Original subtitles

THE CONDEMNED OF ALTONA

It's this gray smudge.

It hurts right here.

It's like a drop of oil.

You don't know where it'll spread to.

If only we would've known....

Why didn't you come see us? It must have hurt a lot.

The statistics on this theme are highly variable.

There've been cases where a partial cure has been possible...

-...which has improved the patients' conditions significantly. -How long?

-It's a little early to say. - How long? I want to know.

Five years is the average for children with laryngeal cancer,

...in around 40 or 45 percent of all cases.

And how long would you say I've got left in my case?

-It'd be impossible to say... - years?

months?

It'd be better not to try and count it in years.

Six months?

Sure, you could say you've got six months.

The voice? Will the illness impact my voice?

It has already started effecting it.

Come sit down here.

Look... we need to have faith.

Ask me for anything, anything but faith.

Turn to the right, please.

Two or three months are all I need to do what I need to do.

But you must guarantee me that I'll be able to speak.

I will need to be able to speak until my final hour.

Mr Gerlach!

Here's something that might interest you...

THE GERMAN GIANTS

Think back fondly about Franz.

The Japanese delegation has already arrived.

You'll have to receive them tomorrow.

The delegate from NATO wants to know if May will work out for you.

I'll receive him next week.

But he's written that he did not plan on arriving in Hamburg any earlier.

Let him come next week!

-He'll want to know why... -He doesn't need to know.

Yes, sir.

Gelbert!

Go get my son, Werner, in Dusseldorf.

If you can't find him at his office, he'll be sure to be at the theater.

At the theater,

...with his wife: what's her name?

Johanna Muller.

((They're playing "The Referendum" from TERROR AND MISERY OF THE THIRD REICH by Bertolt Brecht))

At this time Hitler is entering Vienna.

It's like an ocean: that's what they are.

Listen to them howling.

They're like 20,000 drunks, trashed from drinking other people's labor.

It's a plebiscite; the people, the Reich, and the Fuhrer.

Do you agree, Germany?

Is this a plebiscite where we can't even distribute leaflets?!

-Neither here nor in Hamburg, the workers' city. - Who says?

It's too dangerous.

- What's that? -a copy of a letter.

I'll take advantage of this commotion to have a read.

"My dear son: tomorrow I will no longer exist.

"executions usually happen around 6.

"but I'm writing you so that you know my ideas haven't changed.

"I've requested no pardon, because I've committed no crime.

"I have done nothing but to serve my class.

"And though it might seem so, it's not true that we achieved nothing.

"Let each stand in his place, That's the watchword.

"Our work is difficult, but it is the greatest work there is.

"To free men from their oppressors.

"Because life is worthless if it doesn't satisfy that condition.

"If we don't keep it in our minds always, all of humanity will fall into barbarity.

"Though you are still small, it won't hurt if you get used...

"...to always thinking about what side you're on.

"You must be loyal to your class...

"...so your father won't have suffered his hard fate in vain.

"Because it's not an easy thing. Take care...

"And also take care of mother and your little brothers,

"...since you're the oldest.

"Be an upright, real man.

"I send you all an embrace;

"...your father that loves you so much."

What have we to tell them?

That we're going to write about the plebiscite in our leaflet?

Just one word:

No!

OK!

Tomorrow at 10, the whole company will come back for the final rehearsal.

-They want to see him. - Who?

-My father. - Your father!

I haven't talked to him. I got a note from Gelbert.

If they wanted to talk to you they should've asked you directly.

Well it wasn't like that; if they do, it better be something important.

I actually think it really is.

This is your last night of testing.

There're still a few days left before you make your debut in Hamburg.

- Why don't you go alone? -We're both wanted.

And I'm asking you too.

You well know what I think of him.

Sure, I know what you think. But how do you think I feel about him?

Basically everything I ever did was a reaction to the way he works.

I know him and I know how he treats people.

I well know how he's treated me.

But he's my father.

Pardon me, my dear.

You're right.

- You coming, then? - Are we going in a car?

-Of course. -Tonight.

Germany is quite beautiful at night.

-He'll be here in three minutes. - How do you know?

-Our father always arrives ten minutes late. - Why?

-He wants people to fear him. - Enough already!

He's going to die.

-Old man Hindenburg is gonna die. -I don't believe it.

-It's true. - From what?

Throat cancer.

-I don't believe you. -Ask him yourself.

Seven ten. You can get up now.

Thanks, my girl.

OK. She should have told you everything already.

Did she tell you? That's why I left you alone with her for a minute.

-Have a seat. Now let's get down to it, no drama. - Dad!

-No drama. - Can't anything be done?

I'll be dead soon. I'll be dead soon,

-...no doubt about it. -but today, with all the advances we've made...

