All language subtitles for Der.starke.Ferdinand.1976.DVDRip.DVO-eng

This is stupid!
That's no way to talk to a superior.

I tell it like it is. - Fact is, the
suspect's gone and an officer's dead.

Thanks to your bloody tactics. Just
to satisfy the press and the courts.

Catch him before he enters!

Until he enters,
there's no criminal offence.

Screw that. Catch him beforehand,
and get him to jail in one piece.

You don't understand the rule of law.
- A night watchman's rule of law!

Watch your tongue, Rieche.
- I've got a nose. - That's obvious.

First the crime, then the arrest,
then the culprit. Be sensible. - I am.

Heubel, with his 25 practice shots
per year! I knew he'd lose it!

Well I didn't. - If you were shot
by accident, you'd know how it is.

Shut up, or you'll be disciplined.
- No one talks to me like that!

You're upset. - You bet I am!
- Enough. I have to see the press.

So go and see them! - Enough, I said!
- No, it's not enough!

Shut it!

You can't tell me to shut it. This is
official business! - Incorrigible.

Go on, drive.

I won't have it!

Rieche is distressed.

Rieche's friend,
police sergeant Kniebeling.

Nobody there.
- Apparently.

Don't! Without a warrant we'll get
into trouble. - Look the other way.

They've fled.

Ridiculous regulations make criminal
prosecution impossible for Rieche.

There sits a man, Ferdinand Rieche,
who works in the security business.

He knows all there is to know, and
can't comprehend that others don't.

Security zone 1: Rieche himself.

Security zone 2: His flat.

Security zone 3: His job. At present,
he is a detective superintendent.

Security zone 4:
Police work in its entirety.

Security zone 5:
Everything in its entirety.

And I'll take the Lenin biography,
"The Fortress of Breslau..."

What else have you got?
"The new Tsars." I want that, too.

"Bismarck's Praetorians."
What's that up there? The thin one.

Since Rieche was removed from
Political Offences for transgressions,

he's been studying the works of
his political enemies. Just in case.

There you are. Do you read
"The Red Banner" regularly?

I want to read, not discuss.
Good evening.

The normally
2,500 kilometre-wide torrid zone

around the equator

has this year,

for reasons
unknown to meteorological experts,

expanded
to a width of 5,000 kilometres.

A pocket of hot air
is being pushed from the east

into the Wiesbaden area.

There is a pocket of cold air
over Pomerania.

Strongman Ferdinand

Detectives, culprits,

works security people,

employees, ushers, trespassers

In a major works,

the chief of security's position
is shaky due to his transgressions.

"Works security scandal spreads"

"Secret files in major works"

"A man named Berthold"

"No one will have a beer with him"

I need 2, 3 hours of silence. Close
the gates and notify the chairman.

Right away.
- Of course!

Wilutzki, vice-chairman of the board.

Close the gates!

Orders from the top: no one gets in.
- Only with a special pass? - No one!

Can they leave? - Neither in nor out!
- We're expecting Japanese visitors.

Keep them out. Send them to a caf�.

Gentlemen, you can't come in.
No press allowed. Please, leave.

This is unlawful entry
and could have serious consequences.

Just a moment, Mr Wilutzki.
You were saying?

Are you completely mad?

"A flat gun of Spanish make. Our
people know it. We have 48 of them."

Yes, they've had target practice.

And here: "Do you issue weapons in
stress situations?" "We have!"

It says in the regulations to issue
weapons under specific circumstances.

Imagine this: he recorded everything.
You of all people should've guessed!

Rieche knows nothing of all this.

I made the mistake. I admit it.

What good is your apology?

Have the works doctor confirm you've
got "Section 51, paragraphs 1 and 2!"

Is there nothing we can say
in our defence?

I can't be courteous now!

I'll go to the union!

I will, and then we'll see! Thank God
we're getting worker participation!

That is definitely it.

I might've let Berthold off... but he
shouldn't have let in those "snipers!"

He's finished, gentlemen!

You're not in my favour,
where did you get that idea?

I'm still in your favour,
so please, can't we just work it out?

There's no question
of you being in my favour!

