All language subtitles for Epidemic 1987 DVDRip-English

DAY ONE

Hi. This is Niels.
Did I wake you up?

I just thought I'd let you know
it's all on the disk.

I thought I'd start
making a print out.

Oh, about 4 o' clock.

Yeah, I'll do that.

Yes, I'll start right now.

THE COP AND THE WHORE
A FILMANU

A what? A ''filmmanu''!

Listen, you know what...

It just stopped dead.

I think you ought to come over here.

Take me to Store Kongensgade.

If you keep driving like this
you'll soon owe me money.

Arizona? What did you say?
I can hardly hear you.

Yes. No, no. Don't worry about it.

When are you coming home?

OK, I'll make a dinner on Saturday.

Right. Great. No, no!

I'll make something special.
It's for you, Lars.

Lars just came in.

See you on Saturday.

It's Claes in Arizona.

Is this the film consultant?
How nice.

We just finished it.
We're making a print out now.

We assume you're going to pick it up
on Saturday.

No problem finishing it on schedule.

Oh, about 200 pages.
215 or 216.

We'll probably cut it down a little.

Compress it somewhat.

A few cuts here and there.

Anything can happen.

Have a good trip and we'll see you

on Saturday.

Great, Claes.
Niels sends his regards.

Great. Bye now.

I checked the disk.

There's nothing left!

Not much for him to pick up.

Damn!

- What's Claes doing over there?
- He bought a windbreaker.

- Another one!
- He's got a windbreaker fetish.

THE COP AND THE WHORE

How the hell did we start this story?

Was the whore in it from...

Was she in the opening?

I really can't remember
how it started.

I vaguely remember the ending.

The middle is foggy,

but the beginning...

Actually...

I didn't really like
''The Cop and the Whore''.

It had its good moments.

Name one!

I'd like it if we...

wrote something more dynamic.

A coincidence due to fate

can be so sinister and fantastic
in character

that one is tempted
to draw apparently logical,

but actually unfounded,
conclusions.

During the course of 5 days

the ''Epidemic'' manuscript was created
and written down

in and around this apartment.

That an actual epidemic
was approaching during those 5 days,

and that its awful outbreak
and script completion coincided,

is one of those
inexplicable coincidences.

''Fathers left their children.

Wives left husbands,
brother left brother.

For the disease attacked both through
breathing and sight.

Thus they all died.

No one would bury them at any price.

Family members dragged their dead
to open graves

without benefit of clergy, eulogy
or tolling of bells.

Throughout Siena mass graves
were filled with victims.

I, Agnolo di Tura,
called ''The Fat One''.

buried my 5 children
with my own hands.

Some were covered
with such a thin layer of dirt

that dogs dug up their bodies
and fed on them.

This describes the atmosphere.

There were no funerals
nor processions.

Priests said mass and bells tolled
only for the rich.

Such ceremony was then forbidden
in many places, as were bells,

for it was thought
the constant tolling

would cause even greater anguish

and perhaps greater sickness.

For purely religious reasons,

as a form of protection
from evil spirits,

crosses were marked on doors
to guard those inside.

Later, a cross came to mean
that a house was infected.

Thus people were warned off.

The 1348 plague
saw harsher methods employed.

When the first victims were found
outside Milan,

Archbishop Bernabo Visconti

ordered that all plague-infected
houses be sealed with bricks.

With the family inside, of course.

Thus the plague spared Milan.

Three families were bricked in
and died of plague and hunger.

So, Milan escaped the plague

because it isolated itself
from other plague-ridden cities?

Yes, but it was hit much harder

when the next plague struck.

CERTIFICATE OF DEATH
E. MESMER, PHYSICIAN.

The archives stored here
under these arches

are Denmark's memory.

Let's see if we can find
anything of interest to you.

Perhaps you wouldn't expect to find
these walls here.

That's saltpeter coming out of them.

It comes from the wall itself,

probably because the ground
is so damp.

In the old days, before we understood
the problem

some of the staff were afraid
to come down here,

particularly in the dark,

because of the strange sounds, pops,

when the saltpeter cracked off
more plaster.

It's a kind of wall disease.

Look at me when I'm talking to you,
Dr. Mesmer.

