All language subtitles for The.Sinking.of.the.Laconia-Episode.2

You are now free to board the
Laconia. This ship was created
for the rich, the idle, pink gins,

and sunsets over Sorrento.
And so was I!

Oh, I cried! For attention, mainly.

I was just never there
to hear you, darling.

This was sent a few moments ago.

What kind of a world is it
when German bombers can come
blindly in the night

and murder innocent families?

Not the kind of world
I wish to live in.

Munich, June 1942.
A holiday snapshot? Perhaps?

Who has holidays in Germany
these days, Hilda?

Keep calm, everyone.

Stop being a bloody hero.

Help me! Help me!

If any ship will assist
the shipwrecked Laconia crew...

..I will not attack her.

I will not attack her.

This programme contains
some strong language.

FILM PROJECTOR WHIRRS

Both sides drop bombs
and fire torpedoes, madam.

War, not peace, has been declared.

Before you saw us on the horizon
and trailed us into the sunset,

the Laconia was carrying
2,500 souls, Commander.

Maybe half of those, of whatever
nationality, survived your arrival.

You have, what, 200 people on board?

And maybe the same
again in the lifeboats.

But there are still 700,
800 people out there drifting
desperately further and further away.

They will never see land again.

You are responsible
for that, Commander.

How very strange that many
of the English we have rescued
have thanked my crew and myself.

What is so special about you, madam?

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

PHONE RINGS

PHONE RINGS AGAIN

Whomsoever you are, it's Sunday
morning and I'm very tired.

What?

What?

What?

Do the Americans know?

No, no, no, no. Lincoln...

Lincoln, just send a car!

Oh, fuck!

I don't know.

A charming invitation from
a German U-boat commander.

If I was still at school,
I'd say it was a prank.

Someone trying to get you in
trouble with the headmaster.

Or in this case, Captain Hathaway.

Sir.

Do you think any of this
could possibly be true?

I mean it's a Sunday morning,
for God's sake. Oh, yes, yes.

Some of it at least. There is a
former passenger liner, the Laconia.
And she has gone missing.

Carrying mainly Italian
prisoners of war.

Does the Vatican know?

Where was it again?
Right out there, sir.

Days away. Well, that stinks.

First of all,
this has all the aroma of a trap.

A ruse de guerre.

When our rescue ship gets there,
it's "Well, I never, lo and behold",

a whole wolf pack of U-boats
waiting to welcome us.

But what if it isn't a trap, sir?

Ah, but there you have it,
young man, there you have it.

I mean, let us consider for the
moment that it isn't a trap,

that it is a genuine, albeit highly
unlikely, act of complete humanity.

Now if we reject that plea, well,
then we can be accused of the
same barbaric lack of humanity

that we accuse the Germans
of at every opportunity.

So, we must...

Well, it's imperative
for the war effort
that we do absolutely nothing.

And, naturally, to inform the
Americans on Ascension Island

that one of our ships
is missing. Gone.

Just gone. Nothing more.

Let the Americans get excited.

Sir, what about the German U-boat?

I would keep that to ourselves
for now, Lincoln.

FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING

HE SPEAKS IN GERMAN

Ladies and gentlemen, we are about
to undertake a full emergency dive.

'This is simply
for the safety of everyone.'

All gangways must be cleared
and you should not panic.

This is normal procedure
upon a U-boat.

That is all.

BELL RINGS

Ah! Be brave.
I think I'm going to be sick.

Be a dear and point him
over there, would you?

Come on, come on. Come on, everyone.
Come on, come on, up, up, up.

CREAKING

CREAKING CONTINUES

CREAKING

That is good, isn't it?
Yes, it's very good!

THEY CHEER

As you can see sir, I thought perhaps
it would be more appropriate
if we worded it...

No, no, no, no. It reads well.

Polite request, our good friends
and allies, the Americans,
on Ascension Island,

to go and search for our missing
troop carrier, the Laconia.

I mean it's fine. Fine, fine.