Six months will be more than enough to take care of everything.

But how can you say it will be only six months?

You think I'd give in to the caprice of a few cells?

I, that makes steel navigate the ocean?

-They've given me six months to live and then... -Then what?

Don't worry. The rest is my business.

You will take care of the details of my funeral.

I hope you enjoyed our city, Altona, my dear.

Look at her, Werner. You too Leni.

She's the only one with tears in her eyes.

Here in Altona we don't cry.

As for the comp...

As for the company, it's just an accidental thing.

-And then things will be brought to their natural state. - Who by?

By Werner; you'll be director of the company.

I'll make you one of the inheritors of this whole world.

Why have you made this decision?

-Because you're the only male heir. -That's not true.

Not me, Franz. Franz has all the necessary qualities, not me.

Except for one...

since he's dead.

- Gelbert! Why not, Gelbert? - Gelbert!

-I've been with you 25 years. -An employee of yours.

I'm going to pass down an empire to you. Biggest company in Europe.

What's your answer?

Your son is a good lawyer, Mr. Gerlach.

Maybe he'd rather be a good lawyer than be a mediocre emperor.

The children you'll have will inherit it all. It's a great power.

You don't have the right to deny it to them.

My children, if I have any, will get what they deserve...

...and not because they're given it.

Give the Gerlach inheritance to someone else. I'm not sure about taking my share

"The inheritance," I see.

I'm not asking for an immediate answer. Stay a few days.

It's the last wish of an old father.

Leni will take you to your residence. We'll see each other at lunch, my dear.

As that Prussian teacher of yours said: Werner may be the smallest of the Gerlach family, but he's the stubbornest.

My dear, you don't look to be drinking any of this fine wine.

-I just got it, and it's an excellent Moselle harvest. -Oh, pardon me.

-That's why you don't want to. -Thank you.

You've spoken about the Gerlach inheritance. Tell me, do you still remember your grandma?

A bit.

Your grandma used to insist on having a pair of oxen in the garden...

...and a few pi...

And a few pigs in the corral, as a precaution in case a scarcity hit.

Even when her husband built the first shipyard, she expanded her garden area,

...just in case business went sour.

This is the only Gerlach inheritance that I know of:

...prepare yourself for tomorrow. Work is a way of praying.

Take responsibility for your workers.

Serve the government that is in power.

Is there something bad about this inheritance?

Answer me, Werner: is there something wrong?

-Yes, there might be. - What's that?

We're used to forgetting what happened in Germany between 1933 and 1945.

I don't agree with that.

What do we have to do with 1933 and 1945?

- Gerlach did a lot of business. -We served the government that was in power.

Yes... a government that specialized...

...in committing crimes, invading and destroying the rest of the world.

I'm curious: how old were you when the war ended?

-12. -so then, how can you know what happened?

-I know enough. -How's that?

Maybe it was your father. What did he say? What did your parents believe in?

They were a thousand percent nazis, mr. Gerlach.

Nothing otherworldly. Petty bourgeois types that followed and applauded Hitler...

...who went to the parades and screamed the songs like everyone else.

they sewed a swastika on my dress, when I was only 10 years old.

I found out what the swastika meant later on; it meant killing.

I've never forgiven them that.

Today it's normal that we are all raised as the children of criminals.

I don't see what advantage can be drawn from it.

Remember what Goethe said:

Those that do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

And we'll repeat it if that's the way it is.

I suppose there's more morality in the theater.

Yes, exactly.

Did Franz think like you?

Franz? No!

Franz was like you: he carried the world on his back.

too much weight!

- Was he a nazi? -Noooo.

- Franz? Franz couldn't stand them. -I read in "Der Spiegel" that...

All a bunch of nonsense.

Franz is a real mystery to me.

Why was he accused of being a Criminal at Nuremberg?

Don't you think we've spoken enough for today?

- Have a little more wine? -No, thanks.

I never knew your property was so vast.

Johanna, we better go back. It's starting to get cold.

What's that?

This part of the property was rented out to the government.

- To the government? -To the government, to Himmler.

Himmler!

-so then it was a... -...a concentration camp.

My father had no choice. Himmler needed land for his prisoners.

there wasn't much room in the camp.

A little more to the East and West, the same prisoners would have had to deal with the same guards...

...and we would have become enemies of the government.

-There. -I'm sorry... I didn't want you to see that.

Let's go back. It's really getting cold out.

In the nighttime tribunal...

...you will think about who you are.

I have been myself. Myself... and this war.

I've carried the whole century on my back, and have said:

I will answer for it, today and forever.

Centuries of the future, this is my century.

The accused is deformed and alone.

My client tears at his chest with his nails.

This, which looks like lymph, is blood.