- Swine.
- Apostate.

- Traitor.
- Renegade.

- Creep.
- Quisling.

I hold here your application,
Dr. Mesmer.

You have applied for permission
to terminate your research

here at the hospital.

I understand that you wish

to undertake medical practice

in the infected areas
outside the city,

knowing full well
that the Academy of Doctors

has decided that no treatment
can be given for this disease.

Damn it, Mesmer!

I could never give you permission
to leave for those areas.

It's quite impossible.

You know that well.

I beseech you for the very last time
to reconsider your attitude.

Dr. Mesmer is ashamed
of being a doctor, I would say.

Let's call him an idealist.

The disease doesn't frighten
Dr. Mesmer.

Which medicament lies
hidden in his doctor's bag?

- What has he in mind to prescribe?
- Aspirin

and rest.

You haven't a chance, Mesmer.

You wouldn't be able to stay alive
out there

for one single day.

The air is infected.
And the soil.

And the water.

Early one morning you leave
the protected walls of our city.

Your courage has brought you this far,
Dr. Mesmer.

The world lies open.

But the closer you get to
the infected areas,

it seems as if the elements
turn against you.

It may start with a light cough,

but quickly, and without mercy,

the respiratory organs are disabled
by the infected air.

The bacteria in the soil penetrate the
skin and the flesh by mere contact.

And the water you drink
will destroy you from inside.

Let me make you an offer, Dr. Mesmer.

As you probably know,

I am chairman
of the crisis commission,

which was established
in the early days of the epidemic

as advisories to the government.

Confidentially, I can tell you

that the government
has just decided to resign.

Partly due to
the acuteness of the situation,

party in acknowledgment

of its own mismanagement.

In short,

His Majesty has requested that I form
a provisional government.

This envelope, Dr. Mesmer,

contains the cabinet list,

which will be presented to His Majesty
this very afternoon.

This list features exclusively names

attached to this faculty.

All members with incontestable
medical qualifications.

This list also contains your name,
Doctor M..

Prime Minister, Professor Ulrich,
Neurology.

Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Dr. Oswald, Obstetrics.

Minister of Finance,
Professor Geit, Gynecology.

Minister of Justice, Dr. Horst,
Orthopedics.

Minister of the Interior,
Professor Rosenberg, Surgery.

Minister of Transport,
Dr. Janis, Urology.

Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries,
Dr. Magnus, Psychiatry.

Minister of Education,
Prof. Stendbeck, Anesthetics.

Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs,
Dr. Linderman, Pathology.

As you may have noticed, Mesmer,

I have, among others, admitted
a Ministry of Cultural Affairs,

which gives me an opportunity
to offer you an appointment

as minister without portfolio.

You underestimate the danger
of this disease,

Dr. Mesmer.

Would you please call in Dr. Magnus.

I know Epidemiology is your field,
Dr. Mesmer.

I take it, therefore,

that you have come across
the mysterious phenomenon

commonly known as ''King Rat''.

A bundle of 3 or 4 rats,

who have had their tails
so helplessly entangled,

that consequentially
they have starved to death.

In the Great Plague years,

finding of King Rats always gave
warning of the coming of the disease.

Just before the Black Death
in London in 1348,

a King Rat was found that consisted
of no less than 5 rats.

If you please, Dr. Mesmer,

this discovery was made in the cellar
under the University

on the night between
Friday and Saturday. 7 rats.

Dr. Mesmer!

If you leave these premises
to carry out your plans,

it is my duty to inform you
that by such action

you will excommunicate yourself
from the Doctors' Syndicate.

From this moment on, you'll be
numbered among the patients.

Haven't you heard about
the fortifications around the city?

They've walled the doors and windows
in the outskirts of the city.

You won't be able to overcome
these obstacles.

I bought a goose to pickle.

DAY TWO
''THE LINE''

Then I'll boil it and bake it.

I also bought some truffles.

I don't know how I'll use them
just yet.

I've also got a fish to pickle.

It's all for the Saturday dinner.

Niels!

I understand you've settled
on bubonic plague.

Nice boil!

''And no matter how hard
and firm the boil might seem

it could rupture unexpectedly
to the victim's surprise

and spill forth a two-colored puss.