Any idea what the Americans
might do, Lincoln?

Well, won't they do as we've asked of
them, sir? As allies. They might do.

Might want to show us what they
can do. Only if they want to.

But then again,
they might not want to.

Might want to keep their hush-hush
base hidden away for far more
important missions.

Captain Hathaway, sir, are you...?

You're certain we shouldn't tell
them about the German submarine?
No, good God, no.

None of that love and friendship
nonsense with the enemy.

I mean, hiding to nothing, there.

Yes, let's get our priorities
right, Lincoln.

Make sure that this shit cart does
not arrive at our door. Carry on.

Buck Bannister on the ball.

He needs one, he needs two.
He glides.

He takes North Africa,
he takes the Suez Canal.

Yay, on and on he goes.
He takes France

he takes somewhere else in Europe.

Fuck me, Nazi Germany
approaches and oh, yeah!

Buck Bannister wins the war.

No-one else involved,
read all about it!

Any obituaries in there for
smart-arse navigators, Perlman?

There will be.

Hey come on, guys.

We got to be a team.

Urgent dispatch from
British Naval Command, sir.

Let's hope we're getting
a little action round here.

All we're looking for is the remnants
of some ship called the Laconia.

There will be women and children.

Consider it practise
for the real thing?

They'll need all the practise
they can get where they're going.

OK, boys.

Cleared for take off tomorrow
morning 0700 hours. Search and find.

Now you can all end up being
heroes on your very first mission.

Wouldn't that be something,
considering you've hardly set foot

out of Tennessee or Texas
before flying school. I'm from
New York City actually, Captain.

I knew there was something
about you I didn't like, Perlman.

I like you, Perlman.

0700 hours.

Good luck.
We're all in this together.

Woo! Ah, ah, ah!

Come on! Come on!

Oh, fuck a duck.

Oh, God, see the guns!

We're all dead! They're unmanned.
Now, don't tell them anything.

Don't say a word.

Hey, hey!

Sit down! Over here!

Just crew and passengers.

Women and Italians.
Your pals, the Italians.

We saved a lot of them.
Oh, great, courage under fire.

What are you going to tell them
next? You're an Irish citizen?!
Too fucking right I am, pal.

Ireland's neutral. It's not
my fucking war! Right, right!

When they pull up alongside
us I want some order, some
dignity from everyone, all right?

Women first and then the rest of us,
whatever nationality we are.

No! These are my lucky trousers!

Now then, sir, you're all right.
You're all right.

Watch your foot there. That's it.

Put your foot there.
Are you all right there, sir?

Mortimer.

I can't begin to tell you how...

No, it's my fault, Hilda.
I thought you were an honest woman.

I'm, I'm so sorry that...

What is the German for truth?
What is the German for deception
or betrayal?

What rank of Officer
would you be, sir?

How did you know?

I think it was demeanour
rather than dress.

Well, in answer to your question,
not very high ranking.

Oh, now, you do disappoint us.

Junior Third Officer, Merchant Navy,
Thomas Mortimer.

There's hot coffee and soup,
Mortimer, and a change of clothing.

But low rank, as you claim to be,
it does seem that you are the only
officer on board from the Laconia

and consequently I'm afraid that you
should consider yourself a prisoner
of war and I have some questions.

Regarding?

The Allied treatment of the Italians
under your command and care.

My command, my care?
There are witnesses.

Oh, for Christ's sake, bring
all the witnesses you can find.

Do you know the only person
I wanted to hit on board the
Laconia was a fucking Englishman.

So go on, bring who you may.
Bring me your witness.

Yes, I'm German. I'm sorry, Captain.

But not this man, not Mortimer.

This man did the best he could.

I want to thank you.

Mr Mortimer, please.

Go on.

Anthony, and I'm nearly seven.

Vergiss. Vergiss.

Nicht. Nicht. Very good.

Very good, Anthony. Very good.
So, now...

Well, Mortimer,

what a fine fellow you seem to be.