There are no more red blood cells because the accused is dying of hunger.

But I will tell him the secret behind these various wounds.

A century...

Leni, you say it. Speak out loud, and enunciate clearly. Speak!

- Franz! - Speak!

testify before the judges, before the corpse of murdered Germany.

-Franz. -before the crayfish.

Testify.

Everything's in ruins.

- Louder! -Everything's in ruins.

- What's left of Munich? -A bunch of thugs.

- And Hamburg? -It's no man's land.

- Where are the last of the Germans? -In the basement.

And the children?

The children are looking for food. They rummage through the garbage.

Did you hear that? children in the garbage.

Say it! Say it! Say it!

Twelve years ago, all that was here were ruins:

a mountain of twisted steel and the remains of boats,

...the remains of war.

The intelligent allies decided that we were not fit...

...to direct our own shipyards.

But only we could work this miracle,

...in twelve years, Werner.

- And so, what? -Dad...

...I don't approve of everything you believe in...

...and I can't accept that kind of power.

-Mr. Gerlach. -Gelbert.

-Mr. Gerlach. -Mr. Gelbert.

The representative from NATO says he can't come until April.

tell him...

Tell him we'll accept the Russians' request.

That'll make them hurry up.

-He's thinking about negotiating. -No, we'll serve each other.

To decide the fate of a hundred thousand men...

... how can you do that?

you'll learn soon enough!

-But I don't want to. I wouldn't know where to start. - why not?

-I can't give anyone orders. -Why not?

-when I look a man in the eye, I'm incapable of giving him an order. - Why?

Because I feel that he is my equal.

Look at him above his eyes, here. You'll only see bone.

I'll give you the formula.

If you need to give orders, think of yourself as someone else.

-I can't think I'm someone else. -Wait for me to die.

After a week, you'll think that you're like me.

Let's see now...

...now we're going to give our final contribution to the Western Allies.

I've visited the attic.

I saw the guest you have hidden there.

Franz! Franz is alive!

Franz died in Argentina four years ago.

We received his death certificate in 1958.

Go to the Altona Records Office. they'll show it to you.

I've seen him.

I've seen him!

I'd already imagined you'd find him,

-...but I didn't expect it to be so soon. How long has he been there?

For 15 years.

- Are you nuts? -No, I'm not nuts.

How is he?

- You don't know? -No.

I never go see him.

He doesn't want to see me.

-What'll you do if the authorities find out? -I'm not worried about the authorities.

You sure about that?

My dear, with an administration which is still comprised of people who favored a law...

..that punished non-aryans with death, just for existing, or even for having sexual relations with aryans...

...I'm not afraid at all of what would happen if they found Franz. No!

I'm not even worried that the Americans might find him.

He'd even put them in their place.

That's not the problem.

Mr. Gerlach, what part would you have Werner and I play in this comedy?

Just to provide him with champagne and oysters.

He loves oysters.

Good bye. Good Day.

It'll be you and Werner's job to bury him.

And when you find him, among the empty shells...

and empty champagne bottles...

You'll have to bury him... in the garden.

In silence.

Once we were great friends.

Maybe they've forgotten me now...

It was a family secret. I know it's stupid, but it's something that...

I've heard said since I was five.

One mustn't discuss family issues with any stranger at all...

...no matter who. Not even your own wife.

I would've liked to say that to you, I don't know how many times...

If it had all been up to me...

You understand, don't you?

-I'm trying to... -Please.

What's with the hiding in this house? What did he do in Smolensk?

- How much could it really matter? - What do you mean, how much!

It happened so long ago!

Werner, do you know what those officers did on the Russian front?

Do you have any idea of the cruelty they're accused of perpetrating?

He's insane. How can he answer for his actions?

-You think he's insane? -Of course he is.

-But your father doesn't. -No, but that's understandable. He can't bring himself to believe it.

How could he be, since he's flesh of his flesh, pupil of his eye?

The final duty of a Gerlach is to go insane.

- You never see him? -No.

He can't stand to be around anyone but Leni...

I don't like to think about how he would be in his private intimacy.

-Benzedrine. -That's enough, now... - Benzedrine!

Four.

Four.

- What do you feel? -Nothing.

Your heart is beating really strongly.

What'd you expect?

-I hear someone. -Franz.

There's someone out there.

There's nobody... for now.

-They're preparing a coup. - Where? Washington? Moscow?

Right here, beneath your feet.

Right in the earth beneath!

My father's about to die.

Why talk about our father? He'll bury us all.

You're in danger. Your life's been in danger since yesterday morning.

-Well it's your job to help me then. - Yes, but with your help too.

I don't have time I'm writing history...

...and you come around here to bore me with minor things.

- Do we have an enemy in this house? -I think so.