Mr Berthold, you will close your desk
and leave the works immediately.

You will not talk to third parties.
Put the phone down! - I'm not alone.

You're fired!

No, I...
- Aren't you listening?

You're fired, Mr Berthold!
- I can't be fired, I have to...

Rieche applies
for the vacant position.

My name is Rieche. I'd like to see
General Manager Ganter. I'm expected.

Please come in.

Richard dear,

I'd like you to meet Detective
Superintendent Rieche. - Good evening.

I'll leave you to it.
- This is Mr Wiegand. - Good evening.

Please be seated, Superintendent.
- Thank you.

Well,
let's get straight to the point:

I hear
you'd be willing to leave the force.

Certainly.

Are you a man who puts all his eggs
in one basket? - Up to a point.

You did understand from our talks
there'd be a 6-months' trial period?

You have been informed of this?
- I have.

This is what your main task would be.

Frankly, your predecessor Mr Berthold
has been transgressing.

We want you
to get the security of our company

back on a course of strict legality,
with a very firm hand.

Meaning: no more scandals,
no more newspaper articles.

Will be done in a professional way.

October 1st.
Rieche assumes his new position.

48 hours later Rieche
knows every corner of the works.

He has divided every corner into grid
squares. Everything's under control.

Mr Wilutzki?
- Ah, you must be Mr Rieche.

I disapprove of the Chairman
hiring you without asking me.

Don't expect anything from me.
- Excuse me?

Don't take it personally.
- Of course I take it personally.

I can't run the operation from
this office. I need field quarters.

Within the production area, here!

There's another wind blowing now.

Group 1, take up your position.

Faster.

Attention!
Take cover, the suspect's armed!

You'd all be dead by now.

That's all. Good night, gentlemen.

Good night, Mr Rieche!

Now for the 2nd nightshift.

Main topic: theory. Neglected
by Berthold, reinstated by Rieche.

We'll be practising
setting up an interrogation.

As works security men, you can't use
your hands, you have to use your head.

What if a person you've caught is
lying? Peilert. - I'd clear it up.

How? Wertheim. This touches
on interrogation techniques.

I'd advise the suspect
to give evidence truthfully.

What's the use of that?
- So I can report it.

He won't do you the favour and doesn't
disclose himself. - I'll persuade him.

How will you do that?
- I use trick questions. - Which ones?

Suitable ones.
- Rubbish.

"Who are you? What do you want? How
did you get in? Associates? Purpose?"

Those are not trick questions.
- I tell them: "I know you!

I saw you throwing stones yesterday
during the riots." "No," he says,

"I've got an alibi. I was with these
people..." Then I know their names.

They are his associates.
- I hope that works.

So that's works-security case 1600 Z
with the ultraviolet scanner?

Yes. Let me show you how it works.

Rosotschke is Rieche's deputy.

I coat the door-knob with it.
Sparsely, mind you. Like this.

Now a suspect walks by,
touches the door-knob

and puts his hand on the locker.

Ultraviolet...
- Fantastic.

I'd like to report sexual excesses in
storeroom 10 between cleaning staff

and employees, known by name.
- What?

In storeroom 10. - What of it?
- Sexual excesses. - Between whom?

Cleaning staff, I hear.

We have to take it all down first.
Would you swear to this statement?

To what I saw. - But you haven't seen
anything, you just heard of it? - Yes.

Well then.

1 p.m.
Rieche is setting up field quarters.

Rieche would rather die

than fail his security task.
That means: study, study, study.

114 kilos. Please...

The parent company,

a multinational group from Brussels,

keeps the national managements
under strict control.

Among others, by means
of semi-annual health checks.

You've aged noticeably, too.
- Are you trying to make me unhappy?

According to health standards
for the upper management...

Have Kuhn replace me? Lt'd kill me.

If this were my own office I'd cheat,
but I can't manipulate results here.

The examination results go directly
to the parent company in Brussels.

What if I put only one foot on
the scales? - Then it wouldn't react.

Rieche has summoned a woman suspected
of theft to his field quarters.

Please come in, Mrs Magnus.

I think I can be frank with you.
I'd like to ask you a personal favour.

I think my request will be somewhat
more unusual than you may think.