I was only, er...
Doing the decent thing.

You can extend that splendid
philosophy further

by providing a list by night-fall
of all Allied survivors on board
and in the lifeboats.

I will gladly do that, sir,
but I won't give you the
rank of any serviceman,

only their name and number.

I'm not asking...
I'm telling you, to do that.

That is not what I want at all.

I want to send the names

to the International Red Cross
in Geneva so that they
can inform their relatives.

Names, nationality and age.
Nothing more.

I would have thought
that was right and proper,

the "decent thing", wouldn't you?

As it happens,
I have no political role

or actually, interest.

I have been a sailor
since long before 1933.

My only concern
is the safeguard of my nation

and the safety of those
under my command.

They've even got English tobacco.

Where did you get that?

From the beaches of Dunkirk.

When you all ran away.
IMITATES A CHICKEN

Do you fancy a rematch, pal?

Right now?

OK, men?

Hello, sir.
You made it, sir, great, fantastic!

OK, men, nationality, profession,
name and age. That's all.

British. Trimmer.

Billy Hardacre, 29.

William Williams.

Er, Army corporal.

Erm...

CLEARS THROAT

17, sir.

I lied about my age.

You fucking idiot!

Snow White, sir.

This is for the Red Cross,
McDermott, so that your family
will know where you are.

Snow White.

Cartoon character.

Vincenzo di Giovanni.

Italian.

Survivor.

British citizen, naturally.

Lady...in waiting.

And you can torture me
until you can take no more

to within an inch of your
young life, Mortimer,

but I will never reveal my age, sir.

That's fine, Mrs Fullwood.
I've seen your passport.

Nationality, madam?

I'm very, very sorry Mortimer.

Nationality, madam?

My mother is...

was British, my father German.

I got to know the country lanes
of Oxfordshire very well

during the summers of most years.

My mother, my brother and I while in
Germany, we lived a sheltered life,

on the sunlit side of the mountain.

And what brought you down
those sunlit mountain slopes?

The sun stopped shining.

My brother saw the change in
the weather long before I did.

The dream had become a nightmare.

His wife listened to his
nightmares, night after night

and she began to share them too.

Then they talked to their friends
and family and wondered what to do.

What did you say
when they came to you?

That whatever they were going to do,

it would be too dangerous.

They, they had too much to lose.

Their first child
was a new born and...

Ella? Ella...

I had hoped that they
would listen to me. That they

would keep their
beliefs to themselves.

But...

do you know what
they did, Mortimer?

Why they were arrested?

They scattered pamphlets
and painted slogans on a wall.

That was all.

They died for that.

You know all this,

you could have told me.

You could have trusted me.

It's very hard, once you've
closed the door to open it again.

To anyone.

Particularly when you've
thrown away the key.

So, I've no family for
the Red Cross to inform, Mortimer.

Neither have I.

Don't you all forget
to come back home now.

Let's saddle up.
Yippee-aye-eh, boys!

Boys, just boys.

Well, almost boys.

Boys armed with bombs
and depth charges.

How old are you, Captain? 24.

But hey,

I've been around.

Good, good.

Just go over there.

Name?

Bates, Henry.

There's food and water at the back.

Are there, would there be any
more women, girls, on the boat?

No, Mrs Fullwood. Are you...

Sarah's always late for everything.

Likes to make a grand entrance.

No? No, no I'm sorry.

Anthony! Charlotte!

Well...

It's me!

Where's Mother?

I have some very bad news
about Mother.

I think we have lost your mother.

Lost?

But she was very brave.

She...

We, we searched all over
the ship looking for you.

She only cared about you,
the both of you.

She stayed looking for you
until the very end. I saw her.

I want my mother. I want my mother.

Anthony, Anthony...

Listen...

you and your sister, you will
always remember your mother.

She will always be your mother.

That cannot change, Anthony.
It will never change.

And your father's right...

..your mother did
love you very much.

Nothing could be more certain.