- Who? -Werner's wife.

- Werner's wife? the hunchback? - Yes, she's sticking her nose in everything.

Give her rat poison.

-They know our secret knock. -They can't know it...

I'm sure they've figured it out, since now I'm being spied on...

-...by the occupation forces.

The occupation forces!

-I'm sure dad knows it, too. - Ah! He's in the conspiracy too?

Who knows? They'll come in here and bust both of us.

No, they won't use force. They'll convince us to turn ourselves in.

We have to change the secret knock.

-Franz, we have to change it. -No.

Everything's in order now. History is sacred.

-If just a single comma is changed, there'll be nothing left. - Franz!

We have to change the secret knock.

Please, I'm begging you!

Don't get close to me. Keep a respectful distance. No emotions.

-"No emotions"! -Keep a respectful distance.

Neither of us can live like this without getting overexcited.

-And you know it. - Get out of here!

-I'll be back. -There's no point. I won't open the door for you.

Well, I'll try anyway.

- Who are you? -Werner's wife.

- Who sent you? -Nobody.

How did you know the secret knock?

-I just did what Leni did. - Leni!

I was hidden here and I counted the knocks.

Why've you come here?

-To know the truth. -The truth!

What do they think? That I'm crazy?

Or maybe they think it's easy to just forget?

Or do they think I've spent so many years living here for nothing?

- Huh? -Please... turn out the light.

- Is it better like this? -Yes.

Where are they? Outside?

No.

Are you afraid?

No.

Do you have any idea what you're risking by coming here?

Do you know how long it's been since I've seen anyone?

And how do you know I won't just pull off your dress straps

...and take your sweet little spy's body for myself?

How do you know?

Put it back on. Cover up that merchandise.

Doesn't it bother you that there are women and children dying of hunger in the streets?

- What? -Disease. Disease and hunger. Children rummaging through trash.

The pills are in the bottle over there on the nightstand.

Give them to me... Please!

Benzedrine.

Why do you take benzedrine?

So I can be able to stand having you around.

Four at once!

And another four just a little while ago. That makes eight.

You'd like to shut me up and deceivethe thirtieth century with fraudulent documents.

But I've got it all figured out. Everything is recorded on these cassettes...

- What is it that you've recorded? -The flavor of my century.

- What for? -For the thirtieth century.

What are you so concerned with the thirtieth century for?

It's all that matters to me.

They will be the ones to judge us, and I'm warning you..

...the decapods are watching us. And they'll find us quite dirty.

the decapods?

The inhabitants of the thirtieth century.

How do you know they'll think we're so dirty?

They're crabs.

And crabs only like other crabs.

It's only natural.

What will become of men?

In the thirtieth century, if there's any one man left, he'll be kept in a Museum.

Eat one; I haven't spiked them. They come in a box.

No. Take a cross instead; it's made of Swiss chocolate.

What are you doing here?

-I'm trying to find the truth. -"Madam", my father sent you.

I know it.

Tell old man Hindenburg that it's use- less, and to remember the young rabbi

Tell him to remember! Courage!

The truth! Ask what you wish.

If you're so vain and full of pride for all you've done,

then what are you hiding out in here for?

First of all, I'm not hiding.

If I wanted to leave, I would've gone to Argentina long ago.

Why do you stay here?

There used to be a window... right here.

-It looked out on what used to be our little park. - There was one?

Yeah, I had it bricked up.

There are things happening out there;

...things I don't want to have to see.

- What things? -The murder of Germany.

-I've seen the ruins. - When?

When I came back from Russia.

- When? -After the war.

-Sixteen years have passed. -Already.

Nothing's changed?

No, it just gets worse and worse: hour after hour.

- How do you know? -Leni tells me.

You read the newspapers?

Leni reads them to me.

The destroyed cities, the destroyed downtowns,

the factories in ruins,

...more and more heart attacks and tuberculosis,

...the dropping birth rate. Nothing escapes me.

My sister copies the statistics down for me and I record them all on this.

The most beautiful crime in all history.

I've got all the proof.

Maybe that way you'll understand why I don't want to be there to see the massacre.

I don't want to walk out there, among the destroyed cathedrals and burnt factories...

I won't go visit the families murdered in their basements.

I won't walk among whores, traitors, cripples and slaves.

Maybe you've gotten used to seeing it, but I can't stand it.

Every time we save an enemy's life, even if it's in the cradle,

...a life of our own remains standing.

We are guilty, we're crabs. Not for what we've done,

...but for the crimes we could've committed and failed to commit.

Believe you me, I was enough of a honorable soldier that I should've gone nuts...

but once the German people had accepted the abject agony that's been imposed on them...

I decided that a voice had to remain to shout to the world, no! no!