Out with it. What can be so special?
- It's nothing special, more general.

If it's not something out of
the question, we can talk about it.

It's this.

What do you need my urine for?

Oh, please, put it over there.
Here, thank you.

How old are you?
- Fifty. - The urine's very young.

Naturally.

If you weren't a man,
I'd say you were 3 months pregnant.

Strip to the waist, please.

Your oxygen-intake, breath volume
and heart frequency are very good.

I'm glad.

Gertie Kahlmann steals.

A lift, please.

This is my flat.

I've been watching you for 3 nights.

What do you want
with all these provisions?

Why do you steal them?

And exploit your position of trust?

Well? An answer please, Miss Kahlmann.

You can call me Gertie. - So, Gertie,
what do you want with all that stuff?

You can't eat it all. Or drink it all.

You'd become as fat as a Polish goose.

I sell the stuff.

I see.
- I'm saving up to start a cab-firm.

If you report me, it's all over.
I'd have to move back to the country.

I'd rather kill myself!
- Go ahead. - How's it done?

What if I don't report you?
- That's what I meant, really.

Call me Ferdinand.

Here's your blanket. I need a good
night's sleep. I have to get up at 7.

At 7, why?
- I've scheduled a roll-call.

We'll do what's required
tomorrow night.

I can only bear women
on my right-hand side.

Good night.

Night.
- Sleep well.

I'm thirsty.

What?
- I'm thirsty.

Me too. I'll make us a cocoa.
That quenches thirst.

Rieche, this monkey of reason,
climbs up and down his considerations:

How can he reconcile his seeing
a thief with works security?

The stolen goods must be returned.

And how will I get past security?

With you I got more
than I bargained for!

A systematic viewpoint:

Priority 1: Setting up
and training a strong group.

Priority 2: Rieche's promise:

get back to legality with a firm hand,
no scandals, no newspaper articles.

The two priorities are conflicting.

Rieche wants to try all the harder.

With all the signs of unlawful entry,
an outsider enters the works

where it is badly lit. You, Wertheim!
- I catch this person.

How? He tries to flee.
- I grab him. - How?

With the left hand. - Why?
- With the right I draw my weapon.

What weapon? - My Walther 08.
- You're not allowed to carry one.

That's just the way
to cause a scandal. Forget the weapon.

You can't hold on to the subject.
Now what? Dietrich? - I report it.

What must be in the report? Peilert?

Who, how, when, where,
what, why and what for.

What's the difference between
why and what for? - There is none.

It's: "what with" or "by what means".
Suppose you catch him. Then what?

I apprehend him. - Done. Now what?
- I take him to my superior. - Who?

The chief of works security or
the one on duty in the security post.

What if there's no one there?
It's night time. Now what? Jeschke?

I lock him up. - Where, Peilert?
- In a shed. - Rubbish!

I take him to the police.
- Leaving the works unguarded?

I call the police
from the security post.

Without knowing who the person is?
Let me point out the following:

Every report to the police requires
the advance approval of the board.

Write that down. Wertheim?
- I lock him up some other way. - How?

I stand next to him and guard him.
- And who does your rounds?

Peilert? - I take him with me on my
rounds, keeping a distance of 1 m.

Giving this outsider a general view
of our security set-up?

Then you tell me what to do!
- The examiner won't either.

So I knock him down and disable him.
- Only in self-defence. When is that?

Wertheim? - When someone infringes
upon a legally protected property.

Which property
has this outsider infringed upon?

He has entered the legally protected
enclosed property of the works.

This entitles you to self-defence, but
not in excess. If you knock him down,

do so with care, Friedenau.
- What then? Why all these questions?

See? Now you're asking questions.
First ask the intruder his name,

why he has intruded and what he
plans to do. See you next time, gents.

Now that everyone knows I live with
you they look at me sideways. - Why?

I'm popular with the men. - Something
is interfering with your popularity.

I don't think they'd have a beer
with you if someone were watching.

Worker Christa Wilke. The Office for
the Protection of the Constitution

has no information on her.
Precautionary dismissal is advised.

Works committee member Schwietzke.
They've no information on him either.