Because she was your mother.

And your mother would
want you to be a big...chap.

Perhaps our mother will be
on another submarine.

Perhaps she will.

And...

my daughter will too.

Father! Father!

Yes, yes, my boy?

Herr, Kapitaen.

Italians, in line.

Ready to transfer

Italians only.

All British, stay here.

Well, then.

Vera Lynn. Hah!

We'll...

we'll meet again, yeah?

Yeah. Once this is over.

Do you think?

Well, it can't go on forever.

That's what they said about
the Hundred Years War.

Do you think they were
counting at the time?

Look..

what do you say where you
come from is...

LIVERPUDLIAN ACCENT
..look?

Look. Look? Look, after yourself.

And be good. Yeah.

You too.

What...?

What exactly does
"search and find" mean?

Does that mean if we find
them, we can bomb 'em?

I've never bombed nothing
before, nothin' real.

There's a school of whales down
to the left, you can take
a pop at them if you like.

Yeah, can I? Fuck's sake.

Search and find. That's all.

For now.

I mean, it only really hurts
when I break wind, but
I've got this sort of constant...

I don't know what it is, but I
definitely need to see a doctor.

If you pass me the telephone,
Townes, I shall contact
the nearest hospital forthwith.

Hang on.

Look!

That's a flashing light.

I-Z-Z-A R-D

O-F-O-Z.

Izzard Of Oz?

We've found a picture house.

I don't care what it is,
we're going there.

Perfect, thank you very much.

And if I could introduce
my good friend, Harry Townes.

Sadly I must inform you
that he is incurable.

Er wollte noch jemanden
vorstellen der ist unheilbar krank.

I erm, I have a lump under my arm.

Er just, just there. Just there.

I suspect that I know what it is
already, but if you could confirm
it for me, I'd be very grateful.

Ob du es dir mal angucken kannst.

Was fuer nen Scheiss
soll ich mir da denn angucken?

Well, the exact translation, is, sir,

"How would I know? I'm only
a fucking wireless operator!"

Oh, he's just trying
to spare my feelings.

Ah, it's hard, you know, sir,

knowing that you're living
on borrowed time.

Ah, ah, Harry.

Ah, sir. Sir, it's really good
to see you, sir. You too, Townes.

Mr Coutts? Name, profession,
nationality and age, please.

24, gentleman farmer.

And my nationality
is Scottish, Mr Mortimer.

Put that down, if you would. Right.

Come along, Mr Townes.

I'm not very well, sir.

But I'll be here if you want me.

All right, Townes.

Good to see you. And you too.
Townes?

Is he all right?

Army Captain Benjamin Coutts, sir,
Surrey and Sussex Yeomanry,
reporting for duty.

Acting Leading Seaman,
Harry Joseph Townes.

Deckhand. At your service.

And how are you,
Army Captain Benjamin Coutts?

That's quite a nasty one
you caught there.

I'm absolutely fine and dandy, sir.

And I would just like to say,
while not wanting to flatter anyone,
least of all the sworn enemy,

I cannot thank yourself and your
crew enough. That's very kind.

In fact, I was only saying to Townes
here that it is very reminiscent
of the legendary truce between

the Tommies and the Hun in
the trenches during the Great War.

As it happens, we were
just talking...

If truth be told, sir, if you
don't mind me interrupting,

I consider this to be a far greater
deed, a true act of humanity.

As long as you understand, Captain
Coutts, that it is temporary...

Oh, I do, sir and
may I also say...

I hate to interrupt you when
you're interrupting me, Captain.

I'm sorry sir. I do rather
charge in blindly,
hence the nose, actually.

But do carry on, sir.

This lull in combat
can only be purely temporary.

Help is on its way and when
it arrives, you will go
and so will we.

To fight another day.

Well...

WE will, Captain Coutts.

Whoever you are,
I don't want anything, thank you,

least of all, tea and sympathy.

I'm afraid I have no tea.

What a pity.