It was startling that the colors
didn't mix

and came out together but separated

by God's will, without compounding
into a third color''.

It seems to me I've seen that
in a tube of toothpaste.

I don't know if you can still get it.
It's called ''Signal''.

It was just like
ordinary white toothpaste

but there were
thin red stripes in it too.

So you got a two-color stripe
when you squeezed the tube.

Can our boils work like that?

Yeah, why not?

The weather report for
the second day of screenwriting

promised north-easterly winds
and the first frost of winter.

Many blamed the weather

for the wave of neck aches that came.

Others thought they had
influenza symptoms.

Headaches were nothing new
for the authors.

They often came in the wake of ideas.

One detail I'd like to include
is that after leaving the city,

which should burn behind him...

I really think it ought to.

After he leaves the city, that's when
the disease starts to spread,

because he brings it with him
in his doctor's bag.

OK, let's start.

Shall we call it ''In the City''?

- Or just ''City''?''
- ''In Town''. Yeah!

''In Town''.

And about here,
I think we ought to have

''Fortification''.

That will be hard to read.
''Fortification''.

And here we'll work our way out
to the countryside.

What else is there?

Oh, yeah. About here,
about two thirds of the way.

Here we need some drama.

Please write ''drama'' over there.

It's just that

that's when the audience
will think about leaving.

- So, we've got to...
- Put in some drama!

And this is right here.
The ''Wag''.

''Wag Tann''.

- If you don't mind.
- No. What does it mean?

Well, this bacteria
that's moving closer,

which we refer to constantly,

ought to be accompanied

by strains of Wagner.

The overture to Tannhauser.

He's an idealist.

So if we write ''Ideal'' in
the beginning, that's not a bad idea.

Right, let's write ''Ideal''.

We also ought to write
''Revelation'' here.

Just ''Rev.'' will do, maybe.

So, this basically
boils down to the young idealist

who leaves the fortified city,

which is sealed because
of the suspicion of the disease

that has spread nearby.

We can refer to the painted crosses
we talked about,

and people are imagining illnesses.

But the first real victim
of the disease

ought to be the far-sighted nurse,
don't you think?

Clearly the doctor

is somehow spreading the disease.

Without him and his idealism

there would be no problem at all.

An arrow. The revelation
leads to some religious ending.

Don't you think
it's about time for a small beer?

Oh, I think we could handle a beer.

A film ought to be
like a pebble in your shoe.

- Cheers!
- Cheers.

Kruff is here.

Ask him what kind of wine
to drink on Saturday.

He knows a lot about wine.

Some people can't drink wine
without a candle on the table.

Some people
can't live without a candle

especially when they drink good wine!
I'm not one of them.

It should have been decanted

to let it breathe.

The bouquet is fantastic.

Yes. Very fine indeed.

- It's also very precise.
- Yes.

It's a wine from...
Marquis d'Angerville.

It may be a Clos des Ducs.

There are snails in it!

Oh, it's leaking.

It's usually difficult to pour
from a bottle like this.

Well, doesn't look like it this time.

It's hard to see where the sediment
is sitting, though.

Now, if one chose one like this

as the red wine for the main course...

One's better off than if one
chose it as a white wine!

Yes, of course.

It would have to be
a great deal older for that.

Superb wine!

- A shame some was wasted.
- You've got a point there.

Well, if we had a white
and then drank this,

what white would you choose.

I suppose...

Well, there are two choices.
Either a Puligny- Montrachet

or a Mersault-Santenots.

D'Angerville also makes
Mersault-Santenots.

So, everything's kept in the family,
so to speak.

This Volnay Clos des Ducs

is better than it looks.

I'm very interested
in epidemic diseases.

Wasn't there a plague

that attacked the grapevine
in France

a few centuries ago?

In some cases

an Auslese can be attacked

by noble rot.

Dr. Thanisch's widow...

She was once married to a doctor.

He grew great wines!

I was once told

by a waiter at Lasserre in Paris...

He told me something.

A long time ago there had been
a plague of some kind in Bordeaux.

It didn't strike the bottled wines,
as it were,

but the grapes on the vine.

It wasn't really a plague...

It was a kind of vine pest.

Phylloxera.