Not Guilty! No! Not Guilty! No!

-Hide there. -Why do I have to hide?

We have no other choice; please.

-The door wasn't closed -No.

- Why? - Why so many questions?

- What's going on with you now? -I wish to dine alone. Get out!

Did something happen to you?

-I'll come back afterwards. -I know you'll be back.

She'll be back in a moment.

And you, will you be back?

Yes, I'll come back.

-What's your name? -Johanna.

Remember this:

...you have committed treason.

We are in opposite camps,

...but it's also true that here,

...in this residence,

...you will always be something very beautiful.

Werner! Franz!

Forgive me.

Should've been sleeping...

- What are you doing up so late? -Waiting. -For what?

A few footsteps.

Franz's.

It's all that's left of him for me now.

- Do you think I'm crazy too? -Well, ...not very smart.

The last of the Gerlach family, last of the monsters... always a traitor

Why don't you want to see him, Mr. Gerlach?

He told me to tell you to remember the young rabbi.

What's that mean?

-So you've seen him. -Yes.

What's he talking about with the young rabbi?

Franz's memories haven't left him after all.

In '39..

...the government wanted to buy a plot of land from us that we weren't cultivating:

...the camp behind the evergreen hill.

Franz went to take a look and was very disturbed.

Seventeen years old and believing in the dignity of man.

Talk to me, Mr. Gerlach. About yourself.

You...?

Do you believe in human dignity?

Long ago the affronts that man can commit against his fellow man ceased to surprise me.

He was an escaped prisoner...

...that Franz took home with him.

-The SS came. - How did the SS find out?

There was a servant, a chauffeur, who was a real nazi.

And he was the one who called in the SS?

We'll never really know.

Those are the kinds of things that happened at that time in Germany.

The fact that they killed the Rabbi right in front of him...

How many times have I told you: "You have to quit carrying the world on your shoulders"!?

Leave it alone. Deal with your own life.

Today it's mine, but tomorrow it'll be yours.

In less than 20 years you'll own ships sailing in every sea.

Who will remember Hitler then?

You never feel remorse about the camp on the hill?

- Don't you ever lose sleep over it? -No.

What for? Why should I? Is it my responsibility?

Himmler was looking for a plot of land outside of Hamburg.

Suppose someone else would have sold it to him, a little more to the East or West...

...it would've been the same prisoners suffering under the same guards.

And you would've made yourself powerful enemies in the government.

You too have fallen victim to one of our nation's illnesses...

...a lack of imagination to understand other people's suffering.

I allow myself the luxury of imagining suffering only when I can do something about it.

Franz has some imagination about him. He's convinced that Germany's been destroyed,

...whereas in reality it is the richest country in Europe.

Sometimes you have to believe something false if it helps you to live.

Sometimes I think you are a lot like Germany itself; burying the truth

...together with Franz and his champagne bottles.

Do you like the truth so much?

It's a bomb that might go off in your hands at any moment.

-It'd be better if it blew up, then. -Can you handle the truth?

The truth about you and Werner?

What truth?

The man you think Werner is...

...is a whole reality of its own in turn.

Good night, Mr. Gerlach.

So...

-... Does he know? - Does he know what? -That I'm sick.

- Who? - Franz!

I forgot to tell him.

Make a knot in that handkerchief then.

That way you won't forget.

I'll have to wait for the right moment.

And when it happens, can I ask that you find some way that I can see him?

He doesn't want to see you. Why should I force myself to do something you couldn't do fifteen years ago?

I don't know, you tart. I don't know a thing..

You can't open your mouth without lies coming out.

I won't let you change my letters. I want you to formulate my questions.

Sometimes I ask myself whether you haven't convinced him that I died ten years ago.

The truth is right up there. Go on up and find out.

Go on up! Go ahead!

did you bring it?

The picture of my brother.

I wouldn't have recognized him. How nice!

Quite a handsome man.

congrats!

Let's see, now... tell me a bit about your life in Dusseldorf.

At eight thirty, dinner.

At ten, everyone leaves.

Private talk with your husband.

At eleven o'clock at night, nighttime cleanup.

At midnight you get together in bed.

How do you sleep? In two different beds?

Yes.

And in which of the two do you make love?

Sometimes in the one, other times in the other.

And don't you sometimes take those few liberties that make life...

-...in Dusseldorf tolerable? -Excuse me.

Wait!

Take the photo....

-...And tell your husband this ...from me. - What's that?

Tell him...

Tell him that I'm... jealous of him.

Why?

Jealous of his freedom,

his smile...

...his wife,

...his clean conscience.

-He has an advantage over you. - What's that?

He's always lived among the people.

How astute old man Gerlach is!

- Why do you say that? -I know him well, as if he had given birth to me.

