dahlia the demoness.

Jason, M'dea, and the soldiers return from war to a celebratory crowd. Some do not trust the new foreigner, M'dea.

At a party, the Corporal mocks Jason for needing M'dea to help him win and for bringing her home.

M'dea and Jason commit to loving each other and helping each other recover from the war and memories that haunt them.

Jason and M'dea are expecting a baby. Citizens gossip about the couple.

At the President's office, Jason and the President discuss family, how to be a good father, and a possible future for Jason in politics.

A family outing to the beach turns into a photo op for the paparazzi.

In a dream state, M'dea recalls all she has done to survive.

The President invites Jason to be his running mate, and begins to remake him. This process sidelines M'dea and Chase. Dahlia and Jason are attracted to one other.

Dahlia's father encourages her to seduce Jason, and promises her she can have anything she wants.

The party is about to announce Jason's candidacy. Jason and Dahlia dance together, oblivious to all the others. Enraged, M'dea smashes a glass wall, showering fragments over the party guests.

Jason and Dahlia are getting married. The citizens gossip.

The President threatens M'dea with prison or the loss of her son if she doesn't do as he wants. He warns her not to cause trouble for Jason.

M'dea has a breakdown and brings Chase to the fountain at Jason and Dahlia's, where she sees the ghost of her mother. She is discovered by Jason and Dahlia, and a fight ensues.

Dahlia convinces Jason to send M'dea away.