Keep an eye on him. Fred Tacke,
they do have information on him.

Discreet dismissal.
The official in charge believes

youth representative Siegfried Nauhut
is no risk. I don't agree.

Gerda M�ckert, skilled worker.
The Office has no information on her.

Are you Mr Rieche?
- Yes.

What?

Rieche is fenced in by the law.

Rieche needs a crisis.
If nothing happens, he lies dormant.

Nothing at all to do, Mr Rieche?
- If you say so.

Rieche has been dreaming.

Now, suddenly, he is wide awake.

He's got this vague feeling that
something has escaped his control.

This security of yours
is in shambles, Mr Rieche.

May I remind you that I was to limit
security to a minimum.

I can't see to the press and sabotage
at the same time. - Just a moment!

What do you mean "sabotage"?
- Sabotage only exists in the army.

Listen, Mr Rieche,
I'll overhear the word "sabotage".

We'll lose all our customers if our
works are being sabotaged! Got that?

Totally. - It's damage of property.
- Deflagration! - An accident.

Don't be silly. - Secure the works
now, or you'll be in for a surprise

after your trial period. I'm flying
to Brussels with the Board tomorrow.

On my return in 2 weeks I want to see
this works fully secured,

with all the trimmings!
- Whatever you say.

Sabotage or accident,
the main thing is, there was a bang.

Now things will get tough!

Thank you, Peilert.

Left, two, three, four...

To the left, on the double!

Rieche has doubled the number of men.

Attention! Stop all machines.
We have received another bomb threat.

Please leave the work-floor
immediately!

Hurry, hurry. We have received a bomb
threat. Please leave the work-floor!

Get a move on!

We've received another bomb threat.
Please leave the work-floor.

You may return to your work-place.
Thank you for your participation.

It was an exercise?

Attention! Please leave
the work-floor immediately!

Everybody turn right
into works street 12.

That's closed off. That... and that!
Completely sealed off.

See you tomorrow.
- Rosotschke,

I don't think it's transparent enough.

The safest protection is shielding
the outer skin of the weak parts.

So... 16 signalling discs
with lighting on one side, 730T,

a camera case with foam lining type 3,

type 2 passive night goggles MK200,

10 two-way intercom units type WG 201,

a "Big Ear" electronic stethoscope,
a parabolic listening device PEM 500,

a secret diplomat's pouch De Luxe...
- Where's that? - In my office.

Nakiplast in transparent bags,
powder for the Marabu brush with...

Enough with the small stuff,
what about the big items?

I've got electronic alarm systems,
but they have to be hooked up first.

Get back, please.

These are works premises. Please
leave, these are works premises.

Gentlemen, be sensible.

There's a boundary here.
The works premises start here.

Crossing the boundary is trespassing.

The boundary is right here.
- We don't give a toss!

This is not a boundary!

Get back. Get back, I say!

Has anything exploded yet?
- On the contrary.

Make sure you get
the entire air-pump receiver in, OK?

And this here, too, right? That's in?

Good, that's fine.

You can check it on the monitor.
Set it like that. We can always pan.

So if it's pointed this way,

we'll still be mobile
and we can pan from here...

to there. - What've you
been up to during my absence?

Securing the works.

Production is crippled. Where's the
consent form? - A one-time expense!

Now even Mr Ganter's flipped his lid.
You won't survive your trial period.

An insurance would be cheaper
than works security.

Wouldn't have the same effect.
- Of course it would.

Do you doubt the quality of my work?

No, just its benefits!

Mr Wilutzki, you can't look at law and
order from a benefit point-of-view.

Mr Ganter,

I'd like to replace works security
with an insurance. We could save 52%.

No insurance covers civil war, general
strike or the years 1918 to 1923.

I only care about the cost-benefit
analysis as of December 31st, 1975.

I could get the figures for civil war,
but not for the current year.

1-Security Works Command Post
2-Fire Protection

3-Civil Defence and Disaster Control
4-Accident Reporting Office

5-Deputy Chief Medical Service
6-Property Protection Headquarters

7-lnformation Headquarters
8-Headquarters Interface

Peilert.