If I had the choice, I really
would have preferred the tea.

I know you're very worried
about your daughter.

That is none of your business.

Look, I know you mean well
and all that.

I know that actually you really
are a good woman

and I most certainly,
definitely am not, but please,

do you not think it is possible
that I might grieve alone?

No?

Oh.

Look at me.

Here I stand before you.

Came from nothing

and now...

..nothing is left.

Lost my husband to
Rommel's forces in the spring,

lost my daughter to torpedoes
in this empty sea -

events I am really desperately
trying, furiously
not to think about.

But my life has gone from being
a ball to bloody bedlam

and to use some of my late
husbands favourite words,

"utterly useless bollocks".

If only...

..if only

I could have my daughter back,
I would...

But when you find her,
you will make up for...

I've lost her.

And tell me,

what am I expected to do
with my life now that was
so different from before?

Go on, answer me.

Tell me.

Start again, shall I?

Have more children?

Be better this time?

Too late,

too late.

The best news of all is we plan to
rendezvous with a French vessel,
the Gloire.

She's on her way to pick you up
and transport you to safety.

If you could tell...

Fiedler an deck.
Platz da! Platz da!

It's a goddamn submarine!

British? German? A what?

What are they doing down there?

Harrower,
confirm visual on submarine.

What's that they're flashin'?
Come on, do none of you
know Morse code?

Has anyone got the silhouette book?

Yeah, I got the book.
What does it say?

It's all kind of like pictures.

Yeah, right. Thanks.
Look, they're still flashing.

Here it is. It's German, right?
Type 9A, B.

What's it doing with lifeboats?

Maybe they keep
them for emergencies.

It's a U-Boat, the enemy,
bombing practice.

You can't bomb something
with a Red Cross flag on it.

What fucking Red Cross flag?!
I can't see no Red Cross flag
from where I'm sitting.

They want to know what
action we should take, sir.

Either we order the B24 back to
base, or we order it to attack.

But what about
the Red Cross, the lifeboats?

Our directive is to destroy
enemy submarines and protect
Allied vessels in the vicinity.

And that, Captain, that is a U-Boat.

Red Crosses, lifeboats or not.

Harrower,

sink the sub.

Fire at them! Fucking fire at them!

Fire at the fuckers! Go on!

Cut the tow ropes!

Don't sing "Rock A Bye Baby".

Zivilisten von deck! Clear the deck!

Jesus Christ, how did I do that?

Direct hit! Direct fucking hit!

If we swing back, we can still
machine gun them, you know.

No. Low on fuel.

And, mission accomplished.

Jawohl, Herr Kapitaen.

Weber! Ja?

Herr Kapitaen.

You have to go.

I know.

You can be with your children.

No, thank you.

I don't want them
to see me when I...

I'm going to die.

I know.

Try and hold your position.

There's a French ship on the way.
Just hold position.

Where's Daddy?
Is he coming? Next boat.

Daddy! Daddy!

We have to go.

I'm ready.

I think not.

Think again.

I just wanted... See you.

I don't really like goodbyes.

See you.

You should have kissed her.

Nationality, name and age?

British.

Hilda Smith. 28.

But I must tell you, Hilda Smith,

that we are still 644 nautical miles
from the coast of West Africa.

You're a long way from home.

And survival in the lifeboat
is uncertain.

Good luck. And happiness elsewhere.

We like you so much, Mortimer,
we've decided to keep you.

The rescue's over, Mortimer.

But you remain.

May I remind you that
you are a prisoner of war.

Although the conditions and
the freedom you have experienced

will remain the same
during your time with us.

But the fact remains that
everything that's been done

for us over the last few days
has been done for our benefit.

The enemy has helped us.

And if the Captain of the U-Boat
said that the French are coming,

then we should wait.

Yeah, he was a really
great bloke, that Captain.

And the crew, I mean, they were
great with us, weren't they?

Isn't it just a pity that
the bastards torpedoed us
in the first place?

Don't think we need to take
a vote though, do we?