But to tell the truth I don't know who gave birth to who.

When I try to think about what they're up to, I really wring out my brain over it...

...and it still works fine. The first thought that comes to me is about him.

I feel like he's telling me: "above all you have to be beautiful".

He knows that beauty is what I prize the most in this world, apart from my own madness.

Are you lovers?

No.

Ah, then just accomplices. He's getting old.

-He's dying. - What?

He's dying.

What a vulgar little joke.

He'll be dead in less than six months.

Leni... Leni says that he's the strongest of all of us.

Live or die... what the hell does it matter to me?

He's up all night, trying to get to listen to your steps.

Poor, dear old man. What hasn't he done for me?

And look what he's done to me!

What are you trying to say?

Did you remind him about the young rabbi?

Yes.

What did he say?

He said you saved a prisoner from the camp. -What else?

-That the SS came. - What else?

Nothing else.

He didn't tell you that it was he himself that called the SS?

He himself?

Old Hindenburg... made a deal with Goebbels.

Don't touch my dear son, take the Jew instead.

Little prince, my dear little prince...

Why do you want to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders?

What did he tell you about the forced labor, when there were ever fewer willing workers?

About the Gerlach ships built with blood?

You're not in a house, you're in a den of crabs.

Is that why you want to believe that Germany has been destroyed?

To atone for what your father did?

And you, what would you have me believe?

That Germany is blooming again?

That we're riding the crest of a wave of prosperity?

That the children are as fat as pigeons?

Tell me that Germany's about to die.

Say it! Say it! Say it!

Get out!

Six months?

Yes.

The heart?

The throat.

Cancer!

Thirty cigarettes a day! What a fool!

Told him so.

Everyone told him so. And regardless the old mini-Fuhrer kept right on.

it's suicide.

What's this?

A gift for you.

What do you want?

I brought this for you.

- Where'd the candles come from? -Count them.

There are four, right?

-You're 34 years old now. -I will be on Feb. 15.

-Today is the 15th of February. -"Franz"!

- Was it you that wrote my name? -Who else?

Glory!

Pure candy coated glory.

One... two...

Three...four!

Burn slow, o candles!

and whilst you burn,

...I too am slowly consumed.

Do you like our dear sister in law?

Did you think I didn't know that these past three days she's been coming to see you?

Do you find her beautiful?

- And you? -Beautiful as death.

How strange of you to say that!

-I thought the same. -This cup's yours.

To her health!

-You seem jealous. -I don't feel a thing. - No?

It'd be a bit quick.

Too quick.

GOD IS ON OUR SIDE

-Don't hurt her. -Hurt her?

You think maybe I haven't worried about you these last 13 years?

Did I ask you to hug me so tightly?

And all I get are insults.

I fed you, washed you, dressed you and protected you against everyone.

Fine, so I owe it all to you.

Everything!

Well, then, drink to my health.

To you!

What do you want to happen to me?

I don't want anything to happen to you!

I don't think you fully know how to appreciate my encounters with the Russians and Americans.

Werner, we'll have to go now if we want to get there on time.

We'll go to Hamburg, OK, but I'll have to come back here.

I still have ... some business to deal with.

Why don't you tell her?

Why don't you have enough courage to tell her the truth?

We'll take advantage of the occasion when the Argentine boat is launched,

...to announce that Werner will be taking charge after me.

What kind of industrial administrator do you think Werner is going to be?

Thomas Edison, I.G. Farben....

...or maybe just the ghost of Albert Gerlach.

I have another candidate to propose to take over the shipyards:

...Franz Gerlach.

Why are you laughing?

Gerlach Shipyards is still not an asylum for criminals.

What do you know about it?

Who told you he isn't cured yet?

Ask your wife.

She's gone in to visit him every day when you're gone.

So?

You're in love with him.

How can you think such a thing?

Women always did fall in love with him,

...ever so easily.

You're playing around with my father.

That's all that matters to you.

He wants Franz to be boss. That's what he's always wanted.

And you? What do you want, Werner?

I have a right to the business. I want it to become mine.

Franz doesn't deserve it.

I worked hard all these years to earn a position,

...to be able to make it somewhere.

To make it, Werner? To make what?

You're Werner Gerlach, remember that; you aren't your father.

You're not like everyone else, you don't chase after power.

Now I don't even know what you believe in, or even what humanity itself can trust in...

Who do you think you are, talking to me like that...

...looking down on the rest and judging from on high?

You think I have no scruples?

You think I approve of what my father does?

There are a lot of different kinds of companies...

Every time I see a Mercedes Benz, I smell the stink of the gas chambers.

But what does it matter what I think?

The people... like you and I, we aren't important.

I'm no hero; you have to love me as I am.