I think the scientific name was
''Phylloxera vastatrix''

But it devastated French
wine production for years, right?

Yes, Philloxera is the pest
of all pests in that regard.

DAY THREE
''GERMANY''

What are you doing?

We're taking a trip to Germany.

I thought you'd be writing.

One, two, three,

four, five, six,

seven, eight, nine, ten.

We're driving through some
of the worst areas in Europe.

Or perhaps the most interesting.

All of Europe's industry is here

in big splotches on the map.

We'll drive through Dortmund
and Essen.

Then Duisburg, Krefeld.

Krefeld.

Neuss, Dusseldorf.

We'll also be going through
Remscheid, Solingen

and Leverkusen.

There's the headquarters
of Bayer Chemicals.

From there we'll head towards Cologne.

Our friend Mesmer
is on his way out

to the disease-ravaged Europe.

I think it's time for him

to meet somebody.

I think I'd like to suggest

that our friend here

meets a theologian.

We've discussed

the length of various
forms of education.

The fact that...

study for specific occupations

has become very short

in a society where one can plan
only a few hours ahead

because the disease spreads
at record speed.

Let's suppose that this theologian

has an education that took, say,
an hour and a half.

This gives us the opportunity
to make fun of religion

and of the educational system too.

That way

we can get a little humor
into the tragedy.

Something else...

during the plague people died
in a matter of hours

and were buried quickly.

In the rush,
some were buried alive.

It might be a good idea

if Mesmer's girlfriend, the nurse,

met this fate.

That would fit in
with Mesmer's mission.

On the third day the bacteria
was incubated in the soil.

The city could be divided into zones,
according to the degree of infection.

Modern transportation helped
the bacteria to spread quickly.

In a matter of hours, the germs
reach new parts of the globe.

Niels!

''Signal Plus''.

''Ideal for prevention''.

''Clinically tested''.

Thanks.

Now we'll reveal everything.

The secret!

It's rather firm.

I'll make

an incision here.

- Tough tube!
- I'll make an incision here.

Very tough indeed.
Maybe that's part of the secret.

And we open it up here
and we can now see

that there are no stripes inside.

The white stuff is down here

and the red's down here.

How do they combine?

Looks like a nozzle.

You've got a nozzle

in which the white stuff pulls
the red stuff along with it

out through the opening.

Yes!

- And that's the story of ''Signal''.
- ''Plus''.

- Hello.
- Hello. Come in.

Cheers.

So, what are you doing in Cologne?

Well, we're writing a script.

Here?

No, we're just here for a short time.

But how are you?

- My mother just died.
- I'm very sorry.

She told me things
she'd never told me before.

What things?

About the hospital,
the day I was born.

She told me the roof collapsed.

In the evening
she was in the hospital

and they were
collecting all the babies

back into a different room,

which my mother could see
from her room through a glass wall.

Then she told me she saw
a brick wall coming down,

and the nurse wanted to protect
the babies and jumped over it.

She was hit

and there was a blood stream
out of her head.

So, my mother

was completely left in this corner,
no way of getting out.

She was thinking, she told me,

and she started scratching with
her hands to make a hole in the wall.

And then she waved
and people helped her to get out.

And then she waved
and people helped her to get out.

Then she got out and she...

told me that she was
pressing me very strong to her.

She was in the hospital

in Richard Wagner Strasse.

She was trying to get away,
but everything was burning

because it was

the second English bombing
of Cologne.

As an experiment they were using
for the first time phosphor bombs.

Everything was burning

and she was just
getting away from all this.

She found herself all of a sudden
at this... you know the lake?

It's at the end
of Richard Wagner Strasse.

Yeah, I know where it is.

And if you go right to the end,
there's this water place.

And she got close to this,

and she told me then that she heard
first the noises,

people screaming,

and she saw a lot of people
under the water.

They were instinctively

going under the water,
because of this phosphor

that was burning their skins.

They were, you know, getting
their head out to breathe.

And then...

my mother told me a terrible thing.

She saw one hand

sticking out of the water.

She was very close
and could see the hand

and she said it was only flesh,
because all the skin was burned off.

And she didn't tell me all my life.

She waited until just before dying
to tell me the story.

Here we are.
This is the area.