Mr Peilert, Rieche here. - 9 o'clock!
- Roll-call is postponed until 10.30.

"November 9th.

Dear Rieche, I just laid a wreath
at the Officers' Hall.

Yours, Kniebeling."

"Dear Kniebeling.
Rubbish! Yours, Ferdinand Rieche."

You're doing aggressive
market research? - I am.

It's like industrial espionage.
- An ugly term.

In the eyes of our employers,
we're enemies now. - Among friends.

Kniebeling, you are my friend, right?
I'm looking for a new job.

I need a job
in which I can expand.

You can start out in my party,
as chief of our security troops.

Disciplinary Regulation, Rhine-Main.

Payment after we've seized power.

That's rubbish.

Nothing but Bolshevik propaganda.

We just celebrated the 37th anniversary
of our F�hrer's 50th birthday.

That's rubbish, too.

He's 87 now!

Good instruction material for my boys.

Rieche: "Radical security
has nothing to do with radicalism."

One man alone can't do anything.
- Two can't either. It doesn't matter.

Toni Siegusch, mid-level security,
films, without authorization,

a group of workers he suspects
of preparing an illegal strike.

Works committee member Schwietzke
catches him at it.

Mr Siegusch, what are doing?
Are you filming fellow-workers?

That's our business. - Not without
informing us. Give me that camera!

I was filming, but then
he came along and grabbed my camera.

Who ordered you
to film fellow-workers?

That's my business. Evening.

Hello, Kniebeling.
- Rieche.

Training?
- Training. And what are we training?

Operation of March 1921. Clearing
the Leuna works of insurgents. - OK.

Kniebeling has brought his bouncers,
Rieche his works-security people.

Left, left, 2, 3, 4...

United Works Security Troops, march!

...until it all goes to pieces...

12 o'clock.

Happy birthday.

Use Pebeko for your teeth
And Nivea for your skin

Use Hermeta for your legs
Celery for your bride to win

Use Jawohl before you comb your hair
Kasana for dancing is always fine

Use Autana for the posture
And Urbin to give your shoes a shine

Use Bemberg silk for sewing
For fever Aspirin

Eggs and bacon for breakfast
And afterwards some Lecithin

Use Schwan im Blauband for baking
For sore throats Formamint mild

A pianola for playing music
And Biomalz for the child

Whatever you do in life
Look forever on the funny side

Then all that's hard
Can be taken in stride

I've got a dent in my car.

Chuck it out.

A 1st-rate butcher's third wife's
second car. Cheap and never used.

Gertie made a down payment on a taxi,

with Rieche's financial help.

You could hook up a caravan. I once
impounded one. It was never picked up.

I was planning to take it on holidays.
- You never go on holiday. - I will.

Rieche's �lite troops are far superior
to all other works-security teams.

Rieche organizes
an attack an a rival company.

During the night
Rieche's men remove 26 crates

of electronics from the Brachmann
company and store it in the woods.

Meanwhile,

the works guards have been going
from time clock to time clock.

We'll do anything you say, boss,
but what's the point of all this?

Do we sell it, or was it an exercise?
- Nothing's only an exercise.

Then what? We can't sell stolen goods.

If there's a civil war on, it's too
late for exercises. - But there isn't!

That's what you think.

Good!

Now for the surprise. Our coup!

We're going to take all this stuff
back the way we got it.

That'll raise the stakes.
Jeschke, go get the truck.

This time
without the cover of darkness.

In full uniform?

Brachmann AG,
security chief Sch�rflein.

Rieche here, are you awake?

Hello. Naturally.

Go and have a look at what's
outside gate 5. A little reminder.

What's out there?

Crates!

Mr Rieche?

For Mr Ferdinand Rieche,
from your colleague Sch�rflein.

Rieche is mistrustful and has
the laboratory examine the chocolates.

No trace of poison.

Rieche doesn't want
to eat the mashed mass.

Two things work:
The cold air and the little tree.

Apart from that nothing else works on
this exercise. - It's only November.

You have to train for Christmas Eve,
or it'll never work. Children don't,

but adults get into trouble if they
haven't practised beforehand.

It isn't Christmas Eve yet.
- It's sure to come.