I loved you Werner... because you were different from the rest.

Now I'll have to get used to accepting you like this.

I'll need time... and I'm very scared.

Leni said it to me...

...and maybe she was right.

You're really your true self here.

"Werner is really his true self, when he's at home".

Flowers!

- What? -Flowers.

Is he bothering you, miss?

Oh, no, no!

Thank you, they're very pretty.

- What's his name? -Heinrich. - Oh!

And what will Heinrich be when he grows up?

He'll work in the Shipyards. Mr. Gerlach promised.

6:31 -- one minute past eternity.

It took me five years to put this living space outside of time itself.

And all you needed was a moment to bring it all right back.

I find this gift of yours quite suspicious.

I came to say goodbye.

I'm leaving

We haven't had much time to get to know each other too well.

But I've learned this from you:

...that one can wear a uniform like you do and still not forget.

And that one can seek truth while looking at the past...

...and living a lie.

- Where are you going? -Back to the theater. - what theater?

Hamburg theater.

There aren't any theaters left in Hamburg. They've all been destroyed.

There are five theaters in Hamburg.

It's not true.

It's not true!

You're not the only one living a lie.

A lot of people in this world live a lie.

There's a school book in Germany written for little children

That says that Hitler was like Napoleon.

Like Napoleon!

It also says it's impossible to know how many of his enemies died;

but that it's probable that there were many... that there were probably many.

For the first thirteen years of my life all they told me were lies.

But I won't accept any more lies now!

When I think about the faces of the People, applauding Hitler...!

When I think of those men, who had become beastly, animals....

...frantic, like beasts let out of the zoo!

That's why I dedicate myself to my work,

...because the theater is an autonomous, moral world.

Moral!

Maybe I'll leave here alone.

Maybe I'll be alone my whole life.

But I know one thing is sure, Franz: one is better off facing the truth,

...no matter what the cost. It's better. Better!

Bye.

I guess you don't want to say goodbye to me.

Goodbye, Franz!

Franz! Franz!

Franz!

Franz! Franz!

Franz!

Can I get a light?

Minister Strauss is going to speak to the soldiers of the Federal Republic.

The democratic state imposes very concrete duties on its citizens.

...so as to protect the exercise of these rights.

THEATER

THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTHUR UI (Bertold Brecht)

You have total freedom to elect me;

The people of Capoha want to hear a happy and totally free YES.

But I want you to remember that whoever isn't with me is against me.

Now let's move the elections forward.

All those in favor of Arturo Ui raise your hands.

Can we just leave?

Everyone's free to do what they want.

So, now... what is your free decision?

The elections are over. The businessmen of Cicero and Capoha

...thank you ecstatically for your generous protection.

I accept your thanks proudly.

It has now been fifteen years since with only seven men, I conquered Capoha.

Salve, Fuhrer! I'm a soldier of yours.

And here is your wife, a shameless mask, with no real face at all...

Leave me alone! Leave me!

From the deepest depths I cry out to you, o Fuhrer...

Fuhrer! Fuhrer! Fuhrer! Fuhrer! Fuhrer!

Put on your hats and put flowering plants in the windows.

Eat sausages! Arthur Ui lives.

He's not dead; he lives.

You are Arthur Ui, and you, and you, you, you, you, and all of you.

Pigs!

Because many many other cities, like Milwaukee, Detroit,

...Toledo, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, all follow our example, just like...

- Pigs! Pigs! Pigs! -Philadelphia, Saint Louis,

-...Minneapolis, - Pigs! Pigs!

- Pigs! Pigs! -...and beg for our protection.

- Pigs! -And nothing will stop Arthur Ui this time.

One night when I finally earn some money, then, I guess I'll just be losing it...

- Where is he? -Please, sir.

Commissioner Stroebel will be here in a couple hours.

-Commissioner Stroebel will be here really soon. -Right here.

Hold on.

He's asleep. He's so tired.

Everything's been worked out. Pretty soon they'll let him go.

Where to?

Home.

I don't think he'll want to go back to Altona so soon.

Put this on him or else he'll get cold.

No! No!

-No. -You can only do it twice a week. You know that.

-Help. -Only twice a week. - It's my job.

Johanna!

The moral of this great defeat is that Germany is the biggest power in Europe.

We were defeated and now we dominate.

What ever would we have done had we won?

It's a game where "the loser wins,"

...as always.

Go put some normal clothes on and we'll talk more about it.

My clothes?

My suits! All my clothes must be in my old room.

I bet my father's made it into a temple.

- Do you want me to go get it? -No.

I'll go right now. I'll grab it.

-Johanna. - yes?

Suppose..

Suppose I did commit all the crimes that I was accused of at Nuremberg.