And of course all those houses
were burning,

and also on this side.

You can't see from here very well.

Let's go over there,
we can see it better.

This is the place

where hundreds and hundreds of people
were standing in the water.

All those people screaming
in this lake.

They were not Nazis.
My mother was not a Nazi.

I think I know
what to call the disease.

I'm still not quite
used to being a priest.

You know, in half a day
you're a dentist.

It takes a whole day to become
an airline pilot

and in two you're a priest.

I studied for two days.

They gave me this book
and told me I was a priest.

I opened the book.

It was goddamn Latin.

I told them:
this book is goddamn Latin.

They told me I was
a Catholic priest.

What the hell.

A week ago

some 20 people tried to flee
the D.I.N. disease by going to sea.

They built an artificial island
with a couple of houses on it.

A few fields for crops.

Everything they needed.

But the island wasn't really
constructed to overcome a storm.

Yesterday, I was told someone found
a fragment of the wreck.

Wouldn't you call this a good
opportunity to perform a ritual?

Yes, over there.

The ceremony will begin.

Your passport, please.

Thank you.

DAY FOUR
''THE HOSPITAL''

- Where's Niels?
- He's at the hospital.

Did he forget to tell you?

But I don't think...

he'll be long.

He made the appointment ages ago.

- What's the matter with him?
- Don't ask me!

- You don't know what's wrong?
- I'm afraid not.

- Is it his head or his legs?
- His head, I'm afraid!

Things were still quiet
at the hospital on the fourth day.

The daily routine
was still functioning smoothly.

Nothing was amiss yet.

What's wrong?

I had some small growths that itched
and got bigger.

I've had them some time.
I had to have them removed.

It had been arranged for today.
I'd completely forgotten.

I don't particularly like
being sliced open.

I fainted when I saw the scalpel.

He cut really deep.

Well, if you feel up to
writing something...

OK.

I've certainly got the time.

- What about the inspiration?
- Oh, yes. Indeed.

Thanks.

I told Palle

we were writing a horror story.

He said you were welcome

to go down and visit him.

He's down in pathology,
if you're interested.

That's a nice offer...

Are you squeamish about dissections?

Don't you want to go?

I'm not too sure.

I think it'd be very interesting,

but unfortunately I can't go.

I just can't go, Niels.

It's not for me... no.

Take the lift to the basement.

There's a shuttle train.

Get on and ask for ''Pathology''.

Gown,

cap and mask

It's in there on the left.

There aren't any apparent symptoms.

No bodily functions impaired.

We only recently noticed

glandular tissue changes,

primarily in younger subjects.

The first case
was the day before yesterday.

12 cases yesterday.

We've also had a few today

with these tissue changes.
We call it ''granula''.

I think I'll examine the lymph nodes
in the groin,

or here in the back
of the sterno cleido.

If this is another case,
we ought to find something.

We don't usually carry out autopsies
with masks and gloves,

but this is a new phenomenon.

Its nature is unknown,
so we have to take precautions.

I'll make an incision here.

Thank you. Hold right here.

Look at this.

Two nodules the size of a pea.
Maybe even a bit smaller.

These are the largest
we've found up to now.

See, it's quite soft.
There you go!

They tell me the idiot doctors
set the city on fire.

How about that, Mesmer?

Caused quite a panic, they said.

The first believed D.I.N. victims

were found within the city limits.

So the doctors
set the infected areas on fire.

They know something about fire.

It's started spreading, Mesmer.

They tell me the fire has jumped
from the cathedral

to the University.

And from the University

to the museum,

which the idiot doctors took over
for administrative purposes.

Now organ boys
have fled to the library.

It's silly, Mesmer.

To close the city
and start playing with fire.

I guess the library is on fire too.

What the hell!

All a nigger needs
are loose shoes, tight pussies

and a warm place to shit!

DAY FIVE - ''THE DINNER''
(THE GIRLS FROM ATLANTIC CITY)

The authors had done what they could
on the last day.

They had invented
an incurable disease,

described its spread

and based their work
on the suffering of others.

The deed was done.

I saw a movie,
''The King of Marvin Gardens''.

It took place in Atlantic City.
Seems an exciting place.

So I thought I would...

get someone to write a book for me.