There's no carp
or roast goose around here.

1: Presents. Pretend they're here.
2: Candles and tree. Got them.

3: Think about the starving in India.
- It's warm there. - 4: Find lodgings.

Icelandic sheep lost in a snowstorm

that I just managed
to drive into a warm barn.

6: Records.
7: Miscellaneous.

Let's go back. I've had it with this
holiday. - Next weekend: Spitsbergen.

Invigorated by his holiday,
Rieche thinks up a special exercise.

Hello? Near building sheds...
Much smoke from basement.

What building sheds?

Near transformer.

Near the transformer? Right, I'll call
the fire brigade. Who's calling?

Tchotchich.

Unidentified person
in restricted zone 3.

Alert stage 3.

What's going on here?
- This is Iceberg 4.

Iceberg 4, the man you have caught
is Rieche. Over and out.

What? Rieche?

Boss...

A valuable result. Rieche's
trial period: 3 1/4 months left.

Rieche's field quarters, 12.05 am.

The little one: the Communist Party.
The black one: an Arab.

The dotted one:
all Eastern spies together.

Well, Fatty,

you're the revolutionary trade-union
opposition. You'll be up later.

An illegal-strike committee,
several agents

of aggressive market-research,
German Communist Party members,

the West German Communist Alliance,
the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party,

amateurs

trying to trespass on the works
for whatever reason,

spokespersons of the workforce...

There's no overall picture.

If you'd get the whole pack together
in a works street and close it off,

then you'd have an overall picture!

Gentlemen, I represent Mr Ganter.

An assassination threat has been made
against the board of directors.

From what group did the threat arise?

Either locals or Arabs.
- Should it be taken seriously?

The results of the stress analyser
show 80% earnestness,

the rest must be acknowledged.
- So acknowledge them!

Imagine it like the chart of a voice.
- So it's quite simple:

We're in danger. I think so, too.
What do you suggest, Rieche?

The chief of security, me, must know
all the board members' movements.

No problem, if all of you co-operate.
- What do you mean by co-operation?

Your men coming with us when we
go for a pee? - Among other things.

That's part of the plot.

Exactly 43 more minutes.

Why can't they keep it brief?

What I wanted to ask you, as we never
seem to be able to have a quiet talk:

will things work out
after my trial period?

It's absurd for me to protect your
life, a rather intimate assignment,

without ever mentioning the truly
neuralgic point. - Now that you do:

The board is dissatisfied with your
services. - You don't see my work!

Maybe since you and your troops were
gone the other day. - On an exercise!

Besides,
we got a complaint from a firm

whose storage your cleared out. They
are threatening to sue for damages.

But they can't prove any damages.
- That's not how it's done.

Basically you want me
to do a mediocre job!

Well, we don't want mediocrity either.
- Always chopping and changing!

Mr Rieche, if you want to survive
with us past these 6 months,

you'll have to do more.
But you shouldn't do too much either.

Field quarters, 2 am.

Hua Kuo Feng, Chinese prime-minister,

draws a dark picture of the next
50 to 100 years. War is inevitable.

Only the date of its outbreak
is not yet determined.

Against this background,
the chairman's ambiguous words.

What gives Rieche's job its purpose
are crises, catastrophes, strikes,

an enemy.

Oh well, most people believe
in the normal run of things.

Rieche believes in emergencies.

Agents,

NATO officers, solitary amateurs...

Rieche, 50 years old,
one kidney, a sensitive stomach.

Rieche has been thinking a lot about
a friend in the secret service,

who offers jobs on a dollar-basis.

Just a small post for me. I need...
I have to... I'm in trouble...

But 10 years ago in Heidelberg we...

We don't need any.

A small post, just for me. Come on.

Give us a kiss.

I can't, with gruel in my mouth.

Now I can't either.

Listen, if it all goes wrong,

you can always start
as a cab driver in my firm.

Right.

The visitors from Brussels.

Orders from Wilutzki to let them pass
without filling in the form

and take them straight up. - No way!
No special treatment for the Board.

Who are you?

Purpose?

May I remind you of Wilutzki's orders

to take the visitors straight to him
without hindrance. - Please...