- What crimes? - What do I know? Genocide and everything else.

-Why did you have to commit them? Because war was my profession.

Could you go on looking at me with the same eyes as before?

Would you still love me? No, don't answer right away.

Well?

No.

You'd feel like you couldn't love me anymore?

It would terrify you, wouldn't it?

Yes.

Very well. You can relax. An innocent man stands before you

...free of any crime. You can even laugh at me.

for my betrayal of Germany out of excess sentimentality.

Franz,

What did you want to tell me?

What happened to you in Smolensk? What happened there?

I'll tell you, everything I have to, in my own way and right away.

So that way you can judge me, and not the crab-beasts.

But you must trust me.

We were 500 German soldiers, near Smolensk, and we had taken over a town.

The major and the captain were dead; only two officers were left, and I was in charge.

The partisans had cut off our retreat route.

There were two roads, both under fire, and enough food only for three days.

The troops were advancing against us from Stalingrad...

And we walked on, towards hell.

There were two roads out. Two. And we didn't know which of them would be clear.

We held two Russian prisoners.

Nobody could be left alive, whether they were farmers or partisans.

-And they'd resort to anything to make them talk. - What...?

Torture.

And you? What did you do?

I turned my gun on my own soldiers and I let them go.

And then?

We went down one of the roads, but it was the wrong one.

My battalion was annihilated.

They all died. All but me.

Was it just of me to get my soldiers all killed like that?

I got my own soldiers killed because of my sympathy with the partisans.

But no... you don't understand. The whole company was annihilated

Yes, I do understand.

So am I absolved?

I'll get my clothes.

Where are you going to take him?

Out of here.

-You can't. - Why not?

-You'd be asking to have him killed. - Why would he get killed?

-Franz can't accept what he's done. -He told me what he did.

What did he tell you?

- He was accused of letting his soldiers die, to save two partisans? -Yes.

And do you want to know the truth?

Leave us alone!

I've told her about Smolensk. Tell her the whole story.

I told you to leave us alone!

Franz!

I want to know the end of the story.

It has no end. They killed everyone but me.

You must believe me.

-You must. -You'd like it if I did!

So... please believe me.

Tell me she's lying.

- You didn't do anything! Say it. -Nothing.

But speak. I need to hear it from you.

say: "I did nothing."

-I did nothing. -but you let others do it.

-The two prisoners. -Sure, those two; that's a start.

Were there others?

After the first time, one loses one's scruples.

You'll find your confession there; in those faces, up there!

Johanna, when we're alone...

It's all gone very fast... but I can explain it all to you.

You can't even imagine what it's really like.

When the time comes, it happens so fast you don't even know what to do.

You're alone, all by yourself. I had to think about my men.

I was afraid of Stalingrad. It wasn't just being at war...

-...because war transforms you. - You are a torturer!

I was a bourgeois in a uniform, but at night I became a perfect soldier.

-If you knew all the things they claim you do. - You're a torturer!

-That's what you are. -I'll tell you the truth... but give me some time.

Give me time, Johanna!

I love you more than I love my own life itself.

Don't look at me like that, with those eyes.

I knew it. I knew it!

I knew it. I knew it.

That's it. Back up. Let's walk... back.

Let's walk backwards... Drag ourselves backwards...

Haven't you ever seen me do my crab impression?

Haven't you ever seen me do my crab impression?

Haven't you ever seen me do my crab impression?

Franz!

We built this ship for Argentina. A freight ship... 70,000 tons.

ten million tons worth of ships are built here each year.

That means an average of 120 launches.

In one year, our ships cover the distance between the earth and the moon.

Did you ever dream that all this was possible, up there in your room, Franz?

Germany is alive, son: alive!

And you won't be able to forget that any more, Franz.

If you're my successor, the accounts will be balanced, and I can die in peace.

All I've created... I, I...

...I don't want it to completely disappear.

What we fought for is right here. It's all right here, Franz.

We are the forbidden fruit: the coveted prize.

Everyone's coming to us. All markets are open to us,

and our machines are working at full output! We're the shipyards of the world!

-Munich is just a chaos full of thugs... -We've got butter and guns...

-...and soldiers, my son. And tomorrow the atom bomb. -Hamburg is no man's land.

-It'll be enough just to say our name... - And children!

-And the people... -And the children... -...they'll jump around like fleas.

...rummaging through the trash for food!

-You can never go back, Franz. -All things must die: eyes...

-You can't go back again. -...judgments, time...

You can't go back again.

Night! Tribunal of the Night!

You that are, have been, and will be.

It was me! It was me!

I,

Franz von Gerlach,

...here, in this place, declare

...that I've carried the weight of my whole century on my shoulders,

and that I alone will answer for it,

...now and forever!