Diary and watch

On 8 May 1945, 75-year-old industrialist John North, weary of life, sits in his manor study, awaiting the Prime Minister’s radio address. Next to him are his pocket watch and diary. While Britain celebrates, John is lost in his memories. At 42, an ambitious entrepreneur, John boards the Titanic with his cousin, an arrogant aristocrat, aiming to expand their business in America. During an evening stroll, a gust of wind blows John’s hat to the stern, where it is picked up by Charlie Winter, a 19-year-old third-class passenger. John thanks Charlie, offering money, which offends him. The next day, John sees Charlie in an expensive suit on the boat deck and turns him over to the police, accusing him of theft, but later withdraws the accusation. He begins to feel drawn to Charlie. His cousin notices and warns him. On the night of the Titanic’s sinking, John finds out, that his cousin murdered their sister a decade earlier, and their nephews, presumed dead, are alive and aboard the Titanic using Charlie for revenge. Amid the chaos of evacuation, John gives Charlie his gold pocket watch, hoping to see him again, but on the Carpathia, he refuses to take it back, calling it a reward for heroism. After the tragedy in the Atlantic, their paths diverge: Charlie disappears in America, John returns to Britain. With the outbreak of WW1, John restructures his plant to defense industry. Charlie returns to Britain and is sent to the Western Front as an infantryman, while John manages the plant, which is constantly under threat of bombings and sabotage. When the situation at the front has worsened, John is sent to France as a civilian inspector. During a sabotage attack, John is seriously wounded. In the cellar of a dilapidated house, Charlie tries to help him, confessing his love and returning the watch, kissing John. After recovering, John returns to his duties as an inspector in the rear camps. An officer, who witnessed their kiss, threatens Charlie and blackmails John. Charlie dies during a battle while saving a comrade, but John finds out about it only after the war ends. He manages to keep his reputation and the plant, but he remains a lonely man for the rest of his life. This tragic story of forbidden love amid historic events, underscores, how wars and social barriers shatter personal fates, but duty and memory enable resilience.