Search every third one to come out.
Copper, mercury, works documents, etc.

Selective spot checking!

May we check your bag, please?

May we check your bag, please?

Step over here,
so we can check your bags, please!

You heard me.
- Don't do anything you'll regret!

The trial period
is slipping through his fingers.

For 3 nights,

Rieche's been watching
the engineer Dr Haferkamp.

She's been exchanging research results
with Professor Mudermann,

who works for a competing firm.

She thinks it's scientific
co-operation, but it is betrayal.

Evening. - What's in your bag? - Why?
- Let's have a look. - I have to go.

Are you mad?

I'll go to the police!
- Come on.

Come on! - Let me go! It's wrongful
restraint. Call the police, now!

My relationship with Prof. Mudermann
is purely academic in nature!

He's head of
our competitor's research department.

Anything you tell him
is not in the least academic!

I'll report you!

We can prevent that!

Open the door!
What are you going to do?

Rieche. Morning.

We have the reports on works theft
by Sch�neman, Zapfel and Benedikt.

You're an dolt.

I won't have my honour violated.

I'm in the middle of some complicated
calculations, and you give me this!

OK, I understand. Over and out.

You're hiding a young woman.

Wrong.

We could look.

What's it to you?

You know I could get a search warrant.
You've got a skeleton in the closet!

Why in the closet? - Just for
argument's sake, let's assume so.

You don't know a thing! - So you admit
it. Have her hidden well, have you?

How did you get this assignment?
- A tip-off from a scientist.

So we're enemies now? - Tell me
the truth or we're no longer friends.

Ajob's a job. - I'll give you
the truth, not the woman. - We'll see!

This is Mudermann.

Hello?
- Rieche!

Say something.

Say something, please.

10 marks.

All in all, that makes...

250 marks.

While Rieche secures the works,
Gertie secures her Christmas gifts.

What's all this?
- Those are my things.

That's all mine. - I'm getting rid
of all that. That's your stuff.

No way. It stays here.
You don't believe in property, do you?

That's an offence! - I look after your
stuff, sell it, get you a good price,

and get rid of your junk, only to get
yelled at by you. Scolded! - Quiet!

Lonely Hearts' Ball.

Ladies' choice.

A man in the underground says to a
girl, "You've got beautiful hair!

Is it crimped or natural?" She says,

"Did I ask you whether you're scrotum
was knitted or crocheted?"

What's your profession?
- Hairdresser.

Do you like your job?
- Yes.

Four days until Christmas Eve.

Morning, Mr Wilutzki.

Stop playing cowboys and Indians.
Return to the works!

Christ almighty!

Wilutzki's impudent manner

confirms Rieche's suspicion.

He pays extra attention
to Wilutzki's travels through Belgium.

Of course he made a detour.

So what happened to those 21 hours?

He can hardly have been sitting
over a cup of coffee for 21 hours.

Toubize?

Well, well, Mr Wilutzki!

Rieche drives to Belgium.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Wilutzki."

An answer in Belgian.

Typical traitor-face.

U.M.C.

Societ� Anonyme. Yes!

Read from their lips:

"Fusion." In French: "Fusion."

In English: "Fusion."

Rieche can't believe his ears.

Wilutzki's selling the whole company,
including Rieche's security system,

to a foreign group.

What you're reporting here is so
far-reaching I won't take note of it.

I take it no one knows
about these documents.

Not even
the group management in Brussels?

I will not get confidential with you.
- You're General Manager. - In name.

Until the next shareholders' meeting,
I could pretend to be in command.

But I won't. I'll leave. - What
Wilutzki did is company treason.

There are people who will thank
"Mr" Wilutzki for what he did.

My men are at your disposal.
- Rieche...

You don't understand. - You should let
me decide what I understand or not.

Wertheim!

Cut the phone lines. No one gets in
or out. Wilutzki's under house arrest.

Highly irregular for a board member.

He forfeited his post by his betrayal.

Do you understand?
- I can make out your words, yes.

The works will merely move nearer
to the Channel, due to the harbours.

No jobs will be lost, Minister. First
we'll work out a redundancy scheme.