We're staying.

Ah!

You slept well.

It's a shame you missed
the meeting though.

A little debate, as it were.

Yeah, but we didn't have a vote!

It was decided, due east.

Africa.

Any sailor'll tell you,
you can't miss it.

Kind of gets in the way
of going anywhere else.

Not to mention all
the passing traffic.

Do you know what you're doing?

No, he doesn't.

Well, of course I don't.

But you lot do. Oh, you think so?

I trained as an army cook.

Great, you can be in charge
of the catering then.

HE COUGHS

GRAMOPHONE PLAYS CLASSICAL MUSIC

And my taste in music?

I'm not really, er...

I don't really know
my classical music.

That's Rostau's, the chief engineer.

I sometimes let him play it.

But jazz is not music, Mortimer,

just like Picasso's not art.

And yes, I am turning into my father.

May I?

Yeah.

Fiedler?

GRAMOPHONE PLAYS
TAKE THE A TRAIN by DUKE ELLINGTON

It reminds you?

Yes.

CLEARS THROAT LOUDLY

THEY LAUGH

Hopp, hopp, haende aus dem arsch.
Los gehts jetzt hier.

Erm, I would hold my dream
tea party in a tree house

and I would invite my mam
and my little sister and, er,

last but not least,

I would naturally like
to invite my girlfriend.

The girlfriend I'm going
to have when I get home.

And when I get a bit older,

I'm going to grow a moustache.

I'll drink to that.

Don't do that.

You will die.

And you'll go mad before you die.

People have told me
they've had to resort to this
in similar circumstances.

What kind of people told you that?

Survivors.

Go on... Where would you meet
and who would you invite?

The Midland Hotel in Manchester.

It's dead posh.

And I would invite,

Vivien Leigh,

Ivor Novello,
if there's a piano in the room.

Winston Churchill, I suppose.

Harry Houdini, alive if possible.

And Buster Keaton,
to make us all laugh.

And what would you say to them?

Just, "Hi-ya."

The sunlit side of the mountain.

Peacetime.

A big lovely fella
from the Highlands,

who I have never met.

Three boys

with ridiculous names.

My brother's wife and their daughter.

Alive, if possible.

And finally,

Junior Third Officer
Thomas Mortimer...

..who showed me how to forgive
and yet never forget.

But most importantly,
Kapitanleutnaet Werner Hartenstein,

whose first instinct
was for humanity.

And...

I would say, "Thank you."

One day, we'll all drink to that.

I think someone else has gone.

'Tears are round, the sea is deep,

'roll them overboard and sleep.'

Hey! Hey!

Told ya, you're not getting
rid of me that easily.

Wow!

"Told ya." "Told ya."

Why

should I have been
chosen to survive?

But I did.

Yeah. And so many did not.

But...I will tell their stories
to anyone who will hear it.

There's still lots of
lifeboats, you know,

in the sea.

Mother couldn't swim.

I know.

Once upon a time...

..when dreams were possible...

..and wishes could help...

Mother?

Mother!

SHE SOBS

# My Bonnie lies over the ocean

# My Bonnie lies over the sea

# My Bonnie lies over the ocean

# Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me

# Bring back, bring... #

SOBBING AND GASPING

A MAN ROARS

Huh? You want it? You want it?
You want it?

I told ya, I told ya!

You want it?

You want it? You want it?

Fuck you.

Huh? Huh?

HE SPLASHES AND GASPS

SPLASHING SLOWS AND CEASES

We're going to live, Hilda.

We're going to live.

HE SPEAKS IN GERMAN

A few days ago,

I was going to leave you all
to sink or swim.

Perhaps I should have done.

But, you couldn't.

No, I couldn't.

Just like you couldn't
when I was in danger.

Strangers, how strange.

And friends?

And yet, perhaps, it's hopeful
for when peace comes.

Not victory?

Peace.

I wasn't expecting this.

Neither was I.

We may meet again in better times.

Yes.

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