I'd like to see Atlantic City,
but I can't afford the trip.

I don't really want to go,

but I'd like to know
something about it.

Through knowledge by description.

Descriptions from others who
lived there. Or something like that.

I wanted to write about America
in a way similar to Kafka's.

His uncle
had supplied information about it.

But I'd do it
by information I received by letter.

So I chose a limited area,
Atlantic City,

found out the names
of the local papers and wrote to them.

In my letters
I pretended I was a 16-year-old

and got appropriate answers.

Most of them
were from 13- to 16-year-old girls.

I got a whole load of letters.

So many girls.

About 70.

I answered all of them
and used teenage handwriting.

I kept copies of my letters.

''I was happy to receive your letter.
Thanks very much!''

''I'd better start telling
a little about myself.''

Then I asked her...

''I would also like to know what kind
of candy you've got in your city.''

And got a detailed description
of a Hershey bar.

But you had to stop writing
at a certain point, didn't you?

Yeah, I'd got to the point where
I couldn't continue.

It was too much after they'd described
their carpets 17 times.

''Dear, Niels.
How's everything been with you?

I really missed
receiving a letter from you

and I thought the reason
was that either my letter to you

or yours to me never arrived.

I sure hope that's the reason,

because I want to continue
corresponding with you.

I hope there wasn't some kind of
problem in your family

which made you not write me back.

I have quite a lot to tell you

and hope to receive a letter from you
very shortly. Your friend, Lisa''.

I didn't write to her long.
She was slower than the others.

In her first letter she said
she was coming to Copenhagen

in about two weeks.

She found my phone number
and called.

I met her at her hotel.

She was touring Europe with her aunt.

She was 14, but looked 25!

She even had a little black mustache.

And I had to sit there and...

they asked me questions
as if I was 16.

So I had to act like a 16-year-old.

Tell them about my school,
my homework and all that.

It was a little embarrassing.

It wasn't much fun.
We sat in the lobby

on this hotel furniture

right next to the guy
who gives out the keys.

As we talked
the aunt watched us like a hawk.

I styled my hair
so I'd look younger.

But maybe I'd gone too far,
so I said:

''I must be getting home.

''I have some homework to do!''

This is a recording of my voice.

I just thought
I'd like to talk to you for a while.

I'm listening to the radio in my room.

It's a bit loud,
I'll turn it down a little.

I really like writing to you.

Because it gives me
something to do and look forward to.

I don't know, It's nice to learn about
people who are different from you,

because when you're born some place
and you live there all your life,

you don't get exposed to a lot of
different kinds of people or places.

So, the only way to do that
is going there

or get them to come here, or writing
back and forth.

And, since my father won't let me
come over there in the near future,

I'll keep writing. But one day,
when I'm in Europe, I'll look you up.

Then you'll see what I look like,
'cause those pictures are no good.

You don't look like
what I thought you'd look like.

No, you do not look like
what I thought you'd look like.

Let me see, how did I picture you?

First of all, you look older
than you are. How old are you?

I remember I sent you that article...

You look older than that.

You look about 20, 21.

Are you goddamn talkin' to me?

Well, oh. I just didn't think
you'd look like that.

I didn't know what you looked like.

Here I am here sitting on the floor.

My mother's calling me... asking me
about something I didn't do.

She can go right ahead,
I never do anything wrong.

If you want you can tape right
on this one and send it back to me.

You don't have to keep this,
you can erase right over my voice.

It's not going to be worth anything.

- Hi, Claus. Come in.
- Thanks.

We're sitting in there.

- Can I take your windbreaker?
- No, thanks. I'll keep it on.

Let's start with some champagne.

a Salon blanc de blanc.

- Cured coalfish.
- What did you say?

- Cured coalfish!
- Sounds great.

Well cheers! And welcome home.

- Cheers!
- Thanks.

Terrific, hey?

You know, it's not a script
in the traditional sense.

It's the written result
of a year and a half's work.

- Er... yes...
- Twelve pages?

Well, consider it...

the technical description
of the plot.

The skeleton of the film?

We were thinking
of presenting the film

in a less traditional way.

- We planned a surprise.
- What sort of surprise?

We've invited some people over.

They'll help us put the script
in the right perspective.