Yes, likewise. I wish you the same.
If she's there, I'd love to.

Yes, Madam, that's wonderful.
May I wish you a happy and healthy...

Wilutzki, the game is up. Do as I say
and be quiet. - You fool!

You're mad to lay hands
on one of your managers.

I've got proof.

You don't understand any of that.
- Let me decide what I understand.

December 31st, 12 o'clock.

The merger becomes effective.
Wilutzki is head of Deutsche Neuropa.

"Dearest Gertie,

At the start of the new year I have,
apart from an unhooked caravan

and an empty flat,

nothing left but longing for you.

You mustn't blame me
for having forbidden you to steal.

I can't understand that
you don't want to come back to me.

I drag my soul behind me
like a big St. Bernard dog.

Yours, Ferdinand Rieche."

We'll not be blackmailed by employees!
- I won't be blamed for having failed.

That depends.
- I insist. It wasn't incompetence.

You do understand you're fired?
- I do.

But please acknowledge
I had a real chance.

I do. I don't think you're
incompetent. - That's enough for me.

We will send you your belongings.

Minister, the government
has announced its economy measures.

Would you call them drastic?
- We have made large cuts,

but we must discriminate
between meat and fat.

To stay with that metaphor: do the job
cuts cut into the fat or the meat?

No, we can't touch the meat.

Several measures also affect
the state governments.

They are chiefly opposed
to the cuts in education.

No, we can't ever touch education.
That'd be the meat.

The same thing goes for the police?
- I'm seeing Count Lambsdorff at 2.

Minister,

if you were to project
economy measures for the next year,

which groups would suffer major cuts?

Yes, well, we can't...

On no account must the population
touch the meat. I mean...

Minister, economizing is a good thing
and people demand it of you,

but on the other hand
the economy needs a boost.

Our motto is: No fear of burning
your fingers, but take cover.

Make room. Can you hear me, Minister?

Give me a hand. Undo his shirt.
- Minister, can you hear me?

The steps in the Hofgarten,
leading down to the Rhine.

Ambulance should approach
from Hofgarten.

Suspect fleeing

in the direction of Kennedy Bridge.

Stop or I'll shoot!

Suspect is fleeing on foot.

Were your motives political?

Security-political.

To show that an assassin could get
to the minister despite all security,

and, if we were allowed
to lead the opposing side,

that we would be able to do it.
This proves the need for our services.

I'm really sorry
I hit the minister in the cheek.

I was aiming for the wall
behind the minister.

The bullet was to fly past his face
at about 50 centimetres.

So for your purposes it would've
been better not to have hit him?

Any closer and the muzzle flash would
have shown. - You were caught anyway.

I couldn't have known that.
- You took it into account? - I did.

Are you happy with your "success?"

Certainly not.

Then what did you expect?

One has to express oneself.
- With a gun? - We have to.

Otherwise we cannot employ
what we do best. We are realists.

What are your practical goals?
- I've put a lot of work into that.

First we must be allowed
to do what we can.

The bullet that shattered part of his
jaw and his teeth was part of that?

As I said, I missed my mark.

You just emphasized your abilities,
but your aim was off.

I missed because the minister moved.
- That was to be expected. - It was.

You planned
to give yourself up afterwards?

The officers of the 14th Precinct
would never have caught me.

But because the gentlemen of the
security force from Bonn are younger,

have more stamina and are well-trained
in finding escape routes,

as I myself am, it is certain
that they will catch an assassin

after he has fired his shot.

This will, however, only serve
to punish the crime, not prevent it.

So you consciously took the risk
of missing your mark? - Yes, I did!

"Tactics," says our enemy, and we're
very willing to learn from our enemy,

"are the extension
of strategy into practice."

Replace "strategy" by "meaning"

and any factor of uncertainty
relating to the meaning of all we do

will reflect
on the behaviour of the individual.

Nowadays you cannot maintain
a company without risk.

Could you put that a little simpler?
- With pleasure.

I shot him in the cheek because
there is no real meaning to our life.

For this reason,
you can't always shoot straight.

Based on the short story
"A Capitalists' Bolshevik"

from "Learning Processes
with Deadly Results," Suhrkamp 665.