Well, I'm not against that.

Let me just say

that we've invested
a lot of money in this

and I've invested
a lot of trust in you guys.

And there's a board of directors

running the film industry

in this little country!

Their rule is

you've got to have a script
of at least 150 pages.

How is it?

I think it's great.

Nothing better than fresh truffles...

Their scent fills a home.

Yeah, great flavor.

I'm crazy about truffles.

They've got to be fresh, mind you.

There are several varieties.

There are sinners
who put them in tins.

- Then they become inedible.
- Don't exaggerate.

- They lose their taste.
- That is true.

Well.

Let me tell you something

about the film ''Epidemic''.

Or rather, let me explain the ending.

Our hero Mesmer, after traveling
in the infected environment

is entrenched
in this underground cave.

Niels thinks he ought to make
a mosaic down there,

but that's just a detail.

After everyone else around him dies,

he hides in a cave to avoid infection.

That's when he discovers
he's the disease carrier.

He breaks out of the cave

by crawling a long steep passage

and comes up,
kneels down and thanks God

for the life which once had been.

He crawls out of a cave
and thanks God?

Yes.

That's pathetic!

I was expecting a little more action!

A classic tragedy

where all
the main characters eventually die.

''God almighty, I'm dying!''
Know what I mean?

People do die, but not on the screen.

You'd rather have a bloodbath?

A 12-page script
with this kind of finale!

I'm worried.

I was expecting something different.

Well in films,
Danish films in particular,

that's what fate has forced me
to work with,

there are lots of stories

where people don't die,

or fewer people die than ought to die.

And there are fewer screams and
not as much blood as one would like.

Things just ebb away, don't they?

As if an evening fog rolled in
and everything just faded away.

We're waiting for our guests.

- Why didn't you tell me?
- It was a surprise.

In ''The Plague'', Camus
writes about a bookkeeper,

a great artist
who tried to write a book.

For decades he writes the same lines

about a horse coming down a boulevard.

He never got any further.

I think you ought to open it.

This is Gitte and Svend Hamann.

This is Lars, and this is Claus
from the Film Institute.

This is Suzanne.
Please, sit down.

- Sit down here.
- Thanks.

- Coffee?
- No, thanks.

May we start?

Gitte, just relax and listen.

Please, be quiet.
It must be quiet when we start.

No talking or moving, OK?

Gitte, relax and look at me.

Just relax.
You're closing your eyes.

You will hear everything
I'm saying to you.

Concentrate on my voice.
Think about sleeping.

You will fall asleep now.

Just think about sleeping.

Slump in the chair.
Just slump down.

Your head is getting heavy.

Now sleep. Sleep.

You are sleeping deeper and deeper.

Deeper and deeper.

You are now sleeping deeper.

You are in deep sleep.

You feel fine. You relax.
All unpleasant noise disappears.

All unpleasant noise disappears.

You hear everything I say to you

but can't hear what I'm saying
to the others.

You only hear what I say to you.

Now you are in a deep sleep.

A deep, deep, sleep.

Now listen to me and concentrate.

You have read the words.

Go into the film.
Go into ''Epidemic''.

I'm walking down the street.

What do you see?

There are people.

They look terrible.

They're...

They're screaming.

They're screaming loudly!

They... cry out!

What are they crying out?

They scream.

For God's help, I think.

They cry for help.
They're afraid.

And there are rats.

Rats with very long tails.

Tails longer than their bodies.

Everyone walks on their own,

no one wants to talk.

They're afraid of each other.

Scared of infection and death.

They're in terrible suffering.

It... it hurts me.

On some of the houses

large crosses are painted.

Because illness has reached them.

There may be

dead people inside.

Go in the house!

She's covered with boils...

She's lying there... staring.

The children begin to whine softly.

They're so terribly frightened.

Are there other sick people
in the house?

The husband jumps up.

He starts removing
the children's clothes.

They look even worse...

They're almost black.

There are people across the street.

They are sick.

The carriage...

That man is throwing people off.

20, 30, 40... I can't count.

Just throwing them off.

There are holes everywhere.

Full of children!

Human bodies.

They're dying on the streets.

They lie everywhere and they die!

We all fall down!

We all